The Unemployed Cook

I tend to turn to this blog during times to frustration. Like when I was reacting to everything. Or now, when I'm bored out of my mind but have a new Magic Bullet (which I love, but would never recommend to anyone, becuase I didn't want to love it).

This last combination was nearly lethal.

Tired of my usual "take frozen fruit, a dollop of yogurt and a splash of milk and blend" smoothie recipe (which is freaking delicious and fabulous looking), I decided to take some ice, a carrot, half a cucumber and blend. Ew. So I added half a banana. Slightly more palatable. So I added half a peach. Still an improvement. I'm thinking a splash of orange juice would kind of bring it all together... except that it looks disgusting, so I gag even before it gets to my mouth.

Moral of the story, kids? Healthy ain't pretty. Or don't leave me unattended with a Magic Bullet.

Want some cheese with that?

I think supper has become a fight every night with Scott and I.  While he's trying so hard to come up with suggestions that fit within my limited food options, very little seems to please me, particularly when I'm craving something I can't have.

I was definitely wanted pizza one night.  Needless to say, it's a combination of restricted foods.  However, with some more no-tomato sauce (taking out the red-wine vinegar and adding roasted red peppers), and some permitted cottage cheese, I made pizza.

The dough is an old family recipe:
1 c. warm water
1T yeast
1T sugar
Mix, and wait 5 minutes
Add 1/4 c. oil and 2 1/2 c. flour.  Knead lots, and let rise 45 minutes.  Punch down, and spread on greased pizza trays.


Of course, Scott and I could agree on the toppings - peppers and bacon, but obviously, I couldn't deprive him of real cheese.  While I think my cottage cheese side looks better, it definitely didn't taste as good.  Let's just say before I'd eat it again, I'd have to be really desperate for food!  However, it was fairly edible.  Two spoons!

How to fix a salad dressing

I found a bunch of hives the other morning.  Remedy?  Follow through on my threats and take up the histamine restricted diet.  All these allergies, or am I over-histmated (I made that word up)?  I'm not sure, but these days I'll try anything (except, you know, going back to the allergist that thinks I'm crazy). If nothing else, it will get me to focus more on what I'm putting into my body.

You can check out the dietary restrictions here, and you'll note that it seems like everything that is permissible is healthy, home made "stuff".  What is missing, despite the plethora of vegetable options, is the permissible salad dressing.  Even home made dressings are ruled out, given the restrictions on mayonnaise, vinegar and lemon juice.

But I was not to be bested.  When a craving for chicken caesar salad hit, what could I do but try to make my mayonnaise/vinegar/lemon-free dressing.

I'd give you a detailed recipe but I didn't measure a single thing and it turned out... decent.  And considering I was certain I was going to eat my salad without anything on it, I will consider it a success.

But here is a rundown of what I did.  I started with a white sauce our roux, adding garlic, onion powder, a touch of Italian seasoning and some parsley.  At first taste, it is a pretty close match to alfredo sauce, minus the nummy nummy cheese (which is not allowed, except in curd form).  Chilled, it was a little thick (more milk would help).


In any event, I used it to top my salad of lettuce, carrots, bacon, (melba toast) "croutons," and chicken (seasoned with Italian seasoning).  All together, it wasn't as tasty as the actual caesar salad sitting across the table from me, I'm sure, it was doable.

In the future, I will probably use the fat from the bacon grease to supplement the flavour.  As well, I might use the spread? Sauce? Whatever for pasta.

Tomato-free Tomato Sauce

When I thought the allergy was tomatoes, it kind of felt like my world was crumbling around me.  You wouldn't believe how many meals include tomatoes in our house, so it was all about re-wiring my brain.  Tacos, spaghetti, and sweet and sour sauce are staples. 

Some of these things are somewhat easy to work around; however, these are mostly in chemical form.  Since heavy creams and parmesan cheese are expensive, pre-made alfredo sauce is the easy and cheap solution for Italian.  Pre-made taco seasonings are tomato free but preservative packed.  While these worked for short term solutions, I thought it might be an idea to find less-chemical laden alternatives.

