The Imhotep Resurrection

Home made chicken jambalaya (organic non hormoned/antibioticed chicken)

It's possible to eat out real food that's even fun

I haven’t blogged for a while.  Talking to other bloggers, this is apparently a common phase a blogger goes through.  Blog, stop and realize that it’s time to blog again since there is so much to blog about and then stagnate on that thought for a while.  We all know if we don’t

keep the blog fresh and new it will die for sure.  If it’s already dead, we need to resurrect.  So I’m entering the resurrection phase.

First, why the loss in continuity?  Time as usual is never enough and unlike the Rolling Stones claim, it’s not on my side (but it’s definitely on their side).  I have more than full time life/career and in my spare time, I am also running a hobby site (totally unrelated to this blog) that now too needs resurrecting also. Plus I have many other interests and responsibilities.

So as part of the resurrection process, it’s time to self analyze.  Why did I start this blog in the first place, and was I true to its original mission? 

                       

There are multiple reasons why I started this blog.  Mostly, I refused to accept that garbage processed food is the natural outcome of a busy life style.  Friends would ask me for recipes – oh how did you make this without some key unhealthy ingredient?

It is well known that I personally avoid dairy like the plague.  This passionate hatred for dairy was initially the outcome of my son’s G.I. issues; an up and coming form of food allergy called Eosinophilic Esophagitis – a strange allergy of the esophagus that can only be diagnosed via an endoscopy / biopsy.  A condition you don’t ‘grow out of.’  So after his diagnosis, we tried the elimination diet (off the top 8 allergens) and it worked.  His condition cleared up.  The next 7 years were spent trying to figure out which of those 8, if not all, are causing this reaction (food trialà endoscopyàconclusion).   Over the years he gained back soy, wheat, eggs, fish and now the biggest one of them, with respect to his lifestyle, DAIRY, the most common trigger for EoE (the odds were against us).

So, back to this blog. since it’s not a food allergy blog. Over the past 8 years, I learned a lot about processed foods, ingredients, and how to make food taste good without bad ingredients.  Eating this way I stopped getting sinus infections, etc. I wanted to share this knowledge.  Cooking and living this way led to the Hegelian dialectic and hence paradigm shift.  So I started blogging about how to shop, cook and live with real food ingredients while avoiding some culprits that have been shown to be carcinogens and causes of diabetes.  I started posting recipes and shopping tricks. Then I had no time.  Taking photos and uploading them was easy.  It’s the recipes that slowed down the process.  I don’t really follow recipes.  I create dishes on the fly.  For a new dish I always read multiple recipes that formed the foundation.  Then I create my own recipe in my head as I apply some foundations that too are in my head. 

 Plus the whole purpose of the blog wasn’t to be a pure recipe blog.  There are plenty of great recipe blogs out there.

So as with any resurrection, remember Imhotep, it’s time to get back to the basics.  The rest follows (“Imhotep, Imhotep” – famous follows quote from The Mummy).

So to apply the Imhotep resurrection model, the first entry is to remind (including myself) why I blog.  With that step completed, I’ve set a goal for myself on the frequency  of new blog entries, even if not a full blown recipe, something valuable the reaffirms.  So for now, this entry is just a reminder that one can live a busy life without ingesting garbage.  One doesn’t need a food allergy or EoE to do this. 

While unwinding from a long workday, I found  this new source, it too is a reminder.  “We have to cook our way out of this mess” – blogs and events like this are reminders not stray off the path.  It’s the anti unhealthy campaign that we are exposed to daily (fast food and processed foods):

A new movement: The Eatin?

Due to my son being able to eat dairy, we can now eat out more (no dread of dairy cross contamination-if the spatula touched cheese, nobody will get sick).  But dining out is a science too.  Some restaurants have better dishes than some others. I’ve found a few that are ‘less evil’ than some others. Serving real food is of course the first criteria to even visiting it.

Healthy food is NOT boring.  It’s the lack of know how and some social conditioning that leads to people thinking that it is.

 

Yes-no meat and it's tasty

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A Birthday Cake …made for me

A cake baked for me for my birthday...delicious and allergen free

As most of my blog entries, this one is about food.  And as most food, it’s not just caloric intake to satisfy some basic hunger. 

