Meal Prep Tips for Living Gluten Free

Meal prepping has become a popular trend among the health- and fitness-conscious to stay within calorie limits and avoid meals that have no nutritional value. For those who have celiac disease or are gluten sensitive, meal prepping is more of a challenge because you have to pay extra attention to what you are putting into your body to prevent unwanted side effects. However, it is possible to make delicious and nutritious meals ahead of time while still living gluten free.

Here are Meal Prep Tips for Living Gluten Free

Pick a day to do weekly prep

To save time making meals, choose a day to perform all your shopping and food prep for the week. Pick a day like Saturday or Sunday when you will have enough time to grocery shop and wash, cut or cook ingredients when they are the freshest before storing your meals.

Build meals around filling ingredients

Rather than planning your meals around vegetables, select a protein or carbohydrate and build meals around these more filling items. Proteins like chicken are healthy and keep you full longer. Carbohydrates that are also gluten free include brown rice, beans, and quinoa.

Consider gluten free versions of popular food items

If you cannot go without your favorite meal that tends to have ingredients with gluten, look for gluten free alternatives to satisfy your craving. For example, if you like sandwiches, but cannot stomach regular bread, you can purchase a whole grain gluten free bread and still make a healthy lunch.

Utilize spices

Living gluten free does not mean eating bland food. To make food used in gluten free meal prep more flavorful, make sure to season your food and use spices that will entice your palate. These include cinnamon for sweet potatoes or cumin for rice. Have fun and experiment with spices to see which ones enhance your meals’ flavors the most.

Complete meal prep with ready-to-go snacks

Pack healthy snacks that you can easily grab. Snacks like fresh fruit, peanut butter you can put into a small cup, boiled eggs or gluten free Snackers are simple to put into a lunch box or container.

Additionally, you do not have to make every part of your meal from scratch to be a successful meal prepper. You can buy pre-packaged snack bars that are already made from gluten free ingredients like oats and millet to prevent eating junk food later on.