GF help needed? Foods that travel well, need no prep

[*LC]

Hi,

 

My college kid was recently put on a GF diet. She is travelling with a club next weekend for a competition next weekend, and she needs some food to bring since she doesn't know where they will be stopping & eating. She will not have access to a stove, but she may have a microwave at night.

 

She is headed to Wal-Mart with her roomie to buy groceries and she wants to stock up for next weekend. She doesn't have a car, so she may not have another chance to buy items. What can she buy to take?

 

Two complications: she is allergic to nut and they also cut out dairy.

 

She is starving on campus where she can cook; she is definitley nervous about what to eat on the road. She is buying popcorn, GF cookies, GF poptarts. She will get fruit on campus next week.

 

Thank you

[bettyandbob]

She needs to get some portable protein.

 

can she have sunflower seeds. Sunbutter is like peanut butter, but it is peanut and tree nut free. I suggest getting that and gf crackers.

 

Glutino has a breakfast bar that is line nutrigrain.

 

I do not know if any of these are nut free or have nut free versions, but my dd has like Core bars, she used to like Think Thin bars and Lara bars. These are high protein energy bars.

 

Can she buy a bag of apples to take too.

[idnib]

beef jerky (check it doesn't have soy sauce, which often has wheat)

gluten free rice crackers

dried fruit

rice cakes

if she can get access to boiling water (like a hotel which has hot water for tea): instant oatmeal, gf ramen

pouches of tuna

if she has a cold pack or is willing to buy one from walmart, then boiled eggs

pre-chopped veggies (eat the first day if not kept cold)

avocados

single serving packs of almond or soy milk, to drink or add to gf cereal if she can find it

 

It shouldn't be too hard to eat out as long as she can get a burger with no bun or some eggs or a salad, hold the croutons.

[Sandragood1]

She sounds short on protein and fats. How about hard boiled eggs or egg salad ? Lunch meat and cheese? Corn tortilla chips with dip. Baby carrots and other veggies with hummus.

 

It will get easier for her as she gets used to it.

[Mama Geek]

If there is a costco Kirkland beef sticks are GF

Canned tuna & can opener

Corn chips & salsa

 

 

[NicAnn]

Sunflower butter for nut free protein

Dates, which she can stuff with the sun butter. These keep well and are bite sized.

Hummus and a bag of baby carrots

Gf granola, TJs has inexpensive versions.

Oatmeal and single serve almond milk

Annie's canned soup

Enjoy Life bars and cookies

Fruit leather

Roads End Mac and "cheese".

[Mama Geek]

Most oatmeal is not gluten free be careful with that.  Several of the chex cereals are GF

[NicAnn]

Most oatmeal is not gluten free be careful with that. Several of the chex cereals are GF

Yes, OP, this is very true. Bobs Red Mill makes a bagged variety, and you can find several different individual packs at Whole Foods, TJs, or other health food stores. Our walmart even carries them.

[Mama Geek]

vienna sausages aren't great but they do have fat in them and they are protein

Raisins

 

[sbgrace]

I lost my post.

 

Is it peanut or tree nut she's allergic to? If tree nut, make sure she knows there is a lot of cross contamination in gluten free products. There are safe ones, but you have to be careful. Rob's Red Mill GF is cross contaminated, for example.

 

Enjoy life foods will be entirely safe for her with that allergy/restriction set.

 

I agree she needs protein (and fat). That's hard with nut free, dairy free, and portable. Sunbutter (if peanut and tree nut free) is safe. Ours suggests refrigeration after opening. I don't know if that's necessary or not. Peanut butter if she's tree nut free. If she can find gf jerky, maybe that's an option. I like the idea someone posted of tuna fish. Some of the Enjoy life will have decent protein, mostly from sunflower seed based ingredients I think.

 

She could get some fruit cups if she wants to have things like that purchased ahead of time.

 

[*LC]

Thanks for the great ideas.

 

She is allergic to tree nuts. She tested allergic to peanuts, but the allergist feels peanuts are okay since she had them with no problem a few weeks before the testing. Since she only liked plain peanuts, she has basically avoided them. However, in her new starving GF state, she has started eating peanuts again with no problems. She never ate peanut butter as a child; picky eater. However, it may be something she would try now. I will mention it. 

 

She has definitely expanded her diet, but there are some things she simply won't try, like GF hotdogs. I thought those would be easy & quick in her room.

 

She has a question that I can't answer about boiled eggs. Do they provide any protein to fill you up if you only eat the white part. Did I mention she was picky?

 

She ate a lot of GF oatmeal in the first few months, so she is burned out on it right now. She does eat a lot of Chex mix, but I think it has a tendency to crush easily when traveling.

 

I will tell her about the nutrigrain bars, as she liked the generic of those in the past.

 

Right now she doesn't have access to a health food store or a Costco, but we will go when she comes home for Thanksgiving. (I am sure there is a health food store in her college town, but it isn't where her roomie goes.) Luckily, the grocery has a large health food section. Wal-Mart also has a decent selection; it is just spread throughout the store.

 

Thanks for the heads up on the mac & "cheese," she has been looking for something like that. I will see if I can find it around here to send to her.

 

She does have GF crackers and fruit cups. She also found GF waffles to bring as a snack Friday night.

 

Thanks for all the good suggestions. I hate to hear she is hungry all the time, but other than that, she feels better than she has in years, no nausea or headaches. She is determined to keep with the diet for that reason. Luckily, her dorm has a kitchen with a full size fridge/freezer that no one uses. So, she can buy as much meat as she likes when she makes it to the store to have for the next week or two. She has trouble finding the time to try to cook new things, like GF pasta. She makes lots of eggs and hamburgers.

 

 

[NicAnn]

I suspect as she starts to heal the damage from the gluten, she will stop being so picky. It's not uncommon Celiacs, or even just food allergies, to create a picky eater.

 

Good luck to her!

[Mom0012]

Some Progresso soups meet all her dietary requirements. My son has the same allergies, as well as fish/shellfish. Nature's Path waffles are good. There are packs of noodles, kind of like Ramen noodles called Pad Thai. If she likes Indian food, there are quite a number of individual packaged foods on the grocery shelf. Lunch meat or a rotisserie chicken are good protein options. Chex is a staple in our house. She could make some pancakes from a mix before her trip and heat them in the microwave. We don't do oatmeal. If she doesn't cook, it will likely be very expensive, which is a good reminder to me that I need to get myself in gear and get my ds more involved with cooking.

 

It is very hard, especially because of the dairy. That's far worse than gluten if you ask me. We eat lunch at coop once a week, and I just bring snacks for him, and then he eats lunch when he gets home because it's almost impossible to come up with enough for a teen boy to eat w/o a microwave.

 

At home he eats lots of baked/grilled chicken marinaded in McCormick's Grillmates marinade, as well as hamburgers, and rotisserie chicken with rice (yellow, lime, wild, white) or potatoes (white, red, sweet, mashed, oven roasted, baked) and some veggies. Earth Balance is a great substitute for butter and can be used to make mashed potatoes.

[Mama Geek]

Be careful with Wendy's fries they are not always fried in a dedicated fryer.  Dh has gotten sick from their fries before and so doesn't eat them at all anymore.