Adventures in Anti-inflammatory/hypoallergenic diets!

I realize that it has been well over a year since I last contributed to this blog, and not from a lack of any health or nutrition topics I could discuss.  Life's just been plain crazy!  So what is pulling me to suddenly write a random blog post, you ask?

My daughter's eczema.

It showed up about this time last year and has gotten worse and worse.  No amount of natural or medicated creams or lotions seems to help and though I have considered going to an allergist to figure out her issues, the wait to get an appointment would be months out and I have a hunch that the culprit may be one of the following: wheat, dairy, eggs, or peanuts (all amazing and delicious foods).  So, as much as I don't want to do this to her, why not just eliminate these foods from her diet and see if there is an improvement?

I was considering going on an anti-inflammatory diet anyway to see if I can regain some pep and get rid of some pain.  (An anti-inflammatory diet consists of a lot of beans, rice, fruits, and vegetables and no dairy, sugar, or gluten.  Though these are wonderful, nutritious foods they can feed a state of inflammation in the body if it's already brewing, so staying away from these foods for a time can help decrease inflammation in the body and allow for better healing) 


So to hopefully rid my daughter of her constant itchiness and bleeding/scabbed skin and to improve my health, we are going forward.

This is not easy for me.  I live off of bread and dairy products and I really love homemade cookies and fudge brownies.   However, the hardest part about going forward with this diet is the amount of prep work involved.  This diet is generally a diet of few (if any) processed foods, which means that I need to carefully prepare meals and snacks when PBJ's, pretzels, and cheese sticks have been the norm.  I usually wouldn't mind all the prep work, but I am a full-time working mother of two active little girls and I the thought has continued to circulate in my head: "I just don't have the time for this!"  Needless to say, I've been dragging my feet for the past month or two.......

....but after slowly gathering a meal and grocery plan, I've actually come up with quite a few delicious meals and snacks that will hopefully still be appealing to my daughter and won't leave my taste-buds crying for flavor from a bland diet of rice and beans.  It has involved a lot of research and recipe searching, but I think this will be very doable!

As I was preparing tomorrow's meals this afternoon, the thought came to me:  how many other people out there have thought about going on an anti-inflammatory diet to help improve their health or have thought of putting their child on a restrictive diet for similar reasons or to reduce allergies but have thought that it would be too much work or didn't know where to start or just thought there was no way they could give up good food?

Perhaps I need to revive this little blog and include some tips and recipes that others would find useful?

Just a thought.

And hopefully between my work days, my mommy days, and my quest to find a regular exercise routine, you'll be seeing me back on here soon....... :)

100% Whole Wheat Bread

After being gluten-free for four months now and feeling much better, I am trying to slowly start adding gluten back into my diet.  And what better way to start than with baking some 100% whole wheat bread??  

My mother taught me the fine art of bread baking when I was 10 years old, and I say art because it IS an art form!  If you've never baked bread before or have only tried a handful of times, it takes a lot of practice to get the "feel" for baking a perfect loaf of bread.  And I am a fan of homemade bread!  Not only is it yummier and super cheap, but without added preservatives and high fructose corn syrup, it is also much healthier than store-bought bread.  It is especially healthy if you use 100% whole wheat.  Remember, I am a big advocate of wheat as a health food.  Luckily it is also really tasty. (Just imagine how hard it was for me to go without for months!) 

So, I thought I'd share my recipe in case anyone out there is looking for a yummy whole wheat bread recipe......

4 c. warm water

2 Tbsp yeast

2/3 c. sugar (or you can use 2/3 c. honey--very yummy!)

1/3 c. extra virgin olive oil

4 tsp salt

8-10 c. whole wheat flour (this will all depend on altitude and humidity, so use as much as you need to make a firm but soft dough)

1. Combine first 4 ingredients in a large bowl and let sit 5-10 minutes or until yeast foams.

2. Mix in salt and slowly add wheat flour.  Mix for 5 minutes, adding enough flour until dough is no longer falling and sticking to sides of bowl.  (FYI: Although I use a super-old, super-awesome Kitchen Aid, you don't have to have a mixer to make bread! In college I didn't have a mixer so I used a little hand mixer to add half of the wheat flour, and then I added the rest of the flour in and hand-kneaded the dough.  The bread still came out awesome.)

3. Grease sides of large bowl with dough inside, cover, and let rise for one hour.

4. Knead dough for a few minutes on a floured surface and divide and form into loaves (Makes about 3 medium-sized loaves.)

5. Place loaves in greased bread pans, cover, and let rise for 40 minutes.

6. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until tops and sides of loaves are golden brown.

Jicama Salad

In my continued search for some yummy, gluten-free recipes, I came upon this yummy salad recipe and we had it tonight with marinated Mahi-Mahi and coconut rice.  Yum!  So I thought I would share....

Jicama Salad 

1/2 large jicama, peeled and cubed

1/2 red pepper, diced

1/2 yellow pepper, diced

1/2 orange pepper, diced

1 large cucumber, seeded and chopped
1/2 c. diced red onion
2 oranges, peel cut away and cut into small wedges
1/2 c. finely-chopped cilantro
1/3 c. fresh lime juice
2 T. olive oil
Pinch of cayenne pepper
Pinch of paprika
Salt to taste


Toss ingredients together and chill for several hours before serving.

Healthy Eats: Gypsy Stew

So the verdict is in: my small intestine biopsies have come back positive for gluten sensitivity.  Rats!  I can't emphasize what a bummer this is for me, seeing as I am a honey whole wheat bread fanatic and I LOVE to bake.  I am so much a better at baking than I am at cooking.  I have been experimenting with brown rice flour, but to be honest, it just is NOT the same as wheat: bread is not the same, pancakes aren't the same, muffins aren't the same.  *Sigh*

On the up-side of things,  I have really been picking up a few new recipes and dishes that don't require any gluten or flour or baking, and they are quite scrumptious.  So I thought I'd share, since I hope I'm not the only one who is starting out on this (painful) gluten-free journey.  (I do hope to someday start slowly adding gluten back into my diet, but we'll see....).

Here's recipe #1.  I mentioned the benefits of cinnamon in stabilizing blood sugar, so here's a savory, hearty, very healthy recipe that uses cinnamon.  I'll be honest: it's a different recipe, but in a yummy-yum kind of way. :)  Hope you enjoy!

Gypsy Stew

1 can garbanzo beans
1 can black beans
1 can kidney beans
1 can stewed tomatoes
1 1/2 c. frozen spinach
2 chicken breasts, cut and cubed
2 cans chicken broth
1 c. water
2 sweet potatoes, cubed
1 onion, chopped
1 yellow bell pepper
1 package frozen spinach, about 10-16 oz
2 tsp paprika
2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp dried basil
8 dashes cayenne pepper
8 grinds fresh ground pepper

Add all ingredients in a crock pot and cook on low for 6-8 hours (6 hours leaves the sweet potatoes soft, but still firm; 8 hours makes them a little mushy in my opinion).