Hiatus over

Its been a long time since I wrote anything on here but life just took over I'm afraid.
The move went OK. Had lots of fun and games with Comcast but I've pretty much come to expect that. Then we had a week to get everything vaguely organised before the in-laws arrived on the 22nd. It was great them being here as they helped a lot.They were barely off the plane before they started unpacking boxes. They spent their first day buying a christmas tree, going to IKEA for furniture, putting up said christmas tree and assembling furtniture. Bless 'em. Christmas Eve was spent in about 4 different supermarkets getting all the food for Christmas Day. We had a traditional Turkey dinner. I made a lovely soup to start though. Completely endo friendly and it was a hit. The main meal was Roast Turkey, loads of veg, gravy. Then we had a Gluten free Black Forest Gateaux for dessert which I found in Trader Joes.. Its the brand 'dolce senza grano' (sweet without wheat). Very delicious and authentic.

We had a boxing day party on the 26th. For those non-British of you, this is also a holiday in the UK and it involves basically seeing the family you didn't see on Christmas day and eating cold turkey. It apparantly comes from days gone by when the servants of the house would get the day off and the masters of the house would box up the leftovers and give to them. We decided to combine it with a bit of a housewarming party. I made loads of food but no-one really ate anything. I made a huge pasta salad but used normal pasta so I couldn't even eat the leftovers of that.
The day after that we got invited to some friends house (bear in mind these are friends that know I don't eat wheat). We weren't the only people there - they had visitors too, and some other friends were there, but I walked in and saw them cooking pizza! I thought, oh well I'll just have to grin and bear it. Being a nice polite British person I didn't want to cause a fuss. So, David was my knight in shining armor. He made sure he was sat next to me and discreetly took all my dough off me when I was done eating the topping.I think we got away with it too. I basically ate loads of salad and luckily had had a big lunch so wasn't really hungry. You may wonder why not just say "I'm sorry but I can't eat pizza". The answer is I have no idea, except for this ingrained sense of British politeness in me. It is easier said than done when you know your host has gone to a lot of trouble to make this dinner for you. I think it would have been a different story if it was just us at the dinner table but there was about 10 people many of whom I didn't know very well and I guess I just didn't want them all to know my business. It would be a lot easier if I could just say, sorry I'm coeliac! But I'd have to go into the whole story, and really didn't want to. The next few days passed in a not very exciting culinary adventure. Turkey curry, bean burritos, pasta pesto. New Years Eve I stayed in with my in-laws. David had to leave for Iowa (he's a cameraman so is on the campaign trail now until whenever) on New Years Eve. We were going to go out but we were all pretty exhausted and couldn't really be bothered. So, we made a nice dinner. Celery Soup, roast chicken, loads of veg and cheesecake (I didn't eat the base) and watched TV before going to bed just after midnight. I took my in-laws to the airport yesterday so all is back to normal now.

Here is the recipe for the soup I made on Christmas Day. Its not my own and is taken from a book called 'Soups and Breads' by Bay Books.

Chilli, Chickpea and Coriander Soup
30g (1oz) butter (olive oil can be substituted)
1 onion, roughly chopped
3 cloves garlic, crushed
2 red chillies, seeded and finely chopped
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp ground coriander
425g (14oz) can chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
1/3 cup (20g/3/4 oz) chopped coriander (cilantro) leaves and stalks
1 tsp grated lemon rind
2 1/2 cups (600ml/20 fl oz) chicken or vegetable stock

1. Heat the butter or olive oil in a large pan. Cook the onion, garlic and chilli for 2-3 minutes, or until softened but not browned. Add the spices and cook for 1-2 minutes, then add the chickpeas.

2. Process in a food processor until smooth. Add the coriander and lemon rind, pour on the stock and process until smooth. Reheat gently for 15 minutes, stirring frequently, but do not allow the soup to boil. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Holiday madness

I haven't posted for a while but thats because its all been rather hectic in the Baker household. We are not content with one major stress over the holidays but we are undertaking 2 at the same time. We are in the process of moving house and undergoing IVF treatment. Well, I should say undergone as the embryo transfer was yesterday. I have another blog called http://wheresourbaby.blogspot.com which details the whole process as I didn't think this blog needed all that.
So, I am in the 2 week wait. Pregnancy test is on Christmas Eve of all days.
We are moving house this weekend and the Dr. has basically told me I can't do anything related to the move so poor David has to do it all. There's so much packing to do - and I just have to look at it, and feel helpless. So, needless to say there has not been much cooking malarky going on the last couple of weeks. Last night was take out from the Whole foods hot bar which was lovely but I think they must use a lot of salt as I woke up really thirsty early this morning.

I had a great plan to cook loads of food at the weekend to freeze so we could pull it out for quick suppers but that was not to be. I did manage to cook a Sheperds pie on Sunday night which was nice and we had it with loads of veg and gravy.
I also have some pesto in the fridge that I made that day, as I needed a few leaves of basil for a Rachel Ray dish I made but Whole Foods only had basil in industrial size containers (typical) so I had to use it up somehow. I have tried following recipes for pesto but have never really found one I like so end up just making it up. Its basically, lots of basil, toasted pine nuts (just heat in a skillet for a couple of minutes until golden and oils start to release), olive oil and parmesan cheese. I usually adjust quantities to taste.

I also made a lovely 'Three sisters casserole' from Vegetarian Times. It freezes well too.

