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Food Ideas for the I can't eat anything crowd (Read 6504 times)
Sandi
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Food Ideas for the I can't eat anything crowd
02/22/11 at 17:10:20
 
I've copied and pasted this from the other site
I wanted to post some of my less allergic foods for food ideas for those of you that are really limited. Sometimes theres something you can try that you havent and didn't know it existed!
Most of the "flours I speak of are Bobs Red Mill flours you can find at your local health food stores.
Just remember we are all very different are so are foods! These are just ideas from someone who's been very limited for quite a while.

Flours
I use in combination to make some things, Garbanzo flour, Rice flour ( there is brown and white, I tolerate white but not brown so much) Arrowroot, Potato Starch, Tapioca flour, Teff, xanathan gum
All are bobs red mill and keep them in the fridge! I put them in one rectangular thingy so I can just pull em all out at once and take them to the island rather than rifling through and spilling half of them! Millet Flour also, I'm a bit back and forth on if I can tolerate it

Baking Powder, I use a homemade recipe it is listed in this section
Baking Soda, bobs red mill
cream of tartar, organic only use to make baking powder

Chocolate Chips, Enjoy Life Chocolate chips( I cannot have all the time, but I can have them, beware of the other things in this brand though there are seed oils etc) This is the only chocolate I can tolerate.
Cocoa Powder: Chatfields all natural non dutched

Oats: Laras Gluten Free Oats and also Oat Flour, this is hard for me to find so I just order it on amazon and stock up

Sweeteners: Maple Syrup, Raw Sugar, Honey (aware of different kinds!), thats it,
                Be very aware of Agave, it is a new wave of excitement, I'm wondering if a lot of us latex allergic are allergic to it, It is very very bad for me. It's being put in alot of health food products along with Sunflower Oil, another major allergen!

Spices: organic oregano, basil, greek oregano, bay leaf,  sea salt, vanilla, and a lemon extract by nielsen-Massy, a lot of these have oils in them I can't have this is oil of lemon and water and alcohol. the alcohol bakes/cooks off, I couldn't have it not cooked. Vanilla I can actually tolerate the Costco, Kirkland pure vanilla extract, same it has to be baked/cooked!

Vegetables: canned green beans, frozen petite peas (totally overcooked),zuccunni cooked very well also, onion (only cooked very well) potato small red or white "idaho type ( not yellow butter potatoes) thats it folks, I do make a tomato sauce and have it on a good day but I cannot have too often, never raw. ( Back to the onions, the sweet onions, vidalla etc I do better with)

Fruit: dried cranberry ( oddly the ocean spray are the best for me, they don't use oils to coat the fruit) all other dried fruit has sunflower oils so can't have. Keep your eye on that, there is a health food brand of cranberry sauce I can have occasionally it's Oregon Trail. Ocean spray has corn and other stuff I believe that's why I can't have it. Trader Joes gravenstein applesauce ( on occasion)
apples cooked very well on serious occasion I've probably had more rejections than positives!
I came across honeyvillegrain.com awhile back and tried freeze dried peaches and I could have them! I failed the apples, but that is a place to try for some fruits/veggies you can't have, freeze drying uses no additives and may get rid of an enzyme you react to. I haven't gotten them in awhile because they were expensive, but I think I'm ready to order again I need something different~!

Milk Substitute: Use these for mostly baking, Pacific Rice Milk (plain) and Dari Free by Vances Foods ( potato milk) I use Dari Free in my coffee, slight tsp and it's wonderful! Beware of the Milk alternatives they have a lot of ingredients in some of them and one major thing especiall in the rice milks is using Barley to extract it! Although .005 percent in one brand is enough to make me very ill. Pacific has been the purist for me.

Oils: Olive and Grapeseed ( I'm very allergic to grapes and sulfites,  and can have grapeseed oil) again like all foods there is more than one variety so you have to see what you can tolerate. Grapeseed oil has a much higher smoke point than olive and can be used for the caramalizing and higher heat dishes also as a rotation.  I tolerated both Costco is carrying, be very wary of oils, I've gotten sick on a lot of the same kinds, they found out that some were being imported with other oils in them to "take up space" and people were getting very ill thinking it was 100 percent olive and thats what the package read and it wasn't. So be very aware!

