Sadly, slowly, trying a gluten free life

I was surprised it tool so long for someone to mention Shauna Ahern's Gluten Free Girl. Her recipes are easy to follow. and good. Ive been baking brownies and blondies using chick pea flour instead of wheat flour and no one can tell the difference. :)

Oh, and as far as a GF bread recipe, my go-to is Gluten Free on a Shoestring's brioche bread -- very rich and satisfying. My gluten-eating family members snarf it up just as quickly as the gluten-intolerant.

I do a TON of GF cooking (until recently, owned a GF bakery). For 99% of the folks out there, I'd steer them away from the ATK GF cookbook as it WAY overthinks everything, making it much more complicated than it needs to be. I was very disappointed in that particular cookbook.

For good and easy GF recipes, I'd recommend either Gluten-Free Girl or Gluten-free on a shoestring (both have websites loaded with recipes as well as really good cookbooks).

To answer your original question, it really is all about thinking ahead. HalfPint's ideas about mason jars and substantial salads (we do a number of very substantial quinoa based salads) is great. Similarly, substantial soups are also good. Depending on where you live in the US there are some good GF breads/rolls/muffins that you can buy to also to supplement your lunches. For me, I usually intentionally make "extra" of whatever dinner is and pack the remainder for lunch the next day. So much simpler than having to come up with a separate lunch idea!

America's Test Kitchen recently published the rather cheesily titled "How Can It Be Gluten Free" cookbook which has been well reviewed (I haven't tried it -- I sometimes cook for gluten intolerant friends but am not myself gluten intolerant). It seems like a good subject for ATK's very technical and methodical approach, so it might be worth checking out for gluten free bread and other baked goods.

I went paleo about 4 years ago. So, not only did I naturally go gluten free, but no beans, no grains, no dairy. It made a huge difference in how I feel, sleep, workout and just exist. I now will have an occasional pasta, bread or slice of pizza, but only when it's extremely special. My go to lunches (when I was working) were leftover dinner, egg salad either over salad greens or wrapped in lettuce, tuna salad, chicken salad and roast beef wraps (as in homemade mayo, red pepper strips, cucumber and mustard wrapped in roast beef or turkey slices). I don't like eating gluten free pastas and/or breads because they are full of other junk and never tasted right. Some good recipe sites are Chris Kressers (not all recipes, but he has a recipe section), Clothes Make The Girl (she has two cookbooks that I love, but her site has a ton of recipes), NomNom Paleo (she was a pharmacist who worked the night shift at a hospital until recently and a mom of two boys, so lots of good lunch ideas) and Marks Daily Apple also has good recipes. These are all paleo sites and people, but that means all their recipes are naturally gluten free. Don't think about what you can't eat, focus on all the wonderful food you can eat. :)

For more ideas, just click on "Recipes" at the top of the page and type "gluten" in the search box. You'll probably get more recipes than you have time to read through! I hope you have a microwave or toaster oven in your office to help with more lunch options. Good luck... if it's going to help with your health, then it's worth the extra effort.

I don't think you should limit lunch to just sandwiches. Protein heavy salads or GF grain salads packed in jars which you can make in the morning and stash in the fridge or a cooler until you can eat. Salad rolls (with some avocado, shrimp, cucumber or bbq chicken or beef) wrapped in rice paper are another option (might tasty too with a peanut dipping sauce, if not allergic). This can also be made ahead and kept cool until lunch time. Sushi rolls like California rolls make excellent GF lunch and can fill you up for the rest of the day.

I'm the type of person who needs some carbs to feel full and a lot less grumpy. So get some carbs from rice, corn, oats, potatoes; all of which are GF. So make yourself a rice bowl with some leftover meats & vegetables.

I'm a big fan of mason jars which I find a versatile and inexpensive food container that can go from fridge to microwave without problem or worry (from plastics). I even pack oatmeal into jars and grab one on the way out the door for my breakfast.

This is the only GF bread that I actually like, alot. Use this recipe from Josey Baker (which he adapted from mynewroots.org), http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2014/05/josey-bakers-gluten-free-recipe-adventure-bread/

I find this recipe better than the original since it has more salt. It's nice seed bread that is dense and moist with a lot of texture. Great with a smear of a nut butter and some bananas or honey.

If you have more time around dinner or on the weekend, you could double your recipe or make an additional dish to use as leftovers - that way you don't need to think about putting something new together for lunch. You could also freeze individual servings so you don't necessarily have to eat the same leftovers several days in a row. As far as bread, etc., I'm not gluten-free but I've tried several of the gluten-free recipes from the KAF site and they've been very good: http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/gluten-free

Corn tortillas are usually GF (check the label though) and can be a base for lots of quick and tasty lunches, such as quesadillas, tacos, etc. My favorite 5 minute lunch is a taco of heated tortilla with scrambled eggs with green chile and cheddar cheese.