What to eat

I see and hear a lot of questions from parents starting on diets. I've gone through my own roller coaster for S on diets, and going through all the bewildering options, and S might as well stop eating altogether :-(

Here's where I am at at the moment. I have no idea whether this will work or not.

No gluten 

Casein - goat milk yogurt cultured at home only (using Progurt as a starter and adding probiotics)

All food prepared at home

Look at IGg & IGe panel to cut out items that S is highly allergic to or has developed an allergy to and eliminate them (IGg is "temporary", so maybe good to go off the number 3s temporarily and introduce sparingly).

For e.g. We have been seriously skewed towards almonds in all forms so I want to go off almonds temporarily. Diet has also been meat heavy, so I want to plan to reduce that as well.

Sweetener: Honey, fruits

Grains allowed: Buckwheat groats, quinoa, millet, amaranth [pre-soaked for 8 hrs before use, dehydrate and dry grind for flours], brown rice

All vegetables except starchy veggies (use starchy veggies as sparingly as possible)

All fruits - wait for bananas to fully ripen (black spots), give no-phenol enzyme - don't overdo fruits, ok to load up on pears

Meats: white only (chicken, turkey)

Rotation: select one grain per day. Limit to say 3 servings (to ensure that I don't overdose on grain). don't repeat the grain for the next 4-5 days.

Next post on meal plans.

Mangalapodi

S always calls "Milagaipodi" "Mangalapodi" and I haven't the heart to correct him. 

This one's a BED-friendly version, the original is here.

1 C  sprouted and sun-dried urad 

1/2 C presoaked and sun dried arhar dal

3/4 C sesame seeds

1 piece asafoetida (resin)

6 red chillies

Salt to taste

 

dry roast the sesame seeds and asafoetida.

dry roast the dals.

Powder the dals, chillies. Add sesame seeds, asafoetida and salt and dry grind.

He likes this sprinkled on everything - likes his food spicy!

Almond Macadamia Butter Bread

The original recipe (Jody Bager) called for parmesan cheese which I was reluctant to try.
I'm quite pleased with my substitutions and how it all came out.

2.5 C almond flour
3 tsp coconut flour
3 tbsp macadamia butter
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp ghee
1 C goat milk yogurt
2 eggs
1 tbsp cumin (jeera)

Kitchen aid all the ingredients, bake at 350 F for 45 mins.
I'll post a picture later.

Buckwheat Millet Loaf

Buckwheat flour is quite a versatile flour. Presoaking the groats, drying them and powdering the result is quite a tedious process, but is well worth the effort.
I have used buckwheat flour with some success making idlis, dosas, rotis and now, finally, a loaf of bread.


Ingredient list

Dry Ingredients
1 C buckwheat flour
1 C millet flour
1/2 tsp salt
1.5 tsp baking soda
2 tsp Xanthan gum

Wet ingredients
1 C ghee
2 eggs
1/4 C almond milk
1/4 C honey (less will work)

Kitchen-aid the wet and dry ingredients really well for about 5-6 mins.

Bake at 350 for about an hour or so.

Amaranth Almond Sweet Loaf

I did it. Finally at the point where I am experimenting with baking!

Dry Ingredients
4 tbsp amaranth flour
3 tbsp coconut flour
1/2 C almond flour

1/2 tsp salt
1.5 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp orange rind, grated

Wet Ingredients
1/2 C Fresh Squeezed orange juice
1/4 C honey
1/4 C ghee
2 eggs

KitchenAid the wet ingredients for about 10 mins, adding OJ last.

Add dry ingredients and mix really well for another 10 mins, high for at least 2-3 mins.

The resultant mixture will not be stiff.

Bake in a loaf pan (coat with ghee) at 375 F for about 15 mins. Once you start seeing it get brown, reduce the heat down to 225 F for about 10 mins or so. The loaf will *not* rise but you need to make sure its cooked through.

Soft and sweet bread, smells really good despite forgetting to add the vanilla/cardamom/cinnamon!

Millet-Quinoa Bread

This was my first experiment making bread with any kind of grain, adapted from this recipe.

I made quite a few modifications, because I thought a) eggs were missing b) the resulting dough was extremely runny.

So - here are the ingredients. Note re. flours, presoak for 24 hours, sun/oven dry, and grind in a coffee mill (or a flour mill if you have one).
You also need to sift the flour to make it more fine.

1.5 C millet flour
1/2 C quinoa flour
3 tablespoons coconut flour
1/2 tsp orange rind, grated
1/2 tsp salt
1.5 tsp baking soda
3/4 C orange juice
1/4 C honey
1/4 C ghee
2 eggs

Mix the wet ingredients first (eggs, ghee, honey, orange juice) really well in the Kitchenaid.
add the remaining dry ingredients and mix really well (on high for at least 5-7 mins).

Bake at 375 for 25 mins or so till you start seeing a crust on the top (like the picture above.) Take the heat down to 275 mins and bake for another 10 mins. Turn off the oven and let it cool before turning it upside down and cutting slices.

I used a loaf pan, coated with ghee. I find it hard to line this sort of pan with parchment paper.

It is quite a crumbly, and not-too-sweet bread. I might try and experiment with the quantities a bit more so it doesn't fall apart quite so easily.

Good to go in a lunch box!

Millet Bread

http://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/recs/2/Hunza_Millet_Bread47138.shtml

Ingredients:
1 cup Millet flour
1 cup grated carrots
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon vegetable salt/iodized salt
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 eggs

Directions:

Combine in Bowl: Flour carrots oil honey and salt. Mix well, then stir 3/4 cup of boiling hot water into the mixture. Beat the egg yolks well adding 2 tbs. of cold water, continue to beat and then add to the mixture. Fold in stiffly beaten eggs and bake in a hot oiled pan at 350 degrees F for about 40 minutes.