Last week I spoke with a lovely woman who was having a hard time sticking to her allergen-free limited diet.  She said she would do great for a while, start to feel healthy and then she would start to eat the things that make her feel bad again.  She  said she missed the carbs and craved breads so this is where she would cheat.

Does this sound familiar?  I personally went through this up and down roller coaster for years before I was able to stay on the diet I’m on now.  It is simply very hard living in a world that offers you food left and right that may taste good to you but will ultimately make you feel sick.

For me, I convinced myself that I could eat wheat and other foods in moderation and that I was okay with this model.  But in truth, I was pretty much in denial because I had a terrible mystery rash on my legs that wouldn’t go away as well as many other physical and emotional issues.

But to tell you the truth, I didn’t want to give up the things I loved to eat.  It seemed too hard, too restrictive and I just didn’t want to go there for a long period of time.  This continued until I came to the point where I either had to change or else go down a road that lead to a lot of misery.

I know this is a big struggle for many of us living with food allergies so I thought I’d make a list of things that help me to stay on the diet I’m on.  If you have more ideas to offer, I’d love to hear from you.

1.  Have a reality check: This is going to be different for you depending on if you’re just starting a limited diet or if you’ve been on one for a while.

Either way though, having a reality check is looking at your life, your body, and your overall well-being and happiness and seeing where you are, and where you’d like to be.  If you’re thinking about starting a limited diet at least for a short period of time, you can make a list of physical or emotional problems that you might hope would be helped by changing your diet.

If you’ve been on a limited diet for a while and it’s helping you feel better – but you find yourself cheating now and then which in turn makes you feel bad again, doing a “reality check” can help you focus on what you really want instead of what looks good in the moment – like, the bagel.

Before I have gone on any kind of limited diet, I have done a “reality check” so that I’m focused on what can improve from my diet change instead of how hard it is to give up certain foods.  I usually think about the problems I’m having – and then give myself a little pep talk about how my life might just get better if I am able to stick to the limited diet.

This works for me because it makes me want better health and happiness MORE than the muffin or bread.  So while I may come face to face with muffins and cereals everyday, when I see them, I tell myself, “That is only going to make me feel _____________ (fill in the blank) if I eat it.”  When I think about the consequence, it’s SO much easier to resist something that looks so tempting.

Of course, if you’re just starting out and don’t know what life is like on the “other side,” it’s a little harder to imagine how you might feel.  But if your doctor is recommending this diet, then they probably know that the diet change will make you feel better.

2.  Make a commitment to yourself and your health: This has to come from inside your heart and mind.  And if you don’t want a limited diet, but want better health and happiness, this is what you can focus on.  It’s a commitment that only you can give yourself.  No matter what your doctor is telling you to do, you still have to decide to do this crazy diet if you want to see if it will help you or not.

This may take time.  I spent over 13 years trying to convince myself that my problems were not that bad and that it wasn’t really the food and that I could eat wheat and gluten in moderation, la de dah de dah!

But you’ll know when you’re ready.  It might be at a very low point in your life where you realize that something has to change.  It was for me.  But unfortunately, sometimes it is because of the hard stuff in life that we are forced to change and take better care of ourselves.

But even if your issues are just mildly annoying to you right now, you can still make a commitment to change your diet.  Either way, you can simply do this internally or you can physically write down your commitment.  This may be helpful if you keep pushing off starting the diet.

So, mark the calendar of when you want to start.  Next to it write out your commitment to yourself to follow the diet and what you’d hope to change by doing it.

3.  Prepare!  Prepare!  Prepare! This is just as important as the reality check and the commitment process.  If you’re not prepared, you probably won’t last but a day on the diet.

If you live alone, going on a limited diet is MUCH easier than when you’re a mom or dad and cooking food for the whole family.  If you’re the only one on the limited diet, this is very difficult because you are around people all the time who are eating foods that you’re supposed to avoid.

However, here are some tips.

