Heart of Cooking

If you have food allergies, celiac disease or any other condition, which requires that you limit or restrict your intake of certain foods, it is usually a process to accept and embrace your new lifestyle. Even if you have been following your diet for a while, it can continue to be a challenge to figure out what to eat, how to communicate to people why you can’t eat certain foods, and to find places to eat when you are out in public.

In every situation where you are faced with the reality of your limited diet, you may also have different issues come up.  It is very common for people with diet limitations to have different feelings about their new diet.  If you’re just beginning a new diet, it may be more difficult as you may feel misunderstood or left out leading to feelings of frustration, anger, or sadness.

So where does acceptance come in with all of this? As humans, when we don’t like something, it is our initial reaction to want to change or fix it.  The other side of this coin is that we may resist the change or circumstances that life is giving us.  What we end up with is being unhappy with our situation, trying everything possible to change it, or simply giving up and believing that life is going to be miserable for us.

Even if our outward circumstances did change, it may not really bring us the peace and happiness that we think it will. In other words, is it really the pizza we miss?  Maybe yes.  But on a deeper level, if we can accept our feelings about not being able to eat the pizza, we will come closer to being “okay” with the fact that we can’t eat it.

Acceptance can be tricky.  We hear we “should” or “need” to accept our circumstances. So our mind goes, “I accept the fact that I can’t eat pizza,” while our heart feels totally despondent.  How do we go from not accepting or not liking what is happening in our lives, to being okay with what life serves us?

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Gluten-free Chocolate Cupcakes

To balance out my last post, I am now writing about the gluten-free chocolate cupcakes that I talked about.  They really turned out great so I want to share the recipe.  I used goat yogurt in them, but you can easily replace this with a non-dairy milk.  They are also egg-free and maple syrup sweetened!  It is adapted from the Carob Cupcake recipe in May All Be Fed by John Robbins.  I made it gluten-free.  I also made a Cashew-Coconut Icing to go with it that was great – but it’s not in the picture.

Gluten-free Chocolate Cupcakes

Makes:  24 cupcakes

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If you have a sensitive digestive system, you may spend most of the year following a specific diet to keep your body in balance. However, it is possible that during this time of year, you may find it much harder to keep your body in balance because of holiday parties, family gathering and the abundance of yummy food.

Even if you follow a gluten-free diet, it is still easy to overdo it on the delicious gluten-free baked goods! I personally have found this true for myself during this time of year.  On top of the holidays, we just finished celebrating my husband’s birthday and my son’s 1st birthday.  I made gluten-free chocolate cupcakes with coconut-cashew icing.  They were delicious and very easy to overindulge on.

So, if you find yourself overindulging this holiday, and are feeling the consequences that night or the next day, here are some home remedies to help you get your system back in balance:

Ginger root:

Ginger has been used for centuries to help with digestion.  It can help with nausea, stomachaches, gas or constipation and it “helps break down proteins to rid the stomach and intestines of gas. It also aids in the digestion of fatty foods.”  Source

Make ginger tea:

When making tea, always use fresh ginger root sold in the produce section of your grocery store.  Peel the skin with a paring knife and then grate about once inch.  Bring about 4 cups of water to a boil, add the grated ginger and reduce to a simmer.  Cook for 15 minutes or so, or until it has a strong, spicy flavor.  Strain the ginger into your cup and add honey or agave to sweeten.  If the ginger is too strong for you, dilute it with some water.

Lemons:
“The acidity in lemons also has healing powers, especially with many digestive problems. Lemon, when mixed with hot water, can cure nausea, heartburn, constipation and diarrhea, worm infestations of the lower intestines, bloating, and belching. It also stimulates the liver to produce the correct amount of bile, which helps with digesting food.”  Source

I personally love adding the juice of one half to one whole lemon to a cup of boiling water. I add honey or maple syrup to sweeten.  Adding in 1-2 dashes of cayenne also helps to clear out your system.  This is known as the Master Cleanse – lemon juice, maple syrup, and cayenne.  People fast on this drink for 10 days; however, you can drink it in the morning and then eat lightly the rest of the day or do a partial cleanse.  It will still help to restore balance in your body.

Apple cider vinegar:

Traditional forms of vinegar that still have the “strands” present in them are also very healing.  The “strands” are the little bits floating in the bottom of the jar.  Apple cider vinegar is one of these healing vinegars and can help restore balance in your body as well. Here is some great information.

My friend and business consultant, Dawud Miracle, gave me the following  recipe for when he wants to enjoy certain foods he knows he may have a reaction to it.  He uses it particularly when he wants to enjoy pizza because the combination of the wheat and dairy causes a reaction in his body.

