The Caveman Diet and Attempts at Cookery

I cannot believe I have not yet blogged about something very big in my life that happened a few months ago! Well, to spare you boredom, I will be brief. I had my blood tested for food allergies, and found out I'm allergic to 32 foods. Yes, you read that right. The big allergies are wheat, gluten, eggs, yeast, and sugar (which eliminates almost everything delicious since I'm pretty much addicted to bready things and sugary things). The other things are superfluous, except for blueberries and citrus fruits. Hopefully it's only temporary and I'll gradually be able to eat real food again. These food allergies make finding "easy" dinners next to impossible.

  By now I mostly know what I can have for all my meals, its just coming up with ideas for snacks and sweet things that stump me. So I have been trying allergy-free recipes every now and then. Looking online for gluten-free, sugar-free, egg-free recipes, I came across what is called "the Caveman Diet". Apparently that is what my kind of diet is called. Its more formally called the Paleo diet, but I'm sticking with Caveman diet as it makes me laugh.

   The first Caveman recipe I tried was called something like Caramel Cinnamon Walnut Clusters. There wasn't anything caramel-like about it. When you first popped it in your mouth, it tasted really good, but when you swallowed it, it was like a freight train of cinnamon hitting your mouth. They really should have called it Cinnamon Explosion. 

     Next thing I tried was Banana-Nut ice cream, sweetened with honey and maple syrup. Surprisingly, it was pretty good. After that was the caramel attempt, which ended up in burnt caramel which tastes utterly disgusting...

    The best thing I've made so far are the Pumpkin Cookies. Oh heavens! You have to try it! The recipe is originally gluten free, but I replaced the eggs and sugar with what I can have.

Gluten Free Pumpkin Cookies

-3/4 cup shortening

-2 eggs (replace with flax gel) 

{to make flax gel, stir 1tablespoon flax meal into 3tablespoons warm water; let sit for 10 minutes or until thickened, enough to replace 1 egg}

-1 cup canned pumpkin

-1 tsp vanilla

- 1 cup sugar(or 3/4 cup grade B maple syrup)

- 1 1/2 tsp baking soda

- 1 1/2 tsp baking power

- 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

- 1 1/4 cup rice flour

- 3/4 cup potato starch

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 325 degree f. Cream together shortening, eggs, pumpkin, vanilla and sugar. Add baking soda, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, rice flour, and potato starch. Mix well. Spoon out on cookie sheet (greased lightly) about the size of a walnut. Bake for about 15 minutes.

   And oh my goodness, prepare yourself for happiness.

When making these I didn't realize that it's best to use grade b maple syrup instead of grade a, since grade b is sweeter. Thus, they weren't very sweet and ended up more like pumpkin biscuits instead of cookies. Despite that, they were really scrumptious!

Oh, and fair warning- do not eat or smell the dough. You will become disappointed in your work of art and become nauseated. Trust me.

Cooking and Whatnot

Last week I found a yummy-souding recipe and decided to make it. Its called Pasta with Chicken and Squash. Real fancy name, I know.

The recipe calls for

1 small onion, chopped * 1 garlic clove, minced

5 Tbsp. olive oil,divided * 2 medium zucchini, julienned*

2 medium yellow summer squash, julienned* salt and pepper*

1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, julienned*

1/4 tsp. each dried basil, marjoram, and rosemary*

1 (16 oz.) package of spiral pasta* 2 cups of half-and-half*

1 Tbsp. butter or margarine* 2 cups of shredded Mexican cheese blend or cheddar cheese.

Makes 6-8 servings

(We accidentally didn't have any boneless skinless chicken breasts so we used boneless skinless chicken thighs instead, and it came out just as good)

In a large skillet, over medium heat, saute onion and garlic in 3 tablespoons oil until onion is tender. Add squashes and cook until tender. Season with salt and pepper. Remove from heat and keep warm. (we used a bowl to put the vegetables in until we were ready for them) Add remaining oil to skillet; cook chicken with herbs until juices run clear. While chicken is cooking, prepare pasta according to package directions. Sauce is prepared by combining half-and-half and butter in saucepan until butter melts. Then add chess, stirring until cheese is melted. Place drained cooked pasta on a platter. Cover with cheese sauce. top with chicken and squash and serve. :)

***

Other things I've been doing besides cooking are...
Planning on planting a garden this spring with my sister! I'm excited about that but still not sure on what herbs to do though...anyone have advice for novice gardeners??
Beginning to study politics (Leviathan by Hobbes and The Prince by Machiavelli) and its not as bad as i thought it would be...surprising!
And the biggest accomplishment of the week is that I've (drum roll) finally gotten my sister, Maddy, to like Opera music! Yay!