Real Life Eating

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Archive for the month “February, 2012”

22 Feb 2012

Pancakes – Feingold Diet Stage 1 Recipe

I bought myself some kitchen items from Amazon to help make all this cooking easier. One of the items I picked up was a Presto Griddle. It is a nice big griddle that can make 9 pancakes at once! We are a small family, so we don’t need too many pancakes, but I wanted to be able to make pancakes and freeze them, so I thought this would make my life easier. I tried it out this morning and it worked beautifully. I adapted this recipe from All Recipes. It’s a double batch, perfect for freezing.

Pancakes
3 c. Milk
6 Tbsp. Butter, Melted
3 c. Flour
2 Tbsp. + 1 tsp. Baking Powder
2 tsp. Salt
2 Tbsp. Sugar
2 Eggs

Warm milk to about room temperature. Add melted butter to milk and set aside. In a large bowl sift dry ingredients together. Make a well in the dry ingredients and add the eggs and wet ingredients. Mix well. Be sure to scrape the sides. Ladle about 1/4 cup of batter onto pan or griddle and smooth out. Brown on both sides and serve piping hot to the patiently waiting family. If you want to freeze the pancakes, lay in one layer on a cookie sheet and place in freezer. Once frozen, remove and store in large Ziploc bag.

Happy eating!
Rachel

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22 Feb 2012

Butter Maple Syrup – Feingold Diet Stage 1 Recipe

I have a confession to make. I hate maple syrup. I live in the maple syrup capital of the world and I hate maple syrup. Yes, it’s true. It’s just way too sweet for me. I have never liked it. Now that we are doing Feingold though, maple syrup is the easiest syrup for us to use. Today I wanted to enjoy the pancakes I was making, so I decided to try something to make the maple syrup tolerable for me. This actually worked really well, and I really enjoyed eating it on my pancakes.

Butter Maple Syrup
2 Tbsp. Butter
1 c. Maple Syrup

Combine the butter and maple syrup in a small saucepan until butter is melted and they are combined well.

Happy eating!
Rachel

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22 Feb 2012
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Brownies – Feingold Diet Stage 1 Recipe

We picked up some chocolate chips a while back and I decided that I wanted to make brownies with them. I haven’t had brownies in quite some time, so I was excited to be able to give them a try. I have adapted this recipe from one found at PublicRadio.org.

Brownies
16 Tbsp. Butter
8 oz. Chocolate Chips
4 Large Eggs
1/2 tsp. Salt
1 c. Granulated Sugar
1 c. Brown Sugar, Firmly Packed
2 tsp. Vanilla Extract
1 c. Flour

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 13×9 pan and set aside. Use a double boiler to melt chocolate and butter together, stir occasionally. If you do not have a double boiler you can use a small saucepan with an inch of water and a metal bowl placed on top. Boil the water first, then turn off heat and place bowl on top. In a separate medium bowl whisk eggs and then add in salt, white sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla. Whisk well until fully combined. Add chocolate and butter mixture and combine well. Fold in flour, being sure to scrape sides. Once everything is well mixed, pour batter into greased pan and bake in oven for 45 minutes or until the top becomes glossy and the brownies have firmed up.

Happy eating!
Rachel

Posted in Dessert Recipes, Stage 1 Recipes and tagged , , , , , , ,
16 Feb 2012

Garlic Broccoli – Feingold Diet Stage 1 Recipe

My husband requested broccoli with our chicken tonight, so I found a recipe online for garlic broccoli. I have made this before quite some time ago, but I never had a really good recipe for it. This one is for sure a keeper!! It was adapted from Sweet Nicks.

Garlic Broccoli
3 Tbsp. Oil
3 Heads of Broccoli
1/2 c. Water
3 Garlic Cloves, Diced
Salt to Taste

Cut broccoli into individual heads. Slice each smaller head in half. In a large skillet, heat 2 Tbsp. of oil. Lay broccoli heads cut side down in the oil. Cook, covered, on medium heat for 6 minutes until bottoms are nice and caramelized. Stir the broccoli, and add water to the pan, cover. Steam for an additional 7 minutes until soft and water is evaporated. Add last tablespoon of oil and garlic to the pan. Cook for 3 more minutes until garlic is a lovely caramel color. Season with salt and serve to your patiently waiting family.

Happy eating!
Rachel

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16 Feb 2012

Sugar Cookies – Feingold Diet Stage 1 Recipe

I was in the mood today for some type of cookie. I have had a few different recipes for sugar cookies pinned on Pinterest for a while now, so I decided to give one of those a whirl. I was happy to find that I had all the ingredients on hand, which made this a nice quick and easy project. I adapted this recipe from one posted by Lauren’s Latest.

