so what ARE you eating?!

Banana coconut dessert

2011-12-22T10:09:00.000-08:00

Bananas with coconut milk!
from: http://chinesefood.about.com/od/dessert1/r/bananascoconut.htm

2 large bananas
1 cup coconut milk
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preparation:
Peel the bananas and cut into bite-sized pieces.

In a medium saucepan, bring the coconut milk to a boil. Add the sugar and cinnamon, stirring to dissolve.
Add the bananas. Bring back to a boil, then turn down the heat and simmer for 3 - 5 minutes, until the bananas are tender but not mushy. Serve hot, sprinkling extra cinnamon on top if desired.

chickpea flour bread

2011-12-22T10:06:00.002-08:00

CECINA!

ceci (garbanzo) flour - about 4 cups
water - about 4 cups
1 tbsp salt
extra-virgin olive oil
freshly-ground black pepper to taste

In a large bowl, mix the flour and slowly add the water with a wooden spoon making sure to mix well so you don't have any lumps. Add the salt. The mixture should be very smooth.
If you have the time, cover and let the mixture rest for at least 4 hours or overnight. Remove any foam that has formed at the top and mix again.
Heat oven to 400° F.
You'll need a large pan with low borders, like those used for rectangle-shaped pizzas. Pour a small cup of olive oil into pan, enough to cover the bottom. Add the mixture, making sure it is pretty low - the cecina has to be no higher than ½ cm (about ¼ inch) high, so if your pan is not wide enough to make it like this, bake two separate batches.
Bake in the hot oven until the cecina has a golden crust all over, about 30 minutes.
Grind lots of fresh black pepper on top of the cecina as soon as it comes out of the oven, cut into slices and enjoy!

originally from: http://www.tuscanrecipes.com/recipes/cecina.html

Quiche!

2011-01-10T16:55:00.000-08:00

BROCCOLI QUICHE!

from: http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/easy-broccoli-quiche/Detail.aspx

Filling:
* 2 tablespoons butter

* 1 onion, minced

* 1 teaspoon minced garlic

* 2 cups chopped fresh broccoli

* 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

* 4 eggs, well beaten

* 1 1/2 cups milk

* 1 teaspoon salt

* 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

* 1 tablespoon butter, melted

Crust (this is the crust I have posted previously for pies, etc):
1.5 cups flour or barley flour or rice flour*
2 tbsp. Sugar
Quick Dash of Salt
.5 cup Vegetable Oil
2 tbsp. Milk or soy milk

Directions

1. Mix all crust ingredients and spread out in pie tin.
2. Bake for 15 minutes at 400 degrees.

3. After crust comes out, preheat oven to 350 degrees.
4. While the crust is baking: over medium-low heat melt butter in a large saucepan. Add onions, garlic and broccoli. Cook slowly, stirring occasionally until the vegetables are soft.

5. Combine eggs and milk. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in melted butter.

6. Sprinkle cheese in crust. Then pour in vegetables. The pour egg mixture in.

7. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, or until center has set.

*Note about the flour: I have been using 1/2 barley and 1/2 rice. That sticks together better. I have also tried using some buckwheat flour which tastes good, but totally different. Yes, buckwheat is wheat free.

beet burgers

2010-12-08T09:51:00.000-08:00

well, i supposed that this blog has turned into a recipe book. so here's one from joanie. i didn't think beet burgers sounded especially amazing, but they really were.

from: http://www.sustainabletable.org/kitchen/recipes/?view=viewrecipe&rnum=94

Ingredients:

2 cups grated beets (about ¾ pound)
2 cups grated carrots (about ½ pound)
1 cup cooked brown rice
1 cup grated rBGH-free Cheddar cheese
1 cup sunflower seeds, toasted
2 large free-range eggs, beaten
½ cup sesame seeds, toasted
½ cup grated onion (about 1 medium)
¼ cup oil
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons chopped parsley
to 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 tablespoons soy sauce
Ground red pepper (cayenne), to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Generously grease a rimmed baking sheet.
3. Combine beets, carrots, rice, cheese, sunflower seeds, eggs, sesame seeds, onion, oil, flour, parsley, garlic, soy sauce, and red pepper.
4. Form mixture into patties and bake 25 to 30 minutes or until firm and vegetables are cooked through.

Irish Soda Bread

2010-04-16T10:01:00.000-07:00

My brother-the-oncologist has stopped using plastic. (Welcome to the club!) In an attempt to find bread without a plastic bag, he made Irish Soda Bread. My interest piqued when I heard there was a bread that didn't require kneading and rising time. I found myself without buttermilk, so I found this vegan version. It turned out great--moist, sweet, great crust. Due to the fact that I didn't knead it (I only mixed well), and it only took about an hour to make, it's my new bread recipe! And it stuck together much better than previously-blogged-about barley flour bread.

As usual, I used only barley flour...

Whole Wheat Vegan Irish Soda Bread

Written by Lindsay Nixon

Irish Soda Bread Recipe

A whole wheat vegan version of the Irish comfort food! Perfect for spreading jam or dipping into coffee or tea. Lemon juice may be substituted for the apple cider vinegar. You can also increase the sugar to 4 tbsp for a sweeter bread.

Ingredients:

* 1.5 cups non-dairy milk**

* 1.5 tsp apple cider vinegar

* 4 cups whole wheat pastry flour

* 1 tsp baking soda

* 1 tsp salt

* 2 tbsp raw sugar (optional)

* 1 cup raisins (optional)

Instructions:

Combine the apple cider vinegar with non-dairy milk and set aside for at least 5 minutes.
Grab a really big mixing bowl (the biggest you have) and add the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and raisins.
Whisk until it's evenly combined and well incorporated.
Whisk the non-dairy milk mixture a few times until it's light yellow and curdled.
Slowly pour non-dairy milk mixture into the flour, stirring as you go with a wooden spoon until it's wet and dough-like.
Knead the dough once or twice to shape it into a ball but be careful not to over knead or it will be tough.
Place dough on a greased cookie sheet or a greased cast-iron skillet (how the Irish do it). Using a serrated knife to make an "X".
Bake 30 to 45 minutes at 425 degrees, until it's golden and cooked thoroughly. Check by pushing a long, wooden skewer or thin chopstick into the center. If it comes out clean, it's done. Also add an aluminum foil tent over top after 20-25 minutes if the top is burning or getting too dark.

source: http://happyherbivore.com/2010/03/irish-soda-bread/

**Julie's note: you can also use milk for this. if using milk, use 1.5 cups milk and 1.5 tablespoons (NOT teaspoons) apple cider vinegar. curdling will take a bit longer and will be less chunky

Apple Rhubarb Bread

2010-04-16T09:52:00.000-07:00

I got excited when I found rhubarb at the farmer's market. This bread is amazing. We cannot stop eating it. I used barley flour of course, and I would omit 1/4-1/2 cup sugar next time because it is already so sweet. The rhubarb has a wonderful and unique taste...sweet and aromatic--while chopping, baking, and eating!

apple rhubarb bread

Serves/Makes: 2 loaves

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup rhubarb -- finely chopped
1 1/2 cup apples -- chopped
1 1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 whole eggs
3 cups flour
1 cup nuts -- chopped
3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions:

Heat oven to 350º. Grease bottoms of 2 loaf pans 8 1/2" x 4 1/2" x 2
1/2" or 9" x 5" x 3". Mix rhubarb, apples, sugar, oil, vanilla, and
eggs in large bowl. Stir in remaining ingredients. Pour into pans.
Bake 50 to 60 minutes or until tested done. Cool 10 minutes. Loosen
sides of loaves from pan. Remove to wire rack.

source: http://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/recs/410/Apple_Rhubarb_Bread43563.shtml

Bread! Yay! Help!

