Yeast Free Living

Archive for the ‘Candida Diet Challenges’ Category

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.  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.  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 weekend and it put a damper on the meal.  Although I can’t this ketchup becuase it has vinegar in it the kids love it and it is okay for all of the allergies they have. 

One thing I am proud of is 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 Pancakes
Lunch: Brown Rice Fussili Pasta with Trader Joe’s Marinari Sauce
Dinner: Chicken and Rice with Spinach

Monday
Breakfast: Gluten 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 Pancakes
Lunch: Brown Rice Fusili 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 on Rice Cakes
Dinner: Baked Chicken Rice and Beans and Spinach

Friday
Breakfast: Gluten 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: Chicken and Vegetable Soup
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.

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.

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)

So I am finally feeling better today.  I guess that the corn syrup laden cough medicine helped a bit because I was able to get some sleep last night.  The Yeast Free Pot Pie from last night’s dinner came out pretty good and I will post details as soon as possible.  The crust was a little thicker than I like so I will adjust accordingly next time.  We had a lot of running around to do after school yesterday and so I did not feel like cooking when we got home.  I am really surprised that I was able to even get the pot pie done as we did not get in the house until after 7:00 PM.  This is probably why I just don’t feel like cooking today.  I usually fight this feeling but today I have decided to embrace it.  Does this mean that I am going to revert back to convenient non-candida diet food for the day?  Of course not.  A few things have happened over the last few months that makes this minimal cooking day possible.  I have read so many labels in the store that I now know what convenient foods we can get away with in a crunch.  Applegate Farms makes all kinds of hot dogs and lunch meats that have no preservatives that help me with quick meals.  Ian’s Alphatots were such a great find, as they are alphabet shaped french fries that contain no additives.  Puffed rice cereal has also been great for a quick breakfast or when the kids don’t want to eat what I made for dinner.  For the first time in a while I feel like there are a few things that I can throw together quickly when I just need a break.  I will not make this a habit because convenient candida diet friendly food is very expensive but it is nice to have this as an option today.   Have a great weekend!   

Tennille

Today’s Candida Diet Menu – March 5, 2010

Breakfast
Puffed Rice Cereal with Unsweetened Soy Milk (Kids used unsweetened rice milk due to soy allergy)

Mid-Morning Snack
Sage Valley Tortilla Chips

Lunch
Applegate Farm Turkey Breast Sandwich on Rice Cakes
Applegate Farm Uncured Turkey hot dogs and Ian’s Alphatots for kids lunch with organic ketchup

Afternoon Snack
2 cups of air popped popcorn
Kids have Cape Cod Potato Chips

Dinner
Rotini Pasta with Trader Joe’s Marinara Sauce

Dessert
Herbal Tea with 1 pack of stevia
1 Piece of fruit for the kids

So I went to the doctor right after I dropped off the kids this morning.  I was so scared that I would have to take antibiotics but fortunately the strep test was negative and my chest was clear. They diagnosed me with a viral infection (common cold) and suggested I get some over the counter medicine to suppress my cough as all of my coughing is irritation my chest and throat.  I probably should have dragged myself to Whole Foods to try to find a candida friendly cough medicine but I just stopped at CVS and got the Tussin DM with all of the corn syrup.  I hope that you guys are not too disappointed, I just really want to stop coughing and finally get some sleep.  I was up late last night again and do not want another night of this.  I know this choice is contrary to the candida diet way but I promise to get back on task as soon as I can get some sleep. 

The Homemade Yeast Free Hamburger Helper came out great last night.  Everyone was thrilled with it so it will become a regular part of the candida diet menu.  Tonight I am going to try a Homemade Yeast Free Chicken Pot Pie.  Pot Pies are another favorite of mine so I hope that I can master a candida diet version.  Have a great day! 

