Best Grab-and-Go, Healthy, Gluten-Free Foods

I've been gluten-free for 3 years. When something says it was processed in a facility that also processes wheat, barley, rye, or any of their hybrids, I put it back on the shelf. That means there could be cross-contamination with gluten-containing grains. With oats, for example, I always watch for that. If it doesn't say gluten-free, it goes back on the shelf to stay.

@CD16571910 Have you ever thought about getting a NutriBullet? These extract the nutrients from the foods you put in it rather than just blend them. You do have to make sure it does not blend for more than 1 minute, though, as the cup and blade will stick together if they get too hot. I had that problem once with mine while it was still under warranty. They gave me a new cup and blade free; all I had to pay was the shipping and handling fees. Then pour it into your thermos and carry it with you. I've taken NutriBlasts, as they call them, to school with me in the past and had no problems.

Nutrition in smoothies evaporates in 10 minutes, can not be made ahead, will not get proper nutrition, it's a oxygen reaction .

Some healthy grab and go snacks (always check for the GF CERTIFICATION):
Pamelas oat up bars, organic food bar, etc.

Green apples

I love snow peas! Those are all great ideas :)

My on the run GF snacks are apples or GF muesli bars.

If I have a little bit of prep time I love carrot sticks, snow peas or baby cucumbers with hummus.

Thank you! I didn't know I could keep smoothies in the fridge overnight :D I'm going to try it. I've just started prepping my meals, thanks for the advice on defrosting a frozen one :)

I do a lot of prep in advance. If I am making dinner, I always make extra and store it in the fridge in individual serving containers. Chicken, veggies, etc. And, if I have too much, instead of letting it spoil in the fridge, I freeze it. Then, later in the week I can simply stick it in the fridge to thaw. After that, all you have to do is pop it in the microwave! It's already fully cooked! I wash/slice/chop my fruit as soon as I get home from the store so that it is ready to go for snack, smoothies, and so on. I also make my smoothies the night before and keep them in the fridge. I throw it in my bag in the morning. As long as I drink it by lunchtime, it's usually still cold or cool.

Tbirdanni:
Thank you so much for all of the great ideas! I forgot how much I love cherry tomatoes until I read your reply :) Also, I've been avoiding buying frozen veggies because I hate thawing them out using the method on the bag, but using a steamer over cooking pasta is just brilliant. I'm going to try it :) Also, that sounds like a really yummy dinner :)

Also, it's good to know that frozen sandwiches defrost by lunchtime. I haven't been making sandwiches with my frozen GF bread bc I didn't think I could defrost them at work and I wasn't sure about how it would work.

Edited by: POCKET_MONKEY at: 4/28/2015 (10:21)

Geowags:
You're right! Lol I read the soup can more carefully and it isn't Campbell's, it just says Healthy Choice :):) Also, it doesn't say "gluten free" on the label, but the allergy statement says "May contain soy" And I know other flavors of the soup have an allergy statement saying "May contain wheat". It doesn't say whether it is processed in a facility that processes wheat, but I've never had an allergic reaction. I'm not sure if it's safe for people with celiac's as opposed to a gluten allergy like me. What do you think?

For speedy packed up lunches, a friend of mine used to make piles of sandwiches on his day off, bag them in single servings and freeze, he also used to freeze tubs of yogurt. Then in the morning he could pull out 1 packet of sandwiches and a yogurt, put them in a lunch box and they would be defrosted by lunchtime.

Evening meals in a hurry are usually pasta here. I put a steamer pan over the pasta and cook frozen veg, open a can of tuna, stir the veg and tuna through the cooked and drained pasta and add a dollop of quark or greek yogurt.

grab and go foods here are

apples
home made flapjacks
Nakd bars
dried mango, apple or pear (our local Lidl sell a really good range)
tubs of gf cereal with dried fruit added
tubs of cherry tomatoes
Baby Bel cheeses
rice cakes

I always keep a stock of tubbed up snacks ready so that I'm not tempted to raid hub's chocolate stash!

When I read your post I was intrigued because I didn't know that Campbell's made any gluten free soups. I know that recipes are constantly changing and there are many more options available for people with food allergies or celiac disease so I went to the website to check it out. The Campbell's website doesn't list any GF soups on their list of GF foods. Is it possible that you are thinking of a different manufacturer?

I'm super busy right now because I have two jobs with long hours. I'm a nanny and I love what I do, but I don't always have time to cook healthy food from scratch. I feel a little bad about this, but more often than not, I need grab and go food. plus, it has to be gluten free bc I'm allergic. Lately I've been experimenting with convenient healthy choices

Here are my favorite super fast and easy GF foods:
1. Campbell's Healthy Choice microwaveable soup do-dads. The GF varieties include chicken with rice, veggie (my current love), and Thai style chicken with rice...I usually have one for lunch and/or dinner. It's filling and each do-dad only has like 200 calories.
2. Luna bars
3. Ready PAC Single serve salads (they're usually with the bagged lettuce), they even have a variety that's dairy free too :)
4. Apples. You don't have to peel them like oranges and bananas, and I can just throw a few in my bag, unlike berries or grapes.
5. Greek yogurt, except this can be tricky because it needs to be refrigerated

What are your favorite grab-and-go healthy GF foods? Do you have any tips on eating GF & healthy with a hectic schedule? (I'm working on getting in the habit of prepping meals ahead of time lol but I'm usually so tired I just want to put something in the microwave haha)


Edited by: POCKET_MONKEY at: 4/28/2015 (00:25)