We have been without internet at home since late December and continue to be just fine with out. I (Wifey) do miss the online community of bloggers but we find that without the distraction of internet or TV in the home we have more time for each other, cooking, gardening and out newest adventure: BEE KEEPING!

Watch out for cheap store honey - it's often made with corn. :(

Stay happy and healthy,

Hubs & Wifey

We moved North

This blog has been quiet of late. We had the opportunity to move to the Portland, OR area, and jumped all over it. Living near Houston, TX was difficult with our food, and my seasonal allergies. Houston has fantastic food, but it's all gluten, corn, and soy based. Houston has beautiful people, but they are known for big hair, and lots of make up. Which requires corn, and gluten based products. Hubs wasn't able to grocery shop because of the allergens in the stores. Being outside was difficult most of the year because of my seasonal allergies. While we found one restaurant we could both eat in without getting sick it was 30+ miles from our home.

Portland, OR is known for their preference for local-seasonal eating. It is one of the top food allergy friendly places in the US. The people are down to earth and less frequently drenched in perfumes, hairsprays, body powders and make-up - triggers for those of us with gluten or corn in-tolerances.

We are delighted to be here. Currently we are in an apartment, where I wasted no time setting up a porch garden to continue to grow seasonal produce. Our search for a few acres has begun and we hope to purchase a place that will allow us to keep chickens and bees in addition to a large garden. Eventually we'd like to add a cow or 2 goats for dairy.

Hub's new company is much more educated on food allergies. His immediate supervisor has Celiac Disease and understands the need for safe foods, and preventing cross contamination.

There are dozens of allergy friendly bakeries, restaurants and grocery stores within 15 miles of our apartment. It has been wonderful. Even though I still make the bulk of our food from scratch, it sure is nice to go for fish and chips at Hawthorne Fish House occasionally. We can have breakfast at
Old Wives' Tales where they are happy to accommodate all of our allergies. We have tried two other places so far as well. Both fantastic.

Waste Not Want Not Wednesday

Oh my goodness I'm so excited about this. I read a blog (poorandglutenfree.blogspot.com) and the author is hosting a "Waste Not Want Not Wednesday" blog share. I often rant about despising the idea of throwing out food. I'm excited to read other bloggers methods of avoiding of the trash can.

Some of my favorite ways to prevent throwing away food:

Meal planning: We plan meals for at least one week in advance. When life is really busy, I usually plan a month or more in advance. I try to plan just enough food for those present at the meal. As a back up plan I typically schedule a "leftovers" dinner a couple of times a month.

Glass container storage: I can see the leftovers in the fridge when I open the door. No mystery packages of food in foil or dark storage containers.

Leftover "remake" meals: Hubs really does not prefer most leftovers, so I always keep baking potatoes on hand. Just about any kind of left-over can go on spuds and it "feels" like a new meal. Whole chicken carcasses are made into chicken stock. Left-over chicken is chicken fried rice, white chicken chili (rather than cooking chicken breasts or thighs I just throw in the already cooked, chopped chicken with the beans and other cooked items), BBQ chicken on top of a potato, and so on. Rice and Quinoa also make a great base for leftovers to "top" and make a new meal out of yesterday's dinner.

Freezing leftover meals: I love to have a "freezer meal" on hand. Since we have multiple allergies we don't have many fast food or pre-made options. When there is enough leftover for a second meal, I freeze it in an oven safe dish. On a day when I know cooking will be a hassle, I put the frozen meal in the fridge to thaw then right into the oven to re-heat.

We have a garden.  It's all vegetables and herbs.  We have a persimmon tree and an orange tree but both are too young to produce.  Maybe in a year or two.  I love knowing where my vegetables come from.  My back yard.  We use our own compost and neem oil (derived from a plant) in our garden.  None of our allergens are in our garden. 

This was dinner a few weeks ago.  I usually make a huge pan of lasagna with rice noodles that are safe for both of us and fresh ground pork or lamb and safe cheeses.  Then I freeze over half of it so we have "frozen meals".  I usually freeze two or three containers that hold enough for Hubs and I to both have dinner and then the rest as single serve meals, most in portion sizes for Hubs (which is close to twice what I need).  On nights when cooking seems like way too much effort we pull veggies to steam and throw a frozen pan of lasagna in the oven.  And on nights like that we sometimes even eat dinner in front of the computer to watch something on Netflix...

I hope to one day have our own bees for honey, our own chickens for eggs and meat and our own goats for milk and cheese.  And it'd be nice to also have a pond with fish....  For now I maintain a huge garden that enables us to forgo the purchase of supermarket vegetables.  It's a nice start.

Chicken Stock

Every week or ten days I throw a whole chicken in the crock pot. It's the easiest way to cook a chicken. The chicken can be thrown in frozen and it'll still cook beautifully. I usually just throw it in and crack pepper and salt over the top then leave it on low until 5p or some where in there.

After we eat it for dinner with (usually) potatoes and steamed veggies I dump the veggie cooking water (minus what I pour on our pups dinner) into the pot with the carcass, skin, fat and other bits left over from the chicken. I usually need to add water as there is typically only 3-4 cups of veggie cooking water on hand. When I know I'm making broth I try to save the veggie cooking/steaming water for a couple of days before I make broth. Celtic Sea Salt, cracked pepper and whatever herbs are handy go in. Usually some garlic. If there are older onions in the fridge they go in also.

