College Celiacs Not Time To Cook

[breadlover]

Hi im a college student and my class days are 10 hours long. They dont have a kitchen I can use and NO Gluten free food at the food stand....just a microwave and popcorn from a vending machine. Im seriuosly malnourished from not eating all day popcorn and gluten-free cookies I keep in my purse arn't cutting it. What do I do? Does anyone have the same problum. I wish I could just go to subway and grab a foot long extra bread sub haha =( I miss bread.

[debmidge]

are you allowed to have a George Forman Grill and refrigerator in your room?

[eKatherine]

When my daughter went away to college, I bought her one of those expensive Japanese rice cookers. It keeps food hot after the cooking cycle without scorching, and you can cook lots more stuff in it than just rice.

[Random Guy]

yogurt, nuts, fruit?

that's what i rely on when i'm unable to get a real meal at mealtime

good luck

rg

[cultureslayer]

Are you living in the dorms? If so, then you need to talk with the dietician that is in charge of the campus meal plans and special needs food. There IS stuff on campus you can have, or they will add something. If you live off campus and have a kitchen at home make a bunch of food on the weekends.

Fruit and yogurt are good too. Buy a loaf of bread at a health food store and make PB&J sandwiches. Or get some meat and cheese. There are tons of options if you think about it. I've been eating better since I started gluten-free than before.

[TCA]

I really think you need to talk to the university. I bet they would give you acess to a kithcen, or even work out a meal plan for you.

I went to college on a very limited budget and would cook when I had time and eat the leftovers. Some things I ate with gluten-free modifications:

Mac&Cheese with a can of chicken (drained) and salsa mixed in (good for a couple meals at least)

Quesadillas - only had a microfridge, so I'd put cheese and chili powder on a tortilla (corn) and nuke it for a few seconds

Potato soup, chili, beef or chicken stew - one pot can last all week let me know if you need a recipe.

salads - This is easily portable in a tupperware container and no cooking needed!

Fruit

canned tuna and rice crackers

These products I keep on hand for when I'm on the go:

Thai Kitchen noodle meals

Hormel shelf stable meals - the southwestern black bean and sweet and sour chicken are gluten-free.

Hormel chili - check thier website for more ideas

Amy's soups, frozen dinners

Larabars

Snickers, baby Ruth, Reese's

Hope that helps!

[Clark Bent as Stupor-Man]

if you only have to avoid gluten and are alright with dairy, soy, and other foods, then you have plenty of options... if you don't have a mini-fridge in your room, I would get one.. most, if not all colleges let you have them in the dorm rooms...

also, you can probably get an exception made for you for other accomodations as well.. my sister is jewish and kept kosher when she was at montclair.. she was allowed to have a george foreman grill in her room...

as for the food court, I'm not sure how much you can realistically do about that but it's worth trying if you live on campus... they might be able to get some gluten-free already prepared foods.... it might be difficult to get the sandwich and grill places to make you something without a decent risk of cc though...

good luck..

[Lauren M]

Fantastic Foods makes soup cups (dehydrated ingredients) and all you have to do is add hot water. They are yummy, light, portable, and all I have to do is ask my college cafe for a cup of hot water. Thai noodle bowls and their other meals (there's one that is peanut noodles that I really like) are the same. I also pack carrot sticks or other veggies in plastic baggies, protein bars, fruits, even sandwiches. It's not too difficult, I just make it a priority b/c I know I won't be able to concentrate in class if I'm hungry!

- Lauren

[WLJOHNSON]

Hi,

I'm glad you asked this question, because I just filled nine containers of transportable food for my 3 year old grandson, who was diagnosed at 3 weeks of age with Celiac (He and I are also allergic to all milk and dairy products). He goes from his daddy's house (my son) to his mommy's house, to Grandma's house on a regular schedule each week and has for the past 3 years. That means many hours being transported in the car (I live 20 miles from them), and many snacks and foods which have to be easily gotten into.

Recently I filled large round containers for each of us for our cars, and large rectangular containers for our homes. Inside I put beef sticks, small cans of chicken, new small containers of Pringles potato chips, Fritos, packages of wheat free cookies, Mi-Del animal cookies, fruit roll-ups, cans of mandarin oranges, Skittles, Starbursts, Cocoa Pebbles cereal, etc. Once you get started, only your budget will be able to stop you.