I will post here my recipe for Shepherds pie. This is a rough recipe and I change it all the time but it will give you an idea of how to make a vegetarian one. Its a lovely thing to have on a cold Sunday evening with a glass of red.

Vegetarian Shepherds pie

1/2 cup green or brown lentils. (you can use red though at a push but I find they go too mushy)
1 1/2 cups water
1 onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
2 or 3 large potatoes

2 tbsp tomato puree
1 tsp oregano
3/4 cup vegetable stock or water
1 tbsp vegetarian worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 cup frozen sweetcorn (optional)
1/2 cup of frozen peas (optional)
1 tsp of ketchup (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Cook lentils in water until tender. Add more water if necessary.
Boil and mash potatoes.
Sautee onion and garlic in oil until soft.
Add stock, tomato puree, oregano, soy sauce, worcestershire sauce and simmer until flavors combined.
Add lentils, corn and peas. Add more water or stock if necessary. It should be slightly runny but not watery.

Season to taste. If you want a bit more tomatoey flavor, you can add the tsp of ketchup at this stage.
Put lentil mixture in a casserole dish.
Top with mashed potato
Bake until the filling is kind of bubbling through the potato at the edges and the top of the potato is golden brown. About 20-30 minutes.
Remove from oven and serve. You can eat as is or serve with any vegetable and some extra gravy if required.

Another option. You can use less lentils and add some Quorn mince aswell (aka TVP) if you eat that. I like the Quorn better if I have to eat this as its soy free.

The rest of this week I think we will be trying to use up the contents of the fridge and freezer to save moving it so some interesting concotions may follow.....

Pancakes, lovely Pancakes!

Oh, I'm so happy. After over a year of a pancake-less diet, I finally had some on Thanksgiving morning. So Thankyou, Thankyou Bobs Red Mill GF Pancake Mix! Whoever Bob is - not sure if he is the little old man on the packet or not, he deserves a medal.
Now, being a good English Girl, I love a good British breakfast as much as the next person but there is something about American pancakes that just hits the spot for breakfast and I've missed them. If you've never had a good english 'fry-up' it basically consists of fried: eggs, bread, bacon, sausage, mushrooms, and some baked beans. A healthy combination I think you'll find!

So, before discovering Bob the Wheat free God, I have looked longingly at recipes to make your own Wheat free pancake mix, but never seem to have the inclination to try to bother with them. It pretty much feels the same as trying to make Gluten free bread. But now with Bob on my side I feel I can do anything. Yay!!

They were so tasty, even David liked them. We ate them with lots of maple syrup and fresh fruit. You do have to use an egg and milk in the mixture but you can use soy, rice or almond milk if you don't want to do the dairy. I also used a pancake maker (griddle thing) that I got as a gift and has never seen the light of day. It worked really well.

Experiments

I had a huge bag of organic veg delivered this week. When I ordered it I was obviously in a bit of an experimental mood as there were a lot of things I had no idea what to do with. There was Broccoli rabe which I had never used before but I know Rachael Ray uses it a lot so it must be OK! Also, some white turnips. I hardly ever even cook regular turnips so I was at a loss with the white ones. So, on a chilli sunday evening I thought I'd try to recreate those sunday dinners from back home. These are usually meat, loads of plain cooked veg, roast potatoes and gravy. Of course we can't have the meat part so I searched through every single recipe book in my collection (thats quite a few) to look for a simple vegetarian entree to fit the bill, something like a nut roast but I didn't have any nuts and I wasn't going back out in the cold. I'm not sure why but nothing inspired me from those books. Not a dang thing. All the 'loafs' required flour and egg and I wanted a vegan one. But then an overwhelming sense of creativity came over me and I decided to make one up. Usually these attempts don't come out all that well. Anyway this one was a bit of an exception - it was literally thrown together from the pantry. I call it 'lentil loaferole' as its a cross between a loaf and a casserole but tasted pretty nice.

Lentil Loaferole
Ingredients

1 cup green lentils
2.5 cups water
1 tbsp fresh rosemary finely chopped
1 tbsp fresh thyme finely chopped
1 medium onion chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 tsp olive oil
1/2 14oz can chopped tomatoes
1/2 cup oats

Method

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Cook the lentils in water - simmer until tender - add more water if necessary. They should be tender but not mushy.
3. In a large mixing bowl, combine the oats, chopped rosemary and thyme.
4. When lentils are cooked and cooled, add to the oat mixture.

5. Sautee the onion and garlic in the oil until soft. Add to lentils. Stir in the tomatoes.

6. Transfer to a loaf tin, bake at 375 degrees for about 30 minutes until the top is brown and has formed a crust.

So, after all that experimentation I wasn't ready to tackle the strange veg so I served it with Steamed Brocolli, carrots and mashed sweet potato. I also made some gravy, as otherwise it could have been a bit dry. I don't have a recipe for gravy though as we use vegetarian instant gravy from the UK out of a box. Its yummy.

So, I still had the problem of what to do with the strange veg, so last night I made a soup. I love making soup as you can just bung it all in a pot with some stock and voila! So, we had White Turnip, Broccoli and Brocolli Rabe soup. Very tasty. I also made Burritos. However, I used the rice flour tortillas which are usually OK but I have now discovered that they don't hold up well to being put in the oven. They basically came out of the oven with the texture of a taco. But, they were rescued by dollops of Toffuti sour cream and salsa to moisten it up a bit.
Essentially the burritos were nice I just won't put them in the oven next time.

