Tag: FODMAP

Low fat tandoori chicken – made with Low FODMAP spice masala!

IMG_1732 It is intensely frustrating following the Low FODMAP diet and visiting the supermarket and looking for an easy sauce or dry powder spice mix when lots of the sauces and spice mixes contain onion and garlic powder. How on earth are you to make a flavoursome dish with gut friendly ingredients? Make your own perhaps! The following recipe is a masala mix for tandoori food. For a tasty spice mix use the following recipe – it makes about 140g of mix that can be stored for up to six months in an airtight container. Some tips on shopping for spices before we start with the recipe – check out your local asian supermarket and purchase spices in large packets, this is much more cost-effective than buying small jars. If you are following a completely gluten-free diet check all spices for gluten including your asafoetida (some spices can be adulterated by addition of fillers such as wheat flour.) It might be better to purchase spices from suppliers that do label their mixes with allergens and suppliers that understand that even small amounts of gluten can be problematic for coeliac, for example.

IMG_1735Choose sweet paprika if your gut is sensitive to spicy food and you may want to use a mild heat chili powder too, or omit it all together. Use smaller amounts of the powder in your recipe, if you find that spices tend to increase your IBS symptoms.

Ingredients for the dry masala

40 g Coriander

30g Cumin

20g PaprikaIMG_1733

20g Ginger

15g Dried Mint

5g Asafoetida

10g Chilli powder

Mix the dry ingredients together and store in an airtight tin.

Tandoori Chicken

Two dessert spoons of dry masala powder (above)IMG_1734

Juice of 1/2 lime

150g lactose free greek yoghurt

4 skinless chicken breasts

Salt & pepper to taste

Weight out the yoghurt and squeeze half a lime into the yoghurt and mix well.

Dry fry the spice mix till the aroma is released, cool and add the powder to the yoghurt.IMG_1736

If you want to have the authentic indian restaurant colour you can add red food colouring the mix (as I did.) Ensure that the food colouring is not based on beetroot powder, this is a fodmap.

Don’t be tempted to try the uncooked mix – it really needs cooking to bring out all the flavour, it doesn’t taste nice raw – believe me!

Spread the yoghurt onto both sides of the chicken breasts and leave to marinade in the refrigerator for a few hours or at the very best overnight.

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Now time for cooking………

Scrape off excess yoghurt from the chicken breasts and place in a hot oven and cook for 30 minutes till cooked through. Serve with boiled rice (add some turmeric and cassia bark to your boiling rice to add colour and flavour) and Low FODMAP salad.

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A low-fat tasty dish that is not too hard on your digestive tract, just the ticket for a Saturday night meal.

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Easter meal – roast spring lamb

IMG_1673The first thing to do in the preparation for this Easter meal is to marinade lamb steaks for 1-2 hours.

Marinade

1 freshly squeezed lemon

1 tablespoon of garlic infused oil

Sprinkle of salt

3 sprigs of rosemary

chop the rosemary and add to a bowl with 2 lamb steaks, oil, lemon juice and a small amount of salt to taste.

Leave to refrigerate for 1-2 hours before adding the lamb to a roasting tin with vegetables (I chose parsnips, these were what I had in the fridge, but you could choose carrots if you wish.)

Place in the oven at gas mark 4 and cook for 2-3 hours or until the lamb is very soft and falls apart. Keep checking it as you don’t want it to become too dry. Cooking the lamb long and slow will ensure that some of the marbling of fat it contains will liquefy and can be skimmed off the meat juices once cooked.

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The next dish to make is a greek salad – we had this as a starter to our easter meal.

Ingredients

1 large tomato

1/2 cucumber

10-12 black olives

1 teaspoon of dried oregano

100g of feta cheese.

Chop the tomato, feta and cucumber and add to a bowl with olives. Mix well, as the feta and olives are quite salty there should be no need to add salt to season this dish. Serve before the main meal or have it as a side dish – whatever you prefer to do is fine.

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The next thing to make is the mint dressing for the potatoes.

Minted Charlotte Potatoes

2-3 potatoes per person.

2-3 sprigs of mint

1 tablespoon of garlic infused oil

1 tablespoon of white wine vinegar

Salt to taste

Chop the mint and add it to a bowl with the olive oil and white wine vinegar, salt and mix well.IMG_1680

Chop the potatoes into 2-3 cm wide slices. Boil the potatoes for 10-15 minutes, drain the pan of water, add the dressing and shake the pan well.

Keep potatoes warm.

Prepare the lamb

Trim the fat from around the lamb and place on a serving dish with the roasted vegetables.

Drain off the cooking juices and strain off the fat which floats on the surface, drizzle this liquid over the meat and allow it to rest (if you wish to make a gravy add a heaped teaspoon of cornflour and heat in a pan until thickened.)

