@Kalofoods Shoutout

Over the last year, I have had to make all bakery items from scratch because most companies that offer gluten free bakery goods use potato starch.  Prime example – a friend of mine is getting married.  She and I both have to be gluten free.  She does not have nightshade issues.  She is telling the baker this information and says “my matron of honor can’t have potato starch”  The woman’s response – “But that’s what I use”.  Amazing how people who run businesses do not stop think about how to solve a problem verses just complaining about it.

This brings me to my shout out.  A few weeks ago, a local news station completed a story about this local company – @KaloFoods.  This family run business started because the president’s wife has celiac’s disease and they needed to create bakery items that taste good enough for those family members who are not restricted to gluten free would enjoy.  I will say they succeeded.  Not only do their baked goods like cakes, cupcakes, cookies, and brownies taste wonderful, my husband often eats more of them then I do.  Kalo Foods does not use potato starch and they offer more then just sweet treats. They have a bread that is delicious.  They also sell a “Carolina Roll” which is similar to a hamburger bun.

Over the last year, I have tried to make a hamburger bun and have not been successful at it.  About every week, my husband’s friends cookout.  I take all my own food now. But for the last year or so, I have gone to cookouts and eaten just my hamburger patty. However, since finding Kalo Foods, I have a bun to eat with my hamburger patty.

One Year

Well  –  I made it to another milestone.  Yesterday marked 1 year since the last time I got sick.  I actually went one full year.  2 years ago, I never thought that would be possible again.  My husband and I decided to go out to eat to celebrate.  We both wanted Japanese.  Interestingly enough, there are not ‘Steakhouses’ that cook in front of you that offer a gluten free option.  So we decided to go to a local hole in the wall that offers “express” Japanese because they were significantly cheaper AND I was just going to order sushi (I brought my own gluten free soy sauce LOL).

When we got there, I saw a sign about Soy allergies.  This made me ask the question about gluten and nightshades.  Turns out, this place cooks their hibachi dishes with a gluten free Teriyaki sauce. They  let me read the ingredients for the sauce and no nightshades.  I was so excited.  I got to enjoy chicken, steak, shrimp, and scallop hibachi.  Only change was white rice instead of Fried rice because they use the soy sauce in that and their soy sauce is not gluten free.  I was so excited still.  The meal was awesome.

I respectfully disagree

This article did get under my skin a little.

Yes, there are fade diets and remedies that do not work.

Yes, there is no one solution for everyone.

Yes, always discuss duets with your doctor.

These are common sense things.  I encourage everyone to take the medications you and your doctor discuss. But when that alone does not resolve the issues, desperation for health sets in. I struggled for over two years of repeated illness and I was on medication. It was not until last January things changed – slowly. I still take my medications even though taking it means I will never be able to get pregnant. I still take these medications knowing the potential toxic side effects that could build up. I take them because despite being sick for two years….the medications did help some. Yes….I was THAT SICK that even though I was still sick on medication I was not AS sick.

Removing gluten and nightshade from my diet was not and is not easy. This is one of the most difficult things I have ever done. But to imply with this article below that the results are somehow in my head, made up, or otherwise not accurate-  I must respectfully disagree. The last 12 months has been the healthiest I have been in over 2 to 3 years. I have gone 8 months without having an erythema nodosum flare that made me sick. I have not had to go to the emergency room in 18 months due to illness.

I will always believe people need to have candid conversations with their doctors. Ask what you can do to help in addition to medicine.  My doctor did say the nightshade free is not something they tell people because people will stop taking medicines and assume they are fine. But for all of those people out there who still suffering after being on medication, I encourage you to talk to your doctor about things you can do to in addition to your medications.

http://www.arthritis.org/living-with-arthritis/arthritis-diet/anti-inflammatory/food-myths-arthritis.php

Thank You @PNCarena

My sister, brother-in-law, parents, husband, and I went to Hurricanes v. Blackhawks game last night. Let’s be honest, with my food allergies, concession stand food is almost certainly a no go.  The plan was to eat at the stadium and they do not allow food in.  So I emailed the stadium to see what could be done.

@PNCarena sent my question to their director of catering, Chris. Chris was so helpful. He provided me with a set of options. Not only that, Chris arraigned for the Chef to meet me at a pre-determined location to pick up the meal.  I was able have salmon, broccoli, and fresh pineapple for dinner and able to eat with my family.  I was so impressed and pleased I had to send a shout out to Chris, Mike (the chef), and @PNCarena for working with me and all people with food allergies and sensitivities!