Today’s Candida Diet Menu – March 4, 2010

Breakfast
Gluten free pancakes with no syrup (Kids ate it with pure maple syrup) 

Mid-Morning Snack
Sage Valley Tortilla Chips

Lunch
Applegate Farm Turkey Breast Sandwich on Rice Cakes
Kids Rotini Pasta with Trader Joe’s Marinara Sauce

Afternoon Snack
2 cups of air popped popcorn
Kids have Cape Cod Potato Chips

Dinner
Homemade Chicken Pot Pie
Broccoli

Dessert
Herbal Tea with 1 pack of stevia
1 Piece of fruit for the kids

I am still feeling pretty lousy today.  My cough kept me up all night and I just can’t shake it.  If I am still sick tomorrow I may have to go to the doctor.  I have been avoiding going to the doctor because I just don’t want to take an antibiotic.    Taking antibiotics almost always means that I will be battling a yeast infection in the the coming weeks.  I apologize if that is too much information but I am sure many of you get the same fear when you are prescribed antibiotics.  I guess if it comes to that, which I think it is going to because I can barely stop coughing while I am typing this and have a burning sensation in my chest , I will just have to take protective measures.  I will make sure to pick up a quality probiotic and some plain yogurt and pray that I can somehow restore friendly bacteria to my system while the antibiotic is killing all of the bacteria in my body.  Overuse of antibiotics is one of the main causes of candida overgrowth.  Antibiotics are extremely useful in killing the bad bacteria that causes illness but does not discriminate and also kills the good bacteria that helps to keep the candida in check.   I also just really dislike going to the doctor but I guess I have to stop whining and take care of myself. 

I am exited about the menu tonight.  I am going to try to make yeast free homemade Hamburger Helper.  Hamburger Helper is another one of those prepared foods that I could never get enough.  I loved when it was on sale so I could stock up.  All you need is a pound of ground meat and voila, you have dinner.  I checked out a box of the Beef Noodle one in the store this morning in order to see what the ingredients were in it so that I could make a yeast free version.  I am amazed that I had never done this before.  How could I have ate something for so many years and not even know what was in it.  Well I’ll tell you what is in it and it isn’t pretty:

Wheat Flour- Mentioned as a sub-ingredient of three of ingredients.  Definitely not a good idea for avoiding gluten.
Maltodextrin – Still not sure what this is but I would bet money that it can’t be good for us.
Salt – Usually contains dextrose, which contains sugar and is no good on the candida diet.
Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein – I am not sure what this is either but it doesn’t sound good either.
Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) – Oh No!!! 
Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil – Didn’t they determine that partially hydrogenated anything was like eating plastic?
Yeast Extract – Was this really necessary after all of the other stuff?

I am shocked at how many bad ingredients are in this one box and even more shocked that I had been eating it and feeding it to my family.  I guess there is no use getting frustrated.  Nowadays I know more about the food that I am eating than I ever thought I would.  This new awareness is helping me make better choices for me and my family.  I am looking forward to making a healthy yeast free version of Hamburger Helper. 

 Today’s Candida Diet Menu – March 3, 2010

Breakfast
Gluten free pancakes with no syrup (Kids ate it with pure maple syrup) 

Mid-Morning Snack
Cucumber with Sea Salt

Lunch
Applegate Farm Turkey Breast Sandwich on Rice Cakes
Kids have Gluten Free Macaroni and Cheese

Afternoon Snack
2 cups of air popped popcorn
Kids have Cape Cod Potato Chips

Dinner
Homemade Yeast Free Hamburger Helper
French Cut String Beans

Dessert
Herbal Tea with 1 pack of stevia
1 Piece of fruit for the kids

I feel like crap today.  I am sick.  I am not sure what is wrong with me but I have come down with something.  My head, throat and stomach hurt.  I have tried to take it easy and get a little rest today.  I managed to sneak in a brief nap.  I think I just really over did it this past weekend and my body is not happy right now.  I tried to keep the menu simple for today in order to give myself a much needed break.  I wish I could learn to take a break before I crash.  Such is life I guess.  I am going to try to get to bed early tonight. 

