Oh gluten how I hate you. I used to be in love with you, couldn't imagine my life without you. Now every bite I take makes me annoyed.
You see I am finally going through the celiac testing. That means gluten overload for over a month. I think I have now separated my gluten symptoms from my yeast/dairy/casein symptoms. Bloating, sore tummy, acne, stuffed up nose, low energy, lack of appetite and lots of grumpyness due to the symptoms. I also notice that I sleep more soundly (when I am not sore).
I highly recommend that people get the testing done before they eliminate gluten, well worth the time. This month is going to be a long one.
Tuesday, 26 July 2011
Monday, 6 June 2011
Sauces
Store bought sauces are a challenge, but it is surprisingly easy to make some wonderful ones. Sorry but I'm not one for measuring when it comes to sauces, I usually just taste as I go ... I will have to go back and add pictures ...
Asian Avocado
Directions: Mush one avocado with a few tablespoons of soyasauce (to taste) and a splash of lemon juice. Voila!
Works great as a salad dressing, vegetable dip or as a fresh pasta sauce, wouldn't recommend heating this one up with lefovers though.
Suggested paring: take one bag of broccoli slaw (julienned brocolli, carrots, cabbage), some chopped almonds and some raisins. Add some cruncy asian noodles or ichiban noodles if you can handle them. Some apple chunks would also taste great.
Honey Mustard
Directions: Quite literally this is honey and mustard. 2 tbsp of honey, 1.5 tbsp of mustard powder, 1tbsp of white vinegar, 1/8 tsp of paprika. I found this combo a really spicy so you will have to play with the quantities. With the vinegar you don't even need to heat this one up to make it the right consistency.
Suggested paring: chicken drumsticks roasted in the oven with oragano, parsley and pepper oh and don't forget the sweet potatoe fries!
Honey Lemon
Mom just made this for me for lunch, I'm pretty sure it was just honey and lemon over diced, cooked pork. She brought steamed veggies and quinoa. What a great lunch in the park!
Apple Sauce
Plain and simple. Use it on pork. It adds some nice moisture to peas and quinoa, maybe add some parsley.
Plum Sauce
From this cookbook I got at a garage sale.
3 diced red plums
1/2 cup of grape juice
1 tsp rosemary
1 tbsp sugar
Cook in a pot for 20 minutes, then add 1 tbsp corn starch in 2 tbsp of water to thicken.
Super awesome on broiled chicken, with some white and wild rice and broiled asparagus.
Fruit Spread
Take a small sauce pan, throw in some berries or fruit, add a bit of sugar and cook it until it is thick. Wonderful addition to corn bread.
Asian Avocado
Directions: Mush one avocado with a few tablespoons of soyasauce (to taste) and a splash of lemon juice. Voila!
Works great as a salad dressing, vegetable dip or as a fresh pasta sauce, wouldn't recommend heating this one up with lefovers though.
Suggested paring: take one bag of broccoli slaw (julienned brocolli, carrots, cabbage), some chopped almonds and some raisins. Add some cruncy asian noodles or ichiban noodles if you can handle them. Some apple chunks would also taste great.
Honey Mustard
Directions: Quite literally this is honey and mustard. 2 tbsp of honey, 1.5 tbsp of mustard powder, 1tbsp of white vinegar, 1/8 tsp of paprika. I found this combo a really spicy so you will have to play with the quantities. With the vinegar you don't even need to heat this one up to make it the right consistency.
Suggested paring: chicken drumsticks roasted in the oven with oragano, parsley and pepper oh and don't forget the sweet potatoe fries!
Honey Lemon
Mom just made this for me for lunch, I'm pretty sure it was just honey and lemon over diced, cooked pork. She brought steamed veggies and quinoa. What a great lunch in the park!
Apple Sauce
Plain and simple. Use it on pork. It adds some nice moisture to peas and quinoa, maybe add some parsley.
Plum Sauce
From this cookbook I got at a garage sale.
3 diced red plums
1/2 cup of grape juice
1 tsp rosemary
1 tbsp sugar
Cook in a pot for 20 minutes, then add 1 tbsp corn starch in 2 tbsp of water to thicken.
Super awesome on broiled chicken, with some white and wild rice and broiled asparagus.
Fruit Spread
Take a small sauce pan, throw in some berries or fruit, add a bit of sugar and cook it until it is thick. Wonderful addition to corn bread.
Thursday, 19 May 2011
Breakfast
This problem seems to plague me every once in a while. What to eat for breakfast? My old standbys are a thing of the past. Muffins, cereal, cake, cookies, banana bread, yogurt, doughnuts. I especially found it difficult when on my cleanse in which I eliminated sugar, corn and peanuts. It forced me to branch out. I have noticed that without breakfast I get really really cranky.