#NightshadeFree Chili

We have chili.  I love snow, but when you live in the south, 1 inch shuts EVERYTHING down.  So then you are stuck inside (I mean, you can go out, but nothing is opened which is crazy for the amount we go). Well I put that time to good use to make some nightshade free chili.  I have done a few chilis over the last 12 months, but nothing was really capturing the taste I wanted so I did not post about.  This chili, however, is different.  It has the sweet heat that I loved from regular chili. It really is tasty.  I know there are 22 ingredients, but don’t let that intimidate you.  It is really simple because after you steep the water and brown the onions / ground turkey, everything goes in a slow cooker.  This is a great recipe for snowy and cold days. Also – don’t feel you have to stick with celery.  I use that because that is what I had and celery is a great texture replacement for bell peppers so you still get that crunch.  But if you have carrots, corn, or other veggies that are in your fridge, dice them and dump them in!

Ingredients:

1. 1/4 teaspoon green peppercorn
2. 1/4 teaspoon black peppercorn
3. 1/4 teaspoon grains of paradise peppercorn
4. 1/4 teaspoon Szechuan peppercorn
5. 5 Long grain Peppercorn tubes
6. 2 Bay leaves broken in two pieces each
7. 4 ounces Boiling water
8. 1/2 pound ground turkey
9. 4 stalks of celery, diced
10. 1 medium onion, diced
11. 1 teaspoons Himalayan pink sea salt
12. 1 teaspoon of Black Peppercorn
13. 2 tablespoons of Coconut oil
14. 2-15.5  ounce cans of kidney beans (you can use one light red, one dark red or use keep it the same) with liquid
15. 2 Tablespoons of Fresh parsley, chopped
16. 12 ounces of No-Tomato Tomato Paste
17. 1 1/2 teaspoon cumin
18. 1 1/2 teaspoon coriander
19. 1 1/2 teaspoon ground yellow mustard
20. 3/4 teaspoon onion powder
21. 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
22. 1/4 cup red wine vinegar

Directions:

1. Take ingredients 1 to 5 and crush them coarsely (do not use a grinder, use a mortar and pastel or put them in a zip lock bag, then use a rolling pin to crush them). Place crushed peppercorn into heat resistant container with the bay leaves and pour 4 ounces of boiling water over it (don’t over thing this part, I actually just use my Keurig  machine to get 4 ounces into the container) and let it steep for about 30 minutes.
2. In skillet, heat the coconut oil on medium heat. Once hot, add onions and celery.  Cook until translucent (about 2 to 5 five minutes)
3. Add ground turkey, salt, and pepper and cook until browned.  Once cooked, set aside.
4. In a slow cooker, add ingredients 14 to 22.  Stir until well blended.
5. Add meat mixture to the slow cooker
6. Pour the steeped water through a strainer so the peppercorn infused water into the slow cooker and then discard the peppercorn and bay leaf mesh.
7. Cook for 6 hours on high 8 hours on low.

 

As always – if you have a dish you would like re-invented, leave me a note or email me at thrivingwithpsoriasis@gmail.com with the dish and the foods you have to avoid!

Enjoy!

 

Nightshade free lasagna

Growing up, my sister’s and I always got to pick what we had for dinner on our birthday. My favorite thing (and it become a joke with my family) was lasagna.

When I got married, the only time I really ate lasagna was when we were out because my husband does not care too much for lasagna. Needless to say, it has been a year since I have had lasagna. Let’s be realistic – restaurants might offer a gluten free version, but not a nightshade free version.

With my birthday coming up on Sunday, I decided that I wanted lasagna at least at some point this weekend.  I have a no-tomato tomato paste. I did not have a no tomato marinara sauce. As a result I will have two recipes in this post. The first is the marinara sauce and the second is the lasagna.

MARINARA SAUCE

Ingredients
-1-14.5 ounce can of diced rutabaga with juice
-7 ounces of drained, cooked carrots (I uses canned and saved the other half of can for the lasagna)
-4 ounces mushrooms and all juice from 8 ounce can (I used the other 1/2 of mushrooms for lasagna)
– 3 ounces balsamic vinegar
-6 ounces No Tomato Tomato Paste
-4 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley
– 1 clove garlic, minced
– 1 teaspoon oregano
-1 teaspoon salt
-1/4 teaspoon peppercorn ground
–  4 tablespoons of olive oil
– 1/3 cup diced oinions
– 1/2 cup beet juice (can find this at health food stores like whole foods)

Directions
– place all but last 3 ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth
– in large skillet, heat the olive oil. Saute onions for approximately 2 minutes.
– add onions and any remaining liquid and beet juice to blended mix in the food processor. Blend until smooth.
– to serve as pasta sauce, heat up in sauce pan before serving.

