Elimination Diet: My Favorite Foods & Products

When I first went on the elimination diet & eliminated all eight top allergens from my diet (dairy, soy, wheat, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, fish and shellfish) I had a hard time adjusting. There were are lot of things I couldn't have. I tried to focus on the things I could have, but in the beginning that list seemed short -- meats, fruit, vegetables and rice. I quickly learned to make the best of our new-found diet situation; it was all about exploring new foods, preparing my own food and eating whole, unprocessed foods.

The following is a list of the foods and products that made me feel like I wasn't missing out on anything at all. In fact, I got to add a bunch of news foods to my repertoire.

1. So Delicious Coconut Milk Creamer: I really like a cup of coffee in the morning. I like it with creamer. A lot of creamer. When I first went on the elimination diet, a friend suggested almond milk for my coffee. Too thin. I tried vanilla syrup. Better taste, but still not my thing. I ended up forgoing my morning cup of joe because I just couldn't find anything I liked to put in it. When I found out about So Delicious coconut milk coffee creamer I was ecstatic. I think I ran to the store that same day to buy some. It tasted just like the creamer I was used to, if not better. The consistency was just what I was looking for; it's creamy and flavorful. I never run out of my vanilla coconut milk coffee creamer now; the fridge is always well stocked.

2. Zing bars: We were wandering around the market one day when I noticed a sample table. I usually avoid them, but this one caught my eye. I was so excited to find Zing bars. They are locally made. When I was first starting the big elimination I was at a loss for what to eat for protein. Before, I stuck with nuts, eggs, and dairy for most of my protein, meat to a lesser extent. On the elimination diet, I was starting to feel like I was always hungry. I was starving in the evenings between nursing all the time and the diet. The Zing bars were perfect when I needed a snack to get me through. I started out with the Chocolate Coconut Zing bar (contains almonds & coconut) and, later when I could have peanuts, I tried out the Chocolate Peanut Butter one. There is also a Cranberry Orange flavor that is dairy free too, but contains cashews. I am positive I will never look at a protein/energy bar the same way. You'll be hard up to find one that comes close to Zing bars in taste.

3. Quinoa: I had never had quinoa before going on the big elimination. Glenn had picked some up at Trader Joes a long while back and it was sitting in our cupboard. One night we were getting dinner prepared and I realized that I couldn't have the side dish Glenn had picked out (I can't remember what it was or why now). I started looking through the cupboards trying to find something I could eat as a side. I found the quinoa. I'm so glad I did. Quinoa is one of our favorite grains now. We use quinoa pasta in our favorite soup. We have two delicious side salads that we make: Greek Quinoa and Red Quinoa with Papaya & Mango Salsa and Arugala. We have quinoa for breakfast. Beanie loves it too.

4. Trader Joes Brown Rice Penne Pasta: I was sure I'd have to miss out on pasta being gluten-free. Not the case! We definitely don't have it as often as we used to, but the TJ's brown rice penne pasta is delicious. We've tried a few brands of brown rice pasta, but the TJ's one is, by far, the best. For a full review, click here.

5. Bob's Red Mill Gluten-Free Flour: I'm not a fancy baker or cook. I do like baking with Beanie and, having the dietary restrictions we do, it's often easier to make something yummy at home. Often times recipes call for a mixture of flours, but I found the easy way out -- Bob's Red Mill gluten-free all purpose baking flour. We had started using rice flour initially, but switched to the Bob's Red Mill one, which is a mix of gluten-free flours and potato starch, and are happier with the taste and texture of our baked goods. Also, must mention the xantham gum too -- really helped with the baked goods! Basically, we've liked every single Bob's Red Mill gluten-free product we've tried and there have been quite a few: vanilla cake, cornbread, brownies, and pancake mix to name a few.

6. Luna & Larry's Coconut Bliss ice-cream: Okay, okay ice-cream is definitely not an essential food item. Or maybe it is? What I do know is that Luna & Larry's Coconut Bliss ice-cream was my treat when I felt like I couldn't eat anything. In the beginning of the big elimination, I felt like every time I ate it was a constant reminder of the diet. Going to the freezer and pulling out some ice-cream was something I looked forward to each evening. My two favorite flavors are the Mint Galactica (the best mint chocolate chip ice cream Glenn says he's had and he's something of a mint chocolate chip ice-cream connoisseur) and the Chocolate Peanut Butter. The Chocolate Hazelnut Fudge was the first one I had and it is so rich and tasty that just a small bit will satisfy you. Even if there's no reason for you not to have dairy ice-cream I implore you to try Coconut Bliss.