Sugar Cookies
1/2 c. Butter, Soft
1 c. Sugar
1 Egg
1 tsp. Vanilla
1/4 tsp. Baking Powder
1/8 tsp. Baking Soda
1/4 tsp. Salt
1 c. + 2 Tbsp. Flour

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium size bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. In a large bowl, use an electric mixer or whisk to combine the butter and sugar. Mix until the combination softens up slightly. Add the egg and vanilla to the bowl and beat together well. Be sure to scrape the sides of the bowl as you go to ensure everything gets in there. Once combined, add the dry ingredients and mix until fully integrated. Evenly space small dollops of cookie mix onto an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes. The middle will seem slightly underdone, but it will firm up as it cools and will be a lovely, oh so yummy soft cookie. If you prefer a more stiff cookie, bake for 12 minutes.

Happy eating!
Rachel

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16 Feb 2012

How to Explain the Feingold Diet

Recently a topic came up on the forums I follow with Feingold about how we would explain this diet to our kids. I think it’s very important that however you do it, you do take the time to explain the changes. It would be easy to just change their food, and not really tell them why, but if they don’t have ownership of this diet, then when they are out of your sight, they will unknowingly eat something they shouldn’t. For this reason, it’s also important that this diet not be explained just as a healthier lifestyle. This is not reason enough for other adults to not offer your kids a bright red lollipop when you aren’t looking. In fact, that reason may cause this to happen more often than you would think as well meaning adults will perceive your child as “deprived” and will try to give them (the worst kind of) treats on the sly.

When it came time to explain what we were doing to my son, I just explained it as an allergy (which it mostly is, though some would call it a sensitivity). I explained that lots of people have allergies, like he used to be allergic to oranges and couldn’t eat them, and some kids are allergic to nuts. I explained that his reaction is to act loud and crazy. The wonderful thing was as we did the diet longer he could see the difference in himself (especially when we had a slip up!), which made the allergy explanation easier. We do talk about what dyes are made out of etc… and how that is not healthy, but I chose to form the basis of the diet around the allergy because I wanted to be sure he knew that not only were these foods bad for him, but they caused a reaction in him.

An allergy is a much easier thing to explain to outsiders since people are familiar with nut allergies. Others are much less likely to offer my kid a snack on the sly if they perceive this as an allergy, as most people are familiar with the different reactions people can have. Explaining the diet as an allergy also prevents people from feeling like you are attacking the way they eat when you talk about the diet. Yes, those dyes and preservatives are crud, and no one should eat them whether they have a sensitivity to them or not, but it’s not our job to pass judgement on everyone we meet. I don’t need Bobby’s mom to think I am some health nut and when my son comes to play, I am thinking she only has junk food in her house, so not my son isn’t invited to play anymore. All I need is to make sure that Bobby’s mom doesn’t give my son any of that junk food in her house. An allergy explanation seems to be the shortest way to get from point A to point B for my purposes. It’s the easiest for my son to own, and it’s the easiest for other adults to understand, seems like a win-win to me!

Happy eating!
Rachel

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12 Feb 2012

Pizza Dough – Feingold Diet Stage 1 Recipe

This is a great pizza dough. I have used it twice now, and it has not disappointed. I adapted a recipe I found on Full Bellies, Happy Kids to work in the bread maker. If you don’t have a bread maker though, head on over there to see how she makes it without one. This recipe makes two dough balls. One for now, and one for later!

Pizza Dough
1 c. Warm Water
2 tsp. Salt
2 Tbsp. Canola Oil
3 c. Flour
2 1/4 tsp. Active Dry Yeast
1 Tbsp. Honey (or sugar)

Add all items to your bread maker in the order indicated in your manual. Set bread maker to dough setting and let it run. Once it is finished, split dough into two balls. You can freeze this dough for up to 6 months. When you are ready to use a frozen dough, defrost a ball overnight in your fridge. Then take out of fridge 3 hours before cooking. Place in a clean bowl, and set aside to allow to rise slightly again.

Happy eating!
Rachel

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12 Feb 2012

White Pizza – Feingold Diet Stage 1 Recipe

This recipe took me 2 tries to get it right, but now I can tell this will be a keeper for us, even once we can eat tomatoes again. I wasn’t sure that my boys would enjoy this as they usually do not like white pizza, but they couldn’t stop talking about it!! That is a big win for me. This recipe was inspired by a recipe posted at Full Bellies, Happy Kids. As a tip, I used the garlic that comes in the jars so I could also use a bit of the water that is infused with garlic.

