Blood Work

[Iluvaceliac 1]

My boyfriend is on a gluten and dairy free diet and is also trying to avoid soy. We have a limited income. What can I feed him that he can take to work in his lunchbox?

He was doing gluten free boxed hamburger and tuna mixes, but discovered they are not dairy free. We have had difficulty finding frozen veggies that are not cross-contaminated. We live in a small town that at least has a health food section in the grocery store. We do not have the option of growing a garden.

[missy'smom 79]

fried rice

mexican style rice-mix rice, beans, salsa(Herdez is good and gluten-free) etc.

plain frozen veg, should be just that, there should be no CC issues, they should be gluten-free

[CHARBEEGOOD 4]

I understand the issues you boyfriend is having. I am also Gluten Free, Soy Free and lactose free. I buy tuna (you have to read all the cans, a lot of canned tuna also has soy in it), hard boiled eyes. I have found 1 mayonnaise that is not a "specialty" item Hellmann's Canola Cholesterol Free and we found it a a few different "grocery" stores. I take a lot of fresh fruit and veggies. Peanut butter is always a good item to pack. Be careful as Vegetable Oil can have soy in it. I stick to Skippy natural-creamy.

I haven't packed a frozen "meal" in ages! I love rice and you can purchase so many types. I have found plenty of recipes on line that I cook at home and always take the left overs with me. If you are dining out there "chains" that have gluten-free friendly menus and all you have to do is ask about the soy. Outback, Olive Garden, and Carrabas are just a few.

I also visit a lot of online web sites that sell gluten-free products. Many of these will give you a list of ingredients and some even let you "select" free of products with a search engine which makes is so much easier.

This site is wonderful you can find links to forums, web site and other discussions boards as well as bloggers who help you to realize you are not alone and there are ways to live health, be active and have fun.. Eat well!

[barb_wood 0]

I pack rice cakes smothered with reduced fat peanut butter, bananas, apples, sliced apples with peanut butter, Boar's Head lunch meats are all gluten free so I'll pack gluten-free ham and gluten-free crackers, Glutano has a good gluten-free cracker.

I like rice with chunks of chicken and steamed broccoli topped with gluten-free italian dressing. Filling and satisfying!

Mayonaise is not dairy so tuna salad or chicken salad with a side of gluten-free crackers is also good.

Chili is GREAT! You'll have to add your own spices because most mixes contain wheat. Try this one:

Chili - Serves: 8 Active Time: 25 min Total Time: 55 min

1 Tbsp vegetable oil

3 lbs 90% Lean Ground Beef

Salt to taste

1 lb. chopped onions or 2 pkgs (8 oz each) Frozen Cleaned & Cut Chopped Onions

1 lg. green pepper, chopped or 1 pkg (8 oz each) frozen Diced Green Peppers and Onions

3 cloves Garlic, minced

4 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

7 Tbsp (about 2 oz) chili powder

2 tsp ground cumin

2 tsp oregano

1 can (15.5 oz) Dark Red Kidney Beans, drained and rinsed

1 can (15.5 oz) Italian Classics Cannellini Beans, drained and rinsed

2 btls (12 oz each) Chili Sauce (check the ingredients label!)

1 bottle (12 oz) Gluten-Free beer OR 1 can (14.5 oz) Gluten-Free beef broth

Heat vegetable oil on MEDIUM-HIGH; brown ground beef, 8-10 min. Add salt to taste.

Add chopped onions, green peppers, and garlic. Cook, stirring, 3-5 min.

Add Worcestershire sauce; cook 3 min.

Reduce heat to MEDIUM; stir in chili powder, cumin, oregano; cook 5 min.

Reduce heat to LOW; add kidney beans, cannellini beans, chili sauce, beer (or broth); simmer for 30 min, stirring occasionally.

Salsa and corn tortilla chips are a nice snack.

Watch out for hidden gluten and casein - Caramel Coloring, whey, malt, barley.

Hope this helps!

[barb_wood 0]

CHARBEEGOOD- Hard Boiled EYES??? thanks for the chuckle! I do prefer hard boiled eggs, myself! quote name='CHARBEEGOOD' date='Dec 27 2009, 10:06 PM' post='583256']

I understand the issues you boyfriend is having. I am also Gluten Free, Soy Free and lactose free. I buy tuna (you have to read all the cans, a lot of canned tuna also has soy in it), hard boiled eyes. I have found 1 mayonnaise that is not a "specialty" item Hellmann's Canola Cholesterol Free and we found it a a few different "grocery" stores. I take a lot of fresh fruit and veggies. Peanut butter is always a good item to pack. Be careful as Vegetable Oil can have soy in it. I stick to Skippy natural-creamy.

