Here's a link to the article I mentioned in my earlier post:
http://www.aolhealth.com/2010/07/19/study-gluten-free-food-often-contaminated/?icid=main%7Chtmlws-main-n%7Cdl5%7Clink4%7Chttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.aolhealth.com%2F2010%2F07%2F19%2Fstudy-gluten-free-food-often-contaminated%2F&sms_ss=facebook
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Kale chips
I haven't written in a while- hard to believe it's coming up on 2 months since my last post! Some life events happened to keep me not spending quite so much time online and I haven't been cooking very much, so I haven't had any fodder for the foodie blog. Well, I read something this morning which reminded me that I need to get back on the blog-writing, so here I am! I'll post a link to the article that brought me back here later, probably tomorrow.
For now, I just wanted to share the one food experiment that sticks out in my mind from the darn-near 2 months that I've been away. I made Kale Chips. They were really tasty, and will be repeated when kale is in season each year.
What they are: Seasoned, lightly oiled kale pieces which are dehydrated until crispy. A very tasty snack, chock full of nutrition, and the hubby is willing to eat them like potato chips- SCORE! They're not full of crunch like potato chips, because they're dried leaves. Think about the crunch of dried leaves on the ground as you step on them. That's the level of crunch you get in a kale chip.
The recipe I used is from here:
http://www.raw-food-living.com/cracker-recipes.html
I used that recipe because I wanted the first batch to be simple, with no flavors hiding or competing with the kale-ness. Having tried that, I now have a pretty good idea of what flavors I'd enjoy. I intend to get creative with it in the near future. The chips are perfectly tasty with just the olive oil and salt, but would definitely not suffer if some extra flavor was thrown in! If you want to jump right into the flavored kale chips, just Google "kale chip recipe" or something like that; you'll find oodles of possibilities.
If you should decide to make them for yourself, I do have a couple of tips:
Check the backs of the leaves before you tear them up for use, or if possible, before you purchase them. If you see any fuzzy little white spots, dispose of that portion of the leaf. There is a certain variety of bug that really likes kale and those fuzzy little white spots are cocoons for this bug. Definitely something to avoid having in your kale chips!
The recipe uses only a small amount of oil for good reason. If you have trouble getting it distributed through all of the kale pieces and decide to use more, be sure to increase the seasoning, too. It would also be a good idea to drain the excess oil off and then blot the excess off of the pieces with a paper towel. (Okay, I'll admit it. My version of 'blotting' is to put the paper towel in my hand and grab a small handful of kale pieces with it, then rub gently. Kale has pretty sturdy leaves, so it doesn't damage them to do this.)
For the best possible texture, placement on the dehydrator tray or drying rack is actually very important. They must be single layer with a little space between each. They can be close together, but they don't shrink as much as you might expect, so air flow is critical.
You can tear them into pieces by hand or cut them into strips with scissors or a knife. This is a matter of personal preference and solely for aesthetics. The method I prefer is to use a paring knife to remove the tough central vein of each leaf, then tear the halves into about 3-4 pieces each, depending on the size of the leaf. This was what I found to be the happy medium between aesthetics and efficiency.
Enjoy!
For now, I just wanted to share the one food experiment that sticks out in my mind from the darn-near 2 months that I've been away. I made Kale Chips. They were really tasty, and will be repeated when kale is in season each year.
What they are: Seasoned, lightly oiled kale pieces which are dehydrated until crispy. A very tasty snack, chock full of nutrition, and the hubby is willing to eat them like potato chips- SCORE! They're not full of crunch like potato chips, because they're dried leaves. Think about the crunch of dried leaves on the ground as you step on them. That's the level of crunch you get in a kale chip.
The recipe I used is from here:
http://www.raw-food-living.com/cracker-recipes.html
I used that recipe because I wanted the first batch to be simple, with no flavors hiding or competing with the kale-ness. Having tried that, I now have a pretty good idea of what flavors I'd enjoy. I intend to get creative with it in the near future. The chips are perfectly tasty with just the olive oil and salt, but would definitely not suffer if some extra flavor was thrown in! If you want to jump right into the flavored kale chips, just Google "kale chip recipe" or something like that; you'll find oodles of possibilities.
If you should decide to make them for yourself, I do have a couple of tips:
Check the backs of the leaves before you tear them up for use, or if possible, before you purchase them. If you see any fuzzy little white spots, dispose of that portion of the leaf. There is a certain variety of bug that really likes kale and those fuzzy little white spots are cocoons for this bug. Definitely something to avoid having in your kale chips!
The recipe uses only a small amount of oil for good reason. If you have trouble getting it distributed through all of the kale pieces and decide to use more, be sure to increase the seasoning, too. It would also be a good idea to drain the excess oil off and then blot the excess off of the pieces with a paper towel. (Okay, I'll admit it. My version of 'blotting' is to put the paper towel in my hand and grab a small handful of kale pieces with it, then rub gently. Kale has pretty sturdy leaves, so it doesn't damage them to do this.)
For the best possible texture, placement on the dehydrator tray or drying rack is actually very important. They must be single layer with a little space between each. They can be close together, but they don't shrink as much as you might expect, so air flow is critical.
You can tear them into pieces by hand or cut them into strips with scissors or a knife. This is a matter of personal preference and solely for aesthetics. The method I prefer is to use a paring knife to remove the tough central vein of each leaf, then tear the halves into about 3-4 pieces each, depending on the size of the leaf. This was what I found to be the happy medium between aesthetics and efficiency.
Enjoy!
Monday, May 31, 2010
Jackpot! Garlic Scapes!!
Today, as we do on most Sundays from May 1 through the end of November, we went to our favorite farmers' market. We like to be there by opening time, since a lot of the vendors tend to run out of my favorite items fairly early on. Today we actually got there about 15 minutes early. This gave me ample time to make the rounds to see what everyone was offering before deciding upon which vendor I'd start with.
At vendor 1, I found some lovely strawberries, asparagus & soil-grown greenhouse tomatoes. I was off to a good start, and very happy about it!
Vendor 2 had the mint I needed for the sun tea that we drink gallons of in the warm weather. As I reached for the little bunch of mint, my eye landed upon the jumbled mass of stalks (seriously, it strongly resembles a small, green, tangled-up octopus) that I would recognize anywhere- Garlic Scapes! This was *the* find of the visit, and I bought the only 2 packages they had.
Since some of you may be unfamiliar with garlic scapes, here's the scoop...
What we all recognize as a head of garlic is the bulbous root. I'm pretty sure all of us have found that forgotten head of garlic, sitting in the pantry for so long that it has actually started to sprout a green shoot. That shoot is called the scape. Scapes are edible when they're young. As the plant matures, the scape grows tough and becomes pretty much inedible.
They are green stems that twist and curl, and usually have a little bulge on the end. (That bulge eventually turns into a garlic bulb.) They smell like very mild, sweet garlic. The flavor is that of garlic without the bite. I am not doing them justice right now, because I'm a bit tired, but if you ever see them, snap them up!
The thing about garlic scapes is that they're usually only available from this one vendor at my farmers' market- I've never seen them anywhere else- and they're only available for 3-4 weeks out of the year. I usually don't realize they're available until the last week. Part of the reason for today's major excitement is that this is the FIRST week he's had them! This means I have another 2-3 weeks to be able to get them!!
So you're probably wondering, "What exactly does one do with a garlic scape?"
My answer would be to get creative. If the flavors of garlic and onion would work well in a recipe, why not give the scapes a try there? I have used them in grilled veggies, frittatas, stir fries and salads. I also think they'd make an amazing pesto. Oh, and they lend a really nice flavor to soups and stews, as well. The vendor from whom I buy them says that they pickle them, but I've never tried that. Honestly, they all get eaten before I could even consider doing something like that with them!
So, in the coming week, I'll be attempting to create a recipe that fits in with our allergy/sensitivity restrictions and uses the scapes. Hopefully I'll come up with something tasty to share with you soon.
At vendor 1, I found some lovely strawberries, asparagus & soil-grown greenhouse tomatoes. I was off to a good start, and very happy about it!
Vendor 2 had the mint I needed for the sun tea that we drink gallons of in the warm weather. As I reached for the little bunch of mint, my eye landed upon the jumbled mass of stalks (seriously, it strongly resembles a small, green, tangled-up octopus) that I would recognize anywhere- Garlic Scapes! This was *the* find of the visit, and I bought the only 2 packages they had.
Since some of you may be unfamiliar with garlic scapes, here's the scoop...
What we all recognize as a head of garlic is the bulbous root. I'm pretty sure all of us have found that forgotten head of garlic, sitting in the pantry for so long that it has actually started to sprout a green shoot. That shoot is called the scape. Scapes are edible when they're young. As the plant matures, the scape grows tough and becomes pretty much inedible.
They are green stems that twist and curl, and usually have a little bulge on the end. (That bulge eventually turns into a garlic bulb.) They smell like very mild, sweet garlic. The flavor is that of garlic without the bite. I am not doing them justice right now, because I'm a bit tired, but if you ever see them, snap them up!
The thing about garlic scapes is that they're usually only available from this one vendor at my farmers' market- I've never seen them anywhere else- and they're only available for 3-4 weeks out of the year. I usually don't realize they're available until the last week. Part of the reason for today's major excitement is that this is the FIRST week he's had them! This means I have another 2-3 weeks to be able to get them!!
So you're probably wondering, "What exactly does one do with a garlic scape?"
My answer would be to get creative. If the flavors of garlic and onion would work well in a recipe, why not give the scapes a try there? I have used them in grilled veggies, frittatas, stir fries and salads. I also think they'd make an amazing pesto. Oh, and they lend a really nice flavor to soups and stews, as well. The vendor from whom I buy them says that they pickle them, but I've never tried that. Honestly, they all get eaten before I could even consider doing something like that with them!
So, in the coming week, I'll be attempting to create a recipe that fits in with our allergy/sensitivity restrictions and uses the scapes. Hopefully I'll come up with something tasty to share with you soon.
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Peppers
Today's post is going to be short- just a couple of comments on peppers.
1) Cubanelle peppers are also called Banana Peppers. I have always known them solely as cubanelles, so when someone offered me a banana pepper plant a few years back, I gave them a funny look and asked what it was. She was unable to describe them, so I declined, since I had no clue what to do with them. It was only a couple of weeks ago that I found out that they're cubanelles. They are long yellow-green peppers that are often used in latino cooking. The flavor ranges from sweetly mild to rather intense spice, depending on the variety. I have no idea of where they fall on the Scoville scale, but it's not a scotch bonnet.
2) I was recently told that bell peppers with 3 bumps on the bottom are sweeter than those with 4 or more bumps. I don't know what the reasoning is, but in my casual testing I'm finding it to be true.
So, do you have any fun food facts or garden lore?
1) Cubanelle peppers are also called Banana Peppers. I have always known them solely as cubanelles, so when someone offered me a banana pepper plant a few years back, I gave them a funny look and asked what it was. She was unable to describe them, so I declined, since I had no clue what to do with them. It was only a couple of weeks ago that I found out that they're cubanelles. They are long yellow-green peppers that are often used in latino cooking. The flavor ranges from sweetly mild to rather intense spice, depending on the variety. I have no idea of where they fall on the Scoville scale, but it's not a scotch bonnet.
2) I was recently told that bell peppers with 3 bumps on the bottom are sweeter than those with 4 or more bumps. I don't know what the reasoning is, but in my casual testing I'm finding it to be true.
So, do you have any fun food facts or garden lore?
Sunday, May 23, 2010
planning ahead, preserving the summer bounty
Well, today is Farmers' Market day. I look forward to Sundays from May through November, because it's the 1 day per week that my farmers market is open. It's a producer-only market, and that means that the people I'm buying my food from are the ones who actually grew it. And that makes me very happy. Anyway, since Sunday is Farmers' Market day, Saturday is clean-out-the-fridge-and-see-what-veggies-have-not-been-eaten-yet day.
I noticed on Friday that I had a pretty substantial amount of produce left from the previous week, so I broke out my food dehydrator. Now, I used to use my oven for drying veggies, but that only works if you have a gas oven with a pilot light that stays on. The pilot light keeps the oven the perfect temperature for such endeavors. I no longer have a stove with an always on pilot light, though, so the hubby and I went out last year and purchased a food dehydrator.
So, over the past day and a half, I have dehydrated:
7 sweet red peppers
around 12 summer squash (2 yellow and the rest zucchini)
5 parsnips
The peppers were cut into pieces, maybe 1/4x1/2 inch, and everything else was sliced on a mandolin.
When I come back from the farmers' market today, I'll be loading the dehydrator trays with carrots and celery.
