spring rolls

i wish i had more time to write today! but it's a gorgeous day out, and i want to get outside!!  i just wanted to write out these two fabulous recipes! 

the first is another pinterest find, i will have to update with the website, but it appears to be broken right now :( 

anyway, the recipe is for these yummy spring rolls - perfect for using up the ton of veggies that dropped off at my door step every week.  as usual this recipe is quite adaptable.  i shredded up carrot, cabbage, turnip, ginger, red scallion, basil, and mint....i think that was it.  soak your wrapping medium in some warm water to make it pliable enough to wrap.  i used cabbage. 

the dipping sauce is a spicy peanut sauce, which calls for hoisin sauce, but i didn't have any, so i used soy, which worked out ...okay.  besides that, you need onions, peanut butter, and water.  and chili flakes. 

first i would soak my wrapping medium, then i would shred my filling ingredients, then whip up the peanut sauce, then roll 'em up!

For the peanut sauce, mince half a small onion and saute for about 5 minutes, or until translucent.  add about a quarter cup of water, 2 tablespoons of peanut butter, and 2 tablespoons of hoisin sauce.  if you like spicy, add your favorite amount of chili flakes. 

Next you can assemble your rolls.  remove one piece of lettuce or cabbage from the soaking water, put a bit of peanut sauce in the wrapper, then place some of you filling, and roll like a burrito.  the original recipe calls for using rice to make it a little stickier, and therefore easier to roll, but i am trying to go grain free (yes i know soy sauce throws that out the window....baby steps).  My rolls were hard to keep together, but they still tasted great!

My second one came out better :)

These are really delicious, but since there is an aweful lot of raw roughage, they can be a little tough to digest, so it's smart to proceed with caution.  i can see me making more of these....

No More Garlic Allergy!!

Well, I have "cured" my garlic allergy, which as it turned out wasn't really an allergy at all.  My suspicion about having a rather large yeast problem seems to be what has been wreaking havoc on my system.  I'm not entirely surprised.  This means I am a huge leap closer to being in the full GAPS diet protocol.  Or Simple Carbohydrate Diet.  Or eating Primal/Paleo.  Whatever, it's all pretty much the same thing. 

Recently I have been really good about cutting out dairy and gluten, and keeping it out.  Not only that, but I have made some really good progress in terms of going totally grain free, and I have cut out most fruits too.  It's definitely an adjustment, but with the way I have been feeling, I barely look back.  When I do "cheat", usually because I have not packed enough food for a day out, or am away from home longer than I anticipate, I feel pretty yucky.  And then the cravings hit...having milk, and bread, and cheese, and chips around is like keeping a pack of butts in the house after you have quit smoking.  I shut what I could into the closet so that I don't have to look at it when I open the cabinet, but my subconscious knows it's there!  So far so good!

Anyway, so I figured out that the garlic allergy was actually a yeast problem by adding coconut oil to my green smoothies on a more regular basis.  I knew something in them was causing me some digestive upset, but I wasn't sure what.  So I tried changing up the ingredients, and lo and behold it was the coconut oil.  It's no coincidence that the coconut oils has wonderful anti-fungal properties... so I started using more of it instead of avoiding it.  And after about a week, I stopped getting bloated.  Hmmmm, know what else is a potent antifungal? Garlic! So I tried eating some fresh garlic....nothing! WhoooHooo!! Boy how I missed that flavour! And the added bonus is that I started to be able to tolerate probiotics!! I am only taking Nick's dose of 5 billion, and I should be working my way up to 50 billion....so I have a ways to go.  But definitely progress; so this means that just by eating the coconut oil and garlic and by avoiding sugar, dairy, and grains as much as possible, I have started to kill off the yeast!

So while I feel super encouraged that I have identified what my issue is, I know it's going to be a tricky road to go down...avoiding all sugars, including fruit, and all grains, and all starchy veggies....Hmmm.  That's a toughie.  So I came up with a sort of sugar free treat to help bridge the gap between all out sugar and sugar free.  I know from experience that trying to go cold turkey is a recipe for disaster. 

Now I feel really good about having separated my problems from Nicks...and he is getting better too.  Although, his symptoms went south as soon as I tried to eat some handy gluten free convenience foods, (I think it's the corn), so it just cements my resolve to quit all grains.  Luckily he really seems to like the real foods...I just need to get him to take one bite at a time! 

This little gem is the perfect summertime cool down, great for kids and adults!  For adults, I recommend a fancy cup, and for those who drink can add some rum and this would be totally fabulous.  For kids, just pour into Popsicle molds. 

 

 

Creamsicle!

This is ridiculously yummy, and it tastes just like the real thing! All you need is coconut milk, orange juice, pear juice, and vanilla extract...and ice for the adult beverage.

Firstly, I open my coconut milk the night before (the kind from a can - with the cream, not the light version - coconut fat is really good for you!), so it will get nice and firm. 

Then I squeezed the juice from one orange and added just a dash of pear juice (you probably wouldn't miss this if you didn't have any).  And about a teaspoon of vanilla extract.  I poured this off into popsicle molds, and then blended the rest with ice to create this wonderful, amazing refreshing elixir!  It was absolutely perfect for the 90-100 degree weather we had! 

