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Gluten-Free Recipes

9/15/2015

I just got back from doing a workshop on living gluten-free. I have so much fun sharing with people the idea that gluten-free can be yummy!

Chances are you, like me, were raised on a diet that included a lot of wheat—bread, pasta, crackers, cereal, pizza, cookies, pie, etc. etc. It’s pretty normal to eat this way. These days many people are finding that avoiding gluten makes them feel better. For me, when I eat wheat I get snotty and my face looks like someone beat me up. For others, gluten causes belly ache and other unpleasant gastric disturbances.

There are two approaches to going gluten free. The first is to look for substitutions for the foods we are used to, and the second is to focus on the naturally gluten free things that are out there. I tend to stay away from packaged gluten-free products because in order to replace the gluten they often have lots of unnatural ingredients, like xanthum gum and soy flour.

Today, I want to share a few of my favorite gluten-free recipes with you.

Zoodles: Zucchini makes a great spaghetti substitute. And it has the bonus of being an extra vegetable in your dinner. Zucchini can be grated with an ordinary grater, or spiralized with a special machine. The trick is to only cook them for about 30 seconds, or they get soggy. Here’s my recipe for zucchini noodles and dairy-free alfredo sauce.

And a couple of my favorite sweeter, similar to flour-based recipes:
Banana bread coffee cake

Molasses Cookies I always make these when I do gluten-free classes because there is nothing second-class or inferior about them.

Upcoming Events September & October 2015

8/31/2015

*Tuesday, September 15, 6:30—8pm. ”Gluten Free and Paleo: what does it mean and should you be doing it?” workshop at the Esopus Library, 128 Canal St. Port Ewen, NY http://esopuslibrary.org/calendar/ This is a free event and open to the public.

* Saturday, October 3—Slow Food Hudson Valley Harvest Celebration Feast. Cook and eat together at St. Gregory’s Episcopal Church, 2578 Route 212, Woodstock, NY. Pre-registration required. I’ll post a link as soon as it’s live.

rue Montorgueil

6/30/2015

I arrived in Paris last week. I deliberately chose an apartment in a neighborhood known for its food. An historical marker notes, “Mecca of gastronomy and alimentary commerce since the thirteenth century… known especially for oysters. Since 1794 the restaurant "Au rocher de Cancale" has been celebrated for its seafood, immortalized in the "Comedie Humaine" and frequented by Balzac, Alexandre Dumas, Theophile Gautier, Eugene Sue.” (My translation)

This street includes the oldest patisserie in the city. Their website explains, “In the year of grace 1725, Louis XV married Marie Leszczynska, daughter of King Stanislas of Poland. His pastry chef Stohrer follows her to Versailles. Five years later, in 1730, Nicolas Stohrer opened his bakery at 51 rue Montorgueil in the second arrondissement of Paris. In its kitchen, where desserts were invented for the Great Court, king’s delights are still prepared.”

The street also includes several cheese shops, a fruit stand that people were willing to stand in line at on a Sunday morning, and of course, many sidewalk cafes.

As soon as we dropped our suitcases, we headed out to have brunch – coffee, baguettes, ham and cheese omelets. And to watch the people, of course.

Some people come to Paris for the art or the fashion or the romance. I come for the food, but not just the sensual pleasure of eating; I get a special kind of thrill from connecting with foodways that have been operating continuously for so long.

For one thing, traditionally prepared food doesn’t have a lot of added chemicals, coloring, or preservatives. Even the white flour, white sugar creations at the patisserie don’t have dough conditioners and guar gum. The food is mostly made by hand. These are not empty calories. It is dense in nutrients (even the patisserie uses real fruit, eggs, and cream) but also something deeper.

People in this street care about where their food comes from, how it’s prepared, and how it’s eaten.  Food here is not something to be hurried over or eaten standing up.  People who uphold these traditions understand that food nourishes more than our bodies. Food is also a connection to a place - there's a lot of mention of terroir, the unique properties imbued in a product by the territory where it is grown or produced. It's a connection in time - to this moment and these people we are enjoying it with but also to all the people who have created this tradition over time.

And ultimately, for me at least, a meal which includes being mindful of its history and taken joyfully in the moment nourishes my soul.

This piece was originally published on June 21, 2015 at http://www.holisticperformancegroup.com/blog/rue-montorgueil

Letting Go of Carbs

4/30/2015

Does the idea of letting go of carbs fill you with fear? One of the most common objections to a healthy diet that I hear is “I (or my spouse) could never give up bread/pizza/pasta/
dessert/fill in your favorite carb here.”

It’s not surprising that we put so much emphasis on carbs in our culture. First of all, they can be very tasty ;) Secondly, they’re filling, and for many of us finding cheap ways to fill the belly is a priority. Thirdly, we have been told for many years to make whole grains the basis of our diet.