2010-03-09T20:58:00.000-08:00

wow, I cannot believe I made this bread. that is so unlike me to do something that requires time and energy AND patience. but i kneaded twice and waited! so, go me. it's warm, and it hasn't fallen apart yet. it looks sort of dry and cracked in the picture, but it actually has a really nice crust and the inside is soft and lovely.
but help! how do i store it? any ideas?

here's the recipe:

source: http://www.alive.com/2180a7a2.php?subject_bread_cramb=205

1 envelope yeast

1 egg, beaten

1/2 cup lukewarm water

2 tbsp. Butter (i substituted 1.5 tablespoons olive oil)

2 tbsp. honey

2 cups barley flour (freshly ground if possible)

1/2 tsp. salt

Put the yeast in lukewarm water with honey, then add the salt, egg and butter.

Stir in the flour and knead for a couple of minutes on a lightly floured surface.

Place dough in large greased bowl and cover with a fresh towel.

Let it stand in a warm place for 1 1/2 hours.

The dough will rise slightly.

Turn out the dough and knead again.

Shape it and place it on a lightly greased baking sheet, cover and let it stand for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees C

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown and bread sounds hollow when tapped.

Turn out on a cooling rack and wrap in a towel.

Jam Cookies!

2010-03-09T18:51:00.000-08:00

These cookies rock my world. Picture coming soon.

Source: http://www.theppk.com/recipes/dbrecipes/index.php?RecipeID=47

Ingredients
1 cup raw almonds
1 cup rolled oats or oat flour
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
pinch sea salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup coconut , canola, olive or grapeseed oil. I like olive the best, with coconut running a close second.
1/2 cup maple syrup
all-fruit jam (raspberry is nice)

Julie's notes:
i added coconut too

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly oil a cookie sheet.
Chop almonds into coarse meal. This can be done with a knife (which takes a long time and is messy) or in a food processor (or a blender, but a food processor is ideal) by pulsing a few times. For a chunkier cookie, grind the almonds only into small pieces.
Grind oats to flour in a small food processor, flour mill, or a blender. You can also use oat flour. For a chunkier cookie, don't grind oats all the way.
Combine almonds, oats, flour, salt, and cinnamon.
In another bowl combine oil and maple syrup. Add to dry. Mix lightly.
Roll into walnut-sized balls. Place on an oiled cookie sheet. Press an indentation in the center with thumb.
Fill indentation with jam. Do not overfill.
Bake 15-20 minutes, or until bottoms are lightly browned. Cool 10 minutes.

Multi-tasking

2010-03-09T18:47:00.000-08:00

I am being ridiculously productive. As I am writing this I am simultaneously making:
-barley flour bread
-soy milk
-mushroom curry
-rice noodles (to eat with the curry)

I am cooking the most amazing curry but have no one to share it with because Justin is in Nicaragua. So, shall we call it being productive or being single? I don't know, but I think it will be delicious.

The picture doesn't really do it justice, but it's the mushroom curry from Moosewood. And I sauteed almonds in olive oil to sprinkle on top.

It IS amazing. Yum. It has all these amazing tastes at once, and my favorite part is the apples which are mostly soft but still a bit crunchy. I think this is my favorite thing I've made in a long time. And I'm proud of myself for going the extra mile to make the almonds because they really add to it!

Here's the recipe. I changed/omitted a few things, so here's the recipe that I used. Refer to Moosewood for original.

Mushroom Curry

2 tbsp olive oil

1 cup chopped onion

1 cup kale

about 1/2 lb mushrooms

1/2 tsp each of the following: ground cumin, turmeric, cinnamon

3/4 tsp salt

1.5 tbsp shredded coconut

1/2 tbsp honey

juice from half a lemon

1.5 cups tomato sliced in small cubes

1 apple sliced in small chunks

water to steam

1/2 cup chopped almonds sauteed in olive oil

Directions:

Cook onions in olive oil
Add salt and spices
Add kale and shrooms
Add 1/4 cup water to prevent sticking and to make nice broth
Mix well, cover, simmer for 5-8 min

Sautee almonds in olive oil.

Add apple, coconut, and tomato
Mix and simmer until everything gets soft but not mushy
Turn off heat. Add honey and lemon juice, mix and cover.

After it has sat for a few minutes, serve over rice (I ate it with rice noodles) and sprinkle sauteed almonds on top. Again, the almonds are optional but really are worth the extra effort!

About the bread:
I am ecstatic to try a recipe for barley flour bread because I have not found non-wheat bread that I like. Actually I do have a rye bread that I thought was awesome even before I went wheat-free, but now I'm sick of it because it's my only option. I'll let you know how it goes, but I'm still in the waiting-for-it-to-rise-again process.

About the soy milk:
Justin and I have started making our own soy milk. We decided that store-bought soy milk is expensive and wasteful because there's so much packaging. Also there are weird things in it like corn, so we just started buying soy beans and we got a soy milk machine which we like to call our Electric Cow. Homemade soy milk is amazing because you can make it your own. Sometimes we add black sesame seeds or vanilla, and there's all sorts of other things that you can add like nuts. There are three buttons on this wonderful machine: mung bean, soy milk, and multigrain. So as the buttons indicate, the possibilities are endless. I highly recommend this machine as a gift for those people in your life who have hot flashes. (Someone close to me who has cancer tells me how amazing soy milk has been for his hot flashes.)

Black Bean Soup

2010-01-18T15:29:00.000-08:00

This is my new favorite soup. I'm not posting a picture because it looks, um, brown. But it tastes amazing. Creamy and a bit sweet.

Black Bean Squash Soup

Ingredients:
-1/2 an onion, chopped
-2 garlic cloves, chopped
-olive oil
-carrot, sliced
-sweet potato, cubed
-delicata squash, cubed (you can leave the skin on)
-The liquid leftover from cooking soaked black beans with onion (about 4 cups)
-salt and pepper to taste

1) Saute onions and garlic in olive oil.
2) Put in carrot, sweet potato, and squash.
3) Pour black bean liquid into pan and bring to a boil.
4) Cook on medium until all veggies are very soft
5) Blend everything
6) Enjoy alone or put rice directly in the soup

Note: Use one pan for everything. Also feel free to substitute other veggies for the carrot, sweet potato, and squash. I have even used turnips!

