Super Easy Meal Planning For Your Gluten Free Diet
If you have to follow a gluten free diet, your life will become a whole lot easier if you learn how to plan your breakfast, lunch and dinner meals, especially if you work and have a busy lifestyle. There are plenty of simple foods you can easily incorporate into the planning of your meals without driving yourself crazy. Here are some easy ways to get started until you become more familiar with a wider variety of foods and recipes.
Breakfast – Eggs (try an omelet using fresh veggies), fruits (fresh, frozen or canned), cottage cheese. Try putting some fruit on top of the cheese and add a dash of cinnamon. Also, choose rice cakes which are delicious with a dab of heart healthy peanut butter and your favorite jelly or jam. You can also try cream of rice cereal. Also check out the cereal aisle for gluten free cereals such as Chex. There is a good selection of frozen gluten free waffles and pancakes. You can also make a smoothie using fresh fruit and some protein powder.
Lunch – Choose among these: baked chicken, baked sweet potato with butter, veggies, fruit or fruit juice, rice, hard-boiled eggs, tuna sandwich using a corn tortilla or even on a rice cake, or Udi bread (which you can get in your local health food store). Use hummus as a spread which is really good and healthy. Progresso has a line of gluten free soups – check those out.
Dinner – Any meat with no grain additives, pork, chicken, seafood, veggies, baked potatoes, gluten free pasta. Try making a stir fry using either chicken or seafood, veggies, and a gluten free soy sauce and seasonings such as salt, pepper, and fresh herbs. Also, try making ahead of time or in a crock pot some chicken soup, beef stew, or chili. You can also have whole, low fat, skim, dry, evaporated or condensed milk, cream, whipping cream, American cheese, and aged cheeses such as Cheddar, Swiss, Edam and Parmesan. Melt some cheese over your veggies – get creative!
These are a few simple and easy suggestions just to get your started right away but you need to educate yourself about all the foods you can and cannot have. There is an abundance of information on the internet and basic food guides to follow. You can also search online for gluten free snacks. Just remember with snacks though, moderation is key.
On a final note, hit your neighborhood health food store where you will find a lot of gluten free foods. I live in South Florida where there are Nutrition World stores everywhere and they have very knowledgeable salespeople that can help you if you have any questions about these products. Another suggestion is to find easy recipes to keep you on track.