Organize your cupboards and fridge so that you create a space that has food that you can eat.  This is very important because once you start your diet, you will most likely be hungry and looking for something to eat.  But if you have an area in your fridge and pantry that has food you can eat, this will make things much easier for you.

Here are some “snacks” that may be helpful to have on hand:

• Lara Bars
• other raw “protein” bars with whole ingredients
• soaked and dehydrated nuts and seeds
• Coconut butter
• Almond, sunflower, cashew butters
• Sardines and canned salmon
• Yogurt
• Fruit
• Hard boiled eggs
• Breads, muffins and crackers made out of coconut flour and nut flours such as almond and hazelnut
• Homemade beef jerky
• Raw granola bars
• Hemp protein powder to make smoothies with

Cook one meal for the whole family as much as possible. Even if your kids and spouse aren’t following your diet, you can still (most likely) cook meals that everyone can eat.  Of course this totally depends upon the degree of limitation of your diet.  But if you can, find recipes that everyone can eat to make cooking easier.

Bake goodies for yourself and your family. Yes, you’ll be craving bread and sweets and everything in between.  So get prepared.  Find recipes that work for your new diet and start baking.  This is the only way you’ll get through the first part of eliminating certain foods from your diet.  And most likely the only way you’re going to stay on the diet for the long run.

And even if you can’t eat dairy, wheat, gluten, eggs, nuts, grains, yeast, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, you can still most likely have baked goods.  Really?!  Yes!  But just be prepared to make them yourself!  If you’re looking for recipes, you can check out the different weekly menu planners I have available.  I am also more than happy to email recipes to people so if you’re looking for something specific, don’t hesitate to ask or contact me.

Make a list of foods you CAN eat: This is also a vital step.  This will help you immensely when it comes to meal planning.  If you’re focused on the foods you can’t eat, you won’t get very far.  But if you focus on the vast array of food that is available, your options begin to show themselves to you.

I personally have an Excel sheet with almost every kind of (“common”) food available.  Then I check off all the things that I can’t eat so that I’m left with the foods I can eat.  From there, I can search for recipes that include those ingredients which I can eat.

If everyone in your family has different limitations, it will be important to make a chart that shows who can eat what.  Then make a master list of what EVERYONE can eat and try to create as many menu options with these as possible.  This way you’ll cut down on the cooking and you won’t have as many foods around the house that you can’t eat.

Look for recipes and experiment:  Before you fully commit to the diet, just start doing some research by finding some recipes that work for you.  You can use your list of “CAN” foods for you and your family and start brainstorming some ideas.  If you’re still stuck, you can check out one of menu planners.  You can also search for recipes through all of the great cooking websites available these days to find recipes that work for your diet.

Once you have a list of recipes that you think will work for you and/or the family, go shopping.  Then start cooking some foods and recipes that may be new to you.  You should do this before your “commitment date” so that you have already started experimenting with new foods before you start.

Menu plan: Once you have made a few new recipes, you will want to plan for an entire week of meals so that you don’t start your diet not knowing what you will eat during the week.  You probably already have some ideas from your experimenting stage.  So add to the list and create at least 5 meals for the week for dinners and possibly breakfast and lunch ideas if these are needed as well.  Make a shopping list too, so that it’s easy to do the shopping when you’re ready.

It’s also very helpful to print or copy all the recipes you plan to use for the week and put them in a folder in the kitchen.  Also print your menu plan so that you know what you’re making during the week.

4.  Take your time and ease into the diet: Once you have done all of the above steps, it would seem obvious to start the diet cold turkey.  But what if this new diet is free of so many foods that you’re used to eating everyday?

The best way I find to go on a very limited diet is to take it in steps.  If you eliminate everything, you will shock your system, probably have a lot of die-off, feel miserable and then want to go back to eating what you ate before – because you actually felt “better” before this crazy diet!

What is die-off? This is the process of the overgrowth of yeasts in our bodies “dying off.”  It’s a good thing and happens when you go on an elimination diet, eat coconut oil, take probiotics or other lacto-fermented foods.  But what can happen is your body is trying to get rid of the toxins faster than it is able to.  So, for a brief time – or up to a few days – you can have symptoms come back stronger than before and you can feel pretty awful.  But this is a GOOD sign!  This is not a sign that you’re doing something wrong.  But it may be a sign to slow down on the probiotics or on your diet.

