Monday, December 26, 2011

Caesar Salad Dressing (recipe)

Just made this and it's lovely. I'm going to try some variations of this, but this one came out so nicely, I thought I'd post it for now. Caesar salad usually contains eggs and dairy. This one contains nutritional yeast, which converts into glutamates, so use sparingly if you are sensitive to glutamates.

Caesar Salad Dressing

6-7 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 Cup water
2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (can use also safflower or sunflower oils)
2-3 Tablespoons nutritional yeast (optional, it tastes okay without it)
1/2 Cup raw cashews
2 teaspoons (Annie's or other safe) dijon mustard
1 teaspoon sea salt (or a bit more kosher salt)
Freshly ground pepper to taste

Use a blender or food processor. Start by adding the lemon juice, water and oil. Blend/process until well emulsified. Add in the remaining ingredients and blend/process until extremely smooth, scraping down the edges once or twice during the process. Adjust your seasonings if necessary and blend/process again. The nuts will thicken this mixture as it sits in your fridge. This made enough to fill a 16 oz honey jar.

Cheers!
~Miriam

© 2012, Miriam Mason

Friday, December 16, 2011

Dumplings! (link/replacement)

Ohh, did these work out well! They did not fall apart at all in the soup if cooked as instructed. REPLACE soy milk, with coconut milk or almond milk. Leave the chives OUT.

Wonderful Stew Dumplings Recipe

l'chaim!
~Miriam

Sweet and Sour Sauce

This is a yummy sauce for any meat dish. We like it over roasted chicken legs or thighs, over ground beef or ground turkey. It works well over vegetables, too. It's simple and fast and sulfur-free.

1 can tomato sauce
1/4 Cup brown sugar
1/4 Cup apple cider vinegar
1-1/2 Tablespoons cornstarch mixed in 1/4 Cup water
1/4-1/2 teaspoon mustard powder
1 Tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

Whisk all ingredients together cold and then continue whisking over medium heat until the mixture is thickened.

Mange!
~Miriam

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Gooey Caramel Upside Down Cake (Link)

I have recipes to post but seem to find it easier to post links at this stage of life. I hope to be more attendant to the recipes individually. I am making this one right now, using coconut milk in place of soy milk, and apricots in place of peaches (I have home canned ones, so it seemed a yummy alternative):


Another great one for the books, it looks like. :)

Cheers!
~Miriam

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Pumpkin Pudding Inside a Sugar Pumpkin (Link)

Another hit and run post, but a worthy one. Constipation is a real problem for many of us with a mercury body burden and pumpkin is exceptionally good at helping things move beautifully. This idea is based on one a friend of mine did for an autumn gathering, but her's had eggs. This doesn't need eggs, and use full fat coconut milk for the vegan milk.


Only add a little extra milk, and hollow out a medium sugar pumpkin, poke holes in the inside of the pumpkin (make sure you don't poke all the way through, so no leaking). Pour the mixture into the sugar pumpkin and follow instructions until the pudding is exactly where you like it in thickness. The pudding will have soaked into the fork holes in the sugar pumpkin and cooked it, too.

This is a feast for your bowels. Get ready to move... ;) And to enjoy! :)

Mange!
~Miriam

Sunday, December 4, 2011

Fluffy Pancake Recipe (#2) (Link/Replacement)

This is a hit and run post. Found this incredibly fluffy yummy different type of pancake recipe and it's delicious. Substitute coconut milk for the regular milk. I also replaced the all-purpose flour with whole wheat white, a bit more nutritious there. I could eat an entire pile of these, all day long. :) Hope you like them, too.


Mange!
~Miriam

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Thanksgiving tips and ideas

Some tips and ideas for Thanksgiving dinner, sulfur-lite. I'm going to flesh this out more as I make our meal, so I hope you bear with me. But here are some basic ideas.

