Yeast Free Living

I don’t really like olives but my oldest daughter loves them.  When she was diagnosed with food allergies and I had to really start reading food labels I noticed that many commercially available olives contained a lot of extra stuff in them.  I was not sure what any of this stuff was but I was beginning to adopt the less is more mentality and wanted to find a product that just contained olives and water.  The additive that I noticed the most was in olives was Ferrous Gluconate.  Ferrous Gluconate is an iron derivative which is used to retain the color of the olives.  Although most sources that I consulted were in agreement that Ferrous Gluconate is a safe food additive I really wanted to see if I could find a brand without it.  I was delighted to find that 365 brand olives at Whole Foods did not contain Ferrous Gluconate.  The ingredients in this product are listed as Olives, Water and Salt and there is actually a note on the back of the can that states “These olives are not treated with ferrous gluconate and retain their natural color.”  I wanted to mention these olives because they are almost Candida Diet friendly.  They do contain regular salt (most regular salt contains small amounts of dextrose) which may be a problem for some candida dieters.  I was really hoping that I could find olives with sea salt or better yet no salt but I guess these are going to have to do for now.  If you love olives as my Cheyenne does and you are following the candida diet 365 brand olives may be a good fit for you.

Today I am really tired.  I didn’t go to bed until after midnight mostly because I just had a lot on my mind.  There is just so much going on and it has been a real challenge to quiet my mind and get sleep.  My oldest daughter, 7, started track practices yesterday so I am also trying to adjust to our newest schedule.  Track practices are 3 times a week at 6 – 7:30PM.  She is also participating in softball and will have softball practice at least one day a week.   Don’t forget about Girl Scouts because we are signed up for that too.  Girl Scouts is twice a month on Friday’s and sometimes there are field trips on the weekend.  Softball games are going to be on Saturday and Track Meets on Sunday.  I am not sure what I was thinking about signing her up for all of this stuff but I just don’t want her sitting around watching TV and this is usually what happens when I don’t make an effort to keep her really busy. 

Although thinking about all of this stuff overwhelms me I am going to make the most of my time outdoors at both track and softball practices.  I am hoping this will be an opportunity to finally get an exercise routine going.  It has been a long time since I exercised consistently and I miss it.  I will run a few miles on the track while Chey is practicing.  I will probably start out walking though, as I am in no shape to run right now.   Exercise is not something that I have talked about much here on Yeast Free Living but it is a very important part of the candida diet.  Exercise is an important part of any healthy lifestyle. 

I know the opportunity to exercise will be beneficial to my overall health and therefore positively impact my candida diet program but I am really worried about this new hectic schedule compromising the progress I have made in terms of eating on the candida diet.  In the past when I was pressed for time like so many of us are,  I resorted to fast, processed and sugar laden foods.  I do not want to end up in that place again feeling like crap and dragging myself through each day because I am not eating right.  I am just afraid that the candida diet will be too time consuming to maintain as I am trying to juggle these new activities with Chey.  So what can I do to ensure that I will stay on the candida diet when things become really hectic?  I believe that effective candida diet menu planning and preparing and freezing a lot of candida diet friendly meals is going to be the key to sticking to the candida diet during this hectic time.  I am going to take a look around for some recipes that might work for this purpose.  I haven’t done chili yet and I think that chili might be a great thing to freeze and reheat in small portions.  I realize that it will be challenging to stick to the candida diet during this time but I am ready to tackle this challenge head on.  I know how important it is to my health that I do not revert back to eating poorly so I have to make this happen.  Wish me luck!

I can never get my hummus smooth and creamy and it is irritating.  The am just never able to puree the beans without un-appetizing chunks being leftover.  My absolute favorite hummus comes from George’s Cafe and Grill in Ridgefield Park NJ.  This is the best hummus I have ever tasted and it makes it hard to choke down my mediocre attempts at this wonderful dip.  Generally speaking most hummus recipes are made with candida diet friendly ingredients.  The varieties of hummus in the store are not candida diet friendly because they contain citric acid to preserve freshness. 

