Rooting For Twigs and Berries.
9:29 AM Edit This 19 Comments »
Some of you know that I have a penchant for cooking. (What? You've never been to my cooking blog? Jerk.) Well - my friends around here do, too. One of my girlfriends was diagnosed with a ton of food allergies recently and she called me in tears because, "What am I going to cook for my husband?!" And after I got the requisite, "He can cook his own damn food." out of the way, I agreed to help her find things that she could easily put together for a meal that taste good and don't make her feel like she is rooting for nuts and berries in the forest.
So far, the allergies are gluten, nightshade vegetables, dairy, and peanuts. What?! No bread? No tomatoes? No cheese? Oh My God! No Cheese! But I did that privately, because I agreed to go on the same diet as she has to, in order to figure out what I can cook and then pass it along to her. I found a very interesting book/website that seems to have all these allergies covered. Dr. Hyman's Ultra Wellness. And I'm super not into promoting any sort of eating plan. But, this was a good place to start.
And despite the fact that after the funeral last weekend, we all hightailed it up to an old schoolhouse in Olivet, South Dakota (Seriously. The first year we went there, we were giving people directions by saying, "When you get to the house with the two dead foxes hanging from the tree, you take a left." I love the Wild West.) for an overnight of volleyball, card games, disgusting food, fart jokes and laughter, I've been following this eating plan fairly well.
Because when I got home from the retreat? I was SICK! For two days, my gut ached like nobody's business. It was only this morning that I felt kind of "okay." So, right back on it. I love my morning shake. It's almond milk, a little bit of agave nectar, some berries or a banana and flax seed. Which, if you've never had flax seed, you can't appreciate the bathroom humor in that shake. Lots of brown rice and vegetables, a little bit of meat now and again and my very favorite - BEANS! So, I brought an experiment to work this morning. Greens, tuna, apples, and my homemade balsamic vinagrette will make for a lovely lunch (only I'm adding feta because well - because I can) and I love, love, love these gluten free crackers, which I eat with fat free organic refried beans for a snack. It's ALMOST like eating cheese and crackers.
Last night, I made spaghetti squash, and today, I am on a quest to find a pasta "sauce" that would be acceptable. I mean - we either put white or red on there, right? Dairy or tomatoes. There's got to be something else, and I'm going to find it.
So there. And check out my root vegetables. I rock.
So far, the allergies are gluten, nightshade vegetables, dairy, and peanuts. What?! No bread? No tomatoes? No cheese? Oh My God! No Cheese! But I did that privately, because I agreed to go on the same diet as she has to, in order to figure out what I can cook and then pass it along to her. I found a very interesting book/website that seems to have all these allergies covered. Dr. Hyman's Ultra Wellness. And I'm super not into promoting any sort of eating plan. But, this was a good place to start.
And despite the fact that after the funeral last weekend, we all hightailed it up to an old schoolhouse in Olivet, South Dakota (Seriously. The first year we went there, we were giving people directions by saying, "When you get to the house with the two dead foxes hanging from the tree, you take a left." I love the Wild West.) for an overnight of volleyball, card games, disgusting food, fart jokes and laughter, I've been following this eating plan fairly well.
Because when I got home from the retreat? I was SICK! For two days, my gut ached like nobody's business. It was only this morning that I felt kind of "okay." So, right back on it. I love my morning shake. It's almond milk, a little bit of agave nectar, some berries or a banana and flax seed. Which, if you've never had flax seed, you can't appreciate the bathroom humor in that shake. Lots of brown rice and vegetables, a little bit of meat now and again and my very favorite - BEANS! So, I brought an experiment to work this morning. Greens, tuna, apples, and my homemade balsamic vinagrette will make for a lovely lunch (only I'm adding feta because well - because I can) and I love, love, love these gluten free crackers, which I eat with fat free organic refried beans for a snack. It's ALMOST like eating cheese and crackers.
Last night, I made spaghetti squash, and today, I am on a quest to find a pasta "sauce" that would be acceptable. I mean - we either put white or red on there, right? Dairy or tomatoes. There's got to be something else, and I'm going to find it.
So there. And check out my root vegetables. I rock.
19 comments:
I love how you are helping your friend by embracing her diet needs and finding tasty ways to cook for her. Excellent!
Oh, yummy. Maybe try an olive oil based sauce?
I would think it'd be incredibly hard to change one's diet due to allergies. As someone willing to take this journey with your friend ... well, you are an amazing friend, Kate.
PS - Pesto doesn't have dairy or tomatoes!
I buy roasted red peppers(not hot!)in a jar I add to tomato based sauces.. I bet they could easily be made into a sauce with no tomatoes or milk products....
you are such a good friend! what a helper!
my t is allergic to dairy. we thought at one time that he was allergic to gluten and let me tell you....it was not pretty, the recipes we were coming up with to eat.
there was a great recipe on spaghetti squash on thepioneerwoman.com/cooking the other day.
I was going to suggest pesto for pasta too!
Otherwise, I just eat it plain - with olive oil & salt. Yum.
You are awesome for going on this dietary adventure with her!!
Personally, I like EVOO, garlic, crushed red pepper, oregano, and pepper.
I never put "white" on my pasta. Hate cream sauces.
"Red" is good though. But I prefer the "non-sauce" sauce that I described above.
pesto, pesto, pesto. it's why god invented basil.
and i take my pasta straight up with olive oil and herbs. yummy yums.
have a old coworker with gluten issues and she swore by her quinoa (sp?)
Oooh, I like BrianAlt's "non-sauce". And I'll echo the pesto.
I think it's awesome you're helping your friend in this way. Nice lady, you.
If I couldn't eat tomatoes nor cheese my life would seriously be sadder.
I've been doing a lot of pasta (there are plenty of gluten-free options as I'm sure you know) with chicken sausage, olive oil, fresh lemon juice, Herbs de Provence, and peas. Or pancetta, chestnuts, and sage!
I also want to echo the other comments that you're an incredibly good friend to be coming up with these recipes!
I feel so bad for your friend. A life without bread or cheese would be very sad. We've been getting healthy at The Circus too. It's been a long time coming. I've finally convinced my husband to forgo the junk cereal.
My hips will tell you that I am all over the white sauce......it may be fattening but it's oh so good.
What an awesome friend-thing to do. You rock!
I spent several months last year researching different ways of eating and finally found the way that's right for me, which involves little to no wheat, little to no dairy, and good quality red meat on occasion, as well as lots of spinach, sweet potatoes, and onions.
It took a while to get used to, but it really was an adventure in creative cooking to adopt this new way.
My daughter was diagnosed with ADD a few years back and we were asked to eliminate gluten, soy, corn, sugar, diary, nightshade vegetables, oranges....couldn't get away with any prepacked food at all. I decided it would be fair if I went on the diet with my daughter so I did. Never felt better to be honest. I even managed to develop a muffin recipe using none of the above. It's hard work though, I feel for your friend, but once you adjust and learn to find new things it becomes easier.
I would die without cheese. Seriously, I would. No, I really, really would. I'm not kidding. I could get it in writing from like a real doctor if you don't believe me.
How about an olive tapenade for the pasta?
Or Puttenesca sauce - olive oil, capers, olives, some parsley.. maybe a bit of anchovy ... Good Puttenesca makes me cry. Literally, I weep from happiness and goodness.
This cookbook was advertised on Daily Candy today: http://www.amazon.com/Allergy-Free-Desserts-Gluten-free-Dairy-free-Egg-free/dp/0470448466/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1256904872&sr=8-1
Nightshade vegetables?! Am I supposed to know what these are? Is this a trick?
How about truffle oil?
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