Vegetarian Bean Chilli Burritos
Ingredients

1 can kidney beans
1 tbsp chopped pickled jalepenos
1 tsp olive oil
1 zuchinni - sliced into half moons
1 green pepper - diced
1 onion - chopped
1 clove garlic - crushed
1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
4 rice flour tortillas

Method

1. In a small saucepan, cook the beans and the chopped jalepenos in the oil for about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and leave to stand
2. In a skillet, fry the onion and garlic in the oil with the cumin and coriander for about 5 minutes until starting to soften.
3. Add the zuchinni and pepper and continue to fry until all the vegetables are soft. Add the beans to this mixture and stir over a low heat to warm through.
4. Spoon the mixture into the tortillas but don't overfill. Wrap them into parcels.
Serve with Tofutti Sour Cream and Salsa.

A few food disasters this week

This has been a strange week. Not least because we have had visitors around since the 26th, so it has been a vacation from the norm. We have therefore been eating out a lot / getting takeout and having wine. The take outs haven't been too bad though - I've been sticking to Thai and Indian instead of pizza, for example.

We also went to Savannah for the weekend with some friends. It was great but of ourse you have no control really over what to eat. Its hard then to stick to the diet when you are eating out a lot - especially somewhere like that where a lot of the food is fried and there's not a lot of vegetarian options. I just try to make up for it by having healthier sides like rice or potato salad instead of fries and I had a greek omelette yesterday which had spinach and feta cheese, instead of the veggy one stuffed with regular cheese. Its not much but makes me feel better about having an omelette instead of the oatmeal I probably should have had.

In between visitors and going away I have experimented with some more new dishes but have been fairly disappointed by the results.

I have a Jamie Oliver recipe book that I hardly use as there's a lot of meat dishes in there but he had a recipe for Sweet & Sour squash. The picture looked lovely. Needless to say my version did not turn out like mr olivers. I definately cooked the squash too long and it came out rather mushy. So, not content with ruining that I decided it would be great to eat it with some rice noodles. Well, you couldn't have gotten 2 textures that went together least! I am lucky that David will pretty much eat anything I put infront of him and rarely complains.

Then a couple of days later I made some Chilli Bean Burgers. I love making burgers as you have complete control over what goes in them. Bean burgers are especially nice. This was yet another recipe from the Moosewood low fat book. They were really nice. They have mustard and ketchup in them though so may not be for you if you are really trying to cut out all processed food.
The book said to have it with their Brazilian rice which sounded lovely but was in fact pretty tasteless, so much so that I didn't even bother saving the leftovers. There is one burger left though that I will be eating for lunch...

Chili Burgers

1 cup chopped onions
4 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
2 tsp olive oil
1/2 cup peeled and grated carrots
1 1/2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp ground cumin
3 cups cooked pinto or kidney beans (2 15-oz cans, drained)
2 tbsp Dijon mustard
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp ketchup or 1 tbsp tomato paste
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
salt and ground black pepper to taste

Saute onions and garlic in the oil for about 5 minutes until the onions begin
to soften. Add carrots, chili powder and cumin and cook on low heat for 5
minutes. Set aside.

Mash the beans in a large bowl with a potato masher or the back of a spoon.
Add the mustard, soy sauce, ketchup or tomato paste and the sauteed
vegetables. Mix in the oats. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Form the burger mixture into patties. Cook burgers in a nonstick skillet on
medium-low heat for 5 to 8 minutes on each side.

Squash for Fall

I think Fall is my favorite season. One of the main reasons for this is Squash. There are so many varieties and ways of cooking it and it is so tasty that I can't help experimenting. Its also nice to get away from salads and mediteranean food which I tend to make a lot of during the summer.

Growing up in the UK, pumpkin was something we would carve once a year (maybe) but we wouldn't really dream of eating it. I don't think I'd even tasted a butternut squash until a couple of years ago.

This week I have had some wonderful squash dishes mostly thanks to the Moosewood recipes. I tried my first acorn squash the other day - yummy and then ordered a DELICATA squash from the organic farm which was also nice. I even - shock horror - made a dish up myself and didn't use a recipe. It was using sweet potatoes and beets.

So here are a couple of Fantastic Fall recipes.

Chilean Squash
Serves 4-5
This one actually adds cheese and then bakes in the oven. However I left out the cheese and didn't bake it. I will write it up this way.

4 cups cooked squash or pumpkin, mashed or pureed
1 Tbs olive oil
1 1/2 cups chopped onion
1 tsp salt
2 small bell peppers (one red and one green, if possible)
4 or 5 medium cloves garlic
black pepper and cayenne to taste
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander (optional)
1 tsp chilli powder
2 cups corn (frozen/defrosted OK)

1) Place the mashed or pureed squash in a large bowl
2) Heat the olive oil in a medium sized skillet. Add onion, and saute over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Add salt, bell peppers, cumin, coriander, chilli powder, corn. Saute about 5 more minutes, or until the peppers begin to get soft.
3) Add garlic, black pepper, and cayenne, and sautee a few more minutes
4) Add the saute to the squash and mix well.

I served with brown rice.

