We're going to Italy. I've been asked dozens of times "What are you going to eat? Aren't you worried?" Well, no. Italians eat more than just pasta- there are gluten-less menu selections in regular Italian diets, and Europe has a reputation for being very proactive in testing kids for celiac disease and making sure their needs are met. In Italy, children are routinely screened for CD and the government provides prescriptions for GF food that is purchased at local pharmacies (and subsidized by the government). Now, if I was going to China, I would be nervous. Between my soy allergy and the language barrier I assume I would feel close to death after every meal.
Thanks to blogger activity, I have a great outlook on eating Italian deliciousness. Here are a few things I have enjoyed reading.
Gluten Free Girl & the Chef
Her statement "No apologies, no shrugging of shoulders, no endless stories of how my intestines work if I ingest 1/4 teaspoon of gluten" had me reading to jump on a plane in that very moment. It means not having to explain yourself, not feeling like you are an inconvenience.
Celiac Chicks
Though this is from 2007, it did help me confidence. This blogger has more than just a gluten issue.
Legal Nomads
This provides a few good resources at the end, including a card to print out and bring to restaurants. She also echos what I read from the two ladies above.
Celiac Travel
The GF dining card in Italian.
Huffington Post
This is a short little article, but a good one.
I aspire to eat gelatto or canolli every day. I'll let y'all know how it goes when I get back! (We still have a little time before we go.)
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
Wednesday, July 3, 2013
Goat's Milk Ice Cream
The weekend before my aunt moved away from Atlanta and back home to Chicago, my husband and I hosted her, my father, and my father's wife for dinner. My aunt lived in Atlanta for 30 years, and hosted all the memorable Koranda family events at her gorgeous home. Up until last summer, I thought our 1500 square foot condo was too small for dinner parties and events. My French cousins, after taking the 1 cent tour of our home, commented that it was the same size as their house in Paris. (Oh.) My cousins' comments (plus out new antique pub table) gave me the moral boot to host a dinner Aunt Lee style.
We started with socializing in the living room with olives, cheese and crackers, and "the family bottle" of prosecco. (I have never learned the name of it. Its just "that green bottle" from Whole Foods.) For dinner, Nick roasted a chicken and backed potatoes, I prepared cranberry sauce and a lovely salad. Since we are all chocolics in my family, I figured dessert must involve the sacred flavor. Aunt Lee has been known to down a pint of Ben & Jerry's about every 8 weeks or so, while maintaining her model physique, so decided I would make a chocolate ice cream. Knowing that my father and I have lactose-intolerance, I investigated goat's milk ice cream.
After perusing a few recipes, I settled on Former Chef's chocolate goat's milk ice cream recipe. What grabbed me was his discussion of the aftertaste of goat's milk. He tailored his recipe to avoiding this pungent flavor. While there is a very mild aftertaste, this is the first time I have actually enjoyed it. Though it has some cow's milk in it, there was not enough milk to really bother my lactose intolerance. Go check out Former Chef's blog and tell me what other recipes of his you enjoy.
We started with socializing in the living room with olives, cheese and crackers, and "the family bottle" of prosecco. (I have never learned the name of it. Its just "that green bottle" from Whole Foods.) For dinner, Nick roasted a chicken and backed potatoes, I prepared cranberry sauce and a lovely salad. Since we are all chocolics in my family, I figured dessert must involve the sacred flavor. Aunt Lee has been known to down a pint of Ben & Jerry's about every 8 weeks or so, while maintaining her model physique, so decided I would make a chocolate ice cream. Knowing that my father and I have lactose-intolerance, I investigated goat's milk ice cream.
After perusing a few recipes, I settled on Former Chef's chocolate goat's milk ice cream recipe. What grabbed me was his discussion of the aftertaste of goat's milk. He tailored his recipe to avoiding this pungent flavor. While there is a very mild aftertaste, this is the first time I have actually enjoyed it. Though it has some cow's milk in it, there was not enough milk to really bother my lactose intolerance. Go check out Former Chef's blog and tell me what other recipes of his you enjoy.
