Yesterday's Meals

[Polly]

G'day Mates!

Let's do this again. I always love getting ideas from others.

B - cream of buckwheat cereal (a SEED, not a grain!) with blueberries, pecans and blueberry honey, black coffee (3/4 decaf. 1/4 regular)

S - apple

L- homemade soup (Pacific chicken broth, free-range chicken, a little wild rice, broccoli, onions/garlic), Boar's Head turkey on 1/2 rice tortilla, green and black olives

S - pecans and raisins

D - free-range chicken breast marinated in EVOO, balsalmic vinegar, and a little garlic (REALLY good!), sweet potato, kale, broiled eggplant, a little red wine

My beverage all day was water infused with spearmint.

Looking forward to your menus! I am getting to the point in the LEAP diet where it is much more interesting.

Polly xo

[Kari]

I sooo look forward to getting further along in my LEAP program, so my diet can become more interesting, but I'm not rocking the boat right now, since I seem to be back on track with the help of imodium. When things get better, I'll be able to contribute more on this topic. I also love to hear what other people are eating to get ideas. Anyhow, FWIW, here is what I ate yesterday:

Breakfast - well cooked rice with well cooked pinto beans - for the first time ever (in my life) I bought the dry beans and cooked them myself - couldn't believe how delicious they were - since I cooked them for about 5 hours after soaking them, they were soft enough so I could easily mash some of them to make a very nice consistency in the "sauce". Surprisingly, they were one of my least reactive foods on MRT, and I seem to tolerate them well.

Snacks throughout the day - peanut butter on rice snaps, some filberts, some cashews, some strawberries.

Late lunch/early dinner - organic ground beef, sauteed w/chickpeas/rice and softboiled broccoli, and to make it more appetizing looking, sprinkled with fresh parsley. I used celtic salt and olive oil as "flavor enhancers".

Sweet - I'm ecstatic to have discovered FIGS - I buy them in a jar (a little pricey), imported from France, so they are moist, but have no added ingredients. I eat them in moderation, and they don't seem to be causing any problems.

Then, for my crowning glory: Garbanzo biscuits. For the first time since I discovered my yeast allergy a few months ago, I have found a bread substitute!!! In the MRT results booklet, there are a handful of recipes, and one of them is "Linda's simple oil biscuits". I have made them twice now, using garbanzo flower, and I LOVE them. The only ingredients are oil, flour, baking powder, salt and water, so my system does not seem to have a problem with them - YEAH!!! I have to use a lot of willpower to stop at eating 2 a day .

Drink - water only.

If I sound a bit exuberant - it's because I'm starting to enjoy food again, even on my very limited diet of a couple of handful of items, not to mention that I'm actually learning my way around the kitchen for the first time in my life. As they say "necessity is the mother of invention" . Also, my fingers are that my flare is fading.

Love,
Kari

[Gloria]

Yesterday was my turkey-quinoa day.

Breakfast: waffle, maple syrup, home-prepared turkey sausage

Snack: almond muffin

Lunch: turkey soup with homemade broth, cauliflower, broccoli, turkey, coarse-ground quinoa, almond pudding

Dinner: turkey, gravy, quinoa, asparagus, ghee

Snack: almond muffin

[Polly]

Kari,

Your choices sound so creative! And cooking your own beans! Impressive.....

Do you empty all of the water out of the pot several times during cooking? It's supposed to make beans easier to digest. I use sea salt and EVOO a lot as flavor enhancers, too. Also a good balsalmic vinegar - made only from grape must and nothing else. But maybe you can't do grapes or sulfites.

I find it fascinating to see how different we all are with regard to sensitivities. Pinto bean are one of your best foods and one of my worst. You seem to be tolerating legumes well - garbanzo beans, peanuts, pinto beans. I have been afraid to try them because of the lectins. But my MRT indicated I could tolerate peanuts and garbanzo beans. Maybe you will give me the courage to try them one of these days.

That's great news about the figs!!! I am hoping that I will be able to tolerate dates, since they were one of my the few paleo "desserts"/treats. Tomorrow I am trying pure shredded coconut. If I do OK, I will try dates (they are both in the same family - palm, I think).