Mix 2 Tablespoons of apple cider vinegar in 8oz of water. Usually I take right after a meal and then a couple hours later. It really cuts the intolerance.

These are just a few remedies.  There are many more herbs and foods that can help with your digestion and restore balance in your body after the holiday dinner parties.  If you have additional ideas, please don’t feel shy to post your comment!

Happy Holidays!

If you’ve ever traveled while adhering to a restricted diet, you know that it is not easy. Unless you are staying with friends or staying at a hotel that has a kitchenette, creating your own allergen-free meals can be quite a challenge if not impossible.

I received the following question from Walter, who isn’t traveling, but doesn’t have access to a kitchen:

Wheat is like my main food, but I’m tired a lot and wondering if I need to cut out gluten. My problem is that I am currently living in a hotel room with no kitchen — not even a fridge. (I’m poor.)

Do you have any suggestions for my current situation?

First of all, since you’re not really sure what may be causing you to be tired, I suggest doing an elimination diet for four days to see if you can tell a difference in your energy level.  I talk about how to do this here. Start with wheat, and if you don’t see a difference, go onto dairy products.  Then gluten (eliminating all wheat, barley, spelt, oats and all foods made with gluten).

While you’re doing this, and when you find out what be causing your symptoms, here are some suggestions for your current situation:

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Just like an artist, you can be creative and inspired while you’re in the kitchen creating your next meal. However, in cooking and in art, it is a good idea to follow some basic guidelines.  In art, these might include techniques in shading and mixing colors.  In cooking, “keeping balance” is one technique I consider foundational.  Once you get this basic principle, you can create many dishes, either based on recipes you’d like to change, or create your own recipes from scratch.

For keeping balance, I look to the five tastes:  sour, bitter, sweet, salty, and pungent or spicy. Based on the principles of Five-Element Acupuncture, when most or all of these tastes are present in a meal, the meal becomes balanced, whole and nourishing.

If you pick up a book about this subject, you will see it is very much like a science and is very detailed.  However, to keep this simple, I will give a few examples of each taste and how to use them.  Then, if you are more interested on the subject, a great book to read or reference is called, Healing with Whole Foods: Asian Traditions and Modern Nutrition by Paul Pitchford.

Here is a list of foods that you can use to enhance your meals. Or, if you think there is something missing in your meal, you can reference this list.

Sour foods – lemon juice and zest, limejuice and zest, vinegar, yogurt, traditional lacto-fermented vegetables and fruits, green bell pepper, avocado, green pea, lettuce, string bean, zucchini, oats, wheat, rye
Bitter foods – red lentil, amaranth, corn, scallion, turnip, white pepper, alfalfa, bitter melon, romaine lettuce, rye, chocolate, beet, okra, red bell pepper, tomato
Sweet foods - Sweet food is the center of most diets, especially in the form of complex carbohydrates.  Some foods include:  millet, barley, garbanzo beans, cabbage, carrot, parsnip, rutabaga, spinach, squash, fig, orange, papaya, pineapple, strawberry, agave nectar, maple syrup
Spicy or pungent foods – rice, navy beans, asparagus, broccoli, celery, cucumber, mustard, green onion, radish, ginger root, garlic, shallots, cayenne, black pepper, hot green and red peppers, cinnamon, fennel, dill, caraway, anise, coriander, cumin, horseradish, peppercorns
Salty foods – buckwheat, kale, mushrooms, seaweeds, sea salt, tamari, seafood, aduki beans, black beans, kidney beans, pinto beans

If this is overwhelming for you, start simple by picking one or two items from each category to keep in mind while you cook.  My short list is always in the back of my mind while I cook:  lemons, limes, scallions, carrot, squash, agave nectar, ginger, garlic, onions, cayenne, cumin, and sea salt. Just by adding one or two of these items to a meal can greatly enhance the flavors already present in the dish.

While “sweet foods” take center stage in cooking, the other ingredients will be used in lesser quantities.  Here are some general guidelines while cooking:

Lemon or lime juice: Depending on the dish, add 1 tsp – 1 tbsp.  Add the zest of one lemon or lime to make this taste stand out.
Scallions: Chop 1-3 scallions and add to salads, gazpacho or in stir fry dishes.
Carrots, squash, and other sweet foods: these can be center stage of the meal or added into salads in smaller quantities.
Agave nectar: In “non-sweet” dishes, add 1 -2 tsp to balance out the dish.  One example of this would be homemade spaghetti sauce to balance out the bitter tomato taste.
Garlic, ginger and onions: I use these in many dishes.  Depending on how garlicky you like dishes, add 1-4 cloves of garlic.  Cook it for a milder flavor, or add 1 raw clove to salad dressings or uncooked sauces.  Add 1 tbsp of fresh ginger root to cooked dishes.  I sauté ½ to a full onion for a dish for four people.
Cayenne, cumin and other spices: Depending on the spice, I use 1-2 dashes to 2-3 tsp per dish.
Sea salt: Add ¼ – 1 tsp per dish depending on your taste.

