Through the calls I am doing with people interested in my low Fodmap coaching program, I see there is a lot of confusion about what teas you can and cannot drink on the low Fodmap diet, so I want to clarify that now. Safe Teas These are based on a 1 cup serve. Weak to medium black tea Weak chai tea Weak dandelion tea Weak green tea Weak herbal teas (fruit-based with chicory root) Peppermint tea Teas to Avoid Strong chai tea Chamomile tea Fennel tea Strong herbal tea(fruit-based with chicory root) Oolong tea Coffee, as long as it is drunk with lactose-free milk, is generally low in Fodmaps though it is a gut irritant so you should be careful with it. Hot chocolates made from cocoa powder (3 heaped tsp) are fine but made with carob powder, you could only have 1 heaped teaspoon of it. 2 heaped teaspoons quickly takes you into high Fodmap territory so it could be a good idea to avoid carob and use cocoa if you want a hot chocolate drink. The Recipe This recipe is from … [Read more...] about Jamie Oliver’s Quick Lamb Tagine – low Fodmap & gluten-free
grain-free
Potato Fish Cakes – gluten-free and fructmal friendly
Here we are with my second fructmal dinner. I have discovered that people with fructose intolerance like to point out that the term actually is fructose malabsorption because fructose intolerance is something you have from birth and is extremely serious whereas fructose malabsorption is something that can develop at any time. The term is shortened to fructmal which is easier to say. 'Fructmal' and 'malaborption' both get red wriggly lines under them when I type them so I guess they are not in the dictionary yet. That's how new this is. Anyway, from now on, I will refer to it as fructmal. Adriano was yet again away for a race so it was just Dario and me. Three things that are well tolerated are fish, potatoes and spinach but I can't keep bunging them on the plate as is, so I experimented with large fish cakes which incorporated them all. I minced them all up, seasoned, added a squeeze of lemon juice, and an egg and tapioca flour to bind them. They probably needed a little more binding … [Read more...] about Potato Fish Cakes – gluten-free and fructmal friendly
Pita Bread and Mexican Spread – grain-free & fructmal friendly
I had the final food intolerance test today for lactose and I have been skipping all day - I had no reaction at all. Again they took my breath every 1/2 hour for 3 hours and I will hear officially in a couple of weeks but I guess I have my answers already. I am not lactose intolerant but I am fructose intolerant and that sucks big time. It's not like lactose or gluten intolerance, which are clear cut. You eliminate them from your diet and you live well. Not that either of those intolerances is easy but fructose! It is in everything healthy - fruit, vegetables, whole grains etc. It's impossible to eliminate it - you would die from malnutrition. So you manage it. Most people have the fructose in their food absorbed through their stomach walls and that's the way it should be. But we strange folk can't absorb it and so it goes on its way and the bacteria down there sees it as a foreign substance and goes crazy, causing a lot of unpleasantness. Our bodies can tolerate a little fructose not … [Read more...] about Pita Bread and Mexican Spread – grain-free & fructmal friendly
Coconut Chocolate Whoopie Pies – grain, dairy, nut and refined sugar-free
I've made only four recipes this weekend for the cookbook and here is one of them. These are super decadent whoopie pies which have all the taste and flavour of the sugar and grain-laden ones. The book has over 40 recipes now so I only need a few more before it is complete. Meanwhile I just wanted to talk to you about something interesting that I found out the hard way. A few months back we had some testing done in our house to test the levels of toxic gases, moisture and unhealthy living conditions. This was not something we commissioned. In fact, someone who was doing a thesis at university approached us about using our house as part of the test for their studies. Most of our house was just fine but one thing came out of the study. Our bedroom had high levels of carbon dioxide, which is detrimental to health. We both always woke up feeling more tired than when we went to bed and I always had a headache. It would take all morning to feel normal again. There were also some other … [Read more...] about Coconut Chocolate Whoopie Pies – grain, dairy, nut and refined sugar-free
Roast Lamb and update
I have decided to post tonight to give you an update on my food intolerance tests. But then I thought that I couldn't do a post without photos so I photographed dinner even though it wasn't really a recipe. Adriano is away trying to destroy his body in another mountain biking race so it was just Dario and me. I bought a cute little lamb roast - shoulder of lamb butterflied, to be exact. Then I cut potatoes up small and roasted them. I love them small and crispy. Just in case you wanted to know, we have around 4 million people in New Zealand and about 60 million sheep. That's a lot of sheep! But back to the update. I had a special limited diet yesterday and then starved this morning. I got there at 8am and they immediately gave me this disgustingly sweet drink - a full glass of it. It was pure fructose. Another lady was doing the same test and she lapped it up, commenting how delicious it was. It takes all sorts. I immediately felt nauseous and it went downhill from there. My … [Read more...] about Roast Lamb and update
Brazilian Cheese Puffs – gluten and grain-free
I have found yet another recipe for grain-free cheese bread and decided to cook it tonight with a simple meal of baby spinach, smoked salmon, a poached egg and homemade aioli sauce. How healthy is that with heaps of omega-3 and teeming with minerals and vitamins! I found the recipe at the Perfect Health Diet. Actually, even though the recipe was a bit different, they tasted pretty much the same as the last lot. I think I have this grain-free bread thing down pat and need to move on. … [Read more...] about Brazilian Cheese Puffs – gluten and grain-free