I Hate Food

[Googles]

sooooo frustrated.

Ok need to vent. I have gotten to the point of just eating the same three or so meals over and over again. I know I just need to try new foods, but I've always been a really picky eater so it is really hard. When I do try new things they end up tasting like cardboard. I've never been able to cook well so it makes it that much harder. Along with those things:

-I'm a student (first year in graduate school) and don't get back home until almost 9 four nights a week so cooking at that time is really hard have to be up early the next morning.

-I suck at cooking, my roommates used to make fun of me about how bad I was at it.

-As I'm healing (hopefully only while I'm healing) I can't eat anything acidic. (I was ok when I could eat rice pasta, but then couldn't eat sauce. I tried to make alfredo sauce and ruined it.- and it was really expensive)

-I'm on food stamps so can't go trying food unless I'm sure I'm going to be able to eat all of it. The special gluten free foods are pretty much out of my budget when they wouldn't be if I could eat the same foods w/ gluten. And those would let me eat things easier after I get home at night.

I was doing okay but I suffer from depression and it always gets worse this time of year and it has knocked me out. Everything just seems like it is too much and I can't seem to do this on top of everything else that is new this year.

It is just all too much! I hate food and I hate my stomach!

[ravenwoodglass]

It is hard to do this diet when we have lives that are busy and leave little time for cooking. A couple quick ideas to perhaps help a bit on those nights.

Dinty Moore Beef Stew. This is gluten free and while it is heating I add a green veggie to it like green beans or peas to make it a complete meal.

I do pizza a couple times a week, it is quick to fix and not too expensive when you break it down. I use the Kinnickinnick crusts which come out to a little under $2.50 per personal pan with a package of 4 crusts being around $9. I buy a jar of sauce, I will use pasta sauce if it is on sale, I put what I need on one pizza and then freeze the rest in a thin layer inside a freezer bag so I can break off what I need for another and not end up throwing most of the jar away or I serve the remainder the next day over Thai Kitchen rice noodles (the thin ones cook in 3 minutes). Then add toppings and cheese. It comes to less than $4 a pizza that way, less than a fast food meal.

Thai Kitchen noodles are also good in a gluten-free broth with whatever veggies I have on hand and if I have some Hormel gluten-free chicken on hand I will put that in.

Hormel also makes some good roasts that are gluten-free. The ones with the AuJus are safe as well as the Italian seasoned beef. The gluten free ones say gluten free on the box. They cook up in 4 minutes and then I add some Paradise brand instant mashed potatoes and a veg. I can't eat the whole pan in one meal so the next night I break up the meat, add some frozen veggies and toss it in a small dish that can go in the oven. I add some of the broth and cover with the left over mashed potatoes and sprinkle the top with a bit of cheese then go sit down while it cooks itself in the oven.

Bacon and eggs are also a good quick fix, or can be. I started cooking my bacon in the oven not too long ago as I hate standing over the stove. I do the whole package on cookie sheets with a 'cookie' cooling rack. It keeps the bacon out of the fat and no turning. Then the bacon I don't use that night goes into the fridge to be heated or crumbled for other stuff during the week. I love BLT's and this makes them a quick fix when I am in a hurry.

I hope this gives you some ideas for a bit of quick variety. It is hard when our days are busy and full and we are hungrey but to tired to really fix a meal.

[summerteeth]

I started cooking my bacon in the oven not too long ago as I hate standing over the stove. I do the whole package on cookie sheets with a 'cookie' cooling rack. It keeps the bacon out of the fat and no turning.

Ooh, that is a good idea.

Do you own a slow cooker? Those are super easy, you just throw in your ingredients in the morning and by dinner time, you have a meal! Plus, it makes a lot so you have leftovers. My fiance and I saved a TON of money by using a slow cooker. We make a lot of soup - veggie, beef stew, chili -homemade chicken broth, breakfast - you can put gluten-free oats (I can't have these though - I use millet or quinoa) at night, a bit of water, an apple and some cinnamon and by AM, you have a really good hot breakfast. I think you can also make breakfast casseroles in them - shredded potatoes, bacon, a couple eggs, maybe a green pepper and some spinach. There are also quite a few websites for slow cooking on the cheap.