NIGHTSHADE GLUTEN FREE LASAGNA
Ingredients

– 1/2 pound ground turkey
– 3 tablespoons olive oil
-3/4 cup chopped onion
– 1 garlic clove
– 26 ounces nightshade free marinara sauce (described above)
– 16 ounces ricotta cheese
– 7 ounces cooked carrots, drained
– 4 ounces mushrooms drained
– 1 egg
-1/2 cup mozzarella cheese shredded (for filling)
-1 tablespoon fresh chopped parsley
– 1/4 teaspoon ground peppercorn
– 1-10 ounce pacakge of thawed spinach
– 9 gluten free half lasagna noodles (I used muller’s oven ready)
– 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions
– in large skillet, heat olive oil. Add ground turkey, onions, and garlic. Cook until turkey is cooked and crumbled.
– add 3 cups of marinara sauce to skillet and simmer for about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
– in bowl mix ricotta cheese, carrots, mushrooms, egg, pepper corn, 1/2 mozzarella cheese,  parsley, and spinach
– in 8 inch square pan, spray cooking spray then pour remaining marinara in bottom. Place one layer of noodles (you may haveto break one to fit)
– spread a layer of the cheese filling. Cover that with layer of meat and sauce filling.
– place another layer of noddles and cover with remaining cheese filling
– place last layer of noodles, cover with remaining meat sauce. Cover with 2 cups mozzarella cheese.
– bake in preheated oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 50 minutes or until cheese is bubbly and browning.

This is delicious!  As always if you have a recipe you want me to reinevent, let me know 🙂

Easy Dessert for New Year’s Eve

I always loved the New Year’s Eve party we had growing up.  My parents would cook a variety of appetizers for us to enjoy through out the night.  Of course, they would include a variety of ‘mini’ desserts for everyone to enjoy.  I started thinking about this a few weeks ago as I was working on my list for our party.  As I started making the list, I realized how many items were filled with gluten and / or nightshades.  These foods were very much on my no-no list.  Then I remembered a dessert I made for me for Thanksgiving.  We have two – one at my husband’s parents and one at my parents.  As a result, I make “small” or “mini” desserts so that I keep portion control and can take it to both locations.  This dish is a Marbled Pumpkin Cheese Cake.  To make mini ones, I use a cupcake tin and cupcake wrappers.  It works perfect!

Ingredients

• 1 ½ Cups Crushed Glutenfree and nightshade free Gingersnap cookies (such as Pamela’s or Annies).  This is approximately 1 package of Pamela’s ginger cookies.
• 8 Ounces of finely chopped pecans
• ⅓ cup butter, melted
• 1 tablespoon of sugar
• 2 – 8 ounce packages of cream cheese
• ¾ cup white sugar, divided
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup canned pumpkin
• ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

 

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F
• In food processor or blender, blend gingersnaps, pecans, butter, and 1 tablespoon of sugar.
• Press mixture into the bottom of 24 cupcake wrappers (there should be enough for each to have about ⅛-¼ inch on the sides).
• Bake crust for about 10 minutes, set aside to cool
• Cream the cream cheese, ½ cup of sugar, and vanilla
• Mix eggs (one at a time) into mix, blending well after each addition.
• Remove 1 cup of the mix and set aside.  
• With the remaining mix, blend ¼ cup of sugar, pumpkin, cinnamon, and nutmeg until smooth
• Spread the pumpkin based mixtures evenly into each of the 24 cupcake tins
• Drop 1-2 teaspoons of the reserved batter into each cupcake tin.  Use a knive to swirl the the mix into the pumpkin mix for each cupcake, creating the marble effect
• Back for 35-40 minutes, or until the filling is set (You can insert a toothpick into the cupcake to confirm it comes out clean if you desire, but this does leave a hole)
• Allow to cool for about 10 minutes before removing the cupcakes from the tin.  It is important to use a cupcake wrapper for these because they will not remove cleanly from the cupcake tin!
• Remove cupcakes from tin and set on cooling rack lined with a paper towel for 45-60 minutes.  
• Refrigerate cooled cupcake cheesecakes for at least 3-4 hours before serving.

 

These are delicious and they keep very well.  I froze left overs as quick desserts for me when we go to friends.

