Sick of not being able to eat - help, please?

[DragonSnapCrimson]

Straight to the point - some foods make me very very bloated (my stomach looks 6 months pregnant) and I've identified the main culprits as bread and the like, and dairy.

I'm sat here having to not have any lunch as I can't even think what I'm able to eat other than veg and fruit (eating just that for lunch every sodding day is really tiresome).

Does ANYONE have any easy lunch ideas for me that don't involve bread/wraps etc or dairy? In the evening I just suffer through the bloat and discomfort but I'm sick of being uncomfortable all afternoon at work. I live in a place that doesn't have things like vegan cheese etc, so that's out.

I'm just really fucking hungry and it's making me sad (yes I've been to a doctor multiple times and basically there's nothing to be done).

pancakes made with chickpea flour/gram flour are surprisingly good

If you make them with Dove GF plain flour they are really good too. American style pancakes are virtually indistinguishable to those made with wheat flour IMO.

Have you tried gluten free / wheat breads? Some of the rolls, wraps and thins (you can buy many in most supermarkets now) are pretty good!

Try brown rice - it's tastier and has more fibre than white. I buy brown basmati as I think it's the tastiest. Then add chopped up bits of any or all of the fruits & vegetables you have in the house. Don't forget to include the pickled ones at the back of the fridge. You actually only need a serving spoon of rice as the other ingredients bulk it out. As you're vegetarian you could add nuts, cubed cheese, tofu, egg etc for protein. It's a different meal every time, but somehow always delicious, colourful, texture full and nutritious. Enjoy!

Someone mentioned Japanese cabbage pancakes on the pancake thread the other day - they look absolutely delicious, I really want to make them soon. I presume you're ok with eggs?

Chickpea flour pancakes/fritters are tasty, have good protein & travel well. You can buy the flour in the ‘world food’ section of the supermarket and it’s not expensive like specialist gluten free flours. It’s a traditional ingredient in Indian cooking (we call it ‘basin’ or ‘graam’ flour, it’s what onion Bhajis are made of , & it will be in a pale yellow paper bag)

I would suggest looking into different countries’ food as other cuisine are a lot less wheat heavy

Lots of GF wraps etc are pretty gross but o like the BFree sweet potato ones & get them on offfer at co op quite often (shelf like is several months). Like their pittas too

Potatoes, beans/lentils, eggs etc would be my go tos. Also quinoa, ryvita etc

One watch out: I’d also see if you can do a structured food elimination diet (with a dietician, or at least a dietician’s plan) as it would be really unfortunate to end up eliminating foods that you actually can tolerate

Lots of the suggestions (including mine) have a LOT more fibre vs eg a ham & cheese sandwich so you might want to ease into it to see how your digestion reacts to that

You MAY find you can tolerate yogurt & soft cheese which have less lactose vs other dairy

I actually eat this way often for health reasons (by choice ) so here are some links to recipe sites - you can up the nuts etc if you like, the focus is really on making the food filling - hth x

hellonutritarian.com/recipe-index/

ohsheglows.com/recipe-categories/

www.connoisseurusveg.com/

One last thing - you can make your own baked goods with oat flour (muffins &cookies are ones I’ve tried) by blitzing porridge in any cheap blender/smoothie maker to get your own oat flour. This is a v economical way to do it & no chemicals/flour improvers/other crap

It’s not a main course but as an addition to lunch they can liven things up :) Vitalite is a cost effective DF spread to bake with but I’m sure there are loads

I make mini spanish omelettes in muffin cases - some diced cooked potato and whatever else I fancy - cooked peas, chopped tomato, cooked broccoli flaked salmon etc - put in the muffin cases and fill up with beaten egg. Bake for 15- 20 minutes. YOu can freeze the spares and they will defrost by lunchtime if you take them out first thing.

Lentils are good too - either green ones stewed with leeks mushrooms and stock can add veggie sausages if you like. I usually add a teaspoon of marmite for extra flavour. Or orange ones made into dhal with chopped spinach stirred through at the last minute to wilt and served with cauliflower marinated in oil tumeric and cumin and then oven roasted for 25 minutes or so.

Pick a base - quinoa, millet, amaranthe, rice etc
Pick a protein - chicken breast, hot smoked salmon, cubes of ham etc
Pick a cooked veggie - green beans, carrot sticks, baby corn cob sticks etc
Pick a fresh veggie - baby tomatoes, cucumber pieces, celery bits
Pick an antipasto - pepper, courgette, pepperdew
Add a dressing or some of the antipasto oil.

My other recommendation is fritata. Sling things in a pan and fry them until soft. Chuck over eggs and fry until done, finish off under the grill. Or make a crustless quiche in the oven and have cold.

Eggs, potato salad, puy lentils, black beans, cannelini beans, cooked sweet potato.

I add a teaspoon of pesto, mix with salad and prawns, salmon, tuna, roast chicken.

Dahl is an excellent one - can be batch cooked and frozen. Great with poached eggs or fish.

Thank you to you all for your suggestions, I've written most of them down and will be adding them to my weekly shop so that I've got some more variety. I was so down the day that I posted this but I'm feeling a bit better now and will just try and get on with it.

To a couple of posters who mentioned it - I have been to the doctor a few times about this and she basically said "it's all gas" and wasn't particularly concerned.