So in order to avoid incredible periods of feeling miserable from die-off, you can take things slow and at your own pace.  For me, I was on a gluten and dairy free diet.  Then I was introduced to GAPS and slowly eliminated grains.  Then I eliminated all starches and sugars.  Eventually I eliminated eggs, and I am finally gearing up to do the “Intro” diet for GAPS.  This is meant to be done at the beginning of the diet, but for me, it wasn’t the right time yet.  I also feel that I won’t have as much die-off this way since I’ve been eating Full GAPS for almost a year now.

5.  Focus on the positive and seek support: I may have touched on this before, but I’ll say it again because it’s important – focus on the postitive.  Even if you’re feeling awful when you first start, try to stay focused on the fact that you will start to feel better in time.  Everyone is different so I can’t say what will happen for you.  But for many, once they get through the initial detox period, they do start to feel better by being on a limited diet.

The other really important aspect is seeking support from other people.  These can be your family, friends, or people you don’t know who are on the same diet as you.  One resource for people doing the GAPS diet is the GAPS Yahoo support group.  It is very supportive and if you have questions, it is a great place to find answers.

There are also a lot of forums out there for specific diets, so you can try doing a search for you specific diet plus forum.

I think that is it for now.  I’d love to hear from you if you need help with your limited diet or if you have any other helpful suggestions for people on limited and allergen-free diets.

Have a great day!

Raw Zucchini Chocolate Cake

For whatever reason, many of the recipes I worked on this week ended up being raw or mostly raw.  In part, I was continuing my quest for some travel-friendly treats for my son and decided to try some raw fruit and nut balls, similar to Larabars.

I was also testing recipes for my menu planners for limited diets free of gluten, grains, dairy, eggs sugar and other common allergens.  Many raw recipes work great for people with a lot of food limitations.  The only drawback I find is that they use nuts extensively, which is a common allergen.  I find though, that seeds such as pumpkin, sunflower and sesame seeds can be used in place of nuts in some of these recipes.

As far as eating raw nuts goes, it is really best to soak them for a varied amount of time, depending upon the nut or seed.  This process is what releases their enzyme inhibitors and unlocks their full nutritional value.  In terms of soaking, you can either soak just long enough to germinate, or longer to sprout (however it’s difficult to sprout some nuts).

I have to admit that I didn’t soak the nuts and seeds in the recipes I tested this week.  This was partly due to the recipes not asking me to do this and in part laziness and impatience on my part.  However, if I were to do them again, I would soak the nuts and seeds in these recipes.

Here is a list of some new and yummy things I made this week:

Cashew Apricot Bliss Balls and Cherry-Walnut Bites

Cashew Apricot Bliss Balls (raw).  These turned out pretty good but if I made them again, I would use a different kind of dried apricot.  The ones I used were from Trader Joe’s.  They are unsulfured but I had forgotten how tart they are.  I also used lemon zest instead of orange zest, simply because I didn’t have an orange.  But they would be a lot better with the orange zest.  I also would up the cardamom and ginger powder as they were not that noticeable.  Also, like I said above, I would soak the cashews for 2-2 1/2 hours.

Cherry Walnut Bites (almost raw;  can be made raw with raw chocolate or leaving out the chocolate).  These are delicious.  If I made them again, I’d use raw chocolate or raw cacao powder.  Again, I would soak the walnuts – they require 4 hours germination time.

Seed Cheese from Rawvolution (raw).  This cheese if made from sunflower seeds so it is great for dairy-free and nut-free diets.  The original recipe for this raw and dairy-free cheese calls for a raw soy sauce called, Nama Shoyu.  But since many people I cook and plan for can’t eat soy, I left this ingredient out.  I balanced out the recipe by adding a little salt and water.  I also used only about 3 cloves of garlic, verses the 5-6 called for.  It was plenty garlicky for me and my husband really liked it.  We’ve been enjoying it on pasta and toast.  When I make this again, I plan on soaking the sunflower seeds – they require 2 hours germination time.