7. Rudi's gluten-free bread: Sometimes you just really want a sandwich. Or a slice of toast. Glenn found Rudi's gluten-free cinnamon raisin bread for me and I was hooked. Their multigrain bread is my favorite for sandwiches. I don't do sandwiches a lot, but when I do I definitely prefer their bread. (contains eggs -- I didn't try this until later on)

8. Earth Balance soy-free buttery spread: Earth Balance dairy-free soy-free spread is so good! It's great for baking, putting on toast, or (Beanie would tell you) just eating out of a spoon. I'm not kidding, just today we were making biscuits and she was so excited to put the measuring cups in the sink so she could, and I quote, "lick them all clean." She now asks for "mommy's butter" on her food too.



9. Rice Dream Rice Milk:  Rice Dream rice milk became my go to drink. I don't really drink it by itself, but I always have it on hand for baking, granola, and lattes. I was so excited to get a case of it at Costco; I only have two cartons left so I hope I can find it there again soon.

There were obviously foods that, although not "required" by any stretch of the imagination, made the elimination a lot more fun. So, honorable mentions go to:


Enjoy Life chocolate chips -- Enjoy Life Foods are gluten-free and made without any of the top eight allergens
Kinnikinnick cinnamon donuts -- These are delicious with coffee.
Kinnikinnick frozen waffles -- Some mornings I don't feel like oatmeal. Or eggs. Or making pancakes. These waffles are easy to pop in the toaster and really tasty.
Udi's gluten-free double chocolate muffins -- My post Best Treat Ever pretty much sums it up.

Best. Treat. Ever.

Early in my elimination diet a friend who was also trying to identify intolerances in her little one told me she found some gluten-free chocolate muffins at Whole Foods. I wondered if they'd be everything-free enough that I could enjoy them. And they are! Udi's Gluten free Double Chocolate Muffins are also dairy free, soy free and nut free. And they are delicious. They are moist and perfectly chocolaty. Pair them with a cup of coffee and some So Delicious French Vanilla coconut milk coffee creamer and you might find me breaking my no-chocolate-for-breakfast rule. They're perfect for a dessert too.

When I found out I had to be gluten-free and dairy-free for Bubby, I thought I was going to have to miss out on delicious baked goods. I found a lot of yummy-looking items that were gluten-free but not dairy-free or dairy-free but not gluten-free. Then I found Udi's muffins and realized I don't really have to miss out on anything at all.

Glenn, who's not gluten-free, even just asked me if he could have one of my muffins. Beanie likes them too. In fact, they taste better than many "regular" muffins I've had so even if you're not gluten- and dairy-free you might want to give them a try. They're on sale locally at PCC for $4.99 through the end of August. I bought two packs yesterday (one for now, one in the freezer) and I'm sure I'll go back for more by the end of the month.

Well, Hello 31.

Years. Not flavors.

Although back in high school I really loved me a Cappuccino Blast with Gold Medal Ribbon.

Anyhoo, here's my birthday cake...

It was pretty darn good! Beat my expectations for a gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free cake. I picked up some of the Bob's Red Mill gluten free Vanilla Cake Mix the last time we were at Metro Market. I looked for some dairy-free frosting, but no luck so I figured I'd look online for a recipe. Strangely enough, Cindy over at Gluten Free in Montana posted a recipe for Dairy Free Creamy White Frosting that very same day! Perfect. I ended up using about 5Tbsp of rice milk. The icing was a bit sweet for me so if I make it again I'd probably cut the sugar a bit. I'm not a huge icing fan anyway, so no surprise there. The cake was good too. Moist and fluffy like a "normal" cake. The strawberries were an afterthought -- Glenn picked them up because they were on sale & thought they'd be good on the cake. I agreed and Beanie had a great time arranging them with me.

