January '08 GRAIN-FREE Traditional Food diets thread - Page 2

[cristeen]

Originally Posted by erin a

A question for you all - when you are invited over to someone's house for a meal do you tell them you're grain free or do you just eat it and deal with the consequences after? I'm finding it difficult to know what to say. When I was veg and told people it was generally accepted (you know most people think that being veg is a great thing for health and environment) but what do I say now - that I don't eat grains or pasteurized dairy or your gross hormone-infested 'meat'? Don't think that'll go over too well kwim?

I pick my battles. I will usually tell them that I don't eat grains or sugar (which leads to a lot of questions), and then I volunteer to bring a dessert I can eat. Since my dairy and meat is not 100% even at home, I'm not going to impose those beliefs on someone else. But the grain and sugar can actually make me sick immediately, and ruin my whole night. When pressed, usually I just ask that they either serve potatoes (which I do eat), or serve whatever grain on the side (which most people don't have a problem with).

[barose]

Originally Posted by erin a

Kallyn

A question for you all - when you are invited over to someone's house for a meal do you tell them you're grain free or do you just eat it and deal with the consequences after? I'm finding it difficult to know what to say. When I was veg and told people it was generally accepted (you know most people think that being veg is a great thing for health and environment) but what do I say now - that I don't eat grains or pasteurized dairy or your gross hormone-infested 'meat'? Don't think that'll go over too well kwim?

This hasn't come up yet given since I've gone grain-free, I hosted all of the dinner parties so far this season. We also went out several times over the holidays w/friends and its pretty easy for me to eat out and modify what I order at the places we go to in these parts...

With that said, I have told several people so far and they have all been 100% interested in what I had to say and how I'm doing, etc. It was more of a struggle when I was a raw vegan. At least I eat cooked food now.

Some regular vegans dont understand (though they totally respect my views).

If I were to go to someone's house, I will mentioned it in advance, but it depends on the type of gathering it is and how formal they want to be. They usually keep everyone into consideration if its a formal dinner at someone's house. If its a casual potluck, I don't mention it and usually find something I can eat including what I bring.

Some foods I compromise (I will have in small amounts or a taste)
Non organic meat
Non organic produce
Non-gluten grains (rice like 1 tablespoon)

Foods I dont compromise (wont eat no matter what, LOL)
Gluten
Dairy
Beans (because I hate them)
Refined sugar

[Periwinkle]

I never say anything when we're invited out and so far it hasn't been a problem. Scratch that - one time they served stuffed shells and garlic bread and caesar salad and I ate the insides of my shells and salad. Yum. : But when we are going somewhere like my MILs I do remind her I am grain and sugar free because to her that just means I don't eat cake, lol. I'm always gently reminding people that it means like, no Heinz ketchup in the meatloaf, etc. I offer to cook a lot and essentially the "pick your meat / pick your vegetable" way of eating is very helpful when eating out anywhere.

[cdmamatutu]

Originally Posted by erin a

[A question for you all - when you are invited over to someone's house for a meal do you tell them you're grain free or do you just eat it and deal with the consequences after?

I haven't dealt with this much, but my in-laws eat a standard SAD so it is a challenge when we are there. We typically eat a little so as not to offend, and take enzymes immediately afterward. I try to find out ahead of time what is on the menu so I can load us up on healthy snacks before the meal if necessary. I also RAVE about meals that actually have nutrition in them, and I'm seeing them fix those for us more often during our visits. heeheehee

My family knows what we eat and so I'm often recruited to do the cooking when we're there.

For eating out with friends - I love my friends to pieces and would eat fried spiders if they served it to me. Actually, fried spiders would be healthier than some of the things I've eaten!

