Chia Pudding

My son, big world traveller that he is, requested chia pudding the other day.  This recipe from Minimalist Baker looks like it will hopefully work for him, but I think it could be tweaked to maybe work for folks like myself too, so.

I'm trying something new right now, which is to put in the original recipe, and then show how it can be altered.  This is honestly some really basic stuff that most cooks are going to know like the back of their hand. However, this is for those of us who are NOT cooks, or at least, cooks who are used to having recipes to use rather than having to come up with our own from scratch and trying to figure it all out.  So this may be too basic for some, but just remember, it's probably aimed at someone who is not as good at cooking as you are (yet, anyway). ^_^

Chia Pudding

DIY Hummus

I absolutely love hummus, even though I can only have a little bit before I react. However, I know that many folks may not be able to enjoy store-bought hummus due to issues with sesame or garlic, and so I wanted to put here a couple quick recipe 'bases' that you can use to enjoy some hummus for yourself!

Hummus (most basic recipe)

ingredients:

Dried chickpeas
olive oil
salt
lemon juice (or another sour liquid or semi-liquid)
(optional) any spices or seasonings of choice (chili powders and cumin are popular)
(optional) any aromatics (roasted peppers, roasted chiles, and/or garlic are popular and tasty)
(optional) tahini or other seed/nut based 'butter'

Directions:

1. Soak the chickpeas in water, overnight at minimum.  If you want a kind of different flavor, you can soak the chickpeas for a day or two and change out the water a couple times; they will start to ferment and develop a kind of pseudo-cheesy scent that can be pleasant with certain seasonings.
2. Decide if you want 'cooked' hummus or 'raw' hummus.  Either one will be fine, but the taste and texture of cooked is a bit less strong in taste and smoother in texture.  If you choose 'raw' hummus, a 12 hour soaking time total, at minimum, is helpful. 
3. For cooked hummus - drain and rinse the chickpeas, and cook in boiling water (not salt) for a few hours, until very soft.
4. For raw hummus - drain and rinse the chickpeas.
5. Put the chickpeas, salt, and any potential spices or aromatics (or tahini/seed butters) into a food processor (or large mortar and pestle, if you only have that) and blend/mash until chunky-smooth.  Then add in lemon juice and blend a little more. Then, while blending/mashing, slowly add in olive oil in a steady stream until the hummus is the desired texture.  Done!

Notes:

1. Why does this have no ingredient quantities?  Mostly because it's quite varied, how much you need, depending on what is added, if chickpeas are cooked, etc...  And how much or little is added in terms of spices and aromatics is highly dependent on taste.

2. Isn't it weird without tahini?  Nope.  Making hummus without tahini was actually a technique I got from an acquaintance from the Middle East. He mentioned that where he lived, tahini was really cheap, but olive oil less so, so using ONLY olive oil and no tahini became a bit of a status symbol.  I don't know how common this practice is, but it works quite well, even if tahini does make the hummus a bit smoother.

3. Is it safe to eat raw chickpeas?  Yeah, no problem for most folks. If you have any digestive issues, though, especially with any kind of raw foods or beans, however, you probably want to go for the cooked chickpeas rather than raw.

4. I can't use lemon juice; what can I use for a sour taste? This one is a bit tricky.  I have tried vinegar when I couldn't tolerate lemon and while it is 'okay,' it does have a distinct taste that is not necessarily a good match for chickpeas.  I have considered taking plain yogurt and draining it for a few hours, and using the liquid as a good souring agent. Haven't tried this yet, but I've used that as a lemon replacement before and it sometimes works.

Day 13 and 14 - Gluten Free Hoisin Sauce with GF General Tso's Tofu

Pinterest Day 13 and 14 

The Pinterest recipes I looked at these two days were Gluten Free Hoisin Sauce at the Gluten Free Lifesaver, and then a Gluten free version of General Tso's Tofu from Grumpy's Honey Bunch, which required a GF hoisin sauce to make it work.

It turned out pretty-pretty!

Mid-meal, as my son ate so fast I couldn't get another picture!

Day 12 - Gluten Free Tortillas

Pinterest Day 12 

The Pinterest recipe I looked at today was Gluten free Flour tortillas at the Art of gluten free baking. No photos because seriously, these things went SO fast I made three batches just trying to keep up with the kids eating 'em!

The Reasons:

Trying to make more things at home for my daughter, who is going to be starting another restriction on her diet which eliminates most processed bread-like goods.

Day 11 - Sweet Potato Black Bean Chili

Pinterest Day 11

The Pinterest recipe I looked at today was Sweet Potato Black Bean Chili at Alida's Kitchen. 

Day 10 - Vietnamese Spring Rolls

Pinterest Day 10

The Pinterest recipe I looked at today was Tofu Vietnamese Spring Rolls by Minimalist Baker. I have no pictures - the food was all eaten so fast, there was nothing left.  I made this three times, and the immediate disappearance of the food did not change, LOL.

