Interesting Information About the Nightshade Family

I came across this interesting web site about the Nightshade Family and wanted to share it with you. It gives some good information and I learned a few new things. A few fruits that we like are not in the Nightshade Family, but have the same chemical in them and so we should be avoiding blueberries and huckleberries also. I hope this nice list and information are a help to those of you trying to avoid the Nightshade Family. Have a great day everyone.

http://artistamyshealthjourney.wordpress.com/2013/02/09/list-of-nightshade-veggies-and-fruits/

Nightshade-free Taco or Burrito Meat with optional Black Beans

My husband spent a lot of his childhood in Mexico, so Mexican food has always been a favorite in our household. With the allergies it has been hard to figure out alternatives that work for us and still give us the flavor we love. I have finally come up with a recipe for seasoned hamburger that works for tacos and burritos. It would also be a great add-on for a rice and vegetables mixture. I have been adding safe canned black beans to part of the batch. I just take out some for the person who can't have beans and then add the beans & liquid to the pan. This helps when freezing the leftovers for them to stay moist.
In the picture below I have served the taco meat with beans in a tortilla with cheese and lettuce added. I served salad, blue corn chips and a slice of lime, all on the side. Using gluten-free tortillas and tortilla chips will make this a gluten-free meal. We really enjoy having this stocked ahead in the freezer.

Nightshade-free Taco or Burrito Meat w/ Optional Black Beans

Ingredients:

2 lbs ground beef (I like ground round)
1 onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp. ground coriander
4 tsp. oregano leaves (regular or mexican, mexican really gives it a more authentic taste, but both are good)
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1 tsp. thyme leaves
1 1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/4 tsp. ground white pepper
1 - 15 oz. can of black beans (optional)

Directions:

In a large skillet over medium heat brown hamburger, onions and garlic until hamburger is browned, but not overcooked.

Drain hamburger. (see tip below)

Add the rest of the spices and cook for 2 to 3 minutes to blend flavors. At this point I take out a portion of the meat mixture for the person who doesn't want beans in it.

Add 1 can of black beans, including the liquid from the can, if you desire and heat until hot. (We use a slotted spoon & regular spoon to dish out so that each person can have liquid or not.) The liquid really helps keep it moist if you are freezing leftovers. 

Tips:

One easy way to drain the hamburger is to drain it with a colander. I put a square of aluminum foil, which I have made square corners on to catch the grease. Makes for easy clean-up and easy draining.

Fun Foodie Penpals Participation

I'm off topic this month and focusing on my participation in the fun Foodie Penpals program. I have done this a couple of times and really enjoyed getting food from another part of the country and sending some of my favorite local items to someone else. You can choose any type of food products to send, but you have a $15 limit. You can also specify if you have dislikes or food allergies, etc. This month I chose to stick with just my own food preferences, instead of including the whole families long list of allergies. I have included them before though and still gotten a fun box.

This is what I received this month from Sarah. :-) Doesn't it look like fun?

My favorites were the Chocolate Peanut Butter Kettlecorn and the Orange Peel in Dark Chocolate candy bar. So yummy! The Larabar was good and I think it would be excellent to take on a hike. My daughter who can not have peanuts loved the Cocoa Hazelnut Butter. There was also some tasty seasoned sugar that was great on fruit. I tried one of the dips on a baked potato, like it said you could, but found that was a bit too strong, so will be trying it as a dip. There was also a seasoning mix for BBQ chicken and spinach dip that I have not tried yet. I also put the morning rounds in the freezer to try after I finished my dietbet. The only thing I was not too keen about was the soy bean snack, but I did get to try it and now know whether I like it or not without buying it myself. One also receives something handwritten and I received a nice note telling me about the items she had chosen for me. This is such a fun program that I just had to pass on the info to you all. Come and join in the fun! See info below. Have a fantastic day, everyone.

