I Refuse to Give Up Brunch

I am completely used to not eating typical breakfast foods.  It has been a year and a half since I've had a typical American breakfast.  No grains (pastries, muffins, miss those pancakes!), no eggs (bummer, so good for you!), no coffee (I love it, it doesn't love me), no yogurt (although I'd do raw yogurt for a snack).  My typical breakfast is meat and veggies.  I try to be creative with what I have, but it can get a little old until I come up with something new (like this amazing stuffing!  pork, lots of veggies, fat, perfect!).  My husband and I have always loved breakfast, especially Sunday breakfast.  The day after our wedding we had a blast cooking pancakes in our apartment.  They were fabulous and had a couple incarnations over the years as our health journey transpired.  They started as the perfect IHOP-worthy white flour pancakes, then became whole wheat as we figured out how to work with whole wheat flour, and eventually became garbanzo flour pancakes.  Now that I can't have garbanzo beans we've had to give them up (they were the perfect grab-and-go snack), but we are NOT going to give up our Sunday brunch.  When Mark is home on Sundays we love going to early Mass and coming back to a fun family brunch.  Lately I've struggled with what to do for brunch.  Being together as a family is the most important part, but having some treat to look forward to is a big part of the excitement.  We've tried a few things.  Plantain pancakes were pretty good, coconut flour pancakes were better, but I am trying to limit the amount of coconut I eat due to the high FODMAP level.  I get really exciting when I can add more vegetables into my meals so here is what we tried today:

Acorn Squash with Coconut Cream

1 Acorn Squash
1 Can Coconut Milk
1 T Maple Syrup (I used Grade A, but prefer Grade B)
Cinnamon
Salt
Coconut Oil

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Cut acorn squash in half, de-seed, and lay each side open side down on glass baking dish pre-coated generously with coconut oil.

3. Place in oven to cook for 40 minutes.

4. Open can of coconut milk, scrape cream off top (most sites say to make sure the can has been refrigerated over night, but in my experience the cream and water are almost always separated from the get-go.  Mine actually mixed together when I stuck it in the fridge) leaving the coconut water in the can.  A little water in your cream or a little cream left in your water isn't a big deal.  Place in mixer with maple syrup and beat on high until whipped.  Refrigerate.

This is what our coconut cream looked like when done with whipping.

5. Once the acorn squash has cooked for 40 minutes, heat oven to low broil and flip squash so the open side is up.  Check squash after 5 minutes, rotate if necessary.

This is what our squash looked like right out of the oven with a dollop of coconut oil.

6. Pull squash out of oven, place a large spoonful of coconut oil in each opening.  With a fork, poke holes in squash to let the coconut oil drain down into the flesh.

7. Let squash cool to desired temperature and sprinkle with cinnamon and salt to taste.

8. If desired, put a dollop of whipped coconut cream in center of each squash.  If the squash is still hot the coconut cream will melt (which does taste yummy) so, if you would like it to stay more "whipped" let the squash cook to room temperature.

9. Cherish!!!

We thoroughly enjoyed these.  We tried them with and without the coconut cream and both ways were delicious.  They were also super filling; we were SO STUFFED just halfway through the squash.  I made another squash recipe today that I need to tweak.  Maybe I'll have to make "Squash Sunday" a thing!  What is your favorite squash recipe?

Why My Stomach and My Shins Love Apple Cider Vinegar

And that was my reasoning today.  But it wasn't because I couldn't get enough to eat, just because I couldn't get enough to control my stress.  I've never had a problem with stress until I had to become an adult.  :D  From middle school through pre-pregnancy marriage I could handle anything thrown my way.  I felt like super woman, getting 4 hours of sleep on school nights because I was too focused to stop working.  If I got 4 hours of sleep now I would't be able to stand!

