Popular Substitutions

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One of the most common questions I get asked is which dairy free cheese is the best. If you are new to dairy free eating, I mean, like really new, my suggestion is to focus on eating foods you like that you never put cheese on in the first place and revisit the cheese issue in a few months after you get a hang of this new diet.

   Surely you do not only eat foods that require cheese. Make a list of all the foods you can think of that do not need cheese. 

   The next most common question is substitutions. There are lots of web sites that offer substitution ideas and I honestly cannot make the connection with most of the foods they suggest. When I am looking for a substitution I want something that is at least somewhat close in taste and texture.

Cold tomatoes: try watermelon, artichokes, Kalamata olives. Trust me on that watermelon. Try making a salsa and replace the finely chopped fresh tomato with a finely chopped cold watermelon. it really does work!

Hot tomatoes, like in soups or sauces: artichokes, kalamata olives, pureed carrots with vinegar and sugar. Trust me, try it. Get a small can of regular tomato sauce to conduct a taste test when making the carrot substitute.  Hint: if you are making a cream of carrot (fake tomato) soup be sure to add a pinch of celery seed. If you have a can of tomato soup, smell it!! Now smell the celery seed. Right?

Paprika and chili powder: try Cumin. if you smell paprika and chili powder; now smell cumin. Its very similar!

Dairy free substitutes were a hard one for me. So many people just sub with coconut milk. I don't like the taste of coconut milk in everything. Certainly not savory foods. Many people like it fine. I did not.

I found that vanilla almond milk was the closest to dairy milk in taste and I still had to learn to like it. I did learn to like it and cannot imagine using anything else now. Sometimes to broaden your diet you will have to "learn" to like new things or find new things to incorporate into your diet you didn't know you would like until you tried it.

Pack Your Lunch Ideas

    I pack my lunch, as most of us on a restricted diet do. 

I find whole foods are the easiest, quickest and the most healthy. This is not to say I do not include the occasional processed food, but I make sure the whole, fresh, unprocessed foods are the majority of my diet. What kinds of processed foods?

An example would be a tortilla in order to make a wrap that is full of legumes, vegetables, lettuce, olives, a protein like chicken. My tip with this is to be sure to purchase the large burrito size so you can fit all of your fillings and still be able to roll it up.

Other fresh foods that pack well:

Orange: I go ahead and peel them before packing my lunch. I like the Clementines as the rind releases quite easily.

• Apples
• Raw cauliflower (take along some hummus or guacamole)
• Celery
• carrots
• watermelon
• trail mix
• nuts, seeds
• cucumber
• Romaine lettuce sections (you would hold it like a piece of celery)
• boiled eggs
• Olives and artichokes
• broccoli

Grocery List Booklet: How To Use

  

Details: https://amzn.to/3LsStIu 

This is a list of food products that meet the following criteria:

No gluten

No dairy

No soy or soy byproducts

No grains or byproducts of grains

No nightshades or byproducts of nightshades

No fructose corn syrup

If you see a product that says grain free that would also mean it is gluten free as all glutens are grains. Vegan means dairy free and egg free.

  Since the last time I published a grocery list there have been many new and exciting products hit the market. We have much more to choose from and the best news is that these anti-inflammatory friendly products are becoming standard in our neighborhood markets.

 For those of you who are brand new to avoiding gluten, dairy, soy, nightshades, and grains I know it can seem overwhelming. What can I eat? What’s left to eat?

 Well, as you will see in this book, there are lots of foods for you to choose from. I found as many foods as possible first and foremost in regular grocery stores in regular towns.

 This book includes the natural, unprocessed foods as well as the brand name packaged foods that can sometimes be more convenient.

 You may find some products on two or more lists. I am aware of this and it is only to make it easier for you to find your product.

As you read through the lists included in this book circle the foods you already know you like or would like to try. Or, if using a kindle, create your own list in a blank journal or notebook.

This book is conveniently divided by the aisles of any regular grocery store; aisles, frozen foods, dairy, etc. Use this book when you are creating your grocery list for the week, coming up with nightly menu's and take it to the store with you so that you can refer to it while shopping.