Meats: Beef, Chicken, Buffalo/Bison, Turkey ( in question), this category takes work! Only white meat on the birds always natural. In the buffalo section some brands bother me some don't. Same with cuts of beef. I cannot stress the importance of there being such a variety of meat and reactions, Natural Meats are so much different,no antibiotics, hormones, solutions, preservatives.
I am on a limited budget and can watch sales and get these meats comprable to costco prices, when they go on sale I buy em up cook em and freeze em! Or freeze em in the raw! Also the health food stores have natural bacons, sausages, hot dogs, deli meats with no preservatives and not many spices, you may be able to have. On occasion I can get away with Applegate Farms turkey breast, and their chicken hot dogs, I also will have their bacon on occasion.  Not a lot of the time though, I don't do well with the few spices they have in them but you may! Celery juice is one major thats pretty much no bueno. Again I do it on occasion because I'm starving and have nothing cooked! If you've never been to a larger heath food store please go your food options may expand! A lot of people have no clue of the foods that are out there not chock full of crap! Sprouts, Trader Joes, Wild Oats( expensive but a good starting point to just see whats available!)

Odd things can't categorize; canned black beans (trader joes brand) black olives ( Santa Barbara Olive Co only!) Bearitos fat free Black Bean refried beans, Perkys Brand Nutty Rice Cereal, Puffed Millet and also Millet Flour

Rice: I love arborio rice! I only get lundberg brands, I don't tolerate the jasmine/basamati as well
        there are so many rices to try and all will affect you differently! I can't have black, wild rices
        you will have to test yourself which you tolerate.

Rice Pasta: Beware of the Gluten free pastas a lot have corn and quinoa very bad for me. Tinkyada brand I love love love, tolerating the "whites" better but they are harder to find, they have all sorts of shapes. Just always check the ingredients, K? I cycle with just a few kinds so I'm not sure of their entire line of pasta replacement.


Potato Chips ( these I order online only good health natural Olive Oil and Sea Salt ) these I am currently questioning, any of the other Olive Oil ones have Sunflower oil in them also so no bueno!
sometimes they bug me sometimes not, I wonder if the kettle got cleaned out from a previous order with something sunflower oil in it? I dunno but worth the risk sometimes especially when traveling.

Drinks: Starbucks Italian Roast, and Espresso Roast  in my lil french press, I make it wait for it to cool ( hour or so) add raw sugar and tsp of my potato milk and ice and I'm sooooo happy!!! That is  pretty much it,  a lot of brands/ roasts bother me, but I am an addict and I found a way!!! Smiley San Pelligrino Lemonata on occasion along with Hansens Root Beer also on occasion, sometimes the Pelligrino will react with my mouth and throat. It's the closest lemonade/Margarita fantasy I can have Smiley So I will continue to try darn it!
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Ok so what do I do with it all? Here are some ideas! Recipes to follow in recipe section
Teff Scones -  w choc chips, plain, or w/ dried cranberries( great on the go food, it does crumble because we cant put much in it!)

Oatmeal w/ water or rice milk or potato milk n honey/ maple syrup or sugar

Granola ( another good on the go food, a little messy in the car Wink Only my recipe

Nutty Rice w/ honey

Cream of Rice or Cream of millet w/ water, milk substitute, possibly freeze dried fruit? Honey

Muffins, variety from my recipe

Roasts: Crock Pot, thats all I can say!!! Smiley Put your meat in there w/ a lil bit of water for added moisture, bay leaf, onion. Let it brew on low 8 hrs, take out your meat let it sit and while it is, toss the onion in the garbage, turn up crock pot to high, add sea salt and start whisking rice flour in to make a gravy! I leave the bay leafs in and just don't eat them, that way it continues to flavor the gravy. You also can pour the broth in a pan and make it that way. The with rice flour and gravy is to whisk it in just before boiling and not too long after. You get the knack of it.

Mashed Potatoes, Boil ur Potatoes till soooo done they won't bug you Smiley Add tolerated oil and sea salt and beat the poo out of it! If you can add your milk substitute, and whip. I do have it plain also and it is fine! Pour your gravy over top and yumeeee....

French Fries / roasted potatoes: Peel dice and slice your way, put onto a baking sheet, drizzle oil all over and mix thoroughly add sea salt. cook at 375, depending upoon your cut a good 30 min for basic, a really roasted caramalized potato can be an hour or more, you get the hang of what you want. I will make a basic french fry sometimes around 30 minutes and sometimes, bake the potatoes a good hour or two to get really roasted. You can also add onion in the beginning and mix it in and caramalize them into the potatoes, scraping occasionally. The key to cooking potatoes in the oven is having a really good scraper and waiting till the bottom is cooked well and almost released by cooking, too soft and mushy potato. But oh well it still tastes good. If you can tolerate any other root vegetables this is a good way to have them, there are cool wavy slicers out there too to make it more pretty Smiley

Rice Pasta: It makes a great side, cooked, drizzled with oil and sea salt. Sometimes I'll boil the poo out of my petite peas and then add the pasta, also caramalized onions are phenom w this.

