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.

I usually do a biggish salad with pulses (puy lentils, chickpeas, butterbeans or something) and chunks of potato, sweet potato or butternut squash to make it hearty and filling enough for lunch - endless variations of those! Or make a gf crepe and use it as a wrap (or a very thin omelette - yum).

Soup or gf pasta in a thermos work well too, or a frittata, or loads of nibbly bits - oatcakes, cheese, carrot sticks, cucumbers, peppers, olives some kind of dip (hummus gets boring fast but often i blitz a chunk of pecorino with some defrosted peas, greek yoghurt and fresh mint and lemon juice and it’s delicious), deli meats/cold chicken, japanese rice crackers etc etc...

I’m also obsessed with noodles (loads of gluten free options) in a peanut butter sauce with whatever veg you have lying around to use up; I usually make a double portion for dinner and eat the rest for lunch cold! Yum.

Your poor DD - I hope she settles into a new rhythm soon

Omg that pecorino thing sounds lush!

I need to get my act together and plan meals better. It's usually all cobbled together in a rush tbh.

I'm had the same lunch issue today, normaly take a serving of last night GF meal in a box and heat it in the microwave. But today was a class, no access to a microwave. I just threw a bunch of bits in my bag, some Asda GF rice cakes with chocolate on, an apple, a bottle of water, a bag of crisps and a mini pack of Nairns GF breakfast biscuits. Not the healthiest I'll admit. Got home at 4 and had a bit of meat and cheese.
GF bread sucks, I can't eat it as a sandwich. Toast I can do. I've been told M&S gf bread is best.

Do some different flavoured wedges, ok hot or cold.

My daughter will eat M&S seeded bread rolls for a sandwich and their brown bread as toast if at home. I get gf pasta from Waitrose and I’ve baked with Dove Farm gf flour to make cakes, scones etc very successfully. Oat cakes are a good snack. I meal plan every week and like cooking so its not been too bad. It’s getting easier, stores are really increasing their ranges.

I've recently been making gf cheese scones and taking them into work with ham and lots of butter and tomatoes. Wetherspoons fries have flour coating on them as do a quite oven chips.

Oh and Nairns gf oatcakes with cheese.

The best GF free options for sandwiches IMO are Sainsbury's own brand GF bread, the seeded one is nice; and BFree pitta breads. I also like rye bread although it's an acquired taste - and you need it to be 100 per cent rye, many rye breads contain wheat. I get mine from waitrose.

Whoops just realised you can't eat rye if you are properly gluten intolerant.

Sushi, it's easy to make your own - head to an oriental supermarket though as supermarkets charge £££ for the ingredients!

Buy sushi rice, rice vinegar and seaweed (I buy packs of 50) then fill with cucumber, avocado, crab sticks etc. Alternatively rice salad made with basmati rice, herbs veggies plus whatever protein you like topped with vinaigrette dressing.

Potato salad is another cold option with chicken salad.

It may also be possible to get access to a microwave in these circumstances so leftovers make a great lunch!

Are these doable with GF flour? They're really quick to make though you'd maybe need to thin the mixture with a bit of milk to make more wrap like. I appreciate that any extra effort with a packed lunch feels a bit much. www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/bread-recipes/easy-flatbreads/

I only have gf bread for toast now - more trouble than it's worth (esp at £3 a loaf). Lunch I still struggle with after 5 years, mostly because I don't get my shit together and organise, but gf oatcakes are my easy go-to with cheese/ham. GF pasta salads / pesto pasta also a good shout.

I still go through waves of being pissed off I'm coeliac - I miss chinese takeaway the most - but it is manageable. There is so much more in the shops than even 5 years ago, and on restaurant menus too, just takes a bit more planning (a life skill I needed to improve on to be fair...)

Uterus I work in a school and when I have to use the canteen, the catering staff are all very knowledgeable about the food. Yes I know jacket potatoes can become boring but their chillies, curries, soups and roast dinner are all gf. I don't often use the canteen because I tend to be very sleepy after a cooked lunch, but it may be worth your DC talking to them.

Looking upthread - I am the least helpful coeliac here, sorry! I've been through all the trying out different things, and have come to a (lazy) balance which suits me:

• don't bother with bread for lunch, use gf oatcakes / crackers instead for open sandwich type things
• leftover dinner than doesn't need heating
• pasta salad
• salads, as longs as they're packed with protein and/or potatoes
• buying out - Tesco have just started doing passable GF sarnies that you can have as a meal deal, jacket potatoes are a staple, and I take cutlery with me EVERYWHERE as sometimes your food options may be limited to spoonable items only. Also means that I can still have a Burger King without the bun even when they have no plastic cutlery (and also prevents me needing to pick up plastic cutlery).