Skip over any foods that you do not eat. Each of our bodies are very unique, just because it is 'clean' doesn't mean it doesn't bother you in some way.

This book does include processed foods but many of us are bothered by processed foods and should avoid them. I have included them for those who can eat them without incident or have them on rare occasion during a holiday or when serving others. How often you eat a particular food is entirely up to you and only you know what your body tolerates and what triggers symptoms.

It is important to get into the habit of looking at the ingredients of every single thing before you purchase it. Ingredients change from time to time and so what has made this list today may not make the list next year. The time consuming effort of reading labels, you will find, is much easier when you start eating whole fresh foods and less overly processed foods. It is the overly processed foods with long ingredients list you will most likely just avoid anyway and there is no need to read the list.

This overall list also includes things like carbonated beverages. While most of us should not be drinking carbonated beverages due to the sugar content, whether real sugar or artificial, as a regular part of our diet, we may be looking for something to serve on a special occasion. For this reason I have included them.

The list of clean foods for the following food groups included in this book include:

• eggs
• legumes
• nuts and seeds
• packaged salads
• produce: fruits and vegetables
• fresh meats
• fresh seafood
• Baking aisle: oil and nonstick sprays, seasonings and spices, sweeteners
• beverages
• box mixes
• bread
• broth
• condiments: mayo, mustard, horseradish, relish, pickles, salad dressing
• jams and jelly
• peanut butter
• canned foods: beans, fruit, applesauces, meats and seafood, soup, vegetables
• Dairy Free Products
• Frozen foods
• Sauces and gravies
• pasta
• dried beans
• Miscellaneous refrigerated
• snack aisle
• vinegar

The book also includes a sample grocery list and the cost for one month.

For More Details: https://amzn.to/3LsStIu 

Let's Talk About Grains and Nightshades

  #glutenfree #dairyfree #soyfree #NightshadeFree #GrainFree If you suddenly feel bewildered as to what to eat grab a piece of paper/pen and do an inventory of everything in your kitchen that are 'clean' foods.

By 'clean' I of course mean foods that DO NOT cause you inflammation, pain, gut discomfort, constipation, headaches, diarrhea, brain fog, mood swings, outburst of anger, etc. Which foods trigger us can be different for everyone, but those foods usually fall within one of these groups:

gluten

dairy

nightshades

soy

grain

It does not matter WHY at the time of making the decision of what to choose to eat. Simply avoid what bothers you in a negative way. Not knowing the why is not reason to eat this food and suffer. You can always talk with your doctor and your next office visit about your concerns, in the meantime, avoiding certain foods will not harm your health so long as you have an overall healthy diet.

Black pepper, for instance, is not a nightshade and yet many people who avoid nightshades have a problem with black pepper.

There are many, many that claim grains cause chronic constipation. I am one of them. While everyone is claiming the virtues of eating whole grains to keep you 'regular' it just might not be true for all of us. I was chronically constipated for years and when I finally gave in and tried omitting all grains 100% I suddenly became regular. It was heaven!

Grains:

Oats, corn, rice, wheat; and so this means most breads, cereals and the like.

Back to the original post: if you do an inventory of your kitchen - the cupboards, freezer, refrigerator most people realize they have lots of foods they can eat today, right now. But, if you find very little then it might be time to get more serious about your grocery shopping.

Grain Free Substitutes for Rice Vinegar

 Rice vinegar is made from fermented rice. So, if you are avoiding grains you will be avoiding rice vinegar. Now some people can handle a little bit here and there but others want to avoid it 100%, If you are like me, I prefer to buy as few groceries as possible and get the most use out of each one. For that reason I like to find the most versatile food products that I can use in the most dishes. Vinegar is one of those and my number one choice I find can replace most all other vinegars is Raw Unfiltered Apple Cider Vinegar and so, for the most part, that is the only one I keep on hand. Any recipe that calls for vinegar of any kind I use Apple Cider Vinegar. There are only a few very specific recipes that may call for a very specific taste, say, maybe it needs a balsamic vinegar or something like that. Here are some great alternatives to Rice Vinegar:

Apple Cider Vinegar

Champagne Vinegar: a much more delicate light taste than apple cider vinegar

White Wine vinegar: some say when they use white wine vinegar in place of rice vinegar they add a scant amount of sugar as it is not as sweet tasting.