I like dehydrating my own food for a couple of reasons. First, I am in control of exactly what's going in, both quality-wise and ingredient-wise. Have you ever looked at the ingredient list on a package of dried veggies? (shudder) Second, it allows me to support my local farmers, since most of what I dry is from the local farmers market. And, last but definitely not least, it saves money. Since most of what I dry is stuff that I bought with the intent of eating it that week but forgot or didn't get a chance to, I am saving food from being thrown into the compost heap or trash.
So yes, food dehydration is a very happy thing!
I noticed on Friday that I had a pretty substantial amount of produce left from the previous week, so I broke out my food dehydrator. Now, I used to use my oven for drying veggies, but that only works if you have a gas oven with a pilot light that stays on. The pilot light keeps the oven the perfect temperature for such endeavors. I no longer have a stove with an always on pilot light, though, so the hubby and I went out last year and purchased a food dehydrator.
So, over the past day and a half, I have dehydrated:
7 sweet red peppers
around 12 summer squash (2 yellow and the rest zucchini)
5 parsnips
The peppers were cut into pieces, maybe 1/4x1/2 inch, and everything else was sliced on a mandolin.
When I come back from the farmers' market today, I'll be loading the dehydrator trays with carrots and celery.
I like dehydrating my own food for a couple of reasons. First, I am in control of exactly what's going in, both quality-wise and ingredient-wise. Have you ever looked at the ingredient list on a package of dried veggies? (shudder) Second, it allows me to support my local farmers, since most of what I dry is from the local farmers market. And, last but definitely not least, it saves money. Since most of what I dry is stuff that I bought with the intent of eating it that week but forgot or didn't get a chance to, I am saving food from being thrown into the compost heap or trash.
So yes, food dehydration is a very happy thing!
Friday, May 21, 2010
Macaroni & Beef
A quick and easy dinner. Here's how I make it:
1 lb GF pasta noodles, cooked al dente (still firm)
1 jar of your preferred tomato sauce/spaghetti sauce
1/2 lb ground beef, cooked, finely crumbled and drained
Put it all into a large pan or pot. Fill the sauce jar about 1/2 way with water, shake to get the last of the sauce and add to the pot. Add some garlic, dried minced onion, oregano, basil, and any other spices or seasonings you like. For adults I usually add a bit of hot pepper flakes, and for kids I usually add a teaspoon or so of sugar. Cook over medium, stirring frequently, until hot and liquid is cooked down.
Serve with a green salad.
Notes:
-If your pasta is mushy, see my previous post on Cold Rinse and Rice Pasta
-This is one of the ChaRM Plan stars, made using leftover pasta and leftover ground beef. It cooks up in all of about 15 minutes, which makes it perfect for those crazy, hectic days.
1 lb GF pasta noodles, cooked al dente (still firm)
1 jar of your preferred tomato sauce/spaghetti sauce
1/2 lb ground beef, cooked, finely crumbled and drained
Put it all into a large pan or pot. Fill the sauce jar about 1/2 way with water, shake to get the last of the sauce and add to the pot. Add some garlic, dried minced onion, oregano, basil, and any other spices or seasonings you like. For adults I usually add a bit of hot pepper flakes, and for kids I usually add a teaspoon or so of sugar. Cook over medium, stirring frequently, until hot and liquid is cooked down.
Serve with a green salad.
Notes:
-If your pasta is mushy, see my previous post on Cold Rinse and Rice Pasta
-This is one of the ChaRM Plan stars, made using leftover pasta and leftover ground beef. It cooks up in all of about 15 minutes, which makes it perfect for those crazy, hectic days.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Planning ahead
Planning ahead is very important for me. I work best when there's some sort of structure to things. When it comes to putting dinner on the table, taking a half hour or so every other week to decide what we'll be having for dinner each night is well worth the time.
-It saves me the stress of realizing at 4:30 pm that I have no idea of what to make.
-It saves electricity because I'm not standing, staring vacantly into the freezer trying to find some inspiration.
-It saves money because we eat out less frequently.
-We waste less food because it reduces the forgotten produce/veggies, etc. that tend to get lost behind other stuff. It reduces the incidence of frozen food ending up in the trash due to freezer burn, because I'm constantly rotating through everything. We end up wasting less because I plan out my leftovers and how they'll be used.
-It also saves last minute trips to the grocery store for random items because as I make my menu plan, I make my grocery list.
So yes, I plan out 2 weeks worth of dinners in advance. It reduces my stress levels, saves money and time, and is, when you stop and think about it, better for the environment. It works for me. It took me several tries to find an approach that works for me, though. If you are interested in me posting about the various approaches, or want to know more about mine, please post a comment and let me know. I'll be happy to share the information.
For today, I'm going to share one of the tools I use to keep meal prep sane. I don't have some spiffy name for it or anything, but it's really helpful.
What do chili, tacos and sloppy joes have in common? They all call for browned & drained ground beef. In our house, before allergy knowledge, we would often have one or 2 of those things within a couple of nights of having a meatloaf dinner. Back then, I would break the meatloaf up and use it as the 'ground beef' ingredient for the chili, tacos or sloppy joes, just seasoning and adding other ingredients as appropriate. Since wheat, parsley, mustard and eggs are no longer on the menu for us, we don't eat meatloaf any more. I have had to adapt.
Now, instead of using the leftover meatloaf, I brown up 2 lbs of ground beef at a time, even if I only need 1/2 lb for that night's dinner. The rest is drained and then stored in the fridge or freezer for another night's meal. With a little planning, you can chop a lot of prep work out of the equation. Also, it cuts down on active cooking time, which is really good in the summer. (Especially if, like us, you don't have air conditioning!)
Tonight (Tuesday) I am having pasta salad for dinner. Brown rice macaroni (don't forget to rinse with cold water after cooking!), canned tuna, peas and salad dressing, served on a pretty bed of frilly lettuce, and maybe some sliced black olives and tomato wedges to add a little extra interest to the look and taste.
Tomorrow (Wednesday) I will use leftover pasta from tonight to make macaroni and beef in tomato sauce. I will brown 2 pounds of ground beef and use about 3/4 of a pound for the mac and beef. The remaining 1 and 1/4 pounds will go into the fridge, drained. The veggie side will be green beans.
On Thursday I will make an apricot chipotle glazed pork roast in my slow cooker. We're unlikely to eat more than 1/2 of it, so the remainder will go into the fridge to await being turned into Saturday night's dinner. The roast will be served with roasted sweet potatoes and spinach.
On Friday, I will pull out the 1 1/4 pounds of ground beef from Wednesday and turn it into homemade sloppy joes, served with a nice green salad.
On Saturday, we'll be having pulled pork BBQ sandwiches made from the leftover pork roast. The side will be asparagus.
Maybe I should call it the Chain Reaction Menu Plan, or ChaRM Plan for short. What do you think?
-It saves me the stress of realizing at 4:30 pm that I have no idea of what to make.
-It saves electricity because I'm not standing, staring vacantly into the freezer trying to find some inspiration.
-It saves money because we eat out less frequently.
-We waste less food because it reduces the forgotten produce/veggies, etc. that tend to get lost behind other stuff. It reduces the incidence of frozen food ending up in the trash due to freezer burn, because I'm constantly rotating through everything. We end up wasting less because I plan out my leftovers and how they'll be used.
-It also saves last minute trips to the grocery store for random items because as I make my menu plan, I make my grocery list.
So yes, I plan out 2 weeks worth of dinners in advance. It reduces my stress levels, saves money and time, and is, when you stop and think about it, better for the environment. It works for me. It took me several tries to find an approach that works for me, though. If you are interested in me posting about the various approaches, or want to know more about mine, please post a comment and let me know. I'll be happy to share the information.
For today, I'm going to share one of the tools I use to keep meal prep sane. I don't have some spiffy name for it or anything, but it's really helpful.
What do chili, tacos and sloppy joes have in common? They all call for browned & drained ground beef. In our house, before allergy knowledge, we would often have one or 2 of those things within a couple of nights of having a meatloaf dinner. Back then, I would break the meatloaf up and use it as the 'ground beef' ingredient for the chili, tacos or sloppy joes, just seasoning and adding other ingredients as appropriate. Since wheat, parsley, mustard and eggs are no longer on the menu for us, we don't eat meatloaf any more. I have had to adapt.
Now, instead of using the leftover meatloaf, I brown up 2 lbs of ground beef at a time, even if I only need 1/2 lb for that night's dinner. The rest is drained and then stored in the fridge or freezer for another night's meal. With a little planning, you can chop a lot of prep work out of the equation. Also, it cuts down on active cooking time, which is really good in the summer. (Especially if, like us, you don't have air conditioning!)
Tonight (Tuesday) I am having pasta salad for dinner. Brown rice macaroni (don't forget to rinse with cold water after cooking!), canned tuna, peas and salad dressing, served on a pretty bed of frilly lettuce, and maybe some sliced black olives and tomato wedges to add a little extra interest to the look and taste.
Tomorrow (Wednesday) I will use leftover pasta from tonight to make macaroni and beef in tomato sauce. I will brown 2 pounds of ground beef and use about 3/4 of a pound for the mac and beef. The remaining 1 and 1/4 pounds will go into the fridge, drained. The veggie side will be green beans.
On Thursday I will make an apricot chipotle glazed pork roast in my slow cooker. We're unlikely to eat more than 1/2 of it, so the remainder will go into the fridge to await being turned into Saturday night's dinner. The roast will be served with roasted sweet potatoes and spinach.
On Friday, I will pull out the 1 1/4 pounds of ground beef from Wednesday and turn it into homemade sloppy joes, served with a nice green salad.
On Saturday, we'll be having pulled pork BBQ sandwiches made from the leftover pork roast. The side will be asparagus.
Maybe I should call it the Chain Reaction Menu Plan, or ChaRM Plan for short. What do you think?
Monday, May 17, 2010
A good day...
Yesterday I went to the Holistic Expo in Allentown. I've been wanting to go for a couple of years, but something always happens to prevent it. So anyway, this year I got to go and I'm really glad!
I bought a bunch of pretty rocks, got a reading and had a foot detox. While sitting for the detox, I got to talking with a couple of people. One of them said she'd heard of this blog & I was so happy! I really didn't think anyone was reading this and I'd been considering giving up. The other woman seemed very interested in the blog, so I gave her the web address. I'm so happy to know that people might actually be reading what I write here!
Before the Expo, we went to the local farmers' market in Emaus. I love it there! Always such wonderful, local grown food! Anyway, we got some eggs, asparagus, kale, ground beef, lettuce and zucchini. I had hoped someone would have fresh basil, but no such luck. Oh well. If that's the biggest disappointment that I have to face all week, I'll be in good shape!
I plan to dry some of the zucchini and stuff the rest. Stuffed veggies freeze really well and make a nice dinner or lunch on those days when I don't have time to deal with cooking or can't decide what to make.
The stuffing will be made of sausage (if I were serving a vegetarian, I'd use the spicy sausage crumbles), onion, brown rice, probably some pine nuts or almond slivers and whatever seasonings I decide to throw in. I may also include some spinach, but haven't decided yet. Before the allergy results, I would've used breadcrumbs instead of rice and added parsley and cheese, but wheat, parsley and dairy are all off the menu, so I've tweaked the recipe a bit.
One of the things I miss most about the new allergy-free diet is that we can't have spring rolls or egg rolls anymore. They contain a lot of cabbage, which I'm not supposed to have, and the wrappers are wheat based. I got the kale in the hopes of creating an acceptable substitute. On a trip to a gourmet-type health food store, I found rice paper wrappers, so I'm hoping to use them instead of the standard egg roll wrappers.
I'll let you all know how it turns out!
I bought a bunch of pretty rocks, got a reading and had a foot detox. While sitting for the detox, I got to talking with a couple of people. One of them said she'd heard of this blog & I was so happy! I really didn't think anyone was reading this and I'd been considering giving up. The other woman seemed very interested in the blog, so I gave her the web address. I'm so happy to know that people might actually be reading what I write here!
Before the Expo, we went to the local farmers' market in Emaus. I love it there! Always such wonderful, local grown food! Anyway, we got some eggs, asparagus, kale, ground beef, lettuce and zucchini. I had hoped someone would have fresh basil, but no such luck. Oh well. If that's the biggest disappointment that I have to face all week, I'll be in good shape!
I plan to dry some of the zucchini and stuff the rest. Stuffed veggies freeze really well and make a nice dinner or lunch on those days when I don't have time to deal with cooking or can't decide what to make.