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Trader Joe's GF All-Purpose Flour
Generally when you buy a sack of flour or sugar, there is a recipe for cookies or pies or something tasty on the back. I've had success with label recipes twice- the Toll House cookie recipe (yes, even turned GF!) and the Libby's pumpkin pie recipe. Nick picked up a little bag of Trader's Joe's brand GF All-Purpose Flour last week for somewhere around $2. So after my class- the one that brain fries me from 8am to 2pm- I decided I needed some kitchen therapy. Unsure of what to do, I turned to the recipe on the back of the flour package. The recipe is for muffins sweetened with agave syrup and apple sauce. I am not going to lie, I thought it would be awful.
The recipe needed two of the little single-servings of applesauce, and I had one regular and one blueberry. I used both of those and added frozen blueberries. The muffins turned out really well- sweet enough, moist, fluffy. I enjoyed them. My husband enjoyed them. I brought a few to my chiropractor, who also liked them. Let's just say, I will most definitely be making these again!
On another note, I am always bothered by parents who allow their kids to be ridiculously picky about food. "They only eat chicken fingers and pineapple." "She just won't eat it!" Really? Because when my father was a child, they ate war rations. They didn't starve, but they ate things that do not sound appealing to me- chicken livers, bitter greens. Anyway, here is a blogger who sums it up quite well.
http://spoonfedblog.net/2011/02/23/want-kids-to-eat-better-stop-calling-them-picky-eaters/
Off to conquer the world...
(or just my midterm)
The recipe needed two of the little single-servings of applesauce, and I had one regular and one blueberry. I used both of those and added frozen blueberries. The muffins turned out really well- sweet enough, moist, fluffy. I enjoyed them. My husband enjoyed them. I brought a few to my chiropractor, who also liked them. Let's just say, I will most definitely be making these again!
On another note, I am always bothered by parents who allow their kids to be ridiculously picky about food. "They only eat chicken fingers and pineapple." "She just won't eat it!" Really? Because when my father was a child, they ate war rations. They didn't starve, but they ate things that do not sound appealing to me- chicken livers, bitter greens. Anyway, here is a blogger who sums it up quite well.
http://spoonfedblog.net/2011/02/23/want-kids-to-eat-better-stop-calling-them-picky-eaters/
Off to conquer the world...
(or just my midterm)
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Smoothie-licious
I really like fruit, but for some reason just can't seem to eat it before it goes bad when its in my fridge. In college I made smoothies in the morning, but had sort of written that breakfast choice off. It just so happened that I was thinking about those smoothie-making days when I lived just outside the city and commuted to nursing school every day. I would make a smoothie and take it with me as I ran out the door. In some ways, I find my mornings similar. This semester I am working 2 12-hour shifts, doing 2 8-hour days of clinical, attending class on Thursdays from 0800-1400, and using the two days left over to do laundry, zumba, and study.
Thankfully, I discovered Trader Joe's hemp protein. I've enjoyed it quite a bit in my quick-and-yummy breakfast smoothies. To use a phrase of my mother's, rice protein just "doesn't with me." Whey protein is dairy-based, which I generally try to stay away from. Since I cannot eat soy, I don't have too many protein powder options left over. I have been living my college days in the morning, whirring through the house at early hours, hungry. I make smoothies on most week day mornings, and find that adding the hemp protein to my smoothies is filling and has staying power.
Often, I just put random combinations of the fruit in my fridge together in the blender with a bit of almond milk and hemp protein and call it breakfast. Over the holiday, my sister-in-law talked about doing this Dr. Oz 3-day cleanse thing with her friends. (Why my sister-in-law, who grows much of her own produce and has a 6-pack of abs is doing a 3-day cleanse is a topic for another post.) Though I eat very clean, I thought I might just try it out the on the 30th for just one day. Why just one day, you ask. To be honest, I wasn't sure I would be successful if I was starving at work- hangry nurses are not nice nurses. My one-day cleanse went well, and I was never hungry. Dr. Oz put out some good ideas. I have been making the smoothies from the cleanse for breakfast, but cutting the recipes in half and adding a touch of hemp protein.
