Easy & Quick! A Gluten Free Meal You Can Make Fast!

Need a fast gluten free meal the whole family will enjoy?  Continue reading to find out how the dietary needs of my son forced me to find alternative foods that he could eat, and how to make one of my family's favorite gluten-free meal!

My ten-year-old son was diagnosed with a gluten sensitivity a couple of months ago. He was devastated because he loves food! It has been a bit of a process for me to come up with meals that we all will like, and the "we" includes not only my son and me, but my husband and our six-year-old daughter.

This hub is about a meal I found to include everything I look for not only in a gluten-free meal, but a meal in general. We are a busy family with after school activities and homework, and laboring in the kitchen is not my favorite thing to do. I needed a meal that was fast and easy to make, and was gluten-free.

This meal has minimal ingredients, little prep time, as well as cook time. I am able to have dinner on the table in about twenty minutes. That means I can spend more time with my kids helping them with homework, talking, playing games, and doing the things I want to do instead of spending time in the kitchen making and cleaning up dinner.

***Be sure to check out the bottom of this hub where I share my (and my son's) favorite gluten-free breakfast items, breads, pastas, snacks, and dessert products!***

My husband came across a recipe in Men's Health magazine that contained shrimp, gorgonzola cheese and whole wheat pasta. Well the whole wheat pasta had to go since my son is gluten sensitive (however, this meal is great with whole wheat pasta if you aren't interested in a gluten free alternative).

And if you're wondering if your kids will eat gorgonzola cheese? Just try them. My daughter is only six and she eats this gluten-free meal!

What You'll Need:

• 1 bag of small or medium pre-cooked, peeled shrimp with tails off (of course fresh will do too:)
• Gorgonzola cheese (gorgonzola is gluten-free)
  
• 1 box of Schar gluten-free penne pasta (I find that Schar pasta is the best tasting gluten-free pasta)
  
• Baby spinach
• Grape tomatoes
• Ready-made pesto
• Walnuts (optional)
  

Sorry that I don't give measurements for some of the ingredients. I just eye-ball this stuff and when you make it, you'll know what I mean.

Cook the Schar gluten-free pasta according to pasta directions. I use frozen shrimp. I rinse off the shrimp in cool water, then saute it in a little olive oil until heated through. When the pasta is done, I drain it and put it in a large serving bowl. I then add the cooked shrimp. I sprinkle gorgonzola cheese and add a few tablespoons of pesto to the shrimp and pasta, and stir. This is the eye-ball part! You can add more cheese and/or pesto if you'd like. I then add some chopped spinach leaves, and cherry tomatoes (you can add walnuts as well). Stir everything around and serve!

This recipe serves my family of four and that's with all of us going back for seconds.

If you want a fast gluten free meal that will require minimal "kitchen" time, and more time for the family, this seafood penne is one to try!

Also, don't forget to check out my gluten-free favorite products above. I checked out a lot of the gluten-free food forums online and tried a lot of the food recommendations I found on these forums.

It was mostly trial and error, but my son and I came up with some gluten-free food staples that I regularly keep in the house that I know my son will like. However, some of the foods we like, are locally made and I get them at a local whole foods store so I obviously couldn't add them here.

The ones I included here are the ones we like and are sold on Amazon.com. The neat thing about Amazon is that they sell most of these foods in large quantities. And if you are an Amazon Prime member, you get free two-day shipping!

Enjoy!