How Going Dairy Free Saved My Life

For years I was constantly ill. I had digestive problems, was always constipated and felt tired most of the day.

A neighbour finally said to me why don’t you go for food allergy testing. I had never thought of that, nor had my doctor suggested it.

Well, what a surprise. I found out that I was allergic to dairy, wheat, yeast, eggs, corn, sugar, and soy. Years later, I also found out I was Celiac, which meant I had to avoid gluten in my diet as well.

What a learning curve it was. Most of the foods I ate on a daily basis were no longer an option. Morning cereal, toast and peanut butter, and sandwiches were gone. What the heck was I going to eat now?

First I did a little research online, then, I went to my local health food store, where they were so happy to help and give me suggestions as to what to eat. I wasn’t so sure I wanted to eat the foods they suggested, but I did buy a few, and with trial and error I was able to come up with tasty, alternatives to the foods I could no longer eat.

Dairy Free Options

I was amazed at all the dairy-free options that were available to me. Rice milk, flax milk, hemp milk, coconut milk, and almond milk were all products that I could use. It was simply a matter of trying them out and seeing which ones I liked. To my astonishment I liked all of them. Some worked better in baking and coconut milk became a favourite when I made smoothies for myself.

Eating Healthier

What started to happen was that I no longer ate food out of a box, can or package. I started to cook again and thoroughly enjoyed it. I made up a weekly menu plan for myself which helped me when I went grocery shopping and meant I wasn’t eating the same thing night after night. Fruits and vegetables became the bulk of my meals along with organic meats, nuts and seeds, and so I knew I was improving my health. I no longer felt bloated and ill most of the time and those very embarrassing, smelly toots were a thing of the past.

I soon learned that dairy was very acidic to the body and once I started to incorporate many more greens into my diet and help my body to be more alkaline, I noticed that my eczema started to improve as well. Keeping your body alkaline by eating more alkaline foods like kale, spinach, and avocadoes is a great way to ward off disease.

Dairy seemed to be the cause of many of my health issues and once I started to avoid it and change my diet it became clear that if I had stayed eating certain foods I might have become a very sick individual. Isn’t it amazing how you think some things are such a pain, but end up being a blessing?

Shirley Plant is the Author of Finally… Food I Can Eat, a dietary guide and cookbook for people with food allergies and dietary restrictions.

Through Delicious Alternatives she helps people come up with healthy, tasty menu plans that fit into their dietary needs.

www.deliciousalternatives.com

twitter @sherrecipes

Facebook page Finally Food I Can Eat

My Fav Bluebery Muffins

Tonight was a night that I just wanted to make something that was near and dear to my heart. Perhaps I wanted a full proof recipe.
The past few days I have had a few good new recipes and a few flops!

My gluten free blueberry muffins was one of my very first recipes that I came up with for my cookbook, and so here it is for all of you to try. Enjoy

Blueberry Banana Muffins

Free of dairy, yeast, eggs, corn, white sugar, soy, nuts and gluten

3/4 cup chickpea flour
1/2 cup brown rice flour
1/4 cup arrowroot flour
1/4 cup tapioca flour
1/4 cup potato starch
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup maple syrup- more if you have a sweet tooth (you can use honey or agave)
1/2 cup safflower oil ( sometimes I use coconut oil )
water
4 bananas
1 cup blueberries

In a food processor whip bananas, oil, cinnamon and vanilla. Add in dry ingredients and blend well. If the batter is thick you may need to add some water. I find that if my bananas are very ripe I don't need to add water. If they are yellow and not that ripe I need to add some extra liquid.
By whipping the bananas in the food processor it gives them air and makes your muffins fluffy.
Add in blueberries.
Spoon into muffin tins
Bake 350F for 20-20 minutes

Rice, Lentil and Olive Salad

This has to be one of my favourite salads in my cookbook and since I really felt like it today, despite the snowy weather I decided to make it and share the recipe with you.. So just as I was about to finish the recipes I realized I didn't have any olives in the house and the snow was swirling around outside and I had no inclination to go to the store so I simply made it with out.. I did add a little more sea salt though because I knew I wouldn't have the salty olives in there.