It is fun and challenging to think of new foods which will meet your needs. I have created a long list of the foods that Dakota can eat, and I'm usually carrying around food that I can eat too, so I have thought long and hard about this. I love Carl's Jr. because of their low-carb wraps--that means their hamburgers, chicken sandwiches, etc. can be wrapped in lettuce if you ask. It's great. Corn tostadas, tacos, or tamales without cheese also work away from home, along with french fries or any fruits. If you'd like to email me at WLJOHNSON!@peoplepc.com I'd be happy to help you in any way I can. Welda Lou

[Carriefaith]

I have a few ideas:

-Salad in a bag, I buy these in the grocery store

-Planters fruit and nut trail mix, I eat about 3/4 of a cup of these for a meal

-vegetables in cans, just bring a can opener and eat a can of you favorite vegetables!

-Thai Kitchen Instant Soup Open Original Shared Link

-Imagine soups

-peanut butter and gluten-free bread

-fresh fruit

-carrot sticks

-fruit in cans

[jerseyangel]

Carrie--The Planter's Fruit and Nut Trail Mix--do you buy that all made up, or do you put it together? I know you're very sensitive, and if you eat it, probably I can too

[MySuicidalTurtle]

You can always have fruits and vegetables! I eat fruit while on campus for lunch.

[gointribal]

This is a great post, I too am a full time college student, working part time and planning a wedding, which leave no time for eating. I eat alot of salads, peanut butter on everything from apples, carrots, celery, gluten-free bread and crackers to Envirokid chocolate rice bars (Yummy! ) Also hard boiled eggs make for a quick snack or breakfast. Oh and I second the Thai Kitchen noodle meals, they are wicked good and they come in pre-made bowls (if you have a microwave these are the way to go!). Its hard to eat healthy when one is busy but I've been finding if you aren't healthy and staying healthy everything else goes down hill

[Felidae]

Carrie--The Planter's Fruit and Nut Trail Mix--do you buy that all made up, or do you put it together? I know you're very sensitive, and if you eat it, probably I can too

That is exactly what I was thinking. She is becoming my official food tester.

[Mandy F.]

I'm seriously missing Subway, too . I have two thoughts for you, I bought this little thermos thing at Bed Bath & Beyond. It's light weight and has a little fork/spoon combo thing in the lid. It's handy because I can microwave it before I leave then stuff it in my backpack. Another thought I had doesn't have much to do with food in general, but do you have a meal plan through the school? I'm in the process of transfering from a community college to a big university and realized that technically I'm required to get a meal plan and they start at about $500. I'm going to try to get out of it since I'm pretty sure I won't be able to eat on campus much.

Good luck with the long days!

[cultureslayer]

Try to get out of the meal plan. Even the people I knew with no allergies were inventing strange gastro symptoms and going to student health to try to get out of the meal plan, but it might be better where you are.

They also put in a crapload of spicecs to cover up the warmed for hours and straight from the freezer taste, so if you have a generally sensitive stomach it can do very bad things too. I've always had a problem with fats and spices and ended up getting an ulcer from the meal plan.

[penguin]

I got an ulcer from dining hall food, also. EVERYTHING was deep fried and/or smothered in gravy. I think they even deep fried the coke. The dining hall was named "Brough" pronounced "Bruff". You can imagine the nicknames

I thought it was the dining hall food making me sick all the time, but the problems continued off-campus. Ergo, celiac. I can't blame all my gastro problems of campus food...

If you have a clinical dx of celiac, it should be a breeze to get out of your dining contract. A lot easier than all the people making stuff up to get out of it (happened at my school too).

You are WAY better off trying to sneak a hotplate into your dorm room than you are eating in the dining hall. What a nightmare. I lived on cheerios for 3 years of college...

[minibabe]

I am glad that I read this because I do not eat at ALL at school. I dont dorm there and actually the only thing that I will eat is the sealed fruit. I wont eat the cut up fruit because I do not trust it. You guys have given me so really great ideas! But this is my last week actually. But there is always next semester.

Thanks again

Amanda NY

[num1habsfan]

sandwiches

~lisa~

[aikiducky]

I don't know if you guys would have the nerve to whip out a jar of baby food in front of other people, but that's what i sometimes pack for lunch... Not that I'm college anymore, but sometimes i have long days .

Pauliina