Making Sulfite Free Eating Fun
Having a sulfite allergy means the list of sulfite free food I can safely eat is relatively small. This means my diet is restricted and it can also be bland. While organic, sulfite free food can be tasty, not having the option to add sauces or dressings can make meals boring. And since I can’t order in or go out to dinner, eating the same meals every day can get old.
It takes a lot of creativity to find new, different ways to eat the same food everyday. But the effort I put in to diversifying my diet has truly helped me manage living with a sulfite allergy. Realistically, eating the same food every day without much variety would leave anyone unhappy and unfulfilled. It’s a trick that’s useful for eating healthy, meal prepping, or living with a restricted diet! Luckily, I’ve found joy in creating new meals, recipes, and snacks to enjoy that make food a lot more fun.
Through my Instagram page, I’ve found it helpful to learn what other health conscious people eat. It’s taught me about oat bowls, smoothies, tahini dressing, fun drinks, and much more. Since I learned from seeing what others eat, I wanted to share more of what my everyday eating looks like!
Everyday Sulfite Free Eating: From Meals to Snacks
I have to start with a disclaimer: I don’t have a concept of “breakfast, lunch, & dinner.” I eat at whatever time I am hungry and eat any food my body wants at that time. Some days I eat my first meal at 7am, some days it’s at 12pm and this meal could be anything from a smoothie to a turkey burger and green beans. In my opinion, applying foods to specific times and meals takes away from the fun! But for the sake of this blog post, I’m going to break it down into “standard” meal categories.
Breakfast
Common meals I eat in the morning include:
- Oat bowls
- Avocado toast
- Smoothies
- Sweet potato toast
- Homemade muffins
- Sunbutter granola bars
- Banana with almond butter, blueberries, and homemade granola
- Yogurt bowl with nut/seed butter, seeds, and fruit
- Apple or banana on rice cakes with sunbutter
- Pancakes; both regular diner style or made from bananas & oats
- Waffles, like my delicious pumpkin waffle recipe!
It’s more difficult to find a savory meal in the morning than it is to find sweet meals. Sweet potato toast, avocado toast, and the unconventional dinner for breakfast are my savory favorites! I no longer eat eggs or breakfast sausage/bacon, which means ground turkey is a common go-to. But more often than not, you’ll find me eating a loaded oat bowl, smoothie, or avocado toast in the morning!
Lunch
My “lunch” happens somewhere between 1pm & 3pm and usually keeps me full through the end of work. If it’s closer to 3pm, I try to have a filling meal to fuel my workout. If not, I’ll have a smaller meal and a snack before my workout. Here are some of my favorite sulfite free lunches:
- Arugula salad with turkey, avocado, and tomato
- Oat bowl or smoothie (whichever I didn’t have for breakfast)
- Ground turkey and rice with mashed avocado and sour cream
- Chicken avocado salad on homemade rolls or bread
- Pulled chicken tacos with tortilla chips or rice on the side
- Turkey burger with chips
- Nourish bowls: these often include a mix of protein, veggies, carbs, and healthy fats.
Lunch often consists of leftovers from dinner the night before. At home, eating sulfite free is a bit easier because I have fresh ingredients available. But if I am out of the house, I will prepare extra dinner to bring or meal prep for the week!
Dinner
If there’s one meal I eat that follows standard food concepts, it’s dinner. My goal is always to incorporate nutritious protein, carbs, and vegetables into my dinners. It also happens to be my biggest and favorite meal of the day, so having a variety helps! Dinner ideas:
- Turkey burger on homemade bread with guac, side of air fried potatoes, and green beans
- Fajitas! Chicken, peppers, rice, guac, and sour cream
- Chicken or steak tacos! One of my favorites, made with homemade tortillas, meat, rice, avocado, tomatoes, etc.
- Turkey meatballs with angel hair pasta and homemade tomato sauce
- Cous cous and turkey; sometimes with peppers and zucchini and sometimes with sour cream and tortilla chips
- Pasta with butter and chicken sausage
- Avocado yogurt pasta
- Chicken sausage orzo with spinach and tomatoes
- Steak with potatoes and green beans
- Steak sandwiches
- Chicken avocado sandwiches and pasta salad (mostly in the summer)
- Turkey zucchini lasagna
- Zucchini boats with turkey and homemade bread on the side
- Baked chicken with pasta or rice and a vegetable
- Air fried chicken nuggets with air fried French fries
- Brown butter chicken and a side of pasta
- Burgers on homemade rolls and a side of chips
- Ribs or wings made on the grill
- Bowls! Lots of bowls mixed with a wide variety of ingredients
There are so many dinner options that I love. It’s important that I incorporate different spices into each meal because it helps make the same foods or meals taste different every time! Some of my favorite spices to always have are cayenne pepper, garlic salt, Italian seasoning, and onion powder. I also love to include mashed avocado, sour cream, Greek yogurt, and tahini into my meals as dressings and sauces. Enhancing the flavor and texture of meals helps to keep things fun and interesting. With time, it gets easier to find safe sulfite free food you love to eat often.
Snacks
Ah, finally my favorite category of food to ever exist. I have been a snack lover for as long as I can remember. Snacks are what gets me through life and I bring them everywhere I go. Here’s some great sulfite free snack options:
- Organic fruit: apples, bananas, oranges, pears, etc.
- GoMacro bars (I have a discount code for these also! Enter thenaturaleater at check out to save some $$$)
- Homemade granola bars or protein balls
- Cookies! All the cookies please! There are plenty of recipes posted on my recipes page
- Late July tortilla chips with guacamole
- Smoothies
- Yogurt and homemade granola
- Banana with almond butter and sunflower seeds
- Avocado toast
- Chocolate almond bark
- Chocolate covered almonds
- Almonds, pistachio nuts, seeds
- Mug cakes
- Fresh popped popcorn
- Rice cakes with nut/seed butter
- Homemade bread and butter…because nothing beats that!
I travel with GoMacro bars, homemade granola bars or balls, and tortilla chips just about everywhere I go. If I’m on the move and not sure if I’ll have access to food easily, I bring a banana and pistachio nuts. My goal for snacks it to have options that are both enjoyable but nutrient dense. Sometimes I have to rely on snacks to get me through the day, so it’s important most of them are nutritious! I also consume snacks 5/6 times a day, so keeping plenty in the cabinets and freezer is important.
At The End of the Day…
Keep in mind, every day looks different. Some days I eat smoothies for breakfast and others I eat oatmeal. There are days I want a turkey burger at 7 am, so I eat a turkey burger at 7am! I also have weeks where I am busy or preoccupied and eat the same meal 2-3x a day. It’s been a journey of learning what works best for me and it’s ever-evolving.
I say it a lot, but having a positive mindset towards food and my allergy has helped me the most. Sometimes I don’t have time to make dinner, so I eat tortilla chips and guacamole as a meal. Instead of being upset I didn’t have a “real” dinner, I focus on how awesome chips and dip is for dinner. If I have to eat ground turkey for the 4th night in a row, I’ll have a different snack after. I consistently try to make the best of my circumstances and embrace being fortunate enough to have food on my plate.
If you’re struggling with broadening your food options, get creative! Spend some time in the kitchen mixing new flavors or trying new spices. Find new recipes to make from the foods you already eat. Invite a friend over to help you cook something ~fancy~ or different. There are options out there, you’ve just got to try to find them! And if you have a new recipe idea you’d like to share with me or would like me to try to make sulfite free, send it my way! I’m always up for a good challenge ;).
