Doctor's Appointment Made

My apologies for not writing - school and applying for doctoral programs has been a challenge and will continue to be a challenge throughout the semester.

My 6 month trial of largely gluten, soy, and dairy free eating has come to an end, and I must say that, I like the way I feel and the way my skin has reacted, but I'm afraid that just the diet itself hasn't been the silver bullet in curing my acne 100%.  I'm not giving up by any stretch of the imagination - however, I'm enlisting outside help.  I made an appointment with a dermatology M.D. at the campus health center, where I'm going to lay out my entire story in detail - including my research - and, essentially, draft them in to helping me explore ways to get rid of this acne thing for good.  I'm going to ask to test for food allergies/sensitivities, digestive problems, hormone imbalances, candida, polycystic ovary syndrome (even though I'm not by any definition, obese), insulin resistance - anything that I've considered along the way is fair game - and anything that the MD comes up with is also fair game.  If the MD doesn't buy any of the peer-reviewed research I'm going to bring in (a nice binder - yes, I'm a musician, but I'm an academic musician - I know somewhat how research works), then I'll make an appointment with someone else perhaps a bit more open to new, maybe heretical ideas (my research in music theory is a bit heretical too, hence why I don't have a problem with unorthodox approaches to skin healing).  My parents have given their blessing. 

Variation on Raw-Inspired Date Cookies

So the date cookies didn't last very long and I had to do something else to satisfy my sweet tooth and my need to have at least some solid food.  I was looking around at others blogs (which I do for inspiration, since I'm a relative newcomer to this way of eating - I'm still cheating with forbidden foods on occasion), and I kept reading about the joys of almond flour.  Rather than buying some at the local natural foods store (which takes up lots of my time and money already), I ground up some almonds in my coffee grinder and made a variation on the date cookies.

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups fresh ground almond flour
3/4 cup finely chopped dates
1 tbsp flax seeds (optional, but recommended)
1 tbsp hemp seeds (optional, but recommended)
1 tbsp chia seeds (optional, but recommended)
2 tbsp honey
a dash of vanilla extract
a dash of almond extract
1/8 cup melted coconut oil
1 scoop greens powder (optional)
3 tbsp cocoa powder (include if you use the greens powder)

Directions

Combine almond flour, dates, and seeds in a mixing bowl.  Mix.  Pour mixture into a blender/food processor and blend until well blended.  Take mixture out of blender and back into the mixing bowl.  Add honey, coconut oil, vanilla and almond extracts, greens powder and cocoa powder.  Mix mixture until you get a good solid dough.  Scoop out on to wax paper and place in the refrigerator for about an hour, or, if you have a dehydrator, dehydrate to taste.

Raw-Inspired Date Cookies

When Michael (my boyfriend for newcomers) and I went on a nice long hike several days ago, I bought some raw cookie-like energy cubes from the natural food store here that were quite good.  As usual though, it felt like a compromise to buy the things - even from the natural food store - because they had the ubiquitous "natural flavors" on the ingredient's list.  Frankly, "natural flavors" could mean anything: all-natural extracts (which I can have, in moderation) or something I would rather not think about.  Either way, I thought it wouldn't be a bad idea to try and replicate the cookie-ish energy cubes on my own, so that I wouldn't have to worry about what the heck "natural flavors" means.  This is an approximation of what I came up with:

Ingredients
2-3 big fistfuls of dates, finely chopped
a tablespoon or two almond flour
two to four tablespoons shredded coconut, divided
a teaspoon or two honey
a few drops vanilla extract
1/2 a scoop of my greens powder (optional)
a tablespoon or two of cocoa powder (optional)

Puree dates, almond flour, and 2 tablespoons  of shredded coconut in a food processor.  Remove from food processor and add honey, vanilla extract, greens powder, and cocoa powder.  Mix until you get a sticky dough-like substance.  Divide into bite size balls on parchment paper and flatten into a cookie shape.  Sprinkle the rest of the shredded coconut on top and press the coconut into the cookie.  Chill for an hour. 

I'll be trying other variations, since my searches on several raw and paleo blogs have yielded some inspiration for variations on the no-cook cookie theme.

A brief guide to c-dfsf milks in coffee

As I said in today's review of Turtle Mountain's Coconut Milk Yogurt, I was in a hurry to get to church and I needed breakfast.  I also bought some of their Cultured Coconut Milk to use in my Starbucks coffee, which, in addition to prompting an interesting dialogue with the aspiring-vegan barista on-duty, made me realize that not all non-dairy milks go well with coffee.  While I like Turtle Moutain's Cultured Coconut Milk straight; as my green powder's reconstituting liquid; or in smoothies, this particular products almost-yogurt like consistency did not work with the coffee at all.  When I tried stirring up the coffee and the milk up to get the milk to dissolve, nothing happened.  Not only that, but the cultured coconut milk did nothing to cover up the bitterness of the coffee and added a yogurt-like aftertaste.  I ended up going home, opening a can of lite coconut milk, and pouring some in (along with some honey and vanilla extract) to get it right.  Thankfully, I wasn't late for church - I had plenty of time to warm up, practice the hymns, meet the guest speaker, and improvise variations - but it made me think that others (particularly those who don't live dairy-casein free AND soy-free) would find the variety of commercial dairy-casein-and-soy-free milks overwhelming, especially when doctoring up something as simple (and delicious) as coffee.

Rice Milk: the most common choice among coffee shops looking to accommodate dairy-casein-and-soy-free folk, rice milk isn't bad flavor-wise, but is the most watery of the options available.  Even so, I do not complain much when that's the only c-dfsf milk option available, since it's mostly the local coffee/breakfast places where I am that have started offering c-dfsf milk, and I'm just grateful to be able to say, "Let's grab some coffee at [insert 'me-friendly' restaurant here]".