Scared of Moose

2010-01-18T15:19:00.000-08:00

I'm going to Alaska because my band is the artist in residence at a retreat. I'm scared because I don't understand Alaska, and Sarah Palin now works for Fox "News".
But I'm also worried about what I will eat. So far the list of "no" foods is: dairy, wheat, refined sugar. Then there's a bunch of things I haven't actually introduced so who knows how I will react to them!? This list includes mango, Halibut, sulfites, and food colorings. I'm sure I will encounter these on my trip, and I know for sure I will be eating Alaskan Halibut. By the way, I still think it's funny that I only tested sensitive to one fish.
The other issue is vegetarianism (or as I like to call my specific situation (non-dairy, but eggs, fish and raw cheddar are ok): accidental almost-veganism). The retreat center has assured me that vegetarian options are no problem, but I'm betting that I will end up eating some sort of interesting meat (moose? elk? mmm....) especially outside of the retreat center. I am trying to get the band to compete in my eat-the-most-obscure-meat-challenge.
Admittedly, I'm actually a little excited about eating some obscure meat because I think my vegetarianism had led me to miss out on some cultural knowledge in the past. For example, when I was in Ghana many years ago, I could not partake in GoatFest (created by other participants on my trip.) Also, during a college trip to Argentina I missed out on free-range, organic beef. I realize now that I want to support such sustainable and healthy endeavors, but back then I was just trying to enjoy my unrelenting gnocchi dinners and cheese empanadas.
So when I eat Alaskan moose, perhaps I will finally come to understand a small part of this foreign land and culture. I'll let you know if I have any epiphanies.

Justin 2

2010-01-18T14:59:00.001-08:00

Justin and Daikon radish.

BUTTER

2010-01-18T14:59:00.000-08:00

Butter did not go well. I got a headache after two separate and delicious butter occasions: macaroni and cheese and pancakes. Sad. But doesn't that mac'n'cheese look good!?

Not-fried Rice

2010-01-02T13:16:00.000-08:00

This is my favorite dish to order when I'm at a Thai restaurant and don't feel like Pad Thai. Usually it comes as Pineapple Fried Rice, or some variation. But I made my own healthier version:

1. Make brown rice.
2. Saute onions, garlic, and tofu in olive oil.
3. When tofu is almost done, add spinach and raisins.
4. Add curry powder, salt, pepper to taste.
5. When raisins are juicy, mix everything together and enjoy!

The best thing about this recipe is the plump juicy raisins which sweetly complement all the other ingredients.

COCONUT

2010-01-02T12:25:00.000-08:00

Finally, coconut week has come and gone. I was waiting a long time for this because most vegan options are made delicious with coconut milk. I'm not sure how I feel about eating so much coconut because it is nowhere close to local...but it made for a delicious week.

My first coconut reintroduction meal was Sri Lankan Green Bean and Potato Curry from Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian (page 208). We added tofu for protein and ate this over brown rice. I love Madhur (and Cheryl Rathkopf, whose recipe this really is).

The second coconut reintroduction was coconut desserts to the max. I made coconut cookie pie, which really came out as more of a coconut egg custard. It was pretty addictive and very sugary. The recipe is here, but here is the recipe with all the substitutions:

2 duck eggs
1 1/2 c. unrefined sugar
1/2 c. barley flour
1/2 c. melted earth balance
1 1/2 c. coconut
1 tsp. vanilla

Mix all ingredients. Place in greased pan. No pie crust is needed. Bake at 300 degrees for 45 minutes.

We could really taste the duck eggs. It was sweet and delicious. I think since the coconut has such a strong flavor, you could put a little less sugar in. We ate this dessert with Cherry Amaretto Coconut Bliss ice cream. In Justin's words, "Julie, if you can eat this, you have nothing to complain about." And he's right. It was insanely good.

After eating the coconut curry I felt fine. The night after the dessert binge, I felt a small headache. That night was also New Year's Eve, and I stayed out 80s dancing til 2 am, so obviously the headache wasn't debilitating. I'm going to attribute the headache to the fact that although I introduced coconut, I really just ate a lot of sugar. So coconut is fine for me to eat from now on...did I just rationalize my way out of that?

Justin

2010-01-02T11:58:00.000-08:00

Have I mentioned that I live with the hottest chef-extraordinaire ever? I'm so lucky.
Justin made this amazing Kabocha Squash Soup (with the help of Bittman), and although Bittman gets credit for the recipe, Justin always gets the credit for his artistry of reading a recipe and then making it his own. Not to mention the fact that he only uses Julie-friendly ingredients. I know, how did I get so lucky?!

Almost all the soup ingredients were from our farmers' market including the squash, mushrooms, and chives.

Another Justin-creation: nachos. I realize anyone can make nachos, but again, Justin puts these amazing touches on recipes that make the food more than you ever thought it could be. In these nachos Justin made a tomato cilantro sauce that he drizzled over the nachos just as they emerged from the oven. He also did some nice things to the homemade refried beans, including adding an onion, a chile and 2 cloves garlic to the broth while the beans were cooking. This was my first homemade refried bean experience, and wow was it rewarding. They weren't disgusting and greasy, but rather had this very smooth, rich, just-spicy-enough flavor. All I did was take Justin's deliciously cooked black beans and fry them in canola oil with some garlic.

Indian Food

2009-12-28T15:16:00.000-08:00

I had some fresh turmeric left over after buying it for my coconut reintroduction recipe (I will post that when coconut week is over). Don't think that I even know what turmeric is really, but when asking what/where it was at the co-op, someone highly recommended I get the fresh kind, and she was super-excited the co-op carried it because apparently it's hard to find. It's expensive ($12.99/lb), but I literally bought less than a pinky finger's worth.

I decided to make these amazing Indian dishes to use up the turmeric and because I miss Indian food! I haven't been able to eat at Indian restaurants because I haven't reintroduced butter and therefore I haven't reintroduced ghee.

In related news, I have fallen in love with Madur Jaffrey. Her book World Vegetarian is our kitchen's bible.

The recipes below went well together. We used brown rice instead of basmati and it was fine (but you have to change the water amount to 4 cups and cooking time to 40 min.) We also added chick peas for protein. Enjoy!

SAAG ALOO (potatoes with spiced spinach)

source: http://www.theperfectpantry.com/2009/11/turmeric-recipe-saag-aloopotatoes-with-spiced-spinach.html

this recipe serves 4; can be doubled.

12 oz Yukon Gold or other new potatoes

9 oz fresh baby spinach leaves

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 large onion, cut in half and finely sliced

1 jalapeño pepper, minced (for a less spicy dish, remove seeds and ribs before chopping)

2 tsp mashed garlic*

2 tsp mashed ginger*

1 tsp ground coriander

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp ground red chile pepper or red pepper flakes (mild or hot, to taste)

1/2 tsp ground turmeric

7 oz canned chopped tomatoes

1/2 tsp sugar or sugar substitute

1 tsp salt, or to taste

boil potatoes and cook for 15-20 minutes, until potatoes are tender.

Drain, then soak in a bowl of cold water for up to 30 minutes to stop the cooking action.

WHILE THE POTATOES ARE COOLING, blanch the spinach in a pot of boiling water for 2 minutes, then drain. Transfer to a food processor and blend to a puree. Set aside.

In a medium sauce pan over medium heat, add the olive oil.

add the onion and stir for 5 minutes. Reduce the heat to low, and continue cooking 2-3 minutes more, until the onions are browned.

Add the jalapeño, garlic and ginger, and cook, stirring, for 1 minute.

Then add the coriander, cumin, chile powder and turmeric, and cook, stirring, for 1 minute.

Add the tomatoes and their juice, and the sugar, and increase heat to medium. Cook, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes, until the tomatoes have reached a paste-like consistency.

Add the potatoes, spinach and salt, and cook for 2-3 minutes until the whole mixture is well combined. Serve hot.

