YouAlberta
So you have food intolerances, allergies, or restrictions… and you’re a student. The worst combination for your wallet and schedule— trust me, I know. But I’m here to tell you that it’s possible to eat and not spend a ton of money or time on food.
Now, I have three food intolerances: gluten, dairy, and eggs. I was diagnosed by my allergist several years ago after showing up in his office with one of the world’s rarest allergies (fun fact: I am allergic to Polyethylene Glycol or PEG, a chemical that a human should not be allergic to). It’s been quite a journey since then.
So, I’ve developed a few favourite gluten-dairy-egg-free dishes that I am here to share with you today.
I’ve got to say, granola with almond milk and frozen fruit has been a favourite lately, but granola is quite expensive if it’s not on sale. Oatmeal is a good, cheaper substitute for granola.
Bonus: a little sprinkle of brown sugar and a bit of applesauce makes it taste a lot better.
My favourite lunch lately has been a salad with carrot slices, walnuts (almonds or sunflower seeds are also good), and balsamic dressing.
(I promise the carrots are in there, I just hid them at the bottom).
I do make the dressing myself with a recipe I found online, but you can also buy some premade at the grocery store. But if you make it yourself, you can control whether it’s more salty or sweet which I really love.
If I’m really feeling hungry, I will add a bit of tuna!
(My favorite is actually the lemon and dill flavour, but I didn’t have any left in my cupboard.)
Dinner is always hard because I’m not a huge fan of cooking (it’s hard when you’re a student, okay?) but my boyfriend loves it!
The other day, he decided to try to make me crispy chicken (breaded and fried and everything). He found a recipe for chicken katsu online and made a few modifications to the recipe. First, he found gluten free breadcrumbs (the Panko ones). Then he had to find a way around the whole dunking-in-eggs thing, so he used almond milk. Lastly, he used gluten-free flour instead of normal flour and viola! It turned out deliciously (and the bread crumbs stayed nicely stuck on).
Then I decided to take it one step further. I’ve got to say that I am a fan of the McDonald’s crispy chicken wraps, but obviously can’t eat them anymore. Well, I grabbed some of the chicken, found vegan mayo at Safeway, and went to town to recreate them on my own.
(Please excuse the fact that there is way too much mayo on this wrap, I wanted it to come through in the picture).
Here I piled on tomatoes and lettuce. I used the new coconut wraps that Safeway sells because it turns out that you can actually wrap them. Unlike rice wraps, the bane of my existence, they don’t immediately fall apart the moment you pick them up.
It was absolutely delicious and such a nice treat.
Something else I like to eat when I am sick of eating salad is vegan mac and cheese. I love this recipe except I make a few changes.
- I don’t use the carrots
- I add ⅓ a cup of nutritional yeast because I like the flavour
- And I use 1 tsp of onion powder because I like the flavour
This looks a bit lumpy but that’s only because I didn’t blend it long enough (I was hungry…).
I promise, it’s really good and the only thing that’s super expensive in this is the nutritional yeast which, when you buy it, will last you a while.
If you’ve ever craved peanut butter cups but can’t have them because of dairy, here is the best recipe ever. Seriously, they’re amazing.
I really love having a fruit smoothie to make sure I get all of my fruits and veggies. Your new best friend is all the frozen fruit you can buy that will last for a long time and is less expensive than fresh fruit. My favourite combination is raspberries and mango slices with a touch of cranberry juice.
[Editor’s Note: Due to COVID-19, all dining service retail locations on campus are closed until further notice.]
Okay, so you’re starving and have a ton of food intolerances, but only 30 minutes between classes. What do you do?
Well. Chopped Leaf in Van Vliet has an amazing spa salad (honestly, that’s where I got the idea for the one I mentioned above, their’s just has more stuff in it). Do be aware that the tuna that you can add to it has eggs in it.
Remedy has the most amazing butter chicken wrap that actually has no dairy. Just ask for the gluten-free wrap and for hummus instead of mayo. It’s actually incredible. (Now it is a little pricey, but it’s filling and a wonderful treat).
Bar Burrito in SUB also has a gluten free/vegan option! Their salad bowls don’t have gluten and they’re super filling.
Whether you’ve had food intolerances for a long time, or just found out and are struggling to find food you can eat, know that you’re not alone and that there is a ton of good food and others like you out there.