The stuffing will be made of sausage (if I were serving a vegetarian, I'd use the spicy sausage crumbles), onion, brown rice, probably some pine nuts or almond slivers and whatever seasonings I decide to throw in. I may also include some spinach, but haven't decided yet. Before the allergy results, I would've used breadcrumbs instead of rice and added parsley and cheese, but wheat, parsley and dairy are all off the menu, so I've tweaked the recipe a bit.
One of the things I miss most about the new allergy-free diet is that we can't have spring rolls or egg rolls anymore. They contain a lot of cabbage, which I'm not supposed to have, and the wrappers are wheat based. I got the kale in the hopes of creating an acceptable substitute. On a trip to a gourmet-type health food store, I found rice paper wrappers, so I'm hoping to use them instead of the standard egg roll wrappers.
I'll let you all know how it turns out!
Monday, May 10, 2010
Spring has Sprung!
Well, yesterday was Mother's Day. My only children are of the 4-legged, furry variety- 1 dog and 2 cats. I hope that all the moms had a lovely day, spent doing whatever they enjoy best. And if your kids cooked for you, I hope that it was good and nothing too crazy. (One friend mentioned that her daughter made her a special drink involving milk, yogurt, peanut butter and several varieties of ice pop, LOL)
Anyway, since my mom lives way too far away for a day visit and his mom and dad came on Saturday to celebrate Mother's Day, we had Sunday to do with as we liked. It was really nice to have a day with my hubby. He's been away for work so much lately and I've missed him. But I digress...
Every Sunday from May through November a nearby town has a really great farmers' market. This particular farmers' market requires that the food sold there all be locally grown, and most of the vendors stick with organic practices on their farms. The prices are reasonable and the foods they sell are wonderful- fresh, tasty and beautiful. It's really one of the things I enjoy most about the warmer months.
So that's where we went yesterday morning.
It's very early in the growing season, so there wasn't a huge selection of foods to be had. There were the non-seasonal food sellers- bread baker, chicken & egg seller, cow & pork seller, 2 goat cheese mongers and the honey guy. The veggie sellers had a few things available- we got some nice green onions, asparagus and baby zucchini. Most of the veggie vendors were selling all sorts of wonderful varieties of seedlings, though.
I am so excited to be able to report that we will have several varieties of heirloom tomato, as well as green pepper, cubanelle pepper (aka banana pepper) zucchini, yellow summer squash, standard basil, lime basil, cilantro, thyme, savory and marjoram. There were a few other things I had been hoping to plant, but, according to my husband, that's all we have room for in the current garden bed.
So this morning's breakfast is to be a locally grown egg sandwich on a millet roll and tonight's supper will consist of pork chops, roasted veggies from the farmers' market and either rice or potatoes. (I'll figure out something for lunch.) I truly love that my farmers' market is open again!
Anyway, since my mom lives way too far away for a day visit and his mom and dad came on Saturday to celebrate Mother's Day, we had Sunday to do with as we liked. It was really nice to have a day with my hubby. He's been away for work so much lately and I've missed him. But I digress...
Every Sunday from May through November a nearby town has a really great farmers' market. This particular farmers' market requires that the food sold there all be locally grown, and most of the vendors stick with organic practices on their farms. The prices are reasonable and the foods they sell are wonderful- fresh, tasty and beautiful. It's really one of the things I enjoy most about the warmer months.
So that's where we went yesterday morning.
It's very early in the growing season, so there wasn't a huge selection of foods to be had. There were the non-seasonal food sellers- bread baker, chicken & egg seller, cow & pork seller, 2 goat cheese mongers and the honey guy. The veggie sellers had a few things available- we got some nice green onions, asparagus and baby zucchini. Most of the veggie vendors were selling all sorts of wonderful varieties of seedlings, though.
I am so excited to be able to report that we will have several varieties of heirloom tomato, as well as green pepper, cubanelle pepper (aka banana pepper) zucchini, yellow summer squash, standard basil, lime basil, cilantro, thyme, savory and marjoram. There were a few other things I had been hoping to plant, but, according to my husband, that's all we have room for in the current garden bed.
So this morning's breakfast is to be a locally grown egg sandwich on a millet roll and tonight's supper will consist of pork chops, roasted veggies from the farmers' market and either rice or potatoes. (I'll figure out something for lunch.) I truly love that my farmers' market is open again!
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Product: MimicCreme
Last week I went to Maryland. While I was there, I saw a cute looking organic grocery store, MOM's Organic. So of course I just had to pop in there and investigate.
I found a few products they don't stock at my local markets, so I purchased some of them. One of those products is something called MimicCreme. It is a nut-based cream alternative, and the package says it can be used anywhere you'd use cream. This really piqued my interest, since I have always been a dairy lover and that is one of the things that we both came up highly sensitive to. (Oh cheese and yogurt, how I miss you!)
So anyway, I cracked the package a couple of days ago. The first thing I did was add about a teaspoon to a bowl of cereal with almond milk. (I find the mouthfeel of almond milk isn't right for cereal; it's too thin for my taste, so I had given up cereal for breakfast.) The MimicCreme gave the almond milk that extra dairy milk-like quality that had been missing, without adding a weird flavor. I was very pleased!
Next, I tasted it straight up. Some people might think that's weird or gross, but I used to drink the little half and half cups they give you for coffee at a restaurant, so it was no big deal for me. Like I said, I really love dairy! Anyway, I felt I needed to taste it plain so that I could ensure I wouldn't try to make something with it where the undertones of the creme clashed with the dish.
It does taste of almonds and cashews, but the flavor is mild enough that combining it with almost anything I can think of would mask the nuttiness.
Last night I made rice pasta florentine with it. It came out really well and is definitely something that will be added to the menu plan. Tonight I plan to use it as a base for homemade ranch salad dressing. It really is fantastic stuff!
So yes, I highly recommend MimicCreme!
http://www.mimiccreme.com/
I found a few products they don't stock at my local markets, so I purchased some of them. One of those products is something called MimicCreme. It is a nut-based cream alternative, and the package says it can be used anywhere you'd use cream. This really piqued my interest, since I have always been a dairy lover and that is one of the things that we both came up highly sensitive to. (Oh cheese and yogurt, how I miss you!)
So anyway, I cracked the package a couple of days ago. The first thing I did was add about a teaspoon to a bowl of cereal with almond milk. (I find the mouthfeel of almond milk isn't right for cereal; it's too thin for my taste, so I had given up cereal for breakfast.) The MimicCreme gave the almond milk that extra dairy milk-like quality that had been missing, without adding a weird flavor. I was very pleased!
Next, I tasted it straight up. Some people might think that's weird or gross, but I used to drink the little half and half cups they give you for coffee at a restaurant, so it was no big deal for me. Like I said, I really love dairy! Anyway, I felt I needed to taste it plain so that I could ensure I wouldn't try to make something with it where the undertones of the creme clashed with the dish.
It does taste of almonds and cashews, but the flavor is mild enough that combining it with almost anything I can think of would mask the nuttiness.
Last night I made rice pasta florentine with it. It came out really well and is definitely something that will be added to the menu plan. Tonight I plan to use it as a base for homemade ranch salad dressing. It really is fantastic stuff!
So yes, I highly recommend MimicCreme!
http://www.mimiccreme.com/
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
rice pasta
It's been almost a month since my last post. Wow!
Today's post will not be some long critique of a product or even a recipe. It's just a simple tip.
When preparing rice pasta, rinsing it with cool water at the end of the cooking process is crucial:
I've been eating rice pasta for several years. Prior to the food sensitivity testing, I knew that eating wheat in excess gave me problems, so I tried the different rice pastas over the years. Thank goodness they've improved!
One of the things I never liked about rice pasta is that it gets mushy if you cook it according to the cooking time on the package. I was raised around people who knew what good Italian food was, and 'al dente' is imperative for decent pasta.
But I digress. It never occurred to me to read the package on the rice pasta beyond the cooking time. After all, it's pasta- just dump it into the boiling, salted water, cook it till it's done, drain it and sauce it. Right?
WRONG!
I was waiting for the noodles to cook the other night and reading the package to pass the time, when I noticed that it instructs you to rinse the noodles after cooking. Since I was only cooking for myself, and I don't mind my noodles being cold, I decided to do it.
I was absolutely delighted to find that my pasta, which was quite mushy prior to rinsing, firmed up after the cool water rinse!
I don't know the 'why's or the 'how's, but I do know that I will not be skipping that last step again anytime soon!
Today's post will not be some long critique of a product or even a recipe. It's just a simple tip.
When preparing rice pasta, rinsing it with cool water at the end of the cooking process is crucial:
I've been eating rice pasta for several years. Prior to the food sensitivity testing, I knew that eating wheat in excess gave me problems, so I tried the different rice pastas over the years. Thank goodness they've improved!
One of the things I never liked about rice pasta is that it gets mushy if you cook it according to the cooking time on the package. I was raised around people who knew what good Italian food was, and 'al dente' is imperative for decent pasta.
But I digress. It never occurred to me to read the package on the rice pasta beyond the cooking time. After all, it's pasta- just dump it into the boiling, salted water, cook it till it's done, drain it and sauce it. Right?
WRONG!
I was waiting for the noodles to cook the other night and reading the package to pass the time, when I noticed that it instructs you to rinse the noodles after cooking. Since I was only cooking for myself, and I don't mind my noodles being cold, I decided to do it.
I was absolutely delighted to find that my pasta, which was quite mushy prior to rinsing, firmed up after the cool water rinse!
I don't know the 'why's or the 'how's, but I do know that I will not be skipping that last step again anytime soon!
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
what's for lunch???
There are 2 things that my husband refuses to eat: mushrooms and seafood (other than canned tuna or anchovies).
I, on the other hand, love both. Crabmeat stuffed mushrooms are one of my favorite foods.
However, I don't usually cook with mushrooms or seafood because it's easier to just keep ingredients we both like on hand. Most of the times that I've gotten something like that just for me it's ended up going bad before I got a chance to use it, so I've given up. There are only 3 sets of circumstances where I really get to have them- when we go out to eat (which is rare ever since we've found out about the allergies/sensitivities), when we have company for a big deal meal (holidays, barbecues, etc) and when my husband is away on business for a week or more (which has not happened in a few years).
So anyway, my husband started a new job about a month ago (and he loves it). The new position requires him to work in the field some of the time, and those field locations are, on occasion, too far for him to do a daily commute. That means he stays at a hotel near the job site, and I'm left to my own devices (unless I decide to drive out to see him).
About 2 weeks ago he was sent to a job site for a 7-day gig. He came home for an overnight, and was sent to another job the next day, with the understanding that he'd be gone for another 7 to 10 days. The day after he left, I needed to go to the grocery store to restock a few staple items. Of course while I was there I just had to check out the seafood and mushrooms!
I came home with scallops and portabella caps (both on sale for a very nice price), as well as some asparagus, zucchini and the items on my list. I had the scallops for dinner that night, cooked scampi style and served over rice. The vegetables sat in the fridge. Until yesterday, that is.
On a normal day, I have a pretty good idea of what I'll eat for breakfast, lunch & dinner before I go to bed the night before. Yesterday's plans got changed several times over though, and I forgot to eat breakfast. So by lunch time, I was really hungry and had no idea of what to make. As I gazed into the depths of the refrigerator, I glimpsed the asparagus and mushrooms hiding behind a carton of orange juice.
Inspiration hit me, hard. Grilled veggies... balsamic vinegar... over rice... YES!
Now, it's not really grilling season here, so we have no charcoal, and I don't have a grill pan for my stove. I do have a George Foreman grill, which hasn't been used in over a year. I pulled it out of its hidey hole and was absolutely disgusted by the amount of dust and yuckiness on it. It really needed a good, thorough scrub-down. Since it's an electric appliance, it needed to thoroughly dry before being used, which rendered it useless for lunch making.
I was not daunted, though! I determined that rather than find something else to eat, I would just use one of my giant frying pans. The plan changed from grilled veggies to veggies that were sauteed in oil & balsamic vinegar. Sooooo gooood!
The players: baby carrots (cut into 2 pieces to shorten the length and then each half cut into 4 long pieces each), celery (coarsely chopped), sweet onion (diced), asparagus (each spear but into 2 or 3 pieces, for fork-friendliness), zucchini (cut into thick coins which were then halved), potabella mushroom caps (sliced); also a drizzle of olive oil, a bunch of balsamic vinegar and spices including basil, garlic salt and thyme (all dried).
