Food Studies

Updated: 09/06/22

I am asked, with increasing frequency, why I post so much negative information about food.

No, I am not trying to make people afraid to eat.

Every story has two sides. Well, so does food.

Without examining both sides, you cannot get a clear view of what the story really looks like. It aggravates me to only be privy to part of a story. People are more likely to make bad personal decisions when they don't get the whole picture.

So, I am trying to present the other side... the side that common nutritional enthusiasts tend to ignore.

Therefore, you will not find me gushing over the lycopene in tomatoes. And you may find me quashing any regard for calcium tablets and dairy.

Why? Because all the lycopene in the world is not going to improve the quality of your life if the other elements of the tomato are overwhelming your joints to the point of hardly being able to move!

And the calcium in dairy isn't going to make your life better if, as a result of consumption, you are suffering night time leg pain and therefore not getting enough sleep. Let's not even get into the links with enuresis (night wetting) and how it aggravates me to hear about parents making their children go to bed without a drink of water because they don't know it's the MILK that's affecting their bladder control, NOT the amount of liquid in their bladders!... Or its links with diabetes... or possible negative impacts for people with autistic issues.

So, welcome to my blog.
Be warned, it's not going to be pretty.

***

You are welcome to ask questions here or via e-mail. Anything I write is to be questioned. Anything you read, here, or anywhere else for that matter, about food SHOULD be questioned.

In the years I have been doing this research, I have come to three conclusions:

1. There is no perfect food.
2. There is no magic pill.
3. All foods contain toxins.

So don't be scared. Be smart.

***

Here's some really old stuff from my early days:

Cancel That Gluten Order

Here is a list of what you will find there:

Arrowroot
Oregano
Enzymes

You can also go to NeuroTalk to see some of what I've done in the past and ask for food study help there. I'm the nut who felt the need to collect 'food study threads'. If you do a search there for 'food study' you should get a bunch of hits that I collected while I was hanging out over there.

Menu for the Month: Autumn

Monday:

Poached Egg w/ Leftover Roast Beef
Sea Salt
Freshly Ground Pepper
Honeydew Melon

Burgers/Sausages (ground meat w/ shredded cabbage, zucchini and carrot, sage -if pork or oregano - if beef or rosemary - if chicken or turkey)
Lettuce
Steamed or sauteed onions
Tomato
Pickles
Mustard
Sea Salt
Freshly Ground Pepper

Burgers/Sausages
Baked Potato Fries
Lettuce
Steamed or sauteed onions
Tomato
Pickles
Mustard
Sea Salt
Freshly Ground Pepper


Tuesday:

Cream of Rice Cereal (sweet rice) with Fruit and Maple Syrup

Burgers and Salad Greens

Baked Turkey
Basmati Rice with Red Peppers and Celery
Salad Greens (Grapeseed Oil, Oregano, Sea Salt and Pepper)


Wednesday:

Strawberry Coconut Smoothie

Tomato/Meat Sauce (filled with all kinds of leftover, pureed veggies in the fridge, lots of parsley)

Noodles
Tomato/Meat Sauce
Salad (Romaine Lettuce, Purple Onion, Black Olives, Tomato, Basil, Sea Salt, Freshly Ground Pepper)

Thursday: (this is our day out of the house and so we pack something quick for lunch)

Banana/Apple Smoothie

Pillars Turkey Bites
PC Organic Blue Corn Chips
Hummus
Salsa

Crock PotDinner (Roast Pork, Eggplant, Carrots and Cabbage, Sage, Sea Salt, Pepper)

Friday:

Cantalope

Tuna Pockets

Steamed Halibut
Boiled Potatoes
Cabbage and Carrot Coleslaw

Saturday:

Coffee (organic; fair trade)
Bacon

Baked Chicken (ginger; sea salt; freshly ground pepper)
Roasted Vegetables (carrot, sweet potato, beets)

Chicken Stirfry (basmati rice, sweet red peppers, spring onions, parsnips, basmati rice, sea salt, freshly ground pepper)

Sunday:

Coffee (organic; fair trade)
Bacon
Waffles

Chicken Soup (chicken stock from yesterday; carrots; cabbage; oregano; sea salt; pepper)

Crock Pot Dinner (Roast Beef; cabbage; carrots; mushrooms)

Cheese Spread Replacement

I wanted to come up with a smart name for this 'spread' but decided it would serve others better to know how I use it.

