Defeated

[Galixie]

I miss being able to find food I can eat.

After going up and down the frozen food isle at Albertsons (twice) and not finding any frozen dinners that were gluten and dairy free, I went over to the ready-made counter and asked the attendant if the roasted chicken had any gluten in it. He looked puzzled, so I asked if there was any flour in it. He told me he would check the package. He looked at something in another room, then told me he didn't see anything like that in them. So I bought a piece of chicken and took it home. As I was opening the bag I noticed what was printed on the sticker. ~Sigh~

Lately I find I am getting tired of rice and eggs (the only things I can cook that fit into my schedule). I've started to hate food and all of the trappings that go with it. I'm seriously considering Soylent (which is not certified gluten-free, but would probably be a low enough trace amount that it wouldn't bother me). I realize that giving up on eating is not an ideal solution. The most annoying thing is that I am somehow gaining  weight lately (too many potato chips, probably). Grr.

[Ennis-TX]

If you want quick and simple making soups is very simple, or fixing meal kits for a full week by batch cooking chicken etc in the oven then doing each with diffent sides etc. Now if you want no fixing quickies, Ian's , Van's, Udi's, all have frozen reheat meal options like what your looking for. Go to there sites find ones that are also dairy free and find where to get them or request a product from your grocery store manager. Yumrush and Frontier Soups both have gluten-free soup kits, huge pits of soup are great for quick rush days. I have a whole bunch or recipes I use and do my own. Enjoy life has some nice snacks like cookies bars, Gerbs allergen friendly foods has seeds, dried fruit and granola. Meal replacement shakes I keep MRM one handy for emergency they have a nice vegan one that is low carb that I love. Can get you more info on stuff when I get back home. 

Ian's in fact has a site filter, no dairy or gluten and you get all kinds of frozen fish sticks, pizza breads, stuffed potato bites, chicken strips, etc.

[kareng]

How big a deal is dairy for you?  A lot of these frozen gluten-free things have cheese - but its really minimal.  You might need to find a way to cook some stuff ahead and re-heat later.

My 20 years old puts  frozen veggies and raw chicken in the crockpot once a week and adds rice and eats that all week.  Its pretty easy.  You can do different flavor combos.  He likes Rotel tomatoes with corn, peas, carrots, red peppers, onions & chicken.  He does it really lazy - frozen veggies , canned tomatoes, maybe a package of chili seaasoning, raw frozen chunks of boneless chicken,  cut up a giant onion and freeze half for next week.    But you could do a more Italian flavor with marinara and veggies like mushroooms and green beans.

[Galixie]

Thanks you guys.

I think part of my sadness is that, lately, I am seeing items that I used to buy regularly at my local store getting discontinued. I can understand that gluten and dairy free stuff is not a big seller, but it really sucks when your go-to items are no longer available.

Dairy is kind of a big deal for me. I'm sensitive to both casein and whey proteins (which eliminates a whole lot of foods that have had their protein content bolstered by milk proteins). I have found that I can handle one meal with significant dairy every few months and be fine, but I can't handle frequent small amounts without it making me ill. Go figure.

[Ennis-TX]

1 hour ago, Galixie said:

Thanks you guys.

I think part of my sadness is that, lately, I am seeing items that I used to buy regularly at my local store getting discontinued. I can understand that gluten and dairy free stuff is not a big seller, but it really sucks when your go-to items are no longer available.

Dairy is kind of a big deal for me. I'm sensitive to both casein and whey proteins (which eliminates a whole lot of foods that have had their protein content bolstered by milk proteins). I have found that I can handle one meal with significant dairy every few months and be fine, but I can't handle frequent small amounts without it making me ill. Go figure.

I hear you on this my local stores stopped stocking So delicious coconut yogurt unsweetened versions on the warehouse level. I can not handle sugars, so it was a must for me and now I have to drive a 80+ mile round trip to the city and buy it by the case. I love the stuff and use it puddings, smoothies, and even mix it with the gluten-free dip mixes from Yumrush for veggie dips.    Also they stopped carrying the soy free cheese alternatives, so now I have to go to that same store in the city to stock up on Follow Your Heart cheese provolone, Lissanatti mozzarella, Daiya Havarti, kite cream cheese, and this one other brand that makes a damn good chorizio flavored vegan cheese locally. >.> I love cheeses but been lactose intolerant for over a decade and allergic to whey myself. No issues with casein that I notice. It is frustrating but thankfully this non dairy stuff has a unopened shelf life of 2-10months in the fridge. So I can stock up on it and use it over time.