This sits on low in the same crock pot on my counter for two days. Usually dinner on the second day (the house smell so fantastic) I'm ready to use that broth. I like making thick hearty meatless dishes like split pea soup or potato soup or I'll make a chicken based soup such as good old fashioned chicken soup (with rice or noodles) and we always love White Chicken Chili. When using the broth the same night I just send the broth through a colander right into the soup pot on the stove. If I'm not using it immediately (pictured) I skim it into my four cup glass measure cup and pour it into jars. Once it has cooled I stick the jars in the fridge if I am going to use it within a day or two or the freezer if longer. I usually get 10-12 cups of stock but it varies on how much water I put in. If the carcass is very small I tend to add less liquid so that the stock has strong flavor. I try and keep a few jars in the freezer all the time so I always have a quick meal. The jars of broth thaw quickly in a pan of warm water.

Whatever lands in the colander is trash. Usually everything cooks down into a very mushy three cups or less mess.

(our) Allergen Free Beer

Over the last year I haven't had beer. Hubs brews his own and controls the ingredients to exclude his allergens (primarily corn and soy) but hasn't attempted a gluten free beer. Mostly because the GF beers I have tasted were horrible. Prior to my gluten intolerance discovery I enjoyed beers such as St Arnolds Brown and Amber ales. I never tolerated the Bud or Coors beers. I liked, in small quantities, a good Guinness but having been through England and Ireland the beer imported to the US just wasn't the same and I never did drink much of it. Greens Dubbel Dark Ale was the first beer I had tasted in about six months. I'd given up on beer, which was okay I prefer wine and had found some labels that were vegetarian (to avoid beef which I'm allergic to) and were really good. The Dubbel Dark was delicious. I had two when usually I'd limit myself to one. I had it with fish and chips that had been coated with brown rice flour and fried in rice oil. The combination was amazing and I can't stop thinking about it. The beer was sweeter than Guinness but richer than St Arnolds Brown. Hopefully I can get Hubs to make a few comments about this beer because all I can really say is it was delicious and before you write off GF beers - try this one. (It's made without corn also. Which I have never seen before.)

Menu Planning Saved The Day

We lost one of our dogs quite unexpectedly over the weekend. I have no appetite and no interest in food but life must go on despite grief and today has been an utter waste except for dinner. One look at my menu and I knew to drop a frozen chicken in the crock pot. So now I can smell chicken and I'm thinking about mashed potatoes and carrots. Comfort food. Nearly 12 hours have passed since I got up and I have no idea where it went... But we have dinner! :) Sunshine would be happy about that. My sweet girl didn't miss a meal for anything. So even if I didn't mop my floors or fold my laundry. I walked our dog Scratch and made dinner. That has to count for something considering how hard we have to work to have a meal around here. =) The weekend wasn't just a sad affair. Only a few hours prior to the death of my precocious doggie I discovered a beer. It is all of our combined allergens free. So NO corn, soy, wheat, beef..... Give me a few days to wallow in my misery and then I will give my review of this beer. I haven't had a Gluten Free beer I have liked. And I'll see if I can get Hubs to chime in - he makes his own corn free brew and actually knows his beers. Me - I can only speak to whether or not it tastes good.

February Menu

By meal planning a few months at a time I can make purchases on meat and other items that are costly but can be frozen for later use. It also helps me utilize all leftovers. For instance, I purchase whole chickens (the healthy ones with room to roam and adequate time to grow with out hormones and antibiotic use) and cook them in the crock pot. Then I make broth by adding water, spices and herbs to the pot with the bones, skin and other bits of leftovers from the chicken once it has been cleaned of meat. It usually sits on my counter for two days on low. Then I use the broth to make a soup, lentils, gravies and so on. Left over chicken means fried rice or another dish that calls for cooked chicken. Meal planning also cuts down on trips to the grocery store. I go each Friday to get fresh fish and keep a little list of other items I'll need like fruit or veggies. This is a very quick trip to the store and usually not very expensive. I do a really big shopping every month but I'm working to make it every 6-8 weeks (I think I was successful in January) that blows the bulk of our grocery budget minus dairy which we purchase from Gramen Farms.

Fast Food Night: Bison Burgers & Sweet Tater Fries

So we miss fast food. We don't miss the gross after eating it feeling but I really miss a huge burger and fries. When Hubs was diagnosed, we got really good at making burgers at home. A friend introduced us to home made sweet potato fries and it was a perfect addition to burger night. Now with no gluten it's impossible to find a good burger bun and I'm still trying recipes. Mostly the best thing to do is make a top 1/2 and bottom 1/2 of a bun rather than try and bake something to be cut in half. Since I'm allergic to beef we use bison.

First I chopped up several raw sweet potatoes. I like the skin on so I don't peel them, I just wash them off and chop them. The sit and dry while the oil heats (they are also good in the oven, baked rather than fried but for fast food night frying is a must).

While the oil gets hot I mix buns. I used a grain free recipe this time that was butter, almond flour, an egg and a little salt. They mix up quickly and go into the oven right before I put in the first batch of sweet taters, and mix the bison. I use 2 pounds because when you're going to make burgers you may as well have leftovers. They freeze well if they make it that long.

Hubs came in and dug out some bacon and beans too. In the bison I mix finely chopped onion, garlic powder and home made chili powder mix. Also an egg to help it stay together. I mix it all well and make four large burgers and two smaller ones - sometimes David will eat two burgers but even he can't do a pound of meat in addition to sides...