The basic concept: pour a tablespoon or 2 of olive oil into a large frying pan. Add enough balsamic vinegar that it and the olive oil generously cover the bottom of the pan. Heat over medium high. When hot, add onion, stir and cook for 30 seconds to 1 minute, allowing the pan to heat back up. Push the onion to the edges of the pan and add the carrots and celery. Stir to coat everything with oil & vinegar and cook for another minute or 2. When the onion begins to look translucent, add the asparagus, zucchini and portabella. Stir well. Add more balsamic, if needed, and stir to distribute. Put a lid on the pan, reduce heat to medium and walk away for about 3 minutes. Remove lid and check if the asparagus is tender enough for your taste. Continue to cook without the lid until it is. Serve over the starch of your choice (rice, pasta, baked potato, bread, etc)
It's seriously tasty stuff!
I, on the other hand, love both. Crabmeat stuffed mushrooms are one of my favorite foods.
However, I don't usually cook with mushrooms or seafood because it's easier to just keep ingredients we both like on hand. Most of the times that I've gotten something like that just for me it's ended up going bad before I got a chance to use it, so I've given up. There are only 3 sets of circumstances where I really get to have them- when we go out to eat (which is rare ever since we've found out about the allergies/sensitivities), when we have company for a big deal meal (holidays, barbecues, etc) and when my husband is away on business for a week or more (which has not happened in a few years).
So anyway, my husband started a new job about a month ago (and he loves it). The new position requires him to work in the field some of the time, and those field locations are, on occasion, too far for him to do a daily commute. That means he stays at a hotel near the job site, and I'm left to my own devices (unless I decide to drive out to see him).
About 2 weeks ago he was sent to a job site for a 7-day gig. He came home for an overnight, and was sent to another job the next day, with the understanding that he'd be gone for another 7 to 10 days. The day after he left, I needed to go to the grocery store to restock a few staple items. Of course while I was there I just had to check out the seafood and mushrooms!
I came home with scallops and portabella caps (both on sale for a very nice price), as well as some asparagus, zucchini and the items on my list. I had the scallops for dinner that night, cooked scampi style and served over rice. The vegetables sat in the fridge. Until yesterday, that is.
On a normal day, I have a pretty good idea of what I'll eat for breakfast, lunch & dinner before I go to bed the night before. Yesterday's plans got changed several times over though, and I forgot to eat breakfast. So by lunch time, I was really hungry and had no idea of what to make. As I gazed into the depths of the refrigerator, I glimpsed the asparagus and mushrooms hiding behind a carton of orange juice.
Inspiration hit me, hard. Grilled veggies... balsamic vinegar... over rice... YES!
Now, it's not really grilling season here, so we have no charcoal, and I don't have a grill pan for my stove. I do have a George Foreman grill, which hasn't been used in over a year. I pulled it out of its hidey hole and was absolutely disgusted by the amount of dust and yuckiness on it. It really needed a good, thorough scrub-down. Since it's an electric appliance, it needed to thoroughly dry before being used, which rendered it useless for lunch making.
I was not daunted, though! I determined that rather than find something else to eat, I would just use one of my giant frying pans. The plan changed from grilled veggies to veggies that were sauteed in oil & balsamic vinegar. Sooooo gooood!
The players: baby carrots (cut into 2 pieces to shorten the length and then each half cut into 4 long pieces each), celery (coarsely chopped), sweet onion (diced), asparagus (each spear but into 2 or 3 pieces, for fork-friendliness), zucchini (cut into thick coins which were then halved), potabella mushroom caps (sliced); also a drizzle of olive oil, a bunch of balsamic vinegar and spices including basil, garlic salt and thyme (all dried).
The basic concept: pour a tablespoon or 2 of olive oil into a large frying pan. Add enough balsamic vinegar that it and the olive oil generously cover the bottom of the pan. Heat over medium high. When hot, add onion, stir and cook for 30 seconds to 1 minute, allowing the pan to heat back up. Push the onion to the edges of the pan and add the carrots and celery. Stir to coat everything with oil & vinegar and cook for another minute or 2. When the onion begins to look translucent, add the asparagus, zucchini and portabella. Stir well. Add more balsamic, if needed, and stir to distribute. Put a lid on the pan, reduce heat to medium and walk away for about 3 minutes. Remove lid and check if the asparagus is tender enough for your taste. Continue to cook without the lid until it is. Serve over the starch of your choice (rice, pasta, baked potato, bread, etc)
It's seriously tasty stuff!
Monday, March 29, 2010
Thoughts and concepts...
I have not been posting here because I haven't really done much playing in the kitchen. Despite the lack of cooking, I have been doing a lot of thinking about what I want to try making next. I thought I would share those thoughts with you.
In my last post, I shared the revamped breakfast bar recipe. I truly love the results of that recipe, but as often as we eat breakfast bars, it would be really nice to have a few different flavors. I also think that the recipe might work better as a muffin, since it's very cake-like. A muffin might be a little more travel friendly.
The flavors I have been thinking of are:
tropical- replace the pumpkin seeds with chopped macadamia nuts and use dried pineapple, mango and papaya for the fruit
pumpkin- use pumpkin puree instead of banana, replace 1/3 of the ground almonds with ground pecans, and maybe use
raisins or currants for fruit
apple 1- use applesauce, diced apples and currants; maybe with a cinnamon crumble topping
Fluffernutter- eggless marshmallow fluff, replace ground almonds with ground peanuts, replace all fruit with diced apple
I'm also thinking that quick breads, such as carrot cake and zucchini bread would be good flavor bases to investigate. I've been considering doing one involving Nutella and hazelnuts, but I'm not sure what kind of fruit to incorporate.
I've also gotten the most recent issue of Living Without, a magazine for those with food allergies and sensitivities. This issue contains several recipes for cakes and a couple of different icings. At some point in the next week, I will be making one of the cakes, though I haven't decided which one yet. I have time to decide, though, since before I can make it I need to buy some xanthan gum.
What I really like about this issue is that they have a page of substitution suggestions. I'll cover that in a future post, though. I'd rather wait until I've tried some of them before discussing them in depth.
And that is a peak at what some future posts will involve.
Keep it simple, and keep on cookin'!
In my last post, I shared the revamped breakfast bar recipe. I truly love the results of that recipe, but as often as we eat breakfast bars, it would be really nice to have a few different flavors. I also think that the recipe might work better as a muffin, since it's very cake-like. A muffin might be a little more travel friendly.
The flavors I have been thinking of are:
tropical- replace the pumpkin seeds with chopped macadamia nuts and use dried pineapple, mango and papaya for the fruit
pumpkin- use pumpkin puree instead of banana, replace 1/3 of the ground almonds with ground pecans, and maybe use
raisins or currants for fruit
apple 1- use applesauce, diced apples and currants; maybe with a cinnamon crumble topping
Fluffernutter- eggless marshmallow fluff, replace ground almonds with ground peanuts, replace all fruit with diced apple
I'm also thinking that quick breads, such as carrot cake and zucchini bread would be good flavor bases to investigate. I've been considering doing one involving Nutella and hazelnuts, but I'm not sure what kind of fruit to incorporate.
I've also gotten the most recent issue of Living Without, a magazine for those with food allergies and sensitivities. This issue contains several recipes for cakes and a couple of different icings. At some point in the next week, I will be making one of the cakes, though I haven't decided which one yet. I have time to decide, though, since before I can make it I need to buy some xanthan gum.
What I really like about this issue is that they have a page of substitution suggestions. I'll cover that in a future post, though. I'd rather wait until I've tried some of them before discussing them in depth.
And that is a peak at what some future posts will involve.
Keep it simple, and keep on cookin'!
Friday, March 19, 2010
breakfast bar recipe, perfection!
So, one of my first posts was about gluten-free, egg-free, milk-free breakfast bars. The original recipe I used was too greasy for my taste. The next 2 attempts each had their own problems. This morning I made another batch, slightly tweaked to fix the problems. They came out perfectly, IMHO. Very muffin-like. Texture was similar to a quick bread, not overly greasy, dense or sweet. I am very pleased! I think I'm going to use this as a model for some different flavors of quick breads and muffins in the near future.
Anyway, here's the recipe:
dry:
2 c ground almonds
1 c rice flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 c dried blueberries & cherries, combined
1/2 c finely diced candied orange & lemon peel, combined
1 c pumpkin seeds, lightly chopped
1 c sunflower seeds, lightly chopped
wet:
3 very ripe bananas (should be mushy)
1/2 c agave syrup
1/2 c vegetable oil
1 tablespoon honey
Preheat oven to 325
Put all the dry ingredients into a bowl, sealable container or large zipper food storage bag and mix well.
Put the bananas into a large mixing bowl and use the mixer to liquefy them. (If you're using a Kitchenaid-type mixer, use the paddle attachment.) Add the rest of the wet ingredients. Mix well.
Line a 9x13-inch pan (Note 1) with parchment, and grease any portion of the inside of the pan that the parchment is not covering.
Working quickly, mix the dry ingredients into the wet, just until combined.
Pour batter into pan, and bake for approximately 30 minutes, till the top begins to brown. (Note 2)
Cool and cut into 10 pieces.
Note 1- next time I make this, I'm going to use a muffin tin instead of a big pan.
Note 2- all of the ingredients in this recipe are safe to be eaten raw, therefore, you only need to cook it long enough for it to 'set up'
Anyway, here's the recipe:
dry:
2 c ground almonds
1 c rice flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 c dried blueberries & cherries, combined
1/2 c finely diced candied orange & lemon peel, combined
1 c pumpkin seeds, lightly chopped
1 c sunflower seeds, lightly chopped
wet:
3 very ripe bananas (should be mushy)
1/2 c agave syrup
1/2 c vegetable oil
1 tablespoon honey
Preheat oven to 325
Put all the dry ingredients into a bowl, sealable container or large zipper food storage bag and mix well.
Put the bananas into a large mixing bowl and use the mixer to liquefy them. (If you're using a Kitchenaid-type mixer, use the paddle attachment.) Add the rest of the wet ingredients. Mix well.
Line a 9x13-inch pan (Note 1) with parchment, and grease any portion of the inside of the pan that the parchment is not covering.
Working quickly, mix the dry ingredients into the wet, just until combined.
Pour batter into pan, and bake for approximately 30 minutes, till the top begins to brown. (Note 2)
Cool and cut into 10 pieces.
Note 1- next time I make this, I'm going to use a muffin tin instead of a big pan.
Note 2- all of the ingredients in this recipe are safe to be eaten raw, therefore, you only need to cook it long enough for it to 'set up'
Monday, March 15, 2010
lunch...
Today's lunch was simple, but quite tasty, nonetheless:
Romaine lettuce leaves with tuna salad.
This was inspired by something I had a a restaurant some time back, it's a good way to boost your veggie intake a little bit. The basic concept is to take some firm romaine leaves and put a little tuna salad along the inside of the rib- kind of like what you do to stuff a piece of celery with peanut butter. This would work with chicken salad or egg salad, as well. If you use the floppier leaves of lettuce, you can roll them around the salad of your choice. Personally, I prefer the firmer leaves (they're less of a mess to eat).
It's kind of like a tuna salad sandwich without the bread. Because the lettuce leaves are somewhat scoop shaped, they hold the tuna salad nicely. It's tasty, quick and usually not terribly expensive (depending on the price of the head of lettuce).
It's also lunch box friendly, if you can assemble the tuna salad just before you eat (though this makes it a little more expensive). Wash your leaves, wrap gently in paper towel and place inside a zipper bag. Then put a pouch of drained tuna, a packet or 2 of mayo or a little cup of ranch salad dressing, a small dish and a fork into your lunch box/bag, along with a freezer pak. Place the bag with the romaine leaves on top, as they could be damaged by the weight of the other stuff. If you like any other stuff in your tuna salad, like relish or onion, just put it in a little container or zipper bag (the 'snack size' is great for this) and add it to the bag. Personally, I like to add dried minced onion.
So anyway, that is one simple lunch option for those who don't have a problem with lettuce, fish or mayo (ingredients include egg, vinegar and oil, and usually some other stuff).
Romaine lettuce leaves with tuna salad.
This was inspired by something I had a a restaurant some time back, it's a good way to boost your veggie intake a little bit. The basic concept is to take some firm romaine leaves and put a little tuna salad along the inside of the rib- kind of like what you do to stuff a piece of celery with peanut butter. This would work with chicken salad or egg salad, as well. If you use the floppier leaves of lettuce, you can roll them around the salad of your choice. Personally, I prefer the firmer leaves (they're less of a mess to eat).
It's kind of like a tuna salad sandwich without the bread. Because the lettuce leaves are somewhat scoop shaped, they hold the tuna salad nicely. It's tasty, quick and usually not terribly expensive (depending on the price of the head of lettuce).
