Bored With Gf Meals

[hapi2bgf]

I have been gluten-free for a little over six months now and I have to say I am feeling much better, but bored to tears with eating. Every meal is basically the same. Some form of meat (no seafood), rice, potato, or mashed potato, veggies, and maybe fruit. I have a variety of BBQ sauces and marinades that are used to add some interest. I eat pizza once a week for the family pizza night. They eat the real stuff and I eat the gluten-free. Weekends includes pancakes or waffles. Ice cream, flourless choc cake, and chips make up the snack and sweets category.

What does everyone else eat for meals? Breakfast and snacks are the most unhealthy for me so any ideas would be appreciated.

Thanks

[burdee]

There are many more protein options besides meat which I could suggest, but first I need to ask whether you are avoiding dairy products. Since you mentioned you eat ice cream, perhaps you don't avoid dairy. I discovered I was lactose intolerant before I learned I was gluten intolerant, so I have been using 'Lactaid' supplements to consume dairy for years. Whether or not you can consume dairy (maybe with 'lactaid'), here are some other meal ideas with nonmeat protein sources (rather than the meat, starch, vegie combos you mentioned). First some dairy protein source based meals (if you can use lactaid or tolerate dairy):

gluten-free cereal (hot or cold) with lactose free milk (or soy milk) plus fruit;

Cottage cheese with fruit and a gluten-free bread (banana or date nut if you bake);

Cheese sandwiches on gluten-free bread plus fruit;

Cheese with fruit and gluten-free cookies (an easy meal to pack);

Cheese & gluten-free pasta (mac & cheese, pasta salads with cheese, pasta primavera with parmesan);

Fruit smoothies with yogurt and fruit (for a quick breakfast);

Fruit, yogurt with chopped nuts (to provide more protein and fat for staying power).

(Most lactose intolerant people tolerate yogurt okay even without lactaid.)

If you can't tolerate dairy even with lactaid, try:

Peanut butter and jam on gluten-free toast (with fruit and/or a latte) for a quick breakfast;

Peanut butter & banana or jam sandwiches on gluten-free bread for lunches;

Eggs (poached, scrambled, fried, hard boiled, etc.) with gluten-free toast and fruit;

Omlettes, quiches (with gluten-free pastry) or egg salads for lunch or dinner;

Lentil, pea or bean soups, salads or casseroles with gluten-free grains--beans must be combined with grains to provide all amino acids, like Mexican refried beans & rice.

(If you're really tired of the meat, vegie, starch routine, consider vegetarian dishes which combine lentils, grains, nuts to provide complete proteins.)

Consider the WIDE variety of fruits available during the summer months. Try some exotic and tropical fruits as well as the wide variety of berries, grapes, & cherries available now. Also try different vegies, like leafy, root, floral (cauliflower and brocolli), red, yellow and green. There many different kinds of summer and winter squashes. Consider vegies from different ethnic menus. Sometimes, just taking your favorite foods and combining them in different ways (fruits with meats in salads or vegies in omlettes) can vary your meal routines.

Eating a variety of foods provides a lot more nutrition than just eating the same foods all the time. Walk through the grocery store and pick out a different fruit, a new vegie, a new variety of meat, a different bean/pea/lentil or a new gluten-free grain to try each week (OK, you may have to look for gluten-free grains in gluten-free specialty sections/stores). Even if you can't/won't eat fish, there are SOOO many forms of meats available, if you look.

I hope that gives you a few ideas. Going gluten-free made me consider SOOO many more options, esp. with grains, than I ever would have tried before. I'm actually beginning to enjoy cooking (and experimenting again)!

[tarnalberry]

I posted this list before, but it's a direct answer to your question, so I thought I'd post the list again... really, a gluten-free diet is only as limited as your imagination - but I find that the imagination is a lot like a muscle in that it needs exercise - and starting out slow in the exercise - to be powerful. ;-)

For instance, for breakfast:

* veggie omlette (or any other kind of omlette)

* smoothie

* fresh fruit and yogurt

* rice cakes w/ peanut butter

* (if you want to buy any gluten-free flours) muffins or quick breads

For lunch (I'm thinking packable in a small cooler, since I take my lunch to work):

* veggies with dip (bean dip, hummus, guacamole, salsa, etc.)

* cheese

* salads (bean salad, green salad, tuna salad, chicken salad, marinated vegetable salad, tomato salad, etc.)

