Tips for Switching to Gluten-Free

Summer has been crazy! Sorry for the wait on another post, things have gotten nuts. We’ve had lots of fun trips, and a couple more coming up these next two weeks, and lots of family things. We had a death in the family and though it wasn’t entirely unexpected, that doesn’t do much to lessen the hardship. Fortunately I finally have some new stuff for you guys, woop!

Gluten-free (GF) eating has recently become one of the most popular diet changes. Food companies have noticed – grocery stores have GF sections, and foods that are GF are almost always marketed or labelled as such. Personally, I don’t see the harm in anyone giving it a shot (unless your doctor says otherwise, etc). My roommate used to get daily migraines, but since she made the switch, they’re less frequent and less intense. But many people seem to jump headfirst into it without doing any research, or at the very least figuring out how to make the best of their diet change. Here’s a few tips to help you, both from a financial and a health standpoint.

1. Don’t go out and spend tons of money on your new GF foods

I had a friend who did this. She bought GF bread, chips, cake, cookies, and tons of other treats. She spent loads of money on food that she wasn’t going to eat anyways, and the foods she bought weren’t any healthier than their gluten-filled originals. She didn’t really notice until after she’d bought them, about $200 later (that’s not a typo, about $200 later). Which brings me to my next point:

2. Gluten-free does not necessarily mean better for you

It may sound crazy, but eating GF can completely ruin your diet and weight loss goals if you’re not careful about the choices you make. Let’s look at some examples. A corn and rice blend of GF pasta has just as many calories as regular pasta. A serving of regular Cheetos is 150 calories, and a serving of Lundberg’s sea salt rice chips is only 10 calories less. When it comes down to it, a gluten-free cake is still a cake, meaning a GF label doesn’t equal healthier or lower calorie.

Most gluten-free products are still made from grains, and when it comes down to it, grains tend to be high in calories and low in nutrients. You don’t need to eat grain-free as well as gluten-free, just be smart about the grains you eat!

3. You don’t need to find gluten-free replacements for the foods you eat

To put it simply, you don’t need to start buying GF bread when you make the change. You can simply stop eating bread. And pasta. And tortillas. If you replace these foods with things like zucchini noodles and lettuce wraps, you can still get the satisfaction of the food you love, and get some more nutrient-dense, low-cal veggies into your diet. I made a GF version of chicken noodle soup that has zucchini noodles instead of egg noodles, and it’s delicious! I plan on coming up with more recipes like this that replace the empty calories with something just as fulfilling, but better for you.

With all of this being said, you are obviously still free to make your own food decisions. If you want to buy GF bread and pasta to replace the foods you know and love, there is nothing wrong with that. Just keep in mind that you can also take this as an opportunity to really enhance your diet by incorporating more vegetables where you’d normally be eating empty calories and carbs. Foods like bread and pasta tend to be vehicles for the really good stuff, so try some veggie replacements and see how you like it.

Quick, easy, cheap turkey burgers!

I didn’t try ground turkey until recently. I always thought it sounded weird, and honestly a little bit sad: I love beef, especially good quality grass-fed beef. The grass-fed flavor can’t be beat. But I decided that for the sake of my caloric intake that I would try ground turkey, and I was pleasantly surprised. The first thing I ever made with it is still one of my favorites: turkey burgers. It’s super cheap, you can make a bunch at a time, and they’re incredible versatile. You can use them to replace beef patties (duh), crumble them for taco meat, or eat them plain, as the protein part of a meal. I usually do the latter and just eat the burgers with a little bit of Stubb’s BBQ sauce, no bun, served with a side of veggies and wild rice/quinoa pilaf.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb 99% fat free ground turkey (I had to use 93% since that’s all Costco had, and I definitely like the 99% better)
• 1 shallot
• seasoning salt of choice, my favorite is Johnny’s
• coconut oil for the pan

1. Take ground turkey out of your refrigerator and set on counter. The warmer the turkey is, the less it will freeze your hands when you shape the patties later.

2. Peel your shallot, and dice it.

3. Put the turkey and shallot into a mixing bowl.

4. Shake a bit of seasoning salt into the bowl. I would rather go the route of under-seasoned than over-seasoned, because you can simply add more seasoning salt to the finished product.

 

5. Mix with either your hands or a spoon until the shallots and seasoning are well combined.

6. Roll mixture into balls, making them as even as you can. You can make as many as 10 patties, or as few as 3, depending on how big you want them to be. I roll them into balls first to better gauge the size. Once the balls are formed, press into patties.

I made about 9 or 10, but didn’t get a chance to take a picture until some of them were already in the pan.

7. Heat pan over medium heat, and add oil. Place your patties evenly around the pan with at least an inch between them, to allow room for flipping.

8. When just over half of the patty is cooked, and flip them (about 4-5 minutes). Cook until pink is no longer visible on the outside.*This is just how I cook mine, I don’t check the temperature because I’m lame. If you are concerned about them being completely done, cook them until a meat thermometer reads 165 degrees.*

9. Remove finished patties from pan and set on a plate. Allow to sit for about 5 minutes to finish cooking/allow the juices to settle before serving.

And there you have it! The shallots add a great flavor and a small amount of difference in texture, while the seasoning salt rounds everything out. Enjoy!

 

-L