Yeast Free Living

Archive for the ‘Candida Diet Recipes’ Category

Most of us know that hot dogs really are not that good for us.  The candida diet warns against consuming hot dogs due to the preservatives it contains, particularly sodium nitrate.  Most hot dogs contain sodium nitrates which some research suggests increases the risk of cancer.  So can we possibly find a hot dog that does not contain sodium nitrates or other icky stuff?  I have found such a hot dog and while I believe they are a little pricey Applegate Farms Uncured Hot Dogs are what I feed my family.  These hot dogs contain no nitrites and are gluten and casein free.  They are available in organic and non-organic and in beef, turkey and chicken varieties. Oh yeah and they taste pretty good too, but I do prefer the beef over the turkey and have never tried the chicken.  I am happy that I found these and can enjoy an occassional hot dog on the grill without cheating on the candida diet.  This does mean eating them without a bun but I don’t mind.  I have only found these at Whole Foods and the price ranges from $3.99 – $5.99.

Coleslaw is another one of those things that I enjoy when eating out but have never thought to make myself.  I had some pretty good slaw a few weeks ago on Father’s Day, when I was cheating on the candida diet.  The slaw was from our local BBQ restaurant, Cubbies and it came with my meal.  I don’t really think about slaw until I think about eating pork but I don’t eat pork much so the thought does not come up too often.   I will tell that if you happen to catch me at a BBQ place 99% or the time I will be ordering a pulled barbecue pork sandwich with my side of slaw. 

I am trying to be good this holiday weekend so traditional slaw is out.  I do however really have a taste for barbecue pork ribs this 4th of July weekend and thought that some yeast free coleslaw would be in order.  I found a really easy recipe for coleslaw on About.com:Southern Food and I immediately swung into action to make it candida diet friendly.  The slaw came out excellent and I am very excited about eating this with my ribs tomorrow.  I did use apple cider vinegar in this recipe which is tolerated by many on the candida diet, but if this is a concern for you simply substitute the apple cider vinegar with lemon juice.
Yeast Free Coleslaw Ingredients 
6 cups shredded cabbage
1 carrot, shredded
2/3 yeast free mayonnaise
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar or lemon juice
2 tablespoons canola oil
3 packets sweet leaf stevia
1/4 teaspoon sea salt, or more to taste

Yeast Free Coleslaw Directions
Toss cabbage in a large bowl with the carrots
In a separate bowl, whisk together all remaining ingredients
Pour the mayonnaise mixture over the cabbage and carrots and mix thoroughly
Refrigerate before serving

Recipe adapted from Basic Coleslaw Recipe by Diane Rattray on About.com Southern Food

I have been making this pasta salad for years now.  It is really simple to make and it is one of my signature dishes at my barbecues and house parties and it has been well received by my guests.  I am not sure why, but I have never attempted to make a yeast free version of this until today.  It was really easy to make and tastes very similar to its yeast/gluten filled counterpart.  The hardest part of this recipe will be making you own yeast free mayonnaise, that is if you do not already have some prepared.   Other than that it is pretty easy.  I do steam the vegetables in a vegetable steamer before adding them to the salad.  If you do not have a steamer and are not sure how to steam vegetables without one check out this article on how to steam vegetables.   I hope that this dish helps you with your entertaining food needs. 

Yeast Free Pasta Salad Ingredients
8 ounces brown rice pasta fusilli
1/2 cup yeast free mayonnaise
1 bunch of broccoli chopped  
3 carrots chopped
1 onion chopped
Sea salt and ground black pepper to taste

Yeast Free Pasta Salad Directions
Steam broccoli, carrots and onion in a vegetable steamer 
Cook pasta according to package directions
In large coverable bowl add cooked pasta, mayonnaise and mix thoroughly
Mix in steamed vegetables and season with sea salt and black pepper to taste

