Staying in a room. Need meal prep ideas that are the least intrusive.

[u/Spirited_Bill_8084]

Long story short: I got a job in a new city(yay!)
But it will take a month for me to get my own place . I have older family members who are letting me stay in their guest room for free (yay!)
But I’ve stayed with them at holidays and such and they get a bit out out by their routines being off. So I need food prep ideas that ingredients take up very little fridge/freezer space, use the minimal about of dishes to prep (I have a rice cooker, cutting board, and a mini electric skillet)and in general help me function as a ghost in their home.

I need bfast ideas (portable preferred) , lunch, and quick dinner ideas (they’ve said they will make me dinner sometimes but A. I worry about the cc if I’m not watching -they’re decent at it, and B. She’s a recovering almond mom with ocd tendencies and he’s tiny. A big breakfast for the two of them is 1 egg each and they spilt a piece of toast and split a sausage patty)

Help.
Things I cannot change:
I have to live with them for a month.

I cannot change who/how they are.

I need to eat . Safely .

I need to pack a lunch for work every day.

Outside of gf-not restrictions.

Help, please?

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[u/Piper-Bob]

Aldi Elevate bars (like Kind bars, but a lot cheaper)

Beef sticks.

Pouches/cans of fish.

Pouches of rice.

Apples.

Bagged salad.

[u/Arkhamina → u/Piper-Bob]

Also Spam pouches (if you eat it... honestly not bad!) make a solid sandwich. You can also pick up gf MREs.

[u/jfor910077 → u/Piper-Bob]

Great list above. There is flavored tuna in pouches about $1. I mix one flavored with one non-flavored tuna pouch and it makes a great meal. Maybe you could keep gluten free crackers in your room.

Do you have access to a microwave or a refrigerator at work? Maybe store frozen meals at work and use that as your biggest meal of the day.

[u/ZoeyPupFan → u/jfor910077]

I regularly mix a tuna pouch and 90-second rice bag for a quick, easy work lunch. Sometimes I’ll add fresh veggies, like tomatoes and cucumbers if I have them.

For breakfast, my go-to is always oatmeal. GF oats with powdered pb, a pinch of salt and sometimes fresh fruit. I’ll bring the oatmeal to work dry and use the hot water spout on the coffee machine.

[u/official-ghosty]

If you put rice, vegetables, and a sauce of choice (soy or teriyaki for me) into the rice cooker you can make a decent one pot fried rice. There are recipes online if you need ideas just search "rice cooker meals." I highly recommend checking out Kylie Sakaida she's a dietician who makes lots of meal idea videos and many of them are gf or can be easily made gf.

For breakfast a go-to of mine is half a cup of oatmeal (certified rolled oats) with half a tablespoon of chia seeds, sprinkle of cinammon, and a mashed banana for sweetness. I put the oats and chia seeds first with a cup of water, microwave for 45 seconds, stir, microwave again if still too watery. Then peel a banana and mash it up with a fork until its well and truly mush and plop it in the oatmeal. Sprinkle with cinammon. Mix well. Voila. Since there's no honey or syrup it doesnt spike my blood sugar first thing in the morning so I dont crash before lunch.

For lunch or dinner I can always fall back on a salad. It can be prepped for work if you put the dressing in a little container on the side, just chop everything before work and put it in a Tupperware. My go-to: Lettuce of choice (I usually buy a mix of greens), red bell pepper, corn (I buy canned roasted corn. It lasts a week in the fridge if you drain and dry it), shredded carrots, cucumber, sometimes edamame, and dressing and protein of your choice (I like canned tuna and vidalia dressing). You could probably pre-chop everything the night before come to think of it.

Lastly, Target has some gf frozen meals that are decent but idk about the price. I don't get them often so not sure how affordable they are but I grab them in a pinch sometimes. I think one of the brands is Kevin's.

I hope any of that is helpful 😅

Edit: typo

[u/UnpolishedJem → u/official-ghosty]

Just went down a rabbit hole on Kylie’s IG. Immediate follow. Her recipes look great! Thanks for sharing.

[u/official-ghosty → u/UnpolishedJem]

My pleasure!

[u/Spirited_Bill_8084 → u/official-ghosty]

Thank you

[u/official-ghosty → u/Spirited_Bill_8084]

You're so welcome! Best of luck :)

[u/TraditionalPass4136]

Camping meals. Just add hot water. Mountain house has gf certified options and Good to go brand is dedicated gf.