Serve up and enjoy! This meal is gluten-free and Low FODMAP (a small amount of tomato is included in the salad, which shouldn’t be too much for those excluding fructose from their diet) however the salad does contain milk protein. The meal is a celebration and has been prepared with some effort to reduce the fat levels in the roast lamb, however lamb is still quite a fatty meat therefore it is probably better to eat it occasionally. It serves 2-3 people (ensure a lamb steak per person.)

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Valentines Day approaches – love me, love my gut – even if it misbehaves sometimes.

Now, I’m not a counsellor or psychologist but I am able to give you some advice around dining out and reducing the anxiety this can cause around safe foods to eat. If you are going out with a new partner Dr Barbara Bolen has some really useful advice around dating and functional bowel problems (IBS.) She advises that you should be open about having digestion problems and it is OK to describe them as such, you don’t need—and probably

A little flippant perhaps – but also some truth, love me love my GUT!

wouldn’t wish to go into detail. She also provides some good examples of how to describe your GUT problems so check out her website. An explanation will also help to reduce your anxiety about needing to go to the loo frequently during a meal and this might help reduce the actual visits required. Dr Bolen also has some really good information on her website about how to tell someone about your IBS, relationships and how to enjoy a healthy sex life with functional bowel problems, check out her site here –

http://ibs.about.com/od/livingwithibs/tp/IBSandDating.htm

Dr Bolen has also posted a link about this post and she does also appreciate Valentines Day is not a day that everyone celebrates and it can be a time that can be difficult psychologically – see the link here:-

http://ibs.about.com/b/2013/02/14/ibs-and-valentines-day.htm

If you are going on a date you may want to go to an establishment that you know well and ask for a table to be reserved in a good position, making it easier should you need to visit the toilet. Making a suggestion about where to go on a date shouldn’t cause a problem, just be a little assertive and ensure that you explain about your IBS at some point—if someone wishes to go out with you this really shouldn’t be an issue. You could also a look at the menu before your visit and telephone the chef to ask if they can cook your food without ingredients that may cause problems if this helps. See if your partner also wishes to look at the menu before arriving, this will leave more time for conversation and getting to know each other. Looking at the menu is easier to do these days as most restaurants post menus on-line.

Eating out on the Low FODMAP diet can be challenging, as onion and garlic are widely used, don’t forget to ask about sauces and stock. Having dietary intolerances shouldn’t stop you going out – some ideas for choosing food are grilled chicken breast, fish fillets, steak—in other words plain meat or fish without sauce. Egg dishes are also a possibility, omelette or frittata, check the dishes are onion and garlic free, if they are a problem for you. Choices for the starchy component are plain rice, freshly cooked potato or you could ask for wheat or gluten-free dishes (depending on your intolerance,) but again check for other FODMAPs. Establishments are now better at labelling their menus, or providing separate gluten-free menus, since a recent change in regulations. Or you could try sushi, if you like it but again check any vegetables for FODMAPs. Always remember that it might not be the food you have just eaten that causes symptoms. If you are through the exclusion phase stick to your known low FODMAP foods for the day and possibly the evening before your date depending on your GUT motility (knowing the time it takes food to pass through your digestive system.)

If foods high in fat are a problem for your digestion then ask for the meat grilled or cooked on a griddle which will allow the majority of the fat to drain away. Vegan options are a little more challenging as they often contain foods high in fermentable carbohydrates, but a risotto based on Low FODMAP vegetables or rice stuffed peppers would be an option here, not forgetting to ask about use of onion and garlic in the dish, should you need too.

Wheat free pasta I presume?

Some people find alcohol is a problem, if you want to have alcohol and it does give you symptoms, limit the amount that you have. You could have a glass of wine, for example with your main meal, or ask for a spritzer to make a longer drink. Order a spritzer with your starter and allow it to go a little flat before drinking it, if you suffer from bloating. Using an implement such as a straw or cocktail stirrer to mix your drink will help to disperse the gas it contains, but don’t be tempted to drink from the straw.  You could try a little seduction and gaze into your partners eyes, whilst stirring your drink! Watch the amount of fruit cocktails you have, if you have fructose intolerance—one small glass (100 ml) of pure fruit juice containing low FODMAP fruits is usually the maximum advised. So ensure your cocktail has no more than this amount and drink it with the main dish or sweet.

Check out The IBS Network Self-Care Plan for medications that are helpful.

I would really encourage you to eat out this Valentines Day if you are invited, you may have some symptoms because it can be difficult to avoid all FODMAPs, but the most important factor is that you go out and enjoy the experience. You might find a life partner by going on the date, what more could you wish for? If you don’t have a partner, you could plan to do something special with friends or family for the day.

Most of the advice has been about functional gut problems (IBS) but if you have inflammatory bowel disease IBD, some of the advice posted may be useful but I would strongly advise you to go on-line and check out Crohns & Colitis website (link to the main site is found to the right) as they have some really useful advice on relationships and IBD, or the link for The Ileostomy and Internal Pouch Association for advice.