I really enjoy egg salad and I missed it the first time I went on the candida diet.  I was forced to give egg salad up back then because I could not find a mayonnaise in the supermarket without vinegar and/or sugar.  I felt like I would just have to do without it, so I did.  This was of course before I knew how to make yeast free mayonnaise and now things have changed a bit.  I have mastered the yeast free mayonnaise recipe and in doing so brought things such as egg salad back into my world.   My egg salad recipe is really simple so if you are looking for an exotic egg salad then this is probably not it.  I use very few ingredients which  is a good rule to follow when creating your candida diet meals.  The ingredients I suggest should just be added to taste because everyone seems to like their egg salad slightly different, so I did not want to suggest any concrete measurements.  The following is my basic yeast free egg salad recipe and I have provided the link to the yeast free mayonnaise recipe which makes this egg salad possible on the diet which is great for lunch or even a quick dinner.  I hope that you enjoy it!   

Yeast Free Egg Salad Ingredients
8 eggs hard boiled and peeled
1/4 cup yeast free mayonnaise
sea salt, ground black pepper and paprika to taste

Yeast Free Egg Salad Directions
In a large coverable bowl add eggs and chop in small pieces
Add mayonnaise to bowl and mix thoroughly (If you need to add more mayonnaise do so in small spoonfuls.  Mix after each spoonful until you reach desired consistency)
Add sea salt, pepper and paprika to taste
Cover bowl and place in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour
Serve on rice cakes, yeast free gluten free tortilla or brown rice crackers

The first time I had tortilla crusted tilapia was at Friday’s and I fell in love with it.  The only reason that I usually buy tilapia to cook myself is because it is one of the cheaper seafood fish choices in the supermarket.  Don’t get me wrong tilapia is okay but I prefer salmon over tilapia any day.  It seems like tilapia is just so bland and I was never really certain of how to make it a more exciting meal.  The yeast free crockpot tomato and tilapia recipe helped a bit but I really wanted something more.   I remembered the tilapia that I had enjoyed so much at Friday’s and wondered if I could create my own yeast free tortilla crusted tilapia.   

I found a tortilla crusted tilapia recipe on RecipeZaar to work with.  I decided to adjust the recipe a bit to my liking.  I used corn tortilla chips rather than the regularly corn tortillas that the original recipe called for because I like a really crunchy crust.  I used a 2 cup food processor to crush the tortilla chips but a blender would work to.  You can also place the chips on a cutting board and use a rolling pin or place the chips in a sealable plastic bag and use your hands to crush the chips, but the smaller the chips the better and that is why I choose to use the food processor.  This is a solid recipe with a good blend of spices and I guarantee you that it will make you tilapia much more exciting while remaining candida diet friendly.     

Yeast Free Tortilla Crusted Tilapia Ingredients
4 tilapia fillets
1/3 cup yeast free gluten free flour mix
1 1/2 cups crushed tortilla chips (I use Sage Valley Organic Corn Tortilla Chips)
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 cup fresh cilantro finely chopped 
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon sea salt 
2 eggs beaten
1 lime cut into wedges

Yeast Free Tortilla Crusted Tilapia Directions
Preheat oven to 375 Fahrenheit
Spray a broiler pan with cooking spray
In a bowl combine flour, sea salt, cayenne pepper, cumin, chili powder and cilantro
Place crushed tortilla chips on a plate
Beat eggs in a separate bowl
Dip each fillet in flour mixture, then into eggs, then into crumbs
Place coated fillets on greased broiler pan
Bake until fish flakes
Serve with lime wedges

Recipe adapted from Tortilla Crusted Tilapia by dianegrapegrower on RecipeZaar

I am always looking for interesting things to do with chicken.   We eat chicken often because it is really easy to prepare and is okay for both my candida diet and the kids food allergies.  I usually opt to bake my chicken by just adding a little sea salt and pepper, but this gets boring fast, especially to the kids.  I was delighted to find this Lemon Herb Chicken recipe by JeanineJ on All Recipes to try.  It had few ingredients, simple directions and was almost naturally yeast free, so it was a perfect one to try out.  This yeast free lemon herb chicken recipe will also prove to be a great recipe to have around during the summer months when barbecuing becomes a weekly if not daily ritual for many families.  I used the broiler to cook this the first time but the original directions are for the grill.  My whole family really enjoyed this chicken, especially the kids.  It was tender and had such a great great combination of flavors.  I hope that this helps you bring some variety to the way you prepare chicken too.   

