Heart of Cooking

First off, I apologize again for my absence on my blog.  We now have a contract on a house and are in the midst of all the details before we close.

Also, on a personal note, I am finding that winter time has been urging me towards resting more and being more internal.  I mentioned in one of my New Year’s posts that I am not suffering from Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) this season like I have in the past.  What I feel is happening instead is that I am actually enjoying the “yin” energy of the winter.  This is mostly showing up as working less, relaxing more, taking more baths, and not going out as much.  It seems like it started shortly before the massive winter wonderland we received a few weeks ago. To me, this is a real sign that my being is balancing out and becoming more in tune with nature, the way we are supposed to be.

New Changes to my Menu Planners and Website:

At the same time, I am very excited about some upcoming changes to my website.  I am not ready to go into all the details of what is going to change but I feel I want to start talking about them at some level.

These changes are in response to the needs people with multiple food allergies have.  When I started my menu planners, I didn’t really know what I was getting into.  But I did realize that making menu planners for people with food allergies posed some real problems to solve.  The main one being – everyone is allergic to something different.  There are common food allergens, but from there, there are so many other foods that people can be allergic to.  Beyond that, people, especially children, have many preferences of what they like to eat and what they don’t like.

I have been solving this problem by creating menu planners for specific diets.  The response to this has been great and so far I have the following menu planners.  Most of them are for four weeks of menu plans:

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Gluten, grain and sugar free cut-out holiday cookies

I had so much fun making these holiday cookie cutter cookies AND they taste great!  They are a little crisp but chewy, spiced and sweetened just right. If you can’t eat gluten or grains or dairy or sugar, these cookies will satisfy your holiday craving for cookies without making you feel yucky.  Even if you can eat these foods, don’t let the “free of everything” scare you off.  These are very yummy and very healthy for you if you’re trying to keep off the extra pounds this season.

I first tried making them with my toddler because I thought it would be a fun project.  He ended up just wanting to eat the dough and when I was cutting the cookies, he kept destroying the cut-outs!  My first batch didn’t turn out that great in appearance – they had finger print indentations all over them.  But they still tasted yummy, so I made some more when he was sleeping and made sure not to pat the dough at all after it was rolled out.

I had never made cookie cutter cookies, much less gluten, grain, dairy and sugar free ones!  A few things I learned may help you out on your cookie cutter adventure:

• When you cut the dough with the cookie cutters, move them back and forth just a tad before lifting them away from the dough.  This creates some space around the cookie and makes it easier to remove the excess dough.

• Don’t use cookie cutters that are too small – medium to large ones work well for this recipe.

• Don’t make the cookies too close together – this makes it hard to remove the excess dough.
• Don’t pat the dough once it is rolled.  This will create finger prints and then cracks when baking.

• If you don’t finish all of them in one day, freeze the dough for later – I still have a lump of dough left in the freezer for later.

So here’s the recipe for you to enjoy!  Also, my Just Desserts for Limited Diets recipe e-book is almost complete and will be available this Wednesday, December 9.  There is a 20% off pre-order offer happening right now if you preorder the e-book and the Holiday Menu Planner by Tuesday night.  These also make great gifts!

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If you lead a busy life and have a family to feed, you probably know all too well that it takes some effort and time to plan your meals for the week.  However, you have some backup options like frozen dinners or take-out when you’re in a pinch.  Life is hectic but you have some options.

Now, imagine a family whose members have food allergies and/or food restrictions.  Maybe this family can’t eat dairy, wheat, gluten, soy, corn and sugar.  Maybe the youngest member is also allergic to eggs.

Unfortunately, there are many families who face this reality every day.  If you don’t have these food restrictions yourself, you may not realize how much this limits one’s diet.

Eating out is “out”

A family on such a diet has a hard time eating out, if at all.  One main problem is that most restaurants use “vegetable” oil or soy oil to cook their food in.  This basically eliminates eating-out.

Fortunately, there are a lot of restaurants popping up that offer gluten-free options.  However, sometimes it is hard to get the wheat/gluten and dairy-free combo at a restaurant.  For instance, they may put dry milk powder in the gluten-free pizza crust.