Merry Christmas – Sorry Its Been a While

Well — Merry Christmas first and foremost!  I hope everyone has had a great holiday so far.  I am sitting in our computer room while my hubby is sleeping.  Our tradition is when we get home from his parents on Christmas Eve, we open our gifts.  It is usually around 11 PM or midnight.  Last night was no exception.  We opened gifts.  The greatest husband in the world got me a high end Espresso Machine.  Hehehe so of course we had to test this – at 1:30 AM (yeah – maybe not the brightest idea I have ever had, but hey it was YUMMY!!!!!)  Needless to say we went to bed at 3:30ish.  Hubby is still snoozing before we get ready ready to head to my parents.  I am sitting here enjoying my double shot latte!

I must apologize for not posting in the last few months.  I had a few craft fairs and working on my dissertation, I had to put a few things on the back burner.  Unfortunately, the posting was one of them.  I am excited because as of December 22, 2015 – I have gone 7 months without having a full-blown erythema nodosum flare that resulted in me being sick.  This is the first time in 4 years I can say this!!!!!!! It was just shy of a year ago that I eliminated gluten and nightshades from my diet and the transformation has been nothing short of miraculous. Yes – I still have to listen to my body and slow down when I am tired.  This helps limit the stress levels in my body.  Yes – I have to make a determined effort to limit my stress and not let little things bug me (that might actually be harder for me then eliminating nightshades).  Yes – I still have to accept and remember to ask for help when needed.  But, I can do all of these things without being sick.  Those people with chronic illness understand how something as simple as being able to ask for help because you know it is too painful (such as opening a bottle of water) is so much different than someone feeling obligated to assist you because you are so sick you cannot stay awake.

So as I sit here drinking my awesome homemade double shot latte, I am reminded how I am more thankful for my husband’s support, research, and love then anything physical gift.  He is the one that stumbled upon the dietary connection.  He is the one that has been there this year as I struggled with giving the food up that I loved so much (and let me be crazy about it!).

Bacon Wrapped Pork

So last night my hubby wanted steak. Because of my issues, I have to significantly limit the amount of red meat (short of lamb). Instead, I got a pork chop. As I was at the store, food inspiration hit me. Last weekend I made my nightshade and gluten free barbeque sauce. In order to make this, I had to make a new batch of nightshade and gluten free chili sauce. I still had some left over. So I decided to use some of the chili sauce as a moisturize on the interior layer of the pork and a bacon wrap on the out side. OMG!!!!!!! It was delicious! Even my husband, who rarely tires “my food” if it uses my nightshade and gluten free alternatives thought it was awesome.

Ingredients:

• Boneless pork chop about 1/2 inch thick
• 1-1 1/2 Tablespoons of Nightshade and Gluten Free Chili Sauce (depending on how long / wide the pork chop is), the sauce should be separated
• 2 Teaspoons of Cilantro
• 2 teaspoons of Himalayan Pink Sea Salt; separated
• 1 teaspoon of freshly ground green peppercorn, separated
• 2 teaspoons of garlic
• 3 strips of bacon (you may need more if you pork chop is long. You want enough that the bacon fully wraps the entire piece of meat)
• Toothpicks

Directions:

• Trim any bones or excessive fat off of the pork
• spread 1/2 of the chili sauce on one side of the pork chop
• top the chili sauce with all of the garlic, and 1/2 of the cilantro, 1/2 of the salt, and 1/2 of the green peppercorn
• roll the pork chop with the sauce side in the center (roll like you would a tortilla)
• On the exterior of the pork chop roll – spread the remaining chili sauce. Top the sauce with the remaining green peppercorn, cilantro, and salt.
• Wrap the bacon around the entire pork chop roll until the entire pork chop is covered. Use the toothpicks to secure the bacon and the roll.
• Grill for about 15 to 20 minutes, or until the center is 145 Fahrenheit.
• Let the pork chop rest for 5 minutes after grilling before cutting.

This was VERY moist and tasty.  Now – we used charcoal grill so that did give it a special flavor, but a gas grill will also work. The outer layer of bacon may get VERY blackened, but the interior is not and the entire thing tastes AWESOME!

Enjoy!

Hummas

So today while I was off work I decided I would make a some hummas. Many hummas brands have the words “spices” in them, which of course means they are not friendly for people like me. However, the recipe I created was really simple. You can always substituted the Parmesan cheese for something else if you want to make sure it is dairy free. This is a zingy, tasty recipe that goes great with basic tortilla chips.

Ingredients:

• 1 can of chic peas (with the liquid)
• 1/2 tablespoon of lemon juice
• 1 1/2 tablespoon minced garlic
• 3 teaspoons ground grains of paradise
• 1/4 cup parmesan cheese

Directions

• Put all ingredients into food processor and blend
• If it is too thick, add more lemon juice 1/2 tablespoon at a time.
• If you do not add cheese, use only 1/4 tablespoon of lemon juice to start with.