  1. Make all your chicken broth for your stuffings and gravies ahead of time using just chicken, celery, carrot (peel your carrots or the skins will make the broth taste bitter), and any spices you like (i.e. bit of sage, dried parsley, marjoram, thyme and allspice, for example, make a lovely broth) in a big pot. Boil and then gently simmer chicken bones (or whole chicken if you don't have an available roasted set of bones) with veggies and spices for about 40 minutes (45 minutes for whole chicken after a full boil, then reduce to simmer) to make a nice broth. Longer for stronger. Strain the broth and store it
  2. Make your own stuffing spices, that you can use with boxed stuffings (careful to make sure there's no sulfur in the bread portion). The prepackaged spice mixes will always have onion, often garlic, coriander and turmeric, so don't use them! Make your own flavorings using your own chicken broth to mix with it, and add the same spices as above with salt and pepper and a pinch of ground mustard to give it a little zap, if you like. *HINT* Use your nose!! Mixing spices can be lots of fun if you smell everything and see what smells great together, what smells right. :) Sage, parsley, marjoram, thyme and allspice are the other standard Thanksgiving spices. Sage can overwhelm, so you use it a little at time until you like it. Good stuffing additions are apples, chestnuts, celery, carrots, oysters, butter-sautéed mushrooms.
  3. Your turkey should be Kosher! Trader Joe's carries a good Kosher turkey. Most of the standard brining processes use onion or onion flavor, but Kosher turkeys use only salt to brine. Kosher turkeys are the way to go.
  4. For all your cream and dairy needs, use full fat coconut milk. You can make whipped cream by placing a can of full fat coconut milk in the fridge over night. The cream will end up at the top, and you can carefully spoon it off and discard the water underneath. If you add sugar and whip it up, it will be a lovely whipped cream. It's even better if you add a few spoonfuls of the coconut cream into the mix, it will hold better.
  5. Traditional vegetables are off your plate (i.e. green beans and asparagus) so be creative with a nice salad of romaine lettuce with cherry tomatoes, pecans, fresh chopped dates with a simple olive oil and balsamic dressing. The dates really mesh with balsamic well. This year, we're doing a Maple Roasted Carrot dish, using 1 pound of carrots cut into thin spears, 1 TBSP coconut oil, 1 TBSP butter, 2 TBSP maple syrup (I always use Grade B, so much more flavor) and chopped parsley as garnish. Toss the carrots in the oil and salt and lay single layer on a baking sheet and roast for 15 minutes or until tender. Melt the butter in the maple syrup and drizzle over roasted carrots, return to high oven (425) for another 10 minutes until slightly browned and soft, garnish with fresh parsley and wow everybody.
  6. That "onion" flavor - this is a tip that Andy mentioned to me: cook a batch or two of bacon, save the grease and use both the broken pieces of bacon and a hint of the grease to add a sense of "onion" to the dish. It actually works pretty well! I am testing out a replacement for onion, but do not yet feel comfortable enough to post it, but I will let you know as I continue to test!
  7. Pumpkin pies! I found three good recipes. Pick and choose your favorite, and replace any soy milk with full fat coconut milk. You won't be sorry! Here they are Pumpkin Pie Recipe 1, Pumpkin Pie Recipe 2 and Pumpkin Pie Recipe 3. You can have your pumpkin pie and eat it, too! :)
I hope this helps people a little We plan on enjoying an enormous range of delicious foods on Thanksgiving and I hope you do, too! :)

In good health and Happy Thanksgiving,
~Miriam


© 2012, Miriam Mason

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Snickerdoodles (Link/replacements)

Oh my, I have so many recipes I need to post and there never seem to be enough hours in the day for all the things I need to do. In any case, this cookie is beyond. No. It's beyond beyond. The only things I did different to it was replaced their oil with 1/2 cup butter and 1/2 cup coconut oil, and then used 2 cups unbleached white and 1 cup whole what white. This recipe is the kind that disappears almost before you can finish it. SO good!



Cheers and happy cookie!
~Miriam

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Vanilla Pudding Cake

This uses my Coconut Vanilla Pudding recipe as most of the wet ingredients, however, you don't need to cook it to quite a thick to us it in a cake. That cake portion is based on this wonderful recipe which I'm sure we will find many other uses for: Milk & Egg Free Cake Check that one out, it's a nice solid base cake recipe.



Vanilla Pudding Cake

Preheat oven to 335 degrees F. Make Coconut Vanilla Pudding recipe, but don't cook it except to let it thicken just slightly. Set aside off of heat.

Cake Mix:

2 C flour
1 C sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup melted coconut oil
2 teaspoons of vanilla

Whisk together dry ingredients then add the coconut oil, vanilla and the entire pudding mixture from above and combine well. Poor into a square 9x9 inch pan and bake until knife comes out slightly moist from the center of the cake, about 25-35 minutes, depending on your oven, altitude and ingredients. For a gooier version cook for less time and scoop out with a spoon. It's done when you say it is. Sift powdered sugar over the top.



Allow to cool for 20 minutes, and serve with macerated strawberries or blueberries over the top, or with sulfur-free homemade coconut milk ice cream.

Mange!
~Miriam

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Sweet & Salty Eggplant (recipe)

Before I couldn't eat sulfur, I made this incredible delicious eggplant miso that was sweet and salty and good by itself, or on salads, hot or cold, even in a sandwich. The texture and the flavors made it taste it feel a bit like meat. So here is my sulfur-free version, and it's great on salads, or with ground beef and pasta at lunch.

Sweet & Salty Eggplant

1/8 cup pine nuts
1 large eggplant, peeled and cut into 1/2" cubes
1 scant Tbsp sugar
1 inch finely chopped fresh ginger OR 1/2 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp salt
2 tsp sesame oil
2 tsp rice vinegar
fresh ground pepper to taste

In a heavy medium pan, heated over med low heat, dry roast the pine nuts until just lightly brown and fragrant. Add sesame oil and turn heat up to medium, then add the cubed eggplant, sugar, ginger and salt and saute until eggplant begins to become tender (about 5-7 minutes), then add the vinegar and pepper to taste and saute for another few minutes until the eggplant is cooked through. Remove from heat and serve over rice or noodles while warm. Refrigerate leftovers and use them on salads and as an addition to other dishes.

