Spicy Honey Mustard

As I was getting ready to make this recipe, I looked at the amounts given for each ingredient, and found that I had grossly underestimated how much dry mustard I would need... So, for now, I have to admit that I improvised and made a very small portion of this recipe. However, it was delicious, and I'm hoping to make more when I can get my hands on more mustard! I found this recipe on the Small Measures blog. The link has a post with several different mustard recipes, I tried the Spicy Honey Mustard. It is delicious.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup dry mustard
• 1 cup cider vinegar
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Instructions:

Combine all ingredients in a small pot. Whisk to blend and bring to a simmer over medium heat for 5–6 minutes.

When the mustard is thoroughly heated, ladle it into sterilized jars (leave 1/2-inch of head space if you plan to water-bath can the mustard).

Either refrigerate the mustard and consume within several weeks or water-bath process it for 10 minutes and use within one year.

 ***

My Alterations:
 I can't have honey right now, so I substituted agave nectar for that. I did my best to estimate on the honey, salt, and pepper, because I only used a Tablespoon of the dry mustard and vinegar... It seemed to come out ok, so I must not have done a terrible job!

Cranberry and Cilantro Quinoa Salad

This was not my favorite of all of the recipes I'm trying for this Elimination Diet, but that's probably because I'm not huge on cilantro. I like a hint of it, but not the strong flavor. However, I did get to cut some fresh cilantro from my herb garden this morning to make this (it has grown so much since I took this picture! {so proud}

But anyway, on to the main event. I love the cranberries and peppers in this, and I think that it's a nice mix of textures. But the cilantro is a bit much for me, and I really skimped on the onion (I put in about a third of what the recipe called for), but it's plenty for me. Anyway, if you like cilantro and/or onion, you'd probably love this, so I thought I'd share:

Ingredients:

 

1 1/2 cups water

1 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed

1/4 cup red bell pepper, chopped 

1/4 cup yellow bell pepper, chopped 

1 small red onion, finely chopped  

1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder  

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro 

1 lime, juiced 

1/4 cup toasted sliced almonds 
1/2 cup minced carrots 
1/2 cup dried cranberries
salt and ground black pepper to taste


Instructions:

1. Pour the water into a saucepan, and cover with a lid. Bring to a boil over high heat, then pour in the quinoa, recover, and continue to simmer over low heat until the water has been absorbed, 15 to 20 minutes. Scrape into a mixing bowl, and chill in the refrigerator until cold.
2. Once cold, stir in the red bell pepper, yellow bell pepper, red onion, curry powder, cilantro, lime juice, sliced almonds, carrots, and cranberries. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Chill before serving.

***

My alterations:
As mentioned above, I only used about 1/3 of the onion. I also left out the almonds because I can't have those right now.. but I'm sure they would be delicious in this salad.  I did not measure the cilantro, but I didn't think I put in the full amount (I may have...), and I'd definitely put less in next time. I may also add some more lime juice since I can't taste it as much as I'd like to.
 

Drama, Drama, Drama {Elimination Diet Diary}

On an Elimination Diet note, I thought I would share how it's been going for the last 5 days. I read that these first 5 days would be the hardest. I didn't question that, but I may have underestimated how it would be. I think that beyond going through withdrawal from foods that my body is used to, I have discovered a major reason for this difficulty.

In all reality, people who are going on the Elimination Diet are eliminating things from their diet that they regularly eat and cook with. I think that it has to be a part of it that you feel like you "can't eat anything!!!" (dramatic much?) But, really. So many things that I eat on a daily basis are removed. And let me just tell you - soy and corn are in (almost) everything! (there was even a soy product in the herbal tea I wanted to buy...).

My breakdown came when I'd thought that I found a recipe that looked clean and that I thought I could make with no problems. As I was reading down the list of ingredients (granted, it was after 5 and I was hungry), I came across the last two: ketchup and worcestershire sauce. I was devastated. (again, dramatic??) I was really looking forward to that recipe, and I didn't know how to make it without the sauces. It seemed to be an important part.