We enjoy this on crackers and celery sticks. Hopefully I'll have the opportunity to try it this weekend on pizza as I've recently given up all dairy for the sake of my youngest child who is still nursing and appears to spit up and get rashy on days that I consume dairy.

Honestly, I seem to be feeling a little more energetic myself but am missing cheese more than milk.

1 cup water
1 cup cashew nuts (I used salted because it was all I could find)
4 tablespoons arrowroot OR 8 tblspns baked, heavy/dry squash SCD
2 tablespoons finely chopped red pepper
1 tablespoon green onion (the white part)
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 clove garlic (finely chopped - if desired)
1 pinch dill weed (I used dried)

Put everything into the food processor and let really get all chopped up and mixed well.

Put into a pot and turn on low. Allow to cook for approximately 10 minutes, (until desired spreading consistency is achieved) stirring occassionally.

Place in a canning jar and keep in the fridge.

Menu for the Month: Spring

Monday: Apples; Fish
Tuesday: Bananas; Turkey
Wednesday: Spinach; Ground Meat
Thursday: Red and Green Peppers; Pork
Friday: Pineapple; Noodles
Saturday: Cantalope; Chicken
Sunday: Watermelon; Roast Beef

Tuna Salad Wraps

This is a delicious, colourful salad that satisfies craving and goes just as well with wine as it does with a nice, hot cup of tea. However, I must say that even though every Monday is 'Fish Day' in our house, we keep tuna consumption down to once a month to be on the safe side. http://ohioline.osu.edu/cd-fact/0200.html

My daughter prefers only tuna and tomato, seasoned with salt and pepper and rolled in a lettuce leaf. I, however, prefer the whole gamut of colour!

1 can tuna
1/2 cup baby spinach (diced very small)
1 stalk celery (diced very small)
1/2 tomato (diced very small)
2 tablespoons green or red onion (chopped into small pieces)
3 tablespoons red pepper (diced very small)
2 tablespoons oil (we use grapeseed because of it's light flavour)
1 generous squeeze of lemon or lime if available
sea salt and pepper to taste

Mix everything well and roll into a lettuce leaf or just eat with a spoon.

Note: I don't particularly care for tinned salmon. However, I like the idea of mushing up the soft bones and consuming them for added calcium. A little trick I came up with recently was to mix the salmon with tuna. This seems to make a huge difference in palatability for me... and my daughter who also doesn't care so much for 'salmon salad'.

Later, I'll come and post a Tuna/Salmon Croquette recipe that increases calcium levels even more via the use of sesame seeds in the coating......... Yum!

Deep Fry Batter

I have been experimenting for three years with this recipe and come up with some really good ones but this one tops them all. The reason? It's extremely light, yet crunchy.

My original goal was to try and get something as close to restaurant style chicken ball batter as I could because we were really missing Chinese Food. I met that challenge but find that my family, after several years of not consuming much 'bread' product, no longer has a taste for big bread.

And so, this recipe is far better. Lighter. Crispier. Tender.

The secret is to use cooked brown rice rather than flour.

2 cups cooked brown rice
2 eggs
1/4 cup oil
3 tablespoons arrowroot
1 teaspoon sea salt

That's the unflavoured version but for some real kick that doesn't require any dipping sauce add:
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon chili powder

Combine all in food processor until smooth. Coat your food with it and deep fry it. Mmmmm!
This will cover about 35 pieces of 1" cubes of chicken (approx. 3-4 chicken breasts).