* chicken/beef/pork/beans/etc wrapped in corn tortillas (soft tacos)

* fresh fruit

* nuts

* leftovers (my personal favorite)

* deviled eggs

* cheese

For dinner (I usually do something fairly simple myself, and healthy, that my husband will also eat (he's picky)):

* chinese style stir fries (mostly vegetables, sometimes some chicken/pork/beef/fish) served over rice

* baked chicken with onions, carrots and potatoes and italian spices

* grilled meat (my husband's favorite - baby back pork ribs, chicken (breast or leg), salmon, trout, shrimp, tri tip, pork chops, pork tenderloin, etc.)

* sauteed vegetables (usually three or four vegetables sauteed together)

* roasted rosemary potatoes

* mashed potatoes

* sweet potato fries (baked)

* green salad

* vegetable appetizers (usually bell pepper, carrots, and zucchini)

* salad nicoise (takes more time, but yummy)

* barbecued corn

* stew

* bean soup

* spinach salad

* fuit salad

* homemade sushi! (yummy!)

[khyricat]

A few other options and I'm just starting out, but I had some other diet issues before... if you can find spreads or make sandwich fillings, another option is to use tortillas or endive as a carrier to eat it on... also I make a ton of fancy salads.. I can't have dairy products or fatty things.. and I was able to have wheat now that will be out too.. makes life fun.. but egg salad/tuna salad/chicken salad, etc work well in wraps or on a piece of endive.. and there are otehr goodies out there as well.. I find its just easier to make everything by hand and love all kinds of sauces and salsas.. potatoes are also great carriers for things- put some cheese or even fish or meat inside of it and add salsa or gluten-free sauce of some other sort.. I like salsas because they are quick and easy to make.

The person above made a lot of suggestions.. also- if oyu like hot ceral - try buckwheat/kasha for cereal.. I also use it for a grain cooked in chicken broth and veggies and spices.. yummy side dish...

[hapi2bgf]

Thanks everyone!

I always forget to mention the peanut allergy. Peanuts, tree nuts, and Soy are out. I knew I was a kind of picky eater before this diet and now I am forcing myself to eat the foods I don't like.

I'm not fond of eggs, but I have started eating fried egg sandwiches and omlets.

I have been avoiding seafood for years, and now I am trying new ways of marinading or covering in a sauce to help me eat it. So far, swordfish and Mahi-mahi are the best options.

I do make smoothies and really enjoy them. Any and all fruit goes in and we see what we get.

I love chips and hummus. I'll have to try it with veggies.

Anyway, thanks for some new ideas of what to eat.

[khyricat]

Hummus and tehini as well as babaganoush are all wonderful on vegetables... or on corn tortillas...

as to fish- some taste better then others and to an extent that is personal choice.. but one thing to note- fresher fish is less "fishy" then less fresh fish so if you have a local fish market it may be helpful. Also- Tuna steak can be prepared any way a steak can and often is the least fishy of all of the fishes. Other mild fishes: tilapia, whitefish... salmon, bass and trout are also simple to fix in less fishy tasting ways if you try.

Good luck.. there are a ton of options out there. and all kinds of interesting things if you start experimenting and looking into foods from other cultures as well...

one of my personal favorites when I could still eat dairy was home made roasted tomatoes with cheese.. just put the cheese on the piece of tomato and YUM! works well with rice crackers too...

(roasting tomatoes: half small tomatoes- romas or plums, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with herbs then bake at 300 spread out on a cookie sheet for 1-1.5 hours. they will get rich and chewy with much of the moisture cooking out of them... )

Amie in MI

[tarnalberry]

khyricat, you reminded me of two things:

1. stuffed tomatoes (or stuffed peppers, zucchini, mushrooms, or anything like that) - with the stuffing often made from rice (I like brown rice), spices, and veggies, and the optional toping of cheese, these are pretty quick and easy recipes with leftover rice.

2. fish - I totally agree on the "fresher is better" - it means frozen fish is out, and you have to buy the fish ABSOLUTELY NO LONGER than one day before you eat it (and then it had better be pretty darn fresh!), but there are SO MANY things to do. bbq'ed salmon fillets work great with a bit of garlic salt and ground cayanne pepper on top (not enough to make it spicey, but this is practically *the* secret ingredient! ;-) ), but you can also cut it up into small pieces for a asian-style stir fry. or, after poaching or baking it, you can flake it up and make salmon cakes out of it. if you can find it, there's a fish - darn it, I'm blanking on the name - that's a flounder, called "sand..." something that is very mild tasting. the white fishes often hold marinades and sauces better, having a milder taste than things like salmon, as well.