I haven't packed a frozen "meal" in ages! I love rice and you can purchase so many types. I have found plenty of recipes on line that I cook at home and always take the left overs with me. If you are dining out there "chains" that have gluten-free friendly menus and all you have to do is ask about the soy. Outback, Olive Garden, and Carrabas are just a few.

I also visit a lot of online web sites that sell gluten-free products. Many of these will give you a list of ingredients and some even let you "select" free of products with a search engine which makes is so much easier.

This site is wonderful you can find links to forums, web site and other discussions boards as well as bloggers who help you to realize you are not alone and there are ways to live health, be active and have fun.. Eat well!

[Juliebove 93]

If he has access to a microwave or can use a thermos, you can make chicken and rice or Spanish rice.

Daughter loves canned chicken mixed with plain white or brown rice. I used to add peas but she is now allergic so I add celery, carrot and onion along with a little chicken broth. Sometimes I use gluten-free pasta instead of the rice.

For the Spanish rice, I toast the rice in a little olive oil. What I add from there will vary depending on what I have in the house. It's never the same twice. Usually I add some ground beef and cook until browned. Also some chopped onion and pepper. Then some form of tomato. Either salsa, tomato sauce, fresh or canned chopped tomatoes or even some tomato paste. Then water. How much water depends on how much liquid was in the tomatoes. I might also add some canned beans or use the beans in place of the meat. Cook for about 20 minutes on low or until the rice is tender. Add more water if needed or cook a little longer if too soupy.

Pot roast is another meal that makes for good leftovers. Sometimes I do the regular kind with onions, carrots and potatoes. Other things I use all of these things plus celery, bell pepper, mushrooms and a little tomato paste. Really easy to do in the crock pot.

Tonight we had clean out the fridge soup. I started with a pound of ground beef. Browned that, and added sliced carrot, celery, chopped onion, can of red beans, can of corn, several potatoes cut in small chunks, 5 cans of V-8 (12 oz. each) and seasoned with salt, pepper and Italian seasoning. This made a fairly big pot. Enough for leftovers.

[GFinDC 687]

I understand the issues you boyfriend is having. I am also Gluten Free, Soy Free and lactose free. I buy tuna (you have to read all the cans, a lot of canned tuna also has soy in it), hard boiled eyes. I have found 1 mayonnaise that is not a "specialty" item Hellmann's Canola Cholesterol Free and we found it a a few different "grocery" stores. I take a lot of fresh fruit and veggies. Peanut butter is always a good item to pack. Be careful as Vegetable Oil can have soy in it. I stick to Skippy natural-creamy.

...

Thanks for the tip about the Hellmann's

[shayesmom 1]

My boyfriend is on a gluten and dairy free diet and is also trying to avoid soy. We have a limited income. What can I feed him that he can take to work in his lunchbox?

He was doing gluten free boxed hamburger and tuna mixes, but discovered they are not dairy free. We have had difficulty finding frozen veggies that are not cross-contaminated. We live in a small town that at least has a health food section in the grocery store. We do not have the option of growing a garden.

I think you'll get the most bang for your buck by doing two things. One is to cook large dinners. So for example, if you're making meatloaf, make two. Freeze extra portions or save it for lunches. The second is to look at buying your specialty foods on-line or do a few field trips to see who has the best prices on the special products you do use. I have 3 stores which I frequent, but none are closer than 30 minutes from my house. So I budget funds for each store as well as trips. One store sells specialty flours in bulk. So I can usually go once every 4 months and spend about $60 on average (this budget also allows me some room to buy a few new products). The other stores I try to limit to once a month or every other month. I've also found that several items we like are less expensive buying on-line. So once again, I place orders about 3-4 times per year.

For lunch, I have found that variety keeps me the most interested. So if I make a tuna spread, I like it with crackers to dip into it (we can tolerate small amounts of soy and so the Nut Thin Smokehouse crackers are our preference with tuna). Perhaps some tomato slices and black olives on the side.

I do take salads to work in the summer adding all sorts of veggies and fruit into it. This is a great way to use small amounts of leftover steak or chicken. If avocados are on sale, I bring a whole one along and add it to my salad on my break. I use the Cindy's Kitchen salad dressings which do not contain soybean oil. Or you can make your own vinaigrettes. Two of my co-workers actually begged me to bring extra for them. The key to keeping a salad fresh until lunch is a cooler pack and adding a dry paper towel in the container to absorb water and keep the lettuce crisp.

