Beef Stew with Hazelnut Butter and Dates

I am three weeks in and feeling pretty good. I've lost about 8 pounds and my clothes are all fitting better.  I have also been working out a lot and trying to drink a ton of water.  I'm still craving some foods like pizza; however, I'm trying to keep my recipes as diverse as possible to not get bored/tempted.  I'm also planning to have my doctor re-test me on tomatoes when he's here on Valentine's day.  I sure miss tomato sauce....

This was a great recipe adapted from a similar recipe I found at http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=522102&adsqs=.

It was terrific after cooking in the crockpot and even better as leftovers the next day!

Beef Stew with Hazelnut Butter and Dates (adapted from Cooking Light)

Ingredients

2/3 cup coarsely chopped hazelnuts, toasted
Cooking spray
1 1/2 pounds lean beef stew meat, cubed
2 1/2 cups chopped onion
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper (I used cayenne)
3 garlic cloves, crushed
2 (14 1/2-ounce) cans fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth  (I used turkey broth)
2 1/2 cups (1/2-inch) cubed sweet potato
2 1/2 cups small red potatoes, halved (about 1 pound)
1 1/2 cups baby carrots, peeled  (I would add more)
1/2 cup whole pitted dates, chopped
2 cups water
1 1/2 cups frozen green peas

Preparation
Place hazelnuts in a food processor; process until smooth (about 2 1/2 minutes), scraping sides of bowl once.

Heat a large Dutch oven coated with cooking spray over high heat. Add beef; cook 5 minutes, browning on all sides. Reduce heat to medium-high. Add onion and next 5 ingredients (onion through garlic); sauté 7 minutes or until onion is lightly browned.

Add hazelnut butter and broth to pan; stir well, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Stir in sweet potatoes, potatoes, carrots, dates, and 2 cups water; bring to a boil.

Transfer to crock pot and cook on low for 2-3 hours or until beef is tender and sauce has thickened.  Stir in peas; simmer 5 minutes.

Serve with bread and a green salad. 

NOTES:  The hazelnuts were more like hazelnut meal than butter; looking forward to trying that again.  The flavor was excellent in the stew.  Because I cooked it in the crockpot, I added some gluten free flour to the stew to help thicken.  Next time I would add more carrots and maybe another root vegetable.  If you want a more savory stew, lessen the amount of dates and add more garlic.

Stir-fried Noodles with Eggplant and Basil

In the quest for flavorful recipes which are free of foods that I'm allergic to, I often turn to wheat free Asian dishes.  I found this recipe in the January/February 2010 Everyday Food magazine.  It's a great basic recipe which could be modified in many ways.  It made fantastic leftovers as well.  The only problem was that the first evening I ate it, something triggered a food allergy pretty severely.  It was either the eggplant, sesame oil or soy sauce (wheat free tamari).  I did some research on sesame and it seems that lots of people have allergies to them since they are similar in nature to peanuts.  I have since had eggplant--didn't affect me.  I also had the dish for leftovers today for lunch and it also didn't affect me.  Strange.  And now the recipe:

Stir-fried noodles with eggplant and basil
Serves 4 (from Everyday Food)

8 ounces lo mein noodles (I used Trader Joes brown rice spaghetti)
2 Tbsps soy sauce (wheat free tamari)
1 Tbsp toasted sesame oil
1 tsp light brown sugar (I used agave)
4 tsps vegetable oil (I used macadamia nut oil-olive would be fine)
1/2 pound Japanese or other small eggplant, halved lengthwise and sliced 1/4 inch thick
5 scallions, white and green parts separated and thinly sliced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/3 cup fresh basil leaves, torn, for serving

1.  Cook noodles according to package instructions; drain noodles and rinse with cold water.  In a small bowl, combine soy sauce, sesame oil, and sugar and stir until sugar dissolves.

2.  Heat a large skillet or wok over high until hot.  Add 3 tsps vegetable oil and swirl to coat skillet.  Add eggplant and stir until golden on both sides, 4 minutes total.  Push eggplant to side of skillet and add 1 tsp oil.  Add scallion whites and garlic and stir until fragrant., 30 seconds.  Add noodles and soy mixture and toss to combine all ingredients.  Serve topped with scallion greens and basil.

