Soup and Salads

So, not only are prepackaged foods labeled “gluten free” pricey, but they’re often not all that healthy due to processing and sodium content etc. I do keep “instant gluten free” meals on hand, but I like to make as much as I can myself.

It’s still summer but I have been craving soup with a passion. We made chicken last night for dinner in the crock pot, so I saved the broth and added some extra Swanson’s Natural Goodness Chicken Broth to it (this broth does not list wheat as an ingredient, but always read the labels first because you never know when companies will change their recipes). Usually I would just boil the chicken bones and use that for the broth, but this didn’t make quite enough liquid on its own. This is wheat-free, dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free.

Save the broth from one chicken cooked in crock pot with favorite seasonings

1 boil in bag rice – takes about 8 minutes

Carrots/celery/onions/peppers – any veggies you want. I like to pre-cook the veggies in a frying pan because, as I discovered the hard way once, it will take hours to soften carrots in the soup broth.

I cut up some of the chicken from the night before.

After the rice is cooked, I just toss the ingredients in a pot together and heat thoroughly.

I love that chicken soup is so easy to make allergy friendly and tastes so good.

I made a salad with lettuce and cherry tomatoes that I purchased from my favorite local farm. And lunch was served; in the same time it would have taken me to drive to McDonalds and back, or run to the nearest grocery store and microwave something. Sometimes it just takes some planning ahead or creativity with leftovers from the night before.

I’m also in love with adding berries to salads. If you’re brave, you can try a tuna salad by replacing the mayo with mustard (if you have an egg allergy like me). Place this on top of a bed of lettuce and tomatoes, toss in some fresh blueberries and top it off with homemade hummus.