[GFinDC]

Hi Googles,

You really don't need to spend a lot of money on gluten-free eating, or time for that matter. I tend to cook pretty simply. A lot of times I will make a large batch of rice and veggies on the weekend and freeze half of it. Next weekend make another large batch but a different version. After a few weeks of this you could have quite a variety of different frozen rice meals to zap up quick in the nuker. You can put olive oil in the rice, salt, pepper and lemon juice too. Lots of options. Sometimes I stir a little mayo in it also. Zap it in the nuker for a couple minutes and you have a meal. Maybe make a sweet version with coconut milk and cinnamon and raisins and chicken?

Mission brand corn tortillas make a quick roll-up. You can put them in a toaster or lay them on a gas burner for a minute to heat. They get pretty soft when heated up. Then just roll up some deli meat lettuce and mayo.

Another quick breakfast is to just pan fry some veggies for a few minutes and then drop a couple eggs on them and stir. Fry for a minute or 2 and then flip it and you are ready to go.

I do a lot of my cooking in a large electric skillet with a lid that I bought for $40. I get the large packages of chicken breasts and cook them all at once in the skillet. You can buy the boneless skinless versions for more money. But it is real easy to just pull the skin off the regular chicken breasts and much cheaper.

I suggest you try rice because it is easy to cook and you can store it well. Quinoa is good to and better nutrition wise.

Guacamole is another easy thing to make and good for you. Try it instead of mayo on your roll-ups or stir into rice for a different flavor.

I think in your situation making large meals on the weekend might work out well. I tend to not add a whole lot of spices to the large batch of rice, I can always add them to a bowl of it when I get ready to eat it. So my large batches are pretty basic. That way I can vary them with small additions when I heat them up. Also I don't take a chance on ruining a big batch by adding something that might bother me. You can also make the rice plain and keep it separate. Then make batches of different fixings to put on it. Hamburger and veggies, chicken and veggies, some kind of soup perhaps.

I made some sweet potato and split pea soup recently in my pressure cooker that came out ok. Too darn easy, just chunk up 3 sweet taters and throw em in a pressure cooker with a bag of split peas and some water, maybe some chopped onions. Cook 15 or 20 minutes and stir up and add some spices.

[Ahorsesoul]

Easy to make Alfredo Sauce

Put equal amounts of sour cream and parmesan cheese together (for one serving maybe 1/4 cup each, more if you like lots of sauce). Mix well.

As soon as the pasta is drained add them to the mixture and toss together.

You can add some lemon juice to the sour cream and cheese mixture (1 tablespoon per serving).

Add spices if you'd like.

Have leftover meat: chicken, ham (could be lunch meat), beef or seafood (or fish), chop and toss it in too.

Cheap and easy.

For the deluxe version, microwave a bag of veggies and toss in with the noodles.

If I'm adding already cooked veggies or meat, I chop it and put it into the strainer for the pasta. Then when you dump in the pasta with the hot water it heats up the veggies and meat. No extra cooking or heating.

[OptimisticMom42]

Hey Googles, my teens would live on burger, chips, salsa and velveeta if I let them. If it's not on your list add it. No way to mess it up and it's cheap and filling. Hope this helps RA

[Googles]

Thank you all for the advice.

I don't have any slow cookers or pressure cookers or any other fancy types of cookers. I feel like an incompetent adult not able to cook for myself, whereas I used to be able to do this. I feel like I've taken a huge step backwards.

ahorsesoul- is that parmasan cheese in the recipe fresh or grated from the can? What kind of spices add good flavor?