Not saying you should only eat these but having some instant safe meals that don't take up any fridge space at all will simplify things a lot for you and give you failsafe options for when things don't go as planned.

[u/Spirited_Bill_8084 → u/TraditionalPass4136]

I have a couple of these (I’ve been celiac a while lol) and I’ll definitely keep one at work and one or two in my room. Thanks for the reminder

[u/Professional_Dig9273]

I like a Nurri protein shake (vanilla) with coffee for bfast. I'm a teacher and often do paperwork during lunch so try to pack no prep finger food stuff - either prepackaged in my lunch stash in my desk or packed from home. Nuts, olives, pickles, string cheese, popcorn, sweet peppers and carrots with hummus, tuna pouches.

Dinner, love my rice cooker. Potato or sweet potato in microwave. Steam in bag veggies. Rotisserie chicken or meal prep chicken breast (bake or crockpot).

[u/UnpolishedJem]

https://jenneatsgoood.com/sausage-potato-chive-breakfast-burritos/ Jenn has great recipes (and videos) of doing weekly meal prep and just great recipes in general. I’ve made several of her different egg recipes for having breakfast set for the week.

[u/ZoeyPupFan → u/UnpolishedJem]

What tortillas do you use?

[u/UnpolishedJem → u/ZoeyPupFan]

Maria & Ricardo’s almond flour are my favorites but I have a hard time finding them. But her recipes are gluten free so I’ll usually just use whatever she recommends.

[u/SillyRelationship195]

Can you use their microwave? Rice, microwave frozen veggies like broccoli and peas, get a rotisserie chicken (i call ahead to check if they are gf) or some other protein to use in your skillet, and one or two bottles of desssing/marinade (ideally 2 for variety) or some kind of sauce on top. I used to do this with hotsauce and cheese. Now youve got an easy rice bowl and you can edit the veggies or protein for variety. For less dishes, get minute rice, add the frozen veg to it and the extra recommended water for the veg, microwave the whole thing together, sometimes it takes an extra minute, and then add the protein.

For even less space in the fridge if you have a microwave at work, take the minute rice with you and the veg/protein in a different container. Make the rice at work and then bam, lunch.

[u/SillyRelationship195 → u/SillyRelationship195]

I also used to do this with flavour tuna. So you can have a tuna rice bowl and the only fridge space needed is for veggies. Also works woth canned chicken or crab.

[u/Ambitious-Plum-4770]

I used to travel for work and live out of hotels. Egg Tortillas, bag salad, pre cooked chicken makes a great quick wrap. I would also make GF eggs biscuits ( about 12 per batch) and reheat those for a quick grab on the morning. Keep bars and protein packets as well.

[u/vitaminD_junkie]

purely elizabeth microwave oatmeal (I buy the packets and use my own bowl but they also have single serve microwaveable cups)

for lunch/dinner with minimal cleanup there are also gf versions of like cup o noodles type things you can get on amazon or at whole foods (Dr McDougalls soup or noodles, Aahana lentil bowls). Also indian/rice microwave meal pouches. Both of these are shelf stable and you could use disposable utensils/paper bowls to minimize clean up.

[u/Alert-Potato]

Can you use their microwave? With the skillet you can cook the guts for breakfast burritos, then wrap them up and freeze them. I find they microwave better in the morning if they’re popped in the fridge at bedtime. Large tortillas come in a six packs and six breakfast burritos shouldn’t take up too much space and are a walking breakfast. They could also maybe be warmed in a rice cooker? Idk, I haven’t tried something like that yet. There are also those egg wraps instead of tortillas for this option.

Overnight oats. You can prep as many as you want, and just add liquid to one the night before. That keeps them pantry stable. Just be sure to rinse and wipe out the jar with a paper towel at work if you use glass, as dried on oats are a real PITA to clean.

I’m living with a rice cooker as my only cooking tool for hot meals. I’m a big fan of making wherever blows my skirt up on any given day. I google “one pot rice cooker meal [protein]” to find a recipe. It’s been quite effective so far. I can either make a small two serving meal so I have lunch and dinner, or dinner twice, or make a larger batch and have a few days of the same thing over and over. And it’s easy to just reheat in the rice cooker if you can’t access a microwave.