I recently bought Bob’s Red Mill Garbanzo Bean Flour (Chickpea Flour) to make a Gluten/Yeast Free Pizza crust and noticed a recipe for hummus on the back of the bag.  This recipe inspired me to take another stab at making my own hummus again.  I was hoping that since I was using flour instead of trying to puree the actual chickpeas that this may help my consistency problem.  I did omit the tabasco sauce one because I didn’t have any and two because I don’t think that tabasco sauce is a candida diet friendly ingredient.  The result was really tasty.  This hummus is still not George’s but it is candida diet friendly hummus that even my kids like.  It also came out smooth and creamy just the way I like it.   

Hummus Ingredients – Candida Diet Recipe
3/4 cup Garbanzo Bean Flour (Chickpea Flour)
2 1/2 cups water
2 – 3 cloves Garlic Cloves, finely minced about 1 Tbsp (The amount depends on your taste.  I love garlic so always opt for more)
1/4 cup unsweetened chicken broth
1/4 cup tahini (sesame paste)
Juice of 1 lemon
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
Sea salt and ground black pepper to taste
1/4 cup olive oil

Hummus Directions – Candida Diet Recipe

In medium saucepan bring 2 1/2 cups water to boil.  Add garbanzo bean flour to boiling water using whisk.  Continue to stir mixture constantly.  Reduce heat and cook for additional 1 – 2 minutes while mixture becomes thick.  Let the mixture cool! 
 

Add the garbanzo flour mixture (Once it has cooled!), garlic, chicken broth, sesame paste and lemon juice to the blender jar or food processor bowl and puree until smooth.  Now add cumin, sea salt, pepper and continue to puree.  Using the feed tube or the little hole in the cover or the blender top SLOWLY drip the olive oil into the mixture while it is continue to puree.  This will help think the mixture to give it a good consistency.

Recipe from Bob’s Red Mill Garbanzo Bean Flour (Back of Package)

I use Trader Joe’s Organic Brown Rice Pasta Fusilli so much in my recipes that I decided it deserved it’s very own post.  This is truly a great candida diet product and I prefer it to most other brown rice pasta styles available.   We all know after reading labels for a while that the products with the fewest ingredients have the best chance of being candida diet friendly and there are only 2 ingredients in Trader Joe’s Organic Brown Rice Pasta Fusilli, Organic Brown Rice and Water.

I have tried to use brown rice spaghetti in some recipes but it seems to really stick together and this rarely happens with the brown rice pasta fusilli.  I usually only buy the spaghetti style if the kids request it.  I think they sometimes miss twirling the pasta around on their fork.  Tinkyada is the other brand I buy from time to time.  I usually buy their lasagna noodles and their spaghetti seems to not stick as much as the Trader Joe’s Brown Rice Spaghetti does but it is a little more expensive.  For special occasions I do not mind paying a little extra but for day in and day out meals I stick with Trader Joe’s Organic Brown Rice Fusilli..  I use it in my soups, pasta dishes, prepared food recipes and the results are always spectacular.  It you are struggling to find which type of yeast free pasta for the candida diet be sure to give this one a try.  You will not be disappointed. 

I am a little down today and have been so since Saturday afternoon.  I spent most of Saturday trying to juggle a coaching a recreation basketball with my 2 year old on the sideline and then selling Girl Scout cookies (I did not eat any cookies and managed to stay on the candida diet) at the recreation center all day on Saturday.  I also didn’t have much to eat all day since I did not want to cheat and of course there were not many candida friendly foods around.  When I finally got home I guess I was just really tired and hungry but my mind was consumed with household chores and work stuff so I could not convince myself to actually sit down and rest.  Yesterday went pretty much the same way.  I went back and forth between trying to convince myself to rest and telling myself just suck it up and get the house clean or write your weekly plan for work.  Needless to say nothing got done and I still didn’t get any rest.  