Madhur Jaffrey's Turmeric Rice

source: http://www.cooking.com/Recipes-and-More/recipes/Turmeric-Rice-recipe-2779.aspx http://www.cooking.com/Recipes-and-More/recipes/Turmeric-Rice-recipe-2779.aspx

INGREDIENTS

2 cups basmati rice

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

3 whole cloves

1 bay leaf

4 cardamom pods

1-inch stick cinnamon

2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped

1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons finely sliced chives or the green part of green onions

DIRECTIONS

Put the rice in a bowl and wash well in several changes of water. Drain and leave in a strainer set over a bowl.

Put the oil in a heavy saucepan and set over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, put in the cloves, bay leaf, cardamom pods, and cinnamon. Stir once or twice and put in the garlic. As soon as the garlic turns medium brown, put in the rice, turmeric, and salt. Stir gently for a minute. Now put in 2 3/4 cups water and bring to a boil. Cover tightly, turn the heat down very, very low, and cook for 25 minutes. Sprinkle with chives before serving.

CORN II

2009-12-28T14:20:00.000-08:00

Good news, corn is ok. I ate corn chips twice this week and I was fine.

Since this post is boring, my next post will be entirely about awesome Indian food, which is way more exciting. AND I am introducing coconut in even more interesting ways, so stay tuned!

Migraine News

2009-12-24T12:14:00.000-08:00

I found this collection about migraine patients in the New York Times. I especially like the piece by Aviva Goldfarb because hers is about an alternative cure AND she's a chef.

EGG YOLK II

2009-12-15T11:58:00.000-08:00

This week I introduced 1 egg yolk. Last time I introduced egg yolks, I ate 3 eggs, and then got a stomach ache. So I haven't eaten egg yolks since then. The idea this week is just to test if I can have a bit of egg in a sauce or baked good, etc.

To reintroduce egg yolks I, of course, made cookies!

Flourless peanut butter cookies

makes about two dozen cookies

1 cup peanut butter (I used half almond butter)

1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons honey

1 egg

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon cinnamon

raisins and oats to your liking

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Grease a baking sheet with oil and set aside.
Mix all ingredients.
Place walnut-sized balls on baking sheet, and flatten a bit with a fork.
Bake for 10 minutes, until lightly browned.

One egg yolk proved no problem, so I am very grateful that I can eat latkes for Chanukah!

Who says I'm not eating well?!

2009-12-05T14:30:00.000-08:00

Two food highlights from this week:

Breaded tempeh with buckwheat noodles and rainbow chard

Soak the tempeh strips in tamari for about 45 minutes. Then roll them around in barley flour, salt, and pepper. Lightly fry in canola oil until they start browning.

Eat with sauteed onions and garlic, steamed rainbow chard, and buckwheat noodles. Save the tamari marinade in case you want to use it as sauce while eating.

Pumpkin pasta with tofu and cheddar

Yea, I know, this sounds weird, but I actually found a pumpkin pasta recipe on Rachael Ray's site, so it's legit.

Saute onions and garlic in olive oil. Add 1/4 cup pumpkin and 1/4 cup soy milk. Add 1/4 cup tofu and mush all together to make a sauce. Add cinnamon to taste (and nutmeg if you're into that). Mix with rice noodles (or wheat noodles if you're into that), and top with (raw) cheddar.

Mmmmmm. All I can say is I'm SO happy to have some sort of cheese back in my life.

REFINED SUGAR II

2009-12-05T14:08:00.000-08:00

Oh, why am I cursed to never eat refined sugar?! It's not that I want to put that substance in my body, but it's just too hard to avoid altogether. If I can't have ANY refined sugar, I can't have any sauces at restaurants, or really anything (like ketchup) that just enhances your food (read: fries).

It was getting annoying to always have to ask waiters/waitresses "is there any refined sugar in that sauce/dressing/marinade?" The answer was usually yes, even if the rest of the restaurant was gluten-free-vegan-saving-the-world. So this week I decided to reintroduce just a small amount of refined sugar, assuming that being able to tolerate a small amount of sugar would re-open the tempting and convenient world of sauces/dressings/marinades.

Day 1: I ate a yummy dinner of sushi and miso soup (both of which have small amounts of refined sugar).
Day 2: I wrote in my food log, "almost-headachey all day."
Day 5: I added one teaspoon of refined sugar to my oatmeal in the morning. About 9 hours later I felt a "small pressure behind my eyes and on my temples" which lasted until I went to sleep.(Days 3, 4, and 6 were normal and I felt fine.)

In conclusion, a subtle amount of refined sugar leaves me with subtle headaches. I'm going to continue to avoid refined sugar, mostly because I don't want to screw up the results of anything else I reintroduce. In a couple of months I will try refined sugar again. People keep telling me that after staying away from a substance, you can eventually become tolerant of it again. Here's hoping.

PS- If you own a restaurant, would you just make it a policy to only use unrefined sugar? It's just better for everyone. Ok, thanks, you're nice.

Amaranth

2009-11-28T12:08:00.000-08:00

This is an amazing food that I wish I had discovered long ago. I have been making it as a breakfast cereal to vary my morning options (oatmeal got boring).

How to make it:
Put 1/2 cup amaranth in 1 1/4 cups water and bring to a boil.
Simmer for 20 minutes.
5 minutes before it's done, add in chopped apple, raisins or other dried fruit, and nuts.

I've also had it with frozen blueberries. Both ways are delicious, and it seems like the possibilities are endless. Cinnamon, ginger...you name it. Cooking it for 20 minutes may seem long, but I just wake up, start the amaranth, get dressed and such, and then eat.

Anyway, the really cool thing is that amaranth is SO healthy. Although the dairy industry has convinced us that milk is the only way to get calcium, and the meat industry has convinced us that meat is the only source of iron, amaranth perseveres!

1 cup of amaranth has:
Protein: 9 g
Calcium: 12% DV
Iron: 29% DV
Dietary Fiber: 21% DV
Calories: 251
Fat: 4 g
Cholesterol: 0

(% DV is percent daily value)

Also, adding fruit or drinking a glass of juice with amaranth will ensure that you get its iron. Apparently vitamin C helps our bodies absorb iron. So the cultural norm of drinking orange juice in the morning with our (hopefully-iron-rich) breakfast actually exists for a reason.

In response to questions from people who have never heard of amaranth, my co-op has it in bulk. So maybe try looking there first, and don't let an expensive package at the fine grocery store trick you.

RAW CHEESE

2009-11-28T10:01:00.000-08:00

This week I introduced raw cheese. Justin made me baked macaroni and cheese, which was soooo good. Wow, I missed cheese. He basically followed this recipe, but used barley flour, rice noodles, oil, and soy milk. And yes it was still great!

Everything went well so now I can eat raw cheese. Does that mean I can also drink raw milk? Anyone?

Pumpkin Pie!

2009-11-21T10:51:00.000-08:00

I know, you must be sick of hearing about pumpkin. But I'm eating seasonally, and I'm not over pumpkin! It never ceases to amaze me. In fact at this very moment I am making pumpkin muffins :)

Here's an amazing pumpkin pie recipe. Before you read the recipe, you should know that I, too, was skeptical of a pie made with tofu. But it is really, really good! Justin and I were addicted to it all week, and we're not crazy vegans who have lost our taste buds. I promise, you can trust me.

