Gluten free, dairy free, soy free ice cream

That's actually yummy. Hard to believe, but it's true!

I've found two brands that fit the bill: Luna and Larry's ice cream and Tempt ice cream.

Luna and Larry's ice cream has a coconut milk base. The texture is very thick and creamy, very similar to Ben and Jerry's ice cream. They have several flavors, though our local Whole Foods only carries a couple of the very basic flavors. The vanilla ice cream has a faint coconut flavor, but it's not unpleasant. The coconut flavor is barely noticeable in the other flavors I've tried. This ice cream is sold in pints and ice cream bars (which we like for Friday night movie nights).  We really like this ice cream!

Tempt ice cream has a hemp milk base. And no, hemp milk will not make you fail a drug test :)  This ice cream is also very thick and creamy, not crystal-y like a lot of ice creams. Its texture is also reminiscent of Ben and Jerry's. They only have a few flavors. The chocolate is very good, but the coconut lime was weird.

It's nice to have ice cream that tastes good and doesn't make my stomach hurt. Luna and Larry's has a couple flavor combinations that almost make you think you're eating some Ben and Jerry's ice cream. Since that's no longer in my future, it's nice to have a good substitute.

Our Thanksgiving meal

I survived Thanksgiving without eating something I shouldn't. How can I tell? I had a very productive Friday.

Unfortunately, Saturday afternoon I ate some gluten free crackers that contain soy and corn. Derailed the rest of my day.

I've been paying closer attention to how I feel when I eat food. I'm constantly checking to make sure I'm eating safe food, or what I think is safe food. Lately the biggest indication I've eaten something unsafe, aside from the stomach pains and swelling throat, is massive mental fog. My brain checks out and I'm too blotto to get anything accomplished. And I feel like crap.

I've been quite successful at avoiding triggers lately and have been getting a lot done, which feels so good. It also makes it much more noticeable when my brain checks out. Not sure that knowing how much of a space case I can be is a good thing.

What did we eat for our gluten, oat, corn, dairy, egg, soy free Thanksgiving meal?
Roasted cornish game hens (yum!)
Pecan crusted sweet potatoes (double yum!)
Mock cornbread- made from millet (not cooked all the way unfortunately, but I've since made them as muffins and they were very good)
Green salad with pecans, cranberries, apples, and a cranberry vinaigrette (very yummy!)
Orange jello with mandarin oranges (yummy!)
Vegan pumpkin mousse tarts (not so great,  but that's ok)
Luna and Larry's Coconut Bliss Vanilla ice cream (soooo good!)

Most of it was good, and we didn't get any stomach aches, so it was a success :)

Food issues and why my posting is so erratic these days

On LMS's last day of soccer we skipped the "banquet" (pizza and cookies), since we couldn't eat any of it. I should have had something prepared, but I've been off my game lately. There's still something that's making me fuzzy headed and messing with my energy levels and attention span.

The supposedly "safe" candy I bought to trade out the unsafe stuff LMS got turned out not to be safe. My stomach's been killing me and LMS has yucky poopy again.  Which means that no store-bought candy is safe.  Grrrrrr. What are we going to do for all the candy-centered holidays? It's easier to downplay it now while she's young and at home so much, but what about Christmas with family, or other times where other kids are eating stuff she can't? 

I've been hoping it wasn't going to be an issue for her, but the week of Halloween has shown that I do have to be careful and not get sucked into the mindset of "it's just a little bit" or "one piece won't hurt". It does have an effect on her, and it's one that neither of us enjoys, especially since it takes so long to clear up.

Since we'll be spending Christmas with her grandparents (and all her cousins on daddy's side) I'm going to have to think of things to put in our stockings so she doesn't feel left out. It'll probably be small toys, nuts, oranges, and some vegan candies. I've seen some recipes for vegan candies, so I'm going to have to try some of them to see if they'll work (translation: edible and yummy).

For the most part, I don't mind not eating what everyone else does, but I'm a grown up and I can be rational about it. LMS is just a little kid. She usually does very well, but there are times where I've had to tell her she can't eat something and she gets upset. I don't blame her- I like m&ms too. That was her favorite part of going grocery shopping: getting a package of peanut or peanut butter m&ms and sharing them with mommy. Ok, the sharing part wasn't her favorite, the m&ms were  :)   I do miss peanut butter m&ms....

Last week we cut out soy, not that we actually ate much soy, mostly just soy sauce (gluten free, of course). It's rather discouraging though: there's only a few things left that we could cut out. Of the major allergens, we're only still eating peanuts, tree nuts, fish and shellfish. So I guess we've only cut out half the list, it just feels like more.  We've cut out gluten, corn, oats, dairy, eggs, and soy. Every time we eliminate a food, I feel better for awhile, then start feeling crummy again. Eliminate another food, and start the cycle again. I'm really hoping this is the last time we have to go through it.

In the meantime, I'm trying to get stuff done while feeling crummy, and a lot of things are being left undone. Hopefully things will improve soon.

Gluten free pumpkin waffles

Gluten free, egg free, dairy free, corn free, oat free.

The weather has gotten cooler, the leaves are changing (must take lots of pictures very soon!), and fall is here. Fall makes me think of pumpkins- I love anything flavored with pumpkin- pie, cookies, muffins, ice cream (so yummy, but I won't be eating any this year unfortunately), and waffles.

I followed the recipe here, and I have to say her website is a goldmine of recipes I can actually use (ie, eat without getting sick).

I used the smaller amount of salt in the recipe, but should have used more- the waffles were a bit bland. Howevere, we put unsweetened applesauce on top, and they were yummy!

