Gluten-free
Fruits, fruit cups, Vegetables, Pepperoni slices and cheese sticks, trail mix, tuna packs and gluten-free crackers, applesauce, lettuce wraps, sandwich meat wraps, pickles, cheese, meat wraps (meat wrapped up in a slice of lunch meat), left over gluten-free pizza, GF soup in a thermos or purchase organic in the box, GF chili, V-8, peanut butter singles (Skippy/Jiff), mashed potatoes, rice with butter or GF gravy, rice pudding, boiled eggs, go-gurts, pudding packs, jello packs, pineapple mixed with cottage cheese; corn tortilla quesadilla (cheese between two corn tortillas, microwave 30 seconds); Trio nut bars; GF Granola bars Slimfast (Kroeger brand is least expensive, there are dairy free ones as well) or Ensure (more expensive, but may taste better).
Paleo
Fruits, fruit cups, vegetables, nitrate-free pepperoni or summer sausage, tuna with lemon pepper, lettuce wraps, meat wraps, pickles, soups or stews, V-8, boiled eggs, trail mix, trio nut bars.
Showing posts with label Work Lunch. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Work Lunch. Show all posts
Monday, December 5, 2011
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Cooking Day
Yesterday it snowed and it was beautiful. It is also the perfect day to stay inside with the oven on and the pots boiling on the stove top and get my cooking done for the week. I have found that I eat much better if I make meals in advance. Everyone is different and many people don't like frozen meals or left-overs. I don't mind them at all and would rather have a home-cooked meal to grab out of the fridge or freezer if there just isn't time to make something.
I went to the store and bought chicken legs, hamburger, pork chops, chicken sausage and steak, fresh spinach, fresh baby carrots, fresh celery, fresh asparagus, frozen broccoli, frozen cauliflower, frozen artichoke hearts, coconut milk, coconut oil, bisquick gluten-free mix and chicken better than bouillon paste.
I cooked the meat in coconut oil with the exception of the chicken and I used olive oil for that because I like the taste better for chicken and the chicken skin tends to absorb the coconut oil to the point it tastes super greasy. Use the coconut oil if you are into the greasy chicken taste.
As the meat cooked, I steamed the frozen bags of vegetables in the microwave (these steam-able bags are great and perfect for work) and prepared the fresh vegetables to make a hamburger stew. I used half the hamburger to make patties and the other half to make stew, just like my Mother used to do. She had 101 recipes for hamburger and I still like the basic, cheap recipes she used. Stew meat is great too, but hamburger is much less expensive and makes more meals. My Dad is by far the better cook, but he worked two or three jobs and she really had to make a dollar stretch with 6 kids to feed. She tried so hard to feed us healthy meals, adding wheat germ and vital gluten to everything, making home-made whole wheat bread, poisoning us all with wheat.
Anyway, when everything was done, I let it cool and then bagged it up into meals in freezer bags. I put a piece of meat and two servings of vegetables, because that is what I like. I have found that 1 minute in the microwave thaws the food enough to transfer it to a plate and cook for another 2-3 minutes until warmed through. Depending on the freezer bag brand, the bag might melt to the food if left in the microwave too long. It doesn't taste that bad with a little melted freezer bag but I should be the only one to have to eat plastic.
I clean the bags after eating the contents and reuse them because plastic is made from oil and I'm trying to do my small part to reduce dependency on oil. My sister is great at canning and she cans hers when she can which is such a good idea. I'm working my way up to that. For now, it is enough to have meals in the fridge and freezer.
That is what the freezer looks stuffed with individual meals and stew in tupperware ready to warm and eat.
Remember that there is a good, better and best choice for all foods. Eat gluten-free and make good choices, eat better and focus on healthy eating and correct combinations for your blood sugar and eat best with grass-fed or wild protein, no sugar and good saturated fats.
I went to the store and bought chicken legs, hamburger, pork chops, chicken sausage and steak, fresh spinach, fresh baby carrots, fresh celery, fresh asparagus, frozen broccoli, frozen cauliflower, frozen artichoke hearts, coconut milk, coconut oil, bisquick gluten-free mix and chicken better than bouillon paste.