Caramalized onions: either on the stove top or I'll slice a bunch of onions ( way more than you think you need) on a baking sheet, drizzle with a decent amount of oil and sea salt, mix like crazy and cook in oven at 375 for over an hour, using tongs to mix up occasionally. I like to get many of them blackened and dark carmel so if I'm making a lot it could be 2 and 1/2 hrs to 3, thats for a lot for other family members also, just a bit for yourself will go much quicker I have to say these are the primary thing for making my food taste good, I dont have many options.

Dunnowhat to call it: In a decent sized pan, cook onions to golden if you can have them in oil, add ground beef or buffalo or sliced chicken breast, cook meat till done, add peas or zucunnini in the process to the point of where you want done and add cooked rice pasta. Enjoy with trader joes applesause on the side if you can have it. The idea here is a decent amount of oil when cooking to coat the pasta etc, the onion and sea salt flavor it all. It'd be delish with cheese but no bueno this is it! Smiley

Spaghetti Sauce, saute onion in oil, add ground beef or buffalo, possibly ground turkey if you can toerate, add basil and oregano ( quite a bit!)  then tomato sauce Muir Glen is my fav, along with
diced or roasted tomatoes and sea salt, simmer the entire day, mixing occasionally and tasting. I can't have it a lot, I try to cook a bunch and freeze it. Have over rice pasta, or on my special pizza crust as a pizza!

Pizza, I have a pizza crust recipe that took me years to figure out! Again can't have often, but when I'm considering a full on assult of a pizza delivery vehicle it's time to make it. As long as it's been a "not bad mastie day" It's big enough to have leftovers the next day or freeze and have later.
On Pizza, little meatballs, or cooked chicken and caramalized onions w/ caramalized zucunni and black olives,  or the meatballs w caramalized onions and i am pretty happy
Meatballs - ground beef/buffalo basil and oregano and sea salt cook at 375 25 min or so till done

Black Refried beans, nuked w olive oil potato chips or homemade chips

Black Beans rinsed, add olives, here's where the problem is, I cant have dressings, olive oil and sea salt maybe a little basil, not my fav, if basalmic vinegar could be added it'd be lovely but can't so not my fav meal but it has protein.

Beef Stew: Caramalize Onions in pot w/ oil, add stew meat, cook just few minutes, add water to above stew meat, add sea salt, bay leaves (2 or 3) and couple of diced potatoes, after a few hours your potatoes should be gone, add more diced potato, and frozen petite peas, cook couple more hours and you can add more potato if you want in the process making sure each addition gets cooked enough. ( corn and namate carrots are divine in this but again no bueno this is it!) is great alone or over rice pasta. I tend to have it alone on a potato day and save my rice for a rice day.

Chicken Soup/Stew: Same as above but with an entire chicken, cant have any other ingredients so thats it but also good, can have rice in it or rice pasta

Old School breakfast gravy, bummer is not a great recipe for bread/ biscut that I can have but I will post some that I've tried, if you can have eggs this would be great over them.
cook ground beef/ buffalo w basil and oregano ( quite a bit)  and sea salt, till done, add rice milk or your alternative, simmering nowhere near boiling, for quite a while, ( this is flavoring your "gravy") 30 min or so, you want the milk to fully cover the meat and be just a tad over, next bring up the temp a bit and wait till pretty darn hot almost boiling and start whisking in rice flour, will start to turn to gravy. When your consistency stop and remove from heat immediately. Now taste it to see if you need more salt, when you are whisking rice flour don't do anything else!

Roast Chicken/ Gravy/ w/ arborio Rice and canned green beans. OMGoshdelish!!!

Roast Chicken w/ 1/4 inch of water, onion sliced in half and bay leaf w/ lid 375 for time you need or in the crock pot, make gravy as stated above in meat section, Make arborio rice following directions, takes about 30 minutes and heat up your canned green beans.

Roast beef same as roast chicken above, delish but I seem to not tolerate roast cuts as well, or I have them at a particular time in my cycle cuz thats when I crave it. I like chuck roast or a brisket, w no added things just pure cut of meat!

Stuffing: Caramalize Onions in oil, add little bit of water and dried cranberries let simmer just to flavor the water and puff the cranberries a bit and then add puffed millet, mix together and take off heat. I wish I had cup amounts I kinda  just throw stuff together, not too much water, just enough to bring the millet together. Again you'll get the hang of what you like, but it really tastes pretty good! Puffed millet is in the health food stores in the cereal section right by the other "puffed grains" It's already cooked so this is a quick side dish.