I also did not do the weekly candida diet menu yesterday so was scrambling a bit this morning to see what I needed for the week.  Fortunately I shopped really well for last week’s candida diet menu so I had quite a few things leftover.  I was able to get the kids off to school with candida/allergy friendly lunches without making any extra stops at the store.  After I dropped them off I decided to go to Trader Joe’s to pick up a few things that I noticed we needed.  Trader Joe’s is about 5 miles from my house and I try to get there at least once a week.  When I got to Trader Joe’s there were only a few cars in the parking lot, which I thought was odd because it is usually packed.  I parked in the front and started to approach the store only to have one of the associates tell me that it is closed because of the power outage from the weekend’s storm.  We had a terrible storm here in New Jersey this weekend.  It has actually been raining heavilly since Friday.  Many houses are damaged and huge trees uprooted.  I am happy that our building escaped with minimal damage.  The glass in the back door broke, we sprung a leak in the lobby and some work that we are doing on the building facade was compromised, but the building is still standing and I am thankful for that.  I realize that this was not Trader Joe’s fault but I was still kind of bummed.  The other Trader Joe’s is an extra 10 miles away so I just turned around I headed for Whole Foods.  I really needed ketchup without corn syrup.  We didn’t have any for our gluten free chicken nuggets and baked french fries this  past weekend and it put a damper on the meal.  Although I can’t eat this ketchup becuase it has vinegar in it the kids love it and it is okay for all of their food allergies. 

One thing I am proud of is that although I was really down for most of the weekend, I did not cheat.  Oh believe me it was hard, excruciating at times but I did prevail.  At one point I was lying in my bed and I was trying to convince myself to run to Rite Aid to get a bag of candy corn to lift my spirits.  Then I thought about the Peeps and black jelly beans that I love so much because the store is filled with Easter candy now.  I almost gave in but I kept thinking about how much worse I would feel if I did this and I felt it was just not worth it.  So hopefully it will stop raining soon (yes it is still raining) and the sun will come out to help left my spirits.     

Candida Diet Menu for the Week of March 15, 2010

Sunday
Breakfast: Gluten Free Yeast Free Pancakes
Lunch: Brown Rice Fussili Pasta with Trader Joe’s Marinari Sauce
Dinner: Chicken and Rice with Spinach

Monday
Breakfast: Gluten Free Yeast Free Pancakes
Lunch: Applegate Farm Turkey Breast on Rice Cakes
Dinner: Gluten Free Chicken Nuggets and Fries

Tuesday
Breakfast: Two Boiled Eggs with Sea Salt and Black Pepper (Kids have cereal)
Lunch: Brown Rice Fussilli Pasta with Marinara Sauce and Spinach
Dinner: Crockpot Lamb Stew and Salad

Wednesday
Breakfast: Gluten Free Yeast Free Pancakes
Lunch: Brown Rice Fusili Pasta with Olive Oil, Sea Salt and Spinach
Dinner: Easy Chicken Noodle Soup and Salad

Thursday
Breakfast: Puffed Rice Cereal with Unsweetened Milk Alternative
Lunch: Applegate Farms Turkey on Rice Cakes
Dinner: Baked Chicken Rice and Beans and Spinach

Friday
Breakfast: Gluten Free Yeast Free Pancakes
Lunch: Brown Rice Fussili Pasta with Trader Joe’s Marinara Sauce
Dinner: Tacos

Saturday
Breakfast: Puffed Rice Cereal with Unsweetened Milk Alternative
Lunch: Vegetable Soup and Salad
Dinner: Chicken Pot Pie

Weekly Snacks
Sage Valley Corn Tortillas Chips, 365 Brand Black Olives, Ener-G Wylde Gluten Free Pretzels, Cape Cod Potato Chips, Air Popped Popcorn, Cucumbers, Homemade Salsa, Homemade Hummus and Variety of Fruit for the Children Only

I have been getting a little frustrated when cooking over the last couple of weeks.  It just seems like it takes so much effort to make a meal and sometimes I just don’t feel like doing it.  I started to reflect on how I was preparing meals and what specifically was frustrating me the most about preparing them.  There were 2 areas that I thought of that are making candida diet cooking harder than I believe it has to be.  The first area is my spices.  My spices were all over the place and it took me too long to find what I needed when I needed it.   The second area is all of the different gluten free flours I am now using.  I must have at least 10 different types of flours and/or flour starches in my refrigerator.  They are all in their original bags slightly torn and as I take each one out to use it flour always spills all over the place as I am trying to get an accurate measurement.  Additionally this makes for a very sloppy refrigerator and makes me long for the days were one bag of all purpose flour was sufficient in my household. 

