Gluten Free In College

[linuxprincess]

Hey everyone - I'm looking for some advice for being gluten free while attending university. I know that the issues that I'm dealing with are not the same for everyone, but I would like some advice for my situation.

I'm a vegetarian and cannot do dairy. Eggs aren't my favorite either, but if they're in a recipe (think bread, not omelet), that is okay with me. I recently moved across the country to room with someone who is not gluten free, not vegetarian. I have one pot to use for cooking. I'm on a very tight budget, and I do not have access to a microwave (I like to make things interesting, apparently).

For the past three weeks I've been living on cereal, canned soup, and pasta w/ frozen veg tossed in. Peanut butter sauce or tomato sauce for the pasta, salads and that's about it. I am in desperate need of variety and would appreciate any ideas. There is great local produce available where I live and I'm taking advantage of farmers markets as much as I can while they're still available for the fall.

Maybe risotto frozen into servings? Any ideas for soups that require little prep (I've got potato soup down to a science already)? After that, I just cannot think of any ideas. Eating at the commons is not an option for me because of the gluten/dairy thing, so suggestions are welcomed.

[kareng]

I'm thinking you'll be asking for another pan, crockpot and a microwave for your birthday or Xmas.

Thai kitchen has gluten-free stuff in the regular grocery. The rice noodles are pretty cheap.

Canned beans are cheap. Try them with some veggies and some bottled salsa and rice. You can make lots of rice ahead and reheat with a little veggie broth or water. Kitchen Basics makes a yummy veg broth.

Chopping up fresh tomatoes, onions, garlic, basil and cook. add fresh spinach or arugula and cook a couple of minutes. Mix with pasta or rice or quinoa.

If you can stomach it, take cooked rice, get it hot & add a scrambles egg and soy sauce (LaChoy has gluten-free and is cheap). Stir a whole bunch so you don't have chunks of egg that you son't like. You need to get protein.

Add nuts to salad or cooked pasta, rice,etc.

PB on celery, apples, gluten-free crackers. Hummus.

Chex cereal. Avocados.

I ate alot of sandwiches in college because you don't have to cook. PB. Some almond butters aren't too pricy.

Good luck with food & school!

[kareng]

Do you have an oven? Foil can be used for a pan to bake a potato or sweet potato. Can get a cookie sheet pretty cheap. This could open up a whole new cuisine (brownies).

[bbuster]

I just participated in a Web Seminar last Sunday, and they mentioned this on-line resource:

Open Original Shared Link

It's called Gluten-Free Guide to College. You might want to check it out.

[Ahorsesoul]

IF you search on "8 Tips for Going to College Gluten Free" Freeville has a nice article just for information. May help some others who are off to college.

[linuxprincess]

Thanks for the help everyone. I really appreciate it all.

I will start buying the canned beans and making more rice to go along with things. Quinoa and millet are things I forget about when they're not right in my face at the grocery store, so I'll have to search those out more.

I'm scarfing peanut butter by the jar here and still craving it! Kinda surprised me how much of it I'm eating, but it is so good and good for you too! Rice noodles are something I've been doing and they're pretty versatile. I'll have to go for the salsa next time I'm shopping too. Never thought to add it to dishes, just think chips when I see it. lol

Trader Joes has really really cheap rice cereal that I can eat and it's pretty darn tasty too, so I've been shopping there for the cheap gluten-free stuff I can find. Pretty impressed with their cheaper selections - first time shopping there.

I just saw the article in Freeville today about 15 minutes ago and was unimpressed. Lots of good info for those who are totally clueless, but I've dealt with CC enough to know that they (restaurants, cafeterias, etc) will flat out lie to you to get your business. Same thing with being vegetarian. Many places will just tell you something is veg to keep you from being a bother. I try to avoid eating out as much as possible unless the place is very well known and has many many great reviews.

I am doing the foil in the oven thing for fries and 'taters. Potatoes are so great for everything.

I checked out that gluten-free Guide to College and it was very helpful with some of the tips. Thanks a million. I already use the large tupperware for the fridge to store my stuff, so putting some more tips into action should be easy.

Thanks again.

[India]

Hi there. I'd recommend looking for 'one pot' recipes. There are various books out there on this topic, designed for simple cooking without too much equipment. Many recipes can be adapted to be gluten-free fairly easily.

I ate this way when I was a student - I'd make up a big casserole and dip into it over a couple of days. It's cheap, easy, healthy and perfect for keeping away hunger while you're studying