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.