Yeast Free Living

Archive for January, 2010

I had every intention of putting up last week’s candida diet menus but the week king of got away from me.  I thought I could catch up this weekend but I actually made some arrangement for the children and was able to have a night out on the town Friday and did not make it home until after 3AM.  I am still hurting from this college like exploit.  I might have got a bit carried away but I did have a lot of fun with my friends.  Saturday morning was tough though.  I had to get up and coach a girls recreational basketball game.  My oldest is 7 and just started playing basketball this year and of course I had to volunteer to coach.  We did win our game on Saturday which brings us to 2-0, but I was really cranky at the game.  I don’t think the girls noticed but I could not wait to get out of there and just get into my bed.  I spent the rest of the weekend loafing around but I was able to plan the candida diet menu for the week yesterday and finally got to the supermarket this morning so I will try to be more timely with these menu posts this week.  I hope this helps those of you out there who are looking for yeast free meal ideas.  I know that is sometimes finding quick and easy meal ideas is the biggest hurdle.  Make it a great week! 
Tennille

Breakfast
Bowl of Oatmeal with 1 pack of Stevia Sweet Leaf
Kids ate 1 bowl of Crispy Brown Rice Cereal with Rice Milk

Mid-Morning Snack
Sage Valley Corn Tortilla Chips and 2 Tablespoons Salsa
Kids have 1 bag cape cod potato chips

Lunch
Rice wrap with turkey slices, avocado and salsa
Kids have rotini rice pasta with Marinara Sauce (Marinara Sauce is Trader Joe’s Brand, no citric acid)

Afternoon Snack
2 cups air popped popcorn
Kids have a piece of fruit

Dinner
Spaghetti and Meat Sauce
Spinach

Dessert
1 cup herbal tea
1 piece of fruit for the kids

I have to admit that I used to buy my children a lot of fast food french fries.  That was until we uncovered their multiple food allergies.  We had become so dependent on fast food fries that I had to come up with a tasty replacement or continue to endure the constant whining every time we drove past a fast food place.  I of course headed to the Web for some inspiration to help me make homemade french fries.  I found a great recipe for Baked French Fries on All Recipes.  This fries have been a hit in the house from the first night I made them.  The combination of seasonings really make these fries a tasty yeast free side dish.  The kids love these fries and for the most part have forgotten all about the fast food ones.  If you do like these you may want to invest in a fry cutter as I did.  This has made it much easier for me to prepare these in a timely fashion.  I have the  Progressive Vegetable/French Fry Cutter. 

Baked French Fries Ingredients – Candida Diet Recipe
6 large baking potato
1/4 cup and 2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon onion powder
1/2 tablespoon sea salt

Baked French Fries Directions – Candida Diet Recipe
Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Peel and Cut Potatoes into wedges or slices (I have a Progressive Vegetable/French Fry Cutter since I make these so often this saves me some time and helps replicate the fast food fry feel)
Mix olive oil, paprika, garlic powder, chili powder and onion powder together in a large baking dish.
Add potatoes to baking dish and coat with oil/spice mixture. 
Bake for 45 minutes turning fries once half way through. 

This is one of my quick lunch ideas.  I use Applegate Farms oven roasted turkey meat found in the deli section of many stores.  I have however found it to be the least expensive at Trader Joe’s in my area but is also available at Shoprite and Whole Foods and I am assuming many other supermarkets.  I use whatever kind of lettuce I have around and 2 tablespoons of Whole Foods 365 salsa.  I use a homemade creamy herb dressing with this salad.  I found the recipe for the dressing in the Candida Control Cookbook by Gail Burton.  This combination really does make a great lunch. 

Turkey, Avocado and Salsa Salad Ingredients
3 slices of turkey cold cuts (I use Applegate Farms Oven Roasted Turkey Breast which does not contain nitrates)
1 ripe avocado 
2 Tablespoons Salsa (I use Whole Foods 365 brand salsa which does not contain vinegar or citric acid) 
1 bowl full of lettuce, mixed salad greens and/or spinach leaves

Turkey Avocado and Salsa Salad Directions
1) Fill bowl with your choice of lettuce, mixed salad greens and/or spinach leaves
2) Peel and slice avocado and add to bowl
3) Add Salsa
4) Serve with homemade creamy herb dressing

I dabbled in vegetarianism a few times when I was in college but I could never go more than a week or two without eating meat.  I just didn’t know what to do with all of those vegetables.  My roommate was vegetarian I think for religious reasons, so this was pretty much the norm for her.  She never tried to convert me but she would always share her vegetarian dishes with me.  I found them delicious and they did not weigh me down the way the meat dishes that I ate did, yet they were still very filling.  Although I was curious about creating vegetarian meals I was not sure that I could handle this task.  I knew all to well how to cook meat, you fry it, grill it or bake it and you are done.   I was comfortable with my meat filled life and did not want to learn something new.   

