What's inside my lunch? A look into my food allergies

The dreaded question, what's for lunch?

It's a question we're faced with everyday. Whether it's last nights leftovers, a sandwich, or some fast food, you've got to eat something and it seems like the choices are always the same. I call it lunch block. It's a rut that you get into where you eat the same thing day after day.

I try and add variety to my meals often to avoid lunch block, because I really get burnt out on eating the same things every day. Turkey sandwiches anyone? If you know me well, you know what I mean. I have pretty much been living on the same foods over and over the last few years.

But finally, just this summer, I have been able to add more food into my diet, hallelujah! More vegetables, more fruits, more protein, more whole grains, just more food in general. It has been so nice!

One of my favorite things to do for lunch that is easy and adds variety is grill up and shred a few chicken breasts and put them in the refrigerator. Then when it's time for lunch I can add a little BBQ sauce and have a wrap, or add some lime juice, and Mexican spices and have a chicken taco, or mix it with some mayo, grapes and apples, and make a chicken salad sandwich. I get some variety and it's easy! There are so many things you can do with chicken breasts, they are a staple in my diet so I always have them around and I am always trying new things with them.

When I am on the go that's when I usually just make and take a sandwich, or grab one from a sandwich shop. I always bring along snacks and easy transportable food. I have a super awesome lunch bag that keeps food cold for 8 hours. The whole thing goes into the freezer and I love that I don't have to mess with frozen bottles or ice packs. My mom found it on QVC and gave it to me last year and I have used the thunder out of it. Isn't she cute?

Because I eat small meals throughout the day, I snack a lot, and sometimes my snacks aren't the healthiest options, but I am trying to be better. I have a carb-loving sweet tooth, what can I say?

The snacks that I pack and frequently eat consist of pretzels, I love those and they are fat-free which means gall-bladder friendly, fresh fruit, berries, and turkey jerky, another gallbladder friendly snack since I have a hard time with anything beef, and it's a great boost of protein. Some others that are my go to snacks are rice cakes, popcorn (I'll tell you more about this new snack I can actually eat later in the post), Greek yogurt, applesauce, pudding, and graham crackers. I obviously don't pack ALL of this at the same time, but these are some of my options that I choose from ;)

My diet is pretty strict, so I ALWAYS have food with me. I am able to eat a lot more than I used to but, I can't just drive up to any restaurant or drive thru and grab something. Plus when I pack my own lunches and snacks, I know exactly what I'm eating.

Having gallbladder issues I have to stay away from fat, oil, grease, butter, eggs, bitter greens like lettuce, celery, and cucumbers, caffeine that's found in coffee, soda, and chocolate...sigh, onions, garlic, peppers, beef, pork, and many other things, (those ones are just the worst offenders). I also have an allergy to peanuts AND tree nuts, especially almonds. Pre-packaged items like cake mixes, baking mixes, muffin mixes are also things I have to avoid, there are certain preservatives in them that I'm allergic too. It's not like I could eat any of those things anyways with my gallbladder problems. I'm a mess, I know. But I am getting better.

So when I grocery shop I HAVE to read the labels to everything, at first it was annoying but now I am used to it and I really don't eat many things that have long ingredient lists. It's because of my allergies why I do so much "from-scratch" cooking, it's the only way to know exactly what's in my food. I can fruit and vegetables and use those in my cooking often. I buy organic produce when I can and I have noticed that has made a big difference in what I can eat.

When I find something new that I can actually eat, I get really excited. I tried some new popcorn out this week and I love it!

SkinnyPop is a healthy snack with a super clean label. There are no artificial ingredients or flavors, it's non-GMO, gluten free, peanut free, tree nut free, preservative free, dairy free, except for the cheese flavors, and there is zero trans fat!

They offer popped popcorn, popcorn cakes, microwave popcorn, and my favorites, mini popcorn cakes! I can't wait to try out more flavors! So far the Sea Salt, and Cinnamon Sugar have been my favorite flavors. I'm dying to get my hands on the Naturally Sweet flavor, I'm guessing it would be like kettle corn, mmm!

What are your go to lunch and snack options? Do you ever get stuck in a lunch block?

Thank you for stopping by, I hope you have a sweet and happy day :)