Azure Standard Affordable Organic Food

I just found this site through The Whole Life Nutrition blog.  I have been trying with the help of my mom to find a food co-op to order organic food for cheaper and I found this site this morning.  I am really excited to find this because I have been concerned about changing my food storage from wheat to gluten free grains.  If you have a way to grind flour you can buy the grain and make your own for cheaper. They will send you a catalog upon request and allow you to download their catalog and delivery areas.

Azure Standard

Coconut Milk Rice Pudding

This is the recipe I started out with to make a breakfast cereal.   "It' tastes like a comfort food," my husband said and I heartily agree.  Keep some cooked brown rice in the refrigerator so you can make it quickly.  My favorite rice for this is the sweet brown rice because it is sticky.  I also use coconut cream because I like the thickness.

Coconut Milk Rice Pudding

    1 16 oz can of Coconut milk
    2 cups of cooked rice (brown or white)
    sweetener, your choice, enough to sweeten the milk
    1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

Put liquid ingredients in a saucepan and heat until warm or until sweetener dissolves.  Add the rice and cook on medium until it becomes the consistency you like. 

Yummy Flat Bread from Whole Life Nutrition Kitchen

I think my new favorite grain is teff (an Ethiopian grain that is gluten free).  This recipe has a mixture of sorghum (a gluten free grain grown in Africa and Asia) and teff.  For some of the ingredients I had to make substitutions.  If you don't have arrowroot powder you can use tapioca starch (flour).  I also cannot have corn products so xanthan gum is out for me.  I used guar gum (a thickener from the guar bean) instead.  Honey is also out  so I replaced it wth agave nectar.  All of these ingredients make for a delicious flat bread with no eggs, no dairy, no refined sugar, and no gluten.  I tend to carried away and eat the whole pan because it tastes so good.  My kids have liked it for toast and my husband said, "It just tastes like bread." Follow this link for the recipe.  Whole Grain Flat Bread

Yellow Split Pea Curry Soup

I got this recipe off of Allrecipes.com because I was looking for something to make with yellow split peas.  I was surprised that everyone loved it and some of my kids wanted seconds.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1 carrot, chopped

1 stalk celery, chopped

1 small onon, chopped

1 1/2 teaspoon curry powder

1 cup yellow split peas

4 cups water or chicken/vegetable broth

1 teaspoon salt or herbamare (a seasoning found online or in health food stores)

Directions          

Heat olive oil in a large saucepan. Cook and stir carrot, onion, celery and curry for about 5 minutes. Add the water, peas and salt. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 1 and 15 minutes, or until very thick.

Gluten Free 30 Minute Flatbread

Since I can't have yeast I wanted to find a recipe for flat bread. I found this recipe from the Gluten Free Cooking School.  I was so excited and ate quite a bit of it because I hadn't had bread in a while.  There wasn't so much excitement with my family.  They thought it tasted like corn bread and thought it was just okay.  Me on the other hand think it's great.  Try it and see then let me know what you think.  The only not so familiar ingredients are xanthan gum and brown rice flour.

Hearty Chicken Veggie Soup

I was skimming through the cookbook, From Pantry to Plate by Weight Watchers and found a recipe that looked good.  I needed to adjust the noodles and I substituted potatoes and left out the tomatoes because I wanted something I could eat for dinner too (on the Candida diet no canned tomatoes).  I also pureed some of the vegetable so my kids wouldn't say, "EEEWW! Onions! When I was done I created my own recipe.  Hooray! and it tastes good.  You can also leave out the chicken if you want a vegetarian dish.

Hearty Chicken Vege Soup

• 1 tbsp Olive Oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves
• 2 celery stalks, chopped
• 2 carrots, (1 chopped, 1 sliced)
• 1 tsp dried basil 
• 1 tsp salt
• 10 oz package of frozen mixed veges or Veggies of your choice ( I used an extra carrot, and green beans)
• 4 cups vegetable or chicken broth
• 1 medium red potato, chopped
• 1 can Great Northern beans
• 1 to 1 1/2 cups of cooked chicken (optional)

Saute the onion, garlic, celery, carrot and basil until the onions soften.  Add a 1 ½ cups of broth and sauteed vegetables to a blender (or use an immersion blender) and puree.  Put the puree into a stock pot.  Add the frozen (or fresh) vegetables, broth, potato, and beans and chicken.  Bring to a boil and then simmer for 25 to 30 minutes.  Salt to taste.