Mange!
~Miriam

© 2012, Miriam Mason

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Safe Salsa (Hot!) - Recipe

I love spicy food. I used to love salsa, but it contains garlic and often onion as well. This year my jalapeño plant went all happy on me, and I ended up with a bag of about 15 of them at once. So I decided to try my own thing and see what happened. I liked the result a lot.

Safe Salsa, Just the Peppers Please

12-15 fresh jalapeños
2 teaspoons coconut oil (or butter)
1/2 Cup raw cashews soaked for 30 minutes in
1-1/2 Cups water
1 teaspoon salt
1/4-1/3 Cups distilled white vinegar
1 Tbsp water + 1/2 Tbsp Corn Starch, mixed well before adding

Measure 1-1/2 cups water in a 2 cup measuring cup then pour raw cashews in until the water reaches 2 cups (or above). Allow them to soak for about 30 minutes.

Slice the jalapeños peppers and warm coconut oil up in a large frying pan over medium heat. Make sure you keep the seed, and all parts of the peppers other than the stem and then sauté them in the heated oil until they just soften slightly (4-6 minutes) and remove from heat.

Then add the water and soaked nuts into a food processor. Pour the sautéed jalapeños peppers over the water and nuts and add the salt in. Save the sauté pan aside. Process for several minutes to break down the nuts, then slowly in a drizzle, add the white vinegar into the processing mixture until it it finished. Process for several more moments to reduce the nuts even more (for thickening), then taste for added salt or more vinegar.

Pour the mixture back into the same sauté pan and put it on medium high heat. Once it is boiling gently, add the well-stirred water/corn starch mix to the salsa and stir. It will thicken slightly. Turn the heat off and let the salsa sit for 5 more minutes to cook all the starch in, then pour the mixture into a quart sized sterile canning jar with a sterile lid. It will last 4-6 months in your refrigerator!

Use sparingly. It's hot, baby.

Cheers!
~Miriam

© 2012, Miriam Mason

Friday, September 2, 2011

Blueberry Applesauce Muffins

I seem to be into muffins of late. Another original I'm very happy with (and so's my hubs, who ordinarily doesn't like fruit things, he's a chocolaholic).

Blueberry Applesauce Muffins

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Prepare muffin tins by lining with paper or oiling the cups. This recipe made about 15 muffins for me. Sift together dry ingredients in a large bowl and set aside:

2 Cups flour (I use 1 cup whole wheat white and 1 cup unbleached white)
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Whisk together wet ingredients very well in a small bowl:

2/3 Cup apple sauce
1/4 Cup melted coconut oil
1/2 Cup coconut milk
1/4 Cup water (less for all white flour, more for darker flours)
1 tsp lemon zest
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla
2/3 Cup sugar

Gently fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients until everything is just moistened. Do not over mix. Then gently fold in:

1 to 1-1/2 Cups fresh or frozen blueberries

Pour batter into the muffin tins, then sprinkle the tops with sugar, or make crunchy tops as in previous recipe. Bake about 25 minutes, or until muffin tops bounce back when gently pressed. Allow to cool in pans for 10 minutes, then remove and allow to cool fully, or enjoy them warm and soft. :)

Happy muffins!
~Miriam

© 2012, Miriam Mason

Sunday, August 28, 2011

Banana Pumpkin Muffins w/Optional Crunchy Tops

I made this recipe up after hearing a friend make something like this, but with eggs. My challenge was to make them as moist and lifted as the eggy ones. These turned out so tasty, moist and lovely. My husband hates bananas, yet he thoroughly enjoyed these. I will make them again!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare muffin tins by placing paper into them or greasing them. This recipe makes approx. 18 muffins.

Sift together dry ingredients (sugar will go in wet ingredients below) in a large bowl and set aside:
2 cups flour
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp allspice
a dash of ground cloves

Mash 3 very ripe bananas in a bowl and add
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 cup canned organic pumpkin
1/3+ cup melted coconut oil
1/4 cup water
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup sugar

Mix well and gently fold wet into dry ingredients until just moistened. Do not overmix. Spoon gently into prepared muffin tins. If you want crunchy tops, follow the next step, otherwise, skip over it and see baking instructions below.

Crunchy tops:
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup flour
3-4 Tblsp melted butter

Mix all topping ingredients together in a small bowl until the mixture turns into a crumb-like texture and press about a tablespoon of the topping into the top of the uncooked muffins.

BAKE: 350 for 25-30 minutes. Mini muffins, check after 10 to 15 minutes. When the top puffs back up when gently pressed, they are done.

Cheers!
~Miriam

© 2012, Miriam Mason

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Cardamom Walnut Cookies

This recipe is taken from an egg-free chocolate chip cookie recipe and revised to fit low sulfur diets. They are fantastic. This recipe makes about 2 dozen cookies, so doubling might be in order.

1/2 C Butter
1/3 C Sugar
1/2 C Brown Sugar
1 1/2 C Flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp Vanilla extract
2 tsp ground or freshly ground Cardamom
3-4 TBSP Vegetable or melted Coconut Oil
Walnuts

  • Whisk in a small bowl the flour, baking soda and cardamom.
  • In a separate large bowl, cream together the butter and sugars for about 3 minutes.
  • Slowly add in Flour mix. Mixture will be dry after this step
  • Add in Vanilla and enough of the Oil and cream together for another 2 to 3 minutes, until you get a cookie dough consistency.
  • Add Walnuts.

