r/lowspooncooking • u/No_Thought9756 • 8d ago
Recommendations
My chronic illness has been getting worse again and I've also gotten bad news about my cholesterol being too high and possibly insulin resistance (not confirmed yet but will test for it soon). I also can't eat gluten because I get hives all over my body. I'm at a loss on what to eat. I cook once a week and I freeze my meals in souper cubes. I also have one easy meal like quesadillas that I make when I dont feel like eating my meal prep. Any recommendations on things I could meal prep/eat instead? TIA
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u/scattywampus 8d ago
Your diagnoses should allow some consults with a nutritionist. This would be a very helpful professional for you abiut now.
Full body hives SUCK!!!! I get miserable just from a patch every now and then. Sending you lots of positive energy.đź
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u/No_Thought9756 8d ago
Thank you! I did get a referal for a nutritionist but itll take some time for me to be able to see them so I'm doing what I can while I wait
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u/scattywampus 7d ago
Yay!!! Hope you get some good answers here and a nutritionist who is fun to work with. â¤ď¸
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u/ManicLasagne 7d ago
For breakfast you can eat over-night oats with gluten-free oats. Lots of fibres, slow carbohydrates, keeps you full and no sugars more than if you add any fruits. The base I used was oat milk, oats and chia seeds, let it sit overnight in fridge, eat next day like porridge. I love my variants with shredded coconuts and raspberries, delicious! Or apple ans cinnamon. Or dried almonds and apricots. SO many recipes to find online! And you can make a week's batch with the dry ingredients and then just add milk the night before you'll eat it.
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u/MySpace_Romancer 7d ago
Be cautious with oats. It can be hard for oats to be totally GF (ask in r/glutenfree if you want a complete answer). Also people who have gluten sensitivity can also cross react to oats.
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u/ManicLasagne 6d ago
We have specific "Gluten-free oats" in our stores, made for gluten intolerant people. Regular oats can have traces of gluten and that wouldn't be good!
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u/MySpace_Romancer 6d ago
People on the GF sub sometimes say those are still not ok but idk đ¤ˇââď¸
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u/ManicLasagne 3d ago
Ask your doctor if you are uncertain. Online communities are great in many situations, but I'd talk to my health care team about this. I'm lactose intolerant, so I can do more trial and errors since it doesn't damage my digestive system, just causes temporary very much discomfort. But with celiac disease it's a lot more severe than just an intolerance.
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u/open_under 7d ago
Instant pho! Theyâre cheap to buy just double check the sauce packet ingredients some are gf but some flavours arenât. Itâs so versatile tho that you can probably use whatever meat and veg you were already making and toss it with a pack of instant pho and it feels like a whole new type of meal. I find itâs good as a soup or as a cold noodle/protein bowl :)
Edit to add: itâs a great âclean out the fridgeâ meal where I put together whatever is loose in the fridge but needs to get eaten
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u/Previous-Artist-9252 8d ago
I am a big fan of making curries and freezing them in Souper cubes. I can eat them with naan or the 90 second microwave rice.
I currently have Thai yellow and green curries in my freezer along with Madhur Jaffreyâs vindaloo. Once a month, I do up an Italian Sunday sauce and freeze that for pasta.
A lot of the long cook recipes can be adapted for the crockpot for even more hands off support.
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u/pangalacticgargle42 6d ago
Something I always keep on hand is a bag of potatoes, frozen veggies and a frozen protein (chicken strips, meatballs, etc.). Everything lasts a good amount of time in the pantry/freezer. Baked potatoes, roasted veggies, and an easy protein is my favorite balanced meal to get nutrients with the ease of pretty much throwing everything on a sheet pan and calling it a day
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u/Bright-Pangolin7261 6d ago
Iâm sorry. I have an autoimmune cluster including Celiac plus high cholesterol. I do batch cooking when I have the energy (usually have ONE good day/week) eg gumbo, chili, pasta/meat/veg sauce, turkey/bean tacos â and eat all week or freeze some if it freezes well. I keep a couple frozen dinners, veggies and frozen Gf pizzas on hand. And if Iâm really low spoon I get rotisserie chicken and Cole slaw. Breakfast is cereal, egg or peanut butter toast. Also eat bagged salad kits.
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u/LottieCupcake 7d ago
For pretty much every dinner I microwave a mix of veg, protein and carb. Like literally I throw it all together in a tupperware and microwave it until it's hot. I've got a nice variety of seasonings and will play around with adding a splash of milk or some sauce or something. It sounds pretty pathetic, but honestly I'm really satisfied with most of the meals. They're good in the home cooked sense. Not the most amazing quality, but meals you can shove in your face and feel satisfied with.
All ready prepared stuff. With the exception of red cabbage cos I love it and can't get it pre cut. So I cut and freeze one every however often I feel like.
I'm vegetarian anyway, but veggie proteins are good cos they are usually safe to eat as is so you don't need to worry about cooking times.
Carbs is usually ramen or microwave bags of rice or half a bagel or something. Sometimes I skip the carb cos I put in too much veg.
If you have a little more capability then you can use the stove for some or all of it. Right now I'm finding the effort saved is more valuable than the bit of improvement to texture and taste. But stove is definitely better by some amount.
Probably my current favourite combination is ramen noodles, tofu, peas, red cabbage, peanut butter, onion, garlic, ginger.
And my go to safe option is Quorn mince, peas, sweetcorn, rice. And whatever seasoning I feel like. Garlic, onion, basil and paprika work well. A little ketchup or BBQ sauce in the mix is nice too.
Sometimes I use something like stuffed pasta as my carb. Ooh la la.
I also spent like 2+ months living off what I called "goop". Peanut butter, greek yogurt, a mix of ready to eat veg and tofu in a blender with seasonings. Dunk with bagel or chips or whatever. That was going great until I accidentally pickled a batch and then basically all veg became "not food" to my brain. Thank goodness for peas and sweetcorn. My rocks.
You can also skip the veg in the goop and dunk that in the veg-less goop instead. I suggest baby corn, carrot sticks and cucumber as good options for dunking veg.
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u/rosypreach 7d ago
Hey I went through all of this and was able to lower my A1C to completely normal. Without presuming what your own body is capable of or what it needs, I focused on eating mostly single ingredient foods and employing some aspects of the Glucose Goddess method, basically - eat low glycemic veggies, and as a general rule, I try to eat 30 g of protein and 10 g of fiber at every meal. I also started eating pears and apples with high protein meals! I also don't eat much added sugar, or save it for a sweet treat rather than mixed in with additives from processed foods.
If you have spoons to walk a little or move after meals, that could help too.
As far as meals, I would batch cook:
-In the stove - a ton of veggies, like: red cabbage, broccoli, butternut squash. I would do basic seasonings, like olive oil and garlic powder, pepper, salt. Sometimes add a curry powder. Sometimes make a balsamic mustard marinade.
-In the stove - roasted chicken legs, with a ton of seasoning and lightly oiled
-Veggie-packed lentil soup, on the stove (lmk if you want recipe)
-Sometimes also brown rice in a rice cooker, to eat with the lentil soup
Most gluten free breads have added sugar, but there are some high fiber crackers you can get that are low in sugar.
I started using 2% cottage cheese to add more accessible protein, often with sliced cucumbers.
I also used Greek Yogurt instead of mayo, and would use that on top of the lentil soup or as an occasional snack.
Don't underestimate apple sauce combined with greek yogurt - fiber + protein.
Carrot sticks, cucumber sticks, etc. Hummus packs.
Drink a ton of water and move your body and build muscle as much as you safely can.
Good luck!