Avocado pudding

I distinctly remember the one time mom tried to get us to eat avocados when we were kids. I tried a tiny piece, decided it was disgusting, and hid the rest so I wouldn't have to eat it.

I served my mission in California, and I had multiple occasions to try avocados again- plain and in guacamole. I still didn't like them.

I married a guy who served a Spanish-speaking mission in California and who loves Mexican food, including avocados and guacamole. I still didn't like them.

I just haven't been able to get past the texture and the taste.

However, this past week I made some seven layer dip, and included a layer of guacamole. The dip turned out really good, and I actually thought the homemade guacamole (Mr M is quite talented in the kitchen) was good too. So, I decided to give avacodos another try.

We bought a couple more avacoados, and used one in smoothies. I used half the avocado the first time, but while the smoothie really stuck with us, the flavor was a bit too strong, even with lots of strawberries to compensate. And the color was rather off-putting (nasty yellowish tan). I used a quarter of the avacodo the next two times, and the flavor and color improved.

I used the other avocado to make chocolate pudding. I've seen this around on several blogs, but wasn't quite brave enough to try it till now. I mashed an avocado, added 2 or 3 tablespoons of cocoa powder, a splash of vanilla, and squirt or two of agave nectar.

The end result tasted like really dark chocolate pudding. Mr M didn't like it at all, but I think if it had been a little sweeter and better mashed he would have liked it better. I just used a fork to mash it up, and that left little globs of avocado and some strings. The second time I made it I used my immersion blender, and the texture was a lot smoother. I also noticed that more cocoa powder is better than less- the avocado flavor gets covered up better.

Despite all that, I liked it. The avocado wasn't super noticable, and the pudding was much more satisfying than regular pudding, and had way less sugar. I can go through a whole box of pudding in one sitting, but only managed to eat about half an avocado's worth of pudding before being too full- not just full, but satisfied. My sweet tooth wasn't nagging me, and I didn't feel like I needed to eat anything else.

I'll be making chocolate avocado pudding a lot more- I think a few spoonfuls will go a long way toward beating the mid-afternoon and after-dinner sweet tooth munchies. Hmmm, that sounds like a new diet plan- move over South Beach, here comes the Chocolate Avocado Pudding Diet!

Fail to plan, plan to fail

My reaction to gluten seems to be evolving. It used to be throat swelling, now it's burning nauseous pain in my stomach. I think I'd rather have the throat swelling- it doesn't last as long and isn't as painful.

Last night we were coming home from a conference we attended, and ended up with a limited number of choices for dinner. I'd planned on Chipotle, but neglected to make sure that there actually was one in the area. Since there wasn't, I pulled out my blackberry pearl and did a quick search for gluten free options at Ruby Tuesday and Applebees, the only restaurant options available. Both restaurants had very limited options, so we picked Applebees. BIG MISTAKE! Aside from the terrible service, poor food quality, and extremely slow cooks, I managed to eat enough contaminated food to make today very uncomfortable: my stomach's been killing me all day.

We wouldn't have eaten there at all except that I hadn't been able to eat much at the lunch provided and had forgotten to bring adequate food to supplement what I could eat and I was starving. Not a good position to be in. I blame my lack of preparation on how I've been feeling (still recovering from the last round of gluten problems) and the stress of trying to get everything ready for Mr M to go on an extended trip. That's not a good excuse, but it is a fact of life that things aren't always how we want them to be.

A few days ago I purchased Healthy Snacks To Go from KitchenStewardship.com. It's an ebook with more than 30 recipes for snacks that aren't full of processed ingredients. They're not all gluten free, but a number of them are (and are clearly labeled gluten free) or can be easily tweaked. Since it only cost $6.95, I decided to give it a whirl and was not disappointed. Quite a few of the recipes are for snacks that I can prepare ahead of time and carry with me for times when there's nothing safe for me to eat. I also really like that they're healthier and cheaper than store-bought snacks.

Some of the recipes I'll start making next week: granola bars, homemade lara bars (the store-bought versions have been a staple I keep in my purse, but they're pricey and I haven't bought any in awhile), applesauce, fruit leather, and yogurt. Yum!

All the stomach pain I've endured recently has definitely emphasized that I must be prepared at all times. I don't want to be really hungry and not have any safe food options. I really don't want to have this stomach pain ever again.

Hidden gluten got me again

The old nauseous burning pain in the stomach resurfaced this week. At first I attributed it to stress, but then I realized that this is the same nauseous burning pain in the stomach that I had before I went gluten free.

So, either I have another food allergy, which is possible- eggs have given me problems off and on for years, or I've somehow been adding gluten. I haven't been having the swollen throat reaction, so this whole thing crept up on me. After reviewing what I've been eating the last few days, I narrowed it down to eggs, polska kielbasa, or one of my vitamins. If it's eggs, I'll have to completely eliminate them, but that will be the last option I try. The label of the polska kielbasa didn't have anything that should have given me this many problems, but I'll probably avoid it in the future just to be safe.

The most likely culprit at this point is one of my vitamins. I checked all the labels, and my vitamin d supplement could be the one- I recently started using a different brand than I had been buying, and the label says it's produced in a facility that also processes wheat (among other allergens). All my other vitamins specifically say gluten free.

I removed all the vitamin d capsules from my pill box, didn't take it last night, and so far my stomach is feeling better. The nausea burning pain feelings are still there, but not as bad. My appetite also feels a lot more normal. The last few days I've had horrible cravings to eat, eat, eat. After a year of being gluten free I'd forgotten just how I react to it. I need to write down these symptoms so if I start feeling them again I'll realize quicker that something is off.

