Help! I Hate To Cook!

[minnowjoy]

Hi!

I hate to cook and bake and was just wondering if was still possible to be gluten free without making your own products?

Thanks!

[RiceGuy]

Well, for me it would be impossible. I mean, how do you make a meal without cooking anything? OK, I suppose you could eat raw veggies and fresh fruits, but I don't think that's what you mean, is it? Frozen dinners perhaps?

Prepackaged gluten-free stuff is pricey, and eating out all the time is not only expensive, but I'd say the risk of getting glutened is too high unless you have a place specializing in gluten-free meals.

I enjoy cooking and baking quite a lot, so of course I'll encourage you to do so. There are a lot of ways to cut corners though, like if you have a blender, you can make soups and stuff pretty easily.

[missy'smom]

At first it seems that our choices are so limited but really most of what nature provides for us is naturally gluten-free. Our culture is so used to thinking about food in terms of products so it takes a shift in thinking sometimes to think about food in another way. There are many dishes that take minimal effort to prepare and use only a few readily available, natural ingredients. You could just live off simple, quick, easy rice, veg, fruit and meat and some do. Things like automatic rice cookers and crockpots can make preparing meals easier. There are products available to replace many things. Some are reasonably priced and others are quite expensive. Some are awful and others are quite tasty. You can work out a balance of what works for you in terms of time and money.

[Phyllis28]

I very rarely bake and only cook on the weekend. I cook meals and make sure I have lots of leftovers on the weekend and eat them for lunch and diner throughout the week. Also, there are some quick and easy meals such as:

Microwave canned baked beans with hot dogs

Microwave corn tortilla pizza

Microwave baked potato

PBJ on rice cakes or gluten free bread

Microwave tuna melt on rice cake or gluten free bread. You can substitute nearly any cold deli meat for the tuna.

[Juliebove]

It can be done. Might be expensive though and you may have to mail order some things. I buy Ener-G bread for my daughter. With this she can have sandwiches and cinnamon toast. There are Ian's French Toast sticks. Must heat in the oven, so kind of look cooking. Heh! We also buy Ian's fish sticks, chicken nuggets and Super Tots. There are other frozen potatoes that are gluten free. Plenty of canned things like beans, Hormel chili, Shelton's chicken and wild rice soup. There are shelf stable My Own Meals. Orgran canned spaghetti. Pre-made hummus. And of course a nice big salad.

[Katester]

When all of this started for me, I couldn't make anything. I couldn't make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich to save my life. Now, I've learned so much and have learned to love it. I've learned that I can't trust anyone to make me food that if safe and not contaminated so I kind of figured I had to make my own. I know it's possible to not cook but I've learned to love it.

[GlutenGalAZ]

In the past I never really cared to cook and if my husband and I cooked it was always something quick and simple like mac and cheese or chicken nuggets in the oven (majority of the time fast food).

But since going gluten free last year we eat at home all the time. I have slowly gotten into cooking and this past month have started to try a lot of new things. I don't know if it is because I have gotten bored of the foods I was making that made me want to get into cooking/baking. Sounds funny/strange but it is actually fun cooking your meals and trying new ideas/meals out.

[curlyfries]

I also hate to cook. I am an empty-nester, and I no longer feel like spending time in the kitchen. But celiac has made it necessary, so I look for shortcuts wherever I can.

First off, I NEVER bake. I can do without bread and such.

Secondly, most of my meals are simple...meat and veggies. McCormicks has great spice blends for seasoning.

Then there are some really quick meals when I want out of the kitchen in a few minutes:

Ball Park hot dogs with Hormel Chili w/beans

Frozen tilapia w/butter and lemon pepper, zapped in the microwave

eggs (you can whisk them and zap them)

hamburgers( no bun)

frozen, pre-cooked shrimp(when they're on sale, 1/2 price) thaw and eat

Add microwaved veggies to any of these, or fruit

A little more time in the kitchen would be:

spaghetti

Zatarains dirty rice---add ground beef

stir fry

steak on the George Foreman

Taco salad

More veggies or fruit

Crock pots are great also. Of course I do have my days that I will bake chicken or a turkey breast.

[FoxersArtist]

I get to feeling a bit overwhelmed by all the cooking but I have also been baking up a blue streak. What part of cooking don't you like? If it takes too much time or effort, there are some really easy, tasty meals that can be made that will make you forget that you are gluten free.

Baked chicken thighs, wings, drums:

Fill baking pan with 1 inch water and put chicken in pan. Season chicken with your favorite seasoning and throw in some baby carrots. Set over to 375 degree and bake for and hour and a half. It takes 5 minutes to prepare and is super moist and there are usually left overs.

I pan sear steak on the stove after seasoning and that literally takes 5 minutes from start to finish. It falls apart in your mouth and grilling will never be the same again.

"Natures Highlights" sells a brown rice pizza crust that makes a WONDERFUL fast pizza. It's almost as fast as throwing a frozen pizza in the oven and it's a million times better if you add your own toppings plus cheese and jarred sauce. It usually takes me about 15 minutes to throw this pizza together and 8 minutes to bake.

You might be able to find out if there is a gluten free bakery near you. Some places make gluten free foods one day a week or something like that. I bake my own bread and freeze one loaf for later so I don't have to make it as often, but buying good bread would work too!

Whole foods sells some microwaveable TV dinner type foods that don't have gluten in them. Chicken, rice and veggies, chicken nuggests, fish sticks, lasagna, even pre cooked sausage.

Do you like yogurt? Many are gluten free and if you don't have a casein allergy, you can eat a nice big bowl of yogurt with blueberries or your favorite fruit. I use goat yogurt because it settles better.

Scrambled eggs are fast and easy and always a good source of protien.

I went as far as boiling some rice pasta and adding Kraft mac and cheese sauce (it doesn't look like there is gluten in the ingre list, but I have not asked the company and there is always a risk of cross contamination.) It tookthe same amount of time as regular boxed macs and cheese.

The fish I made tonight took 5 minutes to prepare and only 20 minutes to bake and was super! Lemon pepper seasoning, mandarin oranges & juice, bell pepper, all wrapped inside a tin foil pouch. 375 degrees for 20 minutes and it's like eating a $70 meal at some swanky place!

Anyway, those are a few quick ideas if time is the issue or if you don't like to be on your feet for long. My leg swells really bad if I stand on it for long due to an injury, so I have to make things quick. Good luck.

-Anna

Hi!

I hate to cook and bake and was just wondering if was still possible to be gluten free without making your own products?

Thanks!

[home-based-mom]

A very quick meal that involves a minimum of cooking is to pan fry (or Pam fry ) a WalMart boneless skinless frozen chicken breast, or a Costco Orange Roughy fillet. Add Minute Rice and heat a package of frozen veggies, and voila! A quick and easy healthy gluten free meal. If you want leftovers, cook an extra chicken breast or fillet. Takes NO extra work except you have to turn over two pieces instead of just one . . . .

[minnowjoy]

Thanks everyone for all the suggestions! I guess I have to say one of the reason why I hate to cook is b/c I am always tired and have absolutely no energy.....but maybe that will change soon