I am serving these tonight with gluten free biscuits from the Gluten Free Cooking School.

Teriyaki Chicken

I was searching for a recipe for the chicken I had defrosted in the fridge.  I found one on Allrecipes.com and changed it a little.  I experimented these changes on my family and they loved it.  I mixed it with a recipe that I got on the blog The Whole Enchilada for Teryaki chicken.  One of my sons did not want to try it but our rule is you have to taste it.  Once he tasted it he wanted more

Teriyaki Chicken (sugar free)

Original Recipe Yield 6 servings 

Ingredients

1 (3 pound) whole chicken, cut in half (or whichever type of chicken you have)

1/2 cup xylitol

3/4 cup Bragg’s soy sauce replacement

1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger

2 cloves garlic, minced

Rinse chicken halves, and pat dry with paper towels. Place chicken in a saucepan.

In a medium mixing bowl, combine xylitol, soy sauce, grated ginger and garlic. Mix well, and pour mixture over chicken. Cover and boil for about 20 to 25 minutes.  Serve over brown rice.

Yellow Curry

The day I went to the doctor and got the results of my allergy test, the doctor mentioned that I could have coconut milk on my cereal in the morning.  A light went on in my head because I knew then that I could have curry dishes.  Hooray! Something I could eat.  So, I went to the Asian market to get curry paste.  The  lady working there is from Thailand and I knew I needed to ask her for some recipes. Gratefully, she already had a cookbook made up and this one is my favorite.  I had to omit the sugar and the fish sauce because it had sugar and I love the results.  You can put in any type of vegetable you want.  The first time I put in kale, green beans, peppers, etc. I will insert a picture soon.

Yellow Curry—from My Mom’s Homemade Thai Recipe Book Kanakum Lawson adapted by K.C. 

• 2 Tbsp olive oil          
• 1 Can of Coconut milk (w/o sugar)
• Fresh vegetables—red/grn peppers, kale, green beans, onion (cut in chunks)
• 1 to 3 Tbsp      yellow curry (adjust to how spicy you like your food)  I used Mae Ploy Paste found at the Asian Market
• 1 to 1 ½ lbs     meat (optional)

1. On medium heat, put oil in a pot.  Add curry paste and stir-fry for 2 to 3 minutes.
2. Add 1/3 Can of coconut milk and stir fry for about 3 to 4 minutes until it bubbles yellow
3. A meat (if using vegetables stir fry as you would the meat)  4 to 8 minutes.
4. Add the rest of the coconut milk and ½ can of water (use the coconut milk can).
5. Simmer for 15 to 30  minutes.
6. If the sauce is too thick, add a little water.  If there is too much liquid simmer a little longer to thicken it.

What to have in a Gluten, Sugar Free Pantry

When I first found out I had to change my diet I tried to figure out what I could eat. Something that would have helped me would have been to have a list of what to have on hand so I could make something edible to eat that would fill me up other than lean meat and veges.  Some of these things I cannot eat because of allergies or because of the candida but I am trying to list what I have learned.   Many of these things can be found at the grocery store or health food store and some at Asian markets (their products are cheaper).  If they are not available a great source is the internet.  All of them are found online--do some comparison shopping.  Many of the definitions I have listed come from Wikipedia which I know isn't always the most accurate source but can give you a quick definition.

Dairy Replacement:

Coconut milk and cream: can mix with grains for a cereal, make smoothies, ice cream--I love coconut cream!  It has a lot of good fat and keeps you full for a long time.  It is cheapest at the Asian markets.