All of this drama to say, I think that the main reason this few days is the most difficult is actually because the people who need to do it have never had to cook/prepare food this way before, and don't actually know how to feed themselves (...ourselves - this absolutely includes me). I have done a lot of research and looked up a lot of things that are within my guidelines, but it definitely takes time and effort to eat well. I have also realized how processed my diet had become. I don't plan to go all of the way back after this is over.

Taco Seasoning

After a near melt down a few days ago (I can't eat anything!! Why am I even doing this!?), I finally decided on trying to make a taco salad for dinner. However, to make a taco salad, I had to make my own taco seasoning, which was actually a quick and *better tasting* alternative. I found my recipe from this cute blog: happily "un" processed. Honestly, I liked this seasoning better than the taco seasoning in the packets I've been using for years. Probably partially because I hadn't tasted anything so close to "normal" in a few days, and I was floundering. BUT, it also has a little more kick than packaged taco seasoning, but the same general taste.

Ingredients:
1 Tbsp chili powder
2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp course sea salt
1 tsp black pepper

To make this, just put all of the ingredients together, mix well, and store it in an airtight container. I can also tell you that you would need to use 3-4 Tablespoons if you're trying to replace an entire packet. The first time I made it, I doubled the recipe, because I knew I wanted to use it for more than one thing. I had about half left over, so I would guess that the recipe as-is probably makes one pouch worth of seasoning.

Mexican Dry Rub

Tonight marked my second successful, VERY tasty dinner eating with most of my staples removed (explanation in an earlier post). Tonight I used a recipe from this website for a rub and used it on chicken breast. I'm sure it would be wonderful on other meats (and the recipe suggest possibly putting it on grilled veggies as well), but I can tell you that it is very good on chicken! This is a very simple and flavorful (and quick!) way to prepare chicken. I'm also considering putting some of the left-overs on a taco-like salad... Can you say YUM!?

Ok, without further ado:

Ingredients:

1 teaspoon onion powder
3/4 teaspoon seasoning salt
1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano leaves, crushed
3/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/3 teaspoon cumin

Instructions:

Mix ingredients together.

Rub all over chicken (or whatever meat you're using). Grill your meat as needed. looked up grill times on allrecipes.com and found a cook time of 6-8 min per side - which worked fabulously. It was juicy and flavorful!

Elimination Diet

Today is the first day of my Elimination Diet. And I'm planning to post lots of recipes as I go along this journey. So, I wanted to explain my purpose behind this. This is so very different from the way that I've been eating and from what I usually cook. There is usually at least one of the "can't haves" in each recipe I make - not a rule, but something I'm definitely aware of now that I'm going to try to eat and cook without any dairy, wheat, or soy - soy is in everything people! So, now that I've danced around it, my reason for doing this is to discover the foods that don't like me. Because, honestly, I love most foods. But they don't always love me

Yesterday was my first wheat-free, dairy-free, soy-free, corn-free trip to the grocery store. Holy moly. That was a totally different experience. It was amazing to walk through the grocery store and realize all of the things I would normally buy that I can't buy. I can't even buy some of the herbal tea I was planning to buy because it has soy lecithin as one of the ingredients - seriously!? I've read things that say you can eat things that contain soy lecithin, but I'm not sure if that's really true. So, I'm staying away from it for now.

My plan for today is to move all of my "can't eat" foods that are left in my kitchen separately from the new foods I need to be eating for the next three weeks. I feel that it might be easier to stick to what I'm supposed to eat especially in these first 3, very restricted weeks.

I'm excited for this. I love eating well. I've got time to cook and prepare food. I've got the opportunity to be home if I'm not feeling well - I don't have to work all day every day. I feel that this is the perfect time for this. So, I'll be documenting this a little bit, mostly through recipes, here.

Thanks for bearing with me through this post. No recipe... on a food/cooking blog. Oops! More coming soon.