Tag: Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Posts relevent to Irritable Bowel Symdrome

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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Christmas Eve special supper – spicy saffron red pepper and courgette/zucchini Quiche

IMG_1610

Low Fodmap, low lactose, wheat free + gluten-free.

Ingredients

200g of gluten free wheat free flour mix.

90g of milk free margarine

Pinch of salt

(or 1 packet pastry mix for gluten free, wheat free pastry – this can contain chickpea flour, so make your own if you have problems with lentils and chickpeas)

pinch of saffron

4 tablespoons of water

1-2 red peppers

1 courgette/zucchini

1 red chilli

4 eggs

1/4 teaspoon of turmeric

saffron-rex1/4 teaspoon of chilli powder

1/2 teaspoon of smoked paprika

1 oz of finely grated fresh parmesan.

Salt to taste.

Method

Place a tablespoon of just boiled water into a cup and add the saffron, leave for approximately half an hour to release the colour and flavour.

Weigh out the flour, add salt (if not a packet mix) and rub in the margarine, add the water and saffron mix to the pastry. Bring the dough together, work it well – the better it is worked in, the easier you will find it to use.

Roll out the pastry on a well floured (gluten and wheat free!) board or roll between two sheets of cling film. Line the base of a flan ring/dish. Cut out circles or shapes for the top of the flan.

http://animatedtoast.blogspot.co.uk/2007/12/santa-imposter-gallery.html

Break the four eggs into a bowl and mix well, add chilli powder, salt and turmeric, mix well.

Use a small amount of the egg mix as a wash for the base of the flan and the cut out shapes. Bake these for 15-20 minutes in an oven set a gas mark 5 or 190 degrees C. Also add to the oven a baking tray containing sliced pepper, finely chopped chilli, sprinkled over smoked paprika and spray oil. Place the peppers at the top of the oven till roasted.

Slice the courgette.

Cool the pastry, grate the parmesan. add the courgette to the base of the flan, then layer on the pepper. Pour over the egg mix, decorate with the pastry discs and sprinkle over the cheese. Cook at gas mark 6 or 200 degrees C, for approximately 20 minutes. Exclude the chilli if you find it too much for your digestion. Check your spices are wheat and gluten free if you need to.

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Marilyn and the #IBS Myth

I have recently been interested in celebrity and IBS – would someone famous divulge that they have IBS? Would they want to act as an advocate, perhaps? My twitter followers would tell you I do hold a certain amount of disdain for celebrity culture, but I also appreciate the good work a role model can have to support a cause. I am not averse to sidelining my principles to help. Having a role model would be really beneficial as in my view we certainly need some support for this condition. Could any of these people be a real role model to help with promotion of the cause?

http://www.topnews.in/people/marilyn-monroe

There appear to be a number of famous people who clearly have not, or would ever be able to give consent to discuss this very private aspect of their lives. Whilst looking into celebrity and IBS I can across the following article. It appears Marilyn was reported to have had IBS, she was also reported to have been ‘unhygienic’, eating in bed and pushing the remnants of her meal under the bedclothes when she had finished. This was reported to have been disclosed by Clarke Gable (in a biography by David Brett) – who had a cleanliness fetish, she has also been classed as one of the top 15 filthiest people.

http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/?id=2000012098&cid=349&articleID=2000012098

So – it was reported by a person who ‘had’ an issue with dirt – is this a good scale to use to measure someone’s cleanliness? Possibly not, but it is a good titbit to sell a publication, however.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/01/marilyn-monroe-fbi-files-_n_1730017.html

It is always reported, after describing her apparent less than desirable cleanliness habits – oh by the way, just so you can know this, alongside her obnoxious habits, she also had ‘a form of IBS.’ I am not sure what ‘a form of IBS’ means as a diagnosis – it either is or it clearly isn’t. Marilyn always held a fascination for me, I am not sure why, perhaps it was her ethereal qualities, the fact that she died young and had a pretty hard life. Her beauty is indisputable, even in the first picture in this post, windswept and ruffled she appears alluring. Yet she was also vulnerable, courting nurturing – one of her reported virtues. She does not deserve to have her memory belittled by gossip about her personal life, the worst of it is she cannot defend herself.

http://jamiemalanowski.com/blogwp/2012/01/page/2/

She had a tragic life and fifty years after her death we still are enthralled by her story but we really should apply the Socrates triple filter test to this – do we know this is true? Well, Clarke Gable cannot confirm that he said it, let alone prove that it was in fact true. Is this something good? – the reported slovenliness no, obviously not. She may have been ill at that time, the circumstances are never included in the short internet reports. Do we, therefore, have a right to report this information, assuming it were true? It is a piece of useful information? Well the fact that she had IBS might be an interesting fact that would be useful to inform people IBS can affect anyone, but did she consent to us knowing? However, when reporting someone’s health status to help others it is vital HOW you inform – discussing it whilst also reporting a range of spurious unappealing habits clearly does not shed IBS in a good light. An incorrect association of IBS with unappealing habits may have been made by the report authors, this is damaging to what we want to ultimately achieve and the association is so far wide of the mark – simply false, but in fact, we don’t know if she had IBS at all. We clearly don’t know if what has been said is fact and neither does it pass any of the triple filter test. We cannot ask Marilyn for her consent so we should respect her memory and not gossip about something that we know little real facts about.

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Have IBS food intolerances and only eating gruel? How to avoid a Dickensian diet this holiday!

