Eating a gluten-free diet is a priority for some families and a dietary choice for others. Gluten-free meals are an excellent option for stay-at-home moms, whatever the family’s dietary needs.
Many naturally gluten-free foods offer excellent nutritional benefits and combine into easy and convenient meals for kids and parents.
Reasons Gluten-Free Meals Work for Stay-at-Home Moms
1. Gluten spikes your blood sugar
Gluten is a common component of foods that increase blood sugar. Some gluten-containing foods are high in carbohydrates and will cause a significant spike in your blood sugar.
Not only are blood sugar spikes harmful to your body, but they also cause a “crash” after you eat, which makes you feel tired and irritable. If you’re running around after the kids at home, the last thing you need is a sugar crash.
2. Gluten-containing foods have low nutritional value
Gluten doesn’t have an innate nutritional value, but it is part of some nutritional foods like whole grains. Unfortunately, many whole grains are processed during manufacturing, which reduces their nutritional benefit.
Manufacturers then must artificially enhance their food with synthetic additives that replace the nutrients they removed. If you’re trying to avoid artificial ingredients, it’s important to stay away from “enriched” foods.
3. Eating gluten-free helps reduce allergies
Food allergies may worsen over time, and a child with a mild wheat allergy could develop a severe allergy with frequent exposure to the allergen. Avoiding gluten foods helps avoid exacerbating conditions for children with gluten sensitivity and mild allergies to foods that commonly contain wheat.
An allergy might not seem serious when all it causes is mild discomfort. However, allergic reactions can become life-threatening as time passes and the allergy is activated within the body repeatedly.
4. Gluten may cause inflammation
One of the common complaints of individuals suffering from gluten intolerance is that they feel the pain of inflammation when they eat it. The reaction isn’t surprising because individuals with celiac disease experience a severe inflammatory response when they eat gluten.
So, it makes sense that people with gluten sensitivity might have a problem with inflammation.
Busy parents may find themselves unable to keep up with the kiddos when they’re fighting against painful and debilitating inflammation. That is why learning how to go gluten and dairy-free will work for you and your kids.
Need some gluten-free meal prep ideas? Here are a few gluten-free meals to try.
Gluten-Free Recipe Ideas
Egg Scrambles
Eggs are naturally gluten-free, and they partner beautifully with vegetables, meat, and dairy. Egg scrambles are easy to make, and they often require just a single skillet.
Include eggs in your easy gluten-free lunches. To make an egg skillet, simply add the ingredients one by one to a well-oiled or buttered skillet. Add meat first, vegetables second, eggs third, and dairy at the end.
Let’s take an example scramble with turkey sausage, bell peppers, onions, eggs, and Havarti cheese. First, cook the turkey sausage until it’s almost browned. Add the bell peppers and onions and continue cooking until the onions turn translucent.
Make sure the turkey is completely cooked, and add the eggs. Stir the ingredients as the eggs cook. Add the Havarti at the end for a brief melting session. Remove from the stove and serve. Enjoy washing just a single pan! Perfect for the stay-at-home parent.
Gluten-Free Pancakes
What’s better on a weekend morning than a stack of pancakes? It’s a stack of gluten-free pancakes that are easy to make and even feature easy modifications for dairy-free or vegan families.
This super easy recipe requires just two ingredients: bananas and eggs. Simply beat a few eggs in a bowl and add some chopped bananas. You can massage the mixture with your hands.
Cook as you would regular pancakes in a non-stick pan or on a griddle. The pancakes should only take a few minutes to cook. If you want an egg-free substitute, plant-based vegan egg mixtures will work.
Fruit Salads
If you have trouble getting the kids to stay away from sweets, a colorful fruit bowl is an excellent alternative. Kids will love munching on the fruit when it’s hot outside and they want something cool, crisp, and delicious.
Not only do fruit bowls require very few dirty dishes, but they don’t require you to use the stove or oven, which is helpful when you’re trying to avoid heating the house up.
Kids may enjoy this gluten-free side dish. A fruit bowl with some combination of watermelon, honeydew melon, grapes, pineapple, and berries is yummy and healthy.
Grapes and berries are excellent additions because they don’t require slicing.
Mini Pizzas
Kids love pizza, but celiac disease and wheat allergies make it tough to enjoy this comfort food. Fortunately, child-friendly options exist for the busy stay-at-home mom.
To make mini pizzas, you’ll need a bread source (gluten-free bagels are an excellent option), some tomato puree, oregano, and a ball of mozzarella.
Start by heating the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Slice the bagels and spread the tomato puree on the top. Sprinkle the oregano on the bagels and evenly distribute small chunks of the mozzarella ball. Bake until the cheese is melted.
If you want to get fancy, you can add basil to the tomato mixture and put some halved cherry tomatoes on top of the pizzas. The best part about these gluten-free treats is that you can eat them cold. Make them when you have a spare moment and give them to the kids when they’re hungry.
Takeaway
Try these easy weeknight gluten-free dinners and meals for you and your family. Gluten-free meal prep is not that hard, and once you have gotten used to it, you’ll never go back to your old meal prep practices.