Do you feel limited when you look at a recipe that has ingredients in it that you either don’t like or can’t eat because of an allergy?

Wouldn’t it be great to, on a whim, be able to alter a recipe to fit your dietary needs and appeal to your taste buds?

A main reason why I created my cooking website and the menu planner was so that I could help people be more inspired in the kitchen while they cook.  And this includes having the know-how and the creativity to change a recipe around if it doesn’t fit your needs.

As people on restricted diets, you are constantly running into situations where you can’t eat certain foods because they contain ingredients that you can’t eat.

However, when you are home cooking your own meals, do you feel the same sort of limitation that you can’t really enjoy delicious food?

This blog post is the first of many that will help you to broaden your horizons when it comes to preparing meals specifically to your needs and taste buds.  In fact, I am working on an e-book that will be all about how to replace ingredients in recipes to fit your diet.

Here are a few tips to start with:

1. Instead of focusing on what you can’t eat, focus on what you can. If you are on a very restricted diet, this becomes even more complicated.  Even so, the first step is to make a master list of foods that you can eat.  When you are cooking and preparing food from recipes that may call for ingredients on your “no” list, you will immediately have a place to look to find something that you can substitute the ingredient for.

2.  Think outside of the box. Sometimes it takes some creativity and ingenuity to come up with something that will replace an ingredient you can’t eat.  Start with your list of foods you can eat and go from there.  Or, browse the produce section of your grocery store and find some new and interesting things you may not have thought of using before.

3.  Learn basic cooking techniques. Switching a recipe around becomes easier with the more skills you learn in the kitchen.  That way, if you are converting a recipe’s main ingredient from chicken to fish, you will know a good way to prepare and cook the fish.

4.  Don’t be afraid to make a mistake. It can seem daunting at first to adapt a recipe to your needs.  But an important first step is to try new ideas.  This way you will know what works and doesn’t work.  Even if something doesn’t turn out great, you will learn something in the process.

Did you find these tips useful?  I would love to hear anything else that you would add to this list!  Thanks so much!

I am very happy to announce that Peggy Fogle won the drawing to receive a FREE 45 minute consulting session with me! Congratulations Peggy!  You can learn more about Peggy at her website: http://greenforyourfuture.com/

What is a consulting session all about?

There are many reasons why I do consulting with people, probably as many reasons as there are people.

I say that because each person is unique. Each person’s situation, lifestyle and experience is different.  While one person has children who have allergies, another person may have personally lived with food allergies or celiac disease their whole life.

Everybody’s challenge is different but I am here to help in whatever way you need; may it be extra help with cooking techniques, learning to adapt recipes to your needs or support with following a restricted diet.

You can also learn more about it by clicking here.

Or, you can contact me if you are interested in receiving a free 15 minute consult over the phone.

Many blessings!

Sarah

Maple Roasted Carnival Squash Slices (Recipe below)

I have been recovering from sleep deprivation from last week so this week I have been trying to catch up on everything.  But today I finally have time to post this week’s menu along with some photos and recipes.

This week’s menu planner:
1.    Sweet potato Black Bean Tacos and Cilantro Basmati Rice
2.    Chipotle-dusted Steak and Autumn greens
3.    Chicken with Parsnips and Leeks and New Potatoes Mashed w/ Garlic & Rosemary
4.    Chicken Curry and Maple-Roasted Squash Slices
5.    Tilapia with Creamy-Herb Sauce and Simple Sautéed Asparagus

Vegetarian/Seafood menu options:
1.    Sweet potato Black Bean Tacos and Cilantro Basmati Rice
2.    Chipotle-dusted Tuna Steaks and Autumn greens
3.    Bay Scallops with Parsnips and Leeks and New Potatoes Mashed w/ Garlic & Rosemary
4.    Mahi Mahi Curry and Maple-Roasted Squash Slices
5.    Tilapia with Creamy-Herb Sauce and Simple Sautéed Asparagus

Plus, for dessert, I have another upside-down cake.  This week I used a recipe from my sister that I remember was very delicious – a Pear Upside-Down Cake.  Of course it was not gluten, dairy or sugar free so it took some tweaking, but it turned out not only delicious but also very beautiful!  In fact, it didn’t last 24 hours between enjoying it ourselves and giving some away to friends and family!  And my little boy loved the pears I took off the top for him.

Pear Upside-down Cake - Gluten-free, dairy-free and sugar-free!

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