Category: Uncategorized

Tapas

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

This recipe is inspired by tapas dishes, usually filled with lots of garlic and onion – not great for people who are avoiding these ingredients. I hope you enjoy the recipe and the views of Barcelona!

DSCF1207mod

1) Spanish omelette.

This is a layered egg and potato omelette – minus the onions, but no worse because of it. It is probably best eaten warm, although if you don’t have a problem with resistant starches you could have it cold with a green leaf salad perhaps.

Ingredients

4 large eggs

4 potatoes

1 teaspoon of paprika

Oil/margarine to grease the dish, to prevent the omelette sticking to it.

Salt + Pepper

Method

Slice the potatoes thinly leaving the skins on for a little extra fibre!

Beat the eggs and add salt + Pepper

Rub margarine around your cooking dish and sprinkle around the paprika.

Par boil the potatoes and cool (don’t allow them to go too cold if you have a problem with resistant starch)

Add layers of potato and egg.

Weight the dish as it cooks so the egg penetrates all the layers.

Cook in a moderate oven till the potatoes and egg are cooked through.

2) Roasted paprika peppers

Ingredients

3 peppers – I like to use yellow and orange peppers as they look so nice but you can use any colour of pepper you feel like.

1 tablespoon of garlic infused olive oil

1 Teaspoon of smoked paprika (I used hot, but you can choose the heat of your paprika depending on your symptoms)

Salt + Pepper to taste

Method

Slice the top off the pepper and remove the stalk, slice the pepper. For the main body of the pepper again slice it but remove any white pithy material from the inside.

Add the oil paprika and seasoning and roast till soft – really couldn’t be simpler!

Low FODMAP, gluten free (check paprika contains no contamination) milk, lactose and fructose free.

Jules_GastroRD1 Comment

Tomato free moussaka – low FODMAP

DSCF1197modMoussaka is one of my favourite dishes, in my humble view it has to have cinnamon included – and lot’s of it. You might feel that adding a spice used in sweet dishes in the UK sounds strange, but it rounds off the flavour really well. It can be a high calorie dish particularly when lamb is the main component but it is possible to reduce the high fat load. I may be performing moussaka sacrilege by suggesting that it can be made without tomatoes, but I feel the essential flavours are included, so the dish doesn’t miss much by not using them.

Ingredients

2 medium aubergines

1 tablespoon of garlic infused olive oil

4 potatoes

500 g lean lamb mince

2 teaspoons of cinnamon

1 teaspoon of asafoetida

2 teaspoons of dried oregano

1 pint of skimmed lactose free milk (Yes you can get it now!!!)

75 g grated strong mature cheddar

2 eggs

200 ml of red wine

1/2 teaspoon of gravy browning

100 ml of water

4 teaspoons of cornflour

Salt & pepper to taste

Method

The method is time-consuming but I don’t eat this dish regularly, I usually have it on special occasions so it is worth making an effort to make it well.

1) Dry fry the mince and add cinnamon, asafoetida, oregano and gravy browning. Drain off the cooking juices and allow the mince to cool. Put the cooking juices in the refrigerator till the drained lamb fat has gone solid, scoop off the fat and throw it away.

2) Pour the remaining cooking juices in a frying pan, add red wine, water and cook. Mix 2 teaspoons of the cornflour with a little water then add to the gravy, cook till thickened.

3) Slice the aubergines into 4-5 mm circular slices, sprinkle with olive oil and roast in the oven till brown. Cool.

4) Slice the potato to the same thickness as the aubergine and par boil for 10 minutes – do this just before you are ready to assemble the dish, you don’t want them to go cold.

5) Grate the cheese, pour the milk into a pan and add the cheese and the rest of the cornflour (mixed with a little water.) Cook till thickened, cool and add the eggs – mix well.

6) Add a layer of aubergine, potato, meat – add gravy. Continue to build up the layers till the ingredients are used up. Pour the cheese sauce on the top.

7) Cook for 1 hour at gas mark 6 (200°C), or until the potatoes are soft and the top has browned.

