I am finally starting to feel like I am getting the hang of this now. The stress of not being able to eat “food” and the uneasiness about how to cook my favorite foods are gone. I have found some great products that have been awesome substitutes. I don’t know what I would do without the versatility of the coconut.
I am feeling confident and can definitley feel a decrease in inflammation in my body. It has been almost two months since I started to elimate the foods my body is sensitive to and I have discovered that some foods are not as critical as others. A little minced garlic in a dish, or a little soy, like when it says “contains less than 2% of the following ingredients”, not as big a deal as say gluten. I had some leftover pie crust I had made and apple pie filling I canned awhile ago, so I made a pie and topped it with whipped cream. My belly was not happy with me for days. Bad move, hard to say if it was the pie crust or the dairy whipped cream but I learned I don’t want it. 😀
Aside from the pie incident, this week was fantastic and full of great, yummy dishes that did not make me writhe in pain.
Crockpot Ham, Green Beans and Potatoes by 99 Easy Recipes. I had some leftover ham from Thanksgiving that I used for this one. And to add more flavor, I used Vegetable broth instead of water. Just a super easy dinner to make.
Barbacoa Beef Tacos by Cooking Classy. These turned out soo good. They had so much flavor. Kept pretty simple with just cheddar cheese, shredded cabbage, cilantro, lettuce, coconut sour cream and Cholula.
Kielbasa, Pepper, Onion and Potato Hash by The Two Bite Club. For this one I used beef kielbasa, a poblano pepper instead of green bell, and a carrot instead of the sweet bell. This was another very good dish that is perfect for those nights you don’t have time to cook an elaborate meal.
Grilled New York Steak with Roasted Green Beans and Mushrooms by Skinny Ms. The steak is just seasoned with salt and pepper and grilled on the Traeger. As you can see, I made the beans and mushrooms separated, regular on the left and my version on the right in the foil. I left out the garlic and instead of soy sauce I used coconut aminos. Aminos is a good substitute but nothing can replace soy sauce! 😁 Both versions were very good.
Healthy Brocolli Potato Soup by This Healthy Kitchen. A very nice, comfy, cold day soup. It’s thick like a good potato soup should be. I used a regular yellow onion instead of purple. I used a couple cups of cheddar cheese instead of nutritional yeast, I added this at the very end before serving. I used coconut milk for the milk. My blender is a POS, so I had to add the milk while I was blending to get it to actually work. It still ended up great though.
Chocolate Chickpea Brownies by Erin Lives Whole. Now I know that normally the words chickpea and Brownies don’t go together but these are a game changer. They are so fudgy, and you don’t taste the beans, I promise. The perfect chocolate treat, huge winner! I used Natural Peanut Butter for the nut butter and instead of almond flour I used Bob’s Red Mill GF 1-1 Baking Flour.
Beef Tips and Gravy by Healthy Little Peach. I made the Crockpot version for this one and it was very good. The meat was just pull apart tender and the gravy was so flavorful. I used Country Crock Plant Butter with Avocado Oil for the Ghee and I used cornstarch to thicken at the end instead of tapioca flour. I had some left over mashed potatoes in the freezer that I thawed to use for this dish.
I buy my potatoes at Costco because it is so much cheaper than the grocery store but the two of us rarely go through that many before they start to get soft. Once that happens we just make a huge batch of mashed potatoes, portion them out, and freeze them. This is a great way to avoid food waste and it provides you with “instant” mashed potatoes without the processed box food chemicals and preservatives. When you thaw them out they will be liquidy, just dump into a pot and heat them on the stove until all the excess moisture is gone.
Now to highlight some awesome finds.
1st – Country Crock Plant Butter with Avocado Oil. These are sticks of “butter” that work great for cooking with. It does say “May Contain Soy” but the active ingredients are not so I wanted to give it try. I don’t feel there is much danger on this one for me but be mindful if you have an allergy to it. I found this at my local grocery store, Super One.
2nd – Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1-1 Baking Flour. I found this box of 4 bags on Amazon and it was a killer deal, way cheaper than buying individual bags at the store. This is great for cooking and baking as the mix is already set up. No more having to use conversion tables to figure how much flour, tapioca, and arrowroot to use.
3rd – My Coffee essentials. I love yummy coffee because I’m worth it. 😅 so when I couldn’t have my favorite coffee creamers, due to Soy being in everything, I have tried many different things. Some make yourself and some store bought. These are some good ones I am currently using. Torani Salted Carmel syrup and Dark Chocolate Sauce are great together or by themselves. Instead of making a whole pre-made jar of creamer, I just pour a little in each cup. This way I can control just how much I want each time. I might be in the mood for sweeter or an after dinner coffee that I want less sweet. Laird Superfood Creamer, I found this powdered coconut creamer at Costco and wanted to try it out. It takes a minute to melt and has a coconutty flavor but it is creamy. It claims to give you an energy boost but I can’t say I have noticed. I love Califia Oat Barista Blend. This is the closest I have come to my old creamer days. Definitely a favorite for me right now.
4th – This my friends is the best thing I have found yet! So Delicious Dairy Free Coconut Milk Holiday Nog. Mind Blowing! Egg Nog was a favorite of mine. I looked forward to the holiday season all year for the wonderful, seasonal, Egg Nog to be released. I would make all kinds of drinks with it, just plain, Egg Nog Latte, Hot Egg Nog with Whiskey, and the list goes on. So, when eggs and Dairy were taken off the table I was pretty distraught but not anymore! I was skeptical when I saw it but had to give it try. I will repeat, mind blown! Who knew that coconut milk could taste so good?! Let me tell you, I am so thankful for coconut.
