Gluten-free Casseroles Or Cold Lunches

[JBaby]

In search of Gluten-Free casseroles I can make in a jiffy and cold lunches for my lunch break at school.

[missy'smom]

This makes a nice lunch dish to pack and take. Open Original Shared Link

You can take any leftover grain(provided that it's not mushy) and add a vinagrette or oil and citrus juice, nuts, dried fruit, chopped veg.,like celery, tomatoes(cherry or reg.), leftover, processed or canned protein, like tuna, chicken(canned or roasted, etc. and it makes a nice salad. Go Mexican with corn, beans, salsa etc. or New England Fall with cranberry, orange, pecan or Greek with olives, feta, cucumber, tomato.

[JBaby]

Thanks for the lunch idea. I see you had pancreatic attacks. So did I. Still a mystery to me how this pesky disease and make an entire body dysfunctional. Pancreatitis isnt something I care to ever feel again, That is incredibly painful.

[missy'smom]

Thanks for the lunch idea. I see you had pancreatic attacks. So did I. Still a mystery to me how this pesky disease and make an entire body dysfunctional. Pancreatitis isnt something I care to ever feel again, That is incredibly painful.

I didn't have pancreatitis but I do have diabetes and I am investigating the possibility that I may have a late onset form of T1 where the immune system attacks the insulin producing beta cells in the pancreas. The trigger for it seems to be an allergen-usually wheat or dairy. I have had long term issues with both and I fit the profile for T1.5 as it is called.

If any other lunch ideas come to mind, I'll add them to the list. We are definitely meal packers in this house. "Have food will travel!"

[Wenmin]

These are casserole recipes that could be made on the weekend and put in refrigerator and used all week long. THey are not made in a jiffy.....

Cabbage Casserole:

Cabbage Casserole

Ingredients:

1 small head cabbage, chopped

2 pounds ground beef

onion, bell pepper, etc.

2 cans cream of mushroom soup (Health Valley Organic)

1 pound of Velveeta cheese

1-cup breadcrumbs (Crushed Rice Chex Cereal)

Directions:

Chop and boil cabbage for 20 minutes or until

Tender and drain well. Brown ground beef with

seasonings (onion, bell pepper). Add cream

of mushroom soup (undiluted) to browned ground beef.

Mix cabbage and ground beef mixture together.

Slice Velveeta cheese into

[Juliebove]

We do a shepard's or cottage pie type of casserole. Cooked ground beef or chicken cut in bite sized pieces, mixed with gravy and cut up vegetables. Peas are traditional in this but daughter is allergic. I usually use celery, carrots, onions, green beans and corn. Raw veggies should be sauteed until soft. Put all of this in a casserole then cover with mashed potatoes. You can put butter or margarine on the top. Heat through in a 350 degree oven.

Faux pierogie casserole. Get some large shells for stuffing. I use Tinkyada. Cook them in boiling salted water, then cover them with cold water, changing it a few times until they are cooled. Drain. You'll need some mashed potatoes for the stuffing. I just cook up some baking potatoes and mash them with Nucoa margarine because we can't have butter. You'll also need some sauteed onions. I used sweet onions. Chop some of the onions. You'll mix these with the mashed potatoes. Slice some of the onions. You'll put these on top. I like a lot of onions. Cook the chopped ones first and mix with the potatoes. Then do the slices. Stuff the shells with the potatoes and put them in your casserole. Top with a good layer of onions. Drizzle with some melted butter or margarine. Bake, covered at 350 until heated through or if in a hurry do in the microwave.

Tater Tot casserole. Start with some cooked ground beef or cooked chicken cut up in pieces. Put that and some canned green beans or corn in a casserole. Next you'll need some kind of sauce. Traditionally you'd use cream of celery or mushroom soup. But I don't know of any that is gluten-free. So I use either ketchup, gravy or a sauce that I make with cooked celery or mushrooms, some rice milk and sweet rice flour for thickening. Whip it up with an emersion blender. Top with the Tater Tots. Bake as instucted on the Tater Tot package. Cheese is good mixed into this or melted on top if you can have it.

