A few months ago, I asked on my Facebook page what types of posts you would like to see, and someone asked for my favorite recipes. This is especially different from “regular” people’s recipes because of my food sensitivities: I can’t eat gluten, dairy, corn, soy, and egg because they trigger my rheumatoid arthritis. As a whole, this means that I have a lot more healthy meals than the average person since if I want the non-healthy foods I have to make them from scratch. But don’t get me wrong; plenty of days I have pasta, oatmeal, pizza, etc.
I do want to note that I don’t cook a whole lot because I don’t feel well enough to do it every single day. I do, however, cook a couple times a month, and over the years, these are the recipes that I have made over and over again. And scroll down to the bottom to get a free printable to help if you are cooking for someone with food allergies or sensitivities.
7 Healthy Meals I Love
Stir-Fry: Based on My Whole Food’s life recipe for easy quinoa stir fry, this is a great kitchen-sink meal. I usually do brown rice instead of quinoa and whatever I have in my kitchen. That can include celery, peppers, onion, carrots, and garlic. The balsamic vinegar is what makes this absolutely amazing!
Chicken; quinoa, brown rice, or roasted sweet potato; and vegetables, usually roasted broccoli: This is a good base for making healthy meals because there’s protein, healthy carbs, and vegetables. And there is enough wiggle room that it isn’t boring. You can cook the chicken with any spices you want or in any way you want (there are two down below), but our family’s personal favorite is taco seasoning. I also suggest making the rice with broth of some kind, either chicken or vegetable. Both make it more flavorful and also add extra nutrition.
Smoothie: If you follow me on Instagram, you’re probably used to seeing me post smoothies. I try to have these smoothies at least 2-3 times a week. My go-to way of making a smoothie is 2 cups of greens (spinach or kale), 1.5 cups of frozen berries, 1.5 cups of unsweetened vanilla almond milk, 1 tablespoon of hemp protein powder, and 1 tablespoon of a mix of chia and flax seed. Sometimes, I also add a teaspoon of peanut butter, which makes it extra creamy.
Brown Sugar Garlic Chicken: This is sooooo good! While brown sugar and garlic sounds like a weird combination, it tastes amazing. My only advice is to make sure that you either spray the pan or put down aluminum foil because the mixture really thins out while cooking and ends up layering the bottom of the pain, which can take forever to get out.
Lemon Garlic Chicken: This is another delicious chicken recipe. It’s a much lighter taste than the brown sugar garlic, but it tastes just as good.
One-Pan Chicken Fajitas: Want something delicious but don’t want to spend a lot of time cooking? This is your meal. It’s super easy and the most time spent while cooking is actually spent when it’s in the oven.
Burrito Bowls: My sister, her boyfriend, and I all loooooove doing burrito bowls. These can take a fair amount of time but it’s so worth it. We don’t work off of a recipe, which is actually helpful because we can do whatever we want. Past ingredients include chicken (made with fajita or taco seasoning), rice, salsa, black beans, tomatoes, roasted broccoli, onion, peppers (bell and others), lime juice, and more. They’re absolutely delicious!
Free Printable for Ingredients To Avoid When Cooking for Someone with Allergies or Sensitivities
Are you cooking for someone with food allergies or sensitivities? Here is a list of ingredients to avoid if the issue is gluten, dairy, corn, soy, or egg.
What are your go-to recipes?
Like this post? Share it and check out:
Food Substitutions for Allergies & Sensitivities, How To Shop at Whole Foods without Breaking the Bank, 4 Reasons To Meal Prep, The Lifestyle Changes I Made for My Rheumatoid Arthritis
Kate Mitchell is a blogger, chronic illness patient, and advocate who helps people understand chronic illness and helps chronic illness patients live their best lives.
Chelsea Jacobs says
brown sugar garlic chicken sounds amazing!
Kate Mitchell says
It really is! And it smells amazing, too.