The week has been a little more overwhelming than most.  Or maybe everything was pent up for so long I reached my capacity to handle it.  After a sanity/family-time hiatus from school, James went back this week.  I know it is important for him and good to get back on a routine, but it take 3 hours to get everyone ready and out the door every morning (or 2.5 if the only things I do for myself are shower and eat breakfast). The little one is teething which makes for some very unpleasant sleeping and difficult feeding sessions.  I have got to find an amber necklace for her soon, her bracelet just isn't doing enough.  I have to find another way to handle my stress besides eating.  Honestly, I think that is the hardest part of maintaining the AIP protocol, not having the insane "give me everything in the grocery store to shove in my face NOW" look that the brunette in the picture has.  I did a lot of brainstorming for comfort food that won't tip the scales and turn my intestines into a broken garbage disposal so I hope to have some new recipes coming your way (or maybe more importantly, my way) soon!

I've been thinking about apple cider vinegar a lot lately.  Probably because I've had several conversations about it this week.  That is bound to happen when I throw back a shot of liquid that looks like apple juice, but makes me shudder right before each meal.  I've used ACV off and on for a year and a half now.  Right now I am back "on".  I have problems with low levels of stomach acid which means my food doesn't digest well enough to be absorbed and used by my body.  This is especially true with protein.  We realized something was wrong when I noticed bruises all over my legs and couldn't remember a cause for them.  These weren't the normal mommy bruises, the "I smashed my leg putting my kid in the car seat" bruises.  When I brought it up with my nutritionist she understood the problem and said that I should start using the ACV undiluted (I usually diluted it in water) to give my body the extra kick it needed.  There is a noticeable difference in my energy and resilience now that my body has  this simple digestive aid.  I hope I won't have to add another digestive aid on top of the ACV; we'll see how it goes.

So, what does ACV do for you?  As I've found, taken right before meals, it enhances the acidity of the stomach to aid in the digestion of food.  It also helps ease heartburn which is usually caused by a lack (NOT an overabundance) of digestive enzymes in the stomach.  Most physicians (even Web MD and Dr Oz :D) recognize multiple other benefits of ACV even if they emphasize these benefits are unproven.  This website has a good list of 12 benefits of ingesting ACV.  My favorite effect of ACV is the warming sensation I get in my stomach.  When I eat a diet full of protein, vegetables, and fats I often don't feel "full" the same way I did on my starch-heavy diet, but while on a starch-heavy diet I feel full, but not nutritionally satisfied (my body craves the nutrients it misses).  The ACV counteracts this frustrating effect so my stomach doesn't feel empty even after a full meal.  My shins are happy, too, now that my body can handle and use the protein I digest and my legs aren't covered in black spots.  Well, I still have the mommy bruises.  :D

If you are looking for good-quality ACV, check out Bragg's brand (I've only found the bulk size pictured above once at Wegmans.  It was amazing.).  You can find it in most stores now.       Any other ACV lovers out there?

Hamburgers with Sage Leeks (Gluten-free, Dairy-free, Allergy-free, Paleo, AIP-friendly)

The kids got up on the early side this morning.  Sometimes James wakes up crying unexplainably.  I think he gets overtired when lots of fun things are going on and just looses it, even after a good night of sleep.  He's had a lot going on the past week with family in town and I think he is almost recovered from no naps and late nights.  He was more than happy to miss naps and stay up late to hang out with his awesome grandparents, aunts, and uncles.  

On early mornings like this it is really nice to have pre-made breakfast in the fridge.  Usually, breakfast consists of our homemade pork sausage that we make twice a week and whatever veggies sound good at 7AM.  This morning, luckily, I had some turkey soup (celery, carrots, turnips, turkey, rosemary, broth, yum!)  and a sweet potato leftover, but, my go-to leftovers have become my hamburgers with sage leeks.  I LOVE a good hamburger, but, since I can't eat anything that goes on burgers (tomatoes are a nightshade, onions are high FODMAP, cheese aggravates my digestive inflammation, I'm not eating raw food so no lettuce, and definitely no bun!  yeah, I'm a mess.) our relationship hasn't been the best as of late.  I tried just mixing the patties with my cauliflower, broccoli, carrot mix, but it just isn't appetizing.  My favorite pre-FODMAP-issues soup was onion-leek.  Since cutting onions out of my diet I just didn't know what to do with the long, leafy leeks.  I had to do something before they went bad (although, they take awhile to go bad)!  I threw them in a pan, added a couple things, layered them over my burger, and ta-da!  My new favorite recipe!  I made a large batch so I had plenty for future burgers.  If you plan to re-heat these on the stove I would recommend watching your initial cook time so they won't have to fry when they are cooked a second time.  Here is the recipe!  I'm not good at specific measurements, I always eye everything.  When I make these again I'll try to update with actual measurements.

