I’m still trying to figure out what to eat now that we’re gluten free and casein free.  I typed up a list of food ideas which I’m going to post as a reference on our fridge for those moments when I get stuck and need ideas.  Thought I’d share it here.  It’s still evolving and expanding.

 

Breakfast

Steal Cut oats with fresh or dried fruit (oftentimes we stir in dates, dried coconut, raisins, ground flax seeds, cinnamon, brown sugar and/or almond milk)

Fruit smoothie with a handful of spinach or kale

Gluten free cereals like corn flakes or rice krispies, chex (hate them)

Crepes (I just figured this out this week; I used almond milk and tapioca flour which the lovely woman at a Filipino market recommended to me and is quite affordable)

 

Lunch/Dinners

Corn tortiallas with beans, chicken, tomatoes, lettuce

Stir fry with a little chicken, lots of fresh vegetables, and rice (I almost always mix my jasmine rice or brown rice with quinoa)

Chili with tortilla chips

Sweet potatoes/ sweet potato fries

Soups and stews

Grain salads with vegetables mixed in

Thai curry dishes (they use coconut milk; not dairy milk.  The kids actually love the Thai curry dishes)

Indian dishes (the spices used in indian dishes are phenomenally healthy)

Salads

Marinated, grilled kabobs

Asian rice noodles w/vegetables

Breakfast burritos – eggs, potatoes, ham/bacon

Baked potato with chili

Chicken with vegetables

Gluten free bread peanut butter and jelly sandwiches

Snacks

Apples and peanut butter

Fresh vegetables with hummus – red/green/yellow/orange peppers, cucumbers, celery, carrots, broccoli

Applesauce

Nuts (the boys love cashews and almonds; Sadie thinks all nuts make her throw up (only pistachios do) so she won’t eat any)

Fresh fruit – strawberries, kiwi, blueberries, blackberries, watermelon, grapes, honeydew, oranges, tangerines, grapefruit, peaches, pineapple, pears  (sometimes if the fruit is tart I mix cinnamon into some of our local honey and let the kids dip their fruit)

Ants on a log (raisins and PB on celery)

Fresh salsa with tortilla chips

Real popcorn

Hard boiled or scrambled eggs

Banana chips

Gluten free bread with honey and cinnamon (the bread is in the freezer section but $5/loaf so I don’t buy a ton of it)

Other weird things we’ve tried (like them all):

Nutritional yeast

Chia seeds

Sunflower butter

 

I’ve tried two baking gluten free recipes using rice flour but they were flops.  I really need to find a healthy, tasty gluten free bread recipe.  A friend gave me a recipe I’ve been meaning to try but I haven’t found the time yet.  Hopefully this week I’ll give it a go 🙂

Not surprisingly, I have a considerable amount of energy lately and we’re all feeling very healthy and strong.  Our neighbors are snow birds and gave us a bunch of their food this past week because they left for the summer.  I ate their wheat bread one day and felt yucky and lethargic all afternoon.  I’ve noticed that wheat really zaps my energy.  Although, not always, just the breads from the grocery store.  We splurged and got pizza Friday night and I felt gross afterwards.  I keep repeating the same mistakes.  We still tend to cheat once per week.  Sometimes more.  Like last week the nice neighbor lady asked if my kids could have Popsicles.  I didn’t want to be rude so I said yes, but they had artificial dyes AND (I found out later) they had fake sugar.

I try not to be too over-the-top strict.  I don’t want the kids to feel so restricted that they go hog wild when they’re away from home.  We’re trying to find the balance still.  I feel good about the progress we’ve made and hope we can continue to retrain our palates to love healthy foods.