It's also lunch box friendly, if you can assemble the tuna salad just before you eat (though this makes it a little more expensive). Wash your leaves, wrap gently in paper towel and place inside a zipper bag. Then put a pouch of drained tuna, a packet or 2 of mayo or a little cup of ranch salad dressing, a small dish and a fork into your lunch box/bag, along with a freezer pak. Place the bag with the romaine leaves on top, as they could be damaged by the weight of the other stuff. If you like any other stuff in your tuna salad, like relish or onion, just put it in a little container or zipper bag (the 'snack size' is great for this) and add it to the bag. Personally, I like to add dried minced onion.
So anyway, that is one simple lunch option for those who don't have a problem with lettuce, fish or mayo (ingredients include egg, vinegar and oil, and usually some other stuff).
Saturday, March 13, 2010
dinner and lunch: stew
Last night I made beef stew for dinner. It was very tasty and a good choice for a cool rainy night. Normally I freeze leftover soups and stews for emergency quick meals, but I enjoyed it so much that I had some for lunch today, too!
Ingredients:
water
1 bag of beef broth (made last week and then frozen in quart-sized zipper freezer bag)
1 bag of veggie broth (made week before last and frozen in quart-sized zipper freezer bag)
leftover roast beef from Wednesday night's dinner, cut into bite sized pieces
about 2 cups of frozen peas
a dozen or so baby carrots, cut into large chunks
3 small potatoes, peeled and cut into large chunks
salt to taste
dash of thyme
sprinkle of minced dried onion
cornstarch
how to:
Put about 1 inch of water in the cooking pot and put over medium heat. Remove the broths from their bags and gently pace them in the pot. Add everything else and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and gently simmer for an hour or two. The liquid should reduce down by about 25%. You want to concentrate the flavors, but not boil the water away. (If it starts to look like there isn't enough liquid, add enough water to bring it back to what you want, bring to a boil and reduce heat to a lower temperature than you did before. It should be gently simmering, but definitely not boiling. Stir and put a lid on the pot. You'll need to cook it for at least another 1/2 hour after adding that water.) Stir occasionally as it cooks. After it's cooked for about 30 minutes, taste the broth and adjust the seasoning as you see fit.
About 15 minutes before you're ready to eat, take about 2 tablespoons of cornstarch and dissolve it in about 1/4 c of lukewarm water or broth. Using one hand to stir the stew, slowly pour in the cornstarch water. Do not stop stirring until all of the cornstarch water is dissolved into the stew, or you'll end up with some really nasty lumps and a very thin stew. Stir frequently or 2 until it's thick enough for your preference (about 5 or 10 minutes).
Slow Cooker Method:
You can make this in the slow cooker for a work day, too. In the morning, put everything except the water, beef stock/broth and cornstarch into the crock. The water will be omitted. The beef stock should be put in the fridge to thaw (don't worry if you forget, you can always thaw it in the microwave). Turn the slow cooker to low and let cook for the day. DO NOT LIFT THE LID OF THE COOKER UNTIL THE END OF THE DAY! (Lifting the lid breaks the steam seal and causes the contents to cool. Every time the lid is lifted is like adding about 30 minutes to the cooking time.) About 30 minutes before you're ready to eat, turn the cooker to high. Put the thawed beef broth into a pot over medium heat. When it's beginning to simmer, dissolve about 2-3 tablespoons of cornstarch in about 1/4 c water. Then, stirring the broth with one hand, slowly pour in the cornstarch water. Stir well. Cook over medium, stirring frequently until thickened (usually 5 or 10 minutes). Promptly remove from heat. Now you can take the lid off of the slow cooker. Pour the gravy into the crock, stirring to distribute it through the meat and vegetables. Replace the lid, turn the crock off and allow it to sit for at least 5 minutes (15 minutes is ideal) before serving.
Notes:
-If you add too much salt, add some extra potato. They absorb the salt nicely.
-You can use whatever vegetables you want, and as much or as little as you want. I don't measure them, and I tend to use whatever I have that needs using up before it goes bad. If I had to guess, I'd say I probably put about 4 cups of veg into my stew. You can also leave the skins on your potatoes, if you prefer.
-During the last 5 minutes or so of cooking, I like to throw a bit of non-allergenic bread into the toaster oven to warm it up. There's nothing quite like a bowl of totally from scratch stew with a nice, warm piece of bread, lightly buttered. Last night the hubby and I split one of DeLand's hot dog rolls and it was a good call. Their hot dog rolls are closer to a crusty Italian loaf than what I'd expect a hot dog bun to be.
Ingredients:
water
1 bag of beef broth (made last week and then frozen in quart-sized zipper freezer bag)
1 bag of veggie broth (made week before last and frozen in quart-sized zipper freezer bag)
leftover roast beef from Wednesday night's dinner, cut into bite sized pieces
about 2 cups of frozen peas
a dozen or so baby carrots, cut into large chunks
3 small potatoes, peeled and cut into large chunks
salt to taste
dash of thyme
sprinkle of minced dried onion
cornstarch
how to:
Put about 1 inch of water in the cooking pot and put over medium heat. Remove the broths from their bags and gently pace them in the pot. Add everything else and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and gently simmer for an hour or two. The liquid should reduce down by about 25%. You want to concentrate the flavors, but not boil the water away. (If it starts to look like there isn't enough liquid, add enough water to bring it back to what you want, bring to a boil and reduce heat to a lower temperature than you did before. It should be gently simmering, but definitely not boiling. Stir and put a lid on the pot. You'll need to cook it for at least another 1/2 hour after adding that water.) Stir occasionally as it cooks. After it's cooked for about 30 minutes, taste the broth and adjust the seasoning as you see fit.
About 15 minutes before you're ready to eat, take about 2 tablespoons of cornstarch and dissolve it in about 1/4 c of lukewarm water or broth. Using one hand to stir the stew, slowly pour in the cornstarch water. Do not stop stirring until all of the cornstarch water is dissolved into the stew, or you'll end up with some really nasty lumps and a very thin stew. Stir frequently or 2 until it's thick enough for your preference (about 5 or 10 minutes).
Slow Cooker Method:
You can make this in the slow cooker for a work day, too. In the morning, put everything except the water, beef stock/broth and cornstarch into the crock. The water will be omitted. The beef stock should be put in the fridge to thaw (don't worry if you forget, you can always thaw it in the microwave). Turn the slow cooker to low and let cook for the day. DO NOT LIFT THE LID OF THE COOKER UNTIL THE END OF THE DAY! (Lifting the lid breaks the steam seal and causes the contents to cool. Every time the lid is lifted is like adding about 30 minutes to the cooking time.) About 30 minutes before you're ready to eat, turn the cooker to high. Put the thawed beef broth into a pot over medium heat. When it's beginning to simmer, dissolve about 2-3 tablespoons of cornstarch in about 1/4 c water. Then, stirring the broth with one hand, slowly pour in the cornstarch water. Stir well. Cook over medium, stirring frequently until thickened (usually 5 or 10 minutes). Promptly remove from heat. Now you can take the lid off of the slow cooker. Pour the gravy into the crock, stirring to distribute it through the meat and vegetables. Replace the lid, turn the crock off and allow it to sit for at least 5 minutes (15 minutes is ideal) before serving.
Notes:
-If you add too much salt, add some extra potato. They absorb the salt nicely.
-You can use whatever vegetables you want, and as much or as little as you want. I don't measure them, and I tend to use whatever I have that needs using up before it goes bad. If I had to guess, I'd say I probably put about 4 cups of veg into my stew. You can also leave the skins on your potatoes, if you prefer.
-During the last 5 minutes or so of cooking, I like to throw a bit of non-allergenic bread into the toaster oven to warm it up. There's nothing quite like a bowl of totally from scratch stew with a nice, warm piece of bread, lightly buttered. Last night the hubby and I split one of DeLand's hot dog rolls and it was a good call. Their hot dog rolls are closer to a crusty Italian loaf than what I'd expect a hot dog bun to be.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
cutting costs...
Okay, so my previous post was about a useful kitchen tool that's a bit on the pricey side. The way I see it, though, it will probably end up saving us money in the long run. I won't go through the total cost analysis that I mentally did on it, but for us it came out to be a winner.
Anyway, one of the biggest concerns people have about changes to their diet, aside from the foods themselves, is the cost. It can be really expensive to go gluten-free, since bread and pasta are staples in most people's diets and they're cheap. Cutting out most of the other allergens can be equally expensive- eggs, dairy, nuts... all staple foods or ingredients in staple foods that are generally only expensive if you opt for the gourmet varieties.
The thing is, if you know what you're doing, it doesn't have to be that much more expensive. Rice flour is a perfect example. At the health food store, it can cost $4 or $5 for a package. If you have access to an Indian grocery store, like Rice & Spice in Emmaus, PA, you are likely to find it at a much lower price. Chickpea or garbanzo bean flour is another thing that can be purchased at the Indian market for a lower price, as well as millet.
DeLand Bakery, which I mentioned in a previous post, has loaves of bread for $3-$4. It's not as cheap as a loaf of store brand white bread, but it's about the equivalent of a good quality whole grain bread in price and quality. If that's not an option, soft corn tortillas can usually be found at the grocery store and make for a nice wrap sandwich (just hit a frying pan with a spritz of cooking spray or oil, and give the tortilla 2 minutes on one side, then flip and fry another minute or so to take away the sensation of it being uncooked).
Rce and potatoes are good base starches to build a meal on. And making your own broths and stocks from scratch is much less expensive than buying it, even if it's an off-brand. Then when you want gravy, you can simply thicken it with a little cornstarch (instead of wheat flour) and season it as you see fit. Tomato sauce (or spaghetti sauce, or tomato gravy) can be made from tomatoes you grow in a large batch and then canned or frozen. Sloppy joe filling can be made with some of that tomato sauce and a bit of tomato paste and some seasonings, then frozen in single serve portions to be reheated in the microwave. Breadcrumbs can be replaced with crushed corn flakes in most recipes.
If you find there's a product that's expensive and you tend to use a lot of it, look into buying it in bulk. For example, a dairy-free creamy topping is made with a base of raw cashews. My local grocery store has a 10 oz package of raw cashews for about $8. I did a quick web search and found that if I were to buy broken cashews from a bulk seller online it would be between $3.50 and $5.50 per pound (16oz), depending on the seller and quantity. That's about half of what it is at the grocery store!
So my advice for those who are trying to cut a particular food or foods out of their diet is this: do your homework. There are alternatives to the fancy and expensive stuff you find at the grocery and health food stores, you just need to track them down. Go to the ethnic markets and look around. Search the web for options. And spend a couple of hours at least once a week making 'ingredients'.
It also might be worth your time to learn how to preserve food by canning, dehydrating, etc. and maybe, if you have a green thumb, try your hand at growing some of your own food. Even if you don't have a giant yard, or live in an apartment, a tomato seedling is about $3 and a basic container ranges from $5 to $25 (depending on the size and how fancy you want to get). A big bag of soil costs around $2. I don't know about you, but I know I spent a lot more than $30 on tomatoes and tomato products in a single season before we started growing them! A package of sun dried tomatoes costs around $4 and usually contains 4 or 5 tomatoes worth of halves. I used my food dehydrator and ended up with 2 gallon size freezer bags by the end of last season. (We had 8 plants, and I also made salsa, tomato sauce, cooked with them, snacked on them, and generally had my fill of them).
So, yeah. Do your homework, look around, and make it yourself when you can. That will do wonders for cutting the costs!
Anyway, one of the biggest concerns people have about changes to their diet, aside from the foods themselves, is the cost. It can be really expensive to go gluten-free, since bread and pasta are staples in most people's diets and they're cheap. Cutting out most of the other allergens can be equally expensive- eggs, dairy, nuts... all staple foods or ingredients in staple foods that are generally only expensive if you opt for the gourmet varieties.
The thing is, if you know what you're doing, it doesn't have to be that much more expensive. Rice flour is a perfect example. At the health food store, it can cost $4 or $5 for a package. If you have access to an Indian grocery store, like Rice & Spice in Emmaus, PA, you are likely to find it at a much lower price. Chickpea or garbanzo bean flour is another thing that can be purchased at the Indian market for a lower price, as well as millet.
DeLand Bakery, which I mentioned in a previous post, has loaves of bread for $3-$4. It's not as cheap as a loaf of store brand white bread, but it's about the equivalent of a good quality whole grain bread in price and quality. If that's not an option, soft corn tortillas can usually be found at the grocery store and make for a nice wrap sandwich (just hit a frying pan with a spritz of cooking spray or oil, and give the tortilla 2 minutes on one side, then flip and fry another minute or so to take away the sensation of it being uncooked).