Pie filling:
1 container silken firm tofu, drained
1 can pumpkin or 1 1/2 cups cooked pumpkin
3/4 cups sugar
a dash salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg

Crust: (this is the same crust I posted earlier)
1 ½ cups flour or barley flour
2 tbsp. Sugar
Quick Dash of Salt
½ cup Vegetable Oil
2 tbsp. Milk or soy milk

Mix all crust ingredients and spread out in pie tin.
Bake for 15 minutes at 400 degrees.
Blend tofu and pumpkin together. Mix all pie filling ingredients.
Spoon pie filling into the crust and bake for about 45 minutes at 375 degrees.

If anyone makes this, post a comment and let us know what you think. And if anyone's skeptical, post a question (like, is it really firm like "real" pumpkin pie?) and I will respond (yes!).

No More Wheat. Period.

2009-11-21T10:32:00.000-08:00

Let's recap:
I had migraines
Then I went on this diet
Then I had way more energy and no migraines

I haven't mentioned this yet, but I have a history of irregular and painful menstrual cycles. This was not even something I was thinking of addressing with this diet, but as I was warned, once you start the elimination diet, all sorts of things get better that you didn't even know were wrong.

The last period I had was the same week I decided to reintroduce wheat. (That was a poor decision because I couldn't tell if that week's symptoms were because of wheat or my period.) That week I had unusually bad cramps. They were the kind that wake you up in the middle of the night. That week I also felt tired and heavy-headed. I decided to wait a few weeks and try wheat again.

I tried reintroducing wheat again two weeks ago and I got a headache. I decided to eliminate wheat until I reintroduce it again (if I ever do).

Fast-forward a month to this week. I did not introduce anything this week because I had my period. I have not had cramps at all. In fact, my period was barely noticeable. Based on this information and my past history of periods, cramps, etc. I am putting together this puzzle. Has wheat been negatively affecting my period for my WHOLE adult life?!

To sum up: I reintroduced wheat and I had terrible cramps. Then I eliminated wheat and I can barely tell that I have my period. What else am I to conclude except that I am highly sensitive to wheat? Sad but true I guess.

I will keep testing this theory with each period. If I continue to avoid wheat and continue to have non-painful periods, that's pretty exciting evidence that I have been lacking for 17 years.

WHEAT II

2009-11-14T21:25:00.000-08:00

I tried wheat again this week. On Saturday I ate pasta, which was wonderful. Pasta is so versatile; hats off to pasta! After pasta I felt fine for a few days.

Then on Wednesday I tried another wheat treat: pumpkin bread. This recipe I made was SO good. It even had toasted pumpkin seeds in the bread, which I loved, but Justin called "dangerous" since they were sort of a crunchy surprise. So if you don't expect bread to have pointy crunchy things in it, then you could omit them.Pumpkin Bread

Source: www.NewSeasonsMarket.com

-2 cups flour
-2 tsp cinnamon
-1 tsp baking soda
-1/4 tsp baking powder
-1/2 tsp salt
-1 1/2 cups sugar
- 3/4 cup oil
-3 large eggs (or 2 duck eggs)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
-3 cups shredded fresh pumpkin
- 1 cup toasted pumpkin seeds
-(And I added raisins)

Preheat oven to 325. Mix together dry ingredients. Mix together wet ingredients.
Combine both mixtures and add pumpkin and seeds (and I added raisins too.)
Pour into greased pan. Bake for 1 hour 15 minutes.

Since there was only a small amount of flour in the bread, I decided I should also eat a burrito. Admittedly, that justification was probably influenced by my 3-month-long burrito longing.

Anyway, on Thursday night I got a headache. So I'm off wheat. I'm really sad about it and I can't stop thinking about how hard it will make eating out, eating with others, etc. I feel like every time I go out I will have to ask the restaurant employees a million questions to which they won't know the answer.

My only refuge is Laughing Planet, an amazing restaurant where they have this nice book with all the ingredients in all of their foods. The cashiers let me look at it every time, and I have discovered that I can eat their spinach lentil soup, Cuban bowl, and Soylent Green Bowl! Yay creative local chains! And for all you wheat-allergics out there, I hope your city has something like Laughing Planet too!

I was pretty ignorant about this whole wheat-free idea before this experiment, so let me just explain a few things that I've learned:
1) Instead of soy sauce, you can use wheat-free tamari. It's delicious, and some people buy it instead of soy sauce just because it's awesome. My local sushi restaurant has it, so that should be consoling to anyone who thinks s/he must never again dip sushi.
2) Barley flour (although it does have a small amount of gluten) is a very good flour substitute. I have been raving about it for a while now, so I'll just stop there.
3) Wheat-free and gluten-free are NOT the same thing. I don't get it well enough to explain yet, but if you are one, don't assume you are the other.

Ok, I will now accept all wheat-free, vegan, refined-sugar-free cupcakes as a cheer-up gift. Thank you in advance. And don't forget: no coconut either (I haven't tested it yet)!

PS- I'm going to try wheat again in 6 weeks. I'm not giving up.

RealAge=RealRidiculous

2009-11-12T19:12:00.000-08:00

I heard about this website called RealAge.com. It asks you a million questions about your health history, current eating and exercise practices, etc., and then professes to tell you your "real age" based on your medical information. Most of the questions seemed to make sense, and it even asks how many times per week you floss, perhaps just to prove its vigilance about all-things-medical. (I know, I know, flossing is important.)

Anyway, the reason RealAge has the honor of a mention on my blog is because it had something to say about my diet. One question about current health problems prompted me to enter that I suffer from migraines. Then it asks, What are you doing about your problems? The check-list offered includes seeing a doctor, changing your diet, and more. So of course, I checked the changing-my-diet box. (Although, keep in mind that the diet change was doctor-recommended.)

Now, before I tell you the results of my RealAge, I want to remind all readers that the reason I haven't had migraines for the past 3 months is because of this diet change that I'm plowing through. Prior to this diet change, not much (except acupuncture) has helped, including seeing MDs.

Ok, now for the results. My RealAge (haha) is 23.4, which I guess is good since I'm actually 25.4. In addition to your age, it gives you a green check for each positive step you are taking and a red X for each negative step. The shocking part, and the part that made me realize the ridiculosity of this site is that I got a red X for "dealing with headaches." Apparently completely changing my diet over a course of meticulously planned months is not a good enough step for RealAge. Then it went on to tell me that "migraines are no fun, but you don’t have to just live with the pain."

And this concludes my rant on this fad-faux-medicine-website. (I know, what was I expecting?)
Oh and by the way, I don't want my RealAge to be younger than my real age.
Old=wise.

Pumpkin Pancakes Inspire a Blog

2009-11-07T22:30:00.000-08:00

Pumpkin week has been one of my favorite food-reintroduction weeks. Besides feeling physically great (which means my body is ok with pumpkin), I also feel like an accomplished chef. These pumpkin recipes, and mostly the pancakes, really did inspire this blog. After I ate them, I realized I had discovered something special and I needed to share it with the world. Also, I learned how to get both pumpkin puree and toasted pumpkin seeds out of a fresh pumpkin!

How to use a pumpkin to its fullest:
Pumpkin Puree (for cookies, biscuits, pancakes, etc.)
1) preheat oven to 350
2) cut your beautiful pie pumpkin in half, scoop out seeds and set them aside to dry on a towel
3) put the pumpkin halves face down on a baking sheet
4) pour a bit of water on the baking sheet, just enough so the pumpkin will stay moist while sitting in the water
5) bake for about an hour until the skin is soft and you can poke through it with a fork
6) remove from oven and scoop pumpkin out of skin. mash or blend depending on your needs

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
1) preheat oven to 325
2) sprinkle seeds with olive oil and salt
3) bake for about 10-20 minutes or until brownish, and keep an eye on them

Here's a good website for more detailed directions and other things you can sprinkle seeds with.