-On the 5th of every month, you will receive your penpal pairing via email. It will be your responsibility to contact your penpal and get their mailing address and any other information you might need like allergies or dietary restrictions.
-You will have until the 15th of the month to put your box of goodies in the mail. On the last day of the month, you will post about the goodies you received from your penpal! 
-The boxes are to be filled with fun foodie things, local food items or even homemade treats! The spending limit is $15. The box must also include something written. This can be anything from a note explaining what’s in the box, to a fun recipe…use your imagination!
-You are responsible for figuring out the best way to ship your items depending on their size and how fragile they are. (Don’t forget about flat rate boxes!)
-Foodie Penpals is open to blog readers as well as bloggers. If you’re a reader and you get paired with a blogger, you are to write a short guest post for your penpal to post on their blog about what you received. If two readers are paired together, neither needs to worry about writing a post for that month. 
-Foodie Penplas is open to US, Canadian & European residents.  Please note, Canadian Residents will be paired with other Canadians only. Same with Europeans. We've determined things might get too slow and backed up if we're trying to send foods through customs across the border from US to Canada and vice versa. 

If you’re from the US or Canada and are in participating for June, please CLICK HERE (www.theleangreenbean.com/foodie-penpals/) to fill out the participation form and read the terms and conditions. 

You must submit your information by June 4th as pairings will be emailed on June 5th!

*If you're from Europe, please CLICK HERE (www.thisisrocksalt.com/foodie-penpals/) to signup. 

Soy Free Pineapple Chicken

It has been too long since I have posted. Life has been hectic. The hardest thing to happen was that my DH was diagnosed with colon cancer and had surgery to remove the cancer. The surgery went well and now he is to be tested every 3 months. Our prayer is that it does not come back. I also can't thank friends enough for their support. :-)

The recipe that I am posting has an Asian flavor without having soy in it. It was such a joy to run across this recipe from Taste of Home, that I only had to tweak a bit. We really love this dish and I make double batches, so we have some in the freezer. The original recipe was a slow cooker one, so you can cook it that way also. (See directions under Tip:)

adapted from http://www.tasteofhome.com/Simple

Soy Free Pineapple Chicken

Ingredients:

3 - 3 1/2 lbs chicken legs

1 20 oz. can pineapple chunks

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup cornstarch or 1/8 cup rice flour

2 Tbls. lemon juice

1/2 tsp salt or to taste

1/2 tsp ground ginger or to taste

Directions:

Place chicken in a baking dish. Drain pineapple, reserving juice. Place the pineapple over the chicken. Mix the brown sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice, salt, ginger and reserved pineapple juice until smooth. Pour over top of chicken and pineapple.

Cover and cook  at 350 degrees for 50 - 60 minutes or until done.

Serve with rice.

Tip:

We have one person in our family who can not have cooked fruit, so we just serve the pineapple cold when we serve the chicken.

If making this recipe in the crock pot it cooks on low for 4 - 5 hours or until chicken is tender. The original recipe has one brown the chicken in 1 Tbls. oil and then add it to the crock pot followed by ingredients in the same order and manner as above.

Stewed Beef with Gravy

We love this recipe. I couldn't believe the difference in the flavor it made by adding cream or half and half to stew. I also used my new electric pressure cooker and shortened the time it took to make this dish by about an hour. The pressure cooker is becoming my new favorite appliance. I got this recipe, which only needed small adaptations, from Chris at Caribbean Pot. If you have not visited his web site (http://caribbeanpot.com) yet, be sure and do so. His recipes are so good and he also has many videos posted, on youtube, showing how he makes them.

adapted from http://caribbeanpot.com/its-thyme-you-enjoyed-stewed-beef-with-a-rich-gravy/

Stewed Beef with Gravy

Ingredients:

1 lb. stew beef

1 Tablespoons olive oil

2 large carrot (diced or sliced)

1 medium onion (diced)

1/2 tsp. thyme leaves

3 cloves garlic

pinch of ground white pepper

salt to taste

1 bay leaf

3 cups beef stock

3 Tablespoons corn starch

1/4 cup of cream or half and half

Directions:

Peel and slice the vegetables.
Smash the garlic and then peel off the skin and dice it.
In a deep saucepan (I used the brown setting on my pressure cooker) add the oil and heat on medium high. Add the beef and brown it.
Add all the garlic, onion, carrots and white pepper, then turn down the burner and cook for 2 minutes, stirring often.
Add seasonings and beef stock. You want just enough broth to cover meat with a bit to spare. Add more broth if needed while cooking. Bring to a boil and then turn down the heat to a simmer. Cover the pan and simmer for 1 1/2 hours or until beef is tender. (I set my pressure cooker for 20 minutes of cooking on high pressure and the meat came out very tender.)
Remove bay leaf.
Mix corn starch with some cold water and then add to pan. Bring to a boil, stirring. Reduce heat.
Add the cream and let flavors blend on low for about 5 minutes.
Serve over rice. (or mashed potatoes)

Tip:

When I make a roast I add extra water so that I have extra broth to freeze for use in recipes later.