It's amazing that even tiny amounts of gluten can make me feel this crummy. This also highlights the dangers of cross-contamination, and the fact that it is a real issue.

Recovering from gluten poisoning

Looking back, I can recognize the symptoms, but in the moment I was too sick to put them all together and realized what was happening. I'm writing down how I felt in hopes that I won't let things spiral out of control again, but catch them early on instead.

Fuzzy brain- inability to think clearly
ADD- inability to sit still and get anything done
Massive food cravings
Nauseous burning pain in the stomach
Irritability/short temper/very little patience

These are all things I experienced before I went gluten free, and they're all things I never want to experience again.

Nothing like being slowly poisoned...

Gluten free frog eye salad, part 2

The other day I made a second attempt at gluten free frog eye salad. This one was almost, but not quite, perfect, and I learned a few more things.

The reason it wasn't perfect was because it was too salty. This was due to transcription error, more than anything. Mr. M's mom gave him the recipe for the custard over the phone, but she was guessing on the exact amount of salt- she eyeballs an amount in her palm and throws it in. The guesstimate measure turned out to be a bit too much, so I just need to decrease the amount of salt next time, and it should taste fine.

Some things I learned:

Beat the eggs really well before mixing into the rest of the custard base. Otherwise you end up with bits of cooked egg in your custard.

Use a really fine sieve when rinsing the tapioca pearls, otherwise you'll lose a bunch done the drain.

the two sieves I've used to rinse my tapioca- the left one has mesh that is too far apart

close-up of the larger mesh sieve

the smaller mesh sieve- works great, but the whole sieve is a bit small for rinsing large amounts of anything

I'll post the recipe next time, after I've tried it one more time and made sure it tastes good.

Gluten Free Frog Eye Salad, Part 1

Gluten Free Frog Eye Salad Recipe with Egg Free Option

Gluten free frog eye salad, part 1

The other day, Mr M and I were bemoaning the fact that I couldn't make frog eye salad ever again. Frog eye salad is made with acini de pepe, which is a pasta that is formed into tiny balls. While the gluten free manufacturing companies have come a long way in expanding their product lines, I have yet to find gluten free acini de pepe.

Then we randomly started talking about tapioca, how Mr M loves it and how as a kid I hated it because the only time I'd had it was the one time I was in the hospital overnight, which was not a great experience, and I thought all tapioca tasted as gross as it had that time. I've since realized that it's not all that bad, and can actually be quite good.

In the midst of all this, Mr M said "why not try tapioca pearls in the frog eye salad? They're about the same size and texture, maybe it'll work out."

So,  the next time we went shopping we bought a box of tapioca pearls. I followed the directions on the box for cooking (boil water, then whisk the pearls in, let cook for 17 minutes, then wing it from there). Ok, not really, the only directions they had were for making tapioca pudding, so I used the first few steps and then made it up as I went. After the 17 minute point, I think I cooked it a little bit longer till the pearls were mostly clear. Then I dumped them in a wire sieve and ran warm water over them to rinse the gel off.

I let them drain for awhile, then stirred in some cool whip.

The texture looked right, so I added some drained, crushed pineapple and a handful of marshmallows

and mixed it all together.

We had it for dinner, and we discussed the results as we ate it. It was good, but not quite the same as what we remembered frog eye salad tasting like. I had made this without a recipe because I couldn't find it, and it turns out I'd forgotten the custard. Mr M called his mother and got the recipe so I can try it again.

While the overall taste wasn't quite the same because of the lack of custard, the texture was pretty close. Tapioca is a bit chewier than acini de pepe, but when you're eating it with a spoonful of other stuff (marshmallows, fruit, etc), it's not noticeable. We noticed because we were analyzing the results. The next step is to make it again, this time with the custard.

Gluten Free Frog Eye Salad, Part 2

Gluten Free Frog Eye Salad Recipe with Egg Free Option

Gluten free eating thwarted again

Today we went to Wendy's for lunch while we were out running errands, and I had a rude surprise. They've changed their salad menu, taking out the old ones and introducing four new salads. I understand the need to keep the menu fresh, exciting, blah, blah, blah, but as near as I can tell, none of these are reliably gluten free.

The changes must be really new, since I can't find them on Wendy's website. I thought I'd be able to use the site to confirm everything, but since I can't, here goes my faulty memory:
1. Grilled chicken with apple, bacon, and bleu cheese
2. Grilled chicken with something and bleu cheese
3. Breaded chicken with something
4. Taco type salad with tortilla strips

From what I've read, some bleu cheese is gluten free, some isn't, I'd rather err on the side of caution and not eat it at all (plus, I don't like the flavor of bleu cheese anyway). Since the first two come with the bleu cheese already on the salad, those are a no-go. The breaded chicken in the third one is an automatic red flag. The tortilla strips on the fourth one are the bad guys. Admittedly, the tortilla strips might be packaged separately on this one, I didn't ask- I don't like taco salads, so I didn't even bother with it.

I will keep checking the website to see what the nutrition info says, but I'm not holding out any hope. I'm disappointed because I liked the mandarin chicken salad and it was a good standby if I needed to eat and couldn't find a Chipotle's nearby. Until I find out otherwise, if I eat at Wendy's again I'll be sticking to the baked potato and the mandarin oranges.