Going with my Gut

Grad school started this week. That’s nine credits closer to getting my Masters. That’s three classes to take and three days of studying to focus on. I’ve started 2013 strong, and I am enjoying the little changes that have occurred since New Years. 

The only hindrance that has kept me from complete happiness has to do with the return of my IBS. Experimenting with Primal eating gave my digestion a run for its money, and as a result my body tried to remove the toxicity through my skin (acne), my emotions (depression and severe criticism on my body), my attitude (irritability and constantly thinking about going to the bathroom), the return of my sleep maintenance insomnia, slight but painful UTIs, and physically in general (bloating, water retention, and fatigue).

I do want to comment that Primal eating was not the direct cause of my IBS. In fact, it had to do with my lack of good stomach flora that was mediocre at best from years of disordered eating, getting sick, and not feeding the flora with probiotic foods. For a while I believed I simply had a candida overgrowth, but I don’t think that anymore.

I am now under the impression that my stomach doesn’t have much flora at all, the good kind or the candida kind.

Partially I was taking too much of a good thing. For the majority of December I was getting over a terrible sick spell. There were days I had a fever over 101°F, and walking down to the kitchen left me breathless and exhausted. So I took as much zinc and iodine as possible to get over it, and sure enough the fever subsided and I could go to work and rock climb a week later. However, with everyone else getting sick, I continued to take iodine to protect myself, an antibiotic and serial gut flora killer (good and bad).

For a month I was beside myself, because I had no idea what I was doing wrong. I was craving honey like no tomorrow, and regardless how much I rock climbed or ran around with the kids, my body was not toning as I expected it to. My face had broken out as it had back when I was a pre-teen, and my hormones were part of one manic roller coaster ride. By this time I was desperate to try anything, and it was an “aha!” moment that changed everything.

Before anything else in regards to my health, I needed to fix my gut first.

I first showed improvement by increasing my daily intake of probiotic foods: kombucha, goat kefir, raw unrefined apple cider vinegar, and raw cacao nibs. The first two were easy to put into my daily routine in the form of smoothies, and I always put apple cider vinegar on my salads. The cacao nibs have become a new after dinner dessert, but I enjoy the indulgence. I went food shopping at MOM’s one day to purchase one or two more probiotic yumminess when I stumbled upon miso… soy-free miso. 

Since reading Katz’s Wild Fermentation, I’ve wanted to make soy free miso and tempeh. And here it was in MOM’s refrigerated section next to the bulk items, singing  “try me, try me”.

I just want to say this: I’m in love with azuki bean miso. And what’s not to like about the salty and sweet flavor combination, with over one million enzymes of probiotic goodness in every teaspoon? It’s ridiculously versatile and delicious and amazing for you too. 

Soy-free Mushroom & Onion Miso Soup

1 Q. Water
25 g Dried mushrooms*
4 Large onions, thinly sliced
64 g (4 tbsp.) South River Azuki Bean Miso**
10 g Dried sliced brown seaweed

In a medium saucepan put the mushrooms in with the water to soak for fifteen minutes until plump.
Plan on medium-high heat and add the onions and cook until translucent and the mushrooms are soft.
Turn off the heat and add the seaweed and miso, and stir to make sure the miso has thoroughly integrated with the broth.
Ladle into four small bowls and serve hot.

Makes 4 servings.

*Using dry provides a more meaty texture to the mushrooms. However, I’m sure fresh will do nicely (about 125 g).

**Or whichever miso you like/have at home.

Chuck Steak and Vegetable Stew

I have been busy. Wonderfully, fantastically, borderline overwhelmingly busy. It’s the kind of ‘busy’ that gives me breathing room, time to stretch out and do nothing, time to do a certain chore each day, time to work, time to meditate, time to play, time to climb. Within two weeks or so I’ve never felt so in tune with the current in which my life flows; and with school starting up again next week, not to mention possible career/volunteer opportunities to pursue, I will want as sturdy a foundation as I can.

