Sunday, April 18, 2010

Easy gluten-free tuna tacos

Dinner: Corn tortillas, can of sustainably caught not albacore tuna, gluten-free taco seasoning (trader joe's has a good one, as well as McCormick brands), avocado, tomato, onion, sour cream, cheddar cheese, cilantro, hot sauce. (omit or add your favorites)

I put 1/2 cup of water into a pot, the tuna, and a 1/4 cup of taco seasoning, heated to a boil and simmered for 5 min.

While the tuna was cooking I grated the cheese, cut the veggies and I heated tortillas in the microwave for 30 seconds.
Then I sprinkled some grated cheese on them, put some tuna, and all the other topping on.

Took about a total of 10 minutes to make, and tasted wonderful!

WHOLE FOODS and gluten-free are friends!

I began a very close relationship with Whole Foods when I became gluten-free. If you go to their customer service desk, they will print out a list of gluten-free foods in their store.

The list is not totally complete, and it is organized very poorly. BUT, it was helpful and it convinced me to actually look in the prepared food sections. Prior to having the list, I just simply did not want to read labels nor did I have the energy for it. The list helped me focus and find the brands they mentioned, and I still read labels but it helped immensely. I can imagine a better organized list being SUPER AMAZING!

I'm going to work on that! Coming Soon!

Gluten Free Stuffed Shells!

WOOT WOOT!

Caesar's Gluten-Free and Wheat-Free Stuffed Shells are AMAZINGLY YUMMY!

I found them at Whole Foods, and they are really great. They taste like home made stuffed shells, at least they filled the craving I've been having for them! Yum Yum Yum!

Try them!

Monday, April 5, 2010

Gluten-Free Snack Time!

Try popping a bag of popcorn (Newman's Own, Pop Secret and Jolly Time are gluten-free) toss the popcorn with mixed nuts or nuts of your choice! Good source of fiber and protein!

Gluten-Free Lunch

I've had trouble with easy lunches that are gluten-free. I am not a rice cracker fan, they taste like styrofoam to me.

BUT corn tortillas have become great subs for bread and wraps.

I wrapped tuna, cucumber, tomato, lettuce, hot sauce, cheddar cheese in a warmed corn tortilla- delicious!

Deli Meat

Gluten-Free eaters beware of deli meats! Some are rolled in flour! :/

Applegates, Boards Head, Carl Budding, Fosters Farm, Hebrew National, Hormel Natural, Jennie O's, and Thuman's are all gluten safe.

gluten-free salad dressings

Most Kraft, Newman's Own, and Laura Lynn salad dressings do not contain gluten. Read Labels carefully.

Kraft Ranch dressing is a good one that is gluten-free. BUT Kraft Asian Sesame is NOT gluten-free!

gluten-free breakfast!

Add dried fruit, seeds, almonds to plain or vanilla yogurt, drizzle with maple syrup or honey!

Getting more Fruit and Vegetables

Add dried fruit to cereals or granola or yogurt
Top rice cakes with nut butter and banana or apple
Add sliced apples, pears, strawberries, grapes, oranges into salads

Add leafy greens and tomatoes to sandwiches
Have a salad with EVERY DINNER
Add baby carrots, slices mushrooms or frozen peas to rice or quinoa
Include asparagus, zucchini or mushrooms to pasta sauces

How to get FIBER!

Okay, 25 grams of fiber?

How am I going to do that???

Whole Foods sells amazing Flax muffins in their gluten-free section that have 10 grams of fiber!

Quinoa: 5g/1 cup.
Brown Rice: 4g/1 cup

Soybeans 30g/1 cup

Pinto Beans 15g/1 cup
Black Beans 15g/1 cup
Refried Beans 11g/1 cup

Sesame Seeds 4g/1oz
Almonds 3g/1oz
Sunflower Seeds 3g/1oz
Pine Nuts 3g/1oz
Pistachios 3g/1oz
Pecans 3g/1oz
Peanut Butter 3g/2 Tablespoons

Popcorn 4g/2.5 cups

Blueberries 3g/1/2 cup
Banana 3g/1/2 cup
Dried Apricots 4.5 g/1/2 cup
1 Apple 4g
1 Orange 4g
Artichoke hearts 4.5g/1/2 cup
Broccoli 2.6g/1/2 cup
Raspberries 4g/1/2 cup
Blackberries 4g/1/2 cup
Edamame 4g/1/2 cup

Feb 28th 2010

February 28th was my first day of the suggested 2 week gluten-free trial by thyroid specialists. I also began really studying the nutrients needed for myself.

Women ages 19 to 50 should consume 25 grams of fiber a day. This is hard to achieve for most people, and it is even more difficult for someone following a gluten-free diet!

Based on my 2,000-2,200 calorie/ day diet, I should consume 400 mcg of Folate, 18 mg of Iron, 25 mg of Vitamin C per meal, 1.1 mg of Thiamin a day, 1.1 mg of Riboflavin per day, and 14 mg of Niacin per day.

Daily Amount of:
Fruit: 2 cups; Veggies: 2.5 to 3 cups; Grains: 6 to 7 ounces; Meat and Beans: 5.5 to 6 ounces; Milk: 3 cups; Oils: 6 teaspoons;

Entry 1

This is my gluten-free journal!

I've been keeping a journal over the last month- an old fashioned on paper in a notebook journal.. remember those?

I've been trying to find blogs and sites about gluten-free food and there are a lot of them. So I thought I'd add mine to the mix!