Kim is a board-certified holistic health coach, healthy living and cleanse consultant, and studied under Dr. Andrew Weil and Walter Willet.

4 Healthy, Gluten-Free Meal Ideas for Each Day of the Week!

Are you gluten-intolerant and worrying about not being able to enjoy your favorite foods again? Maybe you've been on a gluten-free diet for quite a long time and you've been avoiding bread since gluten is found mostly in wheat and rye.

A gluten-free diet is restrictive; however, it does not mean you have to deprive yourself of the usual foods that you love. Eating a gluten-free diet does not have to be challenging, boring, tasteless, or limiting!

In this article, I will show you a basic 7-meal plan to start as a reference to some of the most delicious gluten-free meals you can eat. You’d be surprised to learn how easy it is to prepare gluten-free food. Your taste buds can now resurface again as you give them the tasting of their lives.

Is a Gluten-Free Diet Healthy?

Keep in mind that this plan is designed to provide you with healthy meals. The menus include ingredients that are chock full of nutrients that your body needs to perform at its optimum level. This is not a weight-loss diet plan, nor is it a short-term fad diet.

You will see that each day starts with a healthy breakfast and a power lunch, coupled with a sensible dinner. Snacks and desserts are also presented. You can find the recipe shown alongside the pictures, or included as a link underneath the images.

You can mix and choose, depending on your mood that day or whatever ingredient you have on hand. After all, eating healthy is about having flexibility and the knowledge to create and consume delicious foods that are nutrient-rich.

A Note on Gluten-Free Ingredients

What do you think gluten-intolerant eaters miss the most? Bread and pasta! Who doesn't love a nice, crusty piece of sourdough bread or pizza crust? That's what most people on gluten-free diets are faced with—until they have discovered how to make their own version of "gluten-free" bread and pasta dishes.

Since gluten is a combination of proteins that are found in wheat, barley, and rye, it is the main reason gluten-free eaters have to be careful to avoid those foods. Although oats do not contain gluten, they are often cross-contaminated with wheat.

Even the professional bakers over at King Arthur Flour took three years to develop the perfect gluten-free flour and bread mixes. And they're still working at it!

Where to Buy

Don't worry! You can find gluten-free flour at most health stores. Other types of flour that do not contain gluten are coconut flour and almond flour.

Many health food supermarkets, such as Trader Joe's and Whole Foods, carry a wide variety of gluten-free food. The problem is not whether you can find gluten-free foods, but whether you can avoid overspending! With so many choices of delicious entrees, snacks, and flours, it's hard to resist! Be diligent and pay attention to the label "gluten-free" when you buy packaged foods.

Essential Pantry Items

Some of the essential ingredients that you can start stocking in your pantry are:

• Coconut flour, almond flour
• Gluten-free soy sauce or teriyaki sauce
• Gluten-free sausage (Costco)
• Gluten-free oatmeal
• Brown rice

Gluten-free banana muffins.

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Day 1 Meal Plan

My Quick Pasta Recipe

Serves 2 to 4

The "Italian-style" organic, gluten-free chicken sausage can now be found in most Costco stores!

Ingredients

• Chicken sausage
• Gluten-free quinoa spaghetti/penne
• Gluten-free tomato sauce (Trader Joe)
• Mushrooms or zucchini
• Onion
• Garlic

Instructions

1. Boil and cook pasta, drain.
2. Sauté onion and garlic. Add in sausage and sauté until cooked. Add vegetables. Add sauce.
3. Mix together and eat!

Gluten-free yogurt can be found at most health food stores.

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Day 2

Coconut!

If you are not familiar with cooking with coconut oil or coconut flour, here's the perfect opportunity to experiment. Coconut oil is versatile and can be used in almost all gluten-free desserts! Coconut flour is high in protein and fiber, making it an ideal substitute for flour in all baked goods recipes.

My favorite yogurt (used in the meal plan above) is made from coconut milk instead of cow's milk, which is more friendly to my digestive system.

Egg omelet with gluten-free low-fat chorizo (Trader Joe's)

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Day 3

Seared Salmon With Broccoli Recipe

Serves 2 to 4

Gluten can be found in soy sauce, teriyaki sauce, and condiments like ketchup. Make sure you buy specifically labeled "gluten-free" sauce and marinades. They can be found at the health supermarket or cheaper on Amazon.

Ingredients

• Salmon fillet (or any fish you want)
• Gluten-free teriyaki sauce
• Brown rice
• Broccoli of cauliflower
• Chives

Instructions

1. Marinate salmon with gluten-free teriyaki sauce for at least 15 minutes.
2. Sear the piece of fish on a non-stick pan (preferably cast iron pan) for roughly 10 minutes on each side. You'd rather "undercook" the fish than overcooking it.
3. In the meantime, heat broccoli in the microwave for about 2 minutes.
4. Serve with brown rice and broccoli.

Day 4

Gluten-Free Spinach Souffle Recipe

Serves 2

Ingredients

• 1 cup cottage cheese
• 3 eggs, slightly beaten
• 3 tablespoons coconut oil, melted (or butter)
• 1 tablespoon coconut flour
• 1 cup cheddar cheese
• 10 ounces frozen spinach, defrosted and drained

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. In a bowl combine cottage cheese, eggs, coconut oil, and coconut flour. Add shredded cheese and spinach. Pour into a greased loaf pan and bake for 1 hour, or until the top is golden brown.

Flourless protein pancakes.

