Food Prep this week

By Elizabeth Prata

Good morning! I've got some cooking going on. People tell me they really enjoy the Facebook posts on food prep and the blog essays on cooking. Thank you! I decided to expand it a little and share my reasoning for why I cook the things I do. :)

This is the last week I'm on the elimination FODMAP diet to see what is causing the IBS. Monash University in Australia has made a scientific breakthrough regarding foods that give people trouble who suffer from IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome). I've given up gluten, having become intolerant to it. The doctor told me that there are 3 levels of food issues, sensitive, intolerant, and allergic. I have a family member with Celiac disease (allergic to gluten) and over the years I've developed an intolerance to gluten myself. So I gave up all gluten/wheat food items.

I am also intolerant of lactose. So I gave that up too. No more yogurt or cottage cheese with fruit for dessert, just fruit. I can get lactose-free milk at my regular grocery store. I can get lactose free yogurt too, but it's prohibitively expensive  and a lower cost than l-f yogurt. There is no l-f cottage cheese where I shop so that's that. I was still having issues adn I was really stumped. My doctor put me onto this Monash-FODMAP issue and it seems to be the answer for me.

I'll be excited to see which foods will be added back into my diet now that the elimination of foods containing FODMAPs have been taken out. And yes, when I took out the gluten it helped, and the elimination of lactose helped. But I wasn't completely free of bowel issues, and the FODMAP elimination helped resolve it.

But FODMAPs cover such a wide range of foods that it's not wise nor practical to eliminate all of them from one's diet forever. So there's an important step 2: after a suitable time on the eliiation diet to let the bowel and digestive system rest, now add back in small groups of FODMAP foods under controlled conditions to see what is causing the irritation in the digestive system. Click on the link above to learn about foods containing FODMAPs.

 Meanwhile, this week's food prep-

MAIN DISHES/PROTEINS

-Lentil soup with mustard greens, carrots, garden green peppers, and celery. Curry spices. This'll be for lunch every day.

-Fresh green beans with tofu cubes, teriyaki sauce and crushed peanuts on top. Tofu is a versatile and inexpensive protein. It also has the advantage of keeping longer uncooked than seafood or meat.

-Shrimp was on sale at Kroger so I bought half a pound, about 20 medium-large shrimp. This yields 4 servings, or about 50 cents per protein meal. I try to keep my protein servings under $1 each. I'll eat them cold with spinach salad.

--Crabcake with mustard greens and a potato on the side. A prepared stuffed crab at Kroger is $1. I cooked a bunch of potatoes in the crock pot yesterday. Add some potatoes to the crock with a half cup of water, turn on high, and they cook pillow soft in about two hours. You don't even have to spear them, just wash and put in. Now I have potatoes for the week without having to heat up the kitchen boiling them for a long time. Forget about baking them, it's too hot to turn on the oven in GA in August.

SIDES/VEGGIES

--I've been gifted 3 garden eggplants. I'll saute them with mushrooms and a can of tomatoes for a kind of hash. You can add this to spaghetti (or spaghetti squash), add rice, put on crusty bread with mozzarella, throw some greens in it (I prefer spinach with eggplant) or just eat as a side dish.

--Homemade hummus*. Chick peas are low FODMAP friendly! Cut up carrots & celery for dipping. Or rice crackers.

-Groats for breakfast. These are the whole oat. They are chewy and filling. Think the consistency of wild rice. I add strawberries or blueberries with lactose free milk. I love it cold! But you can heat it too for a healthy low carb, low fat, no-gluten breakfast! (1/2 cup serving of groats is 15 carbs, milk is 15 more).

FRUIT/DESSERT

-Notwithstanding the illegal donut I had on Friday, my desserts are usually fruit. This week I have strawberries, blueberries, grapes, a few mandarin oranges left from last week, and pineapple.

SNACKS

Popcorn, almonds, peanuts, slice of turkey, rice crackers with peanut butter, cheese (cheddar or other aged cheeses are more easily tolerated for lactose sensitive or intolerant folks than fresh cheeses). Drinks: Fizzy water, cold hibiscus tea, hot peppermint tea, coffee.

*Lower FODMAP Hummus recipe:

1 14.5 ounce can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2 TB water
4 TB lemon juice
2 TB peanut butter (this substitutes for Tahini)
2TB garlic infused olive oil (I dont' have this so I skipped it. DOn't be afraid to skip or change the recipe to your preference)
1 teasp sesame oil (I didn't have this either. No worries)
1/2 teas salt (I like less salt).

Measure ingredients into a bowl of a blender or food processor. Process till smooth, adding a little extra oil if necessary. Chill until serving. Servings: 8 (Sorry, I can't find how big 1 serving is...:(