In fact, grains are among the hardest foods to digest. Unless they are properly prepared they tear up the gut leading to pain, toxicity, and misery.

And I get that real food seems more expensive at first. But really, if you compare what you are getting in your boxed or frozen food to what you could make yourself for the same amount you might be surprised.

The best news of all is that you don’t have to give up any tastiness at all when you start replacing some of your high carb favorites with lower carb options. My website has many low carb, super yummy recipes, including lots of desserts.

My emphasis is on maximizing taste and feeling satisfied so you don’t miss anything. Truly nourishing your body also does away with cravings.

Am I saying you should go full Atkins? Not at all! Carbs are a necessary and important part of a balanced diet. But balance for most of us means reducing our carb intake quite a bit.

So, if you’re going to have sweet potato fries with your burger, skip the bun. Replace mashed potatoes with mashed cauliflower—really mashed anything is just a vehicle for butter, right? Zucchinis make great spaghetti noodles. Etc. Etc. Etc. This world has so much deliciousness there’s really no need to ever eat the bad stuff.

My suggestion is to start trying a few of these substitutions. See how you feel. My clients have lost weight and gained energy, experienced fewer headaches and tummy aches. One Type 2 diabetic was able to almost completely get off of insulin, and a Type 1 was able to significantly reduce A1C.

Would you like to feel better but need some support to get there? Let’s schedule a breakthrough session to talk about what we can achieve together.

The Gift of a Day in the Kitchen Together

3/31/2015

I had the extraordinary pleasure of spending a “Get it Done Day” with a client yesterday. We started around the kitchen table talking about her health concerns and some possible diet choices that would support her goals. Then we went to the grocery store and explored ways to make healthier choices there. And we cooked together.

What a gift! To see someone lighting up because their fear and confusion around healthy eating has been addressed. To realize that eating healthy can not only be easy but delicious. To see them beaming with confidence and excited about shopping for and preparing meals for their family.

While we were talking her husband wandered in and out. At first, he was inclined to be skeptical. I sorta got the impression that he thought diets are women’s things. But as he overheard us talking about the health benefits of bacon (see more about healthy fats here) he saw that maybe he could be on board with this too.

Then her parents stopped by and asked which probiotic they should be taking. I had brought samples of the brand I use (which you can buy here). I gave a week’s worth to her father.

It was busy in her kitchen :)

I love eating good food. I love shopping when I get to connect with the farmers and the source of my nourishment. I love cooking, mixing flavors, inventing new dishes, anticipating giving pleasure to the people who will eat with me. I love creating an atmosphere that is calm and relaxing and feeds the soul as well as the body.

And I feel so very blessed when I get to support others on the journey of discovering just how yummy healthy can be.

Are you ready to give yourself a day of getting those pesky health and lifestyle challenges handled? From weeknight meals, to boosting your immune system, to healing a recurring health condition that your doctors don't know what to do about, we can get it done. Just reply to this email and let me know what’s on your mind.

When I get to help someone feel hope and light and joy and excitement about something which has been scary and difficult, that’s just about the best thing I know.

Feeling Deprived?

2/28/2015

For most of my adult life I have been on some kind of restricted diet. As I’ve gotten older and various health problems have reared up, I have tried a few different healing diets. This Lent I am following the Auto Immune Protocol (AIP), an elimination diet designed to heal the gut and reduce inflammation.

A word on using Lent as a container: A few years ago I wanted to deepen my spiritual practice, and I had a something that I wanted to try but I was finding myself resistant. It was early February and a friend suggested that I try it for Lent. It’s about 6 weeks long, a manageable amount of time. My friend explained that her understanding of Lent is not that we have to give something up, but that we use it to discover what might be standing in the way of our relationship with our Higher Power.

So, that first time, my practice was to “keep the Sabbath.” I made my own rules as to what that meant. I was feeling really stressed because I was always too busy, so my first rule was no clocks and no appointments. I also sought out opportunities that felt like they connected me with the Universe. I often had friends over for dinner. Several times I scrubbed the shower in a mindful meditative, Zen kinda way.

Doing this practice for 6 weeks made a profound change in my life. This Lent I am following this healing diet. It is my hope that I will heal some ongoing health issues – fibromyalgia, migraines, and food sensitivities. The diet is fairly limited. It attempts to eliminate all allergens, so no grains, dairy, nuts, seeds (including chocolate and coffee), legumes, eggs, or nightshades (tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, and eggplants). I have been largely grain-free for years; the hardest part for me has been giving up butter and eggs.

OMG, what’s left?! Meat, veggies, fruit and some fats. There are a lot of ways to combine those that are delicious and don’t leave anyone feeling deprived. This is the point that I want to make: any time we voluntarily restrict our diet, whether to lose weight, for ethical reasons, or for overall health, we can either focus on everything we are denying ourselves or we can focus on the deliciousness of what is available.