Sanity Savers:
Chocolate Oat Brownies
Chocolate Cupcake/Cake   I never make this but when I do I smile!!
No bake chocolate drop cookie
Pizza

I tend to have my more boring meals during the week during the hectic pace and save my yummy stuff for the weekends, when the temptation to eat something I shouldn't is greater!I rotate trying not to have potato on a rice day etc however on the weekend I mix it up, because thats how you get some decent tasting things. Food rotation is a good key to better gastro health. After 25 years of this I can say I see a difference. If I think of anything else I will add it onto this post. Also I will get recipes posted ASAP, Hopefully tonight.

Also: Book by Nicolette M Dumke, The Ultimate Food Allergy Cookbook and Survival guide is worth purchasing. I can't eat probably 90 percent of whats in it, but it has helped me to add a few things and come up with a few more ideas. Out of all of the worthless allergy books I have bought, so many are a joke, and were a waste to buy. This was not!


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Sandi
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Re: Food Ideas for the I can't eat anything crowd
Reply #1 - 02/22/11 at 17:35:01
 
Keep in mind here that some days you can have something and some days you can't. Tomato sauce is one of those things, If I am already walking the tightrope with symptoms I cannot even think of having it. But somedays it's all under decent control and I can go ahead and make some and do ok.
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Patricia
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Re: Food Ideas for the I can't eat anything crowd
Reply #2 - 07/18/11 at 11:44:40
 
Hey Sandi, thanks so much for posting all these ideas! One of the most challenging parts of this disease is trying to eat and no doctor tells you what to eat or how to! They tell you what you cant have but its hard to figure out what to eat. It's  really hard to cook with barely anything. unfortunately my husband can't eat much of anything and only really tolerates protein. He can only do some green veggies, nothing orange and no fruits.

I was wondering if you have any recommendations for snacks? Or something to munch on. I cook all his meals and he doesn't eat any left overs but it's challenging to find something snack on. He's highly lactose intolerant, allergic to wheat, soy, dairy, nuts, corn, fish, and a lot of other foods.

I'm going to try the granola and the scones sound really good. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!
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Patricia
 
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Sandi
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Re: Food Ideas for the I can't eat anything crowd
Reply #3 - 08/13/11 at 20:09:40
 
Patricia, I tolerate a specific variety of potato, the white Idaho type, not yellow's yellow butter idaho, or yellow red or butter red, if so possibly  the roasted potato, french fry. Literally slice the potato, I do skin off I react less, tossed with tolerated oil, cook at 375 20 min to hour or hours depending upon how you have em sliced. for a quick snack slice thin. Use sea salt also. Snacks stink, I pretty much just starve. I also rotate as best as I can, I start to have trouble with something if I have it too much in a row.  I rotate potato days, rice days, teff days, millet is so not my fav. You will begin to come up with your own concoctions and develop a weekly routine in food.  One day of the week teff is it for me. the entire day.  Canned drained black beans ( natural brand rinsed like crazy, not preserved store brand) with natural olives no flavors, preservatives rinsed well mixed together with a slight drizzle of molasses, olive oil and sea salt. Nothing a normal person would say awesome about, but it fills the belly. I react to pretty much all other beans, but I can tolerate these once a week.
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Patricia
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Re: Food Ideas for the I can't eat anything crowd
Reply #4 - 08/14/11 at 03:23:57
 
Haha youre funny! We own restaurants and my husbands whole life and passion is food and wine! You can only imagine how distressing this has all been for him! Trying to find snack food, something to munch on or trying to find something to eat at a quick casual restaurant is impossible.
We have to go to steak houses if we eat out because they will usually be able to just grill a nice piece of beef and steam some asparagus or green beans...gets boring and expensive.

Thanks for all your tips and will keep experimenting!!!
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Patricia
 
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missybean
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Re: Food Ideas for the I can't eat anything crowd
Reply #5 - 08/18/11 at 05:57:45
 
Patricia- Can he have seeds? I love sunflower seeds. How about protein shakes? There is really yummy brand called Ray Robbs and it has little to no carbs mostly protein and sweetned with stevia and has a nice amino acid profile. They have Whey protein, egg protein, and rice protein. I have tried them all. The whey and egg are delicious! But the rice is not so good. I know you said he can't have dairy so whey is out of the question. Try egg if he tolerates eggs. I'm not kidding it tastes like a milkshake! Not the rice though......I found rice protein has a gritty chalky taste. But the cool thing about the shakes is there is something called a blender ball that you can take with you on the go and just put your choice of liquid(water,coconut milk,rice milk,etc) and put the protein powder is and shake it up. But the shakes taste even better with frozen fruit.
Melissa
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