Please recommend vegan, gluten-free food ideas

[nestof3]

We have children spending the day with us while their mother is in the hospital. They are on a vegan, gluten-free diet.

Can you recommend lunch and dinner ideas?

Thanks

[susie in tx]

Beans and rice. My kids used to love lentils and brown rice with indian spices. Corn tortillas with tofutti cheese in them. Baby carrots with vegan ranch dressing. It's a soy base. I wish I could remember the name. It's yummy. You could put almost anything sandwich like in a corn tortilla, even peanut butter and jelly. Nut butters or sunflower seed butter in celery sticks are good. They might even like to put raisins on top. The same stuff on apples. Hummus and rice chips. They sell rice chips at the health food store that have just sea salt on them. My kids like those. Rice crackers are good.

Tacos are good and don't have to have cheese. Same for enchiladas. Just use beans for the inside instead of meat. You could also do some sort of stir fry with veggies and brown rice. I've had stir fry with tofu, but I'm not sure how that works in a stir fry. It's been a long time since I've done it myself.

The mom may also have some suggestions, but those are some I can think of off the top of my head.

[Michele in New Zealand]

I am a gluten free vegan. Hopefully I can help a little.

Don't feed anything containing barley, rye, oats or wheat. Watch for hidden gluten in things like dressing, tortillas, crackers. Watch for allergy warnings such as "Processed on lines containing gluten...etc." I am assuming they do this in America. Make sure your work surfaces are free of gluten things, crumbs etc, that your pans, spoons, knives etc are completely free of gluten. Cross contamination of gluten is a major issue if the children have Celiac.

Anyway here is what my family eats sometimes!

Grilled veges
Potato wedges
stir fry with wheat fre soy sauce (tamarai)
popcorn (plain)
gluten free pasta (Tinkyada is nice apparently) with GF sauce no cheese
chocolate soy milk
quinoa with veges, sunflower and pumpkin seeds
GF vegan muffins
hummus with carrot sticks
GF bread toasted in your oven (not in your toaster that is used for wheat bread) vegan buttah, jam, peanut butter, almond butter etc.
curried vege with coconut milk and brown rice
rice pudding with coconut milk, cinnamon, nutmeg and agave or maple syrup (do not use honey, it's not vegan)
Garden of Eatin corn chips and GF refried beans with salsa
fruit salad

I hope that is helpful!:):)

[Lorna]

Sushi made with carrots, tofu, red peppers, sesame seeds, avocado (with gluten free soya sauce)
Rice salads without dairy or egg
Mixed vegetables (such as courgette, peppers, potatoes, sweet potatoes, etc) mixed with whole garlic cloves (with skins on) and olive oil roasted in the oven
French fries
tortillas made completely wheat free
rice cakes (instead of bread)
100% plant margarine
yeast extract 'Vegemite' or 'Marmite'
tahini is very popular with vegan children. It contains lots of calcium. You can serve it with honey on rice cake.
Any soy milk dessert

These are from a website that has some suitable recipes (not all). They are real hits with our children:
Herb rice
Ingredients
10 oz (300 g) rice
1 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon turmeric
2 oz (50 g) raisins
2-3 tablespoons chopped fresh herbs such as parsley,
basil, sage, oregano, rosemary or coriander
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 oz (25 g) chopped pistachio or cashew nuts
Method: 1. Cook the rice, and drain.
2. Heat the oil in a large pan and add the spices. Fry for 30 seconds.
3. Add the raisins, fry for another minute, then stir in the rice and mixed herbs. Season with salt and black pepper. Heat through, stirring frequently, and adding a little water if the rice starts to stick.
4. When the rice is hot, turn off the heat, sprinkle with the nuts and serve.

Chickpea Croquettes
Chickpea, potato and carrot croquettes that are easy and
fun to make.

Ingredients: 1 lb 8 oz (775 g) potatoes
12 oz (350 g) chick peas
8 oz (225 g) carrots
3 tablespoons parsley
1 tablespoon chopped sage
(about 4 medium-sized leaves)
Juice of half a lemon
1½ teaspoons salt
Black pepper
Gram flour (made from chick peas)
2 tablespoons sunflower oil, plus more as necessary
Method: 1.Wash and peel the potatoes. Cut up into large pieces and place them in a pan of boiling water.
2.Boil the potatoes until tender (about 20 minutes), then drain. Put them into a large bowl together with the chick peas, and mash well.
3.Wash and peel the carrots, then coarsely grate them into the bowl.
4.Finely chop the parsley and sage, and add them to the carrot, chick pea and potato mix, together with the lemon juice, salt, and freshly ground black pepper.
5.Mix all the ingredients well, then, with a serving spoon, scoop the mixture up into balls; roll each ball in a little gram flour and press flat to make the croquettes.
6.Heat the two tablespoons oil in a large frying pan, then add the croquettes. Cook in batches, turning them over when they are well browned on the underside. The aim should be to not have them sizzling in oil, but to add a little oil from time to time, to help them to cook.
7.Place on a plate and serve immediately




From:http://www.jamboree.freedom-in-education.co.uk/

[Lisa at Home]

And you have a really good health food store or whole foods place, you can probably find some things in their frozen foods section.

And if the kids are old enough, I am sure they can give you a good idea of what they eat.

Hope all goes well for you!

~Lisa

[nestof3]

Wow! Thank you so much for all of these ideas. I've printed them off and will plan the meals tomorrow.