So here I identified 2 areas that I needed to get organized.  I knew that if I could make using both the spices and flours/starches easier maybe candida cooking could be easier.  I indulged in a few new kitchen purchases to organize these two areas.  For the spices I bought the Tagco Spice Stack – White from Amazon and for the flours/starches I bought Snapware 60713 32 Oz Square-Grip Canister from the container store. 

The Spice Stack is something I had been looking into buying for a while but just never got around to ordering it.  I knew a long time ago that I needed something to help me keep my spices organized but when I am on the candida diet organizing my spices becomes even more important.  Candida cooking requires creativity and some of this creativity is fueled by the use of spices.  Mixing appropriate spices helps you to create splendid candida diet meals and if these spices are not organized and therefore hard to find cooking becomes harder than it has to be.  So far my spice rack has really helped me to work towards an organized kitchen.  I can now find my spices easily and have them right were I need them when cooking.  I bought the larger spice rack, that holds up to 27 spice bottles.  If you do not use that many spices there is also a smaller one Spice Stack available that holds up to 18 bottles.

I needed to find a good way to organize my flour/starches so I set out to the container store.  I love the container store.  It inspires me to organize everything in my house.  There were a few items that I looked out that would work for this task such at stainless containers and/or glass containers but in the end I decided on Snapware plastic storage containers.  They are shatterproof and this was very important to me because I am clumsy and I do break things.  They were also pretty affordable compared to the other choices.  They were also listed as BPA (Bisphenol A) free at the store but I was not certain that this was true since BPA free was not listed on the product labeling.  As I am sure many people are aware of there is much debate over whether BPA are hazardous to our health.  I called the company to verify and found out that these containers do indeed contain BPA.  I thought about taking them back but I decided that since I was not going to be reheating things in these containers that they do not pose a risk to our health.  I realize that some people may still be concerned and may want to go with an alternative method of storage.  There are many options and I encourage you to choose what is right for you.  I bought 4 – 64 ounce containers and 6 – 32 ounce containers.  This really helped me to store the flours/starches in a much more organized way.  I labeled each container using freezer tape and a Sharpie. 

I feel like organizing these 2 areas in my kitchen will help me do my daily candida diet cooking with ease.  If you are stuggling in kitchen organization I hope these ideas are helpful to you.

This is my first gluten free yeast free pizza.  This was not something I planned for the menu this week but when I picked my oldest daughter from school yesterday her teacher informed me that they would be having a pizza party tomorrow.  She let me know that I can send Chey in with a special lunch and she would be glad to heat it up.  I typically would send chicken nuggets and french fries but I did not want her to feel like an outsider.  It has been a difficult transition for her with all of these food allergies.  A few of the kids in her class have been making fun of her because she cannot eat the same things as everyone else.  I did send in a bag of allergy friendly snacks and that has helped with the pressure of birthday parties at school.  If there is a party she gets to pick a snack from her bag.  Although her teacher has said that this has helped I am still sure that she feels a little bit like an outsider. 

This is why I felt the pressure to make Chey her very own pizza for today.  I stayed up to about 11:00PM trying to get this right and even stopped by a pizzeria to purchase a pizza box to make it even more special.   The guy of course did not charge me for the box.  Thank you so much for your kindness Taste of Tuscany Restaurant at 500 South River Street Hackensack, NJ.  If we could eat regular pizza I would definitely go back there.  So the pizza turned out pretty good.  I used garbanzo flour and it gave it a weird taste but it was mixed with other flours so it was not too overwhelming.  I will have to play around with the flours a little more for a good better combination. The crust is gluten and yeast free so it is okay for the candida diet.  I also used Trader Joe’s Marinara Sauce and Target Brand Mozzarella Cheese.  The sauce has regular salt so this may not work for everyone but you can easily substitute another sauce.  I have read that Mozzarella Cheese in small amounts is okay for most candida sufferers but this is another one of those confusing topics and many encourage people to omit all kinds of cheese.  Again this is something that should be considered on an individual basis.  Mozzarella cheese often has additives like vinegar and cornstarch so read labels carefully.  You can also use your imagination and go cheeseless by just topping the pizza with any candida friendly toppings such as veggies or meat. 