I cooked the meat in coconut oil with the exception of the chicken and I used olive oil for that because I like the taste better for chicken and the chicken skin tends to absorb the coconut oil to the point it tastes super greasy. Use the coconut oil if you are into the greasy chicken taste.
As the meat cooked, I steamed the frozen bags of vegetables in the microwave (these steam-able bags are great and perfect for work) and prepared the fresh vegetables to make a hamburger stew. I used half the hamburger to make patties and the other half to make stew, just like my Mother used to do. She had 101 recipes for hamburger and I still like the basic, cheap recipes she used. Stew meat is great too, but hamburger is much less expensive and makes more meals. My Dad is by far the better cook, but he worked two or three jobs and she really had to make a dollar stretch with 6 kids to feed. She tried so hard to feed us healthy meals, adding wheat germ and vital gluten to everything, making home-made whole wheat bread, poisoning us all with wheat.
Anyway, when everything was done, I let it cool and then bagged it up into meals in freezer bags. I put a piece of meat and two servings of vegetables, because that is what I like. I have found that 1 minute in the microwave thaws the food enough to transfer it to a plate and cook for another 2-3 minutes until warmed through. Depending on the freezer bag brand, the bag might melt to the food if left in the microwave too long. It doesn't taste that bad with a little melted freezer bag but I should be the only one to have to eat plastic.
I clean the bags after eating the contents and reuse them because plastic is made from oil and I'm trying to do my small part to reduce dependency on oil. My sister is great at canning and she cans hers when she can which is such a good idea. I'm working my way up to that. For now, it is enough to have meals in the fridge and freezer.
That is what the freezer looks stuffed with individual meals and stew in tupperware ready to warm and eat.
Remember that there is a good, better and best choice for all foods. Eat gluten-free and make good choices, eat better and focus on healthy eating and correct combinations for your blood sugar and eat best with grass-fed or wild protein, no sugar and good saturated fats.
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Practical gluten-free and paleo cooking. Cooking and eating with food allergies and chronic illness.
Practical gluten-free and paleo cooking. Cooking and eating with food allergies and chronic illness.
Eating for optimal health can be a problem for people with chronic illness and food allergies. Sometimes we just can't stand long enough to cook anything but microwave food or even get out of bed to make anything. It helps to have a caregiver or relative or friend who is willing to cook for you, but many people are too stubborn to ask for help. When I don't feel well, I use the crockpot a lot.
If you are well enough to have a job, eating healthy can be a challenge. Preparing a meal ahead of time and remembering to take it with you to work can be a struggle for those of us with fuddled minds. Thinking clearly is hard when combating an illness. I have learned to make a bigger dinner so there is enough to freeze or refridgerate. I also started a cooking day where I prepare meals and freeze them to have food ready to go.
I shop and cook on the same day which isn't possible for many people. If you have the energy to shop one day and have to wait until the next day to cook I suggest leaving the meat in the fridge so it is easier to cook instead of having it frozen.
Today, I took a ziplock bag of a prepared frozen meal out of the freezer and took it to work. I open the bag and cook it for 1 minute and then put it on a plate for another 3 minutes to completely warm it up. I have a paleo/gluten-free meal at low cost and easy to prepare and eat.
Every meal should be a triangle of protein and vegetable and good fat. If you include those three things in each meal, you will feel satisfied and have more energy.
Eating for optimal health can be a problem for people with chronic illness and food allergies. Sometimes we just can't stand long enough to cook anything but microwave food or even get out of bed to make anything. It helps to have a caregiver or relative or friend who is willing to cook for you, but many people are too stubborn to ask for help. When I don't feel well, I use the crockpot a lot.
If you are well enough to have a job, eating healthy can be a challenge. Preparing a meal ahead of time and remembering to take it with you to work can be a struggle for those of us with fuddled minds. Thinking clearly is hard when combating an illness. I have learned to make a bigger dinner so there is enough to freeze or refridgerate. I also started a cooking day where I prepare meals and freeze them to have food ready to go.
I shop and cook on the same day which isn't possible for many people. If you have the energy to shop one day and have to wait until the next day to cook I suggest leaving the meat in the fridge so it is easier to cook instead of having it frozen.
Every meal should be a triangle of protein and vegetable and good fat. If you include those three things in each meal, you will feel satisfied and have more energy.
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