White Pizza
1 Ball of Pizza Dough
2 Tbsp. Butter, Melted
1 tsp. Garlic, Minced
1/4 c. Parmesan Cheese, Grated
16 oz. Fresh Mozzarella, Grated
4 Slices Deli Ham, Diced (optional)

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Grease cookie sheet. Spread pizza dough into an 1/8 inch crust on cookie sheet. Bake crust in oven for 10 minutes. Remove crust from stove. Do not try to loosen crust from pan at this point. If it is stuck in some places, it should loosen once the the pizza has completed cooking. Combine melted butter and garlic in a small bowl. Brush butter mixture generously over crust. Sprinkle with Mozzarella, Parmesan cheese, and ham using all of it. Finish baking in oven for 17 minutes or until cheese starts to brown slightly. Remove and allow to cool for 10 minutes before cutting.

Happy eating!
Rachel

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12 Feb 2012

Beef Jerky – Feingold Diet Stage 1 Recipe

Beef jerky is one of my favorite foods, but it is expensive to buy and all those added things in it make it touchy for someone trying to avoid preservatives. So this week I decided to try and make some on my own. I adapted a recipe found at Beef Jerky Recipes. The length of time from start to finish is quite extensive, but most of that time you are not actually touching anything, so it’s truly not that bad. There is a cost savings, probably even better than I got with a cheaper meat, but still it is cheaper. Here is where I hit you with some math:

Cost of a 4 oz bag of Jack Links beef jerky: $5.99 or $1.49/oz.

I bought an angus roast that was on sale. This is probably a more expensive cut, but it wasn’t too bad with the sale price, so I picked it up.

Cost of a 4 lb. roast on sale: $16.25
Cost of ingredients for marinade: $4.50

The total yield of jerky from a 4 lb. roast is 3 lbs 2 oz. (Yes I used a scale to weigh this!).

Total cost of 50 oz. of homemade beef jerky: $20.75 or $0.41/oz.

What a savings!! It costs over 3 times more to buy jerky in the store, and like I said it’s really not that hard to make. You don’t even need a dehydrator to do it. So if you have never attempted this before, give it a try. Just be sure to hide the results or you may find it is all gone before you even get the chance to eat some yourself.

Beef Jerky
4 lb. Beef Roast
4 Garlic Cloves, Minced
1 1/4 c. Soy Sauce
1 c. Honey
1 tsp. Black Pepper
1 tsp. Salt
5 Tbsp. Lemon Juice

Freeze beef for about an hour to stiffen up the roast. This will make it much easier to slice. Mix all other ingredients together in a large bowl. Remove roast from the freezer and slice into thin pieces. Add meat to marinade and allow to soak for 12-24 hours. The longer it soaks, the better the flavor will be. Once your meat is marinaded and you are ready to dehydrate your jerky, pre-heat oven to 175 degrees. If your oven doesn’t go that low, 200 degrees will work as well, just keep an eye on things. Cover your bottom oven rack with aluminum foil, and lay your beef pieces on the top rack (no foil or anything on this rack). If you are cooking a smaller amount of beef, you can also lay the pieces on a cooling rack set inside a cookie sheet. I have found it is best to lift the meat up so it doesn’t end up sitting in it’s own juices. Bake for 3-6 hours depending on how chewy you like your beef. I like mine really chewy, so I was closer to 6 hours, but I checked on it every half hour after the first 3 hours. You want your beef to be able to bend without snapping, otherwise it won’t be enjoyable to eat.

Happy eating!
Rachel

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10 Feb 2012

One Pot Pasta – Feingold Diet Stage 2 Recipe

So we have gotten to the point in our diet where we feel like we can move on to stage 2. Stage 2 is simply adding back in some of the fruits and veggies to see if you have a reaction to those. The first thing we wanted to add back in was tomatoe. Though we have been doing fine without it, being able to eat it would be so much easier. So last night I decided to try a pasta dish with a tomatoe sauce. I chose a sauce that only had tomatoes (no green peppers, no corn syrup) as I wanted to be sure if he had a reaction, we would know it came from the tomatoes. So far today he seems to be the same rambunctious kid as always, no extra anger or impatience, so I think we may be okay with tomatoe! I am going to wait a week or so to try it again, as I do want to be cautious, but it would be so great to be able to add tomatoes back to our diet. With this recipe, sometimes I will add plain diced, canned tomatoes to the sauce as well, but this is the simplest way to make this meal, and the one I used last night.

One Pot Pasta
1 lb. Ground Beef
1 Tbsp. Garlic, Minced
24 oz. Bottle of Spaghetti Sauce
Water
1/2 Box Mini Penne Pasta
Parmesean Cheese

In a large saucepan, brown hamburg and garlic together. Drain fat. Add spaghetti sauce to the pan, and one jar full of water. Mix well, and bring to a boil. Add penne and stir. Lower heat, cover, and simmer for 18 minutes or until pasta is fully cooked. Be sure to stir every so often so pasta doesn’t stick to the bottom. Top with pamesean cheese and enjoy making pasta without getting all your pots and pans dirty!

Happy eating!
Rachel

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