Saturday 17 September 2011

Yummy Dinner, Yummy Leftovers


It was soo good that the picture had to go first.  I decided that I needed to eat up the things in my fridge.  I am trying to prevent throwing out any food or leftovers.

I had carrots, zuchini, mushrooms, daiya cheddar style shreds in the fridge, thick rice noodles in the pantry and steak in the freezer.

Boiled the carrots in the microwave (they were a bit dry).
Zuchini with some coconut oil on the BBQ
Mushrooms with some coconut oil, sage and parsley in foil on the BBQ
Steak with parsley and rosemary on the BBQ (can you tell I like the BBQ?)
The thick rice noodles are from superstore in the asian section, first time I had used the thick ones and I like them.

Cheese sauce.  I had to start twice cuz the first one didn't work.  Working with almond milk and gluten-free flour is challenging.  It got clumpy the first time, and the cheese style shreds thicken the sauce as well.  So lesson learnt.  Melt 3 tbsp of crisco, stir in 3 tsp corn starch and 3 tsp potatoe flour, add almond milk really slowly to avoid clumping, like 1/4 c at a time, I think I used 3 cups, when sauce is a little runny stir in 2 c of cheese style shreds, then wait for it to melt on low, it will take a while, stir a lot, maybe add some more almond milk, let it sit for a while.  I added lavender and salt.

Thursday 15 September 2011

Week full of soup

Even though it's only 2 soups, it has lasted me most of the week.

Soup # 1 - Chicken Soup
So Monday afternoon I started to feel like I was coming down with a cold.  Since there was no way I could have come into contact with onions, it must have been the real thing.  So I went home and made myself some chicken soup and went to bed at 9 pm.

  • brown rice
  • wild rice
  • quinoa (black and white)
  • chicken cut into pieces 
  • carrots
  • spices: turmeric, cayenne, pepper and salt (if I remember right)
  • I also used some frozen chicken stock (likely had carrots, celery, chicken bones, parsley, thyme, oregano)

Note: do not keep the soup at boiling for very long or the wild rice will explode, should cook for at least 35 min to cook all the rice and quinoa
Chicken Soup
It seemed to do the trick, I didn't get a cold and the leftovers sure are yummy!

Soup # 2 - Savory Pumpkin Bacon Soup
Tuesday I came home from a frigid game of soccer and decided that I wanted pumpkin soup with bacon and cheese.

  • cook bacon and cut into pieces, remove from pan
  • 1 can pureed pumpkin
  • soy milk to get right consistency (this was pretty thick, kinda like a stew)
  • whatever veggies I had on hand (zucchini, mushroom, snap peas)
  • spices to taste (sage, cumin, nutmeg, coriander, pepper, salt)
  • bacon
  • stir in "cheese" (I used Daiya cheddar style shreds)

Pumpkin Soup (before cheese)
Looks a bit like reconstituted crap but is actually quite savory.

Wednesday 7 September 2011

A week or so of food

Well I had some good things to eat this week and thought I'd share them with you all.

Monday August 29 - Red snapper in foil on the BBQ, mixed veggie stir fry and rice.
Monday August 29

Thursday September 1 - Lunch - horrible experience at Saigon Y2K downtown followed by sushi at Sakana Grill to at least get something to eat.

Thursday September 1 - Tacos with a side of kale chips and BBQ corn. (I did a post the next day about how to make this).  This lasted me for two suppers and two lunches.  All yummy.


Thursday September 1

Saturday September 3 - Grilled chicken, stirfried chard and green peppers, corn, rice with spinach parsley and almonds.
Saturday Sept 3

Sunday September 4 - Breakfast - Nature's Path Corn Flakes, apple sauce, cut up apples and peaches, topped with cinnamon.  (I didn't have my almond milk on me but didn't really need it.)
Sunday September 4 Breakfast

Sunday September 4 - lunch - Stir fried chard, zucchini and sugar snap peas with grilled beef and leftover rice.
Sunday September 4 - lunch

Sunday September 4 - dinner - Xan Mongolian BBQ!!! :)

Monday September 5 - Cereal and fruit for breakfast, sushi for lunch, leftover tacos for supper.