The first batch of fries is done before everything else and usually gets eaten before the rest of the food is done. Kind of like an appetizer. Just as we are done with the rest of the food and load up our plates the second batch of fries is complete. The third batch cooks as we eat.... and usually we eat some off the pan like dessert.... They reheat well in the toaster oven so we try not to eat them all.

Hubs made navy beans with a little of this and that. He's getting more creative in the kitchen and likes to throw everything in. It's usually how I cook, but for him it's very new - he's a recipe guy. The beans had kick which he likes.

Oh and don't forget some delicious cheese.... a chunk of grilled onion, some tomato, lettuce and some homemade BBQ sauce for the top....

We didn't get any plated pictures because we ate so fast. And it was amazing. I love good food. I should be a huge person but thankfully I'm not (thank you 24 hour fitness).


Home Made BBQ Sauce
1 cup tomato sauce (I use an organic olive oil, basil & garlic)
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup + 2TBSP vinegar (I use Bragg's Apple Cider)
3/4 cup brown sugar (I use an organic brown sugar)
3 TBSP olive oil (I use about 1.5 TBSP b/c my sauce I use has olive oil in it)
2 TBSP Paprika
1 TBSP Home made Chili powder
2 cloves garlic minced
1 tsp cayenne

So the original directions say to heat the oil and saute the garlic first then add everything and simmer 15 mins but I just dump all of the above into a sauce pan and simmer it, stirring occasionally until it thickens. Which is usually more like an hour of simmering but only because I like a thicker sauce. The apple cider vinegar is a natural preservative so it keeps in a tightly sealed jar in the fridge for a month or more. Usually we eat it in less than 6 weeks so I'm not sure how long it'd actually last.

Ethiopian Food

We love food from all over the world. Prior to discovery of all our allergies we would go out for Indian food, Ethiopian food, French food and more. With our myriad of allergies we are very limited in our dining out. At home we primarily eat organic foods, so even if we can find a restaurant we can both eat in, the food is sometimes difficult to digest when it's conventional.

I meal plan a few months in advance and do one big monthly grocery shopping trip then pick up fresh fish, fruits and veggies as needed on Fridays. This helps us stay within our food budget and keeps me from getting bored with cooking. I incorporated several labor intensive dishes for weekends when I have more time to cook.

One night last weekend was Ethiopian night. I started the Injera a few days early so it would have time to sour. The link is to the recipe I'm going to use next time. The recipe I used last weekend didn't have me feed it and then keep some for later like a sour dough bread. It was more like using just a starter - which made for a very flavorful bread.

I also mixed Berbere, their traditional spice mix. I omitted the spices we are unable to use (ginger for instance) and I made my own Chili Powder for adding to some of the dishes while cooking. (Chili powder is a mix of spices/herbs that nearly always has an additive to prevent clumping or caking. It's usually corn based.)

The morning of our Ethiopian dinner I made Niter Kebbeh (scroll down about 1/2 way), the traditional Ethiopian butter. It's clarified and flavored with herbs and spices.

A few of the steps in this T'ibs recipe is making a mock Niter Kebbeh of sorts. Rather than follow that portion I used a Tablespoon of the Niter Kebbeh I'd made that morning.

The afternoon before I cooked, I set the lamb for T'ibs (lamb stew) to marinate and I chopped all the vegetables I would need for all of my recipes.

I organized the recipes by the length of time it would take them to cook. I made Yemiser W'et (spicy lentil stew) which required lentils to be cooked prior to seasoning. I put a pot of lentils on to boil while I had Hubs sear the lamb.

I also made Yetakelt W'et (spicy mixed vegetable stew). But since all the veggies were chopped this took minimal work.

Once everything was to the simmering for flavor point I got out my huge pan and started cooking Injera. I made about 6 pieces. We didn't have a platter large enough to serve it traditionally with one communal plate so I served it on two plates. Basically when everything is cooked you put down Injera then servings of each dish on top. It's served with extra Injera and everything is eaten with one hand scooping up servings in pieces of Injera torn into chunks. I made three dishes because traditionally there would be a selection of dishes. Injera doesn't store well. It requires that one eats it at the meal for which it is cooked. For the left overs I made a large pot of rice and we ate the dishes with rice in lieu of Injera.

The dishes were delicious. The Injera will be better when I make it over the course of a few days and use it as intended, like a starter. Also I was completely grossed out because there was a bit of mold on it one day. Upon research, I discovered this is (mostly) normal and the mold should be scooped out of the starter and the starter should be fed and stirred well. I scooped it out but since I wasn't doing the starter method it wasn't fed and what not. This effected my enjoyment of the Injera though and next time I'll keep a closer eye on it and do the starter method.

The recipes were very easy to modify for our allergies. Teff flour is naturally gluten free and I simply omitted the spices we were allergic to and made our own mixes. Next month I'm doing Ethi night again but I'm going to try Doro Wat (Ethiopian chicken stewed in red pepper paste) rather than the lamb. The lamb was delicious but I can't see making two meat based dishes for two people.

Banana Bread (beef, corn, gluten, peanut & soy free)

After attempting a yeast bread and being so disappointed in the result (much more like a quick bread) I decided to bake a quick bread this weekend. I went for banana because I had two bananas that were just over-ripe waiting to be consumed. Almond flour is extremely expensive so I've been purchasing whole almonds by the pound and grinding them myself in my magic bullet knock off. I didn't have walnuts, my preference in banana bread, but I did have an abundance of the almonds.

