Home

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Overwhelmed by food allergies? Don't know where to start?




I am fortunate to be able to eat most Primal and Paleo foods with no issues (I do have to watch it with the cow's milk dairy) but others are not so lucky.
Some have egg and/or dairy intolerances, some cannot eat any sugars other than simple saccharides without digestive and other issues. Some people are sensitive to nightshades (tomatoes, peppers, spinach, potatoes, eggplant, etc) or to nuts.

So, what do you do when your sensitivities are ganging up on you or you are clueless in the kitchen or can't find the time or inspiration to make interesting meals that work with your limited diet? No need to fear; the Heart of Cooking is here!

Sarah Schatz, a personal chef who specializes in special diets, has come up with an ingenious service: Heart of Cooking, which is a monthly menu subscription service.
You can choose from a wide variety of highly specialized menu plans including a GAPS/Paleo/Elimination diet plan (there is even an egg-free version of said plan!)

If you or anyone you know has serious digestive issues like Celiac, Crohn's Disease or Inflammatory Bowel Disease, or has children with Autism Spectrum issues, the GAPS diet is really worth checking out. If you're already on a gluten-free diet, it's worth checking out. It goes way beyond gluten-free and aims to heal the damage done to the gut. It's also great for people suffering from migraines, mood disorders and a whole plethora of symptoms.

You can get a free week of the meat/seafood menu planner here. I'm definitely going to take advantage of that! Heart of Cooking also has a blog full of great recipes and information, so make sure to check it out.

How lucky we are to live in the Information Age, where people are so easily able to reach out and help each other through technology and where the click of a computer key can make our lives vastly easier!
-Erin

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Sorrel!





I'm kind of obsessed with sorrel, right now. I've always seen it listed in my herbal medicine books but I've never seen it in person- until I found some at the farmer's market last weekend. It was love at first bite!
Sorrel looks a bit like mature spinach but with a smoother texture and a completely different taste. It's tart and lemony. The only thing I've eaten that tastes like it are shamrock leaves and flowers (which are very tasty, by the way.)

I haven't experimented with it in recipes yet, as I love it simply chopped with a dollop of greek yogurt and some sea salt. Red peppers or tomatoes would be nice, too (maybe not for you nightshade- avoiding Paleo die-hards, though!) For lunch today, I had the aforementioned salad with some chicken sausage and a handful of raw hazelnuts. Very European of me!

Here is a yummy looking sorrel salad recipe.

-Erin

Monday, May 17, 2010

Woodland goodies


I thought I'd drop in to say "hello" for our little blog's inauguration. And I might as well mention this evening's food finds:
I had a little fun at Whole Foods tonight and splurged on some woodland goodies, namely morel mushrooms and ramps. What are ramps, you ask? They are tiny little wild leeks. I have no idea what I'm going to do with them, but I'll figure something out. I'm a sucker for anything found growing in the woods. Fiddleheads, mushrooms, onions, berries, greens (I'd probably eat lichen if it were edible/palatable!)

The morels, however, I have big plans for. Plans that involve butter, a cream sauce and asparagus. And possibly ramps...
I'll keep you posted.
-Erin

Prim and Primal

Hi! Rose here. I wasn't sure what to write for our 1st blog post. I've been on a creative cooking whirlwind all weekend and had envisioned posting some great primal recipes alongside mouth watering photos....but now it's Monday. Now I'm tired after cleaning the house all weekend for a visit from my Mother in law. I had a lazy dinner, leftover (crustless) quiche, a salad, and I whipped up a low carb low sugar dessert with some blueberries for my husband and I.
It got me thinking about a primal cheesecake....which I know by some standards isn't really primal to begin with, but come on-cheesecake! Let's bend the rules here a little bit ;) Using lemon juice, stevia, riccotta and blueberries tonight was a lot like a crustless blueberry cheesecake dessert. I started looking up primal cheesecake recipes and decided that I will just have to take on this adventure myself, create my own best dessert and mainly see what happens! Shooting for my next post to share this experiment-in the mean time, I will leave you with some nice recipes I found on my quest.

Cheesecake Bars
Primal Strawberry Cheesecake
Almond Butter No-Bake Cheesecake w/ Brazil Nut Crust
Berry Cheesecake