I have actually been practicing this for a while. For a holiday meal in December I served roast beef, roasted beets and onions with a butter-maple syrup sauce, brussel sprouts roasted with bacon, and chocolate truffles with fresh berries for dessert. I don’t think anyone noticed that there was no bread, grains of any kind, or dairy. It was a sumptuous satisfying meal.

In the last week, I’ve eaten sausage with onions and kale, orange coconut pannacotta, hamburgers with sweet potato fries, baked pumpkin and apples, spaghetti squash with bolognese sauce, pumpkin orange pancakes, and much more. For me, creating meals like this is a great adventure. I have not felt deprived at all.

Last night I was traveling. We decided to eat at a Mexican restaurant. Everything on the menu had something that is not included on my current diet – corn, rice, cheese, tomatoes, peppers. I finally decided to order fajitas so that I could pick and choose what I needed. I ended up with a nice meal of shrimp, guacamole, and grilled onions.

For a few minutes I was outside of my comfort zone. I started to feel like I’m a freak and it’s not worth it. Once I actually got my meal I remembered that I am not deprived. I am choosing to forego some foods so that I can improve my physical and mental health. The world is full of amazing delicious choices and when I focus on abundance instead of lack, life feels really good.

If you would like help focusing on gratitude for what’s possible instead of resentment for what’s missing, click here to schedule a free breakthrough session.

Getting Started

1/31/2015

Every time I give a talk on Eating for Stress Relief or Living Gluten Free I see some faces in the audience looking at me like, “How can I possibly implement these suggestions you are making?! I can barely put food on the table now.” I get it. Nutrition can be massively overwhelming!

I’ve spent years studying nutrition and coaching. This is my passion – helping people to find a better life by improving their relationship with food. Sometimes I forget how long it’s taken me to find the combination of foods and other self-care that feeds my body, mind, and spirit best. And I’m still working on it. I’m always tweaking. Sometimes I find something is no longer working for me and so I have to let that go and try something else. It’s a constant process of experimentation to find what truly makes my life feel yummy.

One of the most important lessons I’ve learned is that it’s ok to make mistakes. You gather information, then make your best guess as to what’s going to work. You commit to something and do it as well as you can. Then you assess whether it worked, and decide whether you want to keep doing it, need to adjust anything, or need to dump the idea all together.

Nutrition can be like this too. In my talks I recommend that people try to eat foods in as close to its natural state as possible. It’s usually at around this point that people’s eyes start to glaze over. “But everything has something objectionable in it! How can I possibly be the nutritional saint you are suggesting?” I can hear them objecting.

I suggest striving for progress not perfection. Start small. Pick one change you’d like to make. Set achievable goals so you can mark some progress. Like maybe you want to give up sugar but that just seems completely un-doable. Could you give up one aspect of your sugar intake? Could you switch from lots of sugar in your coffee to whipping cream instead. For one week. Does that sound doable? At the end of the week you can ask whether you feel better, whether you want to keep trying it, or try something else instead. Or maybe you can incorporate one of the recipes on our website into one of your meals, and see how delicious healthy can be.

As cliché as it is, all journeys start with one step. What tiny baby step would you like to get started on today?

Happy New Year

1/2/2015

Do you feel like you have to recover from the holidays? I have to admit I over indulged in sugar over the last couple of weeks. And I learned something! SUGAR DEPLETES ENERGY. There was one day the week before Christmas that I was at my office. I had been running around so I didn’t make time to bring lunch and the break room was filled with sugary treats. That’s all I ate the whole day. At the end of the day, I was completely exhausted in a way that I rarely am any more. I have been following a real food, low sugar lifestyle for so long, that I really noticed the difference in my energy level when I ate non-food all day.

So, what’s my solution? Back to basics—lots of bone broth based soups, lots of butter and coconut oil, lots of green veggies, seafood and probiotics. I’m healing my gut and nourishing myself. It’s been nice too to have extra days off to allow extra time for rest and relaxation. I do believe that part of why we feel so out of sorts after all the manic energy of the holidays is that at this time of year we are supposed to be resting and quiet, renewing ourselves for the growth to come in spring.

What are you doing to take care of yourself this week? Are you making resolutions for more yumminess, both in the kitchen and in your life as a whole? If so, I can support you in those goals. Just hit reply to schedule a free breakthrough session with me in January.

I got some new “pasta” bowls for Christmas. I was so excited to use them to serve Mussels in garlic lemon broth.