Hamburgers w/ sage leeks and apple-orange sauerkraut.

Sage Leeks

Ingredients:

Leeks, chopped in 1/2 inch strips (I usually use two packs from Wegmans.  Each pack contains three small or two large leeks.)

Coconut oil (I use about 1T to initially coat pan and add more as needed.)

Juice of one lemon

Sage (spice)

Salt (I use Real Salt)

Tumeric (spice) - optional

Directions:

1. Melt coconut oil in large pan.

2. Add leeks.

3. Pour lemon juice over leeks.

4. Sprinkle top of leeks with sage until covered in a light layer. 

5. Cook, stirring occasionally, until leeks are soft and slightly transparent.

6. Sprinkle small amount of tumeric (no more than half the amount of sage) and salt on top of leeks, stir to combine.

These can be poured liberally over a hamburger patty or two.  I also add fermented ginger carrots as a condiment over my hamburger-leek mixture and it is delicious!

To see more of Real Food Wednesdays, check out Kelly the Kitchen Kop!

Our "Vintage" Children

We had a couple new experiences this weekend:

1. We bought grass-fed gelatin.
2. We had an early Thanksgiving with a yummy, local, free-range turkey (and I cooked it!).

Gelatin is one of the many things I've wanted to add into our diets but couldn't justify the cost.  We do, of course, have gelatinous bone broth, but I like my broth a little less jelly-ish.  Now that I went AIP, the egg substitute in the few baked recipes I can eat is gelatin, which gave me a good excuse to buy it!  I do admit, however, that it won't be used on a regular basis.  I am determined to contain my baking desires.  There is still plenty of sugar and FODMAP foods in the baked goods so I am plan to limit baking to a Sunday activity and pawn all the leftovers off on my husband (who doesn't seem to mind).  The banana bread Mark made for me with the gelatin was absolutely delicious!  You can find the recipe here (but no chocolate for me, it makes me sick!).  James was my grocery helper and carried the gelatin for me.  He wasn't about to let it go.  He even went to bed snuggling it that night.

We've never cooked a Thanksgiving turkey.  One year we hosted a couple people in our tiny house, but our oven wasn't big enough for a turkey so we cooked two chickens.  My husband's family is here visiting from California so we planned an early family Thanksgiving.  We picked our huge turkey up from the farm on Saturday and popped it in the oven late Sunday morning with an rosemary-orange glaze, laying on a bed of butternut squash and oranges (we didn't have a roasting pan so the bed of squash and orange was a great substitute).  It was pretty delicious.  Our daughter enjoyed a piece as well.

We are hoping for Thanksgiving day we'll have a little more time to brine the turkey.  Hopefully we'll get a good picture, too!

Thanksgiving Sauerkraut

My son and I have very different opinions about shopping.  I enjoy Home Goods and clothing stores, he HATES them.  He begins screaming as soon as we walk in the door.  He certainly knows where he is as soon as he sees good old HG.  I, on the other hand, hate grocery shopping.  Probably not as much as he hates Home goods, but there are times I just feel like screaming.  Give me a relaxing farmers market over a supermarket filled with shopping carts, oblivious people, and no sense of "lanes" (it is just like driving, I don't know why it is so hard!).  :D  Today was the big one.  Thanksgiving shopping at Costco.  Can you hear my internal screams?  I enjoy Costco, as long as I am the ONLY ONE in the store!  Every time I venture back to that haven of chaos I realize why I don't enjoy being there.  It isn't the photo center (I LOVE that), the clothing section (try walking through there and NOT wanting every child's outfit), or the vegetable refrigerator (that's pretty descent).  It is the fact that, as soon as you walk through the door, people have their minds stolen by discount Pyrex, brownie bites, and bulk toilet paper.  I am not totally impervious to Costco's charms, it is an incredible store.  But, since I don't like grocery shopping, I like to get in and get out as fast as possible.  At Costco that IS NOT POSSIBLE.  Oversized carts, food trolleys, and enough people to fill the state of Rhode Island block every possible turn.  That, in and of itself, isn't the worst thing in the world (although, it is a bummer when I can't enjoy any of the samples, that is what makes Costco great, right?).  It is the fact that people pretend they are oblivious.  I find it hard to believe that 95% of people have no idea what they are coming in for and have to study each and every product for five minutes until I can finally get them to move their cart out of the middle of the aisle, especially when they don't say a simple "sorry" when they do move their metal tank full of food.  But, maybe 95% of people have never been to Costco before?  The people who say "excuse me" when trying to squeeze past in an aisle that fits one and a half of the elephant-size carts make me believe there is still hope.  They are what get me through the continent of Antarctica that we call Costco.

