Looking For Grocery Shopping Ideas

[MissBecky]

I'm looking for grocery shopping advice. I'm a college student, living in a dorm and I'm on a meal plan (they accomodate my intolerance). However, it's going to be closed for winter break, which is about a month, and so I'll need to go grocery shopping and prepare my own food. I'm looking for meal ideas I can make in my room, on a budget. I have a refrigerator with small freezer and microwave. No stove or anything.

[Roda]

-Birds Eye Steamfresh Singles or other small packages of frozen veggies

-Minute Rice ready to serve rice containers

-Peanutbutter, jelly or marshmallow fluff

-Rice cakes or loaf of gluten-free bread

-Fresh fruits/veggies

-Nuts

-Eggs--I scramble and microwave them and eat them with melted cheese on top of a rice cake or something of the like

-Cheese sticks/Kraft sliced cheese

-Hormel Naturals lunch meat

-Tortillas

-Yogurt

-Another favorite of my kids': put mozzerella cheese and peperoni on a rice cake and microwave until cheese melts. Works with ham and cheese too.

-Dinty More microwavable cups see gluten-free list here Open Original Shared Link

-Thai kitchen instant rice noodle soups link here to allergin/gluten statements Open Original Shared Link

I'm sure someone else can think of more things.

[Mizzo]

-Birds Eye Steamfresh Singles or other small packages of frozen veggies

-Minute Rice ready to serve rice containers

-Peanutbutter, jelly or marshmallow fluff

-Rice cakes or loaf of gluten-free bread

-Fresh fruits/veggies

-Nuts

-Eggs--I scramble and microwave them and eat them with melted cheese on top of a rice cake or something of the like

-Cheese sticks/Kraft sliced cheese

-Hormel Naturals lunch meat

-Tortillas

-Yogurt

-Another favorite of my kids': put mozzerella cheese and peperoni on a rice cake and microwave until cheese melts. Works with ham and cheese too.

-Dinty More microwavable cups see gluten-free list here Open Original Shared Link

-Thai kitchen instant rice noodle soups link here to allergin/gluten statements Open Original Shared Link

I'm sure someone else can think of more things.

Oscar Mayer : Turkey, Bologna or hot dogs

Progresso : chicken and rice, Lentil and clam chowder soups

Tostito's tortilla round chips can be used with salsa, guacamole, scooping up soup , layer mini sandwiches or just melt cheese on them

If you can borrow a crock pot you can cook meat and rice and veggies at same time and have leftovers for heating up in microwave later.

I'm sure there is more idea's to come.

[MissBecky]

Thank you both, this was really useful.

[CarolinaKip]

Thank you both, this was really useful.

Depends on shop progresso has several soups. weight watchers will have a few also. Fruit! Depends on what you can handle, peanut butter and jelly, nuts, fruits.lean meats. Corn cakes, Hormel natural meats.I've done good by Chic fil A char grill salad with any of dressings.Yogurt,cheese if you can handle it. Boiled eggs,scrambled in clean pan. eating out// Wendy's Chili, bake potato, ask to chage gloves!

[Juliebove]

Unlce Ben's makes pouches of cooked rice that are two servings each. Many different flavors. One of daughter's favorite meals is the roasted chicken flavor topped with canned chicken.

Another favorite with canned chicken is to put it over bagged salad. She likes the additon of black olives, baby carrots and Costco's sesame dressing. That dressing comes in a huge bottle but perhaps there is some other kind you could use?

We get some single serve things from minimus.biz, including gluten free apple bars. They're not necessarily cheap though. I think they are just over a dollar a bar.

Hormel canned chili, as is or over a baked potato that you can do in the microwave. Just pirece it with a fork before cooking until soft.

Hormel canned tamales. I make them into a casserole. Unwrap from the paper and put in a casserole then add slices of green pepper, white onion and some canned or fresh chopped tomatoes. Heat through and top with black olives.

Hummus. We eat with raw veggies, Fritos or thick potato chips.

Bean tacos. I use canned refried beans and corn tortillas. Just put together and heat through for about 30 seconds. You can add things like lettuce, onions, tomatoes, salsa, avocado, cheese, etc.

Mini tostadas. Fill Tostitos scoops with canned refried beans and top with a bit of shredded cheese. Heat until cheese melts. Can add toppings as above.

Instant mashed potatoes made up and mixed with chopped onion, real bacon bits and shredded cheese.

Nachos made in the microwave.

Bean dip. Canned refried beans thinned with a little salsa, add cheese and chopped onions if you want. Heat through. Eat with corn chips or bell pepper cut in chunks.

Cottage cheese and canned fruit.