I am intrigued by your success with the biscuit recipe - it has been YEARS since I've had a biscuit. What did you use for the oil and the water or milk? I wonder if buckwheat flour would work? Or maybe coconut flour would work if I do OK with coconut?

Anyway, congrats on getting back on track and beginning to enjoy food again.


Gloria,

My least reactive grain was quinoa, but haven't tried it yet. How do you prepare it? Also, how did you make your waffles and homemade turkey sausage? Do you use almond flour in the muffins? And the almond pudding?

Recently I heard you lamenting the fact that there are no commercial turkey broths. I agree! But, then, the last time I was in Trader Joe's I saw that they have one under their own name. I was so excited because all of the ingredients looked safe except the ubiquitous "natural flavors". I inquired about the derivation and they were unable to tell me. I am still waiting for an email from headquarters. Sigh.

Also, how do you make gravy?

How are things progressing? Still improving, I hope.

Love,

Polly

[mbeezie]

I'm always interested in hearing what others eat. It gives me so many great ideas. I would love to eat beans but have been more than a little afraid to do so since I have a problme with both soy and peanuts. When the MRT 5000 comes out I plan to re-test and if beans are low, I am going to get brave and try them.

Breakfast: Slice of yeast free rice toast with sunflower butter and raspberry fruit spread, a kiwi and black coffee

Snack: 1/2 banana (going to stop banana for a while - it made my throat itchy and that happens for me in spring - must cross react with some pollen, so I'm in my banana off season now)

Lunch: a cup of soup with kale, sweet potatoes and sausage; small salad with arugula, cucumber, pine nuts, red bell pepper, red onion and balsamic vinaigrette; Edward and Sons Onion Rice Crackers, and a few gummy candies

Snack: Red pear and a few potato chips

Dinner: had a cocktail while making dinner with a fresh squeezed grapefruit and vodka (makes me cook better ), grilled chicken breast (marinated in balsamic, Dijon mustard, honey, garlic) salad made with steamed asparagus, chopped hard boiled egg, pancetta, and sherry vinaigrette and a small peice of cornbread

Snack: decaf coffee and raspberry sorbet

I only drink water throughout the day.

Kari, I'm so glad your flare is starting to get a bit better. I'm keeping my fingers crosed for you too.

Gloria, you are about as creative as you can be with your limited diet. Kudos.

Polly, good luck with the coconut. I'll share some recipes with you if it goes well since we all tolerate coconut in my house.

Love,

Mary Beth

[Kari]

Hi everyone,

I'm also amazed at how different we are regarding our reactive foods. I feel like I'm still on the fringe of things, and am hoping that my motivation to be creative with so many unusual foods will keep up. Certainly sharing ideas here is very helpful on this score. One thing I've noticed about myself, is that whatever I "create" has to look appealing and appetizing, so I put some effort into "presentation". Another thing that I try to keep in mind, is that this way of eating is actually healthier and more nutritious than the way I used to eat (lots of bread, cheese, coffee, etc.). So it should eventually lead to better health and more stamina. At least those are the carrots dangling in front of my nose to keep me motivated.

Polly - I'm wondering about the rice tortillas? Do you buy those ready made, and if so where do you get them and what's the brand? I made some with quinoa flower from the recipe in the MRT book, and they were very good, but I had a HUGE reaction, so I discovered that quinoa, my least reactive grain, had to go. I started worrying that there is something about flour that I cannot tolerate, but have discovered that I'm fine with the biscuits made with chickpea flour.

As for your questions:

I mostly followed the guidelines on the bag of dry pinto beans for cooking them. First I rinsed them very well, then I dropped them in boiling water for two minutes and let them soak in it for the next couple of hours. Then I rinsed them very well again, and put them to boil at a low simmer for about 5 hours (instructions were to cook them to desired softness). I did not change the water this time around, and as time went by, the water mixed with the beans until it reached a brown and somewhat pasty consistency. I also mashed some of the beans as they got softer to help the process of thickening the sauce. I can report that the final product was quite superior to the beans you get in cans.

Here is a question I have regarding beans: There is so much talk here about how bad fiber is, and how it tears the lining of the intestines. However, it seems to me that well cooked beans are paste like, with no sharp edges to do any tearing? The problem I see is their gaseousness which for us MC'ers is a bit of a problem, but eating them in small quantities does not seem to bother me?