******

And now about my birthday. It was great. Bubby helped me celebrate by being up to nurse every hour the night before ;-)  And Beanie woke up early, but Glenn got up with her. Glenn made breakfast & then we went on a hike. I had thought Beanie would like to walk some or all of the way, but she rode in the Kelty backpack. I carried Bubby in the Ergo. I can tell I'm out of shape because hiking back up I was hurting!! Beanie had a great time finding (and eating of course) huckleberries & Bubby enjoyed the scenery when he wasn't napping. It was our first real hike as a family of four. Glenn BBQ'd for dinner and then we did presents & cake. I got a gift card to go have some me time & go clothes shopping!! Woohoo. I keep holding out on buying anything because I have so many pants from my post-partum time with Beanie that almost fit. I really could use a few new things though and I can always go shopping again when I am at my desired weight again.

Here's a few pics from our hike. It wasn't a great time of day for photography with the sun out & very bright (and I was taking pics with my cell phone camera), but you get the idea.

The upper falls.

This picture does not do the scenery justice at all. It was gorgeous & I really wish Glenn had had his camera on him.

  The lower falls.

Anyway, happy birthday to me!

Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Pancake Mix

I've mentioned before that one of my favorite things about Glenn actually having a day off is having a big breakfast together as a family. Well, Glenn didn't have today off -- he had to work a few hours this morning, but he was home in time for breakfast.

We made pancakes. Again. Beanie loves making pancakes. The kid would eat pancakes every morning for breakfast if she could. We had blueberry pancakes on Wednesday which was my first try with the Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Pancake Mix. It was great! I had tried another brand of GF pancake mix before (it may or may not have been from Trader Joes *wink wink*) and I didn't really care for it. I'll admit, then I was also not having eggs so I used bananas in place of the eggs in the TJ's mix. They were, um, edible. I guess.

The Bob's Red Mill ones are great. They look like real pancakes. With a good dousing of syrup they even (pretty much) taste like real pancakes. The mix is gluten free and dairy free. It calls for 3/4c of milk (any kind -- I use rice milk),1 egg, and a Tbsp of oil (I use canola oil) added in to 1 1/2c of the mix. Both times I've made the pancakes I've used quite a bit more milk. The first batch I made, I made two pancakes after adding just a splash extra of milk. They were pretty gritty in my opinion. I made the rest of the batch after adding in more rice milk and they were delicious! Today I added in even more milk and they were really good. I probably had to add even more milk today because, oops, I had run out of rice milk and so I had the mix sitting there with the egg, the oil, and a tiny bit of rice milk in it while Glenn ran to the store to pick me up some more milk. Great hubby!

I'm so glad that I can have good pancakes again. I was thinking of playing around and making my own from scratch (it's probably cheaper, right?) but the Bob's Red Mill ones are so good I may not even bother!

Elimination Diet: Day 8

It's not that I forgot to eat yesterday, but with Beanie's birthday party and all it was kind of a weird day.

We went to Metropolitan Market yesterday morning because I figured if there was any chance of finding a gluten free, vegan slice of cake or something similar we would probably find it there. No such luck. I sort of figured. I was bummed to go without cake at Beanie's birthday party, but oh well. I did grab another pint of the Luna & Larry's coconut milk ice cream. I got the Mint Galactica flavor and even Glenn, who is quite the mint chocolate chip ice cream connoisseur, gave it two thumbs up. It is, in one word, delicious.

Usually I avoid samples like the plague when we're out shopping. I just assume that they likely have something in them that I can't eat. In all likelihood I am probably right about 100% of the time. But yesterday they had a TON of sampling going on at Metro Market and these bars caught my eye. I noticed immediately that the sign said Gluten free, soy free and vegan. I asked the sample lady if they were also dairy free. She said there were two that were dairy free. I reiterated, "So they're gluten, soy, and dairy free?" She said that, yes, two of them were. So, after scrutinizing the label some more I gave it a try. (***NOTE: they do contain tree nuts -- almond and coconut, but I wasn't really eating almonds much beforehand so I'm pretty sure that's not what Bubby's allergic to.***) The sample lady said they were developed by local peeps at Bastyr University and they are delicious. And, they have 10 grams of protein in a bar. There some coupons for them so I grabbed a few. I didn't even look how much they were but, at a aw-dropping $2.69 a bar, I'm glad I only grabbed a couple. I am going to go back and get more though because they'll make an excellent evening snack. Zing bars get two BIG thumbs up from me.

My diet was pretty much the usual otherwise so I'll spare you all the details.

Beanie had a great birthday party -- as she was eating her cake she exclaimed, "Best birthday ever!!!" and repeated that phrase many times. I'll elaborate more later.