Then there are the unexpected things that happen, the kind that don’t make themselves visible to you until someone else mentions them. The planner that I am and the Bisy Backson I tend to be, the recipes /adventures/product reviews in my posts are almost always preplanned with the intention to share on cyberspace.

This recipe was not a preplanned post. This post had no preconceived theme. In fact, I wasn’t intending on posting anything at all until tomorrow. But there was this rather insistent voice (i.e., Mama Dazz’s) to provide this recipe on Meals with Morri. And you would think by how persistent she was in my posting this it would be this elaborate meal with complicated directions to get it "just so". This could not be farther from the truth.

It’s the easiest thing you could make.

However, I do admit to using an ingredient that may bring a quizzical expression to your face (or at least a “Say what?” expression, although I have no idea what that would look like): black garlic.

Look at the difference!

I first heard about black garlic when I was watching an episode of the Food Network show Chopped. Almost a year later as I was visiting friends in Toledo after Thanksgiving, I saw bags of it at the store while shopping for dinner items and bought it on an impulse.

To say I was hooked on the sweet and savory, smoky almost teriyaki taste would be an understatement. And when I brought the rest home to share with the household, one bite and Mama Dazz ordered sixteen bulbs online. Apparently, someone loved the flavor more than I had.

Black garlic is that sort of ingredient to use sparingly, but is also that sort of ingredient you’re likely to put in everything. Gravies, soups, stews, curries, sauces, and marinades will be enhanced with such depth of flavor that it will be the ending note on the tip of your tongue that will have you wanting  second or third helpings.

Personally, soups and stews have (deliciously) never been the same in this house since.

Chuck Steak and Vegetable Stew

2 – 2.25 lb Chuck steak, cubed into manageable bite-sized pieces
1 Red onion, finely diced
2 Carrots, finely diced
2 Celery stalks, finely diced
142 g Baby bella mushrooms, finely diced
2 Garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
2 Black garlic cloves, coarsely chopped*
170 g Tomato paste
Sea salt, to taste
Cracked pepper, to taste
Water (Or stock, if you prefer)

Combine all the ingredients in a pressure cooker** and fill it with water until it almost submerges the meat and vegetables.
Place on medium-high heat until you can easily blend the tomato paste with the water, and then cover to cook on medium to medium-low heat for one hour.
Turn off the heat and allow the pressure to dwindle naturally.
Carefully remove the lid and stir the stew to check the consistency.
Adjust the taste with sea salt and pepper and pour into bowls.
Serve hot.

Makes 8 servings. 

*If you do not happen to have black garlic on hand (or simply do not prefer it), try using soy-free miso or coconut aminos instead. Click here to find it near you or order it online!

**This seems like the sort of recipe that would do well in a crock pot as well. So in case you don't have a pressure cooker, this may be an all-day make-the-house-smell-amazing sort of recipe. 

Feeding your Inner Child with the Classics

There are some foods that were the epitome of your childhood. Depending on your generation, culture, and other variables, there are dishes and recipes and flavors you can recall as if you took a bite of it seconds before. Perhaps a combination of spices take you back to your family kitchen in New Delhi, or no other tomato sauce even comes close to your Italian grandmother’s sauce. Maybe you had traditions in your household no one else on your street did, such as gorging on lemon filled sugar donuts after going to Mass or eating lox on bagels Christmas morning.

Such memories can bring such nostalgia of being a kid, such as the simple act swinging your legs back and forth while you sit at the dinner table, that you just have to recreate that carefree feeling. And in January, with people getting colds left and right, this kind of comfort can be essential to getting better and feeling warm all during winter.

To get back into my blogging groove, I was thinking of recipes to make and wasn’t feeling particularly inspired. So I asked friends and family, each coming up with something fantastic and delicious, and yet what they suggested didn’t appeal to my Inner Child.

But then something struck a chord, a memory of a friend requesting a dairy free version of a very much dairy filled delight. She asked me to recreate macaroni and cheese, a dish that I remember enjoying hot from the stovetop/oven. (Alas, it was usually the boxed or frozen kind.) So I set out to make a stovetop mac n’ “cheese” recipe for gluten/soy/dairy-freers everywhere, and I’m rather content with the results. You can tell it is dairy free when eating it, I will not deny that, but I still found it quite delicious. I think I would have been happier without adding the amount of salt I had put in, so do so sparingly and taste as you go.