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Day 5

Gluten-Free Protein Pancake Recipe

A gluten-free and low-fat pancake recipe that does not include the use of flour! Cottage cheese adds extra protein, while oatmeal provides fiber. It's very easy and quick to make. Enjoy with pure maple syrup.

Ingredients

• 2 cups old fashioned oatmeal
• 2 cups low-fat cottage cheese (or regular)
• 2 cups liquid egg whites (whites from about 12-14 eggs)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon

Instructions

1. Put all of the ingredients together in a blender.
2. Let the batter sit for at least 5 minutes.
3. Spray with nonstick cooking spray, and make pancakes.

Day 6

Ms. Olive's Delicious Fruit and Spinach Smoothie Recipe

Serves 2

The sweetness of the fruits will mask the "veggie" taste of the spinach!

Ingredients

• 2 cups fresh raw spinach
• 3 carrots
• 2 apples
• 1 banana
• 6 large strawberries
• 1 cup frozen blueberries
• 1/2 of a peeled and seeded orange
• 1/2 teaspoon matcha (green tea powder), optional
• 1/2 cup tart cherry juice
• 1 cup almond milk (or regular milk)

Instructions

1. Blend until smooth.
2. Enjoy! For more smoothie recipes, visit her page here.

Gluten-free pizza.

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Day 7

Gluten-Free Crepes With Berries Recipe

Serves 2

Ingredients

• 2 eggs
• 2 tablespoons melted coconut oil
• Stevia liquid drops (about 5 to 10 drops)
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Pinch of sea salt
• 2 tablespoons coconut flour (sifted)
• Pinch of nutmeg
• Pinch of cinnamon
• 1/3 cup whole milk
• 1 1/2 cups blueberries

Instructions

1. In a medium bowl, beat together the eggs, oil, stevia, vanilla, and salt. Mix in coconut flour, nutmeg and cinnamon; stir in milk.
2. Heat an 8-inch skillet over medium heat. When hot, melt a tiny pat of butter, coconut oil in the pan. Pour 1/8 cup of batter in the skillet and swirl around in pan until a thin layer of batter covers the bottom.
3. Cook 1 to 2 minutes, or until batter is bubbly and cooked around the edges. Flip the crepe and cook the other side for 1 to 2 minutes more, or until done.
4. Fill the crepes with the berries and a light dusting of coconut flour, of powdered sugar.

Comments

icmn91 from Australia on November 07, 2012:

I need to make my gluten free diet more interesting now that I'm back at home. It was terribly boring during the years that I was at college, which I have hubbed about, and the kitchen staff fed at Ursula Hall fed me gluten against my knowledge or will.

Hopefully these ideas will steer my mind toward the future! ;-)

Kim Lam (author) from California on April 18, 2012:

Hi Audrey, Thank you for passing it along to your boyfriend! I hope it will help him.

iamaudraleigh on April 18, 2012:

Shared with my boyfriend on fb...has tummy issues. This is full of info for him. Thank you!

Kim Lam (author) from California on April 08, 2012:

Thanks Matt! I appreciate you stopping by and checking the food!

Kim Lam (author) from California on April 08, 2012:

Yes, I bought them there 2 weeks ago!

Roxanne Lewis from Washington on April 08, 2012:

Turtlewoman, do you get the chicken sausage from Costco? I definitely want to give it a try! ;)

mattdigiulio from Los Angeles on April 08, 2012:

This food looks amazing. I was clicking through the photos and everything looked great. The big things were the pancakes and the omelet. Everything looks good though. Voting up, fantastic hub. Best, Matt D

Kim Lam (author) from California on April 08, 2012:

Thanks Roxanne, I can understand your frustration in the beginning. I'm so glad that gluten-free foods are more readily available now, even at Costco! You must definitely try that chicken sausage...it's amazing! (but probably not as good as your homemade gluten-free sausage recipe!)

Thanks for your vote.

Roxanne Lewis from Washington on April 08, 2012:

Great recipes! My son is intolerant to Gluten and it was really hard when we first started this diet. I know this hub will really help someone who is experiencing that frustration righ now!

We love the coconut yogurt and I am definitely going to try the other recipes soon! Voted way up

Kim Lam (author) from California on April 08, 2012:

Horatio- You're definitely right...as more people are discovering they're gluten-free intolerant, food companies are on the rise to fill that need.

poowool5-sometimes I let people try the desserts and don't even tell tell them that it's gluten-free. ;-)

nare and summerberrie- Thanks for visiting.

Thanks all for your votes and support!

Kim Lam (author) from California on April 08, 2012:

Mmargie1966, Thank you for bringing that to my attention. I've added the serving size.

Horatio Plot from Bedfordshire, England. on April 07, 2012:

Good stuff, nicely set out. 10 years ago in the UK you couldn't get gluten free anything. Nowadays all this stuff is readily available. And thanks to you, now people have the recipes too!

Nare Gevorgyan on April 05, 2012:

Really cool!

poowool5 from here in my house on April 05, 2012:

Hi Turtlewoman, walrusgirl here! I am not gluten-intolerant but now that I see all your delicious recipes and foods, I wish I was!

Very positive way to treat what could be perceived as a negative...doesn't seem that way at all. As you say, so many products to choose from these days, all widely available.

Nice hub, voted up and useful!

summerberrie on April 04, 2012:

Those crepes look great!

Mmargie1966 from Gainesville, GA on April 04, 2012:

...and now I'm starving! Great Hub! My only question is how many servings are in each recipe? There are only 2 of us at home right now.