Rce and potatoes are good base starches to build a meal on. And making your own broths and stocks from scratch is much less expensive than buying it, even if it's an off-brand. Then when you want gravy, you can simply thicken it with a little cornstarch (instead of wheat flour) and season it as you see fit. Tomato sauce (or spaghetti sauce, or tomato gravy) can be made from tomatoes you grow in a large batch and then canned or frozen. Sloppy joe filling can be made with some of that tomato sauce and a bit of tomato paste and some seasonings, then frozen in single serve portions to be reheated in the microwave. Breadcrumbs can be replaced with crushed corn flakes in most recipes.
If you find there's a product that's expensive and you tend to use a lot of it, look into buying it in bulk. For example, a dairy-free creamy topping is made with a base of raw cashews. My local grocery store has a 10 oz package of raw cashews for about $8. I did a quick web search and found that if I were to buy broken cashews from a bulk seller online it would be between $3.50 and $5.50 per pound (16oz), depending on the seller and quantity. That's about half of what it is at the grocery store!
So my advice for those who are trying to cut a particular food or foods out of their diet is this: do your homework. There are alternatives to the fancy and expensive stuff you find at the grocery and health food stores, you just need to track them down. Go to the ethnic markets and look around. Search the web for options. And spend a couple of hours at least once a week making 'ingredients'.
It also might be worth your time to learn how to preserve food by canning, dehydrating, etc. and maybe, if you have a green thumb, try your hand at growing some of your own food. Even if you don't have a giant yard, or live in an apartment, a tomato seedling is about $3 and a basic container ranges from $5 to $25 (depending on the size and how fancy you want to get). A big bag of soil costs around $2. I don't know about you, but I know I spent a lot more than $30 on tomatoes and tomato products in a single season before we started growing them! A package of sun dried tomatoes costs around $4 and usually contains 4 or 5 tomatoes worth of halves. I used my food dehydrator and ended up with 2 gallon size freezer bags by the end of last season. (We had 8 plants, and I also made salsa, tomato sauce, cooked with them, snacked on them, and generally had my fill of them).
So, yeah. Do your homework, look around, and make it yourself when you can. That will do wonders for cutting the costs!
a useful kitchen tool!
I was at the mall yesterday for my hair appointment (Deidra at the Penney's Salon is a sweetheart who does a wonderful job!). Since I was already there, I decided to pop over to Williams-Sonoma to grab a new spaghetti tool. (My old one came apart as I washed it a couple of days ago.) As I always tend to do, I picked up the item that brought me in and then wandered around to see what new pretty shinies they had gotten since my last visit. That store is probably the best one at separating me from my money, LOL!
Anyway, I found something that I am very excited about: The Beaba Multiportion Freezer Tray
http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/beaba-multiportion-babyfood-freezer-tray/
No, I don't have a baby, and I don't make baby food. So, you might ask, why am I this excited about it?
Well, here's the thing. One of the biggest problems with the allergy free eating is a lack of available prepared foods. I can't simply run to the grocery store and grab items to do the semi-homemade cooking. I still have many days where my time to cook is limited, but cutting out the allergy-inducing foods has cut out many of my shortcut ingredients. (boxed broths contain yeast, parsley and pepper; V-8 contains parsley and who knows what in the 'flavorings', etc, etc).
So I've started making some of those items myself. Of course, they're all fairly easy to make, just a little time-consuming. So making them in larger batches makes the most sense. That way I can use some of it for that night's dinner, and freeze the rest. The problem is how to package and store them in convenient quantities.
I've used ice cube trays in the past, but they don't hold much and will spill if tilted. Muffin tins can also be used, but sometimes whatever it is sticks and doesn't want to come out of the cup. When I made the veggie and beef broths, I froze them in quart sized freezer bags. This works really well for thick or chunky stuff, but on straight liquid can be a problem. Of course one of the bags sprung a leak- just my luck. Pretty much any of the package/storage methods have their own set of problems.
These are silicone cups (BPA free) with a 2 oz. or 1/4 cup capacity. They also have a lid! They are freezer, microwave and dishwasher safe. (If I ever get a dishwasher, I'm sure I'll be happy about that!) The down-side is that they're $20 for a 7 compartment tray- much more expensive than any of the other options mentioned above. I still bought it, though.
I will freeze my shortcut items in it, then transfer the frozen cubes to another container, so I can freeze some more.
I also bought an apple slicer/corer, since I've been snacking on apples and peanut butter a lot, and a julienne slicer so i can make matchstick carrots, zucchini and potatoes.
Anyway, I found something that I am very excited about: The Beaba Multiportion Freezer Tray
http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/beaba-multiportion-babyfood-freezer-tray/
No, I don't have a baby, and I don't make baby food. So, you might ask, why am I this excited about it?
Well, here's the thing. One of the biggest problems with the allergy free eating is a lack of available prepared foods. I can't simply run to the grocery store and grab items to do the semi-homemade cooking. I still have many days where my time to cook is limited, but cutting out the allergy-inducing foods has cut out many of my shortcut ingredients. (boxed broths contain yeast, parsley and pepper; V-8 contains parsley and who knows what in the 'flavorings', etc, etc).
So I've started making some of those items myself. Of course, they're all fairly easy to make, just a little time-consuming. So making them in larger batches makes the most sense. That way I can use some of it for that night's dinner, and freeze the rest. The problem is how to package and store them in convenient quantities.
I've used ice cube trays in the past, but they don't hold much and will spill if tilted. Muffin tins can also be used, but sometimes whatever it is sticks and doesn't want to come out of the cup. When I made the veggie and beef broths, I froze them in quart sized freezer bags. This works really well for thick or chunky stuff, but on straight liquid can be a problem. Of course one of the bags sprung a leak- just my luck. Pretty much any of the package/storage methods have their own set of problems.
These are silicone cups (BPA free) with a 2 oz. or 1/4 cup capacity. They also have a lid! They are freezer, microwave and dishwasher safe. (If I ever get a dishwasher, I'm sure I'll be happy about that!) The down-side is that they're $20 for a 7 compartment tray- much more expensive than any of the other options mentioned above. I still bought it, though.
I will freeze my shortcut items in it, then transfer the frozen cubes to another container, so I can freeze some more.
I also bought an apple slicer/corer, since I've been snacking on apples and peanut butter a lot, and a julienne slicer so i can make matchstick carrots, zucchini and potatoes.
Monday, March 8, 2010
snacks...
Things have been pretty busy for us the past couple of weeks. A friend was staying with us for 2 weeks and we've been driving here, there and everywhere trying to prep for the hubby to start a new job. All that driving meant a lot of time spent in the car and very little time spent at home, in the kitchen. Which brought us to the dilemma of travel friendly food.
Now, normally, we'd just grab sandwiches from a local deli along with a bag of chips and some coffee. However, as I discussed previously, sandwiches are out of the question for multiple reasons, and most sandwich places do not offer soy or almond milk for their coffee. After checking a few chip ingredient lists, I was happy to find that many brands of corn chips, including my favorite, contain only corn, corn oil and salt. But a girl can not live on corn chips alone. So the question remained, what can we do for food when we're spending the day in the car?
I am still looking for more options, but here are a few ideas...
Apple wedges or celery with peanut butter
fruit salad
beef jerky
rice crackers or carrots with hummus
Now, normally, we'd just grab sandwiches from a local deli along with a bag of chips and some coffee. However, as I discussed previously, sandwiches are out of the question for multiple reasons, and most sandwich places do not offer soy or almond milk for their coffee. After checking a few chip ingredient lists, I was happy to find that many brands of corn chips, including my favorite, contain only corn, corn oil and salt. But a girl can not live on corn chips alone. So the question remained, what can we do for food when we're spending the day in the car?
I am still looking for more options, but here are a few ideas...
Apple wedges or celery with peanut butter
fruit salad
beef jerky
rice crackers or carrots with hummus
Thursday, March 4, 2010
dinner...
I went to the grocery store today. I'd been putting it off for a few days, and it had reached priority status on the to-do list. So as I checked to make sure everything was on my list, opening cabinets, rummaging through the freezer & fridge, it occurred to me: We can still have one of my absolute favorite summertime dinners- stuffed vegetables!
Okay, so the ingredients need some minor tweaking, but nothing terrible. So I jotted the few extra items on my grocery list and hit the store. I was actually crossing my fingers on the way there in the hope that they'd have decent tomatoes. I really, really wanted to make stuffed tomatoes!
I was in luck! They were small, but very pretty. Firm and ripe, grown in the USA and only somewhat expensive (well within the splurge budget). So I snatched them up and gleefully brought them home.
I was whistling and humming as I browned some sweet Italian sausage (removed from its casing), diced and added a small onion, a can of tomatoes and chilis, a bit of vegetable broth, leftover rice and some tomato paste. Cooked it down for about 15 minutes, dumped it all into a 9x13 inch pan, nestled in the halved, gutted and cored tomatoes, skin side up, and popped it in the oven to get all happy and toasty.
It was really tasty. And it's an item that I can make extra and freeze in single serve portions for lunches & quick dinners! I am a happy girl!
Okay, so the ingredients need some minor tweaking, but nothing terrible. So I jotted the few extra items on my grocery list and hit the store. I was actually crossing my fingers on the way there in the hope that they'd have decent tomatoes. I really, really wanted to make stuffed tomatoes!
I was in luck! They were small, but very pretty. Firm and ripe, grown in the USA and only somewhat expensive (well within the splurge budget). So I snatched them up and gleefully brought them home.
I was whistling and humming as I browned some sweet Italian sausage (removed from its casing), diced and added a small onion, a can of tomatoes and chilis, a bit of vegetable broth, leftover rice and some tomato paste. Cooked it down for about 15 minutes, dumped it all into a 9x13 inch pan, nestled in the halved, gutted and cored tomatoes, skin side up, and popped it in the oven to get all happy and toasty.
It was really tasty. And it's an item that I can make extra and freeze in single serve portions for lunches & quick dinners! I am a happy girl!
the little things...
I just want to say that I am so happy to be able to eat crabs! We went to Maryland today to visit friends we haven't seen in way too long, and I got to eat my fill of crabby goodness. It was wonderful. Now for some sleep!
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
a short post...
I haven't posted in a few days, as I've been pretty busy and my computer is temporarily living in a room that makes using it inconvenient. I'm really short on time today, too, but did not want to neglect my blogging for another day. With all that in mind, I decided to pop on here today just to mention a product with which I am currently enamored: Deland's Breads.
http://www.delandbakery.com/
They use millet instead of wheat, and most of their products use baking soda instead of yeast for leavening! They are not in a dedicated wheat/yeast/gluten-free kitchen, so, by Florida law they have to state on the package that the product contains wheat, yeast and gluten, but if you have a mild sensitivity, they have a wonderful thing going! They are based in Florida, but I'm in Pennsylvania and the health food store down the street carries their products, so they definitely ship.
So far we've tried their dinner rolls and hot dog buns. It's a bit denser than you'd get from the grocery store, but the flavor is excellent and it has a nice crumb to it. Oh, and the rolls may be turned into wonderful croutons!
So in my book, DELAND'S gets two thumbs up!! Thanks for making an amazing product, you crafty bakers!
http://www.delandbakery.com/
They use millet instead of wheat, and most of their products use baking soda instead of yeast for leavening! They are not in a dedicated wheat/yeast/gluten-free kitchen, so, by Florida law they have to state on the package that the product contains wheat, yeast and gluten, but if you have a mild sensitivity, they have a wonderful thing going! They are based in Florida, but I'm in Pennsylvania and the health food store down the street carries their products, so they definitely ship.
So far we've tried their dinner rolls and hot dog buns. It's a bit denser than you'd get from the grocery store, but the flavor is excellent and it has a nice crumb to it. Oh, and the rolls may be turned into wonderful croutons!
So in my book, DELAND'S gets two thumbs up!! Thanks for making an amazing product, you crafty bakers!
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Renaming Achieved!
I think that Simply Sensitive Cooking is a bit more appropriate than Kitchen Adventures: Food Sensitive Foodie, since it reflects my cooking style a little more accurately. Yes, I am a foodie. I absolutely love trying new foods and exotic flavors. I am spoiled by good quality ingredients to the point that there are some things I won't buy from the grocery store because they just don't taste right after being exposed to the amazing flavors from our favorite local farmers. (We are positively blessed to be living in an area with such an amazing variety of really high quality, naturally grown/organic local meat & produce.) But when I cook, and I absolutely love to cook, I tend to stick with classic, down-home flavors, aka 'American Food'.