Bake on an ungreased cookie sheet at 350 for 8 to 10 min max. When you pull them out, they should barely be golden, almost doughy looking. Leave them on baking sheet for about 5 more minutes then transfer to cooling racks.

This dough recipe makes a great raw cookie dough for ice creams, also, and you can anything to it, or change the extract to almond and put almonds in it instead of walnuts. The sulfur-free sky is the limit! :)

Cheers!
~Miriam

© 2012, Miriam Mason

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Pesto! (Link w/replacements)

This recipe is lifted from AllRecipes Vegan Pesto, with just a few small changes here. The garlic is excluded and in its place red pepper flakes are added to give it a little bite. This recipe may be modified after further experimentation, but my husband couldn't get enough of it. And he's not the one on the low sulfur diet. :)

2/3 Cup pine nuts
1/4 Cup walnuts
2/3 Cup olive oil
1/3 - 1/2 Cup nutritional yeast*
2 bunches of fresh basil leaves
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes or more to taste
salt and pepper to taste

Directions
  1. Place the pine nuts and walnuts in a skillet over medium heat, and cook, stirring constantly, until lightly toasted.
  2. Gradually mix the pine nuts, walnuts, olive oil, red pepper flakes, nutritional yeast, and basil in a food processor, and process until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.


* For those who are sensitive to glutamates, nutritional yeast breaks down into glutamates in the body. I found that once I lowered my sulfur/thiol intake, my other food sensitivities disappeared. But, please follow your own body and its preferences.


This is really good!

Mange,
~Mim

Monday, June 13, 2011

Cucumber Water (Link/Suggestion)

Hey there, sorry for the delays in posting recipes. Dealing with some health issues, which for other mercury toxic people, I'm sure is understandable.

This one is simple as they go but wonderful and feels really good drinking, especially on round, where dehydrating is easy.

Juice a couple of English cucumbers (no seeds) and then put the juice in a canning jar with lid in the fridge.

Now when I want a refreshing drink, I put a splash or two of cuke juice in the bottom of an ice-filled glass and fill the rest up with filtered water. No sugar, nothing else.

This is lovely and refreshing and I got the idea from here. I am always keeping a jar of cuke juice in my fridge from now on. It is complete awesome.

Cheers!
~~Miriam

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Gooey Cinnamon Buns (Link/replacement)

Okay, so I just tested this recipe out, because I've been meaning to forever and just haven't had the time. But I did it today. And I can say that this fills the hole that not having store-bought cinnamon buns gives a person. These are delicious!! They were so pretty even before baking I had to take a picture of them:



Gooey Cinnamon Buns with Vanilla Icing
brought to you by vegnews.com

Here's the very gooey, very nummy finished product:


These will disappear at warp speed, guaranteed. The only replacement I made was real butter for the margerine. Otherwise, everything else is perfect.

Cheers & happy cinnamon bunning!
~Miriam

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Olive Oil Mayonnaise

Oh, I miss mayonnaise, often. I have been trying to create a mayo recipe that gives the feeling and quality of mayonnaise, but mostly that has that slightly eggy taste. I may have finally hit on just the right one.

Olive Oil Mayonnaise

Place the following in a processor or a vitamix and blend very well, scraping down sides:
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 3/4 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon vinegar (I prefer white wine, but plain will do)
  • 2-1/2 teaspoons rice flour *OR* 3/4 teaspoon coconut flour
  • 1 teaspoon arrowroot starch
  • 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
  • 1/2 teaspoon agave or honey
  • 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
  • 3/4 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1 teaspoon nutritional yeast (optional, but gives egg flavor)
Then drizzle slowly into the mixture as it continues to process:
  • 1/4+ cup olive oil, adding more until mixture reaches consistency of mayonnaise.

Can be kept in the fridge and used just like mayonnaise for up to a week. It's great for dipping vegetables in, or spreading on sandwich bread.

There are some cashew mayonnaises out there, too, and I will test out a few and post them here if they work out well. In the meantime, this is a pretty fair sulfur free version. :)

Cheers!
~Miriam

© 2012, Miriam Mason

Sunday, May 1, 2011

Kheer - Indian Rice Pudding (Link/Replacement)

As a child, I went with my family to spend 14 months in India. India is full of incredibly delicious food, but sadly much of the savory cooking includes curries that incorporate cumin, coriander and turmeric. And many dishes are bean-centered, alas, some of my all time favorites. So far, with some sadness, the savory side of India is on pause until I can work out the details with alternative ingredients.

The dessert side of India, however? Wide open! :) This recipe for their delicious version of rice pudding, called Kheer comes from Care2.com's Kheer Recipe, which I have repasted here, minus the yoga and ayurvedic medicine references.

One note, saffron will take your wallet, chew it up and spit it out, it's so expensive. The recipe does *not* require saffron. Instead of saffron, when the you remove the kheer from the heat, add a tablespoon of Rosewater instead. It's lovely that way.