Ingredients
1/4 cup sweet sorghum flour
1/4 cup garbanzo bean flour
1/4 cup potato starch
1/4 cup ground flax seeds (you can purchase flax meal but the seeds are cheaper per pound)
1/3 cup almond flour
1 teaspoon baking powder (Hains)
1 teaspoon guar gum
1/2 teaspoon baking soda (extra full - not a full teaspoon, maybe closer to 3/4 teaspoon)
1/3 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
2 medium ripe bananas
1 egg
1/4 cup sour cream
1/2 cup chopped nuts (I used almonds)

Method
My butter was cold from the fridge so I cut it into chunks and threw it in my stand mixer with the paddle attachment and the sugar. I whipped it for a few minutes until the butter was well incorporated with the sugar. Then I added the egg, mixed well. Add the bananas (I just broke off chunks and dropped it in while the paddle was turning). Put the baking powder, guar gum
and baking soda in and mix well. Then I dumped the first two flours in. Mixed well. Put about a third of the sour cream in and mixed well. Then the potato starch and flax seeds, mixing well. Another third of the sour cream. Mix. Then the almond flour and remaining sour cream. I mixed it for just a moment the dropped in the nuts.

I buttered a loaf pan and dusted some of the almond flour on the bottom and a little up the sides of the pan.

350 degrees. 45-50 mins until a toothpick comes out clean. Let it sit in the pan about an hour if you can wait. It should turn right out of the pan.


Serve
We like butter

We couldn't tell that this was made with alternative flours. YEA! =)


*Sorry for the blurry pics, I was too busy eating to re-take!

Breakfast Food (beef, corn, gluten, peanut & soy free)

Something David and I have enjoyed from the beginning of our marriage (6 years ago!) is having leisurely breakfasts together on the weekends. I would usually cook something and he'd make coffee or help with prep work and we'd linger over a great meal. When David was diagnosed with his allergies we had a hiccup in that routine but nothing major as it's easy to purchase corn free flours, if one is willing to pay the price. It's been almost 2 months since my diagnoses of a wheat and beef allergy and I have to say I've been tired of bacon and eggs for a while now...

At some point I made Walrus Bread from the back of a Bob's Red Mill garbanzo bean flour. I followed the recipe exactly with 3 substitutions. I used GUAR GUM rather than Xanthan Gum which can be (and usually is) derived from corn. For the Vinegar I used RICE VINEGAR and for the vegetable oil I used Canola. I wanted this to be alllll of our allergens free. I made the recipe to get a better feel for the flours. Unfortunately this bread is very much like a quick bread. Kind of crumbly and moist. It was okay. The Garbanzo Bean Flour made the bread taste "beany". It wasn't strong but it was NOT wheat bread. Also it didn't rise much as the flours are so different and (obviously) don't contain gluten. Since the bread wasn't flexible enough to make a traditional french toast I did it in the oven. I even threw the crumbs and bits in because they "bake" together.


Here are some recipes I've done in the last few weeks to break the monotony *and fat* of bacon & eggs.


BAKED FRENCH TOAST for 2
Ingredients
6 slices of Walrus Bread
2 TBSP butter, melted
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1-4 TBSP brown sugar (this bread is NOT sweet by itself)
1 tsp vanilla
1-3 tsp cinnamon

Method
-Preheat oven to 350
-Grease 9*11 pan well
-Mix all ingredients well (except for the bread)
-Pour a few TBSP of the mixture on the bottom of the pan, enough to cover the bottom with a little extra
-Place the bread into the pan on the liquid
-Pour the rest of the liquid mix over the bread, slowly so it's absorbed
-Bake about 40 to 50 minutes or until a little brown and "dry" to the touch

To Serve
Cut into squares and place on plate. Top with powdered sugar and maple syrup. Yummy.





PANCAKES for 2
Ingredients
(dry)
1/4 cup gluten free oats, ground fine
1/4 cup brown rice flour
1/4 cup buckwheat flour
1/4 cup sweet sorghum flour
2 TBSP flax seeds, ground fine
1 TBSP white sugar
3 tsp baking powder (Hain is GF & corn free)
1/4 tsp sea salt ground fine
(wet)
1 egg
1.25 cups milk (reserve .25 cup)
3 TBSP canola oil

Method
-Mix dry ingredients well
-In a separate container mix wet ingredients well, using just 1 cup of the milk reserving a .25 cup of the milk
-Combine the wet and dry ingredients
-This pancake mix will be thicker than one made with wheat flour but if it's too thick to pour slowly add the .25 cup of reserved milk until the batter is "pourable"
-Heat a skillet or griddle on medium heat until very warm, water should sizzle on it
-Pour the batter onto the dry pan
-NOTE: Extra oil or butter should NOT be needed and the pancakes won't cook as well if one uses butter in the skillet (I use all stainless steel traditional pans that do NOT have non-stick surfaces and my pancakes browned more evenly and looked/textured more like wheat when I used a dry skillet)

Serve
Serve pancakes with whatever you like! These pancakes are a little less sweet than traditional as buck wheat is slightly bitter.





WAFFLES for 2
Ingredients
(dry)
1/4 cup gluten free oats, ground fine
1/4 cup brown rice flour
1/4 cup buckwheat flour
1/4 cup sweet sorghum flour
2 TBSP flax seeds, ground fine
2 tsp baking powder (Hain is GF & corn free)
1/8 tsp sea salt ground fine
(wet)
1 egg
1 cup milk
1/3 cup canola oil, plus extra for the waffle iron

Method
-Mix dry ingredients well
-In a separate container mix wet ingredients well, using just 1 cup of the milk reserving a .25 cup of the milk
-Combine the wet and dry ingredients
-Heat the waffle iron until it's very warm
-"Paint" the extra oil onto the waffle iron with a basting brush or spray non sick spray on the iron (if you can find a GF, corn free one)
-Pour the batter onto the hot, greased iron and spread it out a little with a spoon
-NOTE: This batter won't "spread" out onto the iron like traditional gluten waffles. Also for some reason they love to cling to the iron. I found that oiling the iron and then letting the waffles cook until crispy brown makes them easier to remove.