For various reasons, my birthday celebration with my daughter was a few days early.  Instead of getting some dessert that was store bought (which a tough find because I really don’t consume dairy) and would exclude Jordan (due to his food allergies), she made a birthday cake for me.  Because it’s allergen free, Jordan could also eat this cake.  She couldn’t buy commercial decorator icing (never know if they are cross contaminated).  Instead, I got unique candles. 

I haven’t had a birthday cake baked for me since I was a teen (baked by my mother).  After that I got cakes from bakeries (some real good ones).  Then once my son’s food allergies kicked in, that also ended.  I wouldn’t celebrate with a cake he couldn’t eat and I wouldn’t bake a cake for myself (pathetic). 

Cherrybrook Kitchen is a family owned business (inspired by their daughter with multiple food allergies).  The mixes are made in a dedicated facility that is free of dairy, nuts, tree nuts and eggs (so no worries about cross contamination).  So if you are not big on baking, this is a great substitute for making a cake from scratch.  Or if you hope that a family member or friend will bake you a cake for a change, drop a hint about Cherrybrook Kitchen.

After being surprised by this homemade cake, I realized that I do prefer a homemade cake to a store bought one.  There is a lot more thought and effort that goes into it.

Cherrybrook Kitchen cake and frosting for people who are not expert bakers but do want to make someone feel good

(note:  the frosting mix was made with Spectrum)

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Heavenly Homemade Hummus

run food processor and drop garlic cloves in

One lemon is usually enough...also use a very high quality olive oil (you do get what you pay for)

Fine tune as you process

Add fresh lemon juice 
(DO NOT USE 'realemon' bottled lemon juice)

The whipped/creamy consistency that we like

My 11 year old recipe from Bon Appetit magazine that I've fine tuned

drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle
with some authentic paprika

serve (again, drizzle with EVOO and paprika sprinkle)
with some hot pita bread
(don't serve with cold pita bread)

Hummus is one of the healthiest (and even cheap) foods – yet it’s so good and there is nothing to feel guilty about. 

I don’t like store bought ones-they taste dry and not very flavorful.  Fresh (no more than two days old) homemade hummus is the best.  Many Middle Eastern restaurants make their own hummus and the fresh taste is just like homemade.  I prefer a fairly whipped/creamy consistency for hummus-this allows the subtle flavors to be showcased and not be overcome by a dry texture.

Many people like to make variations of this.  I like the old fashioned, traditional hummus.  Some cultures make it with fava beans  also.

Hummus Recipe

2 15 ½ ounce cans of garbanzo beans drained (save a little water for part of the water for mixing (or one 29 ounce can)

½ cup water (mixed with garbanzo bean can liquid)-will add more later (to taste)

½ cup tahini  (it helps to bring tahini to room temperature so you add a consistent mix of this as it tends to separate when refrigerated)

½ cup (but will add more) Extra Virgin Olive Oil (you really get what you pay for with olive oil-the cheap extra virgin olive oils aren’t even real-caveat emptor)

1 heaping teaspoon of ground cumin

3 cloves of garlic

1 lemon

Run garlic through food processor (have the food processor running and throw in garlic cloves-turn off when all crushed).

Put garbanzo beans along with all other ingredients, pulse first and then run food processor for a few minutes.  At this point you will need to fine tune this recipe. As I mentioned,  I like hummus that has a slightly whipped consistency (many restaurants and store bought ones are too dense and the flavor beyond the garbanzo beans doesn’t come through).  I add extra virgin olive oil as the food processor runs and a little more water.  Then I add the lemon juice (roll the lemons before squeezing – this makes it easier to squeeze the juice out).  If after adding the lemon juice it’s still too dense, add a little more extra virgin olive oil and a bit water (again the consistency is a matter of preference).

Transfer to serving plates/bowl-drizzle with a little extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle a bit of real Hungarian paprika on it (this is how most middle eastern restaurants serve it).  Serve with some warmed up pita bread (the fresher the better).

Hummus is an extremely healthy dish. Another side benefit of homemade hummus for us is that Jordan can eat it! It's not cross contaminated with dairy, nuts, etc.