Kheer - Replacements

Yield: 6 to 8 servings

8 cups unsweetened coconut milk
3/4 cup uncooked long-grain rice (usually basmati)
1/8 cup almonds (sliced, slivered, or crushed)
1/4 cup raisins (golden or dark)
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground cardamom seed
2 threads saffron (optional, see above note)
1/4 cup evaporated cane juice (or to taste)

  1. Rinse the rice and combine it with milk in a medium pot. Slowly bring to a low boil, stirring so the milk does not scorch. After about 30 minutes the rice should be done—the grains should be plump and almost falling apart.

  2. Add the nuts and raisins, cook for another 1 to 2 minutes, and then turn off the heat.

  3. Take a spoonful of hot milk and pour it over 2 threads of saffron in a shallow dish. After a few moments you should be able to grind the saffron into a paste with the back of a metal spoon. Stir the saffron paste, cardamom, and sugar into the kheer and let it rest, covered, until it reaches room temperature. Then cool in the refrigerator until it is time to serve.

Variations
Try a variety of dried fruits, such as apricots or apples. Swap the almonds for cashews. Substitute honey, maple syrup, or brown rice syrup for sugar. Add a drop of rosewater. Garnish with 1/4 cup crushed pistachio nuts.


This food is comforting, delicious and healthy. The fresh cardomom brings it home for me.

Cheers! (चियर्स)
~Miriam

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Cheesecake

This is gleaned from several online raw recipes and the crust is a simple basic graham cracker crust. Make certain you check the ingredients of your graham crackers. We tend to buy organic brands of graham crackers merely because the ingredient list is much shorter and contains stuff you'd make crackers with, instead of 40% plus of chemical additives (who even knows what they are anymore? But high fructose corn syrup isn't going to make you feel any better, I will tell you that.)

New Morning Honey Grahams are what we use. Love the short ingredient list. Unless you're throwing it together yourself with a million wonderful real ingredients, the shorter a processed food ingredients list is, the better off you are. This is a general principle we follow and it has made a big difference over time. It makes it easier to eliminate mercury if you're body is given real nutrients with which to fuel itself, and not a bunch of non-food items. :)

Cheesecake

Crust:

1-2/3 graham cracker crumbs (put 1 packet in a ziplock and use a rolling pin to make crumbs, save extra for mini-jam-pies, coming later)
1/4 cup evaporated cane juice (organic sugar)
1/3 cup melted butter

Mix together crumbs and sugar then add butter and stir very well. Pour it into a 9 inch pie pan or cheescake pan, smash it down with your hands so it evenly covers the bottom (and sides, if you're using a regular pie pan) and set in fridge until needed.

Filling:

3 cups cashews soaked (at least one hour)
3/4 cup of lemon juice
3/4 cup of raw honey, agave, or maple syrup
3/4 cup of coconut oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon nutritional yeast (optional, but yummy)
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 vanilla bean, scraped

Tablespoon or 2 of water if mixture needs a bit more liquid. May not be necessary depending on how saturated your cashews are, wait until the end to add this.

Put everything in your food processor and process for several minutes until the mixture is completely smooth and homogenous. Make sure to scrape the edge down at some point in the middle of the processing.

Pour into the prepared pie crust pan and smooth it out. Place in the freezer for 1-2 hours, or until set. Pie can be kept in the fridge after, although it will last longer if it is stored in the freezer.

Serve with blueberries or raspberries rolled in sugar over the top if you like.

Cheezers!
~Miriam

© 2012, Miriam Mason

Quick 5 Minute Banana Ice Cream

I've found recipes like this all over the web, but the original was done in a 5 page segment, making you click links at the bottom of each page for a recipe that literally takes less time than it takes to load in all those pages! Very silly for 5 minute ice cream.

  • Peel and freeze some bananas (I use two bananas per person eating).
  • Once they are completely frozen take them and throw them into your food processor with a teaspoon of fresh lemon juice (this helps it stay yellow instead of turning brown and gives it a lovely freshness).
  • Start your food processor at its highest setting and let it go and go and go at least 3 minutes
  • Part way through the process you might feel certain that it's not working, and you won't get ice cream. Flip the off switch and scrape down the edges.
  • Then keep going, for a total of about 5 or 6 minutes and you will get ice cream! Lovely light fast healthy banana ice cream.

Some suggestions: Top it with walnuts, raisins, sunflower seeds, a dash of nutmeg, or berries and enjoy. You can also add other fruit into the processor with bananas, as long as there is enough banana, it will always turn into ice cream. If you want a banana bread flavoring, try adding a touch of honey with just a trace of your favorite spices like cinnamon, nutmeg and cardamom.