And now for a few inspiring pumpkin recipes:

Vegan Pumpkin Pancakes (Makes 18 Pancakes)

1 Cup White Flour (I used barley flour)
1/2 Cup Buckwheat or Spelt Flour (again, barley flour)
2 Tsp Baking Powder (I used the the baking powder substitution: 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp cream of tartar)
1 Tsp Baking Soda
1/2 Tsp Cinnamon
1/2 Tsp Salt
1 1/4 Cup Rice Milk (I used hemp milk)
1 Tbsp Maple Syrup, plus extra for serving with pancakes
1 Tbsp Vegetable Oil, plus extra for greasing the pan
1/2 Cup Pumpkin Puree, canned (I used fresh pumpkin!)

I also added dried cranberries and sunflower seeds, which were delicious and gave the pancakes a good texture.

1. Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl.
2. Mix the wet ingredients in a separate bowl.
3. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and whisk to combine (don’t over mix, some lumps are fine).
4. Heat a griddle or large saute pan over medium heat and lightly grease with oil.
5. Ladle as many pancakes as possible (about 2 tbsp of batter for each one) on the griddle and cook 2 minutes or until bubbles start forming on the surface and the bottom is golden brown.
6. Flip the pancakes and cook another 2 minutes.
7. Repeat the process until you run out of batter (you can hold the finished pancakes in a 250 degree oven while you finish making the pancakes).
7. Serve with maple syrup and enjoy. (I also like to put almond butter on my pancakes.)

Source: http://weelicious.com/2008/11/26/vegan-pumpkin-pancakes/

This picture is not super-flattering, I think because the biscuits are in irregular shapes, but these biscuits were a really good breakfast treat. They are not too sweet, but they have this really nice moist pumpkin taste. In retrospect I bet these would have been good with raisins too. The original recipe says that they would be good for Thanksgiving dinner, which I think is true. Oh, isn't it great to find a food that works for breakfast AND dinner!?

Vegan Pumpkin Biscuits
source: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/pumpkin-biscuits-recipe.html

2 cups barley flour

1 tablespoon baking powder (or 1/4 tablespoon baking soda plus 1/2 tablespoon cream of tartar)

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground allspice (I used cinnamon and a bit of nutmeg)

3/4 cup canned pumpkin (I used fresh pumpkin!)

1/2 cup regular milk, or soy milk (or hemp milk)

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 tablespoon maple syrup

1) Preheat oven to 450F. Lightly oil a baking sheet.
2) Combine all ingredients. Stir just until the mixture holds together; avoid over mixing, or biscuits will be tough.
3) If you used oil (which I did), your dough isn't going to be rollable, so you'll want to just make drop-biscuits. To do this, using a spoon, scoop up a generous amount of dough and plop it onto your baking sheet. Press down slightly so that it flattens out a little.

Bake in the center of the preheated oven for 12 to 16 minutes, until tops are golden brown. Serve hot. Makes about 20 biscuits.

Tofu that doesn't suck.

2009-11-07T13:51:00.000-08:00

I do not think that tofu sucks, but I know a lot of people do. This blog is for all those people. Here's a recipe I found/perfected that is really delicious and super-easy. Sometimes I feel like you have to be a really good chef in order to make tofu good, or crispy, or tasty. This recipe is a no-fail, simple masterpiece. Oh, and baked tofu is healthier than fried tofu.

Really Easy Fail-proof Tofu

1) Preheat oven to 400
2) Cut tofu into slices (see picture below)
3) Soak (or marinate if you're into those cooking terms) in soy sauce or wheat-free tamari and a couple drops of sesame oil (optional) for about 10 minutes
4) Place slices on oiled baking sheet
5) Bake for 15 minutes
6) Flip each slice over and bake for another 15 minutes

I eat mine with rice because I read that if you eat tofu with rice, your body is able to absorb more of the protein. Also I sprinkle sesame seeds on top of everything because sesame seeds are awesome. For a really easy-to-make meal, steam something green and put that with the rice and tofu.

Another reason I like this meal is because I'm impatient. I don't like to wait for the oven to preheat and I don't like waiting for stuff to cook. So here's what I do:
Start the rice. Cook it for 40 minutes.
Then preheat the oven for the tofu. By the time the oven preheats, the tofu should be done marinating.
Put the tofu in the oven and then start the greens.
By the time your greens are done, the tofu will need to be flipped.
By that time you only have about 15 minutes left, with which you can pick up all the crap on your kitchen table, get out plates, turn off the rice, tell your people that dinner's ready, and figure out which Simpsons episode you will watch during dinner.

REFINED SUGAR

2009-10-25T12:46:00.000-07:00

Refined sugar gave me a headache. And what a surprise..not. I've always heard it's bad for you. 48 hours after I ate it, I had the first real headache of the whole experiment. It wasn't a migraine, but it convinced me that I did not have to try sugar a second time that week.

The good news is I have an amazing recipe for you all. This is a pie (in which I will now use unrefined sugar) that is ridiculously easy to make. Crust and all: easy as pie.

Easy Schmeasy Pie
Make this right in the plate – no rolling!
Source: http://www.buildyourownhouse.ca/Pie%20Crust.htm

Crust:
1 ½ cups flour or barley flour
2 tbsp. Sugar
Quick Dash of Salt
½ cup Vegetable Oil
2 tbsp. Milk or soy milk

Filling:
Frozen or fresh fruit
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar

Preheat oven to 350

1- Mix the Dry Ingredients directly in the Pie Plate. Draw a little circle in the middle with your finger.
2- Pour the oil and milk into a jar and put the lid on tightly. Give it a good shake.
Pour this mixture into the circle and mix it gently with a fork until completely blended.
3- Press the pastry against the sides of the pie plate first, then fill in the bottom.
4- Mix any fresh or frozen fruit with 1/2 cup flour and 1/2 cup sugar
5- Bake for about 45 minutes

WHEAT

2009-10-18T12:46:00.000-07:00

During wheat reintroduction week, I made the mistake of reintroducing a food while menstruating. So, when I felt like crap, I didn't know if it was because of my period or wheat. Lesson learned, I will not reintroduce anything else while menstruating.

EGG YOLKS

2009-10-11T12:45:00.000-07:00

Egg yolks hurt my stomach. I tried eating them twice, 5 days apart, just to make sure, and each time the symptoms were the same. My stomach hurt within a few hours.

So, the bad news is that egg yolks hurt my stomach. The good news is that there are many kinds of eggs! I have been eating duck eggs, which I get at the farmers' market. They are bigger and richer than chicken eggs, and they don't hurt my stomach. I have used them in baking, too, and I can't tell the difference. Soon I hope to make challah with duck eggs. I'll let you know how that turns out, assuming I can eventually eat all the other ingredients in challah.

How to Eat While Camping

2009-10-11T10:49:00.000-07:00

At first this "diet" (diet and experiment don't really describe this...anyone have a better word?) seems very limiting. But instead of focusing on all the things I cannot eat, I have had a great time discovering things I can eat, and things that I didn't know I would love to eat...like barley flour and duck eggs.