The problem with classic American food, and the Americanized versions of ethnic food, is that it generally contains at least one of the items on our eliminate/avoid list. Meatloaf? It has wheat, gluten, eggs and parsley, among other things. Mashed Potatoes? Milk and, when I make them, cheese. Hot dogs? Well, I won't get into the ingredient list, but it's not good! Even cornbread usually has wheat flour and eggs.
Sandwiches? They're a paragraph unto themselves! The bread is the first issue. Then what spread to use? Mayo has eggs, mustard is on the list, and well, I'm just not that big a fan of ketchup/catsup on cold sandwiches. Cheese is out, too, even the soy cheese should be restricted. Then we have to be careful with the lunchmeat. Chicken is out for me, but since the hubby loves it so much I won't hold it against him if he has it, as long as there aren't any of his problem ingredients. Have you ever tried to find a lunchmeat that doesn't contain a wheat or gluten-containing filler, black pepper, cayenne pepper, malt, or whey?
Grilled cheese and tomato soup: out. Chicken noodle soup: out. Beef barley soup: out. Shepherd's pie or cottage pie: out. Ranch salad dressing: out. Green Goddess salad dressing: out. Pot pie? out. Enchiladas and burritos? out. Tuna noodle casserole? out. Lasagna and baked ziti? out. The list goes on and on...
So it is in response to this that I have started writing here. I will play with my recipes and their ingredients, and record my successes and failures here in the hope that maybe I can save someone else a little bit of trouble. I will also occasionally recommend a product that I find, since it can be hard to find foodstuffs that don't contain any of the things to which we're sensitive. I'll also be including some of my techniques for food preservation and storage, as well as things that I do so that I'm prepared for those nights when dinner prep needs to be as fast and fuss-free as possible.
Please feel free to let me know what you think, but keep in mind that I'm a human being. I welcome feedback- even negative- as long as it's constructive. If you try a recipe and you don't like it, please let me know why. If I list an ingredient that you think contains a hidden allergen, PLEASE say something. If I say something you like, find funny or helpful, or anything of that nature, please feel free to speak up. It's always good to have someone say something nice, and well, I want to know if people are actually reading this.
Anyway, thanks for reading!
The problem with classic American food, and the Americanized versions of ethnic food, is that it generally contains at least one of the items on our eliminate/avoid list. Meatloaf? It has wheat, gluten, eggs and parsley, among other things. Mashed Potatoes? Milk and, when I make them, cheese. Hot dogs? Well, I won't get into the ingredient list, but it's not good! Even cornbread usually has wheat flour and eggs.
Sandwiches? They're a paragraph unto themselves! The bread is the first issue. Then what spread to use? Mayo has eggs, mustard is on the list, and well, I'm just not that big a fan of ketchup/catsup on cold sandwiches. Cheese is out, too, even the soy cheese should be restricted. Then we have to be careful with the lunchmeat. Chicken is out for me, but since the hubby loves it so much I won't hold it against him if he has it, as long as there aren't any of his problem ingredients. Have you ever tried to find a lunchmeat that doesn't contain a wheat or gluten-containing filler, black pepper, cayenne pepper, malt, or whey?
Grilled cheese and tomato soup: out. Chicken noodle soup: out. Beef barley soup: out. Shepherd's pie or cottage pie: out. Ranch salad dressing: out. Green Goddess salad dressing: out. Pot pie? out. Enchiladas and burritos? out. Tuna noodle casserole? out. Lasagna and baked ziti? out. The list goes on and on...
So it is in response to this that I have started writing here. I will play with my recipes and their ingredients, and record my successes and failures here in the hope that maybe I can save someone else a little bit of trouble. I will also occasionally recommend a product that I find, since it can be hard to find foodstuffs that don't contain any of the things to which we're sensitive. I'll also be including some of my techniques for food preservation and storage, as well as things that I do so that I'm prepared for those nights when dinner prep needs to be as fast and fuss-free as possible.
Please feel free to let me know what you think, but keep in mind that I'm a human being. I welcome feedback- even negative- as long as it's constructive. If you try a recipe and you don't like it, please let me know why. If I list an ingredient that you think contains a hidden allergen, PLEASE say something. If I say something you like, find funny or helpful, or anything of that nature, please feel free to speak up. It's always good to have someone say something nice, and well, I want to know if people are actually reading this.
Anyway, thanks for reading!
thinking of renaming...
I'm thinking that I've misnamed this blog. I may, at some point in the near future, rename it to something that describes it a little more accurately. Yes, I am a foodie, and yes, I have bunches of sensitivities/allergies to cook around. But the thing is, most of the cookie that I do involves basic, comfort food. It's really not 'foodie' calibur (or however the heck you spell that word!). So yeah, I'm thinking a renaming is in order. Now, what to name it?
Friday, February 26, 2010
Mission: Vegetable Broth
Well, last night's stir fry included beef broth from a box. Now, I'm a big fan of broth. I use it in my cooking almost every day. I love gravies and soups, and it adds a little extra flavor to things like rice or mashed potatoes. It didn't really occur to me to check the ingredient label when I was at the grocery store. BIG mistake.
I grabbed the box from the cupboard last night and glanced at the ingredients. "Autolyzed Yeast Extract" was the second to the last ingredient. Now, I know that the ingredients are listed on the label according to quantity- the first item listed is the one that there's the most of, and the last one is the least. So I figured, "Well, there isn't much in it, so this is a good way to check the reaction."
The stir fry was really tasty, but a few hours after dinner I noticed my mental acuity was impaired. I was losing my train of thought and having trouble coming up with words to explain myself for the first time since we started the new diet. It was very distressing and disconcerting!
I checked all the boxed broths in the cupboard and they all contain it, even the organic stuff. Next step: internet search. Search results informed me that:
1) there's no broth reasily available that does not contain it and
2) It's a sneaky way to say MSG
Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) causes some people problems because of the 'free glutamic acid' it turns into once inside the body. Food manufacturers have been using it to imitate the meaty flavor and mouth feel of real meat since the 1950's. These same food manufacturers are smart enough to know that when there's a lot of negative attention given to one of their ingredients, consumers may stop buying their products, so they've taken to "sanitizing" their ingredient lists. All that means is that they call it something else and hope that the consumers won't realize it's actually the same thing. Kind of like calling the color blue 'sapphire', or calling a sweater a 'knit top'.
So what my information search told me is:
MSG=free glutamic acid=autolyzed yeast extract=hydrolyzed soy protein= (something)-olyzed (insert protein source of your choice here) protein
And all pre-made broths have one of them.
And that, in turn, brings us to today's mission. I don't have the bones thawed for beef broth, but I do have the makings for a nice veggie broth. My large stock pot currently contains a couple of gallons of water, a couple of carrots, a few stalks of celery, a couple of potatoes, one tomato, a zucchini, some string beans and a couple of onions, each cut into a few chunks. I also added some frozen spinach, frozen mixed veggies that have been in the freezer a bit too long, and for flavor a couple of cloves of garlic, some crumbled home-dried basil leaves, a bit of thyme and a bit of sage. All of that is now sitting on the stove where it will be brought to a boil, then simmered for about 2 hours. It will then be brought down to room temperature, strained and about half will go into the freezer, while the other half will live in the fridge, to be used in the coming week.
When we manage to dig ourselves out of the snow, I will be purchasing a bunch of ice cube trays so I can freeze the broth in them. One ice cube equals about 1 tablespoon, so that will make it easier for me to make the occasional, random quick meal.
Next week I will tackle the beef broth.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
dinner...
I was poking around in the freezer today and saw some leftover cottage pie (it's shepherd's pie, but with beef instead of lamb) that I thought would make a lovely dinner. Then I remembered- the gravy was wheat flour thickened and the mashed potatoes had a lot of milk. Dang & drat!
So now I guess that's off the menu. Unless I can come up with a way to make decent mashed potatoes without milk. Which I'm thinking is not very likely. It's a shame, really. I absolutely love shepherd's/cottage pie.
Since the shepherd's pie was out, I decided to do a simple stir fry using leftover roast beef, some veggies picked up from Trader Joe's (I went there for the first time earlier this week). There were carrots, celery, onion, green beans, and zucchini, and it was all seasoned with garlic, ginger and a dash of tamari sauce. I had a little tin of bamboo shoots, but I totally forgot to add them. The sauce was made with orange juice and box o' broth, which I realized only too late contains 'hydrolyzed yeast extract', and thickened with corn starch. It was served over simple white rice.
All in all, pretty tasty.
health update
I'm definitely feeling better with the revised diet. So far I'm doing pretty well with it, too. I mean, there are a few things that I really miss (mainly bread, cheese & cookies), but it's not too terrible. And the trade-off of being alert and not being in pain 24-7 is pretty much worth it. I'm not saying that I'll never, ever eat those things again, but I'm hoping that once I have my system cleared of most of the stuff I'm sensitive to it won't be a big deal to occasionally have a grilled cheese sandwich or a slice of pizza.
I'm strongly considering tracking down an NAET practitioner once the hubby goes back to work and seeing if that helps reduce the impact the level of sensitivity.
Anyway, I just wanted to do a little post to mention the improvements I'm feeling. Considering we've only been doing this for about a week, I think it's pretty impressive.
So here's the list of things that seem to be getting better:
-bowel function is noticeably better- regularity, consistency, gas/bloating- though still not what one might call "normal"
-cognitive- alertness & mental acuity are better than they've been in a long time
-headaches- reduced in frequency and intensity
-skin- less itchy and breakouts/blemishes seem to be clearing up
-energy level has increased dramatically
-weight- I lost 3 pounds!
bbq shredded pork
Tonight's dinner was nice and easy. While cleaning out all of the stuff we're trying to avoid the other day, I came across a package of BBQ shredded pork that I'd made and stuck in there a few months back. A quick mental review of the BBQ sauce ingredients, and I decided we can still have it. There are a couple of things in there that we need to be careful to not go overboard on, but a single sandwich is fine. I served that on the same rolls as we used for sloppy joes last night, and we had a nice micro-green salad, with a homemade orange juice & oil based dressing. If I think of it and we have an internet connection, I'll post the recipes for the BBQ sauce and salad dressing tomorrow. For now, though, it's off to dreamland for me.
If anyone out there in the web-ether is actually reading this, I hope you have a wonderful night and a blessed, restful sleep.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
sloppy joes, from scratch (sort of)
So yesterday I told you that I was doing homemade sloppy joes for dinner, using allergy friendly rolls recommended by the clerk at the local health food store. I made them and they were quite tasty, rolls included.
Here's what I do to make sloppy joes. As always, all quantities are estimated. Oh, and the batch I made last night was pretty large so that I could freeze half of it.
Brown 3 lbs ground beef in a large frying pan
While beef browns, dice 1 medium sweet onion, 2-3 cloves of garlic and 1/2 bell pepper (Okay, honestly, I have trouble digesting peppers, so I slice them into strips- sausage & peppers style & store them in the freezer. For my sloppy joes, I just add as many strips as I think will do the job. This gets the flavor into the meat and allows me to be able to pick the pepper bits out.)
When meat is pretty much browned, drain it, but not quite completely. You don't want the meat or pan to be dry, but you do want most of the fat to be gone.
put the pan, with the meat in it over medium heat. Make a space in the center of the pan, pushing the meat to the side, and add the onions and garlic.
grab 2 cans of tomato paste and a jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce from the cupboard. Add both cans and half the jar to the pan, plus about 3 cups of water. Stir until the paste is dissolved into the water. Increase heat to high.
Add a teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes and about 1 tablespoon of your favorite mexican or chili seasoning blend, plus garlic powder, if desired. Stir to distribute the seasonings.
Once it comes to a boil, reduce heat to medium low and cook until the sauce is the desired consistency.
Serve over bread.
You can freeze leftovers in a container, or for convenience, line a muffin pan with cupcake liners and add a serving's worth of joe to each liner. Once frozen (about 2-3 hours), remove the joes from the muffin pan and put them in a freezer bag- don't forget to label the bag with when the joes were made and what they are! This makes life easy for a quick, hot lunch or dinner. Just pop a single joe into a bowl, cover it with wax paper or paper towel to minimize tomato splatter, then into the microwave for about 2-4 minutes.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
dinner
last night was beef roast seasoned with dried celery, carrots, parsnips and onions, plus a light sprinkle of Auntie Arwen's Blatantly Gahaaarlic Salt with boiled buttered potatoes. No greens at all. Bad Zoe! But it was really tasty...