Gluten Free Yeast Free Pizza Crust Ingredients
2 cups gluten free flour mix (3 Cups Brown Rice Flour, 3 Cups Potato Starch Flour, 2 Cups Garbanzo Flour, 1 Cup Sourghum Flour) 
2 tsp Xanthum gum (Use guar gum for corn allergy/sensitivity)
2 tsp baking powder (Use featherweight baking powder if corn allergy/sensitivity)
1/2 packet stevia
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1.5 cups sparkling water

Gluten Free Yeast Free Directions
Preheat oven to 425 degrees
Mix dry ingredients, add wet and combine.
The dough is really sticky and hard to manipulate
Use the back of a spoon to spread it onto an oiled pizza pan or preheated pizza stone
Bake for in pre-heated oven for 20 minutes

For Pizza:
Add candida friendly pasta sauce and toppings to preheated crust
Bake approx 15 minutes or until toppings are ready

Recipe from Mamachrissy at Group Recipes Gluten Free Yeast Free Pizza Crust
Gluten Free Flour Mix adapted from Gluten Free Cooking School (I changed it only due to a corn allergy)

Gluten Free / Yeast Free Pancakes are on this week’s Candida Diet menu a lot.  I just want to state that I do not get up every morning and cook pancakes for my children.  I barely have time to shower in the morning so cooking anything is usually out of the question.  This recipe does have a lot of ingredients but once you do it a few times it becomes second nature.  I was pleasantly surprised that I could actually make these from memory this past weekend. 

I do miss those days of a quick bowl of cereal in the morning but try finding cereal without corn, wheat or soy in it.  Some mornings we do eat Puffed Rice Cereal but the kids seem to tire of this easily.  So what I do is take about an hour on Sunday to cook a stack of these pancakes.  Once they cool I place 2 pancakes in each freezer bag and put in the freezer for easy use during the week.  This makes it so easy to heat up in the morning and then my children get to eat a hot breakfast without all of the fuss.  These pancakes are okay for the candida diet just skip the syrup.  They really do taste like regular pancakes and retain this taste even after they are frozen and reheated.  In addition to being okay for the candida diet they are extremely allergy friendly.  I make them free of wheat, eggs, soy, corn and dairy.

Salsa is one of my favorite condiments probably because I am a huge fan of Mexican food.  I used to reserve using salsa only when I was making tacos or fajitas but I can honestly say that I now eat it weekly despite whether or not anything Mexican is on the menu.  I often use it to add moisture to a quick turkey and rice cake sandwich. It adds such good flavor and then there is no need for tomatoes.  My Brown Rice Tortilla Chips and Sage Valley Corn Tortilla Chips would not be nearly as satisfying without salsa. 

When I first went on the candida diet it was very frustrating to discover that most commercially available brands of salsa contained vinegar, citric acid and/or sugar.  I was certain I would just have to learn how to make salsa on my own.  I would always by the ingredients for salsa with the intention on making it right away but this never happened.  I would always put it off and let all the produce designated for this task go to waste.   Although I never found an appropriate brand in regular supermarkets I did however discover 365 Organic Salsa in Whole Foods and it almost candida diet friendly.  I say almost because it does contain regular salt which is not allowed on the candida diet.  Regular salt contains trace amounts of dextrose which can cause problems for candida sufferers.  Fortunately, I have used 365 Organic Salsa with no adverse effects and felt that this little cheat was okay for me.  This may not work for everyone though.  If you are going to purchase this brand choose the smaller size because the larger one does contain citric acid.  As always read labels to make sure as things do change from time to time. 

Although I do buy the 365 Organic Salsa often I wanted to learn how to make my own salsa.  Fortunately I found a very easy recipe that had been right under my nose for over a year now.  On the back of the Sage Valley Yellow Corn Tortilla Chips bag is a recipe for Garden Fresh Salsa.  If my family hadn’t been devouring these so quickly maybe I would have noticed sooner.  These are good chips and they are candida diet friendly. I tried the recipe and I have to say that homemade salsa is really good.  It felt like I was in a authentic Mexican restaurant enjoying.  I am really going to try to make the effort to make this weekly.  For all those candida dieters out there that love salsa I hope this recipe helps. 