It doesn't keep really well, so be ready to eat what you make. Or put it on top of a cupcake or cookie. Fast, versatile and pretty much idiot proof. A winner here! :)

Cheers!
~Miriam

Vanilla Coconut Cream Candy (Link)



Okay, my first trial of the Coconut Cream Concentrate I posted about a few days back. They are good, but in my opinion, a little bland:

Vanilla Coconut Cream Candy

It's definitely sulfur-free, and healthy and raw, but I would change it up a bit next time. I'd definitely add fresh vanilla in addition to the extract. I'd probably also spice it up a bit with a good teaspoon to teaspoon and a half of freshly ground cardamom. And I'd add more sweetener, either 1/2 cup powdered sugar along with the honey, or a quarter cup of coconut sugar.

The cream all by itself is tasty, but it needs a kick in this combination. If you like very basic bland stuff, tho, this might just fill your cup.

Cheers!
~Miriam

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Raspberry Glazed Chicken a la Lisa

Ah, a recipe I don't need to test out, because my friend, Lisa Prague, invented it and I know what a great cook she is already. :)

I maybe post some of her other recipes, but you might want to wander through her GF blog all on your own, and make replacements to her great recipes to add some lovely delish to your repertoire.

Raspberry Glazed Chicken
(by Lisa Prague)

I must try this now, soon as my raspberries come into season. Yum!

Cheers!
~Miriam

Thursday, April 21, 2011

A Cream Replacement (Product Post)


Waha, thanks to a good friend of mine who found this and pointed it out to me, I think we low sulfurites now have a pretty effective and healthy full cream replacement. I'm dying to check out some of the recipes and modify and post them here. I can also think of a whole bunch of ways to use this kind of cream to make something truly delicious.

Coconut Cream Concentrate


Already got my first two bottles and am excited about cracking them open. Recipes to follow.

Cheers!
~~Miriam

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Sunflower Seed Butter Cookies (Link/Replacements)

Taken from Food.com's Egg-Free Peanut Butter cookie recipe, the only replacement is sunflower seed butter for the peanut butter. This recipe is easy, fast and delicious. My 9 year old helped me bake and test this batch and it's been met with great approval. Note, this would be a great dough for a coconut milk homemade cookie dough ice cream recipe. Will try this when time allows and post it.

For ease, I'll copy it with the replacement here, too, and any small adjustments I made during our trial:

Sunflower Seed Butter Cookies
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup sunflower seed butter
  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 1/4 cups flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Directions:

Prep Time: 5 mins

Total Time: 15 mins
  1. Mix together sunflower seed butter, sugars, vanilla and butter until well blended.
  2. Add all the rest of the ingredients, and beat well until totally combined.
  3. Form dough into balls about 1/4-1/2 inch in size, and place on ungreased cookie sheet, mark top of balls with fork.
  4. Bake in 375 degree oven for 7-9 min.
  5. Remove from oven and let stand on sheet for 1-2 minutes, then transfer to wire rack, cool completely.
  6. Store in air tight container.

Mange!
~Miriam

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Honey Dijon Mustard Chicken

We do eat a lot of chicken in this house, but since fish is so often tainted with mercury and red meat isn't something we want to have very often, we end up eating lots of fowl, and a bit of pork. This recipe could be adapted easily for any fowl, but there's just something about honey mustard chicken that works. This is a really simple recipe, prepped in a flash, and done in an hour with little effort.

A note about mustard! You will notice that most store bought dijon mustard - even the organic stuff - has an ingredient list something along the lines of: "Mustard seed, vinegar, water, salt, spices." The problem with "spices" is you don't know what they are. Are they garlic? Are they turmeric? Are they onions? So, please be careful and make sure you get a brand that doesn't say "spices", but that says what the spices specifically are. For example Annie's makes a great brand of organic dijon mustard. Note the regular Annie's mustard *does* contain cumin. The dijon, however, does not. It's important to notice stuff like "spices" on an ingredient list and to find something that is more specific, so you're not giving yourself an unwarranted load of coriander or turmeric. Deli brands like this one are a bit more expensive, but also tend to be much purer and specify ingredients.

Preheat oven to 400 F for dark meat, 350 F for white meat.

3 lbs boneless chicken pieces
1/2 Cup dijon mustard (see above note)
1/4 Cup organic raw honey
1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar (or white wine vinegar will work if you tolerate it)
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon salt

Lightly oil a 9x13" glass baking pan. Place chicken pieces (we use thighs a lot because dark meat supports the sulfur pathways) in the prepared dish and set aside to prepare sauce. Whisk together dijon mustard, honey, vinegar and salt until well mixed. Slowly drizzle in the olive while whisking quickly to emulsify the oil into the sauce. Then pour the sauce over the chicken and turn the chicken over to coat both sides. Cover the dish with foil and place it in the oven for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, remove the foil and again turn the chicken over. Allow the chicken to cook for another 40 minutes, or until done. Let it sit for 5 minutes out of the oven before serving.

This dish is wonderful with baked sweet potatoes, which you can place in the same oven as the meat about 20 minutes in (unless you have really big potatoes, then start them at the same time as the chicken) and cook until done. Make sure you poke holes in the skins of your potatoes before you cook them. Serve on a thick bed of romaine lettuce, and the mustard sauce will make a lovely dressing.

Cheers!
~Miriam

© 2012, Miriam Mason

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Coconut Milk Vanilla Pudding

A nice simple dessert. You can reduce the sugar, if you prefer less sweet, to 1/4 Cup and it will still taste lovely.