Costco trips do yield great rewards.  Once I get in line for the cash register I find most people are really nice.  Maybe they are the 5%, but I don't believe that's true.  It is nice to remember that they aren't targeting me specifically when they can't see my presence.  They are just as overwhelmed as everyone else (except for the people stampeding the samples).  I had a nice conversation with a woman about the benefits of cranberries after she saw my two big packs of cranberries on the conveyor belt.  She said she just learned about the health benefits and the large amount of Vitamin C in the little red morsels (anyone else think they kind of look like M&Ms?) and asked how I cooked them.  We usually boil ours for cranberry sauce, which I explained.  She said she planned to use them in smoothies which sounds amazing.  So, I came home, got the kids down for naps (after James' second bath for explosive peeing) and started on my plans for those cranberries.

My first goal was to make a thanksgiving cranberry sauerkraut.  My last batch of sauerkraut had cabbage, green apples, and oranges and it was delicious, thanks to my wonderful nutritionist.  We are having an early Thanksgiving dinner with my husband's family while they are in town and I wanted a topping for our turkey.  I didn't feel like researching AIP gravies, but I knew sauerkraut wouldn't be hard since I was already familiar with the process.  So, I looked up a couple ideas and came up with the following recipe:

1/2 cabbage (I usually take off the top two leaves, especially if not organic)

1/2 purple beet

1 red apple, peeled and cored

Cranberries - enough to have two layers on the bottom of a 2 quart pot (next time I'll figure out how large a volume that is)

1 tsp salt (I use Real Salt)

3/8 tsp Caldwell ferment starter (culture)

1. Core cabbage and slice into strips of desired width or use food processor (I enjoy mine on the smaller side).

2. Pound cabbage or massage with hands to release the cabbage juice.  Sprinkle a small amount of salt over the top of the cabbage, let sit, and finish pounding or massaging.  The salt helps draw the water out of the cabbage and makes your job easier.  This step is very important because your sauerkraut has to be below the water line in order to ferment properly.

3. Put cranberries and dash of water into pot.  Boil for two minutes.  Don't let them go mushy or pop all the way out of their casing.

4. Slice apple and beet into thin strips using a food processor.

5. Mix all ingredients and add salt.  I like a lot of salt, you can start by adding 1/2 tsp, taste test, and then decide if you want any more.

6. Stuff the suaerkraut into mason jar.  And I mean STUFF!  The sauerkraut should really be packed in to make best use of the water.

7. Add the culture, stir well, and stuff again.  If you have a problem with the water level you can take a leftover cabbage leaf, fold it, and stuff it on top to push the sauerkraut below the water line.

I tasted a sample and it was really good.  I'll let you know if it turns out otherwise. 

My second goal was the aforementioned cranberry sauce.  Cranberry sauce is really easy.  Add the amount of cranberries you want to a pot with enough water to cover the bottom.  Boil for 5-10 minutes, until the cranberries have "popped" and are mushy.  Then, stir in sweetener of choice.  Cranberries are TART so you will probably need more than you think.  I used 1/2 cup for about 2 cups worth of cranberries.  Orange juice can soften the taste a bit if you are allowed that splurge.  :D  If you want a smooth cranberry sauce, stick it in the blender for about 30 seconds.  Then, chill and serve!