Yeast Free Lemon Chicken Ingredients
1/2 cup canola oil 
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 teaspoon minced onion
2 cloves minced garlic
1 teaspoon fresh thyme
1 teaspoon sea salt 
8 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
 
Yeast Free Lemon Herb Chicken Directions
In large bowl with a cover combine oil, lemon juice, onion, sea salt, thyme and garlic
Stir until the mixture thickens
Remove a little bit of the mixture from the bowl and reserve in a small container until it is time to cook
Add chicken to the bowl and marinate chicken thoroughly with the remaining mixture
Make sure all pieces are covered thoroughly
Cover and refrigerator approximately 4 hours
Preheat the grill or broiler when you are ready to cook
Coat the grill grate or broiler pan with aluminum foil
Poke holes in the foil and spray with cooking spray
Arrange chicken on top of the grate or broiler pan and cook 15 minutes on each side
Constantly brush chicken with reserved mixture to keep it moist

Recipe adapted from Lemon Herb Barbecue Sauce for ChickenRecipe by JeanineJ from All Recipes.

So creating a yeast free barbecue sauce proved to be pretty difficult.  I looked at many different recipes for homemade barbecue sauce and even inspected some of the store bought options for inspiration but all required or contained honey, sugar and/or corn syrup.  One thing that I have discovered while adapting meals to be yeast free is that some ingredients, whether they be in a recipe or in a canned or boxed meal, really aren’t all that necessary.  This however does not hold true barbecue sauce.  I have found that a sweetener is an essential ingredient for a good barbecue sauce.   I knew early on in the process of creating a candida diet friendly barbecue sauce that I could not expect it to taste the way the store bought ones did, but in the back of my mind I kept thinking about Sweet Baby Ray’s barbecue sauce and wanted to create something that tasted just like it. 

I of course could not create Sweet Baby Ray’s but I did come up with something that worked for my family, even my picky children.  My first attempt fell short of what I would call barbecue sauce.  I created some kind of tomato ginger marinade by accident and used it to cook chicken.  The general consensus at the table was that it did not taste like barbecue chicken but it was good in its own right.  If I can remember how I made it I will make it again and share the recipe here on Yeast Free Living.  On my second attempt I just decided to experiment with tomato paste, water, apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, stevia and a few spices to see if I could create an acceptable sauce that could pass for barbecue sauce.  I once again used the sauce for chicken but this time it did taste more like barbecue sauce.  The consistency of the sauce is a little different than traditional barbecue sauce but it did the job well.   My oldest daughter commented that it tasted just like barbecue sauce.  I struggled with the decision of whether or not to use apple cider vinegar in this recipe but in the end I believe that vinegar is another one of those ingredients crucial to the taste of barbecue sauce.  Apple cider vinegar seems to be tolerated by many on the candida diet but not all.  I wish I could of left it out of this recipe to be safe but I just couldn’t.  While this recipe may not be a fix for everyone, I hope that this helps some of you out there to put barbecue back on the menu.   