So here you go

Rice, Lentil and Olive Salad
Free of dairy, wheat, yeast, eggs, corn, sugar, soy, nuts, nightshades and gluten


1 cup basmati rice (250ml)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup brown or green lentils (250ml)
1/2 onion
2 bay leaves
3/4 cup pimento stuffed green olives (175ml)
1/2 tsp sea salt (2ml)
1/2 tsp pepper (1ml)

Dressing:
3 tbsp olive oil (45ml)
2 tbsp lemon juice (30ml)
2 tbsp dijon or yellow mustard (30ml)
1 tsp thyme (5ml)
4 green onions, sliced
salt and pepper to taste

To cook rice, bring 2 cups of water to a boil. Add rice, garlic, salt and pepper and bring again to a boil and cover. Reduce to low heat and simmer for 20 minutes until water is absorbed and rice is tender.
Allow rice to stand for 10 minutes. Fluff with fork and transfer to a large bowl. Meanwhile rinse lentils and bring 4 cups of water to a boil with half an onion and bay leaves. Add lentils and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes or until lentils are tender. Don't overcook or they will go mushy.
Drain lentils and discard bay leaves. I like to just mash in the cooked onion to give the lentils a little flavour. The onion has mostly dissolved with cooking. Set lentils aside to cool. In a bowl whisk together olive oil, mustard, lemon juice, thyme and shallots.
Add cooled lentils into the rice. Add dressing and olives. Salt and pepper to taste.Mix and refrigerate. Enjoy!

Gluten Free Crispies

When I first went gluten-free I was missing treat. I found it easy to make gluten free options for lunch and dinner but breakfast and snacks I found a little more challenging.

This is one of my favourite go to treats, especially when I want to make something quick that does not call for a lot of ingredients.

They are like healthy rice crispie squares

Here is what you will need

2 cups puffed rice- or you can use puffed amaranth, puffed quinoa, puffed bukwheat
1/2 -3/4 cup brown rice syrup
1/3 cup raisins- or dried cranberries or dried cherries or currants
1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter ( for nut free try tahini, sunflower butter or wow butter)
1/3 cup sunflower seeds
1/3 cup pumpkin seeds
1/3 cup shredded coconut

Puffed rice is the healthy option to rice krispies. It has no added sugar. You can find it in a health food store or the healthy aisle in your local grocery store. A good brand is Nature's Path.

Place rice and peanut butter in a sauepan and heat. Do not boil. Place all other ingredients in a bowl and pour hot rice syrup over the ingredients and mix in. Line an 8X8 square pan with waxed paper and place mixture into pan. Put in fridge to set and cut into squares and enjoy!

Where Gluten Can Hide!

Think you are living Gluten Free? Better check, as gluten can be hiding in places you would never think of.

Hidden Gluten or Hidden Wheat: Names to watch out for

-          Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein (HVP), unless made from soy or corn

-          Flour or Cereal products, unless made with pure rice flour, corn flour, potato flour, or soy flour

-          Vegetable Protein unless made from soy or corn

-          Malt or Malt Flavouring unless derived from corn

-          Modified Starch or Modified Food Starch unless arrowroot, corn, potato, tapioca, waxy maize, or maize is used

-          Vegetable Gum unless vegetable gums are carob bean gum, locust bean gum, cellulose gum, guar gum, gum arabic, gum aracia, gum tragacanth, xanthan gum, or vegetable starch

-          Soy Sauce or Soy Sauce Solids unless you know they do not contain wheat Tamari, is wheat free soy sauce- available at your health food store

-          Any of the following words on food labels usually means that a grain containing gluten has been used; stabilizer, starch, flavouring, emulsifier, hydrolysed plant protein

Some products that you would never think of may also contain gluten so always start by reading labels. Let your pharmacist know that you need to avoid gluten as some medications and supplements contain gluten. Even toothpaste, shampoos and makeup may contain gluten. Instant coffee, soy sauce, spices can all contain trace amounts of gluten.

Going to be doing your own baking? Now you want to know what you can use that is gluten free.

Here is a helpful chart of gluten free flours you can use when baking and the equivalent amounts needed to substitute for wheat flour.

1 cup wheat flour = 1 cup millet flour

          1 cup cassava flour

                                  ¾ cup brown rice flour

                                  1 cup sorghum flour

                                 ¾ cup quinoa or amaranth flour

                                  1 cup almond flour or other nut flour

When making muffins with gluten free flour, add in 1 teaspoon of guar gum or xanthan gum, per cup of flour used.

For gluten free muffins I like to use a mixture of chickpea flour, brown rice flour, tapioca starch, arrowroot and potato starch. See muffin recipes in my cookbook, Finally Food I Can Eat, that use this mixture.

Almond flour works well in baked goods and gives you that added protein in your muffins or cookies.

For more information and help to go gluten free visit my website at www.deliciousalternatives.com

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Why is there a Tim Hortons at the Heart Institute?