I used to eat top raman (chicken flavor) w/ added chicken. I was wondering if anyone knows what I could use to replace the flavoring so I can still have this. Thanks.

[Wolicki]

Thank you all for the advice.

I don't have any slow cookers or pressure cookers or any other fancy types of cookers. I feel like an incompetent adult not able to cook for myself, whereas I used to be able to do this. I feel like I've taken a huge step backwards.

ahorsesoul- is that parmasan cheese in the recipe fresh or grated from the can? What kind of spices add good flavor?

I used to eat top raman (chicken flavor) w/ added chicken. I was wondering if anyone knows what I could use to replace the flavoring so I can still have this. Thanks.

I make "ramen" for my boys all the time. Just cook some rice noodles in some chicken broth and add some gluten free soy sauce. Add some chicken and veg and you're good to go! If you have an Asian market close by, you can get noodles in any shape. Otherwise, just look on the Asian aisle at your supermarket!

[Imanistj]

Googles,

Everything I cook is loaded with onions, peppers, tomatoes and a little garlic. My recipes won't help you until you can tolerate acidic food. If you find you can eat acidic again I would be happy to share my recipes. I live alone and often make a pot of soup or casserole because it will feed me for quire a few meals. Casseroles take a while to make, and buying all the ingredients at one time may seem costly, but the end result is a lot of food for that expense. I have two MS degrees and, as I recall, they required a lot of reading and writing. You can put together a casserole and then study while it is cooking. The cooking skills aren't difficult. You might have to brown or saute some ingredients but if you cook slowly, and not on a high heat, you shouldn't have any trouble. I can't help you with my recipes because of the acidity but I'll bet other forum members would be wiling to provide step-by-step instructions for nonacid casseroles. Google Betty Crocker and Bisquick and look for recipes. You will find many recipes that are easy to prepare. Cooking is just like many other skills, as you try recipes you will be gaining experience and skill. Good luck!

Nancy

[TrillumHunter]

What do you like to eat? Tell us a few things and we can help you out better. Tell us things you liked even before you went gluten-free. We have times of the year when things are crazy and I still get dinner out for us.

A slow cooker would be a great thing for you. With Christmas sales, you could find one cheap. Or, that is something you could pick up used as it's ceramic and easily cleaned.

[tarnalberry]

you might try spending a little time at the bookstore or library and look for recipe books. not recipe books that have these gorgeous pictures of yummy food, but ones that have simple recipes that look easy for you to cook. stew, for instance, is easy to cook (if you make a simple recipe ). some soups are also easy to cook, some are a pain in the butt but not hard, and some I just leave on the "never gonna do it" pile. generally, things that require you make your own sauce in a separate pan, but only a small amount, I don't consider worth my time. stir fry is pretty easy, again, if you make a simple one, and there's sauce, but it's made as you cook in one pan. pasta sauce is the exception to that rule for me - I will make a separate pot of it, but I'm going to make it worth my while, and make it something hearty, whether it has meat too, or just a lot of veggies. (and pasta "toppings" need contain neither tomatoes nor cheese/cream - my husband doesn't like either, but he loves my salmon pasta salad. )

think about what things you *can* cook alright now, and how you might expand that. if you can cook scrambled eggs, you can make fried rice pretty easily. if you can bake a chicken, you can probably make some pretty simple casseroles without too much extra trouble. if you can't do those - I would encourage you to seek out a friend who can cook, take classes (even if you can't eat a thing), or find a chef (probably a student) who'd give you private lessons. you don't have to do a lot of it to get the understanding on the basics, and you only need the basics to be able to cook simple/healthy meals for yourself.

[GFinDC]

Thank you all for the advice.

I don't have any slow cookers or pressure cookers or any other fancy types of cookers. I feel like an incompetent adult not able to cook for myself, whereas I used to be able to do this. I feel like I've taken a huge step backwards.

...