Notes:  As mentioned, this would be great adding other veggies such as zuchinni or mushrooms as well as chicken or pork (if you're not like me and not allergic to those things)

Resisting Temptation

I did it!(by the grace of God) I successfully completed wedding weekend not giving in to temptation to have pizza, cake, alfredo sauce, chicken, donuts, piroshkys and other assorted delicacies.  Don't worry--these weren't consumed in one sitting by those around me.  I'm not saying that it was easy--I got pretty grouchy at times (the old sinful nature coming thru) but I felt good having resisted the temptation.  One of the things that helped was to try and make sure I packed enough food so I didn't get too hungry, and also, we made a visit to a very special bakery: The Flying Apron (http://www.flyingapron.net/) 

There are only a few things I can actually eat there that don't have aforementioned allergic items; however, I did enjoy a berry scone, berry tea biscuit, and quinoa bread. I decided I'm not allergic to garbanzo bean flour because that actually didn't bother me at all.  I did buy a carrot muffin but after one bite realized that it had coconut in it which wreaked havoc with my stomach.  Alas...

Even though the treats have been nice, I need to make sure they are in moderation so that I can continue the weight loss.  The scone and biscuit were sweetened with evaporated cane juice so I'm definitely feeling the effects of the sugar.  Some of the others are sweetened with brown rice syrup and maple syrup which are much better in my opinion (although agave is my favorite).  The quinoa bread doesn't have any sweetening although it's pretty dense so I'm not sure I'll be eating much of that at one time anyway...

The adventure continues!

Eating Out

So eating out is a big problem when you are on such a restricted diet. This week is really busy for us with my husband's cousin getting married and having family in town. I'm playing the piano for the wedding and my husband is an usher so that meant rehearsal dinner. We didn't get a chance to eat before the dinner so that meant we went to Tutta Bella Pizzeria (good but ugh!) hungry. They brought out a salad with mozzerela cheese, tomatoes and a wonderful vinagrette and I got even more grumpy. I kept saying that I wasn't going to eat until my husband decided he couldn't wait any longer so talked to the waiter. We were able to order a salad with artichoke hearts, roasted red peppers, red onions, carrots, and basil. I used olive oil as a dressing with a squirt of lemon. My husband got to have chicken on his. Needless to say we stopped by Trader Joes on the way home to get some snacks and lunch materials. And, still hungry when I got home, I ate a bowl of cereal. Tonight we're going out to Chinese with the family--at least I can have rice! Will post more on that experience later.

Pasta with Walnuts, Arugula and Vegetables

Given my extensive allergies, you may be wondering what I am eating. Here is a recipe I adapted from an idea I got in Everyday Food. It turned out very flavorful and made great leftovers--something I really need. The ingredients below are estimates since it really is up to you how much you want of each ingredient per your tastes.

Pasta with Walnuts, Arugula and Vegetables

Rice Pasta
Red pepper (either fresh or roasted)
Artichoke hearts
Black olives (or other)
Sweet or red onion
Herbs
Handful of walnuts toasted
Olive or other oil of choice


Boil the pasta until desired doneness. Toast walnuts. Saute onions, red pepper, artichokes and olives in olive oil or butter. Once the vegetables are sautéed, add in the arugula and herbs so they cook down slightly. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and toss with olive oil.

Gluten Free/Vegan/Yeast Free Flatbread

This is one of the gems of my first week of allergy free eating. My friend Amy who (along with her hubby and CUTE 18 month old) is living with us right now, suggested it to me. I cut it in to squares and hubby and used it as the bun for buffalo burgers. Our sides consisted of sweet potato fries, and a salad. Delicious!

Gluten Free Flatbread Recipe (by Mary Frances at http://www.glutenfreecookingschool.com/)
1 c. brown rice flour
1/2 c. corn starch
2 Tbsp. sugar
2 tsp. xanthan gum
1/8 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 c. water
1 tsp cider vinegar
2 Tbsp. canola
2 eggs (or flax eggs)

1. Mix all dry ingredients in medium size bowl.
2. Add wet ingredients and mix thoroughly.
3. Grease two 8 in. square baking pans and dust with brown rice flour.
4. Spread half of batter evenly into each pan. Use the back of a wet spoon if the dough is sticky.
5. Bake at 350 degrees F for approximately 15 minutes, or until bread pulls away from the sides of the pans.