Anyway, the question of the hour is "How can you go camping with such a limited diet?"

And the answer is...

Justin and I left for a beautiful secluded campsite after lunch and brought the following:
Snacks for hiking: rice cakes, fruit, nuts and dried fruit trail mix
Dinner: We made this amazing soup. I now make it at home all the time. At the campsite, no fires were allowed so we used a small stove. The recipe is below.
Breakfast: oatmeal with chopped apples and nuts, raisins, cinnamon

Eagle Creek Soup
By Justin

Put the following ingredients into a pot in this order:
olive oil
(wait until it's hot)
onions and garlic
(wait until the onions are translucent)
chopped carrots and potatoes
curry powder and black pepper to taste
chopped broccoli or kale or whatever green you like
enough water to cover the top of all the veggies
1/2 cup red lentils and 1/2 cup quinoa
salt to taste

That's it. No measurements required, really. Just bring it to a boil and let it simmer until the lentils are all nice and mushy and it's stew like and you'd want to eat it.

This is a picture of the soup when I made it at home (not camping). I topped it with fresh parsley which was awesome.
So, there's something amazing and comfort-food like that I can eat. And it's so easy that you can bring it camping.

CORN

2009-10-04T12:45:00.000-07:00

Corn week is here, and thank Earth because corn is very hard to avoid!
I don't think I have explained the reintroduction process yet. I'll use corn as my example since that's the food of the week.

On day 1 I eat a normal serving of corn.
On day 2-4 I pay attention to any symptoms.
If there is an obvious symptom, I don't need to reintroduce corn again on day 5 because I have already seen its negative effects. I can choose to never eat corn, or I can choose to try again in 6 weeks.
If there are no obvious symptoms, then I eat another normal serving of corn on day 5.
I pay attention to any symptoms on days 6 and 7, and I assess how I feel at the end of the week.
This is what I will do every week with each new food. I have also read about the possibility of overcoming a sensitivity by avoiding it for a while (like 6 months). So if I reintroduce corn and it makes me sick, I don't have to assume I will never eat it again in my life. And there's the bright side we've all been waiting for.

For my first corn adventure, we went out to a Mexican restaurant where I ate way too many corn tortillas. The next day I had no energy and I felt generally crappy.

On day 5 I ate 2 corn-on-the-cobs, which tasted amazing, by the way. I cut the corn off the cob and ate it with a salmon salad. Yum. The next couple days I felt fine.

So then I was confused about corn. Any advice? I think I will try again in 6 weeks because these results seem a bit inconclusive to me. Anyone know how corn tortillas are processed...did that have something to do with it?

TOMATO

2009-09-27T12:45:00.000-07:00

It's been six weeks and it's time to introduce my first food! I'm choosing tomatoes because we have a million in the backyard, and it's been hard to avoid them in things like sauces. Think about all the ways in which tomatoes really enhance other foods: barbecue sauce, ketchup, pasta sauce, Indian veggie dishes, salads, sandwich and egg toppings, the list goes on.

To sum up: I've missed them.

Justin and I decided to make fried green tomatoes since we had so many green tomatoes. We planted late, and then we didn't have that much sun (Portland, go figure). So, we rented the movie and made a night of it. And to make the meal as southern as possible, we ate the tomatoes with lentils and rice.

Simple Fried Green Tomatoes

1) Mix barley flour with salt and pepper.
2) Cut green tomatoes into slices.
3) Cover tomato slices with flour mixture
4) Fry in oil!

Tomato week was a success. I had no symptoms, so tomatoes are back in the diet!

Week Six: Substitutions

2009-09-20T10:27:00.000-07:00

Here are some things I've learned over these 6 weeks:

1) Baking powder has corn in it (unless you get the kind with potato starch). A good substitute is:
For each 1 teaspoon baking powder called for in a recipe, use 1/4 teaspoon baking soda plus 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar.

2) Soy/rice/hemp milk can almost always be substituted for milk

3) Barley flour is my new favorite discovery. You can always substitute it for flour. Barley flour does have a very small amount of gluten, but I have been ok with it. Here is a list of many kinds of flour and their amounts of gluten. I never knew there were so many kinds of flour!

4) Egg whites can usually be used instead of egg yolks. So if a recipe calls for 1 egg, I use two egg whites and no yolk.

5) Any ingredient that you don't understand is probably corn. Including: natural flavor, citric acid, caramel color, dextrose, lactic acid....all the scientific names that make us want to be farmers so we don't have to be scientists. For an in depth and fascinating account of how corn rules the world and makes Americans fat and farmers poor, read the literary delicacy Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan.

6) Coping with Food Intolerances by Dick Thom, DDS, ND lays out this whole testing-elimination-reintroducing process. It's easy to read and accessible. Also has cool recipes and lots of substitution ideas. My favorite recipe in there is Sweet Potato Buns.

In other news, I have been working early morning shifts at a large garden, going to school, and working part-time...and I feel great! I could not have done this (especially the early-morning gardening) before these 6 weeks.

At this point, I feel like I know how to cook way more than I did, and I am empowered to feed myself. I know, that sounds ridiculous, but cooking everything at home AND eliminating migraines has made me feel self-sufficient in a way that I think I really needed.

Week Five: The Real Test

2009-09-13T10:14:00.000-07:00

One of the reasons I knew something was wrong with my body (or what I was putting in it) was that every Sunday I would struggle to get up to teach Sunday school. I teach Rhythm and Movement, so in addition to working with excited children, my whole class is based on running and jumping and clapping. I would see all the other teachers awake and cheerful, maybe tired because it was a weekend, but more or less awake. Sometimes I would marvel at the plans some people had after Sunday school...hiking, going out with friends, doing homework. I knew that after Sunday school (which is 9-12:15) I would bike home (with difficulty) and take a nap.

The real test, therefore, was if this diet would make a difference when it came to Sundays. And lo and behold, I passed with flying colors. I couldn't believe how much easier it was to get up on Sunday morning. My stomach didn't hurt, which is often a problem for me when not getting enough sleep. I did not feel drained biking to or from work, and I was able to go home and have the rest of my day without needing to reclaim the hours of sleep Sundays had previously taken from me. This was the real test, and the motivation I need to continue this crazy, strict, no-social-life-at-cafes diet.

Week Four: Nuts and Raisins

2009-09-06T10:03:00.000-07:00

The one amazing thing about being a migrainista is that I have learned to tell exactly when one is coming on. I think most migrainists can name a few warning signs. Often, my sign is feeling tense in my shoulders and neck.

With that in mind, here's a journal entry from this week that made me happy:

"At about 5 pm I started to feel this feeling in my head and shoulders--that tense feeling where I can assume I will get a headache. BUT no headache came...I feel like before this diet, this would have been a headache or migraine."

So I guess I have eliminated enough stressors from my system that when I do feel a bit stressed, it doesn't turn into a migraine. Yay!

In other news, I have been snacking on nuts and raisins. Since I can't eat out, I make sure to always have food with me when I leave the house. I have started carrying around a tupperware of nuts, raisins, dried cherries, and sunflower seeds, which makes a great healthy snack, and is an easy to-go item when I didn't plan ahead and make lunch like I should have.