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One updated old world comfort food (and recipe)

The updated lecso

possibly with German Spaetzle noodles

Lecso (prounounced ‘letchoh’)  is a traditional Hungarian dish.  As much as I love Hungarian food (being Hungarian, this is the food of my childhood), it tends to be very ‘rich’ (meat fat used in cooking and dairy cream laden sauces).  Maybe with smaller portions, lots of walking and non factory farmed dairy, it’s not the worst thing.  However, I don’t walk around the streets of Budapest, instead I sit at a desk all day, have a two hour commute, eliminated dairy from my diet, and have a child with dairy allergies.   Yet I love the flavor and smell of Hungarian food.  I would like to expose Jordan to the rich flavors as well.

Over the past few years I realized that with minor modifications we can have my Hungrian food without getting a prescription for cholesterol lowering medication (and of course Jordan can eat it too).  

This Lecso recipe is just one of my  ‘updated’ dishes.

There are many ways of making this dish.  Using the diced tomatoes saves time on peeling and chopping tomatoes.  Italian sausage style seitan adds a great texture and  protein to this dish.  What is seitan (not satan)?  It is a wheat based meat textured source of protein.  It was actually invented by Buddhist monks  as an alternative to tofu.  If you don’t like tofu and can have gluten it’s a great meat substitute (no, I’m not a vegan, but love the flavor and texture of this Italian sausage style seitan and there is no gross fat flavor).  If you are avoiding gluten, then I would suggest adding tofu instead (but marinating/baking to get a better texture).  You can avoid tofu/seitan and add nothing  or add some sort of meat.  But it’s healthier without the meat (and with a growing child, protein is important here) and I like the refreshing flavor.  Even if you aren’t a vegan, many doctors believe that the American diet has too much meat protein. But then this is not a medical blog; free will.

Expeller pressed oil is healthier than processed oil.  This again is not a necessity, but it helps.  I try to keep my ingredients at home the best. I can’t control the ingredients in a restaurant, but I can control it at home.

Paprika must be authentic Hungarian paprika.  If you live in the Chicago area, there is a Hungarian store called Bende that sells it a reasonable price.  Recently I found it on Amazon also.

This dish is fairly easy to make (it’s one of the weeknight dishes here).  Serve it with brown rice, soy buttered spaetzle or tarhonya (another Hungarian specialty).  Clearly brown rice is the best, but spaetzle and tarhonya are not bad alternatives.  Needless to say-it’s loaded with some great vegetables (and it’s not salad).

Lecso Recipe

3 large red peppers julienned or a mix of other ones (but not green…they are VERY bland and just have a waxy contribution)-

2 medium red onions – cut in half and then thinly sliced

1 pckg. of Upton’s Natural  8 oz Italian Sausage Seitan (available at Whole Foods, Woodman’s or other specialty/health store)

2 14.5 oz. Organic Muir Glen Diced tomatoes (not flavored)

3 TBS. Authentic Hungarian Paprika (not durkee or some colored bland powder)

3-4 TBS. Expeller pressed canola oil

2-3 tbs. chopped parsley

2-3 tbs. chopped dill

3 – 4 tbsp. oil (this is approximate-add enough to stir fry, not deep fry).

Heat the oil in a large frying pan and fry the sliced onions on medium high heat for about 5 minutes.  Add the julienned peppers and fry for another 15 minutes.

Add 3+ heaping tbsp. of authentic paprika and stir for 30-60 seconds to roast it a bit (this optimizes the flavor of the spice-I do this with other spices also)

Add diced tomatoes

Add about ½ c water (from canned tomatoes to get tomato residue-it should be saucy not liquidy)

Bring to a simmer and simmer covered 15-20 minutes (stir occasionally to make sure it’s not drying out)

While simmering:

 prepare the side dish

crumble or chop the seitan and pan fry for a minute or two in very little canola oil

After the simmering is completed,  add the parsley and dill and stir for one minute (herbs should always be added at the end for a brief time, overcooking causes a loss in flavor).

Add Italian Sausage seitan and serve.

Enjoy the time you save from researching potential cholesterol lowering medication.