Tuesday September 6 - lunch - So because of the long weekend I forgot to get my lunch ready.  This is what I was able to piece together at Community Natural Foods near work.  Yellow peppers, corn tortillas, baba gannouj, apples and carrots.  Also had flourless cashew cookies (Sweets from the Earth) and some chocolate for desert.  Not a bad vegetarian spread.
Tuesday September 6 - lunch
Tuesday September 7 - supper - After soccer I was so hungry I couldn't wait to take a photo before starting to eat!  Beef and salad.  Dressing was avocado with Bragg's Soy Seasoning and to make it more like dressing I added coconut oil and basil.  Not a bad combo.
Tuesday Sept 6

Friday 2 September 2011

Tacos!

Last night I got inspired after work, mind you I was at work until 8 pm.  I found some great gluten-free, white corn tortillas at Planet Organic.  I also had some ground beef from an independent Alberta farm in my freezer so I decided on tacos.  I even found some dairy and casien free "cheese", it's even soy free.

So we have white corn tortillas, spinach, guacamole (avocado & lemon) and daiya mozzarella style shreds.  The meat is 1 package of ground beef, 1 can of chick peas, kale stems, celery, cumin, oregano, paprika, pepper, salt and chili flakes.  Very yummy.  And the "cheese" was even good too.  I paired it with corn roasted on the BBQ and kale chips.
Kale chips were really easy: kale, olive oil and salt baked on parchment paper.  Make sure to coat both sides of the kale with oil or it doesn't turn out as good.


Diagnosis

I finally had my follow up with my GI specialist today.  I now have a diagnosis.  I do not have chrones; I do not have collitis; I do not have celiac disease.  So I must have IBS, Irritable Bowel Syndrome.  Joy of joys, I have the disease that means: we acknowledge that your stomach has issues but it's not something that we can categorize into a disease, therefore you are on your own.  I know I should be happy that I don't have one of those nasty diseases but I was hoping for a definitive:  this is what you have, this is what we can do.  Western medicine is so disappointing.  It also means no meds or supplements covered by the health plan, no unlimited appointments with the doctor that is treating me, and no gluten-free tax breaks.

I guess my next step is following my alternative therapies as I have been since January.  At least Dr Patti has gotten my gut to a manageable level and at least she has a plan to get me to a healthy state of being.  I can now identify causes and effects and have added some foods back into my diet.

So the month of gluten gluttony has ended, never to return.  I think I will do a post, an ode to all things gluten that I will never touch again.

My symptoms of gluten, for the record, and in case I ever think of returning to my gluten glutton ways:

  • bloating - my stomach on gluten 33", my stomach off gluten 29"
  • posture - I always stood with my stomach out, hips tilted down, and my lower back arched with locked knees.  I never knew what it was supposed to be like to "engage your abs".  Most likely because when I tried it was uncomfortable because of my inflamed gut.
  • nasal congestion - started when I was in elementary, who would have thought it was related to those yummy cakes and muffins?  I wonder if my clarinet playing will improve?
  • lower voice / whispering - for some reason I had a lump in my throat and it was easier to speak quieter and lower
  • acne & oily skin - oh the pimples, I will not miss the pimples.
  • foggy brain - "I can see clearly now the gluten has gone".  I feel so much more awake, might be related to ...
  • sleeping - I seem to sleep less soundly now, but I am more rested. I no longer do things like kick people or shove people in the middle of the night without remembering.  Sorry sis, it was the gluten not me kicking you!  Oh and because the nasal congestion is gone I no longer sound like darth vadar when I sleep.
  • female health - because of my bad health my female cycle was very inconsistent.  I guess I'm one of the few who is excited to feel the onset as I know that it's a sign that I'm healthy.  Unfortunately I now have less symptoms to mask the cycle symptoms so I feel them more.  I guess once a month is better than every day, am I right?  My sex drive has also changed. I think it has changed because I knew that adrenaline makes pain subside, with less pain comes less need for adrenaline, but also comes less distractions so more attention.  I think the result is neutral but there are effects there.
  • my mood - with less pain I am much easier to get along with and I think my moods fluctuate less, or at least the causes are obvious.