Green Smoothie Soup

So, I really like the green smoothies in the morning, but sometimes I'm not in the mood for raw.  Sometimes I want that smooth creamy, warm goodness of a soup.  And I want the healing, balancing properties of the greens too.  So, a logical leap is to make a pureed soup with the greens.  I've made soups that were green before, like asparagus soup, broccoli soup or pea soup, but this soup is so much more! Those soups are definitely yum, but they just seem so one dimensional compared to the newest batch of soups.

I've made a few of these at this point, and I find that I really crave them after I have pigged out on junk.  They give a huge bump of nutrients, and they are alkaline type foods, which will balance the massive load of sugar you probably just ate while indulging.  They will help ward off sugary cravings too.  All in all, this is an awesome soup.  And, while J feels like the smoothies are too "crunchy" for him, (he won't admit it, he just is never "in the mood for it" when I make them, lol), he will devour the soup.  I love how you can almost feel your body taking in the nutrients!

One of the things that I've learned about cooking is that, once you learn some basic flavour combinations, cooking is really easy.  It's forgiving and unique.  So many of my "recipes" are never the same because I never have all of the same things in the pantry.  Or I am wanting (or not wanting) a particular punch from a certain spice.  Anyway, what I am trying to say that my usual disclaimer applies here, the same as always:  Take measurements with a grain of salt (ha-ha), and don't be afraid to improvise a little!

For these soups you can use broth or water.  I like using a nice chicken stock so that I get all of those nutrients too, but that is not always possible of practical, and water will work just fine too.

The first thing you want to do is prepare the veggies that take the longest to cook.  I like using lentils in my soup because they are pretty nutrient dense, have a bunch of fiber, and help me feel fuller than in I were to just eat the veggies.  So I add my (soaked) lentils to the broth, and which ever veggie is my base - broccoli, asparagus, split peas, etc.  I bring this to a boil and let it simmer.  While that is happening I chop up more veggies and add them in order of how long it takes to cook them.  Some things I like to use are squashes, carrot, parsnip, leeks and cucumber, then I add in some leafy greens like lettuce, arugula, kale, spinach, etc.  To season, thyme and rosemary work nice, but I really like a combo of coriander, sage, and mustard. Hitting it with a bit of balsamic vinegar can add a little umph to it too. Once everything is cooked through and soft, puree.  Again, adding rice or potato can help thicken a soup that is too thin. 

I love eating this with good crunchy bread and a sprinkle of freshly grated Parmesan cheese; it's like heaven!  I bet this would also be good as a cream soup using fresh sour cream or yogurt.

Slow Cooker Pulled Pork with Impromptu Homemade BBQ Sauce

I stayed away from dairy and most junk food for about a month, and things went really well.  Then I made an appointment with an allergist, and figured I may as well challenge the dairy.  Plus, you are supposed to be "on" suspect foods for allergy tests.  FYI, the allergist was a complete waste of time.
Anyhoo, since I am a glutton for punishment, and we had several cookouts to attend near the time of my appointment, I went food crazy as usual, and as usual I regret it.  Nick has been miserable, and I'm not sure if it's because of the food, or because of seasonal allergies.  Either way, he has been throwing massive tantrums left and right, which is not like him.  Well, I mean, he is a normal toddler and will totally pitch a fit now and then, but these things are epic.  Poor boy doesn't know what to do with himself!
Anyway, to the food! So, here I go again, beginning my journey back into more whole foods.  With one last goodbye to cheese.  I won't over-do it, but I don't want to throw away what's in my fridge either....well, at the very least I will make some goodies for J.

J has been super busy at work (as per usual, I guess - I suppose I should just get used to it!), so I am planning some easy style meals to get us through the rainy week while I try to help Nick work through his angries.  I ordered a bunch of pasture raised meats, and accidently defrosted way too much pork at once, so I figured a slow cooker pulled pork would be the way to go.  Unfortunately it's impossible to find BBQ sauce without garlic in it.  At least, I have yet to discover it.  So I figured I could throw something together at home.  Silly me, decided to put the pork in the slow cooker and then put the ketchup in immediately.  This meant that I destroyed any chance of tasting my concoction as I went.  Typical thoughtless Nina mistake.  So instead of worrying about it, I just threw a little of this and a little of that in, and depended on my sense of smell to guide me.  I decided that BBQ sauce is another one of those things that's really hard to mess up....except if you add too much vinegar.  I learned that lesson a while back, and I do not intend of making that mistake again!!

Using *very* approximate volumes, my sauce went something like this:

5/6 of a bottle of Ketchup
1 tablespoon of Trader Joes spicy dijon mustard
2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar
2.5 tablespoons of butter
1 tablespoon of honey
a glug of maple syrup
1 tablespoon of brown sugar
1 glug of soy sauce
several glugs of tobasco
and about 3/4 cup of water
 

Again, as long as you go easy on the vinegar, BBQ sauce is very forgiving, so it's okay to improvise, and certainly don't take my measurements to heart!

I sliced half a smallish onion, and put four decent sized chops in the cooker overnight...about 10 hours.

I ate this for lunch today on a bun with shredded cheese and avocado.  It was AWESOME!  It tastes relatively mild, but still has a slight kick to it. Very flavorful, and just the right amount of sweetness.  This will not last long!

Just another note that this would be a really easy place to hide veggies :)