Feel free to ask questions on this recipe.  I like creating dishes a lot more than writing down the detail. If something isn’t clear, let me know. 

I use the Italian Sausage flavor for this dish (not chorizo)

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Are food allergies, diets and being different causing alienation?

Jordan

Today’s Chicago Tribune actually had two articles about the increase in food allergies and the social impact on kids as they try to fit in.  Some of the ‘ways around’ were also discussed.  As I was reading this article, I realized similar issues exist when you are an adult avoiding certain foods.  While cross contamination is not an issue for an adult who chooses a healthy diet, it is a choice, not something you were dealt (food allergies, celiac, eosinophilic esophagitis), some of the socially alienating issues still apply.  Of course the degree of alienation is not as extreme as for a food allergic child or teen who really wants  to fit in.  Additionally, it’s very different to deal with something out of choice vs. what life has dealt you. And a trace of dairy won’t kill me, but it can kill (or at least make very ill) someone who is truly allergic or has EE.

Even if you are not dealing with these issues directly, a little compassion and understanding goes a long way.  Pity or sympathy is not what you should offer.  Don’t break the person’s spirit and make them feel like they are less than you.  Although well intended, I hear “Oh poor Jordan, he can’t eat normal food, what can he eat?”  First of all, he is not poor; his diet is superior to the typical child his age who can live on convenience processed foods.  As a result, he is less likely to develop health problems form processed food and yes, the evil casein.    These two common situations really apply in all food situations-whether by choice or not (some people try to eat healthy although their friends like them unhealthy).

Restaurant situations  - Jordan can only eat in one restaurant right now at least 20 miles from our home (P.F. Chang so far seems to be the only place that can handle cross-contamination).  And even then there is always the speech to the manager and the tension that something will get messed up.  But it’s worth it to see the look on Jordan’s face that shows ‘yes I’m normal too and can eat out.’  So what can friends and family do to not make things worse?  First, no pity.  Being considerate and not bragging about how great their dish is that contains the allergen is much better.  For example, a friend or colleague should not brag about how great a certain cheese tastes when there is a person with a dairy allergy sitting at the table.  Common sense?  Not really…. I’ve had ‘friends’ that have tried ‘tempt me’ with dairy laden desserts in front of Jordan.  I chose not to eat it, Jordan can’t.  We’re not telling people not to eat dairy and we don’t go into a lengthy speech how unhealthy it is; free will.  However when I encounter such a situation, I’m forced to go into detail about why I chose not to have casein from a factory farmed cow who is forced to stand in its own feces. It’s not good for the cow and it’s not good for me (but good for ConAgra).

School functions – for some reason everything in school is rewarded with dairy (pizza and ice cream).  You reach a goal, time for a pizza party.  Actually it’s the same thing in corporate America.  Want people to come to a special lunch meeting?  Order pizza.  Not much consideration of the fact that we aren’t all alike.  As an adult who chooses not to eat dairy (it does make me somewhat sick, but I won’t die from it), I’m used to it and ignore it.   A vegan, food allergy person, or even someone on a strict Kosher diet cannot have pepperoni pizza.  And the so-called ‘vegetarian pizza’ doesn’t solve the dairy or gluten issue.  So for school functions I run my parallel kitchen and send treats to class that everyone can have so Jordan can feel normal; finally eating what everyone can eat.  I stay up all night baking but it’s worth it; the kids always love what I send.  They don’t even think that there is no dairy in those cookies, cupcakes or popcorn.   They go back for seconds and Jordan loves every second of this-feeling normal again.  Adults at parties are a bit different.  They can say “Oh how can you have such and such with no dairy?” “Oh how awful it must be to be you.”  “Oh this pizza is delicious; I feel so bad for you.” They form expectations that a dish with no dairy or whatever allergen is going to be bland and boring.  So with adults, I don’t even announce that there is no dairy (or whatever allergen) in whatever dish.  Of course if they thought about it, seeing Jordan eating obviously implies that it doesn’t have the offending allergen.

So building awareness among friends, family, school and work is the best one can do regardless of what your role is in this food-driven world.

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Ace of Non Dairy Cakes?