Curried Kuri Squash Soup

Curried Kuri Squash Soup (from the Kuri Squashes from our garden – not raw).  I didn’t write down this recipe as I made it this time.  But I normally cream this soup with ground up cashews and season it with curry, ginger, and salt.  I think I also added a bit of honey to sweeten a bit this time.

Raw Zucchini Chocolate Cake

No-Bake Zucchini Cake (almost raw; can be made raw with raw cacao).   This is a quick and easy, yummy dessert.  It may seem strange not to bake the zucchini but you really don’t need to!  It is rich, moist and dense.  But also so healthy, you could have it for breakfast.  When I make this again, I’m going to soak the nuts for 6 hours.

Raspberry Cream (raw) This is my new favorite smoothie or dessert.  Don’t let the avocado in it fool you – it is simply delicious and you wouldn’t even know the avocado is in there!  I made it as the recipe called for and also with dates instead of banana.  Both were yummy.  Sorry, no picture.  Both times I made it, it disappeared too fast!

Balsamic and Basil Salmon: cooked in a cast iron skillet, this was Monday’s dinner. Fast and easy, I simply cooked the salmon with a bit of lemon juice and olive oil.  Seasoned with salt and dried parsley.  When it was done, I drizzled a little olive oil and balsamic vinegar on top and garnished with freshly chopped basil from the garden.  Very fast and very good!

Raspberry Cream Recipe – adpated from www.WildHealthFoods.com

• ½ cup frozen or fresh raspberries
• 1 large ripe banana or about 4-5 soft dates
• 1ripe Avocado
• Pinch salt
• about 1/2 cup or so homemade almond milk

1) Blend all ingredients until smooth.

2)  If you want to make your own almond milk, soak 1 cup almonds overnight, drain the water, then blend with 5 cups filtered water and a bit of raw honey.  Strain through a mesh strainer or “nut bag.”  Yum!

And once again, I am writing this post as part of the Tuesday Twister Carnival at GNOWFGLINS.com. Make sure to check out the other wonderful and nourishing foods the other participants cooked up this week!

Our lovely cherry tomatoes

I have been enjoying the Tuesday Twister blog posts by Wardeh Harmon at Gnowfglins.com for the past few weeks or so ever since I found her website.   These blog posts have been a synopsis of her week in the kitchen and what has been twisting in her cooking.  I love reading them, mostly because she focuses on nourishing, whole foods!

Last week she announced her new Blog Carnival, the Tuesday Twister Carnival and her invitation to participate in the weekly postings.  I started thinking about doing this and then a couple days ago, inspiration struck I finally decided to give it a go.  I can’t promise I’ll do it every week, but we’ll see what happens.

My Meal Un-Plan

I started thinking about my week in the kitchen and what it is normally like during our busy days.  And what stood out to me the most was the fact that I hardly ever meal plan.

Okay, so I menu plan for my clients and I create different menu planners for different diets.  But I have to be honest with you.  Rarely do I plan my whole week in advance before I go to the store each week…which usually turns into 3 x a week visiting the store.

What usually happens is I look around in my refrigerator, freezer and pantry, think about what I’d like to make, then see what I can make with what I have.

Sometimes while I’m shopping I will get ingredients for something I have been wanting to make (like my tomatillo salsa) but oftentimes, dinner is a creative process of coming up with something new, yummy and healthy for the family.

Curried Chicken Salad with Coconut Milk

So this week’s menu which is gluten-free, dairy-free, legume free and I think soy-free…

Of course, the menu was created after the fact…

Tuesday: Garam Masala Lamb burgers and Sauteed Zucchini

Wednesday: Chicken Legs with Caramelized Onions, Basmati Rice and the Tomatillo Salsa I had made on monday.  My mom was having dinner with us and she loved it.

