Sunday breakfast

Shortly after my last post, I realized I still have plenty to write about food. Especially food I love and could happily eat on a daily basis.  Food such as... pancakes.

That's right.  I said "pancakes".  I, someone who doesn't eat gluten, eggs, dairy, soy, or even much sugar, have been enjoying pancakes on a weekly basis ever since I discovered yet another gem from "The Cravings Place":  

They are by far the best hypoallergenic pancakes I have ever had.  I've tried several brands now and without speaking harshly about the less savory ones, I can whole-heartedly recommend these.  There is a good chance that unless you witness me on a Sunday morning with my plate full of tiny pancakes (I like to make mini-cakes), dancing around the kitchen, you have no idea how happy something as silly as these make me.  So far, only my husband and my cat have that honor, but now that I think of it, I would totally host a pancake party some Sunday if anyone is game.

My favorite way to eat them?  Warm, with virgin coconut butter (which has a lovely coconut flavor and aroma), a very small amount of maple syrup, and pears on top.  Mine are on the right.  Elliot prefers his with butter, syrup, and a sunny side up egg crowning it.  Actually, he eats it sunny side down so the yolk soaks into the pancakes.  I eat mine and then we kinda share his.  Heh.  

"The Cravings Place" has been a hit with me so far and has a wide selection of nut/gluten/dairy/egg free mixes that I have yet to try.  I will be sure to sacrifice my time and my taste buds and then post here with a discerning report on each product.  In the name of science, of course.

Evolution

It's been about two weeks since my return from the Amazonian jungle and I'm still settling back into things.  

It was a very intense and transformational trip, which I anticipated, and as I'm sliding back into "normal" life I feel like everything sits just a notch or so from where it used to. Life is sweeter, more vibrant (despite the cold I've had), and is begging for some changes.  Some of them I recognize and some of them I don't quite know how to do yet.  You know that feeling? Like something is pulling in a different direction but I can't quite tell how yet.  It's really satisfying when I am able to figure out how to follow that urge to an endpoint.

One of those shifts is in this blog.  It's gonna get more personal, guys. Maybe not necessarily more personal on all the intimate details of my life, but I gotta talk about more than just food here.  And really, food overlaps with so many other things in life, right?  Food is healing, food is medicine, food is enjoyment, and it's also just one of the ways that I nourish myself.  

Sure, it's an important one.  I would definitely die without food, but I'm pretty sure I would die without breath or touch.  

With that said, I'm going to reflect for a moment here on all of the ways I nourish myself in addition to food.  Off the top of my head: breath, touch, friends, community, travel, rest, yoga and dance, and of course - writing (speak of the devil!).  Music!  So many ways.  I know the list is just going to keep growing.

So what are the ways in which you nourish yourself?

Sweet, sweet sugar

February probably wasn't the best month to choose for going sugar-free. Whoops.

But that's what we decided in this house and we're sticking to it.  At least it's the shortest month of the year, right?  Unfortunately it also seems to be one of the sweetest, most romantic, most desert oriented months of the year.  I kind of forgot about that when we set this plan, but now it has become painfully obvious.  It even feels a little bit like torture sometimes.  Let's just say I'm really looking forward to March!

At least we didn't go fruit-free or carb-free, just sugar and sweetener free.  I've been dabbling in the Stevia quite a bit and otherwise ogling any and all desserts that happen to cross my path.  I miss my dark chocolate.  I miss having little bites of bakery samples, or nibbling at my GF, DF, EF brownies and cookies.  I miss my tiny indulgences.

I also miss baking.  

You see, there's not a lot of baking that I do that doesn't involve some kind of sweetener.  I was standing in line at the grocery store the other day, marveling (read: drooling) at the cakes and cookies and realizing just how much I enjoy it. Plain flour, sugar, and shortening aren't that exciting on their own, but once you throw them together and add heat you can create something much more impressive and tempting than its separate parts.  It's kitchen alchemy.  I don't even care that much if I'm the one eating what I create.  It's just fun.  I was actually fantasizing about how awesome it would be to become a pastry chef or to bake professionally and spend the day making these gorgeous cakes and tiny confections that I see at the store.  Seriously, I'd love that.

So... I'll have to wait for March.  Sigh.  Until then, I will daydream of all the lovely things I want to make and try to be good.      

A love of all things coconut

Wow.

