Gluten free snack, breakfast & lunch ideas

I just sent this to bordermama, but thought it might be a good idea to post it for anyone with celiac disease, especially those w/ kids.

We have been g.f. for nearly four years more than five years now, so we’ve been at this for a little  while.  You have to really search to keep from meal monotony.

I now have a GFCF (gluten-free, dairy/casein-free) list.  Please visit it if you need to eliminate dairy, as well. 

BREAKFAST:

We alternate hot & cold breakfast days.

• eggs, fruit & toast (g.f. toast, of course).
• g.f. pancakes & sausage.
• g.f. crepes
• g.f. breakfast cookies
• Eggs and/or sausage/bacon with store-brand Tater Tots (NOT the extra-crispy kind;  they contain gluten.).  Also, outside of the US, most sausage is NOT safe.  In the US, sausage is, almost all of the time, 100% meat.  Be careful of additives, though.  Many contain MSG, which I (and a lot of other g.f. folks) am sensitive to.
• Hot cereal:  Bob’s Red Mill g.f. hot cereal, Arrowhead Mills Rice & Shine, or grits
• fruit cobbler  (Drain and reserve the juice from a big can of fruit-juice-sweetened sliced peaches.  Spread the peaches across the bottom of a rectangular dish.  Mix about 1 TBSP corn starch and about 1/4 tsp cinnamon into the juice, then pour that over the peaches.  Then, I make a fairly stiff, semi-sweet dough with 1 c. Kinnikinnick Kinni-Qwik Bread & Bun Mix, 1 c. sorghum flour, 1 TBSP baking powder, 1/3 c. sugar, 1/3 c. shortening, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, and enough milk to make a stiff dough.  Use a big table spoon and dot the dough on top of the peaches.  Bake at 375* until the dough is puffy and browned and sauce has been bubbling a good 15 minutes, about 45 min. total.  If you don’t have a g.f. baking mix, substitute 1/2 c sweet rice or white rice flour, 1/4 c brown rice flour, 1/4 c potato OR corn OR other starch and 1 tsp xanthan gum.)
• g.f. cold cereal, of course!  We usually have fresh fruit w/ our cereal, too.  (Nature’s Path/Envirokidz, Erewhon and Arrowhead Mills are some of the cereal brands we purchase regularly.)
• g.f. cereal mixed with yogurt
• g.f. muffins, made quickly with Kinnikinnick Bread & Bun mix.
• smoothies

 SNACKS: 

• tortilla chips with or w/o dip (Ortega makes individual-sized g.f. cheese dip)
• reg. potato chips — Lays Stax have all g.f. ingredients
• fruit
• popcorn
• dried fruit (raisins, cranberries & apricots are all reasonably priced at Trader Joe’s)
• “snow cones” (crushed ice with a drizzle of snow cone “juice” and a spoon in the back yard!)
• popsicles
• homemade popsicles when I have my act together — yogurt, frozen juice concentrate or honey.  A GFCF variety — Add juice concentrate to coconut milk, mix and freeze.
• a rice cake smeared with cream cheese, topped with jam or with gluten-free frosting.  Read labels thoroughly, but most Duncan Hines frostings are g.f.  Betty Crocker’s contain wheat starch.
• pudding
• jello
• trail mix made with Gorilla Munch and whatever else I have on hand (usually dried fruit and choc. chips)
• pickles
• peanuts, with or w/o shells (again, I get these at TJ’s).  Since I initially wrote this, Wesley has developed anaphylaxis to peanuts, so no peanuts/peanut butter in our home any more.  😦
• a glass of chocolate milk
• rice crispy treats made w/ g.f. rice crispies.
• Trio bars, or other treats from Mrs. May’s.  I find mine at Costco.