It is not until recently that I have discovered that with a little creativity preparing vegetarian meals can be just as easy, as filling and as tasty as the meat meals I normally prepare.  Although I am not a vegetarian, I have been seriously thinking about taking the plunge lately.  My youngest daughter is allergic to beef and pork, my oldest is allergic to fish and  to frank we are all just so damn sick of chicken that I thought it may be a good time to explore and introduce my kids to some vegetarian dishes. 

I wanted to start with something simple like veggie burgers.  I remember eating and enjoying these thoroughly.  Starting with burgers will also be a kind of familiar way to introduce vegetarian food into their lives.  They can even smother them with the organic ketchup that they love so much.  I will also make some homemade french fries with the veggie burgers to keep everything happy. 

I remembered that there were several frozen varieties of veggie burgers in the supermarket.  I checked out the ingredient labels on Boca Burgers and some other varieties in the store to see if these would work for the candida diet and for my childrens’ allergies.  I am not sure why I still get hopeful when I am about to read a label, but I do.  I hoping that I will stumble across the one frozen product that will not have any preservatives, yeast, corn, soy, wheat or milk in it.  I know that I am living in a fairy tale land and of course there were several  ingredients in all of the varieties that would not work for us.  I immediately thought to myself, “Can I make a veggie burger from scratch?”  “Of course I can,” was my next thought,  ”I just need to figure out how”. 

So yes I have figured out how to make a veggie burger and after all my babbling, I would like to share with you a recipe that I found on All Recipes for a Homemade  Black Bean Veggie Burger.  I am sure that the recipe is great in its original form but I did have to adjust  it order for it to be wheat free and egg free to cater to my childrens’ dietary needs.  The altered recipe is candida diet friendly.  My substitution of rolled oats for the breadcrumbs may be troublesome to gluten sensitive people as I have read that oats sometimes cause problem for those who are gluten free due to sensitivity or celiac disease.  If  gluten is an issue for you another substitution may be needed.

Homemade Veggie Burgers Ingredients
1 can black beans (approximately 16 oz)  – I used Nature’s Promise Organic Black Beans 15.5 oz
1/2 green bell pepper
1/2 onion
3 cloves garlic – I buy it already peeled to save time.  Beware of additives. 
1 tsp milled flaxseed and 1/4 cup water – This was my egg substitute.  You can just use 1 egg if you are able to eat eggs.
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp cumin
2 cups rolled oats – This was my bread crumb substitute.  Proceed with caution if you are gluten free too.

Homemade Veggie Burgers Directions  

1) Drain and Rinse 1 can of Black Beans
Tip: Watch for additives when choosing canned beans.  I like to use organic varieties such as Nature’s Promise (Stop & Shop) and Trader Joe’s Organic.   Ingredients in these varieties  include water, sea salt and prepared organic
black beans.

2) Dry beans by placing on a plate with two paper towels in order to absorb excess water. Repeat as necessary to remove excess moisture.  We want the beans to be as dry as possible. 

3) Place bean in medium mixing bowl and mash with a fork until they are very mushy.  Put aside. 

4) Chop green pepper into 2 inch pieces, slice onion in quarters.  Combine green pepper, onion and garlic in food processor or blender.  Chop until all ingredients are minced.   Combine mixture with beans

5) Measure 1/4 cup water in measuring cup and add one teaspoon milled flaxseed (This is where you could normally use an egg).   Mix together water and flaxseed.  Add chili powder and cumin and mix thoroughly.   Add mixture to the beans. 

6)  Mix all ingredients thouroughly. 

7) Grind approximately 2 cups of rolled oats using a blender or foodprocessor  (This is where you should consider substitutes if you are gluten sensitive).

8) Stir ground oats into mixture a little at at time.  Continue to add and mix until mixture holds together well.  

9) When mixture is a good consistency shape into 4 patties.  You can fry it, grill it, or bake it!   LOL!

I am feeling so much better having been doing pretty good back on the diet for over 1 week now.  There were a few minor slip ups here or there but nothing that sent me spiraling out of control.  I feel like I am getting in control of my symptoms again.  In an effort to stay on track I am going to try to post my family’s daily menu.  I hope this will give you some ideas for quick and easy yeast free meals.  Many of our meals are often free of many other things such as corn, soy, milk, beef, pork, shellfish as my children a allergic to many different foods.  I have listed what they are having too.  We do not eat exactly the same things because of all of the different allergies.  I found that trying to be yeast free and follow their dietary restrictions leaves me with few options and I usually end up cheating on the candida diet.  I just explain to them that what our bodies are different and that what is good for me is not necessarily good for them.  Some days it is a struggle but we are making it. 