I know you asked about lunch, but I made my first buckwheat pizza base earlier today, just flour, salt and pepper and water. i put some yeast in it but it didn't do anything. It was lovely and I'll be doing this alot more now.

There is no problem with McDonald’s actual fries , it’s if they’ve been cooked in something with gluten in so worth checking at the actual branch .

I second the heat flask and take in leftovers. Thermos king flask is a good one - keeps food hot for absolutely ages and is about £20. I find proper hot meals (eg. Curries, stews, etc) are much easier GF than traditional 'snacks'

Also for a grab and go lunch, I've discovered both Tesco and Boots do GF soy sauce sushi that's really good.

Sympathies. I have a 17yo dd with coeliac disease as well, fairly newly diagnosed. Join the fb groups such as coeliacs in the U.K. as they have good food ideas.

I would also approach the college and explain the issue and see if your dc can be given permission to use the microwave, they must have one for staff.

Dd is still at school and pretty much lives on chips from the canteen. Dd doesn't eat McDonald's but I've certainly seen people on the fb group say the chips are ok to eat btw. Dd is vegi so not interested.

Pinterest is also good to search for recipes and save them on a board.

Dd likes a quinoa salad I make. 90g of quinoa, lightly drizzle with olive oil and juice of half a lemon. chop up a pepper, some mint leaves, I add pomegranate seeds for dd. I add chicken for me. I think original recipe had red onion in as well but dd was worried about onion breath so I leave it out now. You could add what you wanted I guess. I use the 3 colour quinoa you can get from Aldi or Waitrose as I think its a bit tastier. 90g of quinoa with added stuff makes enough for 2 portions. It'll keep in the fridge for day 2.

I think some of the John West lunch on the go stuff are rice based and gluten free. They don't need heating.

Dd also likes itsu rice noodles which are like a slightly posh pot noodle but you'd need a kettle.

You can batch cook gf brownies or flapjacks with gf oats and freeze and take them out one at a time.

Hummus and carrot sticks, cucumber.? Fruit.

Iceburg or Gem lettuce leaves are great to use as wraps. You'd have to take them separately from the filling for a packed lunch though, and just assemble when it's time to eat.

Who says McDonalds fries have a coating? This page says they’re gluten free!

www.mcdonalds.com/gb/en-gb/help/faq/19053-which-of-your-products-are-gluten-free.html

Coeliac uk are great. They offer a directory which lists food in chain restaurants and major supermarkets. It tells you exactly what is safe to eat. They also send email updates if information changes.

Some soups are gluten free and could be taken in a small flask. Heinz tomato, leek and potato and carrot and coriander I have but double check as I've not bought them for a while.

I eat a lot of salads which is boring but fruit/veg/cheese and most cold meats are gluten free.

It won't help for college but I also eat risotto type things. There are some rice noodle based instant pots as well as some rice based ones. You can also get risotto in packets.

You can make gorgeous GF brownies with almond flour, eggs, dates and melted dark chocolate.
Plain ready salted kettle chips or Tyrolls are fine
Instead of sandwiches try a slice of tortilla - egg, potato, onion, pepper and peas with melted cheese on top.
Make arancini balls of risotto rice with mozarella inside, dusted in cornflour and fried.
Ham, leerdammer and iceberg leaf wraps are good, though not filling in the way that stodgy carbs are.
Cauliflower rice is a good alternative to pasta with ragout sauce. I never believed it until I tried low carbing. Now I prefer it.
For quick lunch time takeaway food - Pret's salads are great and so is sushi.

M&S gluten free stuff is really good and Schar brown rolls are really really nice. The schar bread range is probably the nicest I've tried. Only trouble with GF bread is it doesn't take spreads/butter very well as it breaks but the buns are sturdy enough.

GF pasta is good. Would she eat a pasta salad? Could add chicken etc to it.

Remember to check ingredients of jar sauces and dressings. Even Soy sauce and Branston pickle contain gluten.

DD will be pleased about the McD's fries. It sent her over the edge after a customer at her work told her they were out of bounds.

She's not a fan of rice noodles, but I do have a sushi kit somewhere. I frequent the Asian supermarket regularly so I'll pick up stuff there as reccomended.

I've got plenty of gram flour in the cupboard which I use for falafel etc but I've not tried the regular gf flours yet.