Happy eating!

What we miss...

I think that prior to the discovery of my own food allergies it was easy for me to tell someone not to worry about making something special for Hubs, he didn't need it.... And this is still true, for both of us now. However, there are things we miss -

Sunday
Going to church, the routine of Sunday: getting up having breakfast attending church with our friends and being in a class. We have chosen to attend on Saturday nights because here in the South, ladies and gentleman put on their Sunday best prior to arriving at church. This includes loads of perfumes, colognes, body powders, body sprays, deodorants, hair sprays, hair gels, nail polish and so on...... all of which contain corn. And sitting in, even our larger auditorium, amongst all that corn makes my husband sick. Enough to effect his ability to participate in worship and reap knowledge from the sermon.
Communion, while we can still participate in the Spiritual aspect of remembrance and self examination we are unable to partake of the elements. I've yet to see corn free, gluten free, soy free communion elements and probably won't in this life time.

Monday - Friday
Fast Food, while we have never been a family that lives on fast food it is nice to have that option! Mondays always seem busiest and it would be nice to simply pick something up on the way home.

Saturday
MOVIES in the theater at night! As a couple we have never gone much (David used to see one every weekend or so before we were married) but it was fun to do dinner and a movie from time to time. Now we have to sneak in at an early showing and avoid the popcorn maker. In the evenings there's too much popcorn floating around and wiped on handles and such.

Life in General
Quick Grocery Shopping Trips, I used to be able to shop for a week in less than 30 mins. Now it's an hour minimum if I should up super early and only scan my regular items labels. Buying something new adds at least 5 minutes - there's no spur of the moment let's try this for this family!
Eating meals at friends homes without crazy advance planning and worrying, we entertain more in our home to avoid accidental contamination. We have wonder friends and family that work hard to accommodate us but it's hard to host us.
Whole What Flour, I'm not going to lie. I feel better for avoiding whole wheat (gluten really I'm not eating gluten because every thing I have tried that was supposed to be wheat free has made me feel sick) but I miss knowing how to bake with out corn while still having wheat. I'm getting there. I've done gluten free, corn free pancakes with success. And brownies.



So while we do work to keep a good attitude and not worry or complain, there are things we miss. They aren't huge but come up from time to time. Over all we are both healthier and happier for living with out and so we smile and say "no thanks" to the free breakfasts or lunches at work and agree with our coworkers that we eat super healthy. Some people will never understand that food allergies are medical conditions and if one continues to eat the foods that make them ill the worse their medical issues will be.

PS - there are more but this is an insight to those that might not have considered the things that we avoid or do with out as a result of our allergies.

BEEEEEEEF

Learning about beef by products. Wow, it's quite prevalent in everyday foods. It can be found in many every day items such as:

sausage
marshmallows
candies
mayonnaise
chewing gum
oleo
shortening
pate
clarification agents for juice, wine and beer
sausage casings
yogurt
cookies
gelatin in salads/desserts
head cheese
ice cream

YIKES! It's pretty easy to eat gluten free but it's been challenging to do gluten and beef free. Example. Yogurt. I eat some nearly every day and had researched to make sure that one was gluten free. It was. But it had gelatin. Which was from beef. I usually feel pretty horrible for two days when I get contaminated by beef. It's not fun. And it's stinky. It oozes out of my pores gives me rotten egg gas and S.TA.N.K.Y. bm's. Yup. And those are just the things that you would notice. The pain and discomfort is what really bothers me. So now I'm constantly checking for gluten free first then doubling back to make sure it's also beef free. And thankfully I've found a yogurt that's both. Stonyfield plain organic. It would be Stonyfield, it's the most expensive in our market. =) Thankfully it's also very tasty and has simple ingredients, no additives or other misc. things.


PICTURE FROM: http://www.newswise.com/images/uploads/2009/04/23/fullsize/cow_b.jpg

Road tripping with (multiple) food allergies....

David and I loaded up the pups and made a long loop out to the Grand Canyon and back in a 13 day trip. The details of the road trip can be found here over the next few days or weeks. This post is going to be about eating on the road (literally) for nearly 2 weeks while avoiding BEEF, CORN, MUSTARD, PEANUTS, SOY, WHEAT and a handful of other misc. food allergies.

What I packed:
*One mid sized cooler
*Wide mouth jars full of ice, wrapped in brown paper bag to prevent "sweating"
*Rice
*Canned beans
^Kidney
^Black
^Pinto
*Irish oats
*Safe maple syrup
*Brown sugar
*Raisins
*Home made trail mix
*LARA Bars
*Safe potato chips
*Potato
*Sweet Potato
*Onion
*Sea Salt & Pepper
*Granola
*Rice Chex
*Canola oil
*Apples (pre-washed wrapped in safe paper towels and in zip top bags)
*Oranges


What we did while we were going from one stop to another:
While we were on the road moving from home to stop one from stop one to stop two and so on was:
1. Eat at Whole Foods where we could go in and each purchase something we could eat
2. Cook roadside at rest stops. We did this more frequently because there aren't Whole Foods in the middle of West Texas and we limited our Whole Foods spending to gift cards David had received as Christmas presents (thanks!!) It's amazing how quickly one can set up a single propane burner & cook a pot of rice and heat some beans. That's what we did. A long long time ago my little faithful rice cooker bit the dust. I kept the pot and lid, for which I endured much teasing from Hubs. However, happily, it is brilliant for propane burner rice cooking! I didn't take any pictures but it's amazing. I guest-imate the rice and water and ignore it. The rice has been perfect every time. Then we heat up a can of beans and wallah a gluten free, corn free dinner on the road. Literally on the road. Then we'd take a little walk and get back to the driving.