Thursday: We went to the Farmer’s Market and bought fresh produce.  But I didn’t much feel like cooking so I took some frozen dairy-free and gluten-free pizza out of the freezer that I had made.  We enjoyed it with fresh corn on the cob and watermelon.

Friday: I was craving Tortilla Lasagna, even though I knew the oven would heat up the house.  Made a special trip to the store for the ingredients, and made it with ground turkey, spinach, olives and tomato sauce.

Saturday: Made my first batch of Pot Pie muffins for Elijah.  We took them to Surreybrook Farms for an incredible outing.

For dinner:  Made Chicken Curried Salad and Baked Yukon Gold Potatoes.  I usually would add celery to this salad, as well as green onions, maybe even cherry tomatoes.  But I had none of these so I steamed some green beans, and cut them into 1-inch lengths and put them in the salad.  It was tasty.

Sunday: Made my second batch of Pot Pie Muffins.  I liked these much better.

Made the Chicken Salad again because my husband loved it so much and his parents came to visit.  Also finished off the last of the Tomatillo Salsa.

Monday: My husband made Wild Salmon and Sauteed Zucchini with Marjoram ( nice not to cook every now and then!)

Our first garden harvest (well besides the sugar snap peas):

Sunday was also a day of harvesting our first crop of potatoes.  My husband planted blue, yukon gold, and fingerling and he harvested some of the yukon and fingerling.

Yukon and Fingerling Potatoes from our garden

This week, our beautiful and big Kuri Squash plants became infected with a white mold.  We treated them with a garlic spray and some baking soda.  However, we don’t think they liked the baking soda because they started to wilt shortly after.  But at least we have received two beautiful Kuri Squash from the plants.  Here’s one with some wilty leaves:

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One of the two Kuri Squash

We ended up harvesting the squash on monday and getting rid of the dying plants.  We also discovered that our yellow (not red like we expected) cherry tomatoes were actually ripe and we enjoyed some of the first ones.  There was a few left for a picture with the squash.  (The zucchini is from my in-law’s garden.)

Kuri Squash with Yellow Tomatoes and Zucchini

I think that’s all I have to report for the week.  I’d love to hear about other people’s week in the kitchen!  And please do check out the Tuesday Twister Carnival.

I receive a lot of emails from people who have found my site and are looking for ideas for their very limited diet.  Some of these people are at a complete loss as to what to eat because their diet is so limited.  I received one of these emails from someone last week inquiring about a diet for her daughter.

Here was her list of foods that her daughter was told to avoid:

gluten (wheat, barley, oats, spelt, kamut, tricale, and all products containing gluten such as soy sauce, etc)
grain (includes rice, millet, teff, and other gluten-free grains)
dairy
egg
soy
corn
banana
kiwi

This is a similar list to many of the people who come to me.  There are definite variations and more limited diets like those without any meat or fish, legumes, nuts, all fruit, etc.  But I thought I’d start with this diet to give you some ideas on where to start.

So what do you do when you get a list like this?  My hope is that in this post, I can give you my process for starting to come up with some foods and recipes you can eat when you receive a long list of foods you should be avoiding, even temporarily.

I am also working on compiling my recipes into menu plans for different diets such as this one so that people can have a menu planner for their specific limited diet.  I am also going to start writing some blogs about how you can start to do this for yourself!

1.  Focus on what you can eat, not what you can’t! Make a long list of all the foods available in your grocery store, farmer’s market and local health foods store.  Make categories for the main food groups and list all the foods under them that you can find.

Categories would include: meat, seafood, dairy products, fruits, vegetables, herbs, spices, glutenous grains, gluten-free grains, grain-free “grains,” condiments, nuts, seeds, legumes, and sweeteners.

The most difficult part of receiving a list such as the one from this woman for her daughter, is that you have to be very creative when it comes to having foods that resemble grains, baked goods and pastas.

