Yeast Free Living

Archive for the ‘Condiments’ Category

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)

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.

I never realized how much I used soy sauce until I was no longer allowed to consume it.  At one point in my life soy sauce was a condiment that I reserved exclusively for consumption with my Chinese food.  In more recent years I have ventured out a bit and become aware of its power to marinate all types of meat, poultry and fish, on salads and of course in various Asian dishes. 

Although soy sauce is a prohibited ingredient on the Candida Diet there is a very good substitute.  Bragg’s Liquid Aminos can be substituted anywhere that you need soy sauce.  I have used it in various recipes including homemade beef and broccoli, homemade brown beef fried rice and in a chicken marinade.  Ingredients in Bragg’s Liquid Aminos are vegetable protein from soybeans and purified water.

Ketchup is such a staple condiment and kids probably eat more ketchup than they do actual food at some meals.  Ketchup however is problematic for the candida dieter because it contains vinegar and sugar.  I was not sure if it was possible to make a yeast free version of ketchup that actually tasted good but I wanted to try.   I Googled homemade ketchup recipes and I got 3,210,000 results.  That is a lot of ketchup recipes and I was unsure of how to pick one to adapt.  In the end I went with one that I thought was the easiest.  I did not want to boil tomatoes so I started to narrow things down by finding a recipe that used tomato paste instead of whole tomatoes.  In the end I went “How to make Ketchup from Tomato Paste“ which is an article on eHow.   It’s not exactly Heinz but I don’t know if anything can be an adequate substitute for the high fructose corn syrup found in store bought Ketchup.  I hope that you will enjoy this alternative.  I especially like it with Meatloaf.  

Yeast Free Ketchup Ingredients
2 – 6 oz cans tomato paste
1/2 cup water
3 packets sweet leaf stevia
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1 /2 cup lemon juice 
pinch cinnamon (optional)
pinch ground cloves (optional)
pinch cumin (optional)

Yeast Free Ketchup Directions
Thoroughly mix all ingredients together.  You can adjust spices according to your taste.

Mayonnaise is a staple condiment.  Most of us use it on a daily or at least a weekly basis.  This can prove to be a very difficult ingredient to exclude from your diet.   This homemade mayonnaise recipe is extremely tasty and candida diet approved.  Bon Appetite! 

Tip 1: Yields about 3 cups.  Remember that homemade mayonnaise goes bad really fast.   If you don’t need a lot of mayonnaise use Homemade Mayonnaise Recipe 1. 

Yeast Free Mayonnaise 2 Ingredients
6 large egg yolks
2 cups pure, cold-pressed safflower oil
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup water
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon dry mustard

Yeast Free Mayonnaise 2 Directions
Beat egg yoks for 2 munutes using a food processor of electric mixer=
Pour 1 cup of safflower oil into a measuring cup
SLOWLY drizzle a thin stream of oil in with the egg yoks WHILE beating at high speed
Continue until the entire cup of oil is mixed
Mixture should be thick
Drizzle in the last cup of safflower oil WHILE still beating at high speed
Add additional ingredients (lemon juice, water and mustard)  
Spoon Mayonnaise into jar with tight lid
Store in the refridgerator no more than 7 days

Recipe by Gail Burton –  The Candida Control Cookbook: What You Should Know and What You Should Eat to Manage Yeast Infections (New Revised & Updated Edition) page 145

Mayonnaise is a staple ingredient in our daily lives and is immediately missed by most of us when beginning the candida diet.   Although we must stay away from commercially available brands of mayonnaise, most of which are filled with vinegar and sugar, it is possible to make our own yeast free mayonnaise using all candida diet friendly ingredients.  Oh yeah, and it is delicious too! 

I have made this mayonnaise several times and I am so thankful that I found this recipe.  Each time I make yeast free mayonnaise I get excited all over again.  I still can’t believe that I can make my own mayonnaise.  I truly believed that creating something that I had bought and relied on so heavily off the supermarket shelves for years was out of my reach.  Making mayonnaise was definitely a turning point for me in my candida diet journey.   It marked a moment when I realized I could make almost anything yeast free, if I was just willing to put in a little time and effort.  It also made the candida diet a lot less boring, as I was sick of eating tuna fish and many other things plain.  Being able to make yeast free mayonnaise opens up a whole new world of possibilities for the candida diet.  All kinds of salads and dressings can be created with this recipe as a foundation.  This is sure to be one of your favorite candida diet recipes and it will help you create endless varieties of yeast free dishes.  I hope that you enjoy this recipe as much as I do. 

Tip 1: When making homemade mayonnaise it is very important to drizzle the oil into the egg very slowly.  The homemade mayonnaise will not emulsify, take form, if you do not add the oil slowly.  You will then have a jar full of liquid and I tell you this from experience. 

Tip 2 – Homemade mayonnaise spoils very quickly.  It will usually keep for about a week in a refrigerator but you should inspect it very closely before each use for signs of spoilage. 

Yeast Free Mayonnaise I – Ingredients
1 egg
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 cup grapeseed, safflower or olive oil (I prefer the oils in the order listed)
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Yeast Free Mayonnaise 1 Directions
Use blender or hand mixer
Beat egg at low speed for about 2 minutes
While continuing to beat egg add lemon juice and seasonings (dry mustard and sea salt)
Continue to blend and SLOWLY drip in the oil
Mixture will begin to thicken
Homemade Mayonnaise is ready after all oil is added
Spoon into jar and store in refrigerator for no longer than a week