While camping and in hotels we:
1. Cooked. Of course. =) We mostly camped but even while we were in hotels for a night we'd cook out front. One evening David made dinner in the Grand Canyon outside the laundromat while I ran a load of laundry.
Breakfasts: Eggs, bacon, potatoes, rice, steel cut oats. Steel cut oats are fantastic. More filling than regular oats and here is a little trick. If in the evening you bring your oats and water to a rapid boil for five minutes then remove the pot from the heat and allow it to sit out, in the morning you need only cook the oats for about 5-10 minutes. We did this several times and even when the pot sat out in AZ when it was less than 30 degrees the oats cooked up perfectly. (Typically steel cut oats simmer 45 mins)

Lunches: One of the days we did purchase fries and a milkshake (the two items we thought would be safe) from IN & OUT Burgers. Because we had to eat something from there. In & Out is the stuff of legends. Happily, David consumed both the chocolate shake and the fries with salt and had no reaction for corn or soy. It was fantastic. I believe I had a reaction to beef. Probably a cross contamination as they are a burger joint, or as a gelatin in the shake. Except for that day we camp fire or propane cooked food. Also, we ate cereal. David Wheat Chex and me Rice Chex. Sometimes we had granola with yogurt if we had found a grocery store between camping stops.

Dinners: Our anniversary was 03.05.2011 so we ate out at a pretty nice place in NM - Albuquerque I think. We were both able to order something to eat with out a problem. With that single exception we cooked. Typically we found a grocery store where we could purchase meat and we would grill that with potatoes or rice. We could find eggs almost anywhere, even gas stations, so if we really wanted protein and couldn't find meat we'd fry eggs for dinner and eat them with rice and beans or potatoes.

We ate well. That's what I really want to re-assure other allergy suffers. And for no more than we would have spent had we been home.

TIPS
*Pack lots of filling, safe, foods!! You don't know when you'll find a market you can purchase safe foods in so pack nuts, hearty fruits & veggies that won't spoil like oranges, apples and root veggies
*Plan at least a little. Know where you'll be able to eat out grocery shop at least to some extent.
*Be flexible. Cereal for lunch is an option!

Homemade Chicken Broth (beef, corn, gluten, peanut & soy free)

First - it's easier than one might think! I typically clean out the last of my root veggies that are in the "eat me or toss me" stage of life. Whatever is in the veggie drawer goes in the pot. I prefer stove top simmering but this can be done just as easily in a slow cooker.

INGREDIENTS
chicken or turkey carcass, skin, fat (I like to keep a glass container for "discard" and one for "eat". Into the discard goes all the skin*, fat*, bones and whatever else I find that I don't want on my plate. Of course the chicken meat goes into the eat one.)
water
veggies such as:

• onion
• celery
• carrot
• shallots
• scallions
• parsnip
• garlic
  

seasonings such as:

• salt
• pepper
• bay leaf
• sage
• rosemary
• thyme
  
• nutmeg (only a pinch)
• paprika

METHOD
I load my largest pan with all of the above with the items that don't fit whole (such as carrots) roughly chopped. *I buy organic veggies and while I do wash them well, I DON'T peel or skin them b/c most of what goes in the pot will be trash at the end*
Bring it to a rapid boil then reduce to a simmer and allow it to simmer for as long as you can. 24 hours is good. I sometimes turn mine off and leave it on the stove for overnight (8 hours or less) than bring it back to a rapid boil for a few minutes and back to a simmer for a second day.
I get about 8 cups of good broth from my 5qt stock pot. You can thin it out if you'd like but I like it rich so I fill the pot with water only once and let it go until 1/2 of the water simmers out. I taste it every few hours and adjust spices as needed.

When the broth has reached desired taste I send it through a large colander into a measure cup and/or bowls. This pulls all the veggies, fat, skin and bones. Most of what went into the pot will be pretty much disintegrated and mushy. This time around my carrots were still in good shape and had good flavor so I pulled them from the mush to stick in my soup. They'll disintegrate completely in it which is fine because it's split pea. Most of what goes into that is cooked into nothing. The second time I use a much finer colander to catch the sludge of spices and disintegrated "stuff". If the broth seems very fatty you can let it sit out. The fat will separate and thicken on the top and is easily skimmed off with a slotted spoon or small scoop.

Today I'm using the broth I made yesterday for split pea soup. But it can be frozen in ice cube trays or muffin tins then transferred to a zip top back for later use. If it's pre-frozen in a tray it's easier to thaw out the amount needed rather than have to use the entire batch.

*We buy range free organic chickens. They have very little fat on them. Conventional chickens might be fatty in which case I would NOT include the fat/skin unless you have the time to allow the broth to cool completely so you can skim the excess fat off the top.

