Basic Menu Planning, GF Style

So at the time we had to implement the gluten-free diet, the Atkins diet was on its downward swing from its peak. I have to say, even though I don't think its a great diet plan for everyone--it made gluten-free meal-planning with the aid of the internet quite easy! I mean, that diet eliminated pretty much all starches, and only allowed for whole grain starches on occasion, which is perfect for celiacs because they were using brown rice, roasted potatoes, etc.

Anyway, I went through each "main dish" food we had left in the house after the purge and built meals around them. I was big on couponing and meal-planning before I had to do this diet--spending as little as $60/week for the family of 5 (formula was not included in that number, but baby food was). I am currently on a strictly limited budget of $575/mo for groceries, but never spend in excess of $350 for the 4 of us now. That is with me buying the expensive flours, pastas and GF replacement pretzels and crackers, etc. This diet can be done on a limited budget, after all, rice and potatoes are some of the cheapest foods available.

My initial meal list was as follows.

Beef Dishes
Cheeseburger Steaks, Tomato slices, Oven-Roasted potatoes
Steaks, Salad, Mashed Potatoes with Herb-Mushroom Gravy (thickened with cornstarch)
Beef Tacos, Salad, Refried Beans, Spanish Rice
Beef Enchiladas (make own enchilada sauce), corn
Beef Stew (potatoes, carrots, celery, peas, onion)
Beef/Deer Chili with cornbread.

Poultry Dishes
Homemade Chicken Cordon Bleu, Creamed Peas and onions, Mushroom rice
Sweet and Sour Chicken, White Veggie Rice
Turkey Tenderloin, Rosemary Roasted Potatoes, Green Beans
Chicken and Rice soup
Chicken Fried Rice--Find wheat-free Soy Sauce
LINK: Skillet Chicken with Peas and Potatoes (sub: cornstarch for flour)


Pork Recipes
BBQ Pork, tomatoes, cornbread
Ham and Scalloped potatoes casserole, peas
Cornbread and Bacon stuffed Pork Chops, salad

Chef Salad with lettuces, peas, carrots, ham, turkey, green onions, and cheese.

Do not forget about how many different soups there are to make that are naturally gluten-free--although the majority of the pre-canned soup does have gluten in it. Soup is so quick and easy to make though, and canned soup is full of sodium anyway.

There are a lot of gluten-free cornbread recipes out there. I have one that I created that I will share with you. It is a fast bread to mix up, very nutritious and takes very little "trick" or skill to create, even if you are not much of a baker. It goes a long way in the celiac's diet.

Gluten-Free Cornbread

1 c. Milk

¼ c. margarine or butter

2 eggs

1 ¼ c. Cornmeal

½ c. Oat Flour

½ c. Potato Starch

1/3 c. Tapioca Flour

3 T. white sugar

1 t. xanthan gum

4 t. baking powder

½ t. salt

Melt the butter/margarine in the milk, then whisk the eggs into the mixture.

Combine all dry ingredients in a medium bowl, add wet ingredients all at once. Pour into a well-greased 9-inch round pan.

Bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown on top. Check doneness with a toothpick.

As the weeks go by, I will show you how to expand on this list. We will be adding biscuits, muffins, a basic sandwich bread, a basic pizza dough, cookies and brownies to complement these meals.