Serves 6

Jules_GastroRD4 Comments

Taking your IBS on holiday – too scary to contemplate? Or perhaps it might help!

January is a time when we start to think about holidays later in the year. However many people who suffer from IBS don’t travel as a consequence of having symptoms. Travelling can be a daunting prospect if you suffer from symptoms of IBS, sitting for too long can make constipation worse or having dreaded diarrhoea and anxiety of not being able to access toilet facilities quickly, can often put people off travelling too far from home. I often find that people tell me that their symptoms can reduce on holiday so, might it be worth the aggravation of getting to your destination to have the symptoms improve once you are there? Here are some tips that might help and this has been posted in time for you to think about arrangements that you might need to make. This post was originally written for Patient UK last year.

1. Ensure you have plenty of time to get to the airport or to your destination if staying in the UK. Don’t rush, try to use travelling as part of the holiday experience. It doesn’t matter if it takes longer to get to your destination, sometimes using A road routes might be a good alternative to motorway travel, you can drive through some stunning scenery in the UK.

Infographic from Hertz https://www.hertz.co.uk/rentacar/misc/index.jsp?targetPage=scenic-drive-in-uk.jsp

2. Before travelling plan toilet stops along the route if driving in the UK – Patient UK have a very useful new app for this and perhaps more importantly, useful for those unplanned panic stops! See the link at the bottom right hand side of the blog.

Work within your symptoms – if they are worse at a particular time of day, plan to travel outside of those times if you can.

3. If flying or travelling by train book you seat in advance as near to the toilet as you feel comfortable – don’t forget your can’t wait card or translation card* have this in your hand luggage (just about as important as your passport!) Do check the train you are planning to travel on (and the station) has toilet facilities.

Chiltern Railways transformed via Thame Gazette. Lets hope that this is not just a superficial attempt at improving toilet provision.

Get up and move around, if you can, during your flight or train journey – this will also help your risk of blood clots!

4. If you suffer from food intolerances book your in-flight meal in advance contact the airline and discuss your needs with them. If you follow the Low FODMAP diet, or exclude any other foods, avoid foods that result in symptoms at least 48 hours prior to travelling.

5. Take some spare clothing, wet wipes or toilet paper in your hand luggage to freshen up and to use in emergencies. Use a discrete bag to store them in your hand luggage so if your bag needs checking at customs you won’t feel too embarrassed.

6. Do some research about the food in the country you are travelling to, sometimes patient organisations available in the country you are travelling to can be helpful if you are intolerant of gluten for example – https://www.coeliac.org.uk/gluten-free-diet-and-lifestyle/holidays-and-travel/

Don’t plan to do too much during your vacation – less is more! You are more likely to enjoy the experience if you choose one or two visits rather than a very packed itinerary.

7. Contact the hotel to discuss food requirements before you travel – or you may wish to go self catering if you have more than one food intolerance and would find it difficult to manage. Often plain food such as rice, chicken & fish are abundant so do think about your dietary needs when planning your holiday.

8. Be aware that toilet facilities abroad may be very different to what we are used too at home, again being prepared for this can help.

How to use a toilet demonstrated in 2012 by Bryce McGowan – Solomon Islands

9. Take some rehydration salts in your first aid pack as you can become dehydrated very quickly in hot climates especially if you experience diarrhoea. Ensure you have plenty of fluids to drink, 8-10 glasses are usually adequate but you may need more, dark coloured urine (wee) is usually a good indication that you are not having enough.

10 Be very aware and follow travel food hygiene advice at your destination, as the last thing you would want is a case of travellers diarrhoea during your holiday http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/Diarrhoea/Pages/Introduction.aspx  More information on food safety abroad can be found at http://www.nhs.uk/livewell/travelhealth/pages/travellersillnesses.aspx

*Can’t wait and translation cards are available with the membership package for The IBS Network.