You don't need fancy cookware to cook good food. A plain old pot or two and a skillet will do fine for rice and veggies and chicken and all kinds of things. The fancy stuff may make it a little easier or faster is all. It's still just food though. You can always add different tools later if you feel like it. I do suggest you get some plastic storage containers for the refrigerator, cause they are real handy for keeping things handy.

You might want to search for "breakfast ideas" on this site, there are several threads on easy breakfasts. There's a thread on treats or desserts too, and snacks. Tons of recipes in fact in the baking and cooking area.

[Googles]

Part of my frustration is I was glutened last week and don't know how. I think it was cc. And my stomach feels raw.

Before I went gluten free I lived on a lot of gluten filled foods:

pasta w/ tomato sauce.

mac and cheese

top raman w/ chicken

chicken w/ shake n' bake

cereal

pb&j sandwiches

pizza

and other assorted things.

Like I said, I am a picky eater.

[SGWhiskers]

Quick and Cheap Nachos

1 can refried beans

1 can black olives (drain)

1 can diced tomatoes (only use 1/4 can if your tummy is upset with acid these days)

Cheese (if you can) (nacho cheese dip would be easy but pricier)

Cumin (the spice used in mexican food. Well worth the price of a cheap McCormicks bottle for taco, chili, and chicken). (flavorful, not hot) (and I'm a spicy whimp).

Salt

Pepper

Throw in a pot, heat, pour over or dip with nacho chips.

Quick and Cheap Mexican Stew

Use the above, but instead of chips, throw in a bag of frozen corn and eat it like mexican stew. You could throw in a 1/4 block of frozen spinach too if you are needing greens or have leftovers to get rid of.

These both take 15 minutes to make and I could leave the stove for 2 minutes at a time to change my clothes or use the restroom as long as I kept coming back to stir/season.

Shimmel

1 meat leftover (or ground beef or refried beans or drained kidney beans)

1 vegetable leftover (or frozen veggies)

1 starch leftover (or freshly microwaved potato)

Splash of water

Salt and Pepper

(if you own spices, pick one and add a shake or two. If you don't own spices, no worries. This is good with just salt and pepper)

Cook on the stovetop until hot (if you use raw meat, cook that first then add the rest of the ingredients)

If I'm using leftovers, I throw the whole chicken thigh or cooked potato into the pan and chop/smash and heat at the same time with a spatula. Then I pick out the bone and cartilage as I see them mix around in the pan. This takes 15 minutes to make, and I can't really leave the stove/microwave area.

Shmomlet (Shimmel-omlet)

3-4 eggs

splash milk

small handful of cheese or a few shakes of parmasean

Cumin (that mexican spice again)

Pepper

(salt if you didn't add cheese)

Options to bulk it up: I usually add 1-4 extra ingredients:

leftover veggies (especially any combination of spinach, mushrooms, olives, tomatoes, onion, corn)(I guess green peppers too, but you will never find one in my meal).

maybe some leftover potatoes if you need more ingredients or 1/2 a microwaved potato smashed up a little if you want).

leftover ground beef or bacon or lunch meat if you want just a little.

Once again, throw it all in a pan with the starch and meat pre-cooked. Heat and eat. (stir constantly)

7 minutes start to finish unless you need to microwave a potato.

All of these I make with enough servings to reheat for at least lunch and maybe another 2 meals after that. I NEVER make a meal that does not have leftovers.

I also avoid (for the most part) Gluten free specialty products due to price.

You can't beat 3-4 pre-microwaved potatoes or a bowl full of rice in the fridge for speeding up dinner.

If I could pick just a handful of spices for you to invest in: Salt, pepper, cumin, dehydrated onions, garlic, cinnamon, sugar, cocoa powder in that order.

If I could pick cooking tools for your kitchen: can opener, Non-stick Skillet (wide flat bottom, deep sides), Stirring spoon/spatula, 9x13 or 9x9 baking pan, cheap crockpot, lots of bowls, baggies, and repurposed glass jars for leftovers. (although, watch those baggies, cancerous in the microwave and the glass jars are explosive in the freezer).

