QuiNOa?..QuiYESa!

This week I discovered the Intolerant Gourmet App whilst browsing for any useful intolerance related applications. It comes at a price tag of 3 yoyo's and 99 cents, but offers 65 wheat, yeast, egg, dairy and soya free recipes. Most options are also gluten free. The recipes are generally very straight forward in terms of technical ability, and most of the ingredients should be easily found at a regular supermarket, which makes life a lot easier when planning a weekly food schedule. 

I attempted to make the roasted and aubergine salad last night minus the required aubergine and cumin/coriander seeds. After soaking the quinoa in vegetable stock and roasting the carrots in a mix of honey, olive oil, cinnamon and seasoning for 15-20 minutes, I added chives, roasted cashew nuts and lemon juice and rind. It was fantastic! The salad had a really vibrant taste which perfectly complimented the salmon and red pesto sauce that it was accompanying. The quinoa offered a light and interesting alternative to rice, something I will definitely be exploring further.

The next new recipe on this week's cooking agenda (also from the Intolerant Gourment App), is sweet chilli and orange chicken with oriental coleslaw. I've managed to pre-purchase all of the ingredients minus the chinese cabbage and toasted sesame oil, but I'm hoping these can be sourced. This weekend may prove to be a good time to venture into the world of intolerant baking, and using my handy new app I'm hoping to bake a dairy, yeast and egg free brownie. Mmmmm. Pictures to follow.

In other discoveries, I've realised that goats milk is just not for me. The consistency and taste is very similar to cow's milk, but the idea of drinking a goat product is quite off-putting, a double standard considering I'm quite happy to eat goat's cheese. Oh well!

In terms of my overall adjustment to this elimination diet, there have been several times where I've eaten something that should be avoided, each time I've felt guilty and unwell. On the plus side, for the most part I have been sticking to the guidelines and feeling energised and positive about the whole experience. For anyone going through a similar situation, I would advise sticking with it as I'm only really feeling the benefits now that I have reached week 3 . I'm sure that this can only continue as I discover new tastes and recipe ideas.