And by all means, feed your Inner Child whenever possible.

Stovetop Mac n’ “Cheese”

224 g Dried gluten free macaroni noodles*
400 ml Canned coconut milk (lite or full fat would work)
28 g Nutritional yeast
20 g Garbanzo bean flour
1 tsp. Turmeric
1/2 tsp. Garlic powder
Dash of Nutmeg
Sea salt, to taste**
Dried basil, as garnish (optional)

Prepare the dried noodles according to the instructions on the package.
While the noodles are cooking, place the remaining ingredients in a medium saucepan on medium-low heat until bubbling and smooth and then on the lowest heat setting until the noodles are ready.
Once the noodles are cooked through, drain the excess water and transfer the noodles onto the sauce.
Evenly coat the noodles (adding water if necessary, as it could be a little thick) in with the sauce, and then pour into four bowls or dishes for immediate serving.

Makes 4 servings.

*I used Andean Dream’s macaroni pasta and highly recommend it.

**As I said, I urge you to taste as you go. The nutritional yeast may be salty enough for the dish.

Getting 2013 Started

It’s a quiet Sunday. The holiday craziness and frivolity is finally winding down, and loved ones are back at their respected states and countries. The New Year is being written down in a brand new planner, with classes, studying, work, climbing, friends, family, appointments, new hobbies and a blog to fill my time avidly.
 
I made such wonderful connections with people over winter break; fantastic food was made, with and without recipes, and none of it was photographed. Even the wonderful dinners with family weren’t documented, either because I wasn’t in MWM mode or I had something else to occupy my interests. 

It’s weird, not having food (the making of and posting of, anyway) be the focal point of my life anymore. Where does the food blogger go from here?

Apparently, the food blogger is publishing her 200th blog post...

Personally, I’m looking forward to actually gardening this year, and am really contemplating urban agriculture and the sustainable food/energy revolution as a career. For Christmas, Mama Dazz gifted me with books (among other awesome things) such as Katz’s (2006) The Revolution Will Not Be Microwaved: Inside America’s Underground Food Movements, Cockrall-King’s (2012) Food and the City: Urban Agriculture and the New Food Revolution, Despommier’s (2010) The Vertical Farm: Feeding the World in the 21st Century, Ladner’s (2011) The Urban Food Revolution: Changing the Way We Feed Families. I will also be more focused in my “going homemade” endeavors with even more fermentation and sausage making (can we say blood sausage and chorizo?). There’s also the remote control and new lens for my Nikon to help me with this endeavor (thanks, Daddy-O!), because I love sharing with all of you and hearing what you have to say.

Chicken and Vegetables in Peanut-Ginger Sauce

340 g Fresh haricot verts
2 Bell Peppers (Red, in this case), thinly sliced vertically
2 Medium-sized onions, thinly sliced horizontally
2 Carrots, julienned vertically with a peeler
1 Garlic clove, coarsely chopped
4 Boneless chicken thighs, thinly sliced into long strips

For the Peanut-Ginger Sauce:
100 g Smooth peanut butter
45 ml Coconut vinegar (rice vinegar would work here too)
10 ml Coconut aminos
1 tsp. Powdered ginger
1/8 tsp. Garlic powder
60 ml Filtered water
Sea salt, to taste (I used 1/4 tsp.)

On medium heat, bring your choice of cooking oil (mine was olive oil) to smoking point in a large wok and sauté the vegetables for five minutes.
Lower the heat to medium-low and add the chicken to cook for fifteen minutes covered with a fitted lid until the chicken is cooked completely and the vegetables have softened.
Prepare the sauce by combining all of the ingredients in a medium bowl.
Place the heat on low and pour the sauce into the wok.
Make sure the chicken and vegetables are thoroughly coated and allow the sauce to reduce to your desired thickness.
Serve hot.

Makes 4 servings.