You should check it out:
http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/dr-ozs-3-day-detox-cleanse-one-sheet
Thankfully, I discovered Trader Joe's hemp protein. I've enjoyed it quite a bit in my quick-and-yummy breakfast smoothies. To use a phrase of my mother's, rice protein just "doesn't with me." Whey protein is dairy-based, which I generally try to stay away from. Since I cannot eat soy, I don't have too many protein powder options left over. I have been living my college days in the morning, whirring through the house at early hours, hungry. I make smoothies on most week day mornings, and find that adding the hemp protein to my smoothies is filling and has staying power.
Often, I just put random combinations of the fruit in my fridge together in the blender with a bit of almond milk and hemp protein and call it breakfast. Over the holiday, my sister-in-law talked about doing this Dr. Oz 3-day cleanse thing with her friends. (Why my sister-in-law, who grows much of her own produce and has a 6-pack of abs is doing a 3-day cleanse is a topic for another post.) Though I eat very clean, I thought I might just try it out the on the 30th for just one day. Why just one day, you ask. To be honest, I wasn't sure I would be successful if I was starving at work- hangry nurses are not nice nurses. My one-day cleanse went well, and I was never hungry. Dr. Oz put out some good ideas. I have been making the smoothies from the cleanse for breakfast, but cutting the recipes in half and adding a touch of hemp protein.
You should check it out:
http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/dr-ozs-3-day-detox-cleanse-one-sheet
Sunday, January 6, 2013
Dal
Despite the never-ending supply of soda, my mother ensured we ate a healthy diet. "Sugar cereals," like Trix, Fruity Pebbles, Smacks, were forbidden. You would never find a loaf of white bread in our house. We ate oatmeal for breakfast, in cookies, and added to turkey burgers. My mother made omelets with wheat germ, taboleh, cous cous, and lentils. My father made an amazing pea soup and killer pumpkin pie. One of my favorite memories of having my sister and mother together when I was young involved the two of them tinkering around in the kitchen and making banana and zucchini bread.
I enjoyed little rebellions when I was away from our home. At Ryan and J.J.'s house nextdoor I enjoyed peanut butter and Fluff sandwiches. Two doors up, Sarah and Shauna's mom made Kool-Aid. Lindsay and I ordered pizza to my house one day in the eighth grade- something I had never, ever done. We gorged on it and then laughed at each other's root beer-induced burps. In high school I would make sandwiches for lunch off of the salad and sandwich bar in the cafeteria with white bread, drank a Coke almost every morning of my Senior year, and enjoyed doughnuts almost every Friday. My freshman year of college, my roommate and I enjoyed late-night trips to the campus convenience store to pick up boxes of Count Chocula and beef jerkey. One thing remained the same: I still loved my mother's middle-Eastern inspired foods.
When my sister moved to the DR (the first time), she had a part-time maid who cooked for her once or twice a week. Despite having no idea what they were, she made amazing lentils. Each time I tried to make them, the lentils still had hard centers. My friend Deb makes an amazing lentil soup with smoked turkey in it. My attempt had not-so-good, hard results. This summer my sister left bags of different types of lentils and ingredients for dal for me to experiment with. I failed one bean-making attempt since them. (The dal was just flavorless and slightly hard.) I decided to try again, using my slowcooker. I found a recipe that matched one of the bag of dal I had opened, and went to town. They actually turned out! Here is what I did:
1. I stuck the beans in a pot of water and brought them to a boil. After skimming them, I let them sit there over night.
2. I put the dal and ingredients in the slowcooker according to this recipe.
3. After cooking the dal on high for four hours, the dal still had a lot of liquid in it. So, I turned it down to warm and left it over night.
I enjoyed little rebellions when I was away from our home. At Ryan and J.J.'s house nextdoor I enjoyed peanut butter and Fluff sandwiches. Two doors up, Sarah and Shauna's mom made Kool-Aid. Lindsay and I ordered pizza to my house one day in the eighth grade- something I had never, ever done. We gorged on it and then laughed at each other's root beer-induced burps. In high school I would make sandwiches for lunch off of the salad and sandwich bar in the cafeteria with white bread, drank a Coke almost every morning of my Senior year, and enjoyed doughnuts almost every Friday. My freshman year of college, my roommate and I enjoyed late-night trips to the campus convenience store to pick up boxes of Count Chocula and beef jerkey. One thing remained the same: I still loved my mother's middle-Eastern inspired foods.
