camping

Nelle went camping for the first time this weekend. She wasn't worried about getting the right food to eat. I was.

We had:
-For dinner on Friday we ate chili with corn bread. Warning - do not attempt to make corn bread with rice milk! We also had corn chips, daiya cheese, and jalapenos on top.
-For breakfast we ate grilled "cheese" made in campfire pie pans.
-Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches were an easy lunch. We ate pasta salad as a side.
-For dinner on Saturday we had the newly discovered veggie burgers from Whole Foods that I can't remember the name of and I don't have any more at home (I'm thinking Sunflower... or something like that). We had leftover pasta salad and chili as sides.
-Dessert was yummy. I would even suggest it if you're not a vegetarian and can eat real smores. I made a new concoction -- grilled fluffer nutter smores sandwiches in campfire pie pans. We ate them again for breakfast on Sunday before packing up camp.

dinner guests

I invited the women from my book club to meet at my house this month. Then I remembered that meant I had to feed them. We're typically cheese and cracker kind of gals so since that staple was out of the question I had to think of something else.

Tapas.

Yes, I would make a Spanish tortilla. Eggs, potatoes, onion. All safe. To go with the tortilla I made an aioli (fresh garlic with mayo). Sangria is safe too. I mixed less than half a bottle of 2 Buck Chuck with a bit of sugar, some lemonade, and some orange juice. We also snacked on olives, bread, and hummus.

I forgot the bag of salad that I'd bought. I had gotten a dairy/soy free bag of croutons too. And a really yummy bottle of salad dressing - Annie's Organic Green Garlic, if you're looking for something new to try.
If you're looking for something new to read, I recommend The Help.

oh my gosh I just made stir-fry

Last night on our way home from the mall, we stopped by our local Indian market to pick up some frozen goodies and chutneys to go with the samosas. What a yummy late night snack.

Lately I've been eating so many dairy substitutes that I've been eating fewer vegetables than normal, so I was really having a craving for something crunchy. Trader Joe's has a bag of pre-sliced stir-fry veggies - carrots, snow peas, celery, cabbage. I bought the bag this morning thinking I could sautee it with some kind of herbs, maybe fresh basil.

So this evening when I was making dinner I thought to myself, "Hey that tamarind chutney looks a lot like that stir fry sauce that [my husband] uses to make Asian food.... I bet that chili chutney would add a good spice too." And so my dinner was born.

Okay, so it doesn't taste like soy sauce. But, it doesn't really taste "Indian" either. Tomorrow night my husband is so making me fried rice!

potatoes

I've always said that if I could eat only 1 food that it would be potatoes. Tomorrow I try.

I'm not convinced that dairy and soy are the [only] foods that Nelle is allergic to. Despite her medicine and my diet change she still has a significant amount of spit up, crying, and bowel issues.

We have a GI appointment on Friday, so I'm interested to see before then what might be causing these issues. Is it even food at all?

I've heard of people doing elimination diets and just eating rice for a day, but I decided that potatoes were a better option for me. I'm also allowing myself: salt, olive oil, and canola oil. Plus water of course.

Here's the plan:

BREAKFAST -- mashed potato pancakes
I made mashed potatoes this evening using Golden Yukon potatoes, cooking water, s&p, and a bit of olive oil.

SNACK -- baked Kettle chips
Actually made with sunflower or safflower oil, so I guess that too.

LUNCH -- a mix of the leftover mashed potatoes and the whole extra boiled ones I made

DINNER -- baked Russet potato, plain

SNACK -- french fries, possibly dipped in olive oil, like bread

wintery day treat

It's June, but it's rainy, windy, and cold here and feeling like a sleepy day. Nelle's been down for some pretty good naps today so while I've had plenty of opportunity to get stuff done, I've been feeling like enjoying the laziness instead.

A perfect day for hot cocoa.

One thing about rice milk, though, is that it doesn't provide the thickness that whole milk does for hot cocoa. And the non-dairy Ah!laska mix, while better than nothing, is more like a cheap mix-with-water hot chocolate packet than the more quality chocolates that I'm used to.

When I made the chocolate chip cookies the other day I looked up the Tollhouse recipe online to modify. A few of the suggestions said to add a packet of instant vanilla pudding to make them soft. I hadn't really thought about using pudding mix for anything but making pudding before. But from previous research I knew the stuff to be vegan and I happened to have some cook&serve variety on hand.

I heated up the rice milk and added 3 heaping spoon fulls of the cocoa powder and then added another spoon full of pudding mix. Now for the topping. As a vegetarian I avoid gelatin, one of the base ingredients of marshmallows, but thankfully marshmallow fluff does not contain gelatin.

Yum! It was thick and creamy and delicious, just like hot chocolate is supposed to be. Take that milk/soy free diet doubting self!

Eating Out

--I've been twice to Mediterranean restaurants and asked for the veggie plate without cheeses or yogurts. The one I went to on Monday even had the items listed as "vegan". I'm hoping they were.

--I've also been twice to Indian restaurants. One of the places was vegan and at the other I asked for suggestions on dishes without paneer, yogurt, or ghee. I was told I couldn't have the naan, but I could eat the roti.

--I've been to Mexican restaurants and ordered bean, rice, salsa only burritos a few times. If I liked avocado I'd probably get that too. Be careful though, Taco Bell is not dairy or soy free. Nor is it really Mexican food...

--I've ordered pizza. My husband called in advance to the restaurant we went to for my mother-in-law's birthday. He asked for the ingredients in the crust and sauce. We double checked at the restaurant.

--I went to multiple parties this Memorial Day weekend. I ate: grilled portobello mushrooms, chips & salsa, a black bean/corn/salsa dip, Sunshine veggie burgers on a farmer roll, deviled eggs, fresh fruits & veggies, coleslaw.

I let my friends know in advance and I bring back up snacks. At a bridal shower I went to I brought cookies for me so I wouldn't miss out when everyone else was eating cake.

I also let restaurant servers know my situation. I've even had the clerks at the Target food court get boxes for me to check out the ingredients list (Ugh, soy!). So far I've gotten positive feedback. Maybe it's because I'm nice about it. Maybe it's because I have a cute baby with me.

I'm getting weak!

I made chocolate chip cookies this evening. No soy, no dairy. They were good, really good. I had pizza for dinner. No soy, no dairy. It was good, really good. I added pineapple for flavor and dipped it in BBQ sauce. But I miss soy. I miss dairy. I'm looking through the Martha Stewart's Cupcakes cookbook to look at the vegan one (It's really good, my mother in law made them for me.), but I keep thinking about all the pastries I can't have! I keep thinking about the cheese that I can't have.

I keep thinking... my little girl is still in pain. Still spitting up. Still pooping watery poops. Is this even it? Is she allergic to something else? Do we need to try a different medication? I'm bummed because our next GI appointment got postponed until next week.