I may have to change my diet. Not to lose weight, although really, I need to do that to. But rather, because I have fibromyalgia, one of the treatments is a modified eating habit.
Which means changing the way I eat, and the foods I use, in order to cope.
So far, the elimination of MSG is an easy hit. I don't like it anyway.
The elimination of Aspartame? Harder, but I can drink sodas with Splenda. I *will* miss light yogurt. *sighs*
The one that will hurt the most is the elimination of anything from the nightshade family. No potatoes. No tomatoes. *groans* I'm Italian and the husband's Irish!!!
There's a recommendation to go to a full Raw vegan diet, but that simply ain't happening in this household.
I've been doing the reading but have yet to talk to the nutritionist about how to do this without having to cook separate meals for me and the family. How to figure out proportions. How to figure out what helps lessen my pain, which is the whole goal here.
Recipes will continue to be posted, but you will probably see some interesting experimentations as I jump through hoops and find out what's best for me and my family. And if anyone out there has pointers to interesting sites that might be able to help me along my way, I'd love to see them!
Kevin and I have been going through a lot of stress lately, and the cooking has dropped to a near minimum. Add in that we've just about run out of meat in the freezer (and the new food order from Colorado Prime doesn't arrive until this coming Thursday -- they sort of lost us when we moved *sighs*)... well, we've been really lax on the cooking.
We're trying to pick back up and be better. Kevin's taken to stir-frying our vegetables, which adds a lot of flavor without adding a huge amount of fat. And tonight we needed something really quick (because we've done a LOT today and are exhausted) so we grabbed the 90% lean burgers from the freezer and a bag of French cut green beans and stared at them.
Less than 20 minutes later we were eating, and it was GOOD.
This meal depended on a lot of random things precooked in the freezer, or in the bread drawer. It was hearty and yummy, and wasn't just hamburgers and beans.
Burgers, with No Buns in the House
4 1/4 pound 90% lean burgers (frozen)
4 slices cheese
6 slices bacon (precooked, from the freezer)
8 slices whole wheat Italian bread (from the bakery)
condiments to taste
Place bacon slices between paper towels and put on plate in microwave. Heat for one minute and press grease away afterwards, while the burgers are grilling.
Fire up the grill and let get hot. Cook the burgers, 4 minutes per side for rare, 5 minutes for medium. Remove from grill, put cheese on top to melt. Drop bread onto grill and quickly toast both sides.
Butter bread (if desired) and make burger with burger, cheese, bacon, and add condiments as desired.
The crunchiness of the toasted whole wheat Italian adds a really hearty feel to the burger, and the bacon feels decadent. Truth to be told, I used fat-free cheese (I know, I know) and very little fat otherwise, so the bacon was a lovely treat. And I always take as much grease off before I freeze it, so I knew it wasn't that unhealthy.
Stir Fried Green Beans w/ Sesame and Almonds
1 bag French cut green beans
1/4 slivered almonds
1 tsp oil for stir fry (such as safflower or peanut)
1 tsp sesame oil
salt & pepper to taste
Heat the wok to hot. Add safflower and sesame oil. Add green beans and stir fry until crisp-tender. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Meanwhile, heat a small non-stick skillet to hot. Toast the slivered almonds. Add to green beans at the last minute.
Mm, yum!!!
I'd been wanting to make a good saffron risotto for a long time. And I just *adore* risotto. Love it, love it. It is one of my winter comfort foods. I planned to develop one and serve it for Christmas, since I'd served the green risotto for Thanksgiving and didn't want to repeat.
However, with the move and everything, I sort of skipped the "develop it" phase and went straight into Christmas eve with complete experimentation. Thankfully, it worked out!
Saffron Risotto
4 cans chicken stock
1 cup arborio rice
1/4 tsp plus 1/4 tsp crushed saffron threads
1 cup sweet white wine
2 Tbsp garlic
1 to 1 1/2 cups freshly grated hard cheese
butter
olive oil
Put the chicken stock in a covered pan and heat to simmering on the back of the stove. Add 1/4 tsp of saffron to the simmering broth.
Coat the bottom of the pan for your risotto with a couple teaspoons of olive oil plus 1 tablespoon butter. Add garlic and dry rice; stir until rice is translucent and toasted. Deglaze pan with white wine.
Add two ladlefulls of chicken stock to pan. Add rest of saffron to pan. Stir, let cook simmering until stock is absorbed. Keep repeating with rest of stock until it is all absorbed and risotto is creaming.
Constant stirring isn't necessary. Keep the temp on the pan low, and gently simmering, and keep an eye on it as you do other things. Trust me, it'll work out wonderfully.
At the end, remove from heat and stir in 2-4 tbsp butter (to taste) and the grated cheese. It will be a bright yellow color, and will have a nutty flavor with a hint of something in the afterbite that I think must have been the saffron.
I purred as I ate mine. Very rich. Very yummy.
Cook 1/2 pound pasta while making the sauce. If this can be called a proper... sauce. It's more of a "stuff to toss with the pasta" thing.
5 slices cooked bacon
1 ham steak
2 tsp olive oil
2 Tbsp white wine
1 large onion
2 Tbsp garlic
1 bag chopped spinach
2/3 c grated cheese
additional fresh olive oil
Chop the bacon and toss it into a heated pan to start rendering out the fat and crisp up more. Add the ham, and toss it all together until the ham is slightly browned and the bacon is crisp. Remove to a pasta bowl and set aside.
Add the olive oil and wine to the pan and deglaze. Toss in the onion and garlic and sweat until translucent (I'm sure shallots would work well, too). Toss with spinach, cook until warmed through.
Toss the ham/bacon back in and toss it altogether, adding a bit of fresh olive oil until it has a bit of liquid to it (only another few teaspoons, really). Toss in the grated cheese and toss together with cooked pasta.
Presented with a snow day, two children, and a full time job still to be done, I decided that the crock pot would be my friend.
Kevin had put a beef roast in to defrost, so I figured to turn it into pot roast. The verdict was that it came out well. I think I let it cook a little too long -- I would've been happier with it being a bit less dry. Also, the water in the recipe will be replaced with red wine the next time around. I was just too much in a rush this morning to go grab a new bottle to open up. I will also increase the amount of raw ginger.
Pot Roast in Apples, Onions & Ginger Sauce
1 beef roast, approximately 2-3 pounds
1 large onion, diced
1 sweet apple (Empire), diced
1 tart apple (Granny Smith), diced
1/4 cup ginger preserves
1 tsp ground fresh ginger
1/4 tsp hickory seasoning
1 cup water
Place all ingredients except roast in crockpot and stir together. Nestle the roast down into the other ingredients until it rests on the bottom of the crockpot. If there is fat on one side of the roast, either trim it off (if you want to avoid having to skim it later) or place it fat side up to help baste the roast.
Cook on low all day. I ran it for about 10 hrs. Next time I'd prefer to try to keep it to about 7-8 hrs on low, tops.