Yeast Free Barbecue Sauce Ingredients
1 – 6 ounce can of tomato paste (without citric acid)
Approximately 2.5 cups of water 
2 teaspoons onion powder
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon black pepper 
1  teaspoon sea salt
2 teaspoon garlic powder
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice  
4 packets of Sweet Leaf Stevia

Yeast Free Barbecue Sauce Directions
In a large mixing bowl add tomato paste
Slowly stir in water until sauce reaches desired consistency (I like thinner sauce so it will pour like traditional barbecue sauce)
Add all other ingredients and stir thoroughly
Taste and add additional spices to tweak according to your taste
Use immediately or place in a sealed container and refrigerate for later use (not too much later as it contains no preservatives like the store bought brands that last forever)

My friends and family have grown so found of my original yeast free hamburger helper recipe that I decided to try and make one of the other varieties.  Those of you that are familiar with Hamburger Helper know that there are many different types and they all taste completely different.  These varieties are actually proving to be great inspiration for additional yeast free recipes. 

I have never really been fond of the Hamburger Helper lasagna variety but my younger brother is.  We used to always argue about what type to buy.  I always picked beef noodle (now called beef pasta) and he preferred the lasagna.  I usually got my way but sometimes I felt obligated to concede and purchase the lasagna variety, as I did not want to be viewed as a Hamburger Helper tyrant.  I am not sure what made me think of this variety but Hamburger Helper lasagna has been on my mind for at least a week now.  With my oldest daughter in mind (she is a lasagna lover), I decided to create another yeast free Hamburger Helper meal.

I doubted that this version would come out as good as the original but I was wrong.  It came out spectacular.  It does not taste exactly like the one in the box, but that is not necessarily a bad thing.  The reason for this is that there is no replacing the cheese that is in the store bought one.  If you can tolerate non-moldy types of cheese you can just add some mozzarella to the dish.  To be completely honest I did not even miss the cheese.  I hope that you enjoy another processed food remake. 

Yeast Free Hamburger Helper Ingredients
1 pound ground meat (I used ground turkey meat due to a beef allergy)
Approximately 24 ounces unsweetened tomato sauce (I used one of box Pomi Strained Tomatoes)
3 cups water
1 tablespoon fresh oregano chopped
1 tablespoon fresh basil chopped
1/2 teaspoon arrowroot powder (cornstarch or tapioca starch will work too, as it is used to help thicken
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 box brown rice lasagna noodles broken into small pieces

Yeast Free Hamburger Helper Directions
Brown ground meat, drain excess oil and return ground meat to skillet 
Add water and seasonings and mix
Next Add fresh oregano and basil and mix
Finally Add lasagna noodles and tomato sauce in that order
Mix all ingredients together thoroughly
Cover and cook on medium heat until lasagna noodles are al dente

Any die hard processed food junkie knows what the San Francisco Treat is but most have no idea what is actually in it.  Like so many other processed foods that I consumed for years I had no idea what was actually in Rice-A-Roni.  I noticed a box on sale at Shoprite and decided to take a look.  I checked out the chicken Rice-A-Roni label to identify what if any candida diet offenders it actually contained.  I found several ingredients that are problematic to the candida diet.  These problematic ingredients include rice (white rice), wheat flour, salt, sugar, autolyzed yeast extract and monosodium glutamate.  None of these ingredients really suprised me as these seem like pretty much the norm for processed foods.  After reviewing the entire ingredient list I decided that I would attempt a yeast free version of Rice-A-Roni. 

I looked to the web for inspiration first and found a great Homemade Rice a Roni Recipe on Recipezaar to work with.  I added some spices and fresh parsley to try to duplicate the special blend of seasoning present in the store bought Rice-A-Roni.  I used chicken broth but I am sure that it would work equally well with other broths, just make sure whatever broth you use contains all yeast free ingredients.  My yeast free homemade Rice-A-Roni came out really good.  It does take a lot longer to cook than the boxed version but that is expected when cooking with brown rice.  I hope that you enjoy this yeast free take on another processed classic. 