Today’s Candida Diet Menu – March 2, 2010

Breakfast
2 boiled eggs with sea salt and pepper
Gluten free pancakes with no syrup (Kids ate it with pure maple syrup) 

Mid-Morning Snack
Cucumber with Sea Salt

Lunch
Brown Rice Pasta with Trader Joe’s Marinara Sauce

Afternoon Snack
2 cups of air popped popcorn
Kids have Cape Cod Potato Chips

Dinner
Baked Salmon and Asparagus with Brown Rice Pasta

Dessert
Herbal Tea with 1 pack of stevia
1 Piece of fruit for the kids

I hope that everyone had a great weekend.  My weekend was really good but to be honest it was just plain offensive to the candida diet.  My friend celebrated her 30th birthday this weekend and as I had confessed last week I am having a little trouble sticking to the candida diet when I am social settings.  Needless to say after 4 Apple Martini’s, yes 4, on Saturday night I was not feeling so good on Sunday.  Besides for the fact that I had a hangover many of my candida symptoms returned.  I am sure eating pizza after we were done partying did not help either.  I am feeling a little better today physically but definitelyguilt ridden.  I was doing so well on the diet but as soon as I am thrust into a social setting I get all flustered and do not know how to maintain the yeast free lifestyle that is so crucial to my health and overall well being.  I guess there is no use crying over spilled milk.  I will try to regroup today and press on.  After  

Today’s Candida Diet Menu – March 1, 2010

Breakfast
Gluten free pancakes with no syrup (Kids ate it with pure maple syrup) 

Mid-Morning Snack
Cucumber with Sea Salt

Lunch
Turkey and Avocado salad with Lemon and Chive Salad Dressing

Afternoon Snack
2 cups of air popped popcorn
Kids have Cape Cod Potato Chips

Dinner
Yeast Free Taco Night

Dessert
Herbal Tea with 1 pack of stevia
1 Piece of fruit for the kids

The kids had a snow day yesterday after more than 24 hours of straight snow in New Jersey.  I was not been able to get much done.    That is why my daily Today’s Candida Diet Menu post has morphed into Yesterday’s Candida Diet Menu post.  Although I was not able to get much done I did build my first snowman with my children.   It is hard to believe that I have lived in the northeast my entire life and have endured so many snow storms and had never built a snowman before yesterday.  It was an awesome experience and the kids had so much fun.  

So crockpot Chicken and Vegetable Soup did not go so well on Thursday.  So this brought my record down to 3 – 1.  I thought I could redeem myself on Friday with a traditional family favorite that I had while growing up it is called Hoppin Johns but my children did not go for this one either.  So I finish the week 3 -2.  It is so hard to find recipes that everyone will eat in my family. Most children are such picky eaters really only liking a few foods and these foods were abruptly taken away from my children when diagnosed with food allergies.  Somedays I still don’t know where to begin with feeding them.  There are few things that I can prepare for the quick now and when I put my heart and soul into a meal and they barely taste it I feel so defeated.  I have learned to keep some bags of puffed rice cereal around just in case this happens.  Puffed rice is safe for both of my children to eat so if dinner does not go well I offer a bowl of this and only this to the children.  I have made it clear that I am not a diner and I will no longer make food to order.  I did that for a while.  Letting each child choose what they wanted and I was exhausted.  No more! My goal is to put tasty, healthy, allergy / candida diet friendly foods on the table and if they choose not to eat they do have alternative.  Well here is yesterday’s candida diet menu.  Have a wonderful weekend!

Yesterday ’s Candida Diet Menu – February 26, 2010

Breakfast
Leftover Crockpot Chicken and Vegetable Soup
Kids ate puffed rice cereal with unsweetened rice milk

Mid-Morning Snack
Cucumber with Sea Salt

Lunch
Chicken Nuggets
Baked French Fries

Afternoon Snack
2 cups of Air Popped Popcorn
Kids have Cape Cod Potato Chips

Dinner
Crockpot Hoppins John with Brown Rice
Kids ate puffed rice cereal with unsweetened rice milk

Dessert
Herbal Tea with 1 pack of stevia
1 Piece of fruit for the kids