Homemade Chicken Salad and Frozen Yogurt on a Summer Day

Rosemary chicken salad on Udi's whole grain sandwich bread made for a perfect lunch on a sunny afternoon in June.

I started with a large organic chicken breast and poached it with rosemary, pinch of salt, and a bay leaf for about 20 minutes before chopping it into cubes.

Meanwhile, I mixed together some Greek yogurt, mayonnaise, touch of Dijon mustard, minced garlic, chopped green onion, celery, rosemary, parsley, and salt & pepper. I folded the cubed chicken breast pieces in... and voila!

With some fresh lettuce from the garden, and a couple slices of Udi's sandwich bread, I was a happy camper.

For those of you who haven't yet discovered the wonder that is Udi's bread, go get some! Udi's has seriously made gluten free living a breeze. The bread is light, soft, great straight out of the bag, and not calorie dense like those horrible rice breads. Every single Udi's product I have tasted (bagels, breads, muffins, pizza crust, etc) has blown me away... a big thank you to our friends in Colorado who created this brand!

For a lighter nibble, we had some chicken salad on Mary's Gone Crackers gluten free, organic crackers. These are also a great find! They are crisp and crunchy, made entirely of brown rice, quinoa, flax seeds, and sesame seeds. Thirteen crackers will only set you back 140 calories, plus 3 grams of protein and fiber. They come in a variety of flavors such as herb, black pepper, and original.

For a midday dessert, my mom and I decided to make some frozen yogurt... from goat's milk! I have been trying to substitute goat's milk for cow's milk whenever possible since it seems I am sensitive to cow's milk products.

The first step is to find a good goat's milk yogurt, either from your local farmer's market, or any store such as Whole Foods or PCC. Then, simply pour the yogurt into a cheese cloth and let it strain for several hours (easiest to just leave it in the fridge to strain overnight). The thickened yogurt will contain less whey and moisture, making for a creamy frozen yogurt.

After the yogurt was strained, we transferred it into another bowl, and mixed in some vanilla extract and sugar. We also made a batch where we substituted the granulated cane sugar for the syrupy agave sweetener, which is a great all-natural, cane sugar free alternative.

Very simple, just those two additional ingredients, then into the Cuisinart frozen yogurt/ ice cream maker for just over 5 minutes.

The result is an incredibly smooth and creamy, slightly tangy frozen yogurt. We just made vanilla today, but think of the possibilities!

I ate mine with these Glutino brand lemon wafer cookies... perfect combination with the frozen yogurt! Glutino also makes some of my favorite products I've discovered, and these cookies are high on my list.

Delish.

Summer Time in the Garden = Love

One thing I particularly love about summer, is the abundance of delicious foods waiting to be created from the garden. My siblings and I love to gather at our parents house at least once a week and spend the whole day cooking and creating with whatever we can find. Luckily, with their garden, we can always find a lot.

If you have an herb garden, even just a few plants, try infusing different substances to add real, fresh flavor to future dishes. It makes for fun experiments, and beautiful jars!

These are, from left: rosemary sugar, herbed salt (rosemary, oregano, thyme), and rosemary simple syrup.

Can't wait to make chard tarts later this summer once these chard plants have fully matured.

We grow tons of rosemary along one of the southwestern walls. Personally, I could put rosemary in just about anything and love it! Which is why I am making a rosemary chicken salad this afternoon for lunch. Stay tuned for pictures.

My IBS Treatment Center Food Allergy Chart!

Here is part of my food allergy test results, I was so surprised by some of the foods I had such a strong negative reactive to.

I had some suspicions about dairy not agreeing with me, and this confirmed those suspicions. It was interesting that I had no reaction to yogurt, or goat's milk. Fortunately, I love yogurt, especially Greek style with honey, and could eat goat cheese all day long :)

Meats from the Bovine family clearly don't sit well with me, which is a bit saddening. As I mentioned earlier I am a sucker for a good steak, but I'm happy to give it up if it means good health and a happy stomach.

This bit of the chart is the hardest for me to accept. Most of the wonderful gluten free breads and baked goods I have found do contain yeast. I have been so excited about replacing the missing pizzas, breads, and bagels in my life with great gluten free options, that I don't think I am ready to say goodbye to them.

Since I have cut gluten out of my life in the past couple years, I have felt remarkably better is so many ways. I no longer struggle with daily fatigue, joint aches, and crippling stomach pains. These other foods that showed up on my lab tests clearly aren't my body's favorites, but they don't affect me as intensely or negatively as gluten. I will therefore do my best to eliminate all bovine-derived dairy and meat from my diet, while limiting my intake of yeast and cane sugar... but those last two just can't be totally avoided, I love them too much.

Lobster Mushroom Risotto, Roasted Chicken & Sauteed Spinach

This evening I decided it was time to cook an indulgent, delicious, hearty yet healthy dinner that is 100% free of gluten and dairy.

I had a bag of dried lobster mushrooms that I got from the Ballard Farmer's Market this winter, and thought it was time to pull them out of the freezer and put them to good use! Foraged and Found Edibles has a great stand at the sunday market, always full of interesting and beautiful finds. This spring they had baskets full of stinging nettles (yes, they're delicious once cooked!), fiddle heads, and many many mushrooms.

What better with a good risotto, than a perfectly roasted chicken? We had rosemary and garlic roasted chicken, rubbed with olive oil, black and white pepper, bay leaves, and a bit of brown sugar.