Adapted from : Moosewood Cookbook

Squash and Kale risotto
Serves 4

4 1/2-5 cups vegetable stock
1 cup minced onions
2-3 teaspoons olive oil
1 1/2 cups arborio rice
1/2 cup dry white wine (May use white grape juice) (optional)
2 cups peeled and cubed winter squash (3/4 to 1 inch cubes)
3 cups stemmed and chopped kale, packed (about 1/2 pound before stemming, May use other greens)
1/8-1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon freshly grated lemons, rind of
salt & fresh ground pepper
1/4 cup grated pecorino cheese or parmesan cheese

1) Bring the vegetable stock to a boil and then reduce it to a simmer.
2) Meanwhile, in a heavy saucepan, preferably nonstick, saute the onions in 2 teaspoons of the oil for about 5 minutes, until softened but not browned. Add more oil, if necessary, to prevent sticking.
3) Using a wooden spoon to avoid breaking the grains, add the rice and stir until it is well coated with oil.
4) Add the wine, if using.
5) When it is absorbed (it won't take long), ladle in 2 1/2 cups of the simmering stock, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring frequently for 2 to 3 minutes between each addition, until the rice has absorbed the liquid.
6) Add the squash and the kale and stir.
7) Continue adding 1/2 cup of broth every few minutes for about 10 minutes, stirring often, until all of the stock has been added and the rice is tender but firm.
8) Add the nutmeg, lemon peel, and salt and pepper to taste.
9) Remove the risotto from the heat, stir in the cheese, and serve immediately.

Variations:.
In addition to or in place of kale, add any of the following:.
chopped Swiss chard, cabbage, radicchio, or fresh fennel, chopped celery, roasted red peppers, sun dried tomatoes, green peas, green beans, or even seedless black grapes.

NB: I did find however that the Squash took a long time to cook in the risotto. I used the Delicata squash so it could have been that but I would suggest dicing it really small or steaming it until it is almost tender first and then adding it.

Source: Moosewood Restaurant Low Fat Favorites

And finally my own creation:

Roasted Beet and Sweet Potato Salad
Serves 1

2 small beets
1 medium sweet potato
Tofutti Sour Cream
1 Tbs chopped parsley
1 Tsp Red Wine vinegar

1) Preheat oven to 400 F
2) Wash the beets and sweet potato and cover with foil.
3) Place on baking sheet and roast for about an hour. The potato may not take this long so put it in later than the beets
4) When they are cooked - (you will be able to pierce with a knife) remove from the oven and leave to cool slightly
5) Remove the foil and peel the beets and sweet potato and slice to about 1/4 inch pieces
6) Arrange vegetable slices on a plate, beets underneath and sweet potato on top.
7) Drizzle with red wine vinegar and sprinkle chopped parsley.
8) Place a dollop of sour cream in the middle.

This is a pretty tasty simple supper or could be a used as a side dish

Japan

Well we've arrived back from Japan. Got back on friday and its taken until now to feel vaguely human again. Jet lag was severe - its a 13 hour time difference.
We had a fantastic time. If my PC wasn't broken I could post some photographs but alas, the only 2 year old computer needs a new motherboard. This sounds incredibly technical and expensive to me, but luckily we are still in Warranty.

The Japanese wedding was amazing and an experience I will never forget, especially when the whole wedding party ended up in our own private Karaoke room! It was great to forget about everything and really let my hair down, not literally as the Japanese hairstylist did a lovely job of putting it up.

The food on the whole was fine.....for me. The less said about Davids vegetarian experience, the better. Needless to say, he's actually been a vegetarian for about a week, not 14 years as first thought. I existed on rice and fish - oh and some chicken elbows one night but they weren't the best! Probably did wonders for my Omega levels but I was paranoid about fiber as there's only so much white rice you can eat. So I've been stuffing myself with the stuff since being back: beans, fruit and veg and loads of brown rice.

I must just mention a couple of vegetarian 'moments':

- 'tofu and cheese' - came with a sausage underneath
- 'vegetable lasagna' - (in a british pub no less), had beef.
- he was halfway through a salad once when he was brought a substitute salad "without fish"!

A couple of fantastic food moments though:
A restaurant serving nothing but tofu done many different ways, although the highlight of the plate was a big bowl of.....tofu!
Just tofu, in all its white slimy glory. Oh and actual soy milk - without the sweeteners we get here. Couldn't quite stomach that.

Also, the vegetarian wedding breakfast was a feast like I've never seen. Food just kept coming and coming.
David was in his element. I hadn't ordered one, but I was happy with my whole dried fish and octopus!

It was just very hard work being a tourist there and not speaking the language as you have to just point to a picture and eat what you're given. The rice for breakfast thing in the hotels was a bit hard to swallow, too. Along with miso soup, some kind of meat and fish casserole and tofu at 8am was not exactly tempting.

So, its back to Oatmeal and flax seeds in the morning. I even found some high fiber gluten free/wheat free/dairy free bread in whole foods the other day AND its actually do-able. I have previously had a couple of failed experiments into making my own wheat free bread so gave that up very quickly, and have bought a couple of loaves before (aka bricks) but this is by far the best one I have tried. I have only had it as toast and as an open sandwhich with both mashed banana and a pre-made tofu salad (not at the same time). Its called ENERG High fiber loaf.

Black Bean Sauce

Its been a pretty hectic week as I'm getting ready for my trip to Japan. We leave tomorrow for 2 weeks. I'm so excited and also kind of anxious. I've never been anywhere outside the northern/western hemisphere so its going to be totally strange.
We are going because my cousin lives there and is getting married next weekend. We are going to Tokyo, Kyoto and Gifu. I am very interested to try the food over there. I will hopefully come back with some cool recipes and different things to try. Although, apparantly its not the place to be a vegetarian. Not quite sure what David will end up eating. They believe ham is a vegetable, so I'm told!