Jules_GastroRD1 Comment

2013 in review

IMG_1634In the great tradition leading up to New Year we look back at what has gone before and think about the times ahead. Last year I published the WordPress stats of my blog and I decided to repeat the process this year. I must admit that I am pleased that my blog continues to grow in popularity evidenced by the number of views. I do often wonder what people think of my posts – one of the most popular is a post I initially wrote in April 2012 it has had over 2000 views and no comments – I assume this is because it does not contain what people expect? In other words I wonder if people expect me to suggest that a quick fix pill taken to help your body digest food is effective – unfortunately life is often not that easy and for functional bowel symptoms, it is not as simple as popping a pancreatic digestive enzyme pill. If this was the case we would have cured IBS some time ago and doctors would prescribe these as treatment on a regular basis – they don’t. I do wonder if people are disappointed with this advice and choose not to comment, although if this was the case one would think that a few negative comments would be in order 🙂 . Which would be a little better than the lack of interest it has generated – blogging tumbleweed! Perhaps I do need to get involved and comment more on other people’s sites, is this the answer, I wonder?

The three most popular posts are:

https://clinicalalimentary.wordpress.com/2012/04/18/surely-these-digestive-enzymes-ive-found-can-help-or-are-they-money-down-the-toilet/

https://clinicalalimentary.wordpress.com/2012/09/30/low-fodmap-on-a-budget-how-to-make-the-diet-more-affordable/

https://clinicalalimentary.wordpress.com/2012/03/27/lofflex-recipes/

If you want to see what others are interested in please check the link below!

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2013 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

The concert hall at the Sydney Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 13,000 times in 2013. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 5 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

Jules_GastroRDLeave a comment

Gluten free bourbon cream biscuits

DSCF1169mod2

Ingredients

2 egg yolks

160 g of gluten-free plain flour

120 g margarine

180 g of golden castor sugar

2 heaped dessert spoons of gluten-free cocoa powder

90 g of plain chocolate – gluten-free

30 g of low-fat mascarpone

Method

Cream together the margarine and sugar.

Add egg slowly and beat (if mix starts to curdle add some flour.)

Sieve dry ingredients and add slowly to the biscuit batter, this should be slightly dry to allow shaping.

For filling – melt chocolate and add mascarpone to it to make a stiff mix – stick biscuits together with cream filling.

Use gluten-free flour containing rice flour as this gives the biscuits a nice crunchy texture. Eat one as a treat – you can freeze them if you wish! 🙂

Jules_GastroRDLeave a comment

To wish you a Merry Christmas – Gluten Free, low Lactose, chestnut and chocolate Yule log!

yulelogBuche de Noel – or chocolate log, this is the last treat recipe of the holidays – yule log, chocolate & chestnut flavour. It uses chestnut spread a really tasty alternative to cream. The sponge is a fat-free one – however just because it is low-fat does not make it a healthy option, it contains plenty of sugar – just a treat for once a year! Obviously 😉

Ingredients

1 tin of chestnut spread

4 eggs

4 tablespoons of castor sugar

50 g of gluten-free cocoa powder

50 g of self-raising gluten-free flour

150 g of gluten-free dark chocolate for serving (at least 70%)

Method

Line two 30 x 19 cm sandwich trays with baking parchment.

Beat the eggs and sugar till the mix is aerated, sieve the dry ingredients and add to the mix, fold with a metal spoon till incorporated.

Add the mix to the tins and cook in the middle of an oven gas mark 6, 200 degree C for 10 minutes – watch them closely, as they are thin and at risk of burning.

Before you remove the sponge from the oven open your tin of chestnut spread and be prepared to use it.

Remove one sponge from the oven and working quickly remove the baking parchment and spread it with the chestnut spread. Roll into a log – it will crack a little but don’t worry, this will add to the overall log appearance. Keep the other sponge warm, then repeat with the process and cut the sponge at an angle to simulate a branch.

Melt 1/3 of the chocolate in a basin over boiling water – remove and add the rest of the chocolate and cool the mix to temper it. (I am not sure this was wholly successful as it still looked a little dull on setting of the log.) Pour this slowly over the log to ensure it is covered, add some to each end of the log using a palette knife. Allow to set then serve!

Serves 6-8

I wish all my readers a happy holidays and a calm gut New Year!

Jules_GastroRD3 Comments