To get to the point though, while I experience great digestive discomfort when I don't eat properly, I'm usually able to mask it during the visit. (Sometimes the noise from my gurgling insides make it pretty hard to hide, though! lol - sorry, TMI) Most of my friends think I'm a good cook, and I try to mention healthy recipes I've used that were easy and kid-friendly, then explain WHY they were healthy...and most of my friends are heading down the same path now. I know they aren't all there (some of them aren't close) but I want to encourage those steps, too...you know? I don't want my friends to feel like they can't serve me because I'm so "picky", even though I can end up miserable when I'm eating their food. And we get together for meals so sporadically, I just grin & bear it.

LOL okay, that was wordy. short answer: I deal with the consequences later.

[barose]

Question for all: how does your DH/SO eat? Does he/she eat the same meals you do, or is it a divided household when it comes to food?

My SO does not eat TF. His diet consists of mostly veggies, fruit, nuts, tempeh and fish about once a week.

When I ate a raw/vegan diet, he followed me and immediate became 10x healthier while I started to go downhill. When I switched to TF, he TRIED to follow me, but immediately gained a few #s, became tired and lethargic. He is severely lactose intolerant and cannot eat raw butter, or even ghee. He can tell immediately if the food is contaminated, LOL. Chicken makes him feel slow sucks the energy right out of him and so on. When I prepare foods he can eat, the difference is 180.

The problem is, except for a meal he prepares for himself every now and then and when we go out, I prepare our food 90% of the time. It wasn't a big deal when we had silimar diets, but now its a problem because I'm not a housewife (full-time job +). I guess I need tips on how to effectively feed the both of us w/o taking up too much time. We already normally dont eat until around 8:00PM+ on the weekdays because of work and I have to have a life sometime. I can prepare food pretty quickly: its no big deal to throw a steak on the grill and make a quick salad, or a Thai stir fry but when I have to do that + his food + make sure I have enough for lunch the next day, its too much.

Tips?
Advice?

[kallyn]

Originally Posted by erin a

Kallyn - thanks for posting that link!

Originally Posted by erin a

A question for you all - when you are invited over to someone's house for a meal do you tell them you're grain free or do you just eat it and deal with the consequences after?

I mostly just eat it and deal. I don't have celiac or anything like that, and one meal usually doesn't cause me any lasting distress. However, my friends all know about my paleo stuff and they are always interested in it and asking questions, and they usually make stuff that I can eat at least most of. With my family it's not an issue either...when I'm at my parents' house I do a lot of the cooking because everyone loves my food, and at my in-laws' house they are just about the most accommodating people on the face of the planet.

Originally Posted by Periwinkle

* Giving up artificial sweetener : (don't kick me out ) because I use Sweet N Low in my coffee every morning and still drink Diet soda sometimes

I do too. : Except for me it's a bag of splenda in the pantry and diet soda when we eat out.

Originally Posted by Periwinkle

* Working on finding a new breakfast routine - I am NOT someone who can make a new breakfast from scratch every morning, I really need to eat the same thing or nearly so every morning and nothing I need to think about either, and it's hard to do this sugar/grain free.

Do you like eggs? It's really easy to boil a whole lot of eggs at one time and then just keep them in the fridge to grab for breakfast. Even better if you also make some jerky and grab some of that too.

[cristeen]

Originally Posted by Periwinkle

* Working on finding a new breakfast routine - I am NOT someone who can make a new breakfast from scratch every morning, I really need to eat the same thing or nearly so every morning and nothing I need to think about either, and it's hard to do this sugar/grain free. I still eat South Beach Diet bars for breakfast sometimes if I don't have time to make breakfast and I want to stop ALL aritificial sweeteners and supplements.

Do you do eggs? I have a batch of egg custards (w/fruit and honey) in the oven right now for DH's breakfasts the rest of the week. Sometimes I do egg muffins instead (w/meat and veggies).

Sometimes, when I'm sick of eggs, I'll go to the sausage shop and pick up bulk sausage, portion it into 2 oz patties, fry up several pounds worth, and eat 2 patties for breakfast each morning.