In anticipation of this Asian extravaganza I fancied some chinese food last night. I am always trying to find ways to recreate the taste of it without using the processed jars of sauce.

Last night I decided to try a black bean sauce. The result wasn't spectacular as I realised half way into it that I didn't have all the ingredients. Anyway, it was a good effort and will need some tweaking.

I made it with eggplant and red peppers.

Asian Black Bean Sauce

2 tbsp peanut oil
2 tbsp fermented black beans -- rinsed and drained
1 tbsp garlic - minced
1/2 c chicken broth
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp rice wine
1 tsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp cornstarch

Heat a wok or heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add the oil, the black
beans and garlic. Stir-fry about 12 seconds. Add the rest of the ingredients
and stir-fry about 1 minute or until sauce thickens.
Makes about 3/4 cup sauce.

Source: RecipeSource.com

Sweet Cravings - Guilt free cookies

There's nothing better than sitting down with a nice bar of chocolate and a glass of red wine during my period. A girly movie normally helps too. However, I have been trying to find some healthier alternatives to that sweet craving which don't leave me feeling guilty for polishing off a bar of fruit and nut. I think I have found an answer on the back of a packet of Quinoa flakes.

This recipe is for Crispy Quinoa cookies.
The quinoa flakes themselves are also used for hot cereal - don't do this - they are not pleasant. Oatmeal is a million times better.

The recipe for the cookies is:

1/2 cup Honey
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup margarine (1 stick)
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup rice flour
3/4 cup quinoa flakes
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt (optional)
1/2 cup nuts (optional)

I usually leave out the brown sugar and replace honey with maple syrup. I find that this is sweet enough. I also sometimes leave out the peanut butter. I would sugget experimenting to see what works best for you.

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Beat honey, sugar, margarine, peanut butter and vanilla in medium bowl until creamy. Combine rice flour, quinoa flakes, baking soda and salt in a small bowl. Add to mixture and beat until well blended. If desired add nuts. Drop rounded teaspoonfulls about 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 12-15 minutes or until light and golden brown. Cool 1 minute before removing from cookie sheet. Yields about 3 dozen cookies.

It says here to put on an ungreased baking sheet but I find a greased one or some greaseproof paper works best.

Enjoy!

Breakfast

My usual breakfast consists of oatmeal. Same thing every day. It gets a bit wearing. I just haven't found many good wheat free alternatives to shredded wheat, toast, muffins...Funny, that!

Today however I had run out of oatmeal so was forced to make a change, and luckily had lots of fruit on hand. Apples, pears and also some bananas. I just chopped up one of each, added a dash of pineapple juice, a drizzling of maple syrup, a sprinkling of cinnamon and my usual mixture of: ground flax seed, raisins, sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds. It was delicious and quite filling.

I would have preferred some greek yoghurt over them but that would have meant going to the supermarket this weekend instead of spending the whole time at shopping malls!

I have received a new recipe book too. Its from the Moosewood collection. I already had a moosewood book but it was an older one and everything had lots of cheese and cream in it. This is their low-fat book and I highly recommend it.

I have only cooked one thing so far and it was really nice - it was curried asian noodles. But all of the recipes look so lovely and inviting. Its mostly vegetarian and they use lots of grains and pulses so perfect for the endo diet.

Anyway, I think I must have been doing something right this month. I have had very little issues with my endo. My last period was pain and clot free. And normally around this time (week 3) I get a fair bit of pain with BM's (sorry if this is too much information). But this month - nothing! Its amazing. I know I have tried really hard to stick to the diet so who knows. I still get twinges in my right ovary where they did the surgery last year, which happens mainly just before ovulation and just before my period. I really recommend keeping a pain diary, though. It really helps to tune into your body and notice when symptoms are at their worst or best and helps you tune into which foods work best for you or don't work for you. It is also a good tool to take to you on your doctors visits.

Next IVF

We have finally taken the plunge to do another IVF in November. It is all booked. We have to get some blood tests done first then I will start the protocol on day 2 of my November cycle. We apparantly have $5,000 of insurance coverage which is great. I think this wasn't used before as my previous RE was not in network. So, in many ways it kind of feels like the cosmos is coming together in the right way. I feel both very apprehensive, as having done it once I know whats coming, but also very positive. Much more so than the last time. The last one was in January so we've had a good few months not having to think about it.

So, I need to start getting my body ready for the ordeal. I have pretty much had a week off as we have had some visitors here so lots of meals out.
I will start again with acupuncture soon and will stick to the diet, do lots of excercise, drink lots of water and generally be a model of health. The quinoa is on the stove and I'm ready to go.....

Accidents and Emergencies

It has been an eventful week. David has been away in California and on Friday he got stung by a Stingray in Laguna beach and spent a couple of hours in the hospital.

The day before that I managed to crash the car whilst making an illegal turn (not on purpose). The damage could have been a lot worse and no-one was hurt. Its complicated however by the fact that the car we use is David's company car and he was out of town so technically I shouldn't have been driving it although I am insured. Not only did someone crash into me but that someone happened to work for the Dept. of Defence and was driving a Government vehicle. At one point the Secret Service turned up at the scene which was a little disconcerting.