My last post was three weeks ago?  Three weeks go by that quickly now? Yeesh. I have had so much fabulous food in these past three weeks, and I've been narrating them in my head without putting them on this site. Well, it's time to get cracking (and put down that damn copy of Twilight).  I have something amazingly delicious to share today.  Brace yourselves.

Admittedly, you're not going to enjoy this if you're not a fan of coconut. The only reason I know this is because my poor, poor husband never acquired a taste for coconut and has no appreciation for something like this.  He doesn't even care for macaroons.  Poor man.   

Coconut is a gem - especially for those of us that don't tolerate dairy and are looking for some good alternatives.  Pick up coconut milk, flaked coconut meat, or coconut oil to substitute dairy products.  I like to use coconut oil as a butter alternative since it solidifies at approximately 70 degrees and works well almost anywhere that dairy butter would.  

My newest discovery though (read: addiction) is coconut cream.  It is heaven, I swear.  It's basically coconut meat that has been ground very finely but stores as a solid mass in the jar.  It is more dry than oily, and is best extracted from the jar with a fork or knife as opposed to a spoon. You can crumble it on warm food and watch it melt in like soft cheese, blend it with water to make coconut milk, add it to soups and stews for flavor, and - my favorite - eat it straight out of the jar in chunks like there is no tomorrow.  I confess, I haven't been very creative with my first batch of coconut cream.  Honestly, it's so tasty I've just been eating it by the spoonful or putting a small amount on a bite of bread to savor the flavor.  Sometimes with a bit of agave or salt.  I fully intend to play around with making milk out of it and using it in recipes but I've nearly killed the jar in less than a month. Looks like I'll have to buy another one.  What a shame.

I like to get it from Tropical Traditions which gives me an excuse to peruse all of the other delicious items on their website.  Try it out and let me know what you think and how you like to eat it.  Recipes are welcome, too!

Lard: Superfood of 2009....?

Lard.

I just love that I am posting in order to extol the potential virtues of lard. Especially in the face of so many lard nay-sayers out there.  After all, it is a saturated animal fat so therefore must be the cause of atrocities like heart disease and the like, right? 

Honestly, I am not convinced.  If you would like to hear the pro-saturated fat side of the argument, I suggest you check out the Weston A. Price Foundation.  They are just one of the groups challenging our current ideas around the relationship between saturated fats and disease.  Here is a list of articles on their site exploring this topic. Speaking as someone that fell utterly into the fat-free fad of the 90's, I confess that I find the opinions at WAPF very refreshing.  Take a look and see what you think. 

But I'm not really here to talk about lard as a saturated fat.  I'm excited because I've read a few sources marking lard (from pastured pigs) as one of the richest dietary sources of vitamin D. This makes sense that you would find it in concentrated amounts in the fat of an animal as it is a fat-soluble vitamin.  Vitty D has been in the news quite a bit these days because of how prevalent deficiencies are and the possible links to many health issues, including MS.  This just means we need to consume more of it either through food, supplementation, or sunlight exposure.  And considering how little sunlight we get in the lovely Pacific Northwest, getting our D from the sun isn't as easy up here as it is in sunny California.

I myself have a rather significant deficiency in vitty D as well as an intolerance to all supplemental forms of it.  That's right, all of them.  I have yet to find a vitamin D supplement that I don't react to, and none of my doctors have been able to figure out why or what to do about it.  So food sources are my only way to go.

I bought a lovely bucket of lard this past weekend at the local farmers market and I'm going to start cooking everything I can palatably justify in it (my husband deterred me from attempting to make salad dressing out of it- saying something about that being gross).  I'll retest my vitty D levels in a few months and see if they've come up at all.

You'll be among the first to know.

Also, many thanks to Seabreeze Farm and the amazing products they bring to our local farmers market every week.  I used to travel over to Vashon several years ago to get their raw milk (before I was fully aware of the dairy allergy) and they've grown so much since then.  

Peppermint Bark

(Okay, I think I need a tutorial in food photography.  Or maybe a better camera!  Hmmmm.)

This treat has been a huge success and I am already on my second batch.  I have to say that any kind of chocolate + mint combination is heaven as far as I am concerned, so this stuff rocks.  Plus, it's relatively easy to make and doesn't require any baking, just some double-boiling action.