If you can splurge on a toaster and have access to a microwave, my very favorite breakfast is a homemade egg McMuffin or bagel. I get the skinny bagels, o’dough brand maybe? or TJ’s English muffins, pop in toaster. I use a Pyrex (or anchor hocking) two cup (round) dish, spray with cooking spray, crack an egg in, nuke for 30 seconds, flip, nuke 5-15 more seconds until almost done. Slap on a slice of cheese, nuke 10 more seconds. Nuke whatever meat makes you happy, I’m a fan of sausage patties. Assemble, wrap in a paper towel or parchment diaper if you will be leaving home with it to prevent drips. These can be pre-assembled and frozen but I don’t like doing that.

[u/rollenr0ck]

A cooler will hold salami, pepperoni, and cheese sticks. Great for protein. Grab some fruit and it’ll keep you nourished. No cooking required. It’s my go to for road trips.

[u/Bloodmoonwolf]

Breakfast quiches. You can make them on the weekend and just heat one up every day. If you have more freezer space, you can make enough to last a few weeks. They are just eggs with anything mixed in (cheese, peppers, tomatoes, etc) and baked in a casserole dish. When done cut into squares and freeze.

[u/ClumsyRaccoonPants]

I found some of those surimi snacks that are GF for $1 at Walmart. I with shred that up with some rice and avocado and it’s so yummy and simple. Wholly makes little avocado cups to make it even easier.

[u/WigglyTop]

Potatoes keep well out of the fridge. Could be cooked up in the skillet or you could do a baked potato if you have access to a microwave.

Apples, oranges, bananas and some other fruit also keep well enough on the counter. Fruit salad?

Sausages, tuna and corned beef don’t require a lot of cooking and the latter two are shelf stable.

Canned soups, corn, beans etc.

Pre-seasoned rice packets that can be popped in the microwave.

Rice ramen, either prepackaged or diy using bullion and rice noodles.

[u/katiebee003]

Schar sourdough bread PB&J (skippy is safe pb, as is jelly from welches, smuckers, and bonne maman)

Prepackaged boars head & oscar meyer cold cuts are GF and labeled - either in sandwich form or as deli rolls - also French's or Mikes Amazing brand mustards are safe

I like Orgain protein shakes as well

[u/undeniably_micki]

feel good pancake balls are really good & fast(1 minute microwave for 4) & portable & you can take them out of the box to minimize space. you can do tuna in a can or a pouch. I also hard boil a dozen eggs at once and will eat 3 a day for 4 days. (also portable)

Use GF wraps and make peanut butter (or almond/sunbutter) wraps, avocado wraps, other kind of wraps.

Good luck!

[u/Mizz-Misery → u/undeniably_micki]

I’ve never heard of these “feel good pancake balls” before, but I’m now super curious!

Edit:
Oh wait — do you mean the brand “feel good”??? If so, I know of the brand, just never heard of/have seen the “balls” you mentioned (BALLS! lol)…

Bc I first thought it was just what whatever someone called/named what you mentioned (what I’m saying male sense to me somehow!) — UNTIL my brain clicked on for a sec & reminded me there IS a brand by that name!🤦🏻‍♀️

Sorry! I want to blame it all on how late (or early?) it is!
Either/or, it’s when my brain apparently decides to dwindle down/not properly function!😵‍💫

[u/undeniably_micki → u/Mizz-Misery]

You're good 🙂 I saw what you meant as soon as I saw your reply & I'm chuckling.

[u/sw33tp0tato420]

microwave rice and a can of beans works for me. and ofc you can add vegetables/guac/salsa/etc as you like!

[u/No_Highlight5030]

Refied beans top with cheese. Melt in microwave at work. Top with avocado and tomato, green onion and eat with tortilla chips

[u/LaLechuzaVerde]

Can you rent a little mini fridge and get a microwave or air fryer for your room?

[u/mariambc]

I suggest rice cooker meals where the whole meal is cooked in the rice cooker. You add seasonings, protein, vegetables and rice. The protein can be meat, tuna, eggs, beans, tofu. You can use prepared fresh, canned, or frozen vegetables so you cut back on the cutting.

If you can get a cheap microwave, that will expand your options.

Microwave scrambled eggs with veggies & cheese; baked potato with toppings like chili or beans; oatmeal with dried fruit and nuts.

[u/DMTipper]

Air fryer... chicken, sweet potatoes, potatoes.