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.

The Food Investigator

Week one of the elimination diet is complete. A week with many bumps in the road but also a lot of interesting discoveries. At first, I felt at a loss as to what I could eat in work; fruit salads and regular green salads seemingly being the only options. I was also missing having something sweet with a cup of tea in the evening. As the week wore on and I started to read more recipes and research wheat free brands, I was amazed to find out about the variety of foods available for people in a similar position.

In the past three days, I took a trip to my local Dunnes Stores to investigate what they stock. To my surprise and delight, they offer quite a large variety of wheat free/dairy free products which are readily available in their own specific section of the shop. I also experienced two firsts since finding out about my intolerances:
1) My first trip to a Health Food Store to stock up on essentials.
2) My first trip to an Artisan Food Market with the specific intention of buying wheat and dairy free goods.

The former visit happened in my home town. I planned to scour the shop's stock in order to figure out what sorts of alternatives were available. The Health Food Store or Co-op provided me with Glenisk goats milk, a gluten free bread mix and some chocolate and biscuit/snack alternatives:

The latter event was run as part of the Macroom Food Festival. This festival offered a wide array of artisan food stalls, which were run by helpful and knowledgeable food producers. I purchased a fabulous brownie and lentil pie from a gluten free stall. I can honestly say, the brownie was the best I've ever tasted and this wasn't just due to the lack of chocolate in last week's diet. I had the pie yesterday for lunch, the pastry was perfect and the combination of lentils and mixed vegetable was delicious. Unfortunately, I'm not 100% sure of this company who produced these goodies, but I will investigate further and update this blog accordingly.

Foreground: Lentil Pie and Chocolate Brownie
Background: Tomato Pasta Sauce & Olive Oil

Sunday of this week, I created a food plan for each meal of the weekdays. I pre-baked my wheat free bread and packed a bag full of fruits/oat crackers etc. to take to my workplace. So far, I have stayed on track to avoid all of the foods that I'm intolerant to. Forward planning seems to be the key but I am using the following as rule of thumb: If the food has one ingredient which doesn't fit the list of foods that I am intolerant to, but the percentage of this ingredient is relatively low, it's okay to have this food occasionally.

During the rest of this week, I aim to keep on track with my food plan and to investigate alternatives to bread and pasta, as the wheat free alternatives did not agree with my taste pallet. A good friend has been invited for dinner on Saturday so it will be very interesting to prepare a meal for somebody without intolerances. Luckily, my boyfriend has been very understanding. We take it in turns to cook or prepare a meal together when our schedules allow it, and he has been very aware of my intolerances and this is making the process a lot easier to adjust to. On a personal level, I have already been feeling the positive effects of eating a diet void of processed food types. I'm feeling more hungry, my appetite feels more genuine and not just a reflex accountable to reaching a particular point in the day. I hope this continues and that my energy levels also keep improving. Until next time...

I'm Intolerant to Raspberries?!

Three weeks ago, I decided to order a home test, food intolerance kit. After taking a blood sample, it took around two weeks for the results to be delivered to my door. Turns out I'm intolerant to: cow's milk, egg whites, raspberry, barley, corn (maize), gluten, rice, wheat, peanut, bean (red kidney), pea, potato, soya bean, brewers yeast, durum wheat and cashew nut. Oh and dust...Just kidding.

Over the last few years, I've felt unwell after eating certain foods but have not been able to put my finger on what ingredients triggered this feeling. Finally, I had enough and wanted to find out exactly what the root cause was for this discomfort. During the next three months, I will be completely eliminating the above food types. The aim of this blog is to have a dialogue running throughout this process, to share my experience with anyone in a similar situation and to discuss the new recipes/ingredients I come across whilst going through the process of elimination. 

Oh how I'm going to miss you chocolate mousse with whipped cream, chocolate straws and lashings of tea.

The good news is, I can get a range of gluten free chocolates or 85% dark chocolate. Perhaps there will be a dark chocolate mousse to emerge from this blog. As today is the first day of my food elimination diet, my food choices have been quite cautious. I started the day with a large fruit salad. Then for lunch, it was a cous cous and hot chicken salad with carrots, peas, sun-dried tomatoes and sweet chilli sauce. Already today, I've made two mistakes: peas and cous cous (unless a wheat free version) cannot be eaten. All part of the learning process. For dinner, we're planning to cook some steaks with a green salad and maybe some roasted veggies. 

I'm planning many dinners with meat or fish as the main focus, accompanied with vegetables and salads. This may get boring after a few days, so I'm very open to finding alternatives such as gluten free pasta with an appropriate sauce and home made soups. With a little research, this list will hopefully greatly expand. Until next time, feel free to comment with any suggestions and thanks for listening to my foody ramblings.