Desserts:

Baked apples

Apple (sliced, chopped, cut in 1/2 who cares) (or a pear or a peach)

cinnamon

Microwave until apples are translucent

(consider making extra and throwing it on leftover hot rice and milk and sugar for an oatmeal-ish breakfast.)

(consider pears cut in long slices with cinnamon added after it comes out of the microwave for a date)

Hot chocolate

cocoa powder

Sugar

cinnamon

Milk

Microwave

Bannana

cut

sprinkle cinnamon

[Ahorsesoul]

Before I went gluten free I lived on a lot of gluten filled foods:

pasta w/ tomato sauce.

mac and cheese

top raman w/ chicken

chicken w/ shake n' bake

cereal

pb&j sandwiches

pizza

and other assorted things.

Like I said, I am a picky eater.

Me too, I'm picky about what I eat, it has to taste good, like the real stuff. There is nothing on your list that I don't eat now except the pb&j. Never have like pb&j.

The parmesan cheese I usually use for my sauce is out of the container. Spices could be salt, pepper, garlic powder, and I use an Italian blend of herbs. I don't measure spices, I just shake in what I think is enough. Go light to start since you can always add more.

SGWhiskers recipe for nachos is almost what I use for tacos and quesadillas. I use whole beans instead of the refried beans, toss in a can of drained corn and a can of chopped green chilies. Presto and so good.

[VioletBlue]

If you're getting home at 9 at night I don't think a crock pot is going to work on those days, LOL. What ever you put in there in the morning is liable to be mush by 9pm. But, on those days when you do get home around four or five or so you could use one to do like a pork roast or a whole chicken and then you'll have left over meat for days after to throw in with noodles or over lettuce for a salad. Crock pots can be purchased cheap at thrift stores and the like and since their bowls are ceramic you wouldn't have to worry about CC. They're not at all complicated to use.

There are some gluten-free alternatives to what you've been eating. Thai Kitchen makes indivudal serving packets of rice noodles with flavoring packets. They look a lot like raman packages. The flavors are not the same as the raman packets, but it is a safe gluten-free version and you can always toss some kind of meat or vegetables into it as it cooks. Amy's makes a gluten-free mac and cheese box just like Krafts; it works the same way it just uses rice noodles and gluten-free free cheese packet. You may have to search a bit to find a store that carries them, particularly the Amy's. Amy's also makes a frozen gluten-free pizza, again you'll have to search as most mainstream grocery stores tend not to carry it.

If you can bake chicken you've got it made. I usually marinade chicken in a bag using olive oil and italian spices or soy sauce sesame oil ginger and garlic for an asian flavor. Or you can make your own shake and bake; I do that sometimes to. I mix up corn meal with some gluten-free flour, like maybe rice flour and some garlic salt and whatever other spices in a bag and shake the chicken in that. Again it's not going to taste exactly like shake and bake but it is doable.

Eggs are gluten-free. Scrambled eggs for dinner is quick and easy. Or buy a bag of Pamela's Baking Mix and make waffels or pancakes for dinner. When I make waffels I make more than I need and freeze the rest so I have them in the freezer. I put my PB&J on reheated waffels instead of bread.

Corn and Rice Chex cereal are gluten free and they make a great snack mix too if you follow their recipe on the box substituting gluten-free where you need to.

Part of my frustration is I was glutened last week and don't know how. I think it was cc. And my stomach feels raw.

Before I went gluten free I lived on a lot of gluten filled foods:

pasta w/ tomato sauce.

mac and cheese

top raman w/ chicken

chicken w/ shake n' bake

cereal

pb&j sandwiches

pizza

and other assorted things.

Like I said, I am a picky eater.

[Googles]

Thank you everyone.

These are such great suggestions that I will have to put into motion.

Thanks again.