I started with my parents as guinea pigs, with a home-made taco seasoning (conclusion: I like a taco with some kick, so it's probably best for me to create my own ratios), then with a pepper based tomato-type sauce (which oddly caused me to react, though that could have been due to the extremely high histamine levels in my body, so I may be able to re-introduce peppers soon).

One of the most interesting things I tried was a beet-based tomato-type sauce: No Tomato Pasta Sauce.  It was surprisingly easy to make it, even though I fresh carrots, which added an extra step of boiling them.  I skipped the bay leaf (I forgot to buy them).  The smell was initially off putting, when I started adding things to the blender.  However, after simmering for a couple hours, I was surprised how good it smelled and how good it tasted.  It was even nearing the right colour. Adding my usual over-dosing of chemical laden parmesan cheese, I was surprised how good it was (then again - I have been going through spaghetti withdrawl).

The recipe made A LOT of sauce.  We had enough for supper, lunch , pizza and probably another supper.  Even though there was a minimal taste of beets to begin with, the longer the sauce had to mesh, the less I could even remotely notice them.  The colour did become more and more orange, but that's nothing a few drops of food colouring wouldn't fix, if it was that off putting. 

While it didn't quite work as well with pizza (it wasn't bad, and we couldn't quite place what wasn't working), it was quite god as a pasta sauce.  In a word: hearty.  Scott would have preferred a more sauce-y texture, which could probably be attained by someone using a blender with more patience than myself. 

All in all, I give this recipe a surprising FOUR spoons out of five!

 

My apologies on the craptastic photo... cell phone pic!!

New Beginnings: Gaining Control

This last August, I found myself having sporadic allergic reactions.  There's no surprise there - I've had allergic reactions for most of my life, and various doctors haven't ever come to a conclusion about what exactly is causing them. 

However, by December, I was waking up with a dozen or two new sets of hives, getting progressively worse.  I eliminated as much as I could: tomatoes, peppers, chocolate - all very difficult around the holiday season.  I was desperate to find the root, and stop the body's mutation.

In the end, the reaction turned out to not be food related, but rather that I had developed an allergy to a detergent I'd been using for years.  After a laundry intensive day, my problem was seemingly over.  However, I still felt as if I wasn't in control of my body.

Prior to finding the solution, I had done a LOT of research into common allergens, and come across a number of different "diets" for allergy maintenance.  One thing I found they all had in common was the emphasis on reducing the amount of preservatives and artificial flavours/colours/scents.  It really shouldn't have surprised me to find that, but none the less, it struck a chord. 

Even though I think I am keeping the allergies at bay (for now), I decided in order to regain a sense of agency over my body (or perhaps working WITH my body would be a better term), I should be more selective in what I put into it.  On this blog, I will attempt to go a little more healthy, and perhaps old fashion in my food choices.

I'm not going to go crazy - factors such as budget, time and energy - I'm not ruling out any foods or specific ingredients.  Instead, I'll be looking more critically at what I'm eating, and where I think it is do-able, I'll make something that I've usually bought pre-made from scratch. And you'll get to see the results on here!!

Waffle Hat

So I quickly made up Scott a hat while he was at work the last couple days.  Loved it was so quick to knit, hated that it was too bit.  I'll try lining it with fleece before I'll give up, but right now, it kind of looks like a knit Afro... maybe he can turn it into a halloween costume??

Has it really been so long?

I could have sworn I'd updated this sooner - however, I think I went to and got distracted... oops!

In any event, Scott and I have started watching Mad Men.  Of course, when you watch a show about men who drink copious amounts of alcohol, you tend to want to join them.  As such, one night I set out to make martinis out of the drinks we had on hand.

The Blue Inca
2 oz. vodka
1 oz tequila
1 oz light rum
1 oz blue curacao

It was lethal.  It smelled like nail polish remover, and tasted like it once it warmed to room temperature.  When chilled, a little stronger than I liked, but still good.