Mexican Rice & Bean Wrap

Lacey, here!

Wraps are an easy way to incorporate all those veggies & beans in a quick & tasty way. Here's a recent one that we've made and love!

Ingredients:
1 cup rice (and appropriate water/veggie broth according to package directions)
1 can kidney beans or black beans
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
Dash of cayenne red pepper
Fresh chopped cilantro
Lettuce
Diced tomato
Salsa
Whole Wheat tortillas

Directions:
1. Cook rice according to package directions.
2. Add your beans and stir in seasonings (chili powder, cumin, cayenne red pepper). Let it sit on low heat for a couple minutes to allow the beans to warm.
3. Warm your tortillas in the microwave for 10 seconds.
4. Place rice & bean mixture into a tortilla and add all of your toppings...fresh cilantro, lettuce, diced tomato, salsa, etc)

How I Pack My Lunch Salads

I found this nifty salad divider at our local grocery store. My biggest annoyance with packing salads for lunch was that I liked everything to be separate until I ate my salad which meant one Pyrex for lettuce, one for my roasted garbanzo beans (so the lettuce didn't make them soft), one for my dressing, one for my tomato wedges (so the tomato juice didn't make my lettuce mushy) and one for my carrots & cucumber, and so on and so forth. It was just a lot to pack for one salad and a lot to clean up at the end of every day.

This allows me to pack everything in one container (and it even comes with a blue ice pack that snaps to the bottom, so no refrigerator needed!  Ultimately, I only have to wash out the big container, and rinse out the top divider & dressing holder.

BRILLIANT! Thank you to the person that made this. You've made packing my lunches so much easier!

The divider level just sits above the lettuce.

Ice pack, bottom with lettuce, top divider with toppings and dressing, and the top lid.

If for some reason you use this not for salads, the dressing container
comes out and you can use that portion for something else like applesauce.

Once everything is added in!

-Lacey

String Beans & Tomatoes: A Light Summer Dish

This has been my staple lunch a few times in the past 2 weeks. It's a flavorful way to get in some greens (although, I have no problem with that as string beans are my favorite veggie). This could be a great side dish, too!

Ingredients:
Vegetable Broth
String beans
Tomatoes (halved cherry or diced regular)
2 cloves garlic, minced
Thyme, Parsley, Dill Weed, Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, Salt & Pepper- all to taste (or any other Italian flavors you might like!)

Directions:
1. Pour vegetable broth in a pan, just enough to coat the bottom to steam your string beans. Depending on how big your batch will be will change how much broth you'll use. For a pound, use a few tablespoons.

2. Place beans and garlic in pan with veggie broth.  Cover pan and allow to steam on medium-high heat for approximately 5-7 minutes. I like to leave a bit of a crunch to my beans. No need to cook them so long until they're limpy and all their nutrients are gone.

 

3. Add in your seasonings, all to your liking.  Allow to cook on low heat for 5 minutes so the beans can absorb the flavors of the seasonings.

 

 4. Add your tomatoes and cover pan, keep setting on low for about 3 minutes.

 5.  After the three minutes is up, you're done! I don't like to cook the tomatoes too long. I leave them in just enough to get warm that way they don't get mushy and weird. This helps keep the dish tasting fresh and light.

 6. Pair with your favorite salad wrap or eat the entire thing by itself!!

To fresh dishes that fill you up without making you feel gross!

-Lacey

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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