[kareng]

2 minutes ago, Ennis_TX said:

I hear you on this my local stores stopped stocking So delicious coconut yogurt unsweetened versions on the warehouse level. I can not handle sugars, so it was a must for me and now I have to drive a 80+ mile round trip to the city and buy it by the case. I love the stuff and use it puddings, smoothies, and even mix it with the gluten-free dip mixes from Yumrush for veggie dips.    Also they stopped carrying the soy free cheese alternatives, so now I have to go to that same store in the city to stock up on Follow Your Heart cheese provolone, Lissanatti mozzarella, Daiya Havarti, kite cream cheese, and this one other brand that makes a damn good chorizio flavored vegan cheese locally. >.> I love cheeses but been lactose intolerant for over a decade and allergic to whey myself. No issues with casein that I notice. It is frustrating but thankfully this non dairy stuff has a unopened shelf life of 2-10months in the fridge. So I can stock up on it and use it over time.

Have you asked your local grocery?  If you are willing to buy the whole case, they might order it for you

[Ennis-TX]

11 minutes ago, kareng said:

Have you asked your local grocery?  If you are willing to buy the whole case, they might order it for you

Yep warehouse level, they do not stock it anymore in the area . I do special order nut milks, flax milk, sauces, sugar free jams and salt free canned goods by the case but those cheese and yogurts they can not even get the order codes for. I found I can special order a lot of things from Thrive, and a few companies but refrigerated dairy alternatives, and a few meat alternatives I have to go to the city for.

[Jmg]

5 hours ago, Galixie said:

o I bought a piece of chicken and took it home. As I was opening the bag I noticed what was printed on the sticker. ~Sigh~

I feel your pain. Nothing more annoying than seeing wheat having made its way into something which should be a safe bet.  At least you spotted it in time.

I understand that you may not have time for cooking day to day but I'll second the suggestion above about cooking a large amount and freezing individual portions. A slow cooker is also a great idea. Throw meat, veggies and gluten free stock cubes into it and 8 hours later you have something hearty and filling, It's almost impossible to go wrong (well I have in the past but that's another story).

What else? Stir fries are really quick and easy and very good for you, its one of the healthiest ways to cook vegetables. Some gluten free soy sauce or sweet chilli is enough for flavour and you can throw an egg or whatever meat you have handy in also. Can you eat spicy foods? I make egg bhurji sometimes as a quick way of having something a bit more exotic. 

 

[squirmingitch]

When you get home from work, turn the oven on @ 400 degrees, line a pan with tin foil, throw chicken wings on it, salt & pepper & go get changed out of work clothes etc.... 30 minutes is all it takes for the wings to be done. When cool, throw them in a ziplock & toss in the freezer. Take out as many as you want & nuke them when you want to eat them. For that matter, you could skip tin foil in the pan & just buy some of those disposable foil pans. It's so simple & requires almost no effort. If I'm going to have some of the wings right away, then I wash a potato, dry it, slice into 4 quarters lengthwise & rub with olive oil. I lay those in the pan with the chicken. All done at the same time. 

[cyclinglady]

I know....planning meals can be a drag sometimes.  It can get you down.  So, we are here to cheer you up.  

That crockpot?  A lifesaver!  For example, I just bough five chicken breasts on sale for $5.  I plopped them into the crockpot.  At the end of the day, I took off the meat from the rib bones and divided it.  Saved the drippings after straining the gunk.  We ate chicken tacos for dinner.   For lunch, I threw veggies into the broth, added some water, seasoned with salt, pepper and dill and cooked until tender.  Just before serving, I added some chicken meat (not to soon it it will become rubber).  Ten minutes later, I serve the soup over rice or gluten-free noodles.  Takes less than 30 minutes.  I can easily make tortilla soup by spicing it up and adding corn, beans and tomatoes.   I freeze the leftover soup to save for when I do not feel like cooking.  I still have some chicken from my crockpot batch which I can turn into enchiladas or chicken a-la-king or whatever.  

Last night was pot roast served with artichokes, mashed potatoes and carrots.    Leftovers (a little meat and drippings) will  turn into veggie soup and some nice pot roast sandwiches.  

Fish, if frozen,  can take me the same amount of time to defrost/cook on the grille or oven in foil packets as your eggs and rice.   Roast veggies (small potatoes, sweet potatoes, asparagus, cabbage....your favs).  

Practice makes perfect.  Make a plan and have emergency meals on hand.  Cook on your days off.  It can be  done! 

Hugs!  

 

[GFinDC]

That's what I did early on the gluten-free diet.  Make a big batch of some kind of food on the weekend and freeze half of it.  Every weekend made a different batch of food and froze some.  After a while you have a nice variety of frozen gluten-free food to nuke and eat.

I do suggest going easy on spices or anything at all questionable in the big batches.  You can always add spices when you nuke it.  But if you make a big batch of food and put some irritating ingredient in it you've ruined  the whole thing.  Not good.