2 Cups carton unsweetened coconut milk
1/2 Cup sugar (we always use organic evaporated cane juice)
3 Tablespoon corn starch, -or- 2-1/2 T Arrowroot starch
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 Tablespoon butter

Begin with no heat. Whisk together sugar, starch and salt in a heavy bottomed sauce pan. Add in cold coconut milk and whisk again until all the lumps disappear. Once it is smooth, turn the heat on to medium and stir constantly until thickened. Do not boil! Once the mixture is thick, remove from heat and add in the butter and vanilla.

Pour into serving dishes and chill before serving.

Note: This recipe is superb as a base for yummy additions. Suggestions for things to add: cardamom, raisins, frozen raspberries dipped in sugar, bananas, ground pistachios (or other nuts), caramel, cooked fruit, rosewater, tangerine slices, use your imagination! :)

Cheers!
~Miriam

© 2012, Miriam Mason

Store Bought Ice Cream - Note from Andy Cutler

Have you tried the store-bought ice creams lately, even the ones that are technically non-dairy and found yourself feeling kinda funky as a result?

Turns out there's a really good reason for that! Andy wrote to me to point this out. His comments about store bought ice cream are pasted below so we can all benefit:
"Please note that most or all coconut milk and rice milk 'ice cream' uses soy protein as the emulsifier, and this has LOTS of sulfur in it and does not render the resulting material 'low sulfur!' Someone sensitive has to try each brand - and maybe suffer a lot - to figure it out, or just don't use ones with 'soy protein' anywhere on the list.

Soy lecithin on the other hand is fine.

Andy Cutler"
Thank you for that bit, Andy.

I rarely buy any ice cream at the store, because (funnily enough) they made me feel icky after eating them. So I make all my own. :) They are super easy with canned (preservative/thickener-free) coconut milk and herbs, spices, fruits and extracts. For a thicker mix, cook in a little bit of starch (potato, arrowroot, tapioca or corn) to your mix (no more than about 2 tablespoons tops, or the ice cream will taste a bit starchy). Homemade coconut milk ice cream tends to be harder and just needs to sit out for 5-10 minutes before you eat it.

Here are my recipes so far for homemade low sulfur coconut milk ice cream:

Basil ice cream (with a note about making green tea ice cream)
Butter pecan ice cream
Quick 5 Minute Banana Ice Cream (no coconut milk for this)

Vanilla is very easy, as would be any fruit addition to a vanilla. I will post more recipes as I get time, but if you have a craving and want me to invent an ice cream flavor/idea just for you, please post it in the comments below and I will try to make that happen for you and post it in this blog. :)

Bear in mind, we can't eat chocolate *or* carob, or have any mocha or coffee flavors in there due to their high sulfur content. But amaretto, or mango, or strawberry? Let me know?

Cheers!
~Miriam

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Baklava - Totally (Link)

This one is just a really really really good link for baklava. Make sure you read that first comment below the recipe for some great time-saving (and soggy avoiding) tips on the original recipe.

Also make sure the phyllo dough you use checks out against the high sulfur list. I've not had any trouble with phyllo at all.

This did not last long at out house!

Baklava - AllRecipes

Cheers!
~Miriam

Friday, March 11, 2011

Vegan Apple Cider Caramel sauce (Link)

This recipe is so unusual and most caramel has dairy in it, while this doesn't. There's something about the tang of the apple cider vinegar that tastes SO good over coconut milk ice cream with bananas and walnut, or on apple slices dipped in oat granola or pecans. It makes a superlative coconut milk vanilla pudding addition and is terrific on pies or grunts (cobblers).

Check out those pictures. Does it not make you hungry?

Happy Healthy Life Vegan Apple Cider Caramel sauce

Obviously, replace any peanuts with other nuts or a simple granola, and only use coconut milk ice creams. :)

Cheers!
~Miriam

Waffles (Link/Replacement)

What? What's that you said? You want waffles that actually work really well in a waffle iron (or an affle wiron, as recently it has been called)? Yeah? Me too! I love waffles. I love making lots of extra waffles so I can freeze some to toast later on in the week when I get a waffle craving. And then I have my Vanilla Nutella on them. So I always at least double this recipe.

Here's the egg-free waffle recipe from Mr. Breakfast.

Replacements:

Replace the all-pupose flour with something whole grain and healthy for you

Replace the cool water with cool coconut milk.

And as one of the comments suggests, let the waffle cook an extra minute to acheive the same doneness as a waffle with eggs.