Grocery shopping is a chore

Even buying food at the store becomes a chore.  You basically have to read all the ingredients lists and even then, finding foods that are free of dairy, wheat, gluten, soy, corn, sugar and eggs is tough!

This is why I create my menu planners.  I personally am on a very limited diet that forces me to cook basically everything we eat.  If I don’t do some planning for the week’s meals, I usually end up spending a lot of time driving back and forth between home and the grocery store.  I also end up spending more money because every time I go, I end up buying things I didn’t plan on.

The Nourishing Foods Menu Planners

My plan is to create menu planners for just about any limited diet.  My next series of menu planners are going to be for the extremely limited diet such as the following (these are subject to change as I get more feedback from people)

• The GAPS diet: this is a wheat/gluten, grain, starch and sugar-free diet that helps people’s digestive systems to heal.   This diet also works great for people on “low-carb” diets or the Paleo diet because it is free of grains and uses high protein nuts and seeds for flours.
• Egg-free, Dairy-free and Gluten-Free
• Nut-free, Legume-free, Wheat/Gluten-free and Dairy-free
• Common-allergen Free:  free of wheat, gluten, dairy, soy, corn, eggs, nuts, fish, peanuts
• Kid-Friendly menus

As of now, I have the following weekly menu planners available:

Meat and Seafood Diets:

• Wheat-free and Gluten-free Menu Planner
• Gluten-free and Casein-free Menu Planner
• Dairy-free Menu Planner
• Wheat/Gluten-free, Dairy-free and Soy-free Menu Planner
• Nightshade, Wheat/Gluten-free, Dairy-free and Soy-Free Menu Planner
• Holiday Menu Planner for Limited Diets – this is a grain, dairy, soy, corn, and sugar free menu
• Thanksgiving Menu Planner

Seafood/Vegetarian Diets

• Nightshade-free, Wheat/Gluten-free, Dairy-free and Soy-free

Dessert

• Just Desserts for the Limited Diet

Gift a Gift of Nourishing Foods to someone on a limited diet this Holiday Season!

I recently updated my Gift a Gift page where you can gift your friend or family member with one of my many menu planners.  I also offer hourly consulting over the phone as well as personal chef services for the Washington DC, Baltimore and Frederick, Maryland areas.

If you’re looking for a gift that keeps on giving, that can really help someone improve the quality of their life and can bring renewed inspiration to their dinner table, buy a menu planner for your loved one or friend.  They will love it and continue to thank you!

Give a Gift today!

Is there a way to heal the gut, to alleviate the symptoms of autism, depression and other mental illnesses?

First of all, the brain isn’t separate from the rest of our bodies.  Of course this is obvious when we look at the human body.  But somehow, we have been led to believe in our culture that our stomachs and the food we eat don’t really affect our brains and how we think.

In Five Element Acupuncture, the body is viewed as an intricate whole.  There are separate systems but each one of these systems or elements affects and relies on one another.  It is also said that the Earth element, which is connected to the stomach and the spleen, is the most important element, or the Mother of all elements.  If out of balance, this can lead to many other imbalances within the body, mind and spirit of a person.

To understand this, you only have to imagine the Earth.  When the Earth is diseased – unhealthy plants, too many toxins, pesticides, etc. – this has a detrimental affect on the living organisms on the planet.  We have seen the result of pollution on the Earth over the past several years and can attest that an unhealthy planet leads to diseases in plant, animal and human life.

Another example:  Imagine a bicycle wheel and the spokes that come out from the center.  The stability of the center is vital for the bicycle wheel to function properly.  Now imagine a broken center, where the spokes don’t connect properly or there isn’t any real substance of the center to hold the spokes.  So what happens?  The wheel falls apart.

Now return to the human being.  The stomach or Earth element is our center.  It is the place where the nourishment and food we eat becomes digested and transformed into energy in order for our bodies to be healthy and happy (hopefully!).  It feeds every cell in our bodies, especially our brains.  So in essence, the food we eat fuels the way we think, how we feel, and how well we are able to accomplish a task at hand.