Today was my first visit to the Ottawa Heart Institute. As I was early for my appointment, I sat in my car for a few minutes  listening to an audio CD. As I watched the people come and go on Ruskin Ave and in and out of the heart institute I was struck by what a busy place this was. What was going on in our world that this building had such activity? Oh now I remember, heart disease the number one killer in Canada.

As a 46 year old woman who has struggled with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and food allergies most of my life, I am lucky that I am thin and due to my allergies. I eat a healthy diet filled with organic vegetables and fruits,  organic meats, flax crackers, nuts, seeds and only distilled water.

With the onset of early menopause I have experienced heart palpitations, so today a trip to the Heart Institute for a 48 hour halter monitor to see if perhaps my migraine medication is causing issues with my heart or if it is only sensations due to menopause.

As I am a nutritionist and a cookbook author, I have studied in the field of nutrition and have had the great joy of learning from some top Integrative Medical Doctors in our area.

Recently I have read the Wheat Belly written by Dr. William Davis and due to being Celiac I have been off wheat and gluten for the better part of eight years. As Dr. Davis mentions in his book, 2 slices of whole wheat bread increases our insulin more than 2 teaspoons of sugar does. He also notes in his book that due to the change in our wheat over 50 years ago, most of us are unable to digest wheat and that is causes excess inflammation in our bodies.. 

What is heart disease? Inflammation.

When I walked into the Heart Institute I took in the scene in the front foyer. People sitting waiting for someone to pick them up, a table to the left full of some sort of sugary cake available to the public, and a Tim Hortons in the back corner where patients, doctors and nurses ordered sugary baked goods and coffee to keep them going through their day. I stopped and said out loud, “ I can’ t believe there is a Tim Hortons in The Heart Institute, this is so wrong. A woman beside me laughed and I realized to myself that I said this out loud. I wanted to scream from the rafters, what are you people doing?? Trying to kill yourselves?

Now I am not trying to bad mouth Tim Hortons, as it is only one of the many fast food chains out there, but why in heaven would the Heart Institute allow a fast food chain on their grounds? There is nothing healthy about anything that Tim Hortons serves. Muffins ladened with sugar and fat, lates, coffee, and doughnuts are not going to bring anyone wellness.

We have an epidemic of overweight and diabetic people in this country, really in this Hemisphere and our top doctors and Institutes see nothing wrong with coffee and doughnuts for lunch or afternoon snack?

Perhaps it is that we want to keep our doctors working and our Pharmaceutical companies rich so why not continue to feed our sick and overweight with unhealthy food?

A comment was made to me the other day that medical students have little or no education about diet and that it really doesn’t come up in conversation when a doctor has a consult with a patient. Does this not send up a red flag in anyone’s mind?

How are we to get healthier as a nation if we don’t first start with what we are putting in our mouths?

How much money is spent on someone who needs bypass surgery only so they can get into a wheelchair go down the elevator and buy a food item that is going to once again clog their arteries or send their insulin soaring so that their next visit to the hospital will be due to diabetes.

I have heard on a few occasions that hospital food is certainly not there to make anyone healthy? Why is that?

Could we start to practice prevention instead of just putting bandaids on our sick?

If I pull up Tim Hortons website and check out the caloric information based on their menu, a s’more’s donut and a fruit smoothie equals 450 calories, 14 grams of fat, 52 grams of sugar. Estimating that the average 70 year old should consume 1600 calories a day and no more than 30 grams of fat, they are already at half the daily amount of fat with just 1 donut and 1 smoothie. Imagine if they were to have 2 donuts?  Let’s say they have a chicken Caesar sandwich and an iced cappuccino for lunch while waiting for their cardiologist. Calories: 900, Fat:24 grams, Sugar:56grams. So in one meal at the Hospital they have almost surpassed their fat allowance and have eaten more than half their calories for the day.

Does this not seem wrong to you who practice medicine and who swore an oath the heal?

Creamy Zucchini Soup

Today for my lunch I made a quick and easy creamy zucchini soup. Here is the recipe for you to try. Let me know how you liked it.
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5 medium sized zucchini, sliced
1/2 large onion, diced
1 leek, sliced
3 cloves garlic
2 tsp basil
2 tsp oregano
handful of fresh cilantro or spinach
water
sea salt
In large soup pot with a little olive oil, cook onions and leeks until soft. Add in zucchini, garlic and herbs and cook for a few minutes. Add enough water to cover the zucchini. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 15 minutes. Add  in fresh cilantro or spinach - do not cook anymore, you want the cilantro to be raw. Puree with hand held blender. Enjoy