Black Beans And Rice

I find that most Mexican foods are very hard to change into foods that go with our allergies, but I have been able to make a few recipes over. :-) My husband spent a lot of his growing up years in Mexico and we have traveled quite a bit there. Also, we lived in Venezuela for 6 months shortly after we were married. We love the flavors of those countries. Here is a recipe for Black Beans and Rice that we first had in the Yucatan Peninsula. I have had to leave out the green pepper and ham, but I have added cilantro for an extra flavor boost. When we had this many years ago they served more toppings than this recipe calls for, so I went looking to see what toppings other cooks added. Next time I make this I will be sure to get some radishes to try as I think they would add a kick to it that is missing with not having green peppers.
I usually make this recipe into a soup by adding more water. Just follow the recipe down through the salt and add 8 cups of water for a great soup that we serve with tortilla chips or tortillas. A dollop of sour cream and/or cheese, if you can have them, on the top make the soup extra yummy.
I always cut the salt in half in my recipes and usually the pepper also. Please salt and pepper to taste.

Adapted from Woman's Day Encyclopedia of Cookery Vol. 2

Black Beans And Rice

Ingredients:

1 lb. dried black beans
6 cups water (start with 8 cups water for soup)
1 cup chopped onion
1 garlic clove, minced
1 Tablespoon olive oil
2 bay leaves
1/8 teaspoon ground white pepper (or regular)
3-4 sprigs cilantro (optional)
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup rice vinegar (optional)

Serve over rice.

Garnish with your choice of the following:

Avocado           Onion slices

Radishes           Lime Slices

Cheese             Sour Cream
Hard-boiled eggs

Directions:

Cover beans with water, bring to a boil, and boil for 2 minutes. Cover pan and let stand for 1 hour.
Saute chopped onion and garlic in olive oil for 5 minutes. (May be added to beans without sauteing if you want to save time and number of pans you are using) Add to beans with bay leaves, pepper and cilantro.
Bring to a boil and simmer, covered, for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, adding more water if necessary. Add salt after beans are soft.
Add rice vinegar and let cook just a bit before serving.
Serve with rice. Garnish with toppings.
Makes 6 to 8 servings.

Tips:

Vinegar helps with cutting down on the gaseous effect from beans.
Salt can keep beans from turning soft, so it is best to add salt after beans have fully cooked.
If beans do not have enough water in the pan, they will not soften, so make sure beans are always covered.

Meat Loaf

Meat loaf might not seem too exciting, but we really like it. My problem was that I could not find a gluten-free substitute for oatmeal or bread, that we really liked the taste of in meatloaf. I tried a lot of gluten-free crackers before hitting on one that didn't taste weird or have a weird texture in the meatloaf. What worked for us was Crunchmaster Rice Crackers in the toasted sesame flavor. It added wonderful flavor. You can find it at Costco, gluten-free stores and some regular grocery stores.

The recipe I used comes from The Better Homes and Gardens: The New Cook Book. It is the Create-Your-Own Meat Loaf recipe. Which is what I have done. :-)

Meat Loaf

Ingredients:

1 beaten egg

1/4 cup finely crushed Crunchmaster Rice Crackers

1/4 cup milk

1/4 cup finely chopped onion

1/4 cup finely shredded carrot

1/2 tsp oregano or other herb you like

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp ground white pepper or regular black pepper

1 lb. ground beef

Directions:

In a mixing bowl combine egg; crushed crackers, milk; onion and carrot, and if desired; herb; salt and pepper. Add ground meat and mix well.

Put mixture into a loaf pan. Pat down and smooth out.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 45 to 50 minutes or until no pink remains.

Transfer to a serving plate so meat is not sitting in grease. Serves 4.

Tips:

An easy way to crush the crackers is to put them in wax paper and roll a glass back and forth over them.

When I need to use only a part of an onion in a recipe, I freeze the extra in wedges. It is very easy to cut up the onion while it is still frozen. No tears and you can chop it very finely.