We want it all because food should be delicious... even when you're on an elimination diet and it has to be allergen-free!

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

More Recipes

At this point, I am getting the hang of cooking this way. I have posted new recipes I've modified or made up at the other blog, Sharing Recipes, with the tag "Elimination Diet." You may look for them there. Links to them appear here:

Main Dishes
Crock Pot Mexican Burrito Bowls
Mustard Chicken with Nut Cream
Orange Pork Chops

Side Dishes
Spicy Beans

Miscellaneous
Nut Cream

Sunday, July 12, 2015

Meals for the Week of 7/12-7/18

Sunday's Meals (7/12/15)
Breakfast on your own (I skipped breakfast today!)
Lunch:
* Leftover rice from last night, reheated and spiced Mexican (APB, paprika, chili powder, cayenne)
* Black beans, garbanzo beans, and cooked hamburger spiced Mexican and made saucy (olive oil)
* Leftover brussel sprout salad
Dinner:
* Goat-Cheese Burgers w/caramelized onions
* Grilled asparagus
* Salad of leftover brussel sprout salad, baby kale, baby arugula, lime juice, olive oil, macadamias

Meal Highlights this Week
At this point, things are falling into a pattern...we're making a few things that work, cyclically...I'm getting more comfortable "winging it' within the ingredient list we can have, to make leftovers taste a little different the second time around...

Lunch: One day EV was with us and we made some more of that Mexican meat/bean mixture from 7/12, but this time the "spiced Mexican" involved some tomato paste, since the three of us eating it can have it. I served it over baked crispy fries, and it was delicious... tasted almost like "chili cheese fries"--without the cheese, of course!

"Entertaining": We hosted some of our dearest friends and their five children for the day. They are visiting from Africa, where he is serving as a doctor to the destitute. Unfortunately, our friend has a severe allergy to nuts and seeds, which pulled out two major ingredients we've been able to make work while on the elimination diet. We pulled off the first meal by serving pasta (two boxes of rice penne (do not cook the pasta ahead and let it sit there during prep of other stuff!!) with two different sauces--the walnut sauce for us, and a jar of Classico tomato and basil for him and whoever else wanted it--with sautéed onions in both. We cooked up a bunch of other veggie toppings (broccoli, mushrooms, zucchini, peppers) and served them in individual bowls so people could take what they could have. I also served sliced apricots on the side--lots of them, as I had bought a bunch at Costco and they were getting ready to be too soft to keep around--as dessert.

For dinner, we ordered a couple of pizzas from Sam's for their kids, and we had Farm Fresh steam some shrimp (plain--we added APB and lime at home) and we cooked some burger patties. I ate my burger on a rice cake, topped with a makeshift ketchup blend (tomato paste, rice vinegar, paprika, dry mustard, salt, sugar). It wasn't half bad.

Dinner: In order to use the leftover burgers, I served the patties with waffle hash browns and cooked cabbage. (I'm not sure why I haven't been doing more of that. It was delicious, and we need the roughage! I cooked it with a good bit of onion and seasoned it with olive oil, salt, APB, and the potato dregs from my first attempt to cook the hash browns regularly, in the skillet, which stuck badly. Once the hash browns were safely in the waffle iron, I added a bit of hot water to the pan and cooked off the seasony, stuck potato mash and added it to the cabbage. Yum!)

Saturday, July 11, 2015

Meals for Saturday, 7/11/15

Breakfast
Everything-Free Waffles again! (and, again, YUM!)

Lunch
Pecan-Sesame-Encrusted Chicken Strips
Oven-Baked Crispy Fries

Dinner
Smoked salmon
Brussel Sprout Salad, modified for our elimination diet
Some sort of rice dish


Thursday, July 9, 2015

Meals on Thursday, 7/9/15

Breakfast
On your own. (I had half a grapefruit and a "stacker" rice cake with almond butter and jelly.)

Lunch
EL and I are alone today at lunch, so I think I'll try some sort of tomato pasta sauce, since we can both have tomatoes and the others can't.

Dinner
Marinated Tuna, cooked according to instructions at Pan-Seared Steak in the Oven
Black Beans with Cilantro-Lime Rice
Cucumber slices, chilled with APB and dill
Sliced avocado, drizzled with lime juice and topped with pine nuts


Wednesday, July 8, 2015

Meals on Wednesday, 7/8/15

Breakfast
EL is still at her sister's house, so I'm not sure what she ate.
OG fried herself some egg whites with cooked hamburger in them.
I made a pot of oatmeal for me and iivo.

NOTE on "psychological shift": Iivo bought some "duck eggs boiled in salt water" at the Asian market last night when he went for mung bean sprouts for the Asian Salad. Interestingly, I notice he didn't "dive in" to those this morning. It is definitely a psychological shift to go to duck or turkey eggs (permissible) from chicken eggs. We're finding that it is relatively easy to switch gears into non-traditional alternatives in all areas except animal products. Trying new vegetables, fruits, nut milks and such is no problem, but thinking of trying to prepare and eat buffalo or bison or goat or rabbit (though all are permissible on our elimination diet) is daunting at best and disgusting at worst. Interesting! Hopefully we'll come along in those. I guess the duck eggs in my fridge right now are a first step. (Gag. I don't even like chicken eggs!)

Lunch
EL and I had leftover Asian Pasta from last night and an ear each of fresh sweet corn, since we're the only ones who can have it right now. We also had a half grapefruits and a cup of "Freshca" each.

Desperation Snack

I have been starving for something sweet, and my sister-in-law had posted a "cupcake in a mug" thing on her Facebook wall. I was desperate enough to try to make it work gluten-free. If you're desperate, it wasn't half bad! I present Desperation Cake.

Dinner
EV and RE are coming over for dinner before our prayer meeting tonight. OG has requested:
Pan-Seared Steak in the Oven
Mashed Pocaulies
Arugula and Baby Kale Salad with Apricots

Tuesday, July 7, 2015

Meals on Tuesday, 7/7/15

Breakfast
On your own. (I had a "stacker" thin rice cake with almond butter.)

Lunch
Everyone is out today with leftovers. I had leftover stir-fry from the other night.

Dinner
Asian Pasta (just me and iivo, so I used toasted almonds and added carrots)