Week Three: Energy

2009-08-30T11:14:00.000-07:00

By week three I am amazed by the amount of energy I have. In the past I have complained to doctors that I feel tired a lot, or that I take naps a lot, or that I just plain need 10 hours of sleep per night. A few months back I started taking B12 vitamins which helped immensely. I noticed such a difference (and so did my partner, Justin.) Suddenly I could stay up later, wake up earlier....I had so many more hours in my day I didn't know what to do!

So the fact that week three had brought me to feel even MORE energized than that...well, I just don't know what to say. Maybe I can finally join the society of awake and productive people. OR, maybe I can have a lot of energy and I don't need to consider eating meat (which I am still not doing.)

Week three also brings us the ever-important and breakfast-changing CRISP!

I am pasting the recipe below, but you should really go to the source because the site is called Celiac Chicks, and that's just cool. Also I obviously omitted any foods I tested sensitive to, so mine did not have coconut oil for instance. I have found few omissions to really be a problem. And thank Earth for barley flour, which has been such an awesome flour replacer! (And healthier too, so I've heard.)

Apple Cranberry Crisp

INGREDIENTS

7 apples, unpeeled, (it's easier!) cored and chopped; use a few more if they are small apples

4 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1 vanilla bean cut into bits; or use 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
3/4 cup fresh cranberries (optional)
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup quinoa flakes, or gluten-free oats
1/2 cup coconut oil

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Put the apples in a 9x13x2 inch Pyrex casserole dish. (If you don't have a dishwasher, like me, then you'll appreciate the fact that you don't have to dirty another mixing bowl. I experimented with this the second time I made this.)

Sprinkle the lemon juice over the apples.

Sprinkle the cut vanilla bean, or extract over the top of the apples.

Stir the mixture around a bit with a spoon.

Combine maple syrup, cinnamon, and quinoa (or gluten-free oatmeal) in a bowl. Cut in coconut oil.

Sprinkle mixture over apples.

Bake 45 minutes or until topping looks crisp.

Week Two: Craving Sugar

2009-08-23T11:06:00.000-07:00

During week two I discovered the book Simple Treats. It has egg-free, dairy-free, wheat-free desserts, and they are actually edible. I mean really delicious. The crumbcake (with blueberries) is sooooo good, I could not believe it. It's a funny thing to realize how much refined sugar we eat each day. Actually it's in everything, even sushi rice! So it was important to me to have great desserts around (also something the doc warned me about...she's so smart!) so that I didn't feel deprived or start resenting this diet.

I also learned how to make a stirfry. I know, I should have learned that BEFORE age 25.Up until this point I had been eating alone. Even when I was next to someone else, I still felt alone with my meal. There's just something lovely about sharing a meal with another person, and I had been missing it. I made this stirfry with my friends Susie and Nathan, and I was ecstatic to share the cooking and eating with company. It felt so nice to be doing something healthy for ourselves that was also fun and social. And there you have it, the mind-body connection. The stirfry and the company complemented each other, and in a gestaltish kind of way, the night made me feel really good.

Week One: Julie Learns to Cook

2009-08-18T10:46:00.000-07:00

Week One highlights include apricot potato curry, Japanese eggplant, and a peach blueberry smoothie. I have already amazed myself by how many things I can make at home (since going to restaurants won't be possible anytime in my near future).

Apricot Potato Curry! Weird but GOOD!

Source: http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=28691.0

Ingredients (use vegan versions):

1 Onions, Sliced

1.5 Tablespoons of your favourite Curry Powder or Paste

2 Cups Apricots, Halved

1/4 cup and1/2 cup Cups Apricot Nectar

1/2 lb Potatoes (skins on, people!!), Chopped Roughly

Chilli (Optional)

Oil, for frying

Water

Directions:

In the Oil, Fry the Onions and Curry Powder/Paste until fragrant.

Add Apricots and Apricot Nectar. Cook for 5 Minutes.

Add Potatoes and Chilli (Optional) and Cover with Water.

Simmer on Medium until Water is gone and it is stew-like.

Serve!

Makes: 6 Serves, Preparation time: 10 Minutes, Cooking time: 30 Minutes

Japanese Eggplant with Quinoa

Amazing smoothie. Never underestimate the power of natural sugars.

Blueberries, peach, banana, apricot nectar. That's it. Amazing.

The Test

2009-08-17T10:18:00.000-07:00

I took the EAV test for food sensitivities with the hope that I could eliminate food stressors that may have been contributing to my migraines. My doctor recommended another Naturopathic Doctor (ND) in my area (Portland, OR) who had the equipment to administer the test. It cost about $150, and would have cost a bit more if I wanted to test environmental sensitivities as well. There are about 200 food (and food combinations) included in the test. Out of those, here are the ones to which I tested sensitive:

Fish
Halibut

Dairy
Cow's milk (skim)
Blue cheese
Cheddar cheese
Cottage Cheese
Buttermilk
Kefir
Lactose
Yogurt

Eggs/oil/vinegar
Chicken egg yolk
Turkey egg yolk
Corn oil

Grains
Corn
Spelt

Nuts
Coconut
Pistachio

Vegetables
Pumpkin
Tomato

Sugars
Corn syrup
White sugar
Sorbitol
Xylitol

Additives
FD&C Blue
FD&C Green
FD&C Red
FD&C Yellow
MSG
Phenol
Benzoic acid
Formic acid
Sodium nitrate
Sodium nitrite
Sodium sulfite

Caffeine
Coffee (regular)
Coffee (decaf)
Chocolate
Cocoa

Fruits
Strawberry
Mango
Cantaloupe
Watermelon

Alcohol
Beer
Grain alcohol
Kahlua
Wine (red)
Wine (white)
Tequila

Combinations
Wheat and soy
Grain and tomato
Meat and Tomato
Egg and tomato

Whew! So, what does all this mean?

1) The doctor told me that the two main inducers of migraines are usually dairy and wheat. So even though I did not test sensitive to all the items in those categories, for the experiment's sake, I have avoided all dairy and wheat.

2) The doctor also told me that I was the only one she's ever tested who tested sensitive to spelt and not wheat (read: I'm very special). This shows that the test is an indicator, but not perfect. That's why the reintroduction part of all this is key. For example, after my body "forgets" what dairy is for six weeks, I will be able to reintroduce dairy and get a reaction that actually reflects how my body feels about dairy.

3) The idea is that our body can only hold so much stress. So if I am eating 5 things that stress my body with minimal or no symptoms, a 6th stressor could be the straw that breaks the camel's back. Or in my case, the stressor that gives the camel a migraine.

4) Oh, the irony! I am a vegetarian and I didn't test sensitive to any meat.

"so what ARE you eating?!"

2009-08-16T10:03:00.000-07:00

This is the number one question I have been fielding for the past few months. After unsuccessfully trying to figure out the source of my migraines for 5 years, my doctor (who is an ND) recommended I get tested for food sensitivities. I took the EAV test and soon entered the life-changing world of eating for food sensitivities.

If this "experiment" seems overwhelming or unattainable to you, here are a few things to keep in mind:
1) I have never been good at cooking.
2) I was at the end of my rope and willing to try anything to get rid of these migraines.

For six weeks I eliminated the foods to which I tested sensitive. The big categories were:
-dairy
-wheat
-corn
-refined sugar

Then there were obscure ones like tomatoes, halibut, and mango.

After those six weeks, I reintroduce one food per week and see how it makes me feel. I am keeping a health journal of all of this so I can track each food and every symptom.