Yeast Free Rice-A-Roni Ingredients (Makes 4 Servings – approximately 23.4  grams of carbohydrates per serving)
1/2 cup raw brown rice spaghetti broken into little pieces (21.5 grams carbohydrates)
1/2 cup brown rice (64 grams of carbohydrates)
1 tablespoon olive oil (0 grams of carbohydrates)
2 1/2 cups unsweetened chicken broth (5 grams of carbohydrates)
1 cup water (0 grams of carbohydrates)
1 tablespoon parsley finely chopped (1 gram of carbohydrates)
1/4 teaspoon garlic (1 gram of carbohydrates)
1/4 teaspoon onion powder (1 gram of carbohydrates)
1/8 teaspoon ground turmeric (0 gram of carbohydrates)
1/4 teaspoon sea salt (0 grams carbohydrates)

Yeast Free Rice-A-Roni Directions 
In medium skillet saute’ broken spaghetti pieces and rice in olive oil
Stir constantly, until the spaghetti rice mixture begins to brown
Carefully pour in water and broth
Add all seasoning and parsley and stir
Cover and simmer until liquid is absorbed

Recipe adapted from Homemade Rice a Roni Recipe from LisaA at Recipezaar

I fell in love with Indian food about 3 years ago when I met my equally food adventurous friend Jen.  I met Jen while working on a temporary human resources job assignment at a pharmaceutical company.  We would go out to lunch at least once a week and experiment with Greek, Indian, Caribbean and Spanish foods just to name a few.  We would always discover a new dish that we vowed to learn how to cook.  The only one I actually did learn how to cook was chicken tikka masala.  I am not sure if I can make chicken tikka masala yeast free as some of its key ingredients are not candida diet friendly,  that is why have not mentioned it here on yeast free living.  Maybe I will attempt a yeast free version in the future but I love the original so much I just don’t want to ruin it with yeast free substitutions.  Although I am optimistic that many dishes can be made yeast free without compromising taste, I also have the good sense to know that some things should not be messed with. 

My college roommate is Indian and vegetarian.  She tried to introduce me to Indian vegetarian dishes back in college but I just was not ready to try it back then.  She is presently expecting her first child and I was at her baby shower this past weekend where I got to experience a wide array of Indian vegetarian dishes.  The vegetarian dishes were incredible and this is what inspired me to look for Indian dishes that are candida diet friendly.  I stumbled across a recipe for Aloo Phujia on All Recipes and figured I would give this one a try.  It turned out spectacular and even the kids liked it.  I had to scale back the cayenne pepper because my oldest is not fond of spicy food but the my youngest loved it even with the original amount of spices.  The dish is a medley of onions, peppers and potatoes with authentic Indian spices.   The dish is typically served with Basmati rice but serving potatoes over rice is usually not in the best interest of the candida dieter, as this move would make the meal very carbohydrate heavy.  I served Aloo Phujia as the main dish and we ate salad with yeast free creamy herb salad dressing as a side.

Yeast Free Aloo Phujia Ingredients (approximately 24.75 grams of carbohydrates per serving)
1 yellow onion chopped (5 grams of carbohydrates)
1 green bell pepper chopped (6 grams of carbohydrates)
1/4 cup olive oil (0 grams of carbohydrates)
1 pound potatoes (approximately 3 medium sized potatoes) (approximately 78 grams of carbohydrates) 
1 teaspoon sea salt (0 grams of carbohdrates)
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (1/2 teaspoon = hot; 1/4 teaspoon = medium; 1/8 teaspoon – mild) (0 grams of carbohydrates)
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric (1 gram of carbohydrates)
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin (1 gram of carbohydrates)
2 tomatoes chopped (8 grams of carbohydrates)

Yeast Free Aloo Phujia Directions
Wash and boil potatoes with skins until potatoes are slightly tender
Remove skin from potatoes when cooled
Chop cooked potatoes into cubes and set aside
Saute onion and green pepper in a  large skillet
Stir in sea salt, cayenne pepper, turmeric and cumin
Add potatoes and cook about 10 minutes covered on low heat
Add tomatoes and cook covered for an additional 5  minutes or until potatoes reach desired tenderness

Recipe adapted from Aloo PhujiaRecipe by ChristyJ on All Recipes