All leftovers are fair game in my house. Cabbage rolls, chili, meatloaf and meatballs with spaghetti are all easy to pack. My daughter likes leftover mashed potatoes and gravy with chicken or pork roast in her thermos. Chicken wings, spare ribs and even BBQ pulled pork is also good. And some deli meats are okay. My daughter likes me to wrap them around a thin slice of pickle (her friends like this as well. And sometimes I'll mix chopped cucumber, tomato and a safe mayo and wrap them with the meat and then a large slice of romaine or leaf lettuce for a wrap. And soups are always a favorite. It's easy to make a pot of chicken or vegetable beef soup and it's well appreciated in the colder months. Tacos also are an option. I pack the seasoned meat in the thermos and assemble them at lunch.

For sides, I'll pack apple wedges and sunbutter to dip them in. Veggie chips or fresh veggies with hummus.

The point being....a little bit of several things keeps lunch interesting and enjoyable. We are also egg-free, so you have more options in terms of adding hard-boiled eggs (NOT eyes! lol!!). We also buy Dr. Oetker's pudding mixes and use rice milk in them instead of milk to make a dessert. Or I'll occasionally bake cookies or mini-cupcakes. I like mini muffin pans because they stretch the expensive mixes further while limiting the intake of sweets. It also gives me the option of making banana and zucchini bread in a more portable size. Not to mention it freezes well and saves on space in the freezer.

Hope this has helped some. Good luck!

[shayesmom 1]

We do not have the option of growing a garden.

I live in a small town as well. We do grow some tomatoes and peppers. However, there are a couple of garden centers in the area that let you pick fruit as is available throughout the year. We can pick our own strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, apples, peaches and cherries. It takes little time (about 15 minutes per trip) and we have plenty of fruit to eat and or freeze. Some places also have veggies available to buy at a better price than the supermarket. Some towns even have community gardens where all you need to do is show up to pick the produce when it is ready for harvest. My sister does this and the cost is at about 1/3 of what she'd pay at the store.

[detritus 0]

I pack rice cakes smothered with reduced fat peanut butter, bananas, apples, sliced apples with peanut butter, Boar's Head lunch meats are all gluten free so I'll pack gluten-free ham and gluten-free crackers, Glutano has a good gluten-free cracker.

I like rice with chunks of chicken and steamed broccoli topped with gluten-free italian dressing. Filling and satisfying!

Mayonaise is not dairy so tuna salad or chicken salad with a side of gluten-free crackers is also good.

Chili is GREAT! You'll have to add your own spices because most mixes contain wheat. Try this one:

Chili - Serves: 8 Active Time: 25 min Total Time: 55 min

1 Tbsp vegetable oil

3 lbs 90% Lean Ground Beef

Salt to taste

1 lb. chopped onions or 2 pkgs (8 oz each) Frozen Cleaned & Cut Chopped Onions

1 lg. green pepper, chopped or 1 pkg (8 oz each) frozen Diced Green Peppers and Onions

3 cloves Garlic, minced

4 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

7 Tbsp (about 2 oz) chili powder

2 tsp ground cumin

2 tsp oregano

1 can (15.5 oz) Dark Red Kidney Beans, drained and rinsed

1 can (15.5 oz) Italian Classics Cannellini Beans, drained and rinsed

2 btls (12 oz each) Chili Sauce (check the ingredients label!)

1 bottle (12 oz) Gluten-Free beer OR 1 can (14.5 oz) Gluten-Free beef broth

Heat vegetable oil on MEDIUM-HIGH; brown ground beef, 8-10 min. Add salt to taste.

Add chopped onions, green peppers, and garlic. Cook, stirring, 3-5 min.

Add Worcestershire sauce; cook 3 min.

Reduce heat to MEDIUM; stir in chili powder, cumin, oregano; cook 5 min.

Reduce heat to LOW; add kidney beans, cannellini beans, chili sauce, beer (or broth); simmer for 30 min, stirring occasionally.

Salsa and corn tortilla chips are a nice snack.

Watch out for hidden gluten and casein - Caramel Coloring, whey, malt, barley.

Hope this helps!

Watch out for Worcestershire sauce-it has soy sauce in it.

[Juliebove 93]

Watch out for Worcestershire sauce-it has soy sauce in it.

Some of it is safe. I was shocked to discover this after thinking for years that we couldn't have it. Then one day I took to reading labels because I found yet another recipe that called for it. Up until then I had been leaving it out.