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Grain-free Coconut Crepes

Last week I got hit pretty hard with a Herxheimer reaction.  A what, you say?

A Herxheimer reaction (also called a “die-off” reaction or a “Healing Crisis”) “is the result of the rapid killing of microorganisms and absorption of large quantities of yeast toxins, cell particles and antigens.”  (Virgin Coconut Oil).

Basically what this is saying is that when toxins try to leave the body faster than it can handle, it creates “die-off” symptoms which can vary from person to person.  The symptoms are usually a repeat of symptoms a person already has but they can get worse before they get better.

But it’s a good thing!  It means your body is actually on its way to achieving a new level of healing.  However, it is difficult sometimes to know if you’re simply reacting to something you ate (in a bad way) or if there is actually a healing crisis going on.

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This is my weekly post talking about what’s been twisting and brewing in my kitchen.  It is part of Wardeh’s Tuesday Twister at GNOWFLINS. Check it out!

It’s been a busy and eventful week!  I have been very inspired and have been experimenting with new and wonderful recipes!  My week started out last Sunday with a renewed inspiration and dedication to creating traditional foods that are very nourishing for the body.  Wardeh’s post about reversing food allergies through traditional foods got me started with this.

Midweek, I was contacted my someone who had emailed me a few weeks ago asking for help with menu planning for a very limited diet.  The first time she emailed, she was reacting to many foods including all grains, eggs, casein, poultry, and milk.  On top of that, she also has celiac disease.

Last week she emailed me and told me she had been doing the GAPS diet and program.  She said that it was not only helping with her problems, she was becoming “un-allergic” to foods that had previously upset her.  Her diet is still very limited but she is looking forward to introducing more foods and sounds really good!

Now, when I hear the same thing twice in one week from two different sources, I feel like “someone” is trying to tell me something!

I checked out GAPS and was intrigued by what it claims to help people with!  In a nutshell, it aims to heal the gut lining, and therefore helps adults and children with an array of digestive AND mental problems such as:  depression, celiac disease, non-anaphylactic food allergies and sensitivities, autism, ADHD, colitis, obsessive compulsive disorder, Chrohn’s, learning disabilities, diverticulitis, candida overgrowth, and much more!

I am almost finished reading the Gaps Guide, by Baden Lashkov and will soon be ordering the book, The Gut and Psychology Syndrome, by Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride, MD.  I am completely fascinated by this diet and program and am really enjoying reading it!  I am still learning so much;  when I am a bit further with it, I will write a more thorough post about it.

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Gluten-free pizza crust, tarte style

Notes:  I’m having some quirky problems with my website so I am using bullets to separate the paragraphs in this post.  I am also submitting this post as part of the Tuesday Twister Carnival at GNOWFGLINS.  Please visit Wardeh’s site to see all the other wonderful weekly posts.

• As promised, I am posting a recipe for gluten-free pizza crust.  However, this is a different recipe than the one that I mentioned in my review of premade pizza crusts.  The following recipe is for a tarte style gluten-free pizza crust that I adapted from a recipe in Nourishing Traditions, by Sally Fallon.  I have been slowly transitioning to more traditional methods of preparing and making baked goods, as suggested in her book.   The main step that is added in traditional methods of preparing baked goods is to soak the flour for 12-24 hours in yogurt, buttermilk, or water with lemon juice or apple cider vinegar if you can’t eat dairy products.

• This extra step (though it takes planning and time) makes baked goods much more digestible than if they are baked without soaking.  Through soaking flours, the process of lacto-fermentation begins, which is a natural process that creates healthy bacteria like the ones in yogurt and traditional sauerkraut.

• I have to say I’ve been somewhat resistant to transitioning to this new “lifestyle” of soaking flours ahead of time.  I usually end up wanting to make something right before I’d like to eat it, which doesn’t work so well for this process.

• But after making my muffins, and then this pizza dough, I am becoming sold on this way of preparing baked goods.  And it is mostly due to the way these baked goods make me feel verses ones that aren’t soaked first.