I had a brain fart and had the first batch cooking in my Belgian waffle maker before I realized this wasn't actually a Belgian waffle recipe. I've made waffles several times since then, using the regular waffle maker, and they've turned out better. They were just too thick and dense to make a good Belgian waffle.

The picture is from the first time I made these waffles, and we used store-bought applesauce. The last two times I made them we used the applesauce I made a couple weeks ago. Sooo yummy!

Justin's Chocolate Hazelnut Butter

Note: I wrote this before we left, and thought I'd posted it, but apparently not.

Last week I was wondering through Whole Foods (after hitting Kroger first) and I was getting more and more depressed by the number of things I can't eat it right now. In general this wouldn't actually be that big a problem for me, but since we have a roadtrip coming up I've been trying to find snacks and food that won't make me sick.

Normally I try not to eat too much junk food, but I do believe that roadtrips are made for junk food: m&m's, pringles, and licorice used to be our standard snacks, and we'd hit up whatever fast food place we came to when we were hungry.

Since those days are done, I've had to really plan out our trip (it's times like this that I really wish we had a small RV so I could just prepare normal food with the help of a refrigerator, stove, and microwave)- where we'll stop, what we'll bring, and so on. The candy we're bringing consists of fruit snacks. I can't find anything else that isn't manufactured in a facility that also processes wheat, milk, and/or eggs.

It was in this state-of-mind that I was perusing the peanut butter shelves, looking for little foil packets of nut butters. They're great for hiking and I thought they'd do well on the roadtrip also. While looking around, I saw this:

The label states that it's gluten free and dairy free, and there was no eggs or corn in the ingredients, so I read the label further, and it said that it contains a lot less sugar than other chocolate hazelnut butters, so it doesn't taste like frosting. Hmmm, I like Nutella, but it is on the sweet side, like frosting. Less sugar is definitely a good thing.

It is pricey ($9.99 for 16 oz), but it's not like I'm buying any other junk food now. The texture reminds me of the chocolate peanut butter, and the taste is similar too- not overly sweet, tiny chunks of nuts, but hazelnut instead of peanut butter. It's a healthier version of Nutella! Which I can't eat because it has dairy in it.

Definitely a thumbs-up!
Have you tried Justin's Chocolate Hazelnut Butter?

Gluten free Lemon Blueberry Granola

lemon blueberry granola

Since we're not eating gluten, eggs, dairy, or corn now (yeah, I know, quite the list. but I feel so much better that it's worth it), I'm having to re-think our daily menus. Breakfast is the biggest problem since we used to eat eggs or cinnamon chex (which have corn in them) with cottage cheese and milk (tastes better than it sounds).

I made some gluten free vegan zucchini muffins that turned out quite good. Looking for recipes that are gluten free and vegan is the easiest way I've found to avoid dairy and eggs. There's a lot of recipes that eliminate one or the other, but it's harder to find recipes that eliminate both. Since vegan recipes do not contain dairy products or egg, that's what I look for these days. We're not giving up meat though!

I've also made a couple batches of granola. The first was cinnamon raisin, the second was lemon blueberry. I thought both turned out pretty yummy. Add some coconut milk, and it's even more yummy.

The base is gluten free oatmeal and quinoa flakes and is easy to make. It's actually very similar to my mom's granola recipe that I used to make in my pre-gluten free days. I like that I can adapt the recipe by adding different extracts (vanilla, lemon, orange, etc) and different dried fruit (raisins, blueberries, cranberries, etc)

I've been playing with the recipe a bit- adding unsweetened applesauce for better "clumps" and trying different flavor combinations. My next efforts will be orange cranberry and mixed berry.

What are some other flavor combinations that might be good?

I've discovered a great new diet!

The secret?

Become allergic to almost everything you eat!

I've been having reactions to things I used to be able to eat. At first I thought it was contamination issues, but now I just think it's my body being even more stupid than usual.

These days I can't eat (among other things) ice cream, chocolate, canned refried beans, or corn chips. Even the chocolate chip cookies I made and the Betty Crocker gluten free brownies caused a bad reaction: extreme nausea followed by massive burning stomach pain and less than pleasant bowel movemnents. Oh yeah, and insomnia. Love that one. I haven't had problems with insomnia since the first couple years that I was sick, and I have not enjoyed it's reappearance.

Because of all the bad reactions, I've pretty much lost my appetite- I'm almost afraid to eat anything packaged for fear I'll have a bad reaction. While annoying on one level, it has been beneficial on another. I've stopped snacking on junk food completely and am truly eating healthier, and in less than two weeks I've already lost 5 pounds!

Last week I eliminated eggs from our diet to see if they were causing the problem. I've had problems with eggs in the past, so I decided to eliminate them first. I had hoped they wouldn't be the culprit because it's hard to do gluten free baking without eggs- egg substitutes are usually a starch, which throws off the delicate balance of gf flours and starches and liquids. Unfortunately, I ate some gluten free eggless muffins last week, and they still gave me problems.

The muffins had milk in them, so this week we've eliminated all dairy products, and I've been doing great! No reactions at all. However, this is a problem because we really like cheese and yogurt and ice cream. Maybe eventually we'll be able to add them back in. Not sure I can do the cheese substitute thing- soy cheese just sounds too disgusting and completely unappetizing.

LMS has been having some poop issues as well (they improved a bit when she went gf, but there's still something not right). I didn't notice an improvement last week, but I've seen a little this week. Hopefully I'll start seeing a lot of improvement in her soon.