Almond Milk:  a common alternative to rice milk in our local natural foods grocery and a growing alternative in more mainstream grocery stores, commercial almond milk generally has a pleasant, nutty flavor and does fairly well texture-wise in coffee. 

Hemp Milk:  another alternative to rice milk, though less common in mainstream grocery stores than almond milk.  Of the commercial nut/seed milks I've tried, I like this one the best in coffee because of the unusual, rich, nutty flavor and creamy texture.  

Coconut Milk:  this is my favorite overall for doctoring up coffee because of it's light, sweet flavor and naturally rich, creamy texture.  I also prefer it hands down because regular, untouched coconut milk from a can is rich and creamy without "food" additives like carrageenan.  Commercial almond, hemp, rice milks - as well as preprocessed coconut milk milks - all have similar "food" additives for similar purposes.  When I make nut/seed milks at home (which I do regularly) I put in some coconut milk in the mix because it adds some good, creamy texture.  My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

Review: Turtle Mountain So Delicious Coconut Milk Yogurt

I was in a hurry this morning to get to church and needed to grab breakfast on the go, so I took the opportunity to try Turtle Mountain's So Delicious Coconut Milk Vanilla Yogurt.  I'll go on record with the shortest review in existence:  yum.  The texture was right; the flavor was great; my only regret is that it's so expensive - $2 + for an 8 oz carton - and that it has carregeenan - a thickener I try to avoid.  Now that I know that it's possible, I'll just have to figure out how to make my own.  In the mean time, yum . . .

Review: Food of Life Millet Bread

I was in the grocery store yesterday and was intrigued by the thought of millet bread.  I like millet, and I've read that adding any pseudo-grain (i.e. amaranth, millet, quinoa) to gluten-free bread helps with texture, flavor, and nutritional punch.  With that in mind, I bought a loaf of Food of Life's Millet Bread and I wasn't impressed.  The flavor wasn't bad (again, I like millet), but the grainy texture wasn't wheat-bread-like at all.  I gave some to my boyfriend (who eats "normally", is a wonderful cook, and is very discerning about food) and he was not impressed either.  While it may be an improvement over gluten-free breads of the past, Food of Life's Millet Bread doesn't hold a candle to my personal "me-friendly" bread favorite from Udi's Gluten-Free Foods.  On the other hand, I do like their brown rice tortillas, which do not fall apart when you try to fold them for burritos and don't taste gluten-free either.

Common Ways of Eating

In spirit of promoting understanding of the ways that different people organize what they eat, I've put together a brief glossary with broad definitions of common ways of eating.  Enjoy!
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This list is by no means exhaustive, but provides broad definitions of common ways of eating.  If you are someone without dietary restrictions providing food for someone who is and you have doubts about whether or not they will eat a particular dish for any reason, ask. 

Those who avoid meat and/or animal-derived products:

• Vegetarian:  generally speaking, a person who does not eat meat or meat products (i.e. meat-based broth).  There are different sub-groups of vegetarians, however, who may consume dairy (lacto-), eggs (ovo-), fish (pescatarian), or some combination of the three (i.e. lacto-ovo-vegatarian).
• Vegan: a person who does not consume any animal products or products derived from animals (i.e. meat and meat products, dairy, eggs, etc.).

Those with suspected/confirmed food sensitivities/allergies or are following a biomedical intervention protocol for autism:

• GF:  short for "gluten-free", someone who avoids gluten, a protein found in wheat and wheat-related products.
• CF:  short for "casein-free", someone who avoids casein, a milk protein.  
• SF:  short for "soy-free", someone who avoids soy and soy products.
• Top 8:  refers to those foods responsible for most allergic reactions.  These include gluten, dairy, soy, tree nuts, peanuts, eggs, fish, and shellfish.

Those on special diets for other concerns:

• Raw Foodist: definitions vary, but generally speaking, a person who eats mostly or only foods that have not been cooked or have been dehydrated at very low temperatures.  Some raw foodists are vegetarians or vegans, some aren't.
• Paleolithic: a person who eats only what was readily available to paleolithic age humans.  Any food that became available only when humans began practicing agriculture is out (i.e. grains, dairy, sugar, etc.), leaving only foods readily available to hunter-gatherers (i.e. meat, berries, mushrooms, etc.).
• Whole Foodist: a person who eats only food prepared from scratch from fresh ingredients. 
• Locavore:  a person who eats mostly or only food produced near where they live.  Definitions vary as to how close the food needs to be sourced to be considered "local".

Those who follow dietary restrictions for religious reasons:

• Note:  Many religious traditions do not lay down dietary restrictions per se (i.e. Christianity, Buddhism), but many practitioners have taken up certain dietary practices based on their interpretations of their religion (i.e. many Buddhists are vegetarians or vegans, some Christians do not eat meat on Fridays, etc.).  Also, not all people who practice a particular religion necessarily follow all dietary restrictions, for various reasons.  If in doubt, ask.
  
• Kosher (Judaism):  dietary restrictions laid out in the Torah.  Rules include prohibitions on kinds of meat (i.e. no pork) and the way the meat is slaughtered and prepared; not mixing meat and dairy in the same meal; and restrictions on mixing utinsels used for meat and dairy.  For more information on basic kosher rules, check out Judaism 101's entry on keeping kosher.
• Halal (Islam): dietary restrictions based on the Koran.  Rules are similar to Kosher rules in that they include prohibitions on kinds of meat (no pork) and the way the meat is slaughtered and prepared.  Other rules include prohibitions on alcohol and certain food additives.
• Hinduism:  many Hindu practitioners avoid meat and meat products to varying extents.
• For more detailed information on different religious traditions' dietary restrictions, check out Faith and Food