The biscuits can be made with a flour of your choice, so you should probably experiment. They are amazingly easy to make - I don't try to do any kneading, or handle the dough with my hands, but put a little less flour and a little more water (I no longer have any "safe" milks) than called for, so the dough is more glue like. Then I spoon them out on a cookie sheet and voila, in 10 minutes I have fresh biscuits (can you tell it blows my mind ?). PURE BLISS. I use only EVOO and celtic sea salt in all my cooking at this point in time, including these biscuits.

I LOVE dates and have some medjools (sp?) in my pantry. However, I'm not sure I tolerate them really well at this point in time, so I'm enjoying the figs, which I seem to do quite well with. Good luck with those and the coconut flakes!!! In a week or so, I will try coconut again (of course the pure, without any guar gum). I have an easy and very delicious coconut milk recipe that I learned from my Indian (from India) girlfriend, so if you're interested, let me know.

Gloria - I'm also very curious about your waffles, as well as your gravy? I just bought some rice flour and will try the muffin recipe on the bag. I have found that the flour bags have some great recipes on them that seem to work well (of course with some substitutions). For instance, the banana bread I made from such a recipe has been very successful with my family.

Mary Beth - I also have some raspberry fruit spread that I love, but am not sure if I tolerate it well - did you say you found a brand without pectins? This is the only ingredient I don't recognize on the jar? I seem to be on a steep learning curve :). Also, I'm curious about your potato chips? Can't seem to find any pure ones without any of my reactive ingredients?

Love,
Kari

[Kari]

Mary Beth - your martini cocktail sounds perfect - when I get back to having a drink again, I will definitely try it. I have a beautiful, ripe grapefruit in my refrigerator, which is slowly shrivelling as I'm afraid to have it either with or without vodka .....

Question for you: My tongue has cleared up from the nasty white/grey coating it had from candida? How much should I still worry about the candida? It seems to me that managing my MC is more important??? Thanks in advance for any input on this (may be I can enjoy a cocktail sooner than I think???:)).

Love,
Kari

[Gloria]

My least reactive grain was quinoa, but haven't tried it yet. How do you prepare it? Also, how did you make your waffles and homemade turkey sausage? Do you use almond flour in the muffins? And the almond pudding? Also, how do you make gravy?

I love using quinoa flour. It is light, nutritious, and doesn't add any special flavor of its own. I have both an electric and a hand grain mill. I grind the quinoa seeds (purchased at Whole Foods for $2.99 lb.) and brown rice in it to make flour. I save a bundle of money over prepared quinoa flour, but the initial outlay for the grain mill was about $200. I had the grain mill before I had MC.

I also grind quinoa in a hand grinder (cost $50-60) because the electric mill doesn't grind as coarse as I'd like. I use the coarse-ground quinoa in my turkey soup and also as a mashed potato substitute. Other than the consistency, which is a little mushy, it doesn't taste that different to me from mashed potatoes. I grind Cream of Rice and white corn grits in the hand grinder because they aren't fine enough as purchased. Also, they cook faster when ground finer.

My egg-free waffle recipe is here: http://www.perskyfarms.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=12640 I can't tell the difference from those made with wheat flour. I'm sure eggs could be added. You'd just need to reduce the liquid.

I have changed my GF flours and starches in recipes as my intolerance list has evolved. I have found that one can freely exchange protein flours (rice, buckwheat, quinoa, millet, sorghum, etc.) and freely exchange starches (potato, cornstarch, tapioca, and arrowroot), but the amount of liquid needs to be adjusted. For example, buckwheat absorbs a lot of water, so if it is used in place of quinoa, additional water should be added. I have been baking GF for almost four years and I know what consistency I need for each product.

Dee has a recipe for ground turkey sausage posted here: http://www.perskyfarms.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=13363

My recipe is slightly different to accomodate the spices I can handle:

Turkey Sausage Patties
1 lb. ground turkey (dark meat is best)
3/8 tsp. ground ginger
3/4 tsp. salt
1/2 - 1 tsp. dried sage
1/4 - 1/2 tsp. black pepper
maple syrup or sugar (optional)

Crumble turkey into a large bowl. Add spices and syrup or sugar, if desired. Shape into eight 2" patties. In skillet coated with oil, cook over medium heat for 6-8 minutes on each side. Can be frozen for later use.