When my sister moved to the DR (the first time), she had a part-time maid who cooked for her once or twice a week. Despite having no idea what they were, she made amazing lentils. Each time I tried to make them, the lentils still had hard centers. My friend Deb makes an amazing lentil soup with smoked turkey in it. My attempt had not-so-good, hard results. This summer my sister left bags of different types of lentils and ingredients for dal for me to experiment with. I failed one bean-making attempt since them. (The dal was just flavorless and slightly hard.) I decided to try again, using my slowcooker. I found a recipe that matched one of the bag of dal I had opened, and went to town. They actually turned out! Here is what I did:
1. I stuck the beans in a pot of water and brought them to a boil. After skimming them, I let them sit there over night.
2. I put the dal and ingredients in the slowcooker according to this recipe.
3. After cooking the dal on high for four hours, the dal still had a lot of liquid in it. So, I turned it down to warm and left it over night.
Thursday, December 13, 2012
Arrrrrrgh! Me blog is the spoil of the grad school invasion!
Enough of that.
The dust has once again settled after the semester. It was so serious that I had to do the deep clean the week after finals. Besides dust, dog hair, and wadded up pieces of papers, I had the flu. Yes, the real flu. I had a flu shot, per work requirements. I contracted this nasty disease after a patient coughed in my face while I was doing her physical exam during clinical. Sharing, in this case, is not caring. I was innocently sitting in class on Thursday after giving our final group presentation for research (the day after my health assessment final), when my body started aching. By the time I got home, I had a fever, severe chills, sore throat, headache, and could count the hairs on my head.
All I wanted the day following the onset of the plague was soup. And my favorite blanket. And my dog. The problem was I didn't really feel like eating. Eventually, I threw some things in the old standby crock pot and tried to re-make our healthy award-winning chili from the chili cookoff at work. Once I got to the end, I realized I didn't have any chili powder. So when you go to make this heart-warming, stomach-filling stuff, my recommendation is to check the spice cabinet first.
1 package of ground turkey meat (about 1 pound)
1 big can + 1 little can of crushed tomatoes
1 onion, chopped
1 cup water
1 16-ounce can dark red kidney beans
1 16-ounce can garbanzo beans
1 16-ounce can pinto beans
1-2 cloves of garlic (deending on how you are feeling)
2 tablespoons of chili powder
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
EVOO
1. Heat about 1 tablespoon EVOO in a large pot over medium heat. Add the turkey to the pot and cook until the turkey is brown. Break up the turkey as it cooks with a wooden spoon. Stir in the onion and cook it until its tender (but not limp).
2. Pour water into the pot. Add in the tomatoes, beans, garlic, and spices. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for thirty minutes. -OR- Bring to a boil, plop in a crock pot, and cook on low until you can't resist the amazing smell anymore.
Enough of that.
 | |
| the view from my seat at the desk |
All I wanted the day following the onset of the plague was soup. And my favorite blanket. And my dog. The problem was I didn't really feel like eating. Eventually, I threw some things in the old standby crock pot and tried to re-make our healthy award-winning chili from the chili cookoff at work. Once I got to the end, I realized I didn't have any chili powder. So when you go to make this heart-warming, stomach-filling stuff, my recommendation is to check the spice cabinet first.
Some Really Good Turkey Chili
1 package of ground turkey meat (about 1 pound)
1 big can + 1 little can of crushed tomatoes
1 onion, chopped
1 cup water
1 16-ounce can dark red kidney beans
1 16-ounce can garbanzo beans
1 16-ounce can pinto beans
1-2 cloves of garlic (deending on how you are feeling)
2 tablespoons of chili powder
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
EVOO
1. Heat about 1 tablespoon EVOO in a large pot over medium heat. Add the turkey to the pot and cook until the turkey is brown. Break up the turkey as it cooks with a wooden spoon. Stir in the onion and cook it until its tender (but not limp).
2. Pour water into the pot. Add in the tomatoes, beans, garlic, and spices. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for thirty minutes. -OR- Bring to a boil, plop in a crock pot, and cook on low until you can't resist the amazing smell anymore.
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