Anyway, this little incident happend on the way to book club so after I had taken the car back home and walked there, I had no qualms about consuming the wine, pizza and brownies that were on offer as my nerves were pretty shaken.
It did call to mind, however, the question of what I would normally do in such situations as turning up at someones house where they are serving pizza - or pasta and nothing else, especially if they don't know you and your foibles very well. We are often in situations where we don't want the whole party to know we have endo and are on a special diet. I am trying to come up with a solution to these problems. There are a few options:
1) If its a potluck thing, you could offer to be the one to take the entree dish as you then have control over what it is.
2) Eat something before you go and make excuses like you had a big lunch or something and are not hungry.
3) If its a small dinner party - you can tell the host before hand that you have some dietary requirements.
4) If you are out at a restaurant and there is nothing on the menu to suit, ask if they can substitute things. I will sometimes have a veggy burger without the bun or fruit or salad can be substituted for fries. People just think you are on Atkins or something.

The worst places are Italian restaurants & pizza parlours. If you have a choice in where to eat, the best bet is to say Indian, Thai, Chinese.... If you find yourself surrounded by Chianti bottles and checkered tablecloths, then you can either say 'f*** it' and scoff down an 8 inch meat lovers or alternatively go for a substantial salad, or a couple of appetizers instead.

Visitors

We had a relative of David staying this weekend. She is only 18 and was over in the states working at summer camp. She came down to visit us for the weekend. We had never met her before but she is such a lovely girl. I surprised myself with how much mothering instinct I had in me. All these years of it being repressed it came out in waves this weekend. It ended up in me driving her to the bus station at 5am on tuesday morning. I'm very glad I did as the Greyhound station in DC is not a welcoming place at that time, in fact I'm not sure it is at any time.

She arrived here on friday and I made a veggy stir fry. This is a great recipe from Rachel Ray's 30 minute Veggie Meals book. Then on saturday we went out to a BBQ where I did eat some brisket and cookie cake. For anyone who has not heard of this, (because I hadn't) - it is a huge cookie with frosting on top - in this case it said happy birthday. I'm sorry, but I had to abandon the diet for this and it was worth it.

On Sunday, David left for a week working in California so it was just me and Sofie. I made stuffed green peppers. They were stuffed with a corn and rice mixture. I got the recipe from the web and I have stupidly misplaced the link. It was basically, roast the peppers until soft. Fry off some onion, garlic, and add ground cumin and coriander. Cook some rice. Mix it all together with some fresh corn. Stuff rice mixture into peppers. Bake another 10 minutes or so.

I think Sofie enjoyed herself as she left us a lovely card and a huge box of Lindt chocolates. Oh my! They keep staring at me from the fridge. I'm going to have to find a good home for them - they can't stay here. I will surely eat them all if they are left there.

Last night I made a wonderful dish that was a recipe from Vegetarian Times. I reccommend signing up to their email list as every week I think it is, they'll send you a healthy seasonal recipe and every one I have tried has been delicious.

This one is Eggplant Steak with Chickpeas, Roasted Red Peppers, Feta Cheese and Black Olives. I'm so happy I found a nice thing to do with eggplant. I am always so reluctant to cook it as I always end up frying the thing and it just ends up with a horrible soggy texture. This is great though and a great substitute for meat eaters as its really substantial. I left off the bread part and had it with some steamed greens.

Eggplant Steak with Chickpeas, Roasted Red Peppers, Feta Cheese and Black Olives
Serves 4

Ingredients
1 large eggplant, about 1 lb.
1 ½ cups chickpeas, drained
2 medium-sized red peppers, roasted, peeled, seeded and cubed
¼ lb. feta cheese, cubed or crumbled
½ cup pitted black olives, preferably Greek or Moroccan
2 Tbs. chopped fresh oregano or Italian parsley
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
4 (6½-inch round) pita breads
4 tsp. balsamic vinegar
1 bunch fresh oregano as garnish

Balsamic Marinade
1 Tbs. balsamic vinegar
1 Tbs. tamari soy sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced
¼ tsp. freshly ground black pepper
2 Tbs. olive oil

Method

To make Balsamic Marinade: Combine ingredients, slowly adding olive oil and stirring briskly to combine well. Set aside.
Preheat grill or broiler. Cut eggplant lengthwise into four ½-inch-thick slices to resemble steaks. Brush “steaks” with marinade.
Grill or broil eggplant for 2 minutes on each side, or until tender but not soft. Remove from heat and place 1 steak on each serving plate.
Place chickpeas, red peppers, feta, black olives, and oregano in small bowl. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and stir to combine well. Add some marinade and stir again. Toast or grill pita bread and cut into pie-shaped wedges and set aside.
Spoon 1 or 2 scoops of pepper-olive mixture on eggplant steak with some mixture pooling onto plate. Sprinkle with balsamic vinegar, place several pita wedges on plate and garnish eggplant with several sprigs fresh oregano. Repeat with remaining ingredients until used up, making sure pepper-olive mixture spills over top of eggplant and onto plate. Serve immediately.

PER SERVING: 460 CAL; 18G PROT; 16G TOTAL FAT; 65G CARB; 10MG CHOL; 1060MG SOD; 10G FIBER

Chickpea fritters

I made these when I needed a quick lunch the other day. It always is hard not to just reach for a cheese sandwhich when I need a snack. I have made these before from a recipe which was quite complicated so I figured there had to be an easier way. They were pretty tasty.

Chickpea fritters (Makes 2 fritters)

Ingredients

Half a can of chickpeas
Half an onion chopped
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp chilli poweder
1 tsp ground coriander
2 colves garlic
1 tbsp fresh chopped cilantro or flat leaf parsley.