I do use almond flour in my muffins. These muffins are my favorite because they remind me of almond cake that I used to make. The recipe is here: http://www.perskyfarms.com/phpBB2/viewt ... 5485#85485 Almond flour seems to have a binding property, so I was able to get rid of the xanthan gum in the recipe. Also, I have made this recipe with as much as 1/2 cup almond flour, reducing some other flours in the recipe accordingly.

The almond pudding recipe is here: http://www.perskyfarms.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=12746
I make this with my homemade almond milk, but it can be made with purchased almond milk. Unfortunately, cornstarch is the only starch that gives pudding its creamy texture, and I know that you can't eat corn. You might find that you can tolerate cornstarch because it has little to no protein. I've made a maple pudding using arrowroot instead of cornstarch, recipe here: http://www.perskyfarms.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=12745 I'm sure it could also be made with almond milk and extract, but I haven't tried it.

I make my gravies using either glutinous or regular rice flour. I believe Dee uses glutinous rice flour. I've noticed that glutinous freezes better, and I freeze my gravies. I make a slurry (combine rice flour and water to make a paste) first and add it slowly to the meat juices, stirring as it is added.

I am still doing very well. I reduced Entocort to one every other day yesterday. I didn't have any reaction to eating slightly cooked strawberries the other day. In fact, Norman was more handsome than ever the next day. I'm eating 1/2 banana on a rotation basis. Next on my fruit list to try are mango and blueberries, both cooked slightly. I'm eating broccoli without any consequences, other than a little gas. My acceptable food list is slowly expanding.

I'll be very interested in hearing about Trader Joe's turkey broth. That would be terrific if we could eat it!

Gloria

[Kari]

Gloria - LOVE your post - thanks for all the great information - I will be using it. Also, can't begin to tell you how happy I am to hear of your progress - wonderful news on a Saturday morning!!!

Love,
Kari

[tex]

Well, it certainly appears that despite the fact that all of you are on very restrictive diets, no one is exactly starving. This thread reads more like some sort of blog for gourmets.

Here is a question I have regarding beans: There is so much talk here about how bad fiber is, and how it tears the lining of the intestines. However, it seems to me that well cooked beans are paste like, with no sharp edges to do any tearing?

You have to remember that fiber doesn't necessarily tear the mucosal walls of your colon, it tears the walls of some of the individual cells of your mucosa. IOW, you would have to examine the fiber under a microscope, in order to be able to access it's potential for damaging those cells. Since most sources of fiber are ingested in an uncooked state, (or a lightly-cooked state), for most people in the general population, that's why it works so effectively for them. The fact that we tend to over-cook it, should presumably make a huge difference in it's potential for scarifying cells in the mucosal lining. Over-cooking may not completely break down the fiber, but that should certainly attenuate it's potential for inflicting damage, on a cellular level.

Do you empty all of the water out of the pot several times during cooking? It's supposed to make beans easier to digest.

IOW, that process is primarily designed to purge most of the lectins in beans, isn't it?

Love,
Tex

[Polly]

HAHAHAHA, you know, you are correct, Tex. It DOES appear somewhat like a gourmet cooking blog. I guess it's important to find attractive and new options when one is so limited. A question - would there be a difference between the damage caused by insoluble vs. soluble fiber? It would seem to me that soluble fiber might be less damaging. And don't beans have a lot of soluble fiber? (since they make that great paste Kari was talking about).

Gloria, hands down, you are the flour/starch queen. Your basic knowledge and experience awe me. I'm glad we will be able to tap into your expertise here. Thanks so much for all of your suggestions. Am going to try that turkey sausage soon. Unfortunately, I can't tolerate almonds now - or any other kind of "milk". I am testing pure coconut today. If it agrees with me there is hope for a pure coconut milk. That would open up a lot of options. I would guess that coconut milk
adds a nice flavor to baked goods? Will have to try quinoa - I do miss mashed potatoes (I am yellow for white potatoes). Absolutely wonderful about your progress.