Today we're going to our favorite salad farm (they do greenhouse growing in the winter) for some nice, fresh micro-greens. Yay! So tonight's dinner will be Sloppy Joes served on non-allergenic rolls we got from a health food store and a side salad. I'm a little leery of the rolls, taste-wise, since they are made with weird non-wheat grains and use baking soda/powder as leavening instead of yeast, but we'll see. They may taste great, and if not, well, my sloppy joes are pretty strongly flavored, so it should camouflage any but the strongest of yuckiness.
I'll let you know how the rolls are, and I'll post how I make the joes either after dinner tonight or tomorrow.
Hope you have a great day!
Monday, February 22, 2010
Feeling good!
We'll, we've been pretty successful in completely cutting out the stuff where we scored a 1, 2, or 3 in the sensitivities and are both feeling pretty good because of it. I don't feel foggy-brained, I didn't hit my usual 2-3 pm energy slump, and my GI tract is not being grumpy. The hubby is feeling good and has noticed some skin issues he's had since he was a teen ager are beginning to ease up. It's definitely a good and happy thing!
We have, however, decided to make one small concession. For the items where we scored a zero, we will avoid but not completely eliminate them. This opens our eating options up substantially, as well as making it a little easier if we go out to eat.
So tonight's dinner will be my standard beef pot roast. One roast, some of Auntie Arwen's Blatantly Gahaaarlic Salt, a sprinkle of dried onions and a small handful of dried celery, dried carrots, dried parsnips and dried onions. On the side we'll be having baked potatoes. Or mashed, if I feel like futzing around with making cornstarch thickened gravy. Oh wait, mashed potatoes require milk, so scratch that. Guess the potatoes will be baked or roasted.
I don't really know what I'll do for a green veggie, since we're out of lettuce for salad, and besides that, I haven't come up with an acceptable non-dairy salad dressing. (We like ranch, and ranch variations, and parmesan peppercorn.) Maybe some spinach. I dunno.
Pickled beans
Toward the end of summer last year I went bean crazy. The farmers market had a wonderful array of green/string beans, wax beans and something they call 'dragon beans'. The dragon beans look like a regular green bean, but they're a variegated purple and green- very pretty!
I decided that I would try my hand at pickling. Now, I've done canning- I make jams, jellies and fruit butters and often give them as holiday gifts. I've also done food drying. It's great to have some celery in the cupboard for when I decide to make a pot roast, but the fresh celery from the fridge is either past its prime or I don't have any, and I love using sun-dried tomatoes, but they can be really expensive. I've found that dehydrator dried tomatoes are just as tasty (if not more so!) and darn near free if the tomatoes are from the garden out back.
But I digress. I learned canning and drying from other people, in person. I supplemented the experiential knowledge with reading, but the basics I learned from another human being. My knowledge of pickling is purely from books. So I was a little nervous taking on such a task.
But I did it. I found a recipe and instructions that looked good, and I got to work. I sterilized the giant jar, prepped and packed the beans, then prepped the brine and poured it on. I then let the jar cool and stuck it in the back of the fridge. Where it stayed because I was afraid to try the beans, for fear of having done something wrong which might lead to food poisoning or something.
Well, it stayed there until this afternoon, anyway. A friend was here when I first made them, and she's asked me several times how they are. Each time I responded, "I don't know. We haven't tried them yet because I keep forgetting they're in there."
She's here visiting again and asked me about them. I finally admitted that I was afraid to try them. She volunteered to be the guinea pig and taste the first one.
They came out pretty well! They're extremely vinegar-y, though. I think I may have added extra vinegar out of paranoia of microbial growth. (Having taken classes on food safety and microbiology, I can get a little weird about these things!) They are not appropriate for a straight snack, but as part of a salad they would be quite tasty.
So now I need to dig out the recipe I used and make them exactly according to the recipe next season. Because I think they'd be excellent as a pickly snack if done without the extra vinegar.
Polenta breakfast
Well, breakfast this morning was pretty good. I warmed up some more of the left over polenta and added 10 diced dried apricots, about 2 tbsp of candied lemon peel and about 1/4 c of honey (I think it was bamboo honey) to about a 2 cup block of polenta, plus enough water to thin it out to the appropriate consistency.
I really liked it, but the hubby said the honey had too strong of a flavor. I think that tomorrow I'll make it without the honey so we can each add however much we want. Oh, and I need to remember to not add the fruit until later so that I can use my immersion blender to break up some of the lumps.
Now I need to find another breakfast option that does not involve corn or almond, so that we don't overload on either of them and create another sensitivity in the process.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Success! Breakfast Bars...
I have met with success in the adaptation of a breakfast bar recipe! I'm very excited that we now have a total of 3 breakfast options: polenta, grits & these fantastic breakfast bars!
The original recipe can be found here:
http://www.elanaspantry.com/breakfast-bars/
That recipe calls for vanilla extract & shredded coconut, though, and we are supposed to be avoiding coconut, vanilla and alcohol (which is the base for most extracts). So I decided that candied lemon and orange peel would work in place of both of them. Coconut is kind of sticky, and the citrus peel would add that little extra depth of flavor intended by the vanilla.
And then I realized that I had whole almonds, but no almond flour. I did have white rice flour, though. So I decided that grinding the almonds as finely as my food processor would allow and replacing a small amount with rice flour should probably do the trick.
I had no grapeseed oil, but vegetable oil is fairly flavorless, so that should work.
I also discovered that there were no sunflower seeds in the house. Oh well, I could just increase the pumpkin seeds to cover it.
I'm not a big fan of raisins. If there are any in my cabinets somewhere, they really need to go out to compost, because I don't remember buying them, which means they must have made the move with us. That means they are seriously old! But a mix of dried cherries and blueberries could cover that.
I finally started making the breakfast bars. I ground up all of the almonds, mixed the dry ingredients, and gathered the mix-ins... only to discover that I had not saved any of the almonds for the 'slivered almonds' portion of the recipe. Well, I decided to replace the slivered almonds with coarsely ground hazelnuts.
So out of the original 10 ingredients, I at least tweaked 6 of them.
This is what I finally ended up doing:
Dry ingredients:
1 c ground almonds
1/4 c white rice flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
Wet ingredients:
1/4 c vegetable oil
1/4 c agave nectar
Mix-ins (amounts are seriously estimated):
1/4 c candied orange peel, diced
1/4 c candied lemon peel
1/4 c dried blueberries
1/4 c dried tart cherries
3/4 c raw pumpkin seeds
1/4 c coarsely ground raw hazelnuts
Mix dry ingredients together. In another bowl, mix wet ingredients together.
Grease an 8x8 inch baking pan.
Preheat oven to 350 F.
Gather mix-ins.
Working fairly quickly, add wet ingredients to dry and mix well. Add the mix-ins.
Scrape dough into pan and, using damp hands, press the dough to cover the bottom of the pan.
Bake for 17 minutes. Cool, slice and serve.
The results were quite tasty but a bit well done around the edges, and the pieces were kind of flat. I'm thinking that next time I will make a double batch in the same size pan and bake it a little longer. But yeah, all in all, a resounding success!
Breakfast...
If you've looked at the post that lists all of the foods we're supposed to avoid, you might have noticed that a lot of the standard breakfast fare is now off the menu. Bread (wheat, gluten & yeast), eggs, cereal (milk, many grains), oatmeal, yogurt... can't have any of 'em. Now, considering that my 2 primary go-to breakfasts- oatmeal with dried cranberries and a splash of milk, or a fried egg on an english muffin- are completely out of the question, I have been facing a bit of a quandary. What the heck are we going to eat for breakfast????
Yesterday I decided to make polenta for breakfast. I know, I know, polenta is usually a savory, non-breakfasty food. But it fit 2 important criteria: 1) it's corn, so we're allowed to have it, and 2) I actually had some in the cupboard.
So I made it for breakfast. After all, if you add extra water and make it thin, it's similar to cream of wheat, right? So the hubby skeptically came into the kitchen and asked what polenta is and sniffed at the pot. I explained it to him, and he seemed appeased. He's really cooperative with trying new foods (as long as there are no fungus, filters or fish involved, anyway).
It was a hit. Today I reheated some and added diced apricot pieces. Not bad, but it was missing something. Not sure what, but something. Maybe I'll try it with a drizzle of honey tomorrow morning. That might be it.
Oh, and as soon as I sign off of here, I'm going to attempt a breakfast bar recipe that looks fairly friendly, with some minor modifications. I'll let you know how it goes tomorrow. Wish me luck!
the allergy/sensitivity master list...
So, here's the list of everything that the test said we're sensitive to. The numbers in parentheses indicate the strength of the allergy. A (0) is a very mild or potential sensitivity, whereas a (3) is a the strongest. If an item has two numbers in parentheses, separated by a (/), as with buckwheat (0/0), my husband and I are both sensitive to it.
Barley (1)
Beans, red (0)
Beef (0)
Brazil nut (1)
Broccoli (0)
Brussels sprouts (1)
Buckwheat (0/0)
Buffalo (0/1)
Cabbage (1)
Cauliflower (1)
Cheese, cottage (0)
Chestnut (0)
Chicken (1)
Clam (0)
Coconut (0)
Cranberry (1/1)
Egg (1)
Flaxseed (1)
Gluten (1/2)
Halibut (0)
Lamb (0/1)
Lentil (0/1)
Litchi (0/1)
Lobster (1)
Malt (1)
Milk, cow's (1/2)
Milk, goat's (1/1)
Mustard (1)
Nutmeg (1)
Oats (1)
Papaya (0)
Parsley (0)
Peanut (0)
Pecan (1)
Pepper, black (1/1)
Pepper, cayenne (0)
Pistachio (0)
Radish (1/1)
Rosemary (1)
Rye (0)
Sesame (0)
Soybean (0)
Quinoa (0)
Teff (0)
Turkey (1/0)
Trout (0)
Turnip (1)
Vanilla bean (1/1)
Walnut (1)
Wheat (1/2)
Whey (1/0)
Whitefish (1)
Yeast, bakers (1/3)
Yeast, brewer's (0/1)
Yogurt (1/1)
The test we had done was an ELISA IgG, performed by Alletess Medical Laboratory. It was the Comprehensive 184 Food Panel. There was a time when this type of testing was not particularly reliable, but that was mainly due to poor lab protocol and human error. With the technological advances of the past few decades, it has become much more reliable.
Being armed with the knowledge that this provided, I am paying close attention to how I feel after eating trigger foods. I have already noticed that dairy is a big problem for my digestion. We had some chips and dip this afternoon. The potato chips were fine- no allergens there- but the dip was sour cream with one of those packets of onion soup mixed in.
About an hour later, I noticed I was feeling fatigued, sluggish and slightly nauseous. We decided a nap was in order. When we got up I was bloated and gassy, and shortly thereafter... well, let's just say I spent an excessive amount of time in the bathroom. So yeah, dairy is definitely to be avoided!
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Intro...
Well, I've decided to start this blog to spare my Facebook friends the incessant posts about what I can or can't eat, as well as to have a place to document my recipe triumphs and failures. So I guess the best place to start is with a little bit about myself.
I am a thirty-something married college student. I am majoring in nutrition, and not sure if I will pursue the path to becoming a full-fledged Registered Dietician, or just counsel people after graduation. Oh, and I'm fat. (Nope, I'm not sugar-coating it or denying it.)
I love food. I love to cook & bake, and I consider feeding people to be a hobby. Cooking is that one thing I can go to for refuge when everything else is falling apart. My kitchenaid, frying pan and stock pot are always there for me. (My husband is, too, but there are times when he can't help- much to his chagrin.)
So, anyway, we've suspected that we both have food sensitivities and/or allergies for a while. I don't remember the last time I felt totally healthy. It's been years, I'm guessing. After overhearing a friend in the medical field recommend a certain test & lab for food sensitivities/allergies last summer, we decided we'd go and get the testing done. And we put it off, for one reason or another, through the end of the year. Procrastination in its purest form!
Finally, last month, I couldn't take it anymore. I made some phone calls and got all of the arrangements made. We went in for the blood draw about 2 weeks ago and got the results this past Thursday.
I was floored by the sheer quantity of things on the list. Thankfully, most of them are minor sensitivities, and our lists have a lot of overlap, but there are about 55 items we should avoid, if not completely cut out of our diet. Some of them are no big loss. To be honest, I'm thrilled to be able to say, "Cauliflower? Oh, no, thank you. I'm allergic." But some of the others will be a bit more difficult to live without.
I will post the full list at a later date, but for now, here's a list of the more difficult items:
milk (cow & goat)
cheese
whey
eggs
oats
flax
gluten
wheat
yeast (brewer's & baker's)
buffalo
chicken
cranberry
lentils
black pepper
vanilla
So yeah, it's going to be an interesting journey...
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