Originally Posted by barose

Question for all: how does your DH/SO eat? Does he/she eat the same meals you do, or is it a divided household when it comes to food?

Afraid I don't really have any BTDT advice for this, since my DH will eat whatever I put in front of him and be happy for it. Since he doesn't cook, that's a good thing.

I would probably try to build a repertoire of meals that you can both eat... along the lines of mix and match meals. Like a steak or piece of chicken for you, and a veggie dish you can both eat. Is he still eating mostly raw, or can he handle cooked veggies/grains? I'd probably prep as much as possible on the weekends to make his dinners easier, and if he's eating grains, I'd cook him a grain once a week that I don't like and just reheat a bit each night for him.

I would also probably start having "cooking lessons nights", which is something I used to do with my DH. He would pick a meal he wanted to make, I'd make sure we had the ingredients and then teach him how to make it. Mostly this consisted of me sitting at my computer and him sticking his head in the door when he had questions (he's better than he gives himself credit for). If he CAN cook, but just chooses not to, then I'd ask him to pick a night each week when he's going to take on the responsibility of feeding the both of you. That'll probably mean you're eating fish that night, but that doesn't sound like a problem for you. But there's no reason you should have to do all the work. Personally I do all the work now because I'm SAH, but when I was commuting to the N Bay for work, DH took on the responsibility of cooking every night (I'd call when I hit the bridge, giving him 20-30 minutes warning).

I also often pack DH's lunch for the next day at the same time I'm serving up dinner (assuming he's eating leftovers). That way I make sure we don't finish everything off for dinner (sometimes there's just enough for 3 meals, sometimes there's way more than necessary). If he's not eating leftovers, then I will usually make a dish of something on the weekend to feed him all week (chicken salad, casserole, whatever).

HTH

[LionTigerBear]

Originally Posted by erin a

A question for you all - when you are invited over to someone's house for a meal do you tell them you're grain free or do you just eat it and deal with the consequences after? I'm finding it difficult to know what to say. When I was veg and told people it was generally accepted (you know most people think that being veg is a great thing for health and environment) but what do I say now - that I don't eat grains or pasteurized dairy or your gross hormone-infested 'meat'? Don't think that'll go over too well kwim?

I don't usually eat over at the houses of people I don't know well. When we do eat over anywhere, I tell them what we can't eat (most stuff) and what we CAN eat, and offer to bring food. I ALWAYS bring something for my three-year-old to eat, because he's a very picky eater on top of the diet.

I DO NOT ever "cheat" on my diet (at least not on purpose) because it makes me very sick and I need to be able top be present and functional for my children. Last year we ran out of sick days and days that my dh could take off of work because I was so sick so much. I don't want that to happen this year (and it won't!) Worse come to worse, I just don't eat. Oh, and if there's any question of what I might be able to eat when I'm away from home, I try to eat at least a little bit of something before I go.

[LionTigerBear]

Originally Posted by barose

Question for all: how does your DH/SO eat? Does he/she eat the same meals you do, or is it a divided household when it comes to food?

nak

My husband pretty much eats separately from us, but he wasn't willing to start the diet with us, (he doesn't have the same motivation because he's fairly healthy anyway, but he's only in his mid-twenties so I worry about his future if he keeps eating the same way-- but anyway--) so he usually does his own thing. I buy those organic canned soups and free-range canned chilis for him (trying to choose the ones without MSG), and sometimes he'll eat that, but most often he eats at his works' cafeteria or picks up a burger or pizza or something on the way home. He loves my cooking though, so I feel bad that I don't cook for him as much as I used to, I just don't have the energy to cook two different meals. so he knows he can either eat what we're eating (which he sometimes does) or he can do his own thing. Him eating out ALL THE TIME was getting expensive which is why I try to keep the pantry well stocked with the soups and stuff that's quick and easy that is slightly more healthy for him.

I do hope he starts to eat better though. I think it will help when I start cooking for him more, but I just don't have the time or energy right now.