Time to organize and consolidate my recipes and techniques that right now are mostly memorized in my head.

Maybe he will be the Ace of Non Dairy Cakes?

Although it was not Valentine's Day-a Birthday cookie cake all pink (requested)

Home made heart shaped Valentine's Day chocolates

This was designed by Jordan....not really sure about what's going on....

My original decoration until Jordan went wild with some 'abstract concepts'

Well it’s time to get organized (maybe if I state it more than once I will actually do it).  I will be adding the recipes for cookie cakes and the type of frosting that is best for decorating (all with no dairy).  I hope to do this within the next few days.  Although I do use eggs, the standard egg substitutions work great (I had to bake without eggs for a while-used Ener G egg replacer exactly as directed or the apple sauce trick….it worked great).  So with the egg replacer these recipes can also be vegan.

Also, if anyone is interested in making valentine candies, I will post something on to make such chocolates.  I HAVE to make my own because it has to be made in a nut free/dairy free facility to avoid cross contamination.  There is only one supplier that sells shaped chocolates from an allergen free facility and they don’t have these shapes.  What they do carry costs a fortune.

So I buy Enjoy Life chocolate chips (the only ones I trust), made in an allergen free facility so no traces of nuts, dairy or gluten and soy for those who are avoiding it.

I bought the standard molds from Michaels and ordered the heart shaped box and paper on-line.  Then I made the chocolate molds and wrapped each one separately.  I do the same thing for any other holiday candy (just different molds from Michaels).

Heart shaped cookie pans are available even at Target (they usually have a special themed section around the holidays).

I used to be adamant about using only butter in my cookies and frosting….but I actually like this better and the lack of dairy in our diet has huge benefits.

The key ingredients for these items:

• Bob’s Red Mill Pastry Flour (versus the more processed white flour)
• Spectrum Shortening
• Earth Balance Vegan Shortening (not the soy butter sticks-this comes in a green box and so far I only found it at Whole Foods)

I’m not the best cake decorator, so I often try to recruit family members to help decorate.  It’s a fun activity and it gets my son away from his video games.  Maybe he can be he next Ace of Cakes guy.

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You are what you eat and yes-you can eat to your heart’s delight (literally)

Who doesn’t love traditional stuffing?  I remember I made my first allergen (top 8) free Thanksgiving meal in 2005.  This was necessitated when I first found out that my son had various medical conditions, at that time it wasn’t even clear if he could eat food since we were still exploring whether he could tolerate a top 8 allergen free diet or not.    Without going into the complex medical details, I felt that this was the make or break Thanksgiving.  So I made a completely allergen free meal-meaning no dairy, wheat (gluten), eggs, soy, peanuts, tree nuts, fish, shellfish.  But how can you make a tasty, traditional meal without all this?

I thought I perfected holiday meals but now it was a new set of rules, still driven by the same goal. 

Stuffing was a challenge-make a gluten free bread (every baked item can be cross contaminated so store brought bread is not an option), substitutions for eggs and so forth.  The meal was a success.  The family was expecting a tasteless bland meal for the “good of the child.” Instead they got a tasty traditional meal but so much better, healthier.  

Since then I’ve added eggs, soy, wheat and fish back because we no longer have to avoid this. 

Many may say “Oh yes, I wish I could eat and provide a healthier diet, but I’m not a full time stay at home mom, so I need my unhealthy processed food because it saves me time.”  Well, I’m not a “stay at home mom” either.  I’m a single mother with a full time career, a long daily commute, with three dogs and a son with all kinds of food related health challenges (my daughter doesn’t have these issues, but she is kind of vegan-so my cooking also needs to make her happy). 

I’ve had five years to master these techniques. I did quit my career for a while and learned all about how to cook without garbage – let’s call it what it is. But now I’m in production mode.  The massive research and experimentation is done.  I still research new foods and ingredients, but it’s not a full time job anymore.

As this new blog evolves (not even a day old), I will share tricks and tips about healthier cooking.  No, you don’t need to have food allergies or special circumstances to live healthier, be at your optimum weight and not develop diabetes coupled with high cholesterol.  It turns out that the old adage: “you are what you eat” is true.

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