Menu Planning (or not)

11/30/2014

I am not much of a menu planner. I’ve tried to be one of those people who sit down once a week and plan all of their meals for the week and then go to the grocery store and buy everything at once. I’ve even tried buying menu plans. But it just doesn’t work for me. Inevitably, something comes up that disrupts the schedule and then everything is off for the rest of the week any way.

There are two schools of thought on menu planning as a tool to make providing your family with the best possible nutrition and within a budget. One says that by buying only what you need, you can save money and by planning you can save time. If this appeals to you, there are tons of resources available on the internet now where you can purchase meal plans with grocery lists that make it very easy.

But, I like to shop almost daily, to buy what’s fresh, local, and appeals to me on any given day. One can save money in this way too, by buying things which are cheap because they’re in season or on sale.

I especially like to shop at farmers markets and small independent shops. This kind of shopping makes me happy. Getting to talk to vendors who truly care about their product and want to share their passion with others is the beginning of a great meal for me. I love sampling things, trying different flavors, and getting new ideas. I find a sense of community and a closer connection with the source of my food. Eating is one of the primary ways we interact with the world. I want my nourishment to be holistic - a full body, mind and spirit experience.

The other thing that I’ve found is that I am at my most creative when I don’t plan ahead. I do my best work in the kitchen when I start out thinking there’s nothing in the fridge. I have a look and realize I’ve got a bit of this and a bit of that, and I start throwing them together and something new and different comes about. That’s how I came up with this recipe for roasted onions and beets—which is freaking amazing (and I am usually not that fond of beets).

So, I invite you to explore your creativity, to allow yourself to experiment. Think about what flavors you like when you go to a restaurant. What textures, what spices make you smile? Buy things that look pretty. Or ask you vendor what they recommend. Start combining things and see what you get. If you get something you really like, would you post the recipe on the Stock and Pickle facebook page? Then we can all share in your good taste!

Gelatin the Superfood

9/30/2014

This is another of my favorite topics. The word superfood gets used a lot. I admit to using it myself now and then ;) But gelatin surely seems to go beyond normal nutrition into the super realm.

Gelatin is made from boiling animal bones and other leftover bits. It’s one of those traditional foods that just makes sense when you think about it. By boiling the bits we can’t eat, we get all of the benefits out of them—collagen, protein, minerals. And it’s frugal. You’ve heard of cultures that use every part of the pig except the squeal? A lot of that goes into the stock, which produces the gelatin.

There are two main ways to use gelatin. Either as a bone stock, which retains the flavor of the meat, or as a flavorless powder, which is what we use to make Jello and many other delicious desserts.

I recommend Great Lakes brand when you need powdered gelatin. It’s the best brand of 100 percent grass-fed gelatin. It’s available directly from Great Lakes, or from Amazon. For most recipes, you want the one in the red can. The green can, Collagen Hydrolysate doesn’t gel, and so it can actually be better for adding to smoothies and juice. Unfortunately, the Knox gelatin that we grew up with and that is available in every grocery store is made from diseased, hormone-laden, factory farmed cows. You don’t need to put more of that in your body. Also unfortunately, vegetarian gelling agents, like chia, flax, and agar, while they do have some health benefits of their own, they do not have the same healing properties as animal gelatin.

Gelatin can be a base for both savory and sweet dishes. I use powdered gelatin as a thickener in my sauces instead of flour or corn starch. You have to mix the powder with a bit of liquid, stir well and let sit for a few minutes to allow it to absorb some of the liquid and begin to gel. Then add it to your soup, stew, or sauce. You can also use liquid bone stock as the base for many sauces by boiling it down and creating a reduction. The flavor is amazingly rich. You can also drink bone broth straight up with some sea salt. This is real bouillon; never use the MSG crap cubes from the store. This is one of the things I love best about real food—decadent flavor which contributes to health!

The benefits of including gelatin in your daily menu planning are almost endless:

Gelatin soothes and heals the lining of the intestine. It boosts the immune system and helps immensely with digestive problems like leaky gut and Irritable Bowel Syndrome. By sealing the gut, it can also help alleviate allergies by keeping pathogens out of the body.
Because one of the primary components of gelatin is collagen, it’s also strengthens hair, bones, nails and skin. It can reduce wrinkles and make skin more elastic and resilient to environmental damage. Collagen is a large molecule that is not readily absorbed through the skin, so you'll get much more anti-aging from eating gelatin than expensive wrinkle creams.
It is anti-inflammatory, and helps heal joints, arthritis, and osteoporosis.
It is a source of protein, containing amino acids that are not common in meat proteins. One of these amino acids, glycine, has been shown to help with sleep problems, and it helps heal wounds.
It can help balance hormones, by reducing excess estrogen.
Helps boost metabolism and regulates insulin sensitivity, and can aid in weight loss.

So, it turns out that chicken soup and jello are in fact just about the most healing thing you can and should give to a person who is sick. Mom was right!