Breakfast
Bowl of Oatmeal with 1 pack of Stevia Sweet Leaf
Kids ate 1 bowl of Crispy Brown Rice Cereal with Rice Milk

Mid-Morning Snack
Two Rice Cakes with Tuna
Kids had 1 piece of fruit

Lunch
Turkey, Avocado and Salsa Salad
Kids have rotini rice pasta with olive oil, sea salt and and dried basil (I use a thermos to send this to school with my oldest)

Afternoon Snack
2 cups air popped popcorn
Kids have 1 bag of cape cod potato chips

Dinner
Homemade Baked Veggie Burgers
Homemade Baked French Fries
String Beans

Dessert
1 cup herbal tea

So what is barley malt and why do I have to avoid it on the candida diet?  Barley malt is one of those ingredients that is in a lot of the food that we consume but most of us probably never even realized it.  It is not barley that is the problem, as barley is a wholesome grain with numerous documented health benefits.  Barley  is part of the grass family which includes other familiar grains such as wheat, rye, corn, millet and oats.  It is a grain that is allowed on candida diet in moderation and provided you do not have gluten intolerance or sensitivity. 

So if  barley isn’t the problem on the candida diet than what is?  The problem for many candida sufferers is the process by which barley malt is created from the barley.  Barley malt is derived from sprouted barley which then undergoes the process of fermentation.  It is the fermentation process in which yeast and/or bacteria is added that makes it unsuitable for the candida diet.  Barley malt extract often  has corn syrup added which can cause additional problems on the when trying to live yeast free. 

Barley malt is often touted as a natural sweetener and a healthy alternative to processed sugar.  You will find barley malt even in many health food products and organic foods.  I do not dispute that barley malt may be a healthy alternative to the processed sugar but I believe that it is not a good choice for those who are trying to overcome candidiasis.  In order to stick to the candida diet barley malt and other malted products should be removed from your diet. 

Become an expert label reader to avoid barley malt because it one of those sneaky ingredients.  Avoid products that list barley malt, malt, maltodextrin and or malted barley flour.  These ingredients are often found in cereals, crackers, bread, white flour and bagels.

The first time I tried the candida diet was in the beginning of 2006.  I found the list of allowed and prohibited foods on the Internet and began to follow the lists very strictly with great success.  Most resources that I consulted gave pretty good explanations as to why you had to avoid certain foods but the reason for avoiding vinegar always eluded me.  As I consulted resource after resource I never really found a thorough explanation of why I was avoiding vinegar.  I really wanted to know why because as many of you that have done the candida diet know vinegar is often a hard thing to avoid and I wanted to make sure that I was avoiding it for good reason.  Vinegar is found in the majority of commercially available condiments on the market including but not limited to mayonnaise, ketchup, mustard and salsa.

Even today there 4 years after I first try to figure out why consuming vinegar is a candida diet blunder continues to confuse me.  Some sources say vinegar is prohibited where others promote certain types such as apple cider vinegar.  So let’s explore what vinegar is.  Maybe by understanding what it is it will become clear why it may be problematic to the candida sufferer.  According to Wikipedia vinegar is an acidic liquid processed from the fermentation of alcohol in a process that yields its key ingredient, acetic acid (ethanoic acid).  The first indication that vinegar may be a problem is the word fermentation.  Fermentation is a process by which carbohydrates are converted to alcohol by using yeast and/or bacteria.  You will find thay the candida diet excludes all fermented foods due to their yeast content. 

In addition to its high yeast content vinegar is also a natural antibacterial .  This may be a good thing if your goal is to treat a bacterial infection naturally but may only add to you candidiasis problem.  Similar to antibiotics the vinegar can kill both the bad and good bacteria therefore contributing to allowing yeast to grow unchecked in the body.   Continuing to consume vinegar can set back our healing program. 

I have seen a lot of information apple cider vinegar and its ability to cure candida.  While apple cider vinegar in its natural form may be less harmful than the white distilled vinegar commonly found in commercial products I am just not sure if it is any better for you.  If you have taken  apple cider vinegar with success than great.  There is not one size fits all for the candida diet, I believe there will be some trial and error involved.    Some people may be able to tolerate apple cider vinegar where others may not.  If it works for you and you feel better than I say take it.    Pay careful attention to your body and how it reacts as you are eliminating and reintroducing foods because that will ultimately be the judge of what is right for you to maintain your health and stay yeast free.

It is no exaggeration when I say that between the years of 2001 and 2006 I had over 30 sinus infections, most of which were treated with a 7 – 10 day course of broad spectrum antibiotics.  These antibiotics proved futile as they would clear up my symptoms for only a few days and then my symptoms would return with a vegeance about a week or two after I finished taking the antibiotics.  My sinus infections just kept coming back and I could not understand why and neither could my physician. 