Substitution Notes: Tapioca starch or potato starch can be substituted for the corn starch. Flax eggs are 1 Tbsp ground flax seed + 3 Tbsp. water.

Cathy's Notes:
I used egg replacer since I'm also allergic to eggs. I didn't have two 8x8 pans so put it on my large baking pan. I think I got it a little too thick but next time I'm going to double the recipe and bake it in a 9x13. The dough puffed up a bit but then when it came out of the oven, it deflated. I'm wondering if that is becuase of the egg replacer.

And the list goes on...

Updated Tuesday 1-12 with one more allergy I had forgotten: EGGS.

Just when I thought I couldn’t have more food allergies—Sunday came around. I had a sneaking suspicion that certain things weren’t agreeing with me so my “chiropractor to the stars” Dr. Sherman did some muscle testing on various foods and my foods to avoid list grew. Sometime I’ll get into that topic deeper. Here are the new things I need to stay away from:

Sheep’s cheese
Coconut milk
Sunflower nut butter

The good news is that I didn’t react to apple cider vinegar and Lurpak brand butter which at least is helpful for baking. So, for the two of you who are keeping track, here is my complete of foods I need to avoid for the next 3 months:

Wheat
Dairy
Eggs
Oats
Goat cheese
Yeast (bakers and brewers)
Sheep’s cheese
Tomatoes
Coconut milk
Mushrooms
Cantaloupe
Cashews
Cranberries
Almonds
Amaranth
Sunflower seeds
Peanuts
Pork
Chicken
Kidney Beans
Pinto Beans
Pumpkin

So, you may ask, dear reader—what am I eating? Stay tuned…

Inaguaral Blog Post

Well, I had the best of intentions of starting this blog right with the new year but I figure that since I was already late to the blog party, cyberspace would forgive me and I can just start fresh now. I don’t consider myself a writer; however, I do intend to use this blog to share my new adventure in life; namely, eating food allergy free and learning to love it.

It’s a long story how I got here so I’ll be sharing more of the why I’m doing this in posts to come. Where I am today is that I need to, for at least the next 3 months, eliminate from my diet: wheat, oats, dairy, yeast (baker’s and brewers), tomatoes, mushrooms, chicken, port, almonds, cashews, peanuts canteloupe (not hard to do for me), kidney and pinto beans (and probably others), amaranth (who knew), goat’s milk and probably one or two other things that I am missing. This is because when I went to my naturopath to do some food allergy testing, I was diagnosed with leaky gut syndrome and need to repair my insides. I do thank the Lord that I am fearfully and wonderfully made and not eating these things-some of them mabye even for the rest of my life, will help my body here on earth perform to the best of its ability.

To kick start the new year, my friend Jessica suggested that we do a ‘biggest loser’ competition, weighing and measuring ourselves. Our husbands, by virtue that they probably aren’t going to cook for themselves, are in on this too. My husband and I started on January 5th with our new eating lifestyle, and kicking it off with a detox diet where I have eliminated all of the items above, as well as am significantly reducing soy intake (no more Starbucks soy lattes for me for a while) and staying away from red meat. My friend Jess doesn’t have to eliminate as many items but is not having any coffee or corn. I figure since I’m not allergic to those things and I have way more things to stay away from—I’ll try only having corn in moderation. I’m already a decaf coffee drinker exclusively so I’ll keep that in my diet unless something changes. The other big thing I am staying away from is all refined sugar, and most other kinds of sugar as well. The only thing I have allowed is a couple of tablespoons of organic evaporated cane juice sugar or agave in gluten-free baking, or in a recipe such as the sunflower butter sauce over noodles I attempted to make the other night. (Yes, I’ll be sharing those recipes).

So far it’s worth it….I’m happy to say that I’m done almost 4 pounds in six days and definitely feeling a difference. It has already been an adventure though I will say and I’m looking forward to sharing more soon.