Gluten-Free Meal Ideas
Being a college student, I am on a tighter budget on what I can afford to eat. I am also super limited being in a small college town with only a Food Lion or Walmart with a selective gluten-free section as well as a scarce produce section. With that, I am going to share my typical meal ideas for what I eat in a day. To give some insight and ideas for those who are new to the gluten-free diet, looking to eliminate gluten from their diet, or just trying to avoid gluten.
Breakfast
Breakfast is something that can be super easy on the go or can be prepped the night before.
I tend to stick to the basics like yogurt, eggs, gluten-free toast, fruit smoothies, gluten-free granola, and oatmeal.
Yogurts
My personal favorite yogurt is Oikos® Greek yogurt. I love the taste and it isn’t as tart as the other greek yogurts. I think that Oikos®has a large variety of options like ones with fruit mixed in as well as protein and it’s so filling that I am set until lunchtime.
Yogurt is also for great on the go and easy to add a variety of different toppings to such as granola, fruits, and even honey.
Eggs
I love eggs!!! I can eat eggs all day, every day. I am a big fan of the runny yolk eggs (over easy), omelets, and scrambled eggs. A little salt and pepper can get boring after a while with eggs, so I tend to put some avocado with mine.
One of my favorite things to make is what I call Southwest Scramble Eggs.
I use salsa, avocado, mild cheddar cheese, and sour cream.
Gluten-Free Toast
Recently I have been loving toast in the mornings. A bread that is new to me called Udi’s Multigrain toast. It is so soft and tastes like normal bread. I love putting anything on my bread like peanut butter, cream cheese, and avocado (seeing a trend with avocado?).
What I bought recently from Trader Joe’s is the Everything but the bagel seasoning. I put it on cream cheese or avocado toast. It has great flavor and is amazing to make the easy breakfast in the morning spice it up and taste like you went to the bagel shop and got a fresh bagel.
Fruit Smoothies
A fruit smoothie can really make me feel like my day is off to the right start! I love starting my day off right with some healthy greens and fruits. Some things I put in my smoothies are bananas, spinach, strawberries, peaches, pineapple, and sometimes yogurt to make the consistency thicker.
Oats
Oatmeal is a such a great and filling breakfast option. Brown sugar, cinnamon, and fruits. Super easy meal on the go or cozied up during the winter, oatmeal is an awesome go-to choice.
Lunch
Lunch can be trickier sometimes especially when I am out somewhere, so I tend to make some lunches before I leave to go somewhere. Here are a few things I make before my mid-day class or in between my busy day.
Salad
My typical salad consists of spinach or kale, veggies such as tomatoes, carrots, and sometimes beets. I love tomatoes, and different kind of cheeses to add some flavor like feta or goat cheese.
Another kind of salad I love to have is a chicken or tuna salad.
Sandwiches/wraps
I use this really good wrap called Toufayan. They are the only ones I have so far been able to find that don’t ever break. They hold the best and are great to use in the oven to heat up your wrap. I have bought them at Food Lion and Wegmans.
Leftovers!!!
I take this from my mom and use what I had the night before often for my lunch, especially the meat or fish. Sometimes I will add the meat into my salad or make something separate like quinoa or rice to go along with it. I try and make large quantities to use throughout the week to save money as well as.
Dinner
For dinner, I have three main staples always. Fish/Meat, vegetable, and rice or like quinoa.
I love cooking fish or chicken with my favorite Chili Lime seasoning from Trader Joes. It is a great way to add some flavor to it while keeping it simple.
I love veggies especially squash and zucchini. One of my favorite dinners consists of spaghetti squash and zoodles (zucchini noodles).
Zoodles are a great alternative for noodles and are a quick easy way to have both a yummy noodle texture and veggies!
I found this Youtube vlogger, Cambria Joy, who has really good tips and tricks throughout her channel that has inspired some of my meals.
I hope that this has helped some of you with healthy food ideas with gluten-free options and alternatives!