I guess I should also say that it isn't actually dairy-free so it doesn't fit perfectly with my oh-so-sacred food allergy list.  But it isn't sugar free either, so who's counting?

I got this particular recipe from Kate over at her blog which is one of my favorites to turn to when I need some ideas.  Take it away, Kate:

Layered Peppermint Bark 

by Kate Chan
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups dark chocolate chips
2 1/2 cups white chocolate chips or chopped white almond bark
8 large candy canes, chopped/crushed
4 - 6 teaspoons shortening
4 teaspoons peppermint extract

Directions:

1. In a double boiler, or a metal bowl resting over hot water, melt dark chocolate chips with 2 teaspoons of the shortening and 2 teaspoons of peppermint extract. Do not let the temperature rise above 98/100F or you will break the temper of the chocolate.
   
2. Once melted, pour the chocolate onto parchment paper on a cookie sheet (that fits in your fridge). Smooth out the chocolate with a spatula to about 9 x 13″. Slide the cookie sheet into your fridge and allow the dark chocolate layer to cool/set for at least 30 minutes.
   
3. Once the dark chocolate is cooled, melt the white chocolate plus the remaining shortening (2 teaspoons) and extract (2 teaspoons). Once melted, pour over the top of the cooled dark chocolate. Working quickly - as it begins to melt the dark chocolate a bit - spread the white chocolate over the top of the dark chocolate base.
   
4. Sprinkle the crushed peppermints over the warm white chocolate topping. You can press the peppermints in to the chocolate a bit to make sure they will stick. (Pressing the peppermints in to the chocolate may not be necessary.)
   
5. Cool for at least 45 minutes in the refrigerator or on the counter top for 1 hour or more.
   
6. Score and cut into pieces. Store in an airtight container for 7 - 10 days (or until your family comes to help you eat them up!)

Happy holidays, safe travels, and warm wishes!

The List

That's right, this is the List with a capital "L".

Today was an outrageously snowy day in Seattle, unlike what we usually see here in December.  Most of my clients canceled for the day, so I fantasized about what I want to bake next.  Sweet potato cornbread?  Chocolate chip cookies?  (I'm still working on those brownies, so maybe the cookies will have to wait a bit).  This weekend I plan on making either peppermint bark or dark chocolate truffles, but I need to make a decision and a trip to the store before this happens.

I think I got a bit sidetracked there.  Back to the list...

A few weeks ago I finally took a food allergy test with my naturopath after many years of elimination diets, guesswork, and pure observation.  An elimination diet made it clear to me years ago that wheat and dairy and I didn't get along, but there were some foods I suspected I was reacting to, without much proof.

The test shows the level of allergy to a food ranging from "no reaction" to "high".  So, this is what I found:

High

Almonds.  These were actually reading off the charts, so I'd say my reaction to almonds is more of a High+.  This was one of those foods I suspected but had no idea it was so high.  Wow.

Moderate to High

Dairy.  Of the cow variety.  I knew this.

Eggs.  This I didn't know and I was sorely disappointed.  Going out to breakfast will be hard.

Yeast.  This includes both bakers yeast and brewers yeast.

Low to Moderate

Sugar cane.  This was closer to "moderate" than "low".

Cranberry.  I can live without this if I have to!

Wheat and wheat gluten.  I knew this and have been eating gluten-free for about 8 months now.

Spelt.  This was news!

Oyster.  Okay...

Low

Peanut, pecan, soy, red tomato, garlic, lettuce, cauliflower, radish, white potato, goat dairy, and barley.

Not on the test, but I don't need one to tell me I react to...

Alcohol.  Yes, it's a sad reality.

Vitamin D.  Doctors are baffled by this, but I can't tolerate any food that has vit d added.  Think dairy, most brands of rice milk, etc.

Phew.  There it is.  Honestly, I am not going to abstain from everything in the "low" category, because really... come on.  I must still maintain my sanity as well!  Otherwise, I'll do my best to avoid everything in the low/moderate to high categories and then re-test in 6-8 months or so to see if it is different.

I'm my own science experiment.

The great news?  I show as having no reaction to chocolate, honey, coffee bean,  ALL meats (can you say carnivore?), all seafood, corn, coconut, oats, sesame, and walnuts.  Of course there are many other foods I didn't show any reaction to, but these make me really happy for various reasons.

Because really, you could probably win me over with sushi and dark chocolate.  So it's good to know these do well with me.