Christmas and the holidays are a time of celebration and food usually takes a central role, so what if you need to avoid certain foods to prevent having symptoms over the Christmas/holiday period? You can eat food and take some steps to reduce the effects, should you wish. It is possible to eat nice food and prevent spending boxing day never off the loo and with a covered hot water bottle strapped around your stomach. You just need to plan ahead – a reason why this post is going to be published early. First lets talk about Christmas lunch – skinless turkey, carrots, parsnips (use spray oil to roast) and potatoes are fine to have. When making gravy use stock from the turkey and spoon off or pour off the fat that settles on the top of the stock, thicken with corn or rice flour to make a nice gut-friendly gravy. For roast potatoes you could parboil the potatoes for about 5 minutes and then drain off the water, keeping the potatoes in the pan, shake the pan to soften the potato surface – spray with oil and then place in the oven to roast. Trimmings such as cranberry sauce is OK – only have a small portion, wheat free stuffing is also possible using herbs and wheat free bread crumbs (see the LOFFLEX Christmas post for the recipe – although you can use whole fresh herbs) or rice crumbs (available from larger supermarkets.) Again it might be better to trim any bacon fat and grill bacon to reduce the fat levels and prevent diarrhoea, and grill wheat free sausages. These are ideas to help, but of course, if you know your IBS well, you may want to eat normally, it may possibly be uncomfortable for a short while but won’t necessarily do any lasting harm. The following recipe is for Low FODMAP christmas cakes, hope you enjoy!

Ingredients

150g dairy free margarine

150g soft brown sugar

3 eggs (room temperature)

1 cap full (1/2 tsp of vanilla essence)

150g of the wheat free self-raising flour blend.

1tsp of mixed spice

1 flat tsp of cinnamon

1 flat teaspoon of ginger

2 tablespoons of chopped roasted pecan nuts

5 tablespoons of lactose-free milk.

Icing sugar,  ready-made fondant icing sugar (check label for fructose) and water to decorate.

Method

Cream together the butter and sugar till the mix is pale in colour.

Add one egg at a time and one tablespoon of flour, mix well till all three eggs have been incorporated. Add vanilla essence.

Sieve the spices and flour into the mix and fold in till well incorporated, add the milk and nuts and mix well.

Spoon mix into paper cases.

Bake in a preheated oven gas mark 6/200 C until risen and browned.

Allow to cool, add some water to icing sugar to make a thin coating. Using ready prepared icing, roll out and cut shapes. ‘Stick’ the icing sugar shape to the cake with runny icing made from icing sugar and water and decorate as wished.

Eat one – (or maybe two if you must! ;-))

I hope all my readers have an enjoyable Christmas (or holiday) and here are some tips that might help –

You DON’T have to be a domestic goddess this Christmas, plan ahead and remember that having time with your family is the most important thing – they will appreciate you just being there, not frazzled or tired after trying to be perfect. Remember that being a perfect ‘housewife’ or ‘househusband’ is a marketing concept and these concepts are usually impossible to attain, no matter how you try (or, in fact, how much you spend!) Children, in particular, appreciate time with their parents more than anything.

Plan ahead if you can – now is the time to take a break and sit and plan your shopping and meals for over the holiday period. Shop online if you don’t like large crowds.

Plan a short walk with the family after Christmas lunch – will help constipation and stop the slump in energy levels after lunch.

Don’t slouch on the sofa eating snacks whilst watching the afternoon or evening movie, try to keep your posture and sit up straight if you can.

Moderate your alcohol intake – who wants to spend boxing day with diarrhoea, abdominal pain and a hangover?

Eat slowly and chew your food well, savour your meal – you have worked hard for it!

Christmas can be a stressful time and this won’t help your gut, IBS is not ‘all in your head’ but stress produces hormones that affect your gut, this can make symptoms worse. Avoid arguments over the dinner table, this may be difficult if you have critical family members. Tell them beforehand that arguing or criticising is NOT acceptable, you are making an effort for them and that should be appreciated, if it is not, then perhaps they are not welcome at the lunch? Be assertive and stay calm!

Don’t have unrealistic expectations, setting yourself up for disappointment, do what you can – nobody will or should expect more.

http://blog.moviefone.com/2010/12/24/christmas-carol-versions/

Here is some fun stuff

Does your granny always tell ya that the old songs are the best?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=menFfIgA06g&playnext=1&list=PL4892FFB78434B27A&feature=results_video

Santa Claws – Simon’s Cat – Oh Christmas tree, oh Christmas tree, your ornaments are history! (Simon Amaranth)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nn2h3_aH3vo

A beautiful rendition of In The Bleak Mid Winter

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwNxpylhmmo

Updated 22.11.14

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Rose popcorn Low Fodmap

A subtle hint of rose and vanilla in freshly warm popcorn – fills the kitchen with delicious smells. Please note due to updates for the Low FODMAP diet January 2013 popcorn should be consumed with caution as high levels of consumption will result in higher amounts of fodmaps. A portion should be a small cereal bowl full at any one sitting.

Ingredients

120g popping corn

1 tsp oil such as corn, rapeseed or

1 cap full of vanilla essence

1 teaspoon of rose flavoured syrup (check for fructose corn syrup)

½ teaspoon of food colouring if desired

2 tsps of powdered artificial sweetener (check for FODMAPs)

Method

Mix vanilla essence, rose syrup and food colouring in a dish.

Put oil and popcorn into a pan with a lid and heat over a high heat on the hob.

When the corn starts to pop carefully add the vanilla mix by lifting the lid carefully and pouring it in quickly, shake well with the lid on. Continue to heat till all the corn has popped.

Lift the lid and sprinkle over the sweetener, replace the lid and shake well till all the corn is coated.

Serve!

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