Fry the onions and garlic until almost soft. Add the spices and fry another minute. Remove from heat and place in bowl with chickpeas and cilantro. Mash everything together. Serve with salad and mango chutney.

Mexican Food

Both David and I love going for Mexican food. However it always seems to be full of wheat and dairy and it is often difficult to find something on the menu. I used to love enchiladas and burritos slapped with loads of cheese and dollops of sour cream. So, I thought I would try to make my own version of Chillies Rellenos. These are basically stuffed green peppers (stuffed with cheese I might add), then they are fried in polenta I think and served with lots of cheese, sour cream, guacamole and refried beans. David gets them every time he is in a Mexican restaurant as a viable vegetarian option.

My 'endo' version involves the peppers being roasted, then stuffed with a rice mixture, and served with Organic Guacamole, organic refried beans, and tofutti sour cream (yes, its true, and it tastes great!). Now, there is a lot of controversy about Soy generally and about Soy for endometriosis. Read more at endo-resolved, personally I have come to the conclusion that in moderation it is OK. Again, I have no medical training to base this on but I think as long as you're not eating it every day then a bit now and again is OK. Also David has high cholesterol so the Tofutti sour cream is an excellent choice for him.

I have called this recipe 'Chillies RallEndo'.

I'm sorry I don't have pictures for any of my recipes yet but I am always half way through the meal when I remember I should be taking pictures. So, I promise I will make more of an effort. Keep checking back. They promise to be good pictures. David is a photographer so I've absolutely no excuses really.

As an aside whilst on the subject of Mexican food - you can even buy Rice flour Tortillas now for those chimichanga or burrito cravings.

Chillies RallEndo

Serves 2

4 large green poblano peppers
1/2 cup of rice - or 1 cup if you want leftovers for lunch
1 onion - chopped (I used red because it was all I had but I think yellow would be better)
1 green or yellow zuchinni
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
2 cloves of garlic - chopped

To serve
Amy's organic refried beans
Toffuti Sour Cream
Organic Guacamole
Organic Salsa - a jar is fine

Method
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cut off the end of the pepper and deseed so you have a hollow cavity in each one for the filling later. Roast the peppers with a drizzling of olive oil until they are soft - They take about 30 minutes.
Meanwhile boil the rice. You need twice as much water to rice. Add the rice and water to a pan, bring to boil then let simmer over a low heat, covered, until all the water is absorbed.

Fry the onion, zuchinni, garlic in some olive oil until soft. Then add the spices and continue cooking another minute. Add the vegetable mixture to the rice.
Remove the peppers from the oven and leave to cool enough so they can be handled.
While they are cooling, warm up the refried beans in a pan over a moderate heat.
Take teaspoons of the rice mixture and fill the peppers. Serve with dollops of guacamole, sour cream, salsa and refried beans.

Take the leftover rice mixture for lunch the next day.

Weekend Away

We just had to get out of the city this weekend. It was just too hot in DC. So, we headed out on friday to the mountains of West Virginia. I booked a room in Berkeley Springs. It was a lovely suite actually so it had a kitchen and seperate bedroom. I try to book places now with a kitchen whenever I can. It means you have some control over what to eat, just incase the local area doesn't provide what you need. It meant that when we arrived on friday I cooked penne a l'Arrabiata (recipe below) with the rice pasta that I had taken with me. It also meant I could have my oatmeal in the morning instead of the muffins that they left (looked gorgeous but I resisted).

It was a nice weekend and I also managed to get an endo friendly meal in the restaurant we ate in on Saturday night. It was Grilled Salmon, a baked potato and succotash - (corn with lima beans I think). It was a relief as most of the other things on the menu had some form of Angel Hair pasta with them which is lovely if you like angel hair pasta.

So, here is our recipe for the Penne a l'Arrabiata. It has been a staple in our house for a long time. It evokes memories of our first house together in Cardiff, Wales. We used to go swimming on a Wednesday night, come home, cook Arrabiata and watch Ally McBeal. We still try to cook it on Wednesdays but it is just as tasty on any day.

Serves 2

Ingredients

Rice pasta - Tinkyada penne works best. - however much pasta you like really.
4-6 cloves of garlic (chopped)
2 tsp of chilli flakes
6 tbsp olive oil
1.5 cans of chopped tomatoes
large handful of fresh basil
black pepper

Method

Put a pan of water on the heat to boil for the pasta.

Heat the olive oil gently in a skillet. You don't want it too hot or the garlic will burn. Add the garlic and the chilli flakes and cook until the garlic is soft but not brown. Add the chopped tomatoes and simmer for about 15 minutes. The tomatoes will start to break down and take on a smoother more sauce like consistency.

Meanwhile cook the pasta. (Takes about the same time as the sauce)

Near the end of the cooking the sauce add two thirds of the basil, and cook some more until the basil is wilted.
Drain pasta and divide between 2 pasta bowls. Pour the sauce over the pasta. Sprinkle with remaining basil and freshly ground black pepper.

Food for a hot day

It was way, way too hot to cook anything yesterday. I did not want to use the stove or the oven for any length of time. Thankfully there is finally a breeze today after a few days of stagnant air which is so welcome and I've opened the windows for the first time in days.