Check out the living with IBD leaflet here

http://www.nacc.org.uk/content/services/infoSheets.asp

Now for the bah humbug ;-),  this advice also applies to the rest of the year! Valentines Day is very commercialised, expensive and anticipation of events occasionally can prove to be disappointing if you spend lots of money on the day. You could always suggest going out at another time, if you wish and there are other ways of showing your affection than an expensive card and some petrol station bought carnations! If you know what your partner likes, try making your own gifts, some baking perhaps (and I do include you gentlemen readers here too)—invest some time and personalise your gift, this will be really appreciated as it shows your love and understanding.

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Sage and hazelnut stuffing wheat free and Low FODMAP

IMG_1624This is a little late for Christmas 2012 but there is always next year or you could try this with roast chicken or any other light meat.

Ingredients

150g of fibre based wheat free bread

200 g of chicken livers

30g hazelnuts

a good handful of fresh sage leaves

leaves from 4 stalks of thyme

1 tablespoon of garlic infused oil

100 mls vegetable stock (made from celery + carrot) or chicken/turkey stock – this is probably better home made as stock cubes often contain onion and garlic.

Salt + pepper

Method

Crumb the bread (it is better if it is a little stale)

Chop the herbs and hazelnuts

Trim the livers – removing any white and connective tissue

Add the oil to a frying pan and lightly fry the livers, chop them into small pieces (or lightly blend) They do not need to be cooked through as the stuffing will be going in the oven.

Mix with the breadcrumbs, herbs livers, hazelnuts, salt + pepper.

Place the ingredients in an oven proof dish and cook at gas mark 5, 190 degrees C, for 20-30 minutes.

Serves 5 don’t have a very large amount as hazelnuts do contain a small amount of FODMAPs.

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Dippy over Hummus – oh *sigh* to find a Low FODMAP alternative

IMG_1616Since I have being doing the Low FODMAP diet I have been missing hummus and I was seeking out an alternative when I came across this recipe by a fellow blogger Frugal Feeding here

http://frugalfeeding.com/2012/12/09/carrot-and-coriander-hummus/

It’s definitely worth a look, however I decided to try to de-FODMAP it somewhat so it could be used by those people who want to follow a low FODMAP diet.

Ingredients

600g bag of carrot batons

1 tablespoon of garlic infused olive oil

1 teaspoon of cumin seeds

1/2 teaspoon of chilli power (optional)

1 teaspoon of fennel seeds

Juice of 1/2 lemon

Sprinkling of asafoetida*

300ml of water

Salt + pepper

Method

Add the carrots to a baking tray and sprinkle with olive oil, crushed cumin seeds, chilli, aesofotida and fennel seeds and roast in a hot oven till soft.

Remove from the oven and add the juice of 1/2 lemon, salt + pepper and water and blend till amalgamated.

Serves 2-3

With much thanks to frugal feeding!

http://sqlrus.com/2012/06/thank-you-for-voting-in-the-nomcom-election/

Suitable for low FODMAP, lactose & fructose intolerance (count in your fruit intake – lemon  juice – if you have a large portion,) gluten free(*check for gluten!) and vegan diets.

Updated post 22.11.14

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When making snow dragons and other mythical creatures, keep your energy up with chestnut biscuits!

These delightful biscuits have a crisp crunchy outside and a cake textured middle. They are so easy to make and do taste very sweet  – ideal served with a sweet wine at Christmas, after walking in the snow (doing some exercise to burn off the calories, obviously!) Or after expending energy making snow men/creatures in the cold like IMG_0789 the dragon in the picture above, we made him about 3 years ago. I often wondered what people thought of him, we made him along a country walk near to where we live, I think he probably lasted two or three days. The biscuits are wheat, dairy, egg and gluten-free and should be suitable for most people following a low fodmap diet – as long as you tolerate almonds, as almonds can be rather high in fodmaps but obviously, this also depends on how much you add to a recipe and you could always use more gluten/wheat free flour to replace the almonds if you are following the exclusion phase of the Low fodmap diet. IMG_0792

Ingredients

250g dairy free margarine

100g icing sugar

40g soft brown sugar

260g of wheat and gluten-free plain flourIMG_1612

40g of ground almonds

1 x 250g tin of sweet chestnut spread

Icing sugar to dust

Method

It couldn’t be easier – add all ingredients in to a bowl and mix with an electric mixer till all the ingredients have been incorporated into a stiff batter.

Spoon about a tablespoon size drop on a greased baking tray and cook at gas mark 6/200 degrees C, till nicely browned.

Place on a cooling rack and sprinkle with icing sugar, I’m not sure if they are really a cake or a biscuit – I suppose this depends on whether it goes hard or soft on standing (cake goes hard once stale, biscuits go soft.) Will have to let you know.

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