Pizza casserole. Put a can of chopped Italian seasoned canned tomatoes in a single serve casserole. Top with Mozzarella and/or any other kind of Italian cheese you have. Heat until the cheese melts then let cool a little bit. The cheese will become hard again and it tastes just like pizza!

[Takala]

If you get a toaster oven and a hot plate to add to your toolbox, you can really cook just about anything.

Soup: Imagine brand makes all of these different flavored, gluten free soups in boxes. You can take a can of corn, a can of fire roasted tomatoes, and a can of black or pinto beans, rinse the beans well in a colander first, and mix them together in a bowl. Add some apple cider vinegar, some extra virgin olive oil, some Chipotle Smoked Tabasco or Green Salsa, and some cumin, and mix well. Put a cup of the corn/tomato/bean mixture into a bowl, then pour some gluten free soup over it to make a hearty bowl of vegetable stew. Tomato soup is really good for this, but you can also use canned gluten free chicken broth. You can also add meat or chopped hard boiled egg or cheese. Microwave to heat. Store rest of vegetable mix in refrigerator.

Microwave bread, aka "bun - in - a - cup." Yes, you can even BAKE gluten free bread, hot and fresh, in your microwave. All you need is a cereal bowl or ramekin bowl, and the ingredients. Once you get the hang of this, it's really fun because it's very fast, and then you can make toast with it, too. See this thread here: and scroll down to where I had this:

gluten free "wonder" buns with sorghum, almond, flax (can also use millet, teff or other gluten free grains or grain substitutes. You could also use a premix like Pamela's, or a rice/ cornstarch/ potatostarch blend. this recipe makes a single bun and uses 1/4 cup of flour meal )

Open Original Shared Link

What I did to tweak this recipe, which I thought was way too dry at first, was to add a bit of olive oil to it, a teaspoon to a tablespoon, depending on how much flour I was using. I also don't like the taste of flax at all, so I omitted it after the first few tries and replaced it with more ground almonds. (nuts are very easy to grind in a blender. ) I also added a bit more flour, some water, and a small amount of baking soda and a half teaspoon of apple cider vinegar. This gave me a nice, moist bun but I had to vary the microwave bake time. Sometimes I use a big cereal bowl and make a big one I cut in half. It can be sweetened with a bit of honey or agave, and made to taste like a muffin, also. Test the bun with a knife to see if the knife comes out clean, otherwise, keep zapping it in the microwave until cooked through.

Bun in the Bowl, microwaved

in a microwave safe bowl, custard dish, or ramekin, mix together

1 egg

half teasp apple cider vinegar

a bit of olive oil, a spoonful aprox.

a tiny glop of molasses

add to it a mixture of gluten free flours (for a single bun, 1/4 cup. for a larger single bun, a 1/2 cup, for a BIG bun for 2 servings, 3/4 to one cup.)

orig recipe had sorghum, almond, flax. I use almond and whatever else I have, usually sorghum - amaranth.

1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teasp. cocoa powder

pinch of salt

optional - pinches of other spices, such as cinnamon, cumin

teaspoon of sesame or sunflower seeds for garnish

optional - more sugar, honey, or sweetener to make a muffin like taste (can use lemon peel, juice, and poppyseeds, for example)

If using larger amounts of gluten-free flours, add water to make a batter.

Mix together until well blended, and microwave right in the bowl for approximately 1 minute 20 seconds to 1 minute 30 seconds. The Big Bun in a Big Cereal bowl, in a slower microwave, may take up to 1 :45 or even 2 minutes - keep checking. Be careful not to over microwave the smaller ones or they turn into flax hockey pucks which taste of sawdust. The middle may not want to cook thru on the bigger cereal bowl. This is where you dump it out onto a plate and finish microwaving it upside down.

Makes one bun. Once you figure these out, they are really, really handy to make instant hot gluten-free bread with. And you can even slice them and toast them. The big ones can be cut in half to make 2 half rounds, and then split to make two small sandwich breads for lunch.

[amybeth]

When I'm traveling or do not have access to a full kitchen, I buy perdue short cuts and mayo...with some salt and pepper, I mix up a basic chicken salad and eat it with tostitos, fritos, or rice cakes.

I'm also a big fan of cereal any time of day, so the gluten free cinnamon chex & milk - maybe with some sliced banana- would be good.

Hormel has microwave kids meals that are gluten-free (not all, but some) I buy the beans & weiners one. . .

Maybe buy some salad & veggies for simple salads...although the short cuts would be good on this too.

If you're not opposed to hot dogs, the oscar mayer ones zap up nicely in the microwave . .

I would also buy some apples and grapes with some sliced cheddar...for an easy and filling lunch.

[MissBecky]

Thanks everyone, this has been super helpful.