Gluten free lunch ideas?

[UterusUterusGhali]

One of the DC has been diagnosed recently with coeliacs disease. We're struggling to come up with lunches, and in particular lunches on a budget.
We've got some GF wraps but they're pretty expensive.
The GF rolls are pretty minging, apparently.
No access to a microwave or kettle at college so has to be cold food.

The genius breads are the least offensive, particularly the multi seeded loaf and brioche burger buns.

Other than that, I usually fall back on salads or soups of different kinds.

Also look at oopsy-roll recipes.

(I'm currently suffering because wait-bloody-rose's smoked ham batons apparently have a wheat glaze on them for no good reason at all. It's a minefield and your DS has my sympathy. It's definitely easier to have a few regular meals to fall back on.)

Oh sorry, your DC not necessarily DS.

It's in so much, isn't it?!

Poor DD, who is usually quite stoical, has had a bit of a break down this weekend. The fact Maccies chips have a coating pushed her over the edge. She spends all her wages on eating out with friends and is feeling quite hard done by.

The brioche buns sound like a goer!

The Free From burger buns from Tesco are pretty okay. So are the GF rolls from M&S. If you very lightly toast the bread, that apparently makes the bread less minging for sandwiches. A shedload of mayo also helps, if you're doing something like tuna, lettuce and mayo.

Sushi and rice balls are a good one.

Chicken salad, potato salad, pasta or rice salad can be taken in small pottles.

Also, doing something like a selection of cheese, GF crackers, ham, salami, cold chicken, grapes, tomato, cucumber, sweet peppers, cold boiled eggs., yoghurt.

There's always fritata, if your DC will eat that, or making a crustless quiche.

GF

Cold GFpizza.

GF savoury muffins.

If you're baking, heartily recommend the GF flour from M&S, just exchanging it in recipes 1c for 1c of standard. It's fantastic.

I think it's common to start of thinking it will be manageable and then cracking a bit a few weeks in when you realise quite how widespread pointless wheat is.

I have twice now ordered a Big Mac without the bread, which was messy but delicious. And it didn't trigger any symptoms so I assume nothing in the sauce. It cheered me up when I was really missing junk food.

Asda have a really good and reasonably priced gf section. Their sliced white gf bread is the nicest I've had

If you very lightly toast the bread, that apparently makes the bread less minging for sandwiches.

Yes, I second that.

Have a look at keto pizza. It's delicious.

Also whoopsie rolls are nice

Egg muffins with bacon and cheese, feta and beetroot or Mediterranean veg are delicious.

It might be easier to move to a low carb Mediterranean type diet.

How about soup in a flask?
Or get a food flask, and then she could take in a hot meal - perhaps an extra portion of whatever you had hte night before?

My oh likes the Asda's own gf bread best, it's also a fair bit cheaper. I really feel for you and your DC, it's a minefield.

I find the genius brown bread ok, and if I have it for a sandwich I tend to have several fillings like ham, cheese and mustard so there are other flavours (and some extra moisture from the mustard) which makes the bread nicer. Or soup in a flask that she can dip the bread in to make it a bigger meal if she'd be hungry with just soup.

Think outside the lunchbox. Just because most of the world likes to base its lunches around bread doesn't mean we coeliacs have to imitate them.

There's a lot of stuff out there that is naturally GF, like fruit and vegetables. I tend to a light lunch at work and often eat a couple of apples. Sometimes I take yoghurt, though my computer and clothes bear the scars! Carrot sticks can be good. Cold meats are naturally GF, though if you are buying always check that nothing with gluten has been added. Oat-based products are usually safe, though if your DC is particularly sensitive you may have to go for the GF certified ones. There are rice cakes from most of the supermarkets even though they taste like cardboard someone must like them. Things like cookies can be made fairly easily at home with GF flour.

It’s tough in the early days and even now I occasionally have a wobble about not being able to have a proper doughnut! But I echo everything everyone has said above and it’s definitely easier once you have a few regular meals you know work.

Unless it’s specific to particular branches I don’t think that’s right about McDonalds chips - the chips and the hash browns are about the only gf items on the menu. Unless you want a fruit bag

Sainsbury's do a fantastic GF farmhouse loaf in their in store bakery which actually tastes like proper bread and doesn't fall apart when you make sandwiches with it! Only down side it's crap for toasting 🙁.

Ds (16) was diagnosed coeliac last August and sorts his own lunches out for school as he got really bored of baked potatoes for lunch. He like hummus and cucumber sticks, blt sandwiches, rice salad, left over mac and cheese or stir fry. He also makes savoury muffins to take wth him. He also doesn't like the gf wraps so will make crepes and use those instead.

Re shopping I use an app by coeliac uk which scans the barcode and says if it's safe or not - £3.99 from the ap store and it's really helped - who knew English Mustard has wheat in!

Rice noodle or GF pasta salads, sushi (not necessarily with fish!), flourless muffins, tapas style stuff, most deli meats or cold sausage with salad.

It is overwhelming at the beginning. I'm not Gf but we have coeliacs in the family, you do get used to it. None of my family really neither with the GF ranges apart from M and S.

These are all great, thank you. :)
Forgot about sushi! She loves that.

Most of the time we eat dhal at home, but she's said she doesn't want to take that in a flask, although the little dc do occasionally.

I've stockpiled loads of halloumi and feta for salads.

It would be helpful if she wasn't also a fussy bugger.

The food bank is going to get all the noodles and mug shots and instant cous cous she has in for weekends. So that's something.

Quinoa or rice salads, but may be an acquired taste for a youngster! Hard boiled eggs.

Warburton's GF tiger bread is fab.

I echo what talbotaman says- forget bread based lunches. DD had hated all the gf bread, though will eat the Genius cinnamon and raisin bagels.
She has rice salads, potato salads, lamb tagine (with rice not couscous, the gf couscous is vile!), pasta Bolognese or arrabiata using gf pasta (she thinks Sainsbury's free from is the best one), chicken salad, etc etc.
Luckily she will eat a wide variety of veg. Does yours eat lentils, beans, legumes? Hummus is nice.

Aldi has a decent GF range that's affordable.

GF pitas with chicken/veg and hummus is lovely or pasta/salads.

I often make salad/burrito bowls for lunch. So some sort of meat with whatever veg and salad she likes (I usually add sweet potato or beans to make it more filling). And then some hummus/guacamole/salsa. Easy meal prep for the week!

My husband has alot of salads (with chicken, koftas, crustless quiche, falafel).
If he has sandwiches he likes the Tesco brown bread best.

Mcdonalds chips aren't coated but they can be fried in the same oil as products with gluten in

We often do gf pasta or couscous is a thermos. Also crackers (DD likes the Asda ones) with cheese or ham and I make savoury muffins when feeling organised.

Mc Donald's chips are OK as are hash browns. There's a cc risk when they're doing things like wedges or cheese things but it's store dependant and they'll be able to tell you what's cooked in which fryer

Slightly off topic on the lunches here but some McDonalds restaurants will let you bring your own gf bun and they will make a burger for you. Fries are gluten free in the UK but aren’t in some other countries - USA definitely put a coating on

There's something particularly yukky about GF bread that's been made into a sandwich in advance. Lots of the crackers, particularly Nairns, are good too. Be careful with sushi if you don't make it yourself as the soy sauce will contain gluten. Tamari is a good GF substitute, but not readily available out and about.

M and s rabge is my favourite. Otherwise I bake my own scones, banana bread, ham and cheese muffins etc. I also eat a lot of chicken salads and soups.
I've always been OK with kfc fries and Mc Donald's fries.