new meals--leaky gut diet

It's been about 4 or so weeks since Peter first began the detox diet. I gave reference to the "leaky gut syndrome" awhile ago.. I remember searching for meal ideas and really not coming up with anything. At that time, I was terrified. But now, I can say that I've got it, for the most part, under control. I don't always have a willing husband to try my recipes, but I am full of ideas. I wonder how life would be without the internet. I suppose I would have to buy lots of cookbooks.... and do less baking.

The first two weeks were strictly gluten, dairy, and sugar free... no potatoes, rice, honey, eggs, really- nothing. He could have beef, some pork, chicken, and turkey. We thought that was bad. The third week we thought maybe he'd be done with the diet soon... but he added oats, beans and honey into the diet. Hey, that's pretty good!! Peter was definitely happy and that's when I could use more of the recipes I had bookmarked. His meals included:

Hamburger, no bun, sauted onions. Steak. Grilled chicken with this rub: 1 T lime juice, 1 T olive oil, spices: garlic salt, onion powder, chili powder, salt, pepper (to your liking) Grilled Tilapia in a pouch with lemon juice, salt and pepper, onions; Roasted Turkey-- my trick, by chance, was roasting it upside down so that the dark meat's juices would drip onto the white meat. I would pat dry, rub down with olive oil, rub under the skin and pour olive oil in, also stuff with garlic cloves, lemon peel, and sprinkle with onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, and tarragon. Other variations: Steak and chicken kebabs, tacos with homemade seasonings, and really, lots of other things. Once the brown rice, beans and oatmeal were included, we had so much more to work with: black bean brownies (sorry, don't have the link, easy to find though!) we put gluten free oats in his shake that he was having daily (4 ice cubes, 2-3 frozen chunks of banana, his hemp protein mix, handful of blueberries, 1-2 whole strawberries, enough coconut milk / watered down pineapple juice to cover and mix to your liking) I like mine to be a little bit thick, and he likes his more watery.  He could have oatmeal for breakfast instead of just his huge bowl of coconut yogurt and fruit. He also was eating turkey sausage and bacon from the health-food store for breakfast, for added protein. Once we made turkey and one ham, he would take those along too for a snack, for added protein.

The next week, though, with thinking he'd be able to open up another range of foods, to our surprise I received a phone call from Peter saying that they took a step BACK. His doctor took away beef, which pretty much was his main source of food during those two weeks (every other day was a hamburger or steak). So, one week without beef, the second week he cannot have ANY meat, and the third week he can have the turkey, chicken, and fish again.... although he should mostly have fish.  Yikes! This was a huge blow to us, because we had such high hopes of opening more food. Like, maybe eggs. This was when I seriously began to shop around for bread mixes, different flours, and look for recipes including rice and beans. It was hard to find ideas at first but once I got introduced to the really good sites, I got more and more ideas. So, the first week on a beef-less diet included:  another turkey. He really did eat turkey leftovers for a few days because he had to... he was busy in the field. I bought him some Italian chicken-type brats at Target that he thought was good. We had Turkey tacos, I also bought a gluten free rice tortilla at Hugos in the freezer section. We made homemade fruit roll-ups, dehydrated fruit, a young chicken roasted, Brazilian beans and rice ,  chicken-broccoli stir-fry (olive oil and lemon juice, tarragon marinade) and I really can't remember what else. It wasn't too bad...though we really did have it good when he could have his beef.

So, we are almost finished with week #2 in the no meats, and I can really say it's gone by well.. but only because I know people were praying for us! Strength is what we had. I came up with some good recipes to help get through this weird time and he actually liked them. For a moment, we thought he couldn't have oats again because his doctor told him he couldn't... but after a few days of cooked Quinoa and Buckwheat, he was craving oatmeal so he asked if he could buy the gluten free oatmeal, which was a YES, so that indeed, made him crazy-happy.  The Quinoa wasn't that bad, really. Just cook 1 cup with 2 cups of water with some raisins, sliced thin chunks of apple, and in about 10 or so minutes it's ready. First soak in cold water for 5 minutes, drain, and then boil for 5 minutes and simmer for the rest, until the liquid is gone. I added blueberries because i love them.

So, the first dinner we had included veggie skewers on dirty rice. I got the recipe here .  This is one of my fav. sites to look for recipes.

I made fried potatoes (originally baked and cut up when cooled, and cooked in olive oil with salt and pepper.  The Quinoa recipe is here . I thought it was good, but i added too much spice so it was a little hard to eat. I bet these would be good on the rice tortillas. We put his on some salad.

 Here is a photo of a really good blueberry breakfast 'cake' that i just made in my banana loaf pan. http://happyherbivore.com/recipe/blueberry-coffee-cake/

I made a successful bread loaf , but used Pamelas bread mix. I realized the trick is to not let it rise too high, because it will keep rising as it bakes, and while the oven is preheating! By the time my loaf got into the oven it was oozing out of the pan. Also, what worked was to put parchment paper on the sides so I could lift the bread out of the pan.

My pasta bake turned out pretty good. Peter really actually hates all pasta bakes, or usually prefers to eat them once a month... so for him to eat this and think it was okay... is good. :) I used asparagus vs. the zucchini that it called for and i obviously just made one single serving vs. a whole casserole. Nutritional yeast is quite cheap and it is supposed to be a vegan's 'Parmesan' cheese. I also used the yeast in the millet cakes, down below.




Other things I've tried, so far (worth writing about):
Bean Burgers
Blueberry Scones (Just a note, i used an egg replacer (you can buy this at the health food store) and used coconut  milk with 1 T lemon juice) and then added 1 tsp guar gum. I added fresh blueberries, not chocolate or cherries.  Because I didn't use an actual egg, these turned out more like a fluffy cookie... which is fine by me! It didn't rise as high as the picture even though I still used 2 tsp. of baking powder.
Best ever banana bread
Awesome pancakes
 No Bake Glo Cakes

That's it, for now! tonight i spent at least a half hour making meal plans for the girls and I, and Peter... at least 2 weeks for the girls and i almost got through one week with peter. Its hard to know how to plan when some days he might be in the field.... one day at a time I guess!