Garden Fresh Salsa Ingredients
3 medium tomatoes, quartered
1 bunch green onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic
1 jalapeno pepper seeded and cored
1 handful cilantro, stems trimmed
1 Tbsp lime or lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 pack stevia
dash cumin, paprika and chili powder to taste

Garden Fresh Salsa Directions
Process garlic, chili, onion, cilantro, and lemon or lime juice in food processor for 10 – 20 seconds.  Add tomatoes and process until chunky consistency, stopping occasionally to scrape sides and rearrange any large tomato chunks.  Add salt, cumin, stevia, paprika, and chili powder to taste.  Refrigerate at least one hour to allow flavors to blend. 

Recipe from Sage Valley (Yellow Corn Tortilla Chips Back of the Bag) St. Augustine, FL 1800-223-2910

I finally kicked the cold I had and am up and running at full speed again.  In an effort to continue simplifying my crazy life I have converted the daily menu into a weekly one.  I was doing my shopping list for the week and started to jot down meals for each day and write the corresponding ingredients on my shopping list.  My shopping list is becoming very involved and it often takes visits to 4 or more stores to get everything I need to stay on task.  Trader Joe’s is usually my first stop, then Shoprite, then Whole Foods.  I also have to hit 2 different local health food stores when I run out of the special snacks that they girls are actually allowed to eat.  Sometimes just the thought of it all makes me want to give up but I have to admit that my girls have been so much healthier since I have eliminated or significantly reduced the foods that were identified as troublesome on their allergy reports.  I am secretly hoping that they will out grow some of these food allergies.  If I had the choice of only one for them to out grow it would be my oldest daughter’s corn allergy.  This is the only allergy I do not think that I have mastered.  Corn is hidden in everything and therefore makes it very hard to keep her totally free of it. 

One of the things that I have been most grateful for throughout this transition with their food allergies is the candida diet.  If I had not experienced the candida diet prior to my kids being diagnosed with food allergies I do not believe that I would have been able to handle their diagnosis.  Learning how to eat within the parameters of the candida diet has taught me how to seek out and try new foods and this makes it easier to help my children do the same.  It is not always easy to maintain a candida and allergy free life but I feel like we are succeeding more times than not. 

Candida Diet Menu for the Week of March 8, 2010

Sunday
Breakfast: Gluten Free Pancakes
Lunch: Applegate Farms Turkey Breast on Rice Cakes
Dinner: Spaghetti and Meatballs and Salad

Monday
Breakfast: Gluten Free Pancakes
Lunch: Applegate Farm Turkey Breast on Rice Cakes
Dinner: Homemade Hamburger Helper and Salad

Tuesday
Breakfast: Puffed Rice Cereal with Unsweetened Milk Alternative
Lunch: Rotini Brown Rice Pasta with Marinara Sauce and Spinach
Dinner: Crockpot Lamb Stew and Salad

Wednesday
Breakfast: Gluten Free Pancakes
Lunch:Rotini Brown Rice Pasta with Olive Oil, Sea Salt and Spinach
Dinner: Soup and Salad

Thursday
Breakfast: Puffed Rice Cereal with Unsweetened Milk Alternative
Lunch: Applegate Farms Turkey Bologna on Rice Cakes
Dinner: Baked Chicken Rice and Beans and Spinach

Friday
Breakfast: Gluten Free Pancakes
Lunch: Rotini Brown Rice Pasta with Trader Joe’s Marinara Sauce
Dinner: Tacos

Saturday
Breakfast: Puffed Rice Cereal with Unsweetened Milk Alternative
Lunch: Chicken Nuggets and French Fries
Dinner: Lasagna and Salad

Weekly Snacks
Sage Valley Corn Tortillas Chips, 365 Brand Black Olives, Ener-G Wylde Gluten Free Pretzels, Cape Cod Potato Chips, Air Popped Popcorn, Cucumbers, Homemade Salsa, Homemade Hummus (Variety of Fruit for the Children Only)