Gluten Free Hot Lunch: Beef, Potato, Veggie Crock Pot Recipe

I have been a picky eater my entire life. So I grew up existing on chicken fingers, PB&J sandwiches, yodels and a variety of other (delicious, but processed) snick snacks. I moved to New York City 3 years ago and as an adult living in NYC, I continued to eat my favorite foods. I think that may be the "worst" part about being gluten free in NYC - I have access to any food I've ever wanted, at whatever time I want it. Every day I have to practice self control, and it has been one of my greatest life lessons learned so far.

So when I decided to turn my life around, I had to change my daily eating out habits... no more amazing NYC bagels or pizza for this lady. The hardest part? Packing enough food and snacks for work!

I'm at the office 8:30AM - 5PM+, so I NEED to snack at least twice during the day, plus a decent lunch. As Lacey has mentioned, it is crucial to plan ahead so you don't cave in and eat crap. In my case, cave in and drink soda in place of a meal.

I bring fruit every day to work, and I've been experimenting with a variety of recipes that are easy and painless to make for lunch every day. Luckily my boyfriend (D) is awesome at putting random gluten free recipes together and came up with my new favorite crock pot lunch! (Note: D is not gluten intolerant but he still loves this meal!) Eating a hot lunch is wonderful during the day, and it actually fills me up.

See below for pictures and recipe. Recipe can be tailored to whatever you prefer... crock pots are awesome and I recommend putting yours to use! We put this together on Sunday nights and it's ready for us Monday morning!

INGREDIENTS:

Beef (or Chicken), Carrots, Celery, Onion, Potatoes, Bouillon Cubes

Note: We have a pretty small crock pot, so adjust ingredients as necessary to fill.

RECIPE:

Beef (or Chicken) - 1 stew pack or 1 breast, cut into cubes

Carrots - 5 carrots, peeled and cubed

Celery - 4 stalks, chopped

Onion - 1/2 onion, chopped

Potatoes - 1/2 a bag, peeled and cut into cubes (Yukon Gold and Russet are our favorites)

Bouillon Cubes - 2 cubes into 1 cup of boiling water *The trick with the Bouillon Cubes for flavoring is using only 1 cup of water to dissolve them in. The other water will come out from the veggies, so don't water down your crock pot.

COOK:

1. Dice up all veggies, potatoes and meat

2. In a large bowl, mix up all the veggies and potatoes (keep meat separate)

3. Mix some pepper into 2 tablespoons of olive oil, and coat the mix of veggies and potatoes evenly

4. Boil water, dissolve Bouillon Cubes into 1 cup of water

5. In Crock Pot - put meat into 1 pile in the center of the crock pot (This is important, will help it cook the best)

6. Put mix of veggies and potatoes evenly around the meat

7. Pour the Bouillon Cubes mix evenly around the crock pot

8. Cook on low heat for 8 hours!

There are a lot of gluten free crock pot recipes out there, so try a few and see what it does for your lunch break :)

This is my new daily motto. I often get overwhelmed about my food allergies, but I take it on day by day and I've never been happier or healthier :)

"It's not what you do once in a while; it's what you do day in and day out that makes the difference."

- Stephanie