Rice Milk: use as a replacement for milk, the flavor is mild so it doesn't add a strange taste. (grocery stores, Costco)

Almond Milk: use as a replacement for milk especially in baking (health food stores)

Soy Milk: Some like it, some don't (me), and some are allergic, used as a milk replacement in cooking (grocery stores, health food stores, Costco)

Grains:


Rice: there are many types of rice available that are nutritious.   The one to avoid is white rice (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_rice ) as it has lost most of it's nutrients in the milling process.  Many grocery stores have regular brown rice and some other types.  Most varieties you can find at health food stores.

These are some of the rice varieties I have tried

• short grain sweet brown rice (I love this kind of rice)
• brown rice
• black rice (something new I tried. It has a corn like flavor to it)
• basamati--haven't tried yet

Amaranth: (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amaranth_grain) is an ancient grain used by the Aztec's and is high in protein.  It has a nutty flavor.  You can grind it into flour or cook it as you rice.  I have put it in my bread ( 25% amaranth to 75% flour).  Available at health food stores

Quinoa (keen wa): (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quinoa) an ancient seed-like grain that originated in the Andes.  This is another grain that is a good source of protein.  It also is cooked similarly to rice but make sure you wash it first (unless you bought it already washed) because it has a bitter taste to it from a powdery residue on the seeds.  Available at health food stores, some grocery stores, Costco 

Buckwheat:  I haven't tried  yet.  I had some when I was little.  It does not contain wheat or gluten.  You can make flour or cereal.

There are many others.

Sweeteners:

On the Candida diet I can have stevia and xylitol but there are other sweeteners available that don't contain refined cane sugar.

Stevia: a natural sweetener 250 to 300 times sweeter than sucrose and has a negligible effect on blood sugar (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stevia).  It can have an after taste to it.  You can find this in grocery stores (Truvia) or health food stores, online which have other brands.  It comes in powder and liquid forms.

Xylitol:  a sweetener found in the fibers of many fruits and vegetables (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xylitol).  Xylitol has many health benefits.  It is being used in chewing gum to help prevent cavities.  It can be consumed in the treatment of candida--the yeast eats the sugar but it cannot digest it so it dies. Other areas it is used are diabetes, osteoporosis, ear infections, infections, etc.  It also does not raise blood sugar levels so there is not a sugar "crash'

Agave Nectar: this sweetener is sweeter than honey and has a low glycemic index (it doesn't spike your blood sugar).  http://www.allaboutagave.com/ , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agave_nectar

Palm sugar: used in Asian cooking ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palm_sugar) it is nutrient rich. Here is a link that tells more about it (http://www.naturalnews.com/028996_palm_sugar_natural_sweetener.html).  You can find it at health food stores but it is even cheaper at Asian markets.

Baking replacements:

Xanthan Gum: is used as a thickening agent--make sure you are aware of the source because it could contain corn, wheat, dairy or soy which can cause a reaction in sensitive people. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xanthan_gum#Uses

Guar gum: a thickener that comes from the guar bean

Agar agar: a thickener or jelly replacement  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agar#Culinary

Tapioca Starch or Flour: some stores use either names--they are both the same. Found at the health food store or online Bob's Red Mill  http://www.bobsredmill.com/ http://www.twinvalleymills.com/

Sorghum Flour: a grain originally grown in Africa and Asia that can be used in baking like wheat and is used in many gluten free flour mixes ( http://www.bobsredmill.com/, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sorghum) Look at the health food store for this flour.  There are some online sources where you can buy the grain and grind it yourself. http://www.twinvalleymills.com/  http://www.twinvalleymills.com/ http://www.twinvalleymills.com/

Soy Flour: combines well with sorghum for a gluten free flour

Bean Flour: used in gluten free baking, very nutritious

Rice flour: is grainy, mixed with other gluten free flours 

This comes from my limited experience and can be added to.  So if you would like to add anything to this list please leave a comment.  I love any help I can get.

Curry Paste


There are many kinds of curry paste, yellow, masaman, green, red, etc) and you can purchase it at a Asian Market.  In Provo, Chao's on University and Thai Market on 3rd South.  I like Mae Ploy brand.

Soy Sauce--Bragg's Liquid Amino's, a soy sauce replacement