LUNCH:

• Sandwiches on g.f. bread or on Corn Thins.
• Sandwich fixin’s like lunch meat and cheese, served w/ g.f. chips (plain, potato chips, Fritos, etc) & fruit, and maybe a pickle.
• Nachos – we fix these in a multitude of ways… plain tortilla chips topped with cheese, melted under the broiler…  Depending on what’s on hand, we may add meat chopped up from last night’s leftovers, pinto beans, refried beans, olives…  I like tomato, green chiles, green onion, etc., but since the boys aren’t really into anything that appears to be vegetable-ish, I usually save those for dinner nachos.
• Quesadillas – similar to the nachos, but just cheese (and usually meat)… on corn tortillas.  Lately I’ve been fixing them like this:  corn tortilla sprinkled w/ cheese, add some meat, top with another tortilla.  Spray top tortilla with spray oil, put under broiler in about the middle of the oven until the top tortilla has a few brown spots.  Take out & flip, spraying the other side with a bit more oil, then lightly brown that side, too.  So, it’s kind of like a semi-crispy quesadilla sandwich.
• Similar to both nachos and quesadillas are tostadas.  Heat the shells for a few minutes in the oven, then top with warmed refried beans and whatever toppings you have on hand:  Minced leftover meat, cheese, salsa, sliced olives, whatever.
• “Pizza” — toast a slice of g.f. bread until it’s pretty darn toasty/hard.  Top with a spoon of pizza sauce (I use Fry’s brand Pizza Zip), sprinkle on some mozzarella, top w/ 2-4 slices of pepperoni, broil until bubbly.  (Note:  spread the sauce & cheese all the way to the edge, or you’ll end up with burnt edges.  Also, if you don’t toast the bread first, you’ll end up with soggy bread.)  We’ve also done these on corn tortillas, but do it in layers like:  tortilla, small sprinkle of cheese, another tortilla, then top with pizza toppings (that way, it’s a little more substantial, and the toppings don’t just slide off, and the tortilla doesn’t fall apart so easily when it’s glued with melted cheese to another tortilla).
• G.F. mac & cheese — melt 1/2 stick of butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat.  Whisk in 1/4 c. sweet rice flour (I use Koda Farms), whisk until
  blended.  Add 1 tsp salt, pepper if your kids like it, and about 1/2 tsp paprika (this is mostly for color — make sure yours isn’t hot paprika).  Slowly add 3-4 cups of milk, whisking after adding each 1/2 cup or so.  Bring to a boil, boil a minute or so until the sauce is thick.  If it is VERY thick, add more milk.  Remove from heat, and stir in about 2 cups of shredded cheese, the sharper the better (we’re not big fans of sharp cheese, but mild cheese just tastes too bland in the cheese sauce).  Let it sit a bit, and stir more until all the cheese is melted and the sauce is smooth.  Add this to cooked g.f. noodles (Tinkyada is the best brand, but Trader Joe’s are much cheaper — $1.99/bag vs. $3.49 or so for Tinkyada).
• Chicken noodle soup.  Works best using g.f. spaghetti, broken into 2-3″ pieces.  I use Chicken Better Than Bouillon, which is pricey, but lasts a long time.  You can find it at TJ’s for about $3, or at a regular grocery
  store for about $5.49.  Start with just a cup or so of water in a med saucepan.  Mix in 2-3 rounded tablespoons of BTB, whisk until combined.  Then add water until you get the strength of bouillon  you like.  Bring to boil, and add broken g.f. spaghetti, boil until about 75% cooked.  Then, add a few handfuls of veggies (the small pea/corn/carrot mixed frozen veggies works well for kids), and some cooked (leftover) chicken that’s been cut into bitsy pieces.  Bring back to boil, and cook until the noodles are done.
• Ethan & I like chili, but the other kids don’t.  Hormel Chunky NO BEANS chili is g.f.  We place some Fritos in our bowls, spoon the chili over the top, top it with cheese for those who can have cheese.  Serve with fruit.
• Franks ‘n’ beans — but don’t use the canned type that already has the hot dogs added in;  it has MSG and a lot of sugar.  Just chop up some hot dogs, and add them to a can of store-bought baked beans, and warm on the stove.  There are many baked bean varieties that are g.f., but watch out;  some of them contain soy sauce that was made with wheat.
• Lunchmeat/sandwiches with g.f. Tater Tots as a side, instead of chips.
• Baked beans.  If you want a little more meat, dice and fry half a package of bacon, drain and add in a large can of storebought baked beans (checking to make sure they’re g.f. — some have wheat-containing soy sauce).  Serve with fruit.
• Or… leftovers from last night’s dinner.

Anyone — feel free to add your own recipes & meal/snack suggestions in the comments.

Hope that helps!!