You could also use lemon juice or lime juice in place of vinegar, and vice versa. I avoid citrus for the most part and so I have used vinegar in place of lemon juice on occasion.

Vinegar, like lemon and lime juice is a healthy food. Remember to avoid Malt Vinegar as it is a gluten. 

Weekly Fresh Food Haul March 29 2023

 

Weekly Haul of 3/29/2023

Small bag of grapes, one orange, two gala apples, radishes, one avocado, one cucumber, two sweet potatoes, frozen spinach, frozen cauliflower and a head of lettuce.

The key to these fresh fruits and vegetables not going bad is to eat them in a timely manner. So I will start incorporating them into my meals tonight and every day until they are consumed. If you plan on throwing them into a draw and not pulling them back out for 5-7 days then it would be better to wait four or five more days before you purchase them. 

This is enough to last me about seven full days and it will stay fresh the entire time. I will focus on the fresh raw foods first and the frozen are for backup and to get me through to the next weeks grocery haul if I end up consuming all of my fresh foods before that time.

Healthy is not expensive!!

Grapes $1.38 for one pound

Two Sweet Potatoes $1.27 for both

Orange was $0.88 cents

Radishes were $1.78

Cucumber $0.78 cents

Frozen bag of spinach, 12 ounces, $1.12

Avocado was 0.78cents

frozen cauliflower (12 ounce bag) $0.98cents

I also bought an 18ct carton of eggs $2.72

Carton of Unsweetened Almond Milk $2.44

All of this only totals $14.13 and the frozen spinach will most likely last several weeks to a month. The eggs will last two weeks. The frozen cauliflower will last me two to three meals. The radishes and lettuce will last more than seven days if kept dry and in the vegetable drawer. I still have some fresh celery in the crisper drawer from last week and it has not ruined. Hoping to make some cream of celery soup this week and use some of it with an apple to make a celery apple salad.

I still have enough spaghetti squash left from last weeks haul and today I'm going to brown some ground beef and a bit of frozen mixed vegetables with the spaghetti squash for supper tonight to finish that off.

I already had some chicken breast in the freezer and other meats and seafood. But with the fresh weekly foods only costing around $15 or less I can afford to replace those foods as needed.

Your fresh food haul may look different then mine. However it looks I hope you will consider incorporating more fresh foods into your daily (every day) diet.

All of these foods are #glutenfree #dairyfree #soyfree #grainfree and #nightshadefree 

Gluten Free Alternatives To Cornstarch and Flour as a Thickener

 You want to make a sauce or gravy or thicken a soup or stew. Use to you would just grab a couple tablespoons of flour, traditional wheat flour. Since going gluten free you may have turned to cornstarch since the rice flour and other gluten free flours are much on making a roux.

Now, you have progressed your diet to avoiding grains which would include cornstarch. The first suggestion made is always arrowroot but not all of us are pleased with the gelatinous texture you can end up with when using arrowroot. For this reason we wanted to look at Tapioca Starch.

What is tapioca starch?

A: Tapioca is made by extracting the starch from the roots of the Cassava plant.

What is arrowroot?

A: Arrowroot is made from the roots of a plant called the Maranta Arundinacea. 

Both Arrowroot and Tapioca are gluten free and fine to use.

Some things to know:

Most people agree that arrowroot works well to make things like glazes and as a thickener for fruit desserts but can turn slimy and weird when trying to thicken a meat sauce or anything with dairy. Arrowroot seems to be the better choice for acidic liquids.

I have read in multiple sites that your best practice with arrowroot is to add it at the very end of cooking.

Tapioca on the other hand is my goto starch/flour for thickening gravy and savory meat sauces. If you avoid gluten but not dairy, tapioca is your goto thickener.

Both tapioca and arrowroot use the same principle to avoid lumps: always mix with a bit of cold water first before adding slowly to your hot mixture.