Sinusitis also known as rhinosinusitis and/or sinus infection is often characterized by nasal congestion and discharge, post nasal drip, facial pressure, headache and fever.  Diagnosis of sinusitis often falls into 2 categories acute or chronic.  Web MD describes the 2 different categories in the following manner: 

Acute sinusitis- a sinus infection often lasting no longer than 8 weeks, occurring no more than 3 times, usually lasting 10 days or less, typically responds to antibiotics

Chronic sinusitis- a sinus infection often lasting longer 8 weeks, occurring 4 or more times a year and usually lasting 20 days or more, usually does not respond to antibiotics

Acute and chronic cases of sinusitis can be caused by bacteria but there is growing evidence that fungi play an increasing role in sinusitis especially chronic sinusitis.  Candida, typically a benign fungus present in the body has been that target of much of this research and is often the pathogen found in patients with chronic sinusitis.  If a patients sinus infection is caused by fungi antibiotics will not be effective in treating it ever, as antibiotics only kill bacteria. 

Although I did not know until recently that that there was scientific evidence that linked candida to sinusitis I kind of figured this out accidentally.  The end of my chronic sinus infections was in February of 2006 as I successfully completed a month on the candida diet.  My symptoms cleared up within weeks of being on this diet and  I am happy to say that I have not had a sinus infection since then.  It is only when I stray far away from the diet that symptoms return.  If I begin to have symptoms I just cut back on sugar or other things prohibited on the candida diet and my symptoms usually subside and I am able to dodge a full fledged sinus infection. 

I think the most frustrating thing when I was experiencing chronic sinus infections was that my physician would not explore it from a bigger prospective.  He saw that the antibiotics were ineffective but just kept prescribing this.  I know today that this was making my problem much worse but I did not know how else to help myself.  I would never tell anyone to self diagnose and not to trust their physician but having additional information about our conditions will help us to have better dialogue with our physicians and to be able to discuss complimentary and alternative treatments if traditional ones fail.

I am proud to be 2 days yeast free again and but I feel like crap.  I got a ticket for talking on my cell phone while driving and I am just not pleasant to be around right now.   I am proud that I did resisted the urge to grab some yeast-laden comfort food in my time of distress but I assure you it was not easy. I did a lot of laying around today in order to not get too stressed and end up eating emotionally.  I was really supposed to be working.  I could not help but think that this initial process of eliminating large numbers of the candida must be similar to drug or alcohol rehabilitation.  I am fortunate to not have experienced a substance abuse problem but I have heard how difficult it is   I am an emotional mess, I feel achy everywhere and a desperately want to just eat a piece of candy. 

It is has been a little while since I checked in regarding my status on the candida diet and I regret to inform you that I have not been doing so well.  I would much rather being writing a post about how I have triumphed despite all obstacles but I believe in telling the truth even when it may be embarrassing.  I realize that we often can learn just us much if not more from our misteps as we can from our successes.  I believe my missteps boil down to one thing, Emotional Eating. 

Emotional Eating
I eat when I am happy, I eat when I am sad and I eat when experiencing a wide array of other emotions such as anger, frustration and anxiousness.   The last month or so has been an extremely stressful time for me.  The children were out of school and daycare for almost 2 weeks.  I tried to juggle taking care of them, doing tasks for work and doing housework but it was extremely difficult and not much got done well.   Since I didn’t get a whole lot of work done, I came into the new year pretty disorganized and not at optimal speed.  This contributed to a lackluster week of initiating sales calls and a feeling of defeat which led to, you guessed it, more eating. 

To add insult to injury both of my children have recently been diagnosed with multiple food allergies.  So there has been a great deal of time spent on figuring out what they can eat and how in the world to cook it.  In an effort to find appropriate food for my children’s new diets I have been neglecting my yeast free cooking and am often left eating whatever it is I cook for them.  While there is a bit of overlap with what they can eat with their food allergies and what I can eat on the candida diet most of the meals they like include an ingredient or two that is prohibited on the candida diet.  I usually give in and eat the meal anyway instead of cooking something yeast free and then fell terrible about the whole situation.  At this point I say what the hell and continue to eat whatever I want.  I do wake up the next morning with the best of intentions to get back on track but sadly most days go pretty much the same. 

So what’s a girl to do.  I desperately want to get back on track as I feel really crappy but I have to somehow streamline the kids diets with my own in order to eliminate the need for multiple meals and the stress I feel when preparing it all.  This is my challenge for the week.  I will keep you posted as to how I am doing.  Wish me luck!  I need it right now.  

Tennille