[Juliebove]

Enchilada casserole. You'll need corn tortillas and some cooked meat. You can also add canned beans to this. I usually use ground beef but you can use any type of cooked meat cut to bite sized pieces. You can use cheese instead or add cheese to the meat. You'll also need a sauce. If you can't find canned or jarred gluten-free enchilada sauce, you can use canned Rotel tomatoes. You can also add strips of green pepper and white onion.

Start with a layer of your sauce on the bottom of the casserole. Add a layer of tortillas. Don't worry if they don't cover it totally. You can overlap them if you want. Or you can even tear them in bite sized pieces. Add your meat. Then more tortillas. Then sauce. Then if you are using the peppers and onions, add a layer of those. Then more tortillas. Then more meat. Just keep repeating, ending with sauce on the top and if you are using the onions and peppers, some of those on top of the sauce. Make sure all the tortillas are saturated with the sauce. Bake until heated through and the peppers and onions are soft. This can be made in the crockpot but be sure not to cook it for over 2 hours. If you cook it for longer it will still be edible, but mushy. Top with black olives for serving.

[sb2178]

I was reading an older cookbook not very long ago and remember her description of a successful casserole as:

1) starch (rice, potatoes, millet, quinoa, etc)

2) protein (chicken, pork, beef, lamb, beans)

3) juicy vegetable OR vegetables plus sauce

(repeat 1-3 until full)

4) topping of bread crumbs with butter or cheese

As to more helpful ideas, I always like doing baked fritattas or crustless quiches.

I've also been told you can make a very passable white sauce using rice flour instead of wheat flour (think making cream of mushroom soup). Formula for a thin (medium, thick) sauce: 1 (2,3) T butter melted in a saucepan. Stir in 1 (2,3) T flour. Toast the roux lightly. Whisk in 1 c cold milk and stir until thickened. For a cheese sauce, add grated cheese.

A cheese sauce over defrosted frozen veg and leftover rice with a can of tuna would be quick. Throw in some garlic, dill, parsley, parmesan and it would even taste pretty decent.

[lpellegr]

Some ideas for food that doesn't need heating:

Hummus with carrots or gluten-free crackers.

Cheese and fruit.

Salad - pile all the veggies (lettuce, leftover cooked veggies, shredded carrots) and some cheese in a big container. You can add cooked chicken and/or chopped hard-boiled egg if you can refrigerate it. Bacon is also awesome. Either add dressing at home (which tends to make the salad slightly soggy), or carry separately and add before you eat.

Roll up deli lunchmeat and cheese together and eat as a bread-free sandwich with some carrots or pickles.

Tuna salad, egg salad - take bread to make a sandwich or just scoop up with vegetables (small carrots, cucumber slices).

Yogurt, topped with nuts. I prefer plain whole milk yogurt to which I add fruit, but any kind will do. Cashews added to that is awesome and will keep you full a long time. Add the nuts later or they might get soggy.

If you include protein (nuts, eggs, meat, cheese) and plants (fruits, veggies) and minimize the bread/cracker/grain items you will feel full longer.

[kareng]

If you put the salad dressing on the bottom then the salad on top, it doesn't get too soggy. Just shake or turn upside down before eating.

Cooked rice, pasta sauce, maybe some veggies or Italian sausage, mixed then covered with cheese and baked. Taste of pasta but cheaper then rice pasta.

Cooking some stuff ahead is a key to fast dinner prep. I made Ital sausage for pasta one night and put half in the freezer for next week. Make extra chili and freeze. Thaws quickly in microwave. You could use it with rice, veggies and cheese on top casserole. We like it on baked potatoes or taco salad.

[Darissa]

Just an idea...for the Tator Tot Casserole we use Progresso Creamy Mushroom soup. It says gluten free right on the label. It is thinner than the old gluten fill cream of mushroom soup because this one is not condensed, but it is good, just decrease the other amount of liquid you put in the casserole.

[Juliebove]

Just an idea...for the Tator Tot Casserole we use Progresso Creamy Mushroom soup. It says gluten free right on the label. It is thinner than the old gluten fill cream of mushroom soup because this one is not condensed, but it is good, just decrease the other amount of liquid you put in the casserole.

That would work, but we need something dairy free.

[JBaby]

Thanks Ladies. Love the ideas. I would have never come up these creations. Much appreciated.