• When I ate this pizza crust, I didn’t get that “carbohydrate rush” that comes with most baked goods.  Instead, I felt nourished and fulfilled.   My blood sugar remained “stable” and it also felt more like a meal than regular pizza makes me feel.  I didn’t have any digestive upsets from it at all, which I normally have even a little bit of after I eat non-soaked flours, even if they are gluten-free.  On the contrary, I felt like it was nourishing food for my body.

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I feel like I am somewhat on a quest;  a quest to find food that anyone can eat, no matter what their food restrictions may include.  This is now my second attempt at a recipe for SLICE-ABLE and GRATE-ABLE, dairy-free, casein-free and soy-free cheese.  Unfortuanately it doesn’t cover people with nut or cashew allergies, but hopefully many people can use and enjoy this recipe.

I actually like it better than my first attempt at slice-able, casein-free cheese.  The first one was a bit flimsy, though it did slice.  And the only way to get it to grate was to freeze it, which was time-consuming and a bit cold on the fingers!

I found this new recipe in The Real Food Daily Cookbook by Ann Gentry under “Cashew Cheddar Cheese.”  I made some adjustments – such as replacing the soy milk with almond milk and canola oil with olive oil.  I also halved the recipe completely because it called for 2 ounces of agar agar.  At around $7 or so an ounce of this seaweed, I decided to just half the recipe to see if I even liked it before spending so much on the agar agar!

Because this recipe uses agar agar, it is suitable for vegetarians and vegans.  The previous recipe called for gelatin, which I’m not too fond of either.

The other great thing about this new recipe is that the cheese can be grated without freezing it!  See below:

And yes, it can be melted after it hardens, or you can use it as a melted cheese when you first make it.

As for the flavor, I thought it had a nice flavor, however I may use a tad more garlic and onion powder next time and maybe a bit more nutritional yeast.

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Did you you know that it used to be common practice to soak flour in cultured milk, buttermilk or cream to make baked goods such as pancakes, muffins and cakes?  For people who are allergic to dairy products, water with a little lemon juice or vinegar can be used.

Why soak the flour?

As many people know, wheat and other grains are one of the hardest things to digest.  This accounts for many of the sensitivities to wheat and grain products that people have today.  However, if the grains and flours are first soaked for 12-24 hours, this begins the “digestion process” well before it hits your stomach.

“Because they are acidic, buttermilk,cultured milk, yogurt and whey (as well as lemon juice and vinegar) activate the enzyme phytase, which works to break down phytic acid in the bran of grains.  Sour milk products also provide lactic acid and lactobacilli that help break down complex starches, irritating tannins and difficult-to-digest proteins.  Soaking increases vitamin content and makes all the nutrients in grains more available…”  Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon, pg. 476.

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Like any mom with a child with food restrictions combined with a dose of pickiness, I have been looking for new recipes to feed my son who can’t eat dairy products.  I am also allergic to wheat and gluten so I end up making baked goods wheat and gluten free so I can eat them too.

I recently checked out the book, The Kid-Friendly ADHD and Autism Cookbook at my library to see what new recipes I might find for the GF and CF diet.  I haven’t completely finished perusing the book but for the most part I would highly recommend it.  One great thing about it is that it has many soy, nut, egg and corn-free recipes as well.

One recipe that caught my eye was the “Sensory Sensible Pot Pie Muffins.” This recipe is a muffin for kids who can’t eat gluten and dairy and who may not like to eat regular chicken or vegetables.   To solve this problem, they put the pureed chicken and veggies right into the muffin.

This, I gotta try, I said.  My son used to eat literally anything I put in front of him.  But with the toddler stage, he has become a bit more picky.  He still loves cooked veggies, especially green beans but isn’t too fond of chicken these days.

Also, since we’re on the go a lot, I was looking for a snack that was travel-friendly, healthy, gluten and dairy-free and high in protein.  These muffins seemed like the answer!

Pot Pie Muffins made with Namaste muffin mix

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