(our) Allergen Free Meatballs (beef, corn, gluten, peanut & soy free)

A staple in our home is meatballs. I always have (home made) meatballs in the freezer. I usually do about 1/2 clean ground pork and 1/2 grass fed ground beef. Now that I'm allergic to beef I've been investigating meat alternatives and figuring out how to stock up on this heavily relied upon freezer staple.



I chose:
Pork because I was familiar with it as an ingredient.
Lamb for a little flavor and fat.
Ground chicken for extra meat but relatively neutral flavor.



I purchased clean (no antibiotics, no hormones, pastured piggies) ground pork and clean ground lamb at the market. I purchased whole organic chicken (boneless skinless) breasts and stuck them in the freezer. This morning I sent them through the "shred" attachment on my food processor. I don't have a meat grinder but because they were mostly frozen they went through cleanly and shredded quite nicely. I think that boneless skinless thighs would be fine as well but more difficult to shred because of the smaller size.







MEAT
1 lb ground pork
1 lb ground lamb
1 lb "shredded" chicken breast











BINDING
2 eggs (I have heard that you can supplement ground flax seed & water for egg)
1/2 cup or so quick cooking oats {one can use traditional (NOT Irish!) oats but they should be ground or chopped prior to adding them to the meat.}








SEASON
Onion Granules
Garlic Powder
Italian Season Mix from Cost Plus World Market




CHEESE
2-3 oz Plain Feta, crumbled
2-4 oz Parmesan, shredded





METHOD
Drop all meat into large bowl (in my case I used a stand mixer with flat attachment but a large bowl and clean hands would work too). Mix until the meats are thoroughly combined. Dump in season & cheeses. Mix again until all is thoroughly combined. I then added one egg and mixed thoroughly to see how it would feel. I decided that for my preference I wanted a 2nd egg and some oats. Mix until everything is combined well and the meat clings to the mixer paddle.

Scoop onto cookie sheets. I use a hand held medium scoop and fill up the sheets. Then I use my hands to form them into a better ball shape.

Bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit about 18-20 mins. (Baking them this long is baking them all the way through. If you want to finish baking them in a sauce prior to serving cut baking time in 1/2.) When you peek at them they should be paler than when they went in but browning and you should be able to hear a sizzle. Don't over bake. They are very low fat and will be tough, chewy and unpleasant. (Well I think they would be, thankfully I didn't have to experience this.)





EAT
I ate them hot off the pan to make sure they were delicious before baking my second batch. Ordinarily we eat them with pasta and tomato sauce but they are good for sandwiches and pizza topping also.



STORE
After the meatballs have been cooled completely, I always set aside several for the evening meal. Then I put the rest of them into a zip top freezer bag and drop them in our deep freezer. Typically I make meatballs about once every 6 weeks or so. When we use the last few I wait a few days or a week and start the process over again. This recipe yields approximately 48-50 medium (2 inch diameter) meatballs. It's very easy to double this recipe if one feeds more than 2 people at a time. I find that this is a good number to have on hand for the two of us for quick meals.

TASTE
I think it's evident there is no beef. That being said they are delicious. I can't wait to get them soaking in marinara and onto my (rice) pasta tonight. I've eaten 3 fresh off the pan and I can taste a little lamb but it's very subtle. Neither pork or chicken stand out and I think once the balls are in a sauce or dish the lamb flavor will be concealed except that I know it's there.



PHOTOS
Pictures are in order of preparation starting with the method I used to shred my chicken and working the way through the recipe to show the difference between "scooped" meat balls and "shaped" meat balls (there really isn't much difference but I'm particular). The in the oven shot is about 1/2 way through baking. The cookie sheet shot is just out of the oven and the final picture is of my first batch of meat balls cooling and waiting on the final 30 to arrive from the oven.

Buckwheat noodles

I've done very little cooking of late. There's a certain amount of shock that arrives with a food allergy diagnoses that is about as opposite as the one we already deal with. I've cleaned out my fridge & pantry twice and still find items I can't really eat (ginger keeps sneaking up on me in crazy places). On Tuesday night I tackled buckwheat noodles. While the name seems scary they are actually a gluten free product *while gluten free = wheat free, wheat free does NOT = gluten free*. I have attempted them before because I was hoping to find something wheat free to incorporate into our diet but was never happy with them and thus, discontinued using them. Being told I'm allergic to wheat was enough to get me to try buckwheat noodles again.

I cooked them by instinct this time rather than just package instructions. Since I was planning a loose white sauce I added olive oil & salt to the water as I would if I were using wheat noodles. I cooked them right at 5 mins then did a quick cold water rinse.

While the noodles boiled I used a little 1/2 and 1/2, cottage cheese & Parmesan cheese to make a loose or watery white sauce. Buckwheat seems to absorb a lot of liquid so when we loaded our bowls with fresh spinach, then the noodles then the sauce, the sauce thickened in the bowl and left us with cheesy deliciousness.

Today the plan is to make meatballs. I purchased ground pork, ground lamb & chicken breasts. I'm going to send the chicken through my food processor to get them about the consistency of ground chicken (we can't buy ground turkey or chicken it's all corny corny corny).

Have you always been allergic?

The most common question that is asked usually right behind "What are your symptoms?" or the alternate "What made you want to get tested?" which is basically the same question.

And so, I don't really recall having any problems digesting any of my allergens (wheat, beef, caraway, ginger, mustard, scallop) before I was 18 or so. When I was very young I had eczema, a classic sign of food allergy but I think that it's only been associated with food allergies in the last 10-15 years. My eczema cleared up, I think on it's own as I aged. It usually appeared behind my ears.