As a little help in the grain and grain-free department, here is a list that you can start with.  There may be others on the list I haven’t thought of or forgot to include:

Wheat-free grains:
spelt, oats, kamut, rye, barley plus all gluten-free and grain-free “grains”

Gluten-free grains and flours:
rice, all varieties
brown rice
corn
gluten-free oats
teff
millet
sorghum

Grain-free “grains,” flours and seeds
buckwheat

quinoa

amaranth

chia seeds

potato starch

sweet potato flour

yam noodles

pumpkin seed flour

coconut flour

almond meal

pecan meal and other nut meals (made from grinding any nut very finely)

blanched almond flour

flax seed meal

hemp seeds (great as protein powder)

tapioca – this is made from the cassava root

arrowroot

besan or chickpea flour

sunflower seeds (can be ground)

sesame seeds (can be ground up as well)

As you can see the grain-free list is pretty long!  I could probably keep going but I’ll stop there.  It’s really just a matter of knowing what to do with these ingredients once you figure out that there is quite a bit of variety out there!

2.  Highlight all the foods you can eat on the list. Focus on these foods and what you can create from them.  This first step will help you immensely if you can get through it.

3.   Going  back to the example diet that I listed before, here are the things that her daughter can eat based on doing this process.

All meat and seafood - this is a huge plus if you’re in this boat.  The challenge with this is some kids just don’t like meat or won’t eat it.  But if you aren’t a vegetarian but have a limited diet, this helps a lot with meal planning.  Also, you can bread fish and chicken with almond or pecan meal and it makes it more appealing to children.

You can also make chicken puree and slip this into things like potato pancakes.  More on this in a future post.

All veggies and all fruit except for corn, banana and kiwi.  It’s also helpful that her daughter can still eat potato as this is in a lot of foods and can also be used as a starch in baking.  Vegetables and fruits are so versatile – a great opportunity for creativity.

All beans except for soy. Beans are hard to digest in general so this may be something that she would eat every now and then but it also depends on her health issues.  Chickpeas can be ground into a flour as well as others such as fava beans.  I personally don’t like the taste and find them hard to digest as flours but they are an option.

All nuts and seeds. This is extremely helpful that she can still eat nuts and seeds.  Peanut butter isn’t even on her list (though this is a legume).  Nuts can be used as nut butters, flours, nut milk ( which would be a good option for her for a milk alternative since she can’t have soy or rice), cheese (though commercial brands have casien in them), as breading on chicken or fish, dairy-free cheese sauces (cashews) or just eaten whole as a great snack.  They are most digestible however if they are soaked and then dehydrated.

Most condiments: mustard, ketchup, vinegars, lemons and limes, oils.  As far as mayo goes, you can find an egg-free version but it’s made with soy.  I have a recipe for mayo made from cashews but I haven’t tried it yet.

All herbs, spices, chocolate and carob: You can make a meal with a piece of fish or chicken, some garlic and onions, vegetables and some fresh herbs and spices.  Very simple but very good.  There are infinite ideas and recipes out there in terms of just using meat or fish, vegetables and fresh herbs and spices.

She can also still eat chocolate and carob as long as it’s dairy-free and grain-free.  You could make grain-free chocolate or carob muffins, cookies, cakes, etc (search for grain-free and egg-free dessert recipes).  Even make your own hot chocolate with some cocoa powder, nut milk and a sweetener.

All sweeteners: also another plus.  Try to stick to raw honey, agave, molasses and real maple syrup.

Some alternatives for what she can’t eat:

Eggs: This can be a tough one if you’re used to baking with eggs or having them for breakfast.  However, there are several egg substitutes you can use when you’re baking, as long as you’re not making a quiche.  There are egg-free quiches but they are made with tofu, and she can’t have soy, so that is out.

As far as some other breakfast items, this is going to be more challenging without the eggs, grains and dairy-products.  But here are some ideas:

turkey or chicken sausages
grain-free pancakes
amaranth bread
turkey bacon
quinoa or buckwheat muffins, made grain-free, egg-free and dairy-free
nut butter on grain-free crackers
fresh fruit – smoothies, fruit salad

Dairy-free alternatives: This is really a topic in and of itself, so I won’t go into this completely.  But as I mentioned earlier, her choice milk would be almond or another nut milk or hemp milk.  You can make your own nut milk very easily.  Coconut milk would also be a good option.