Since ours ended up with more sugar than I hoped I am going to use it as a garnish on the salmon in our oven.  The salmon is currently cooking in coconut oil with salt and cinnamon.  I can't wait to eat!

Thank you, Costco.  My afternoon was mind-boggling, but tonight is pretty good!

The Teal Pumpkin Project

I hope to have my next full post up by tomorrow so, stay tuned!

I found this a day after Halloween and am excited about it for next year.  It is called The Teal Pumpkin Project and it is a movement of families that hope to provide "trick-or-treating" for children with food allergies.  The idea is to provide small toys instead of candy, things like glow sticks and bubbles.  I've had this dilemma for the past couple years.  It is hard to justify buying $40 worth of candy to pass out when 1. I know the ingredients are BAD (I know these are treats, but the ingredients lists are yuk!) and 2. No one in our family will eat the candy.  I guess it boils down to, if I wouldn't eat it myself why am I giving it to children?  I was reaffirmed in this idea when James had digestive distress the day after Halloween.  We let him have a Hershey bar while picking apples and he actually ate it (which, if you know my son, is a BIG deal).

The next day he woke up screaming from his nap and screamed for the entire evening.  It looked like his stomach was hurting him and that Hershey bar is the likely culprit.  I went against my better judgement thinking it would be a nice treat and he wouldn't ingest much of it.  From now on I'll have to get him better quality treats.  And maybe next year we'll give out glow bracelets.

We did dress the kids up at the eleventh hour and went trick-or-treating with my younger siblings and cousin.

 James wasn't collecting candy, but we thought he would enjoy going to the houses and saying "hi".  I think the houses were a little too scary for him because he told us "no".  He did like walking with everyone, it turned out to be a pretty nice night.  I will admit that I was SO tempted to chow down on a Reese's cup when we went to my parents for trick-or-treating.  I am glad that I mentioned it to Mark because he convinced me that was a bad idea.  I really needed that support and I am glad I didn't eat it, I'm sure I would have regretted it.

Now that I am AIP I am not eating peanut butter or any nut butter for that matter.  But, it is super easy to make nut butter cups.  For the filling you mix nut butter with a little sweetener (I recommend grade B maple syrup), roll them into balls and stick them in the freezer.  While those chill, heat coconut oil, chocolate powder and sweetener (honey or maple syrup) on the stove.  The frozen nut butter balls can then be dipped in the chocolate sauce which should "freeze" around the nut butter like a magic shell thanks to the coconut oil.  Then you can chill again before eating.  Be sure to keep in the fridge!  I think this is on the menu for next Halloween when, hopefully, I will be done with AIP!

Mine are designed to be shaped into balls (and I don't have a set recipe), but here is a good recipe for flatter nut butter cups.

Happy treating!

Imagination

So, a recipe for Fight Back Friday didn't happen. The beet greens and cranberry dish I hoped would turn out well and make me like cooked greens did not turn out well. But I guess that's what happens when trying to develop recipes.  I realized yesterday that my mishaps are worth the laugh. It is nice to have something to lift my spirits. Maybe a little honey would make the beet greens and tart cherries good enough to eat. 

As of Sunday I am 100% AIP. I had a rough weekend dealing with my food limitations. I emailed my nutritionist when I started reaching for too many treats.  Besides encouragement she also asked why I was eating the way I was: bordom, loneliness, frustration?  I know I am an emotional eater but I realized that I was eating due to all three that day. I think that is the case most Saturdays since Mark works a long shift and I refuse to run errands when I can do them during the week when the stores aren't packed. So, I went out with my sisters, ate a good dinner, let myself splurge on a glass of wine and gelato and resolved to start on Sunday. 

I'll be honest, day three felt like a real success. Only eighteen more days before I can try adding one food back in. 

I did have success with a veggie recipe yesterday. I had leeks in the fridge that were intended for a leek-onion soup but, since I am avoiding the high FODMAP onions, I needed a new idea. So, I chopped it up and fried it with lemon juice and sage. Oh my goodness,I was not expecting to have a delicious breakfast!  Paired with our homemade sausage and some butternut squash I felt like I had a feast in front of me!  

 One meal down!