Deep fry chicken breast cubes for approx. 8-10 minutes (190C; 374F), veggies less. This is going to be awesome for mushrooms!

Vanilla Extract

I could never decide how safe the store bought vanilla and vanilla extract is. So I began to use vanilla beans. My problem was that it really was getting too expensive and so this is my solution. To my delight, it turned out beautifully and has much better flavour (IMHO) than store-bought versions... not to mention, there are no artificial colours or flavours.

750 mL potato vodka (medium bottle)
4 vanilla beans

Put the beans in the bottle. Let it sit for 2 weeks to inifinity. Use where ever vanilla flavour is desired.

Coconut Pumpkin Custard

This is lovely on its own or drizzled over top of something (like Squashbread Tea Cake). It is also one that can warm you up or cool you down.

2 cups coconut milk (approx. 1 medium can)
1 cup water
1 cup pureed squash (any kind - it will all end up tasting like pumpkin)
7 eggs (medium)
1/3 to 1/2 c honey
4 tablespoons arrowroot (optional for a thicker pudding - do not use for SCD)
1 tablespoon vanilla (optional - do not use for SCD)
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Whisk all up in a large pot. Place on medium/high heat and stir constantly until it begins to boil. Remove from heat immediately and continue stirring until the bottom of the pot cools a bit (so that the bottom doesn't turn into scrambled eggs) and then transfer to bowls, canning jars, pie crusts, etc.

Eat warm or cold.

Coconut Custard

This is lovely on its own or drizzled over top of something (like Squashbread Tea Cake). It is also one that can warm you up or cool you down.

2 cups coconut milk (approx. 1 medium can)
1 cup water
7 eggs (medium)
1/3 to 1/2 c honey
1 tablespoon vanilla (optional)
4 tablespoons arrowroot (or tapioca, cornstarch, potato starch, etc.)
1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Whisk all up in a large pot. Place on medium/high heat and stir constantly until it begins to boil. Remove from heat immediately and continue stirring until the bottom of the pot cools a bit (so that the bottom doesn't turn into scrambled eggs) and then transfer to bowls, canning jars, pie crusts, etc.

Eat warm or cold.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Food Study....................................................Section I
Menus...........................................................Section II
Recipes.......................................................Section III
Restaurant Reviews...................................Section IV
Zzzzzz.... Great Reads..................................Section V

Food Study

Food Studies - Introduction
Meat and Dairy Issues: 1
Pecking Apart Chicken Soup: Part 1: Use D'Em Bones

Menus

Menu for the Month: Spring 2007
Menu for the Month: Autumn 2007

Recipes

All recipes are absolutely gluten free!

Legend:
Dairy Free.............................DF
Egg Free................................EF
Grain Free.............................NG (gf is used to indicated gluten free)
Soy Free................................SF
Specific Carbohydrate Diet...SCD
Vegan.....................................VV
Vegetarian..............................V


Bread - Yeast (DF:EF:SF:VV:V)

Breakfast Bar - Hazelnut Fig NG, SCD, EF, MF,

Cheese Spread Replacement (NG:DF:SCD:SF:EF:V)

Coconut Pumpkin Custard(NG:DF:SCD:SF:V)

Custard (DF:NG:SF:SCD:V)

Deep Fry Batter (DF:MF)

Lard (only contains pork fat: includes benefits references)

Squashbread Tea Cake (NG:DF:SCD:V)

Tuna Salad Wraps (NG:SCD:SF:EF:MF)

Vanilla Extract (NG:DF:SF:EF:VV)

Waffles and Pancakes (DF; SF; V)

Restaurant Reviews

Only good restaurants. Only good reviews.

Canada

Oakville
Il Fornello's

Toronto
Il Fornello's

Zzzzz.... Great Reads

Great Gobs... I mean, Blogs of Gluten