Got raw?

So, I'm visiting my sister right now. Shannon has jumped into healthy eating with both...lips? Anyways, she is embracing the raw diet (mostly) and I'm learning.

Right now, I'm drinking a juice of organic kale, romaine, lemon, apple and ginger. As I watched the whole lemon drop into the juicer, I was expecting some serious pucker power from the pith. I am happy to say that it's really super good!!

I'm not sure I...scratch that...I KNOW I could never go fully raw- I love warm food too much. But I am a definite proponent of raw fruits and veg (both of which I eat in large quantities throughout the day) and I can definitely try to embrace the raw more often. I have gotten into the habit of cooking veggies a little too much at dinner because the kids find them easier to eat (thus increasing the uptake!) but if I've overcooked them and murdered the nutrient content, I'm kind of shooting myself in the foot. There IS a balance, that's for sure.

I learned also that corn, that I always considered on par with rice, potato, etc (the starchy part of my meal) is actually a veggie if you eat it raw. I never considered eating raw corn. We had it with our salad for dinner and it was awesome- sweet and crisp and really really good.

I'll let you know what else I discover while I'm here. I head to the Naturopath today and I am going to have a consultation and also get my finger pricked and my food allergies tested. They do a standard panel that runs the gamut of "regular" foods that you can be reacting to. I suspect that there will be quite a few things that I'm producing antibodies to, but it may be while before I have the results. I'm looking forward to having some closure on the gluten issue, if possible. Though I haven't knowingly eaten gluten for months, I suspect that I'm contaminating my food often enough that I'd still have some of the IgA antibody in my bloodstream. We'll see.

Take care and I'll update soon!
K

Got raw?

Bob's Red Mill- Gluten-free Homemade Wonderful Bread

So I've temporarily acquired my mom's bread machine so that I can try a few of the GF bread mixes on the market. One I tried was the brown rice bread from El Peto. Uh...it's okay. For the first few months after going gluten free, I didn't eat any bread. Then I got really tired of never having a piece of toast so I'm on the quest for the easiest bread I can find/bake/buy.

So the El Peto one turned out okay, and I get two loaves in one box, so it's actually cheaper to go that route than to buy frozen. And, to be honest, I made myself a turkey sandwich and the bread didn't fall apart. Props, El Peto. Well done.

Now, Bob's Red Mill GF Homemade wonderful bread mix is about 7.50$ for the mix to make one loaf. But, I got suckered into the name and decided I'd give it a whirl (thinking if it WAS so wonderful, perhaps I wouldn't mind paying that kind of money so I could have a sandwich). I prepped the bread maker, and the recipe called for one whole egg and enough whites to make up 3/4 cup total. So, I had about 10 organic eggs and I was up to three eggs used with no end in sight. I decided that I'd top up the cup using flax— which I've used dozens of times to sub in for an egg in a recipe (one TB flax meal with three TB water, let sit till gloppy then rave on). HOWEVER, I'd never used it to replace an egg WHITE. I don't know if that's what did it, but about an hour into baking, the mix spilled over the top of the bread pan and onto the element. It stank up my whole house with burnt, and has potentially ruined the bread maker. I'm not sure the smell of burnt will EVER come out of that machine...did I mention that it's borrowed?

I did actually scoop out some of the bread and put it in a silicone bread pan and popped it in the oven. The result was okay (minus the aroma of burnt that still lingered in a very minor way- it was infused right into the mix). It really wasn't any better than the El Peto one, so really, for the odd occasion when I really do miss bread (okay that's always, but maybe the occasion where I decide to DO something about it) I'll stick with the El Peto one.

I actually used most of the salvaged loaf for stuffing since I currently have a lovely organic chicken in the oven. I hope my guests don't notice the peculiar aroma...

Bob's Red Mill- Gluten-free Homemade Wonderful Bread

Gluten-free, mostly organic, home-made tabouleh salad (and the magic of quinoa)

Don't even TRY to tell me you can look at this, and NOT drool. Seriously. Here's how I did it:

Ingredients:

1/2 cup quinoa

1 cup water

1/2 organic stock cube

large bunch flat-leaf parsley

2 large tomatoes (or several smaller ones)

3 inch section of cucumber (or again, smaller equivalent)

juice of 3/4 lemon

splash of olive oil

large garlic clove

First I cooked the Quinoa (you can get a BIG bag of organic quinoa now at Costco)

1/2 cup quinoa

1 cup water

1/2 stock cube (normally these are LOADED with sugar, salt and MSG- check them- you'll probably have to get organic ones in order for them not to be toxic)

Bring to a boil, then simmer, covered for 15 minutes.

Fluff, uncover and cool.

Then, chop the washed parsley and put it in a container with a lid (helps for shaking). Cut up your veggies and add them to the container (you may want onion in this mix- I'm thinking the little green onions or sweet red would be good...or fresh chives— I just didn't have any). Crush the garlic, squeeze the lemon, add the oil then put on the lid and shake it all up.

IF you can wait, it'll taste even better once you let it settle. I couldn't wait- no way! I put it on a bed of leftover spinach salad from last night. OH MY WORD..that was SO GOOD. Fresh, with a bite—it tasted like....July.

I thought I would have to give up tabouleh because it is usually made with wheat, but quinoa is such a great substitute.

Here is the nutritional content of the quinoa (pronounced Keen-wa) I just added to the salad (to be shared among several servings, but still):

Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)


Energy 368 calories
Carbohydrates 64 g
Starch 52 g
Dietary fibre 7 g
Fat 6 g
polyunsaturated 3.3 g
Protein 14 g

Thiamine (Vit. B1) 0.36 mg (28%)
Riboflavin (Vit. B2) 0.32 mg (21%)
Vitamin B6 0.5 mg (38%)
Folate (Vit. B9) 184 μg (46%)
Vitamin E 2.4 mg (16%)
Iron 4.6 mg (37%)
Magnesium 197 mg (53%)
Phosphorus 457 mg (65%)
Zinc 3.1 mg (31%)

Gluten-free, mostly organic, home-made tabouleh salad (and the magic of quinoa)

Recipe for sweets...

So far, I realise I don't have much of a pattern for my blog. But I am just getting into the swing of it, and rather than think too much about what to post, I'd rather just pick something I like. Today, it's one of my favourite recipes for a little sweet something.

Kirsten's Balls. :)

1 cup raw almonds
1 cup dates
1/2 cup shredded, unsweetened coconut
2 Tb water
and if you're feeling sassy
a small piece of nice dark chocolate

Pulse the almonds (and chocolate if you're using any) in a food processor until floury. Add in dates one at a time and coconut. Add in the water to help the mixture clump together and blend one last time. Roll into balls and keep in the fridge. Voila. Easy, yummy and a healthy version of candy.

Enjoy!

Recipe for sweets...