When I was 18 I went to college where I lived on cafeteria food and things I occasionally cooked in a shared kitchen. I don't really remember what all I ate but I do remember they had build your own pizza options and lots of cereal all the time. Since that's what I remember the most clearly, that's probably what I mostly ate.

At 19 I moved to TX and into my own apartment. My budget was very tight and since it was just me, I typically ate a lot of salads, very little meat and sometimes cereal. On the weekends I'd often cook up one big dish of something and eat it during the week but my diet consisted of very little bread or baked goods. I'd occasionally buy a cheap loaf of white bread b/c I find this to be the BEST for grilled cheese sandwiches.

I can distinctly remember going with a friend to his family home where his mother ground her own wheat and baked a lot. I can also remember having terrible stomach cramps, bloating and gas while there. I associated it to the (fresh ground) whole wheat which I rarely ate b/c as stated before I bought very little bread and only the cheap white stuff rarely.

One time I went with co-workers to the Olive Garden where I ate the endless soup, salad & bread sticks and gorged myself senseless (back then it was $4 at lunch). I was in such pain and agony that I had to go home early from work, something I never did because, at the time I didn't have paid time off. It was horrible the pain was unbearable. I attributed it to the ice burg lettuce that was exclusively used at that time.

I got married at a few weeks shy of 24. David's income was far greater than mine and his appetite and food consumption much more varied and much larger quantities than mine. I'd gotten in the habit of grocery shopping less than every 2 weeks. With David I was finding that I needed to buy 3-4 times what I was used to purchasing. He loved that I could cook and bake. He loved that he could say "I feel like fresh bread" and he'd come home and it'd be there warm waiting with a home cooked meal. He delighted in the fact that out of all the women he had known he'd married the one that could cook anything and bake everything. And so I did. I cooked and baked a lot. And started gaining weight. Which I attributed to:
A) being happy
B) meals being intimate and social rather than quick and necessary
C) the wider variety and bigger consumption.
All of the above was probably true but I think, now, there was more going on.

About 18 months ago David was diagnosed as allergic to corn & soy so we eliminated everything from our house with either of those ingredients. We switched to 100% organic whole wheat pastas, cereals, flours, crackers, pretzels and so on. I packed on the weight. Which I attributed to stress and anxiety. I struggled with depression and exhaustion. Again I dismissed these indications as stress or how hot it is here in Houston all the time. My gut became unpredictable. I'd have about 5 seconds between "I have to go" and getting to the bathroom. The pain and bloating was uncomfortable and the gas was embarrassing. As the indications stacked up I ignored what I have suspected for some time - I was allergic to wheat. I didn't want the inconvenience or complications. If one is just allergic to wheat there are many, many gluten free options that are fantastic. Baking mixes, snacks, cereals and so on but for us they aren't an option because all of it contains corn or soy. David is so sensitive to corn that I don't bring anything in the house that has any amount of corn in it. Cross contamination is a big concern when there are trace amounts of corn so I rarely bring anything that even contains ingredients derived from corn into our home. Eliminating wheat just seemed overwhelming.

Here's the deal though. Looking at things I loved like yeast donuts makes my cheeks flush and my gut twinge now. I remember the pain and discomfort I was experiencing and I don't even want it. It took David over a year to get to this point and I'm so thankful I am already here. It makes it so much easier to simply stick to wheat free, beef free, mustard free and so on eating.

So go get tested. It's not that complicated. It's worth the hassle and after four days my energy is returning and my belly is settling. I'm not nearly at the energy level when I was in my 20's and working full time w/extra hours and taking classes at night and swimming every morning but I had the energy (and desire) to clean out my truck and sweep the garage. Lately it's been all I can do to keep up w/the house and laundry. Weekends were for sitting on my tush re-cooping from the house cleaning and the long weeks of cooking and laundry and my part time care giving job.

3 days allergen free

I had made an appointment with a General Practitioner to have a physical done including blood work and a UA to see if anything turned up to help explain any of my symptoms. After diagnosed as allergic to wheat I assumed the bulk of my problems were driven by my diet being laden with wheat but decided to keep the appointment as it'd been about 5 years since I'd had a physical. As I was reading about wheat allergy, naturally I stumbled into all things gluten and then Celiac disease. Several medical conditions such as : Diabetes, Non Hodgkins Lymphoma and a host of other things are linked to Celiac Disease. Both run in my family so I started to wonder if I should under go further testing. Some indications of Celiac are similar to a wheat allergy (Celiac Disease is an autoimmune disorder, NOT an allergy and it is genetically linked - you have to carry the gene to have the disease.) but can show up in vitamin deficiency, hypo/hyper blood sugar, and hypo/hyper thyroid. All of my blood work came back with in range, with exception of things that indicated I was having an allergic reaction, and so I've put the idea of Celiac Disease (for me anyway) on the back burner. Another indication: I forgot my allergy pill last night which I take for seasonal allergies. Today, despite fasting, I've felt nauseated off and on. An allergy pill would not combat symptoms of Celiac Disease but I think I'm having some relief from my food allergies when I take my seasonal allergy pill.

Another reason to prefer a wheat allergy to a corn allergy: I can take many OTC and prescription drugs with little concern of wheat.... David on the other hand can not take any OTC meds and thus far we have had to had the few drugs he's needed specifically compounded with out corn... looks like standard prescription meds are basically out of the question as well. Boo for Government subsidized corn making it super cheap and thus grossly over used.