Some kind of salad was in order last night but I wanted something substantial. I found this great recipe at Vegetarian Times. Its rather spicy and involves a lot of chopping but because its a cold salad, somehow the heat from the curry paste doesn't matter.
The only heat in involves is boiling a pan or kettle of water, and its really tasty.

Salad
* 7 oz. thin rice noodles
* 2 tsp. vegetable oil
* 1 cup finely diced red bell pepper (1 small)
* 1 cup grated carrots (about 2)
* 1⁄2 cup chopped scallions (white and light green parts), about 8
* 1⁄2 cup chopped cilantro
* 1⁄2 cup chopped fresh mint leaves
* 1 medium head Boston lettuce, leaves separated
* 1 lime, sliced in half moons, for garnish

Dressing

* 1 cup pineapple juice
* 1⁄2 cup low-sodium soy sauce
* 1⁄3 cup coarsely chopped fresh ginger
* 1⁄4 cup rice vinegar
* 2 Tbs. vegetable oil
* 3 to 4 tsp. vegetarian Thai green curry paste
* 2 tsp. brown sugar
* 6 medium cloves garlic, minced (I've only been using 3 and I think its enough)

1. Bring large pot of water to a boil.
2. Make dressing: In blender or food processor, combine all dressing ingredients; process until well blended. Set aside. (Dressing can be made up to 4 days ahead and refrigerated.)
3. Put noodles into large bowl. Pour boiling water over noodles and stir to immerse and separate strands. Let soak 5 minutes. Drain and rinse under cold water. Drain again, shaking colander. Return noodles to bowl, drizzle with oil and toss to coat.
4. Add bell pepper, carrots, scallions, 1⁄4 cup cilantro and 1⁄4 cup mint to noodles in bowl. Add half of the reserved dressing and toss to coat. Line platter or shallow serving bowl with lettuce leaves; top with noodle salad. Sprinkle with remaining cilantro and mint and garnish with lime. Serve, passing remaining dressing separately.

Banana 'Ice-Cream'

I just had to put this on here. Its not my recipe but I got it from the endo resolved recipe book. (See the link on the right). Its fantastic.

Basically you just slice some bananas and freeze. When you are ready for the 'ice-cream' take the frozen banana out of the freezer and thaw slightly. It should still have the ice crystals on. Then whizz in a blender or food processor until creamy. the result is delicious healthy ice cream. You have to try this. Perfect for a guilt free dessert on a hot day.

Fresh fruit and veggies

This weekend saw the first ever organic farm delivery to the Baker household. I had been meaning to try this for some time. My reluctance has been because I didn't want to withdrawl my reliance on my ever so handy organic shop that is literally 3 blocks away. However, I have recently been getting very fed up with their lack of variety and local produce. Their stuff comes from california, argentina, chile, new zealand. I'm not sure why when there is plenty of great local produce. Anyway, the produce I picked up on Saturday morning was divine. You order online and then have to go and pick it up from someones house where its kept in a shed to the side of the house. It really feels like trespassing but the box was there and the order exactly as requested. I didn't get too much just incase but I have to say I am very impressed. Big bunches of fresh herbs, sweet juicy peaches, lettuce, cucumbers. I also had some new potatoes so decided to create a potato salad for our lunch.

New potato salad - Serves 2

4-6 new potatoes
baby spinach or lettuce leaves
4 or 5 radishes
half a red pepper
Dressing
2 tbsp chopped parsley
2 tbsp chopped fresh oregano
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp dijon mustard

Boil potatoes until tender - about 10 minutes.
Meanwhile assemble the salad using all ingredients apart from the fresh herbs.
Make dressing. Combine all dressing ingredients in a bowl. When potatoes are cooked leave them to cool. When they are cool, add them to the bowl with the dressing. Spoon the potatoes onto the salad.

Polenta 'pizza'

I really like polenta. Its filling and you can use it in many ways.

It cooks with about 3 times the amount of liquid to polenta. You can use vegetable stock, or water to cook it. If you've never used it before you can find it in 2 different forms in the supermarket. There is the dried polenta which comes in packets, uncooked, and there is the already cooked variety that comes in a tube. This is perfect for slicing and frying, but the dried polenta is better if you want a more loose consistency. If you are cooking the dried polenta, once it is cooked it will firm up if you leave it. I sometimes roll it up into a tube with plastic wrap and store in refrigerator. It will become firm and you can then use as you would the pre cooked variety that you can buy. I prefer this as I know it has not been processed in any way, and won't contain any additives.

I experimented the other day with this recipe with dried polenta. It satisfied my cravings for real pizza.

Polenta 'Pizza'.

Fry some chopped garlic, red pepper, zuchinni (diced small)

Polenta - I used 1/2 cup with 1 1/2 cups water. Perfect for one with some left over.

Cook polenta - then add some parmesan cheese at the end. Thereis no perfect quantity of cheese - just as much as you would like.

When the polenta is cooked, leave to cool slightly so its firm but not too firm. Spread polenta on plate. Spread some pesto on top of the polenta. Then you can spread a layer of sundried tomato pesto.
(recipe below) (Blend sun dried tomatoes and roasted cherry tomatoes).
Top with fried veggies and some shredded basil, black pepper.

Sun dried tomato pesto.

This is basically about 15 sun dried tomatoes and 15 roasted red cherry tomotoes blended together in a food processor.
For sun dried tomatoes I use the dried ones, not the ones in oil. You just pour boiling water on them and leave for about 5 minutes unitl they are soft. This pesto will keep a few days in the fridge.