I have found a new love in nut butters. I started with peanut butter on rice cakes. Then almond butter, then cashew butter. Now almond/hazelnut butter. There are soo many awesome combinations of nuts. Yum! I also add fresh fruit or honey to sweeten it up.
Then there is cereal. I choose Nature's Path Corn Flakes (sweetened with honey) with Almond Breeze. Also Nature's Path Crisp Rice. I have also taken to adding quinoa flakes, coconut and raisins.
I have found a new love in nut butters. I started with peanut butter on rice cakes. Then almond butter, then cashew butter. Now almond/hazelnut butter. There are soo many awesome combinations of nuts. Yum! I also add fresh fruit or honey to sweeten it up.
Then there is cereal. I choose Nature's Path Corn Flakes (sweetened with honey) with Almond Breeze. Also Nature's Path Crisp Rice. I have also taken to adding quinoa flakes, coconut and raisins.
Another thing I just remembered: creamed corn! So warm and yummy and thickened with corn starch.
This week in food
Broiled salmon and stewed beets on a bed of spinach and basmati rice. I used lemon juice, oregano and black pepper on the salmon.
Diced sweet potatoes baked with a coating of olive oil, nutmeg, cinnamon, cumin, thyme and paprika. I mix the spices and oil together then pour into a bag with the diced sweet potatoes and shake and squeeze until evenly coated. I tried sprinkling on the spices after coating in oil but found that the spices didn't permeate the vegetable.
Monday, 2 May 2011
Mini Meatloaves
It took me a while to use ground meat. As a child we would have ground beef at least twice a week. Lately I have been making a lot of meat balls. They are quite nice but they always end up so small, kinda crumbly or really over done. This time I thought I'd try mini meatloves. I got a mini loaf pan for christmas. I love my mini loaf pan :) It's the perfect size for a serving of meat. Pictured with stir fried cabbage/mushrooms/soya sauce and diced/roasted yams.
2 packages of dark ground turkey
2 cups of cooked quinoa
1 cup of diced celery
2 tbsp of egg replacer with 3 tbsp of water (mixed together, then added)
Thyme, parsley, sage, pepper (sorry I didn't remember to keep track of the quantities)
I had to cook for about 45 minutes at 350 (I cooked it until my meat thermometer said it was ready) Should maybe brown the top next time ...
2 packages of dark ground turkey
2 cups of cooked quinoa
1 cup of diced celery
2 tbsp of egg replacer with 3 tbsp of water (mixed together, then added)
Thyme, parsley, sage, pepper (sorry I didn't remember to keep track of the quantities)
I had to cook for about 45 minutes at 350 (I cooked it until my meat thermometer said it was ready) Should maybe brown the top next time ...
Tuesday, 12 April 2011
The beginning
So April 2010 I finally decided to figure out what has been bothering my stomach for the last 15 years. It was prompted by my sister getting sick and landing in hospital in the spring of 2009. Her symptoms were scarily similar to the ones that I had been dealing with for the last 15 years. My symptoms ended up flaring in the spring of 2009. My doctor attributed my symptoms to stress. He gave me sleeping pills and told me to find a new job.
Early in 2010 I changed jobs. I still had the symptoms, just not as severe. I had seen this poster in his office about food sensitivity testing and I finally decided it was time to try it. It would at least give me a base from which to estimate which foods have been bothering me. I had always been daunted by elimination diets because I could not tie anything to a food, some times a food would bother me, other times it wouldn't. That and I was addicted to wheat, how could I live without my baked goods?
When I got the results back I was overwhelmed. How could I eliminate ALL those items? Everything that I used to eat was on that list. It came alphabetically. I sorted it for convenience:
Early in 2010 I changed jobs. I still had the symptoms, just not as severe. I had seen this poster in his office about food sensitivity testing and I finally decided it was time to try it. It would at least give me a base from which to estimate which foods have been bothering me. I had always been daunted by elimination diets because I could not tie anything to a food, some times a food would bother me, other times it wouldn't. That and I was addicted to wheat, how could I live without my baked goods?
When I got the results back I was overwhelmed. How could I eliminate ALL those items? Everything that I used to eat was on that list. It came alphabetically. I sorted it for convenience:
- Brewer's Yeast, Baker's Yeast, Malt (things that have been fermented and not distilled, MSG)
- Egg
- Cow's Milk, Goat's Milk, Cheese
- Rye, Wheat
- Beans: Green, Kidney, Lima, Navy, Pinto
- Yellow Squash, Tomatoe, Alfalfa
- Blueberry, Cranberry, Cherry, Dates, Papaya, Pineapple, Lime
- Ginger, Peppermint, Safflower, Sesame
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