Lobster mushrooms are such a cool species, and they actually look like chunks of real lobster. In a risotto, they add a perfect textural blend to the creamy arborio rice.

Test results are in... surprising finds!

So I got my food allergy blood test back from the IBS Treatment Center, and boy, was I surprised by the results. First, I have to say how incredibly interesting and informative this test is. If you are struggling with digestive issues, or a suspected food allergy, this is the place to go. It's not necessarily cheap, but the IBS Treatment Center has changed hundreds of lives for the better with a simple diagnosis.

I'll scan my chart and post it up here tomorrow so you can see the breakdown of which antibodies react to which food substances, and at what level of intensity.

Through this test, I discovered that not only am I gluten intolerant, but I am highly allergic to milk, beef, and lamb! Weird! It seems to be a general intolerance for almost all products from the Bovine family. Strangely enough, I had no negative reaction to yogurt, or anything made of goat's milk. Luckily, I love goat cheese and am excited to explore the world of goat milk products: butter, milk, ice cream, etc. I think they have a lovely, creamier texture than cow's milk products.

I have to admit, it will be tough to cut back on regular ice cream, and steak (one of my favorite guilty pleasures is steak frites with maitre d' beurre).

But enough thinking about what I can't eat... lets talk about what we can enjoy!

Busy Busy

I've been working like crazy the past few days and haven't had a free moment to take any pictures or update! Apologies! I have lots of great things I want to share, and will tomorrow.

Tomorrow morning I have my follow-up appointment with Dr. Wangen at Seattle's IBS Treatment Center. They are an amazing establishment that specializes in food allergy diagnosis and treatment plans. I heard about it a few weeks ago, and decided it was finally time to get some concrete answers to explain all my food issues. Dr. Wangen is gluten intolerant, and also allergic to dairy, so he is full of advice and insight in the gluten free department!

The test I opted for is a simple blood draw that is run against a panel of over 100 common foods, to see how the antibodies in your blood react to different substances. People with one food allergy (gluten), often may have sensitivities to others too. I am very interested to see the results come back and find out if there is anything else that caused my excruciating stomach pains and fatigue.

Wish me luck! I'll have new foods and treats for you up here soon.

West Seattle Produce - You must go!!

We took home some of the season's first batch of Rainier cherries, my favorite.

Mmm heirlooms... such a summer treat. Slices these babies up with some fresh buffalo mozzarella, basil, drizzle with olive oil and you have gluten free, fresh perfection.

They even carry a great gluten free trumpet pasta from Pike Place Market's Pappardelle.

Wonderful flavored honey, jams, syrups and other bottled goods from local farms.

The best part of West Seattle Produce, besides Mike, is the fact that it is open every day, and you don't have to fight the throngs on tourists found in Pike Place.




On the corner of SW Alaska St. and Fauntleroy Way SW, in West Seattle, is my new favorite stop for local, fresh, organic produce. You can't miss this adorable produce stand, with its vintage red pickup truck in the parking lot, and the friendliest, most knowledgeable owner, named Mike.
My sister and I had a lovely visit with Mike, and discussed our love for local, organic foods, Beecher's cheeses, and the joys of raw milk. He fills his stand with locally sourced items, bought direct from the farmers whenever possible.

Continuing our West Seattle Adventures

Another great bakery to put on your list of go-to gluten free places is the Great Harvest Bread Company. They have a whole section of the bakery dedicated to gluten free baked goods, including breads, rolls, pizza crust, focaccia, cupcakes, scones, the list goes on! There is also a shelf packed with gluten free baking mixes and granolas.

Adventures in West Seattle

My sister and I decided to sample each flavor available, which today consisted of blood orange, mint, and milk chocolate. The blood orange was my favorite, bright in both color and flavor.
When I stopped in last week, I found some exciting new flavors such as blueberry lemon, margarita, and PB&J! (They tasted like the most delicious, tiny peanut butter and jelly sandwich)



Bakery Nouveau, on California Avenue, is a favorite destination of mine. Although most of the beautiful pastries and sandwiches are off limits, I make the drive out for their Parisian Macaroons. They have a variety of different flavors every day, and each one is equally amazing! Parisian macaroons are delightful little treats that are composed of two puffy and light, yet moist meringue-like domes sandwiched together with a ganache or other cream filling.




One of my favorite places to explore gluten free options is in West Seattle. There seem to be endless restaurants, bakeries, and specialty food shops that cater to the diets of people with food allergies. You may think bakeries are totally off-limits to us gluten free foodies, but think again!

A Sweet Green Treat.

This was the most delicious green tea latte from an absolutely beautiful bakery in Seattle's Ballard neighborhood. Fresh Flours, on Ballard Avenue, makes dozens of lovely pastries and other delights that us gluten free folk sadly must avoid. But they also have very friendly (and talented) baristas who create beautiful beverages like this one.

Sweets.

These Flax 4 Life muffins are also a great find. They're carried in many basic grocery stores now, as well as specialty food stores. They have 8 grams of protein, and over 10 grams of fiber in every muffin. Delicious, nutritious, and filling :)

The cookies were made with the Baking Mix on the left. I've used the Bread Mix on the right for different breads, rolls, and the best gluten free bagels I've tried so far (you boil them first and everything!)

Good old fashioned chocolate chip cookies are something no person should be deprived of. I've found that Pamela's Products makes the best baking mix on the market. I use it to make cookies, cupcakes, pancakes, breads, even bagels!