As far as cheese goes, here is a good dairy-free cheese that is also grain-free.

Some people can eat ghee in place of butter, which is clarified butter.  Also, coconut butter is a great alternative to butter.  It is delicious!

She can also eat coconut yogurt and coconut ice cream, great alternatives (and yummy too) since she can’t have dairy, soy or rice.

Cornstarch alternative: Arrowroot powder can be used part for part in baking recipes that call for cornstarch.  You will also need to find a corn-free baking powder for baking.

Soy-free soy sauce: One last tidbit I’ll leave you with.  Here is a recipe I recently came across for soy-free soy sauce.  It looks very good to me but I haven’t tried it yet.  A good alternative for someone who loves asian food but can’t have soy.

4.  Get organized: Once you have compiled a list of recipes you’d like to try that fit your new diet, the next step is to organize them for them week.  Print them out or make copies from cookbooks.  Then look through the ingredients to see what you need to add to your shopping list for the week.  Then, yes, go shopping, or order unusual ingredients online.

5.  Be brave and take baby steps: Take the last step and be brave to try something new.  It can seem daunting at first to use unusual ingredients you’re not used to using in cooking and baking.  But start with something most familiar to you and go from there.  Take baby steps.  Try one or two new ingredients a week so you don’t get overwhelmed by too many choices.

6.  Don’t get too discouraged: Expect to have some flops.  You’re learning something new and it may take some time to learn some new tricks of the trade.  But be patient and keep trying.  Pretend you’re on an adventure and your next meal is your next mission.  This may sound corny but if you can get excited about creating new and delicious foods, you will most likely have better results than if you think you’re making another disaster.

Good luck!  I’d love to hear from you so leave a comment about your own adventures in allergen-free cooking and baking!

All the best,
Sarah

A wholesome and simple meal

Tonight I made a simple but very yummy dinner, inspired by the potatoes and zucchinis in my fridge and the lemon balm in my garden.  I’ll make this post quick since it’s been a long day but I was inspired to give the simple and easy recipes for this meal:

The Menu:
Turkey Sausage Patties
Baked Yukon Gold Potatoes with Butter and Nutritional Yeast
Zucchini Lemon Balm Soup

The Sausage Patties:

Ingredients:
1 pound ground turkey meat (could also use chicken or beef)
salt – about 1 tsp or less
a generous amount of pepper – at least 1/2 tsp
a tsp or so of ground ginger
a tsp or so of ground sage
a dash of cayenne

Mix all ingredients well in a bowl and then make into small patties.  Fry in a cast iron skillet with a little olive oil, about 4-5 minutes on each side, or until slightly browned and cooked through.

The Potatoes (use sweet potatoes if you can’t have nightshades)

Ingredients:
how ever many potatoes you would like
salt to taste
butter or dairy-free alternative to taste
nutritional yeast flakes to taste

Preheat oven to 380.  Wash potatoes and poke holes in them with the point of a knife.  Cover in foil.  Place in oven and bake for about an hour, or until soft through.

Salt, butter and sprinkle nutritional yeast on them to taste.  Yum.
The Soup (could use asparagus, broccoli, summer squash or other veggies instead)

Ingredients:
1 cup or so of water
1/2 an onion, diced
2 medium zucchini, sliced
3 Tbsp lemon juice
a small handful of fresh lemon balm or fresh basil
1 tsp or so of marjoram
1 tsp or so of salt

Steam the onion and zucchini for 15-20 minutes until soft.  Use filtered water for the steaming water.  Remove from burner and remove the steaming basket.  Use a blending wand to blend the veggies into the water (or blend them in a blender).  If there seems to be a lot of water, drain some out before you start blending.  You don’t want it too watery.   Add the remaining ingredients and blend until thoroughly mixed.  Enjoy!

Turkey Sausage Patties and Baked Potatoes