Truly and utterly delicious. And so simple, too! Thank you for bringing waffles back into our lives, Mr. Breakfast. :)

Cheers!
~Miriam

Monday, March 7, 2011

Helfer's Deep Butter Cake (Link/Revisions)

Can you tell I enjoy desserts a lot? :) This isn't one of those things I'd made often, actually just once. And it was beyond decadent and I felt completely indulgent and delighted and horrified all at the same time. It was goooood. This recipe is lifted from the wonderful Helfer's Pastries and Deli Cafe deep butter cake, and revised for a low sulfur diet. The artificial butter flavor is at once bizarre and really enhances the cake. So, this isn't a "let's do it all the time" thing. At least for me. :D

Let's Eat Recipe Card
Deep Butter Cake (Helfer's)
Helfer's Pastries and Deli Cafe

Yield: 8 to 9 servings

Revisions:

For crumb mixture:
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon butter flavoring (see note)
1/2 cup all-purpose flour

For batter:
11/3 cups granulated sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 T EnerG egg replacer
2/3 cup coconut milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon butter flavoring
1-3/4 cups cake flour

Powdered sugar, for garnish

1. Prepare the crumb mixture. In a small mixer bowl, beat together 1/4 cup sugar and 1/4 cup butter until fluffy. Add 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon vanilla, 1/4 teaspoon butter flavoring and all-purpose flour; beat at low speed just until crumbly. Cover and refrigerate.

2. Prepare the batter. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour an 8-inch-square baking pan.

3. Combine 1 1/3 cups sugar, 1 cup butter and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a large mixer bowl; beat on high speed for 2 to 3 minutes or until fluffy. Add energy egg replacer; beat on high speed 2 to 3 minutes or until light.

4. Combine milk, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla and 1/2 teaspoon butter flavoring. Alternately add cake flour and coconut milk mixture to batter, starting and ending with flour. Beat on low speed, scraping sides of bowl, until well mixed.

5. Sprinkle crumb mixture evenly in prepared pan. Spread batter over crumb mixture. Bake 50 to 60 minutes or until top is deep golden brown and cake tests done in the center with a wooden pick. Cool 5 minutes.

6. Place a flat plate or cake board on top of the pan. Hold the pan and plate together securely; turn over. Carefully remove the pan. (The crumb side is now the top of the cake.) Dust with powdered sugar.

Note: Butter flavoring is sold with the extracts in supermarkets. Its flavor is essential to the success of this recipe.


Cheers!
~Miriam

Saturday, March 5, 2011

One-Pan Turkey & Vegetable Cobbler

Simple, throw it together pretty fast, full of fresh (preferably organic) vegetables and goodness. We really enjoy it around here. And it can be spiced up in a variety of ways if this is too bland for your tastes. Red pepper flakes and adding jalapeño peppers would be a lovely addition. If you do that, recommend subbing 1/2 cup regular flour for 1/2 cup corn meal, and you have this dish with a more spicy Mexican flavor. We will keep this one simple for those that prefer them that way to start. :)

You need a large iron skillet that can be on the stove top and in the oven. Preheat oven to 350 F.

2 zucchini, cut in smallish quarters
1 lb mushrooms sliced
2-3 carrots sliced
2-3 celery sliced
1 red bell pepper sliced small
1-2 fresh or roasted tomatoes sliced in small pieces
1 t summer savory
1 t oregano
1/2 an 8 oz package of organic frozen corn
1 T butter

Saute zucchini, carrots, celery, bell pepper in butter over medium heat until just slightly wilted, then add in mushrooms and tomatoes, summer savory and oregano and continue to saute for another 2-3 minutes, then remove from heat, pour vegetables out in a bowl.

1 lb ground turkey
Salt & Pepper to taste

Brown ground turkey in the same pan, adding salt and pepper as the turkey browns. As soon as it browns, throw all the vegetables back in and add in 4 oz of frozen corn. Mix it together and remove from heat.

1-1/2 C flour
2 t baking powder
1-1/2 t salt
3 T cold butter
2 t EnerG egg replacer + 1/4 water, beaten until frothy
1-3/4 C coconut milk
*nutritional yeast for sprinkling over the top (optional)

Whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Using knives or a pastry cutter, cut up the cold butter until it resembles coarse peas. Whisk together the milk and egg replacer/water mix until a bit fluffy. Make a hole in the flour and pour the liquid into the hole. Mix until just wet and incorporated and then pour the whole thing over the top of the meat and vegetable dish. Drizzle nutritional yeast over the top to make a nice flavored top to your cobbler.

Please uncovered in oven and bake for about 50 minutes, or until a knife comes out of the dough clean.

Enjoy and Cheers!
~Miriam

© 2012, Miriam Mason

Big Buttermilk Biscuits

Biscuits for dinner? Biscuits for breakfast? Anybody? :)

2 C preferred flour (we use whole wheat white)
2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1/3 cup shortening (or butter)
1 C coconut milk + 1 T apple cider vinegar

Place the apple cider vinegar in the bottom of a cup measure, then fill to the 1 cup mark with coconut milk. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar. Then cut in the shortening until the mixture resembles coarse meal or small peas. Gradually stir in milk until dough pulls away from the side of the bowl. Do not over mix. Turn dough gently out onto a floured surface, and lightly push it together a few times - avoid kneading (less kneading means more flakey)! Gently pat dough down to 1 inch thick. Cut biscuits with a large cutter or milk glass dipped in flour. Gently reform and repeat until all the dough is used. Brush off the excess flour, and place biscuits onto an ungreased baking sheet. Bake for 13 to 15 minutes or until edges just