trial and error

i know i have been slow on the update side but i want everyone to know i have really been busy with work and if i needed to let something slip i figured a good long update in a few weeks would be better than a huge bag of oreos.

so here we go.

in my absence from blogging i have been actively experimenting with new food options and ingredients to see if I can find some solutions to some of the missing staples in our diet.

• kamut pasta: in looking for candida appropriate pasta alternatives i came across several types of kamut pasta options. kamut pasta in general tastes like whole wheat pasta and it does a pretty bad job of absorbing any sauce or cooking liquid you add for flavor. nate was not a huge fan and i think it's because kamut is a dense grain, very hearty and in turn 100% kamut pasta is also very dense and can turn mushy and flavorless very easily. i'm going to keep experimenting with different brands* and recipes. keep you posted.

• * i did find kamut-quinoa swirls which are half of each type of flour. these were generally much better that 100% kamut pasta (italian style anyway)

• kamut udon noodles: i know i just went on a mini rant about kamut pasta but i'm not going to lie these are actually delicious. they have perfect consistency and they stand up to boiling and stir frying very well.They absorb oils and sauce well and they can be used in broths as well as stir-fry's and asian noodle dishes and probably cold in salads although i've never tried. yay!

• quinoa linguine: to be totally honest before i give quinoa linguine a glowing review, the brand I have is 60% qunioa flour and 40% corn flour i just checked the nutrition facts online. i'm aware this is a small form of cheating but i can't stress how incredibly delicious this pasta is with and without sauce. it's very light and has a great bite to it. so if you're willing to cheat a little every once in a while this is much better tasting than 100% kamut pasta.

• yeast free bread: i discovered that the brand that makes my 100% kamut bread has several other options of yeast free bread. i just tried a flax, sunflower seed kamut bread that was very good. again i think this bread has a little wheat in it but the main flour is kamut. it's much larger and less dense than the other 100% kamut bread and much more practical. 

• quinoa flour: my last and most anticipated attempt was to try to make tortillas with quinoa flour. this was a colossally epic fail on my part. quinoa has no gluten in it so naturally the flour products don't have a great binding agent to give the tortillas elasticity. so after preparation and research online i gave it a try and everyone who posted a recipe online that said all you need is water, vegetable shortening and quinoa flour to make tortillas is an idiot. the balls of dough would just fall apart like clay in the pan and the tiny piece i managed to cook tasted terrible. i'm still working on this one.

weekly menu recap- week 2

this week i was far less inventive with the multiple menu items. i did however make a five pound batch of new mexican style shredded beef which essentially was the main staple for all the dishes we ate all week. making a large batch of something like that really makes dinners easy all week and it's delicious.


Monday:

• fish, beans & quinoa: pan seared catfish fillets served with garlic cloves halved and sautéed in olive oil and a little butter. long green beans steamed  with whole garlic cloves and tossed in olive oil, lemon juice and fleur de sel. 

Tuesday:

• mock taco salad:  nm shredded beef served over a bed of romaine lettuce, cherry tomatoes, baby bell peppers, red onion & cucumbers. 

Wednesday:

• nm shredded beef & kamut with a side salad.

Thursday:

• mexican night: on friday night we got back to our routine of ordering out from an awesome mexican place around the corner from our house. I ordered beef fajitas and extra pico de gallo and guacamole. i made kind of a fajita salad with some lettuce and mixing all the other stuff together. nate was able to take my side of rice and beans, tortilla and sour cream for lunch the next day so it worked out fine.

Friday:

• disastrous stir fry: this beef stir fry attempt was a failure on all levels. i tried to save some time by ordering a frozen mix of asian vegetables. the mix has a strange assortment of veggies that once inspected it turned out i couldn't eat much of and they must have been frozen too long because the flavor of what i could eat was unappealing. (this is definitely not worth repeating)

weekly menu recap- week 1

• Monday: i began my week poorly, for certain a place to really mess up this whole process right from the jump. we had a guest over and were so busy socializing that by the time dinner came around we didn't have time or energy to cook anything. we decided to order chinese (but i insisted on a szechuan house which has much more authentic & less greasy cuisine). i had:


• greasy chinese "the better-ish way": beef with broccoli (extra broccoli) with some kamut i had prepared & ready in place of rice.

• Tuesday: 


• mock tacos: romaine lettuce cups with ground turkey breast (sautéed with onions & seasoned in cumin & mexican blend spices) and white quinoa salad (cooked in chicken stock and mixed with cilantro, chopped tomatoes & minced white onions)

• Wednesday:


• meat & mock potatoes:: new york strip steak (pan seared in a little olive oil and seasoned with fleur de sel), cauliflower puree (seasoned with garlic salt, a pad of butter &  freshly cracked black pepper) and spinach sautéed with chopped garlic & extra virgin olive oil

• Thursday:


• super protein salad: chunk light tuna and quinoa over chopped romaine with cherry tomatoes, baby bells, cucumbers & thinly sliced red onions with a lemon/olive oil dressing  plus salt & pepper.

• Friday: tonight proves to be my biggest challenge so far. i am going to see the opening of inception with nate and my cousins skye, alexis, manny and jill. skye had planned to attend the grand opening of shake shack in times square. if you're not familiar with shake shack click here to see their fantastic menu. i don't want to avoid the outing for several reasons:


• a. i'm going to have to figure out how to eat at these kinds of places and stick to my diet. i can't live under a rock.


• this is nyc for christs sake! one time i ate at a restaurant called zen where they make bacon shaped soy to top patty shaped soy on a bun shaped soy something or other. I'm sure restaurants are used to all kinds of crazy diets, requests and questions. right?


• b. nate has been a doll and he has pretty much eaten all the same things as me this week. i think he deserves a chance to stuff his face. 
• if i can make it through this without cheating i can make it through anything. (i think)

i'll post tomorrow morning to help alleviate the extreme suspense i'm sure you all have about my temptation this evening. hopefully, the movie will be good to and i can suggest you see it or not. 

cheers!