Thursday, March 29, 2007

Wheat

It's looking like wheat is going to be a no-go, for a while anyway. After trying wheat for a couple days, Jax had a terrible allergic reaction last night. It's always the same: he wakes up with really itchy hives and begins to cry. I usually end up pacing around the house with him, trying to soothe him enough so he can go back to sleep and forget about his skin. I feel really bad for the little guy - I know it hurts as well as itches, and there's no way he can NOT scratch it, especially at night when there's only nursing to distract him.

Speaking of nursing, I am constantly so glad that he nurses. I never have to worry whether he's getting enough to eat, or whether I'm providing enough omega-3s or selenium or whatever.
Actually, I probably wouldn't worry anyway. He eats a very balanced diet. All in all, though, nursing is the best thing ever invented.

Friday, March 23, 2007

Traveling taco soup

Yup, tomorrow I'm traveling to see my parents, possibly without my spouse. It's always fun to visit them, in part because a common meal is nigh impossible. Jax and I have our list of foods to avoid, Andy is vegetarian, Adam is diabetic, Dad only eats fish, and Mom is just plain picky in her avoidance of all vegetables except white potatoes. She doesn't even eat marinara sauce, preferring instead to melt a slice of American cheese over her pasta. Anyway, if you Venn-diagrammed my family's dietary requirements, you would have about 5 distinctly non-overlapping circles. This would be why we don't go out to eat together.

Jax and I really eat a whole foods diet out of necessity as well as preference. In the past 2 months I have had almost no processed/refined food. Once again I'm so glad to be a vegetarian. Before all this started up, I already had developed both a taste for healthy foods and the ability to cook them. If I were one of those people who only eat items that come ready-made in a box, I'd be in trouble.

My contribution Saturday will be taco soup, a favorite in my house. It came to us from my mom's friend Juli, has been altered quite a bit over the years, and finally I have perfected it into the glorious meal it is today.

1 can each: kidney beans, northern beans, black beans, chile peppers, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, whole-kernel corn.
to taste: tiny pinch cumin, paprika, chile powder, tiny pinch sugar, splash of lime juice
splash liquid smoke or Bragg's liquid amino

Obviously, rinse the beans in a large colander, and don't drain the corn. Put in the Crock-Pot for a couple hours, or simmer in the stovetop, whatever your preference. Garnish with your preferred taco fixings, a heap of nutritional yeast, and lots of corn chips. I actually skip the spoon and eat it like chips and dip.

Formerly I added onion and garlic powder, and one jar of taco sauce. This is fine without them, though. Also, the original recipe called for a pound of ground beef, browned, but everyone I tried that on (back in the pre-veg days) agreed it was better without the meat. As is everything else I can think of.

Even though it's spring and I normally don't enjoy hot soups during warm weather, we usually eat taco soup all year long because it's just that good.

Thursday, March 22, 2007

Barley baby

I'm discovering the joys of barley as a rice substitute. It's substantial, readily available, flavorful, and cooks in 10 minutes. Last night I made barley paella, and it was good despite the lack of garlic.

You take:

1 can veggie broth (I used one 1-pint jar of my homemade veggie broth)
a jar of roasted red peppers
1 cup frozen peas
1 cup frozen baby limas
1 carrot, chopped
1 can diced tomatoes
a large pinch of turmeric (roughly 1/4 teaspoon)
a good amount paprika (1/2 teaspoon?)
salt and pepper to taste

Dump it all into a saucepan, bring to a boil, add 1 cup quick-cooking barley, cover and simmer 10 minutes, and eat! Those without garlic allergies can saute a couple cloves in oil before adding everything else. If you're doing that, might as well soften your carrot and peppers at the same time.

I haven't tried other grains as a rice stand-in, in part because Jax turned out to like barley quite a lot. At first it reminded my spouse of the smell of beer, but aside from that it's been a nice find on my part.

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Fun with hives

My son is allergic to.. everything. Sort of. It feels that way some days. Actually the list runs more like this:
  1. rice
  2. potatoes
  3. wheat
  4. soy
  5. garlic
  6. onions
  7. peanuts
  8. dairy
The dairy part doesn't bother me so much, as we're vegan. I made the switch when Jax was born. He couldn't tolerate the tiniest bit of cheese in my diet without breaking out in hives, and furthermore I finally became able to understand the abuses suffered by dairy cows. The wheat and soy bit, though - that's been a hard one for us. We didn't eat a lot of meat substitutes, but now they're totally out for us. Not to mention garlic's role in just about every type of cuisine.

We are still nursing, and so anything I eat, Jax eats. Therefore I'm unable to eat the offending foods as well. And out of solidarity (and a desire to avoid washing two sets of pans every night) Andy is avoiding these items at dinnertime too.

Where does that leave us for dinner? It's been interesting. We are still trying to work out which foods are the worst offenders, and which he can eat occasionally without harm. So far, we've only tried potatoes and onions. It's not looking good.