Edible squash leaves

At one point I thought I had put up this information, but if so, I can no longer find it, so here it goes again!

Squash leaves and stems are among those foods that are not commonly eaten here in the USA in my area, but are quite common in other areas of the world. Below is a great link to a variety of recipes for preparing and cooking them: http://poorandglutenfree.blogspot.com/2013/08/what-to-do-with-squash-leaves-and-stems.html

Batter for Frying plus GF cream cheese wontons

This batter is based off of this recipe (almost exactly it): http://www.food.com/recipe/batter-for-deep-frying-161589 . This is for my kids, so has a lot of stuff not so good for me, but might be fun for someone trying to figure out something similar.

Watermelon- Mint Salad

This turned out amazing - a nice, cool treat for summertime, and super easy. Pictures will come, as usual, when the camera is behaving.

Watermelon-Mint Salad

Homemade Cashew Cream

Homemade Cashew Cream

The original idea for this is from a blog that is no longer in existence (and I can't recall the name to save my life) but it's basic and easy, so not too hard to pass on. There will eventually be photos, when my camera comes back to life.

If you don't know what cashew cream is, it's AWESOME is what it is. It has a hint of sweetness to the taste, but it thickens up like dairy, like really thick, so it's a great dairy substitute for dishes that need thickening during heating, especially if the flavors blend well.

Sweet Potato Cakes

I finally got these suckers to work!  I saw that the gluten free girl used yogurt to make an egg-free sweet potato latke, and that finally pinged a connection with the cashew cream I've been using, and this is the result. Inspired by her recipe.

Yummy!

Cauliflower Rice

This stuff was AWESOME! Pictures coming when I can get the camera and computer talking to each other again.

Cauliflower Rice

Yummy!

Dairy Free Cream of Mushroom Soup

I found some safe cashews to eat!  So excited, because now I get to mess around with a lot of the vegan and raw recipes using cashew cream!

Using this recipe from vegansparkles.com, I made our version of their cream of mushroom soup that uses cashew cream for the creaminess.  

Dairy-free Cream of Mushroom Soup

This? This is amazing. It was so good. It made me react some, of course, because it has mushrooms which are higher in histamines, but I was having a low reactive day and it was SO GOOD. So...I suffered for my food. Can't do it again for the whole week without a more serious reaction, but I only regret it a little.

Spicy Roasted bell pepper and tomato soup

Quick and easy.

Combine 1 part roasted red bell pepper sauce with 2-3 parts tomato sauce (without herbs is how I had it), add 1-2 parts broth (veggie, beef, chicken, whatever), and heat.

That's all it takes. Very nice, good soup by itself or a nice base for more. :-)

Vegetarian Bento ideas

My hubby is a vegetarian, so when the kids stay with him, it's nice to find some vegetarian options they can enjoy. I've made this list from what we've come up with, but I'm hoping to add to it with ideas from the web, later on.

Falafel!  I love these things way too much!

Roasted melon seeds

Winter squash are not the only gourds that have edible seeds. Many melons have them, too. You roast or pan fry these seeds and crack them open like sunflower seeds. In Egypt, watermelon seeds are a traditional snack food, actually!

So if you wish to try this snack out for yourself, here's how you do it.

Five Side Dishes I

Just a few side dishes for when you're feeling in a rut and need some new ideas.

Kale Chips

I just haven't made these in a while and kind of forgot about them. Wish I hadn't! They are SO easy to make, and the kids will eat them which is always a plus, just like the cauliflower.

A warning for the sulfite sensitive. If you react to anything in the brassica family, this may be problematic for you, so take care. I could eat it when I was reacting a bit less, so I hope that some day I may be able to eat it again. :-)

Roasted Cauliflower

I've been trying to find ways my children will eat more variety in their veggies - as this makes up a huge part of our diet - and finally found a way that they like cauliflower, yeaaa!

Roasted cauliflower. I used this recipe.

Basically, I chopped the cauliflower, roasted it around 400-425 with a little oil or melted animal fat and salt rubbed over them. The kids liked the smaller pieces that had more browned area the best. The bigger pieces didn't go over as well. I'd highly recommend this one!

It always feels great when you can find something the kids like to eat!

LOW HISTAMINE DIET - make this sucker as is. :-)

Stuffed Bell Pepper

This comes from yet another failed recipe, LOL.

So far, soaked, raw beans that I freeze and thaw later do not do well in my falafel recipes. I wasn't certain this was the case, but the last disaster has left little doubt in my mind. But unfortunately, that left me with nothing to do with my just-now-made bean and cucumber falafel dough (Don't judge. I was out of veggies to use!).

I baked it in a loaf pan, instead but it was...not good. Tasted like dry crumbs, although the fact that it did taste like crumbs has given me possibilities for its use in other things.

So today, I'm using my crumbs.