Kari, The brown rice tortillas are by Food for Life and contain: brown rice flour, filtered water, tapioca flour, safflower oil, rice bran, vegetable gum (xanthan, cellulose), and sea salt. I am OK with them even though there is xanthan gum (I think guar gum is more of a problem for me)......or maybe it's a tiny amount. They come frozen and I can now find them in the health food freezer section of my regular grocery store. They are so quick and easy for making sandwiches - just zap a defrosted one for 20 sec. in the microwave. I will take you up on the coconut milk recipe if coconut turns out to be OK. This morning I had a bowl of blueberries, bananas, and coconut with a tad of apple juice to moisten it all. It tasted so good - reminded me of a treat my mom always made us when we were sick -"ambrosia', she called it - orange sections, banana slices, and coconut, moistened with O.J.

Mary Beth - You reminded me I need to try some potato vodka I bought some time ago. But since I can't do grapefruit, I'll try O.J. or tangerine juice. Hey, is your drink while cooking the secret to why your meals always sound so gourmet-ish? They really do, you know.

Hugs,

Polly

[mbeezie]

Kari,

Were you diagnosed and treated for candida? Is that what's contributing to your ongoing D? I'm no expert in candida, but I believe your dietitian is - what did she say?

Yes, the spread I am using has natual apple pectin. It's a local brand (Central Market Organic). If you are concerned about reacting, call the comapny and find the source of pectin - often it's apple or citrus. Since you are doing well with figs you might try some fig jam - it shouldn't need extra pectin as the figs are gummy enough. The potato chips contain potatoes, sunflower/safflower/or canola oil and sea salt. Are you sensitive to sunflower?

Polly,

Yes, the vodka cocktail enahances the cooking skills! I do a seasonal martini: winter/spring it's grapefruit because the Texas Rio Star grapefruits are delicious. In summer it's a lemon basil martini or a spiked watermelon mint granita. In the fall I enjoyed pomegranate martinis. I'm not a lush, but since I no longer drink wine I had to get creative. Ciroc vodka is derived from grapes - you could give that a try since you tolerate grapes.

Gloria,

Your news is great - things are definitley looking brighter for you. Polly is right, you are the queen of alternative grains. Early on I tried to experiment but I got so frustrated. Polly has inspired me to try some buckwheat, so I got some soba noodles. I like quinoa and ate alot of it before I got sick. I just bought some at Whole Foods and will test it out again. I love making quinoa salads - my favorite used to be smoked turkey and dried cranberries with an orange vinaigrette and almonds.

Tex

From what I have read about lectins, the purpose of soaking is to reduce the lectins. Dr. Fine does a similar thing with nuts - he boils them first.


Mary Beth

[tex]

Polly,

Of course, we've generally believed that soluble fiber is less likely to irritate the gut, than insoluble fiber, because soluble fiber is soluble in water. One of the problems with fiber in foods, though, is the fact that fiber is one of those components that is generally assumed to be good for digestion, so not nearly enough research is done to actually pin it down, (in specific foods). If you do a search, you will usually find a wide range of values for the fiber content of many foods, especially fruits and vegetables. Sometimes, results are even listed as "average" values. According to the site at the following link, for example, half a cup of cooked pinto beans contain 2 grams of soluble fiber, and 5 grams of insoluble fiber. That's a lot of insoluble fiber. As beans go, only lentils contain more insoluble fiber.

http://www.the-natural-path.com/high-fiber-food.html



Love,
Tex

[tex]

From what I have read about lectins, the purpose of soaking is to reduce the lectins. Dr. Fine does a similar thing with nuts - he boils them first.

Yes, but remember that lectins cannot be destroyed by ordinary cooking temperatures, so they have to still be viable either in the water used for soaking, or in the food itself. At least that's true for gluten, (cooking does not destroy it), so I'm guessing that this would also apply to many/most/all other lectins. Of course, I could be all wet.

Tex

[Jan]

Polly and Kari,

When I make beans, I soak them overnight in cold water and then put them in the slow cooker the next morning with fresh water and cook them until they get to be the softness I want.

We have been spending our summers in northern New Mexico. Colorado grows a bean they call Anastazi beans. It is a form a pinto beans but it is claimed genetically it is similar to what the Anastazi people ate. I really love them as they as slightly sweeter than regular pinto beans. You can order them on line (they are rather expensive). I get a 20# bag each summer and split it with a couple of other folks.

Jan