[LionTigerBear]

Oh, Periwinkle-- I meant to mention that my full-fat dairy-free smoothie can be made the night before and put in the fridge. when you take it out in the morning, it has a yummy, thick, creamy custardy texture. Mmmmmm . . . .

Full-fat smoothie:

3 egg yolks, raw, no white
about an ounce of mangosteen juice
about 4 tablespoons of coconut oil
a heaping tablespoon of softened butter
2 bananas
cinnamon to taste
a dash of salt

no sweetener needed! ETA: amounts are approximate, tweak to fit your needs and preferences.

If you can tolerate nuts or berries this smoothie is simply divine with either some frozen blueberries or blackberries or cashews ground in . . . But I just eat it plain, like above.

[Panserbjorne]

I do a similar smoothie:
4 raw eggs
2 T. coconut oil
2 T. raw butter
2 T raw honey
Pinch of cinnamon
about 2 cups water

The next morning it's LOVELY.

I don't eat out, and if we go somewhere for a meal I bring mine. I don't ever cheat with foods I can't eat (soy, gluten, legumes, conventional dairy etc.) and there is too much of a chance if someone else prepared it that it is contaminated. With us it's relatively easy: noone who knows me would ever try to prepare something for me.

Dh eats the same as we do. If he's out he'll cheat, but in the house he follows our regimen. Cracks me up because he KNOWS if he "cheated" but he'll do it anyway! Like new years eve when he indulged in seafood lasagna and baked stuffed shrimp. He's not feeling so hot.

[Shazer]

Originally Posted by erin a

A question for you all - when you are invited over to someone's house for a meal do you tell them you're grain free or do you just eat it and deal with the consequences after? . . .

I generally pick through the available food and eat what I can. I'll eat meat for certain and veggies if they are plain, but otherwise I don't sacrifice my good health to make the hostess feel OK. For instance, for Christmas Eve dinner, we went to DH's grandmother's house and she had quite a spread: ham, roast turkey, melon salad, some raw veggies, and then oodles of desserts. She "made specially for me" some boxed frozen veggies with a cheesy sauce. I took one look and said, "I'm sorry Grandma, but I can't eat those. I can't have dairy or wheat." With her, I've explained my diet many times. Although she was slightly annoyed, she dropped it and I ate turkey and melon and some raw veggies.

[Periwinkle]

:

GREAT ideas! I never thought about smoothies. But that is right up my alley esp. if I can just pour some from the fridge into a glass each morning... I would prob. want to make it higher protein so may want to try with nuts or almond milk too. (Though then they're not likely to be soaked etc. )


Also, yes I love love LOVE eggs! Just cold, hard-boiled eggs in the morning kind of make me gaggy, kwim? I love them for lunch and dinner, but not breakfast so much.

Cristeen - can I have your egg custard recipe? I've never made it before but it sounds perfect, esp. if I can make up a half-dozen ramikins of it to keep in the fridge ready to go.

Kallyn - So glad I'm not the only one here who needs to cut artificial sweeteners out of my life! : It's so embarrasing, esp. here in the TF forum!

[crunchy_mama]

hi ladies, back again. I personally did horribly over the holidays and I am feeling it. I have been depressed and lethargic, annoyed, angry you name it. I am all bloated up again and I always wonder why I do that to myself. I am trying to go completely gluten free again as I want to do a challenge. I sincerely think it is an issue with ds and I (and honestly I think that is my dh's issue as well). I am trying to determine how extreme to go. I don't really feel up to doing SCD again, however I don't think I can just go gluten free as I can easily end up binging on rice and corn.

oh, and we started down this path because of a colicky baby with extreme digestive issues. We avoid dairy as well, although butter seems to be ok.

The main thing I need to figure out is what kind of quick foods to have around for dh that are grain free. I really want him to have these health benefits as well. Although I should say he is great about eating whatever I serve, it is just the soda and snacks he has at work or when he is up in the middle of the night or the bowl of cereal for breakfast he eats every day.

for breakfast we do smoothies as well. and lots and lots of eggs.

[Panserbjorne]

Originally Posted by Periwinkle

:

GREAT ideas! I never thought about smoothies. But that is right up my alley esp. if I can just pour some from the fridge into a glass each morning... I would prob. want to make it higher protein so may want to try with nuts or almond milk too. (Though then they're not likely to be soaked etc. )

4 eggs really does raise the protein content. I used to make mine with raw milk instead of water, but ds2 doesn't do so well with milk. That would also raise the protein content. That said, I adore having pecan or almond butter in there!

We used to do custards with coconut milk since we don't really use milk. It's really yummy for those who can't have dairy.

Do you have the book "Grain Free Gourmet"? They have wonderful muffins in there. We used to made the carrot pecan and the blueberry weekly. I also used to make bread (grain free) for my kiddos and just toast it in the am and serve with butter or make egg sandwiches.

There are really tons of options if you think outside the box AND have good cookbooks!

[Panserbjorne]

Oh- and my kids used to BEG for apple pancakes! 2 eggs, 2 grated apples about 1/4 cup almond butter, some cinnamon and honey. They are really good. I used to make up large batches and just quickly fry them in butter to heat through.

Quiches are also easy breakfasts. When we made them I would just do a nut based crust or make them crustless. I also used a really good crust that I think was out of GFG that was zucchini and cheese based. Man....memories.

I also personally used to LOVE soup for breakfast. Very comforting and pretty portable if you have a decent thermos.

[Periwinkle]

Originally Posted by crunchy_mama

The main thing I need to figure out is what kind of quick foods to have around // that are grain free.

My must-have list:

* Small crunchy (usually local) apples, kept in a big bag in the fridge
* A jar of soaked, raw almonds and walnuts
* Mini-sized (4 oz.) cups of cottage cheese
* Cheese sticks (those individually-wrapped mozzarella sticks)
* Hard-boiled eggs
* Some sort of sandwich salad, such as wild salmon, egg salad, chicken salad
* Mini carrots or carrot sticks, and assorted color bell pepper strips (already washed and cut), plus a sugar-free & NT-friendly dip (usually hummus or tzutziki (sp?; a Greek yogurt dip made by Fage))

If it were just me and dh, we might go with a larger container of cottage cheese, a big block of cheddar cheese (i.e., as opposed to cheese sticks), or not worry about cutting the veggies into strips ahead of time... but my kids are allowed to get their own snacks and so the smaller-sized portions are really key for their use and also, to be honest, our convenience.

Can't wait to hear what others keep around!

[LionTigerBear]

Originally Posted by firefaery

I do a similar smoothie:
4 raw eggs . . .

Originally Posted by firefaery

4 eggs really does raise the protein content.

So you use the whole egg, raw? I'm very sensitive to raw egg white (allergic?) and I've heard they are quite difficult to digest (per Sally Fallon). What are your thoughts on that? Just curious.

Originally Posted by crunchy_mama

hi ladies, back again. I personally did horribly over the holidays and I am feeling it. I have been depressed and lethargic, annoyed, angry you name it.

This sort of thing happened to me over the last couple of weeks too! Except it was all by accident. I was wondering why I was feeling worse and worse over the last few days . . . Turns out I had bought a couple of packages of what I thought was goat cheese, and nope, it was cow cheese! ARRGH! anyway, hopefully I'll be back to feeling better again soon (and DS2, as well-- DS1 was smart and didn't have any). Oh, and this did show me that DS2, who used to vomit with cow products, is somewhat healed from that-- the dairy made him fussy and wakeful and congested but no vomitting or screaming. So, I'm starting my SCD clock over again (one year on this diet from the point when symtpoms disappear.)

Originally Posted by crunchy_mama

I am all bloated up again and I always wonder why I do that to myself. I am trying to go completely gluten free again as I want to do a challenge. I sincerely think it is an issue with ds and I (and honestly I think that is my dh's issue as well). I am trying to determine how extreme to go. I don't really feel up to doing SCD again, however I don't think I can just go gluten free as I can easily end up binging on rice and corn.

For me, it was easier to go 100% SCD (and more than, now, apparently) because anythign less than that I still had cravings and I don't want to live with cravings like that all the time. I don't know if the gut can really heal all the way if you don't give it a complete break. I'm no expert though. Hope you find something that helps you feel really healthy.

That brings me to another question: Who is eating this way for life, and who is eating this way for now until they feel healed? Or something else? I am expecting to eat this way (more or less) for the next couple of years, and then add in healthy starches, and some small amounts of properly prepared grains and healthier sweets in moderation. We'll see what happens.

[Panserbjorne]

I do use the whole egg raw. There is avidin in the egg white which can interfere with biotin absorption but only if you eat in excess of at least a dozen eggs a day-at least from what I have read/researched. THe egg has PLENTY of biotin in the yolk so even if you lost a bit you are still gaining plenty.

If you are allergic then it's a different story. Most everything that I have seen though says that they are far easier to digest raw. Mercola issued a statement at a conference last year that he felt if you were allergic to cooked egg you could eat it raw. Not that I'm saying you should try! Just that clearly his research told him that it was fine to eat raw eggs.

I am more interested in whole foods. To me eating the just yolks is eating eggs in a different way than nature intended. It seems fragmented to me. There are nutrients in the white that enhance absorption of nutrients in the yolk and vice versa.

[cristeen]

Originally Posted by Periwinkle

Cristeen - can I have your egg custard recipe? I've never made it before but it sounds perfect, esp. if I can make up a half-dozen ramikins of it to keep in the fridge ready to go.

Kallyn - So glad I'm not the only one here who needs to cut artificial sweeteners out of my life! : It's so embarrasing, esp. here in the TF forum!

Just so you guys don't feel so lonely, I still have AS in my house... and I carry Splenda tablets in my purse for DH's coffee when we go out. I don't use it at all anymore, but he still does. And he drinks diet sodas.

Egg Custards - per 1 c custard:
2 eggs
1/2 c milk/coconut milk
2 Tbs honey
fruit/nuts/extract/spice

Place your ramekins into a cold water bath, place your fruit or nuts in the bottom of the dishes. Beat together the eggs, milk, honey and any extracts. Pour them evenly into the dishes. Sprinkle with any spice. Bake at 300F for about 65 minutes or until set. I usually leave them in the water bath until it cools down enough for me to touch them (about an hour), then I dry off the dishes and stack them in the fridge. These last a week easily.

Originally Posted by crunchy_mama

The main thing I need to figure out is what kind of quick foods to have around for dh that are grain free. I really want him to have these health benefits as well. Although I should say he is great about eating whatever I serve, it is just the soda and snacks he has at work or when he is up in the middle of the night or the bowl of cereal for breakfast he eats every day.

I'll second the recommendation for Grain Free Gourmet. Great book. By quick foods are you looking for snacks or meals? Snacks to keep on hand, depending on what's tolerated... nuts, cheese, sliced meat, sandwich salads (chicken, tuna, egg, etc.), veggies and dip, fruit, soup. Meals can be made from those same things with a few extras tossed in... leafy greens, nut crackers, nut breads.

Originally Posted by LionTigerBear

That brings me to another question: Who is eating this way for life, and who is eating this way for now until they feel healed? Or something else?

I will probably be eating this way for life... with occasional grain treats. I have to eat this way right now to TTC or I'd get very sick, but the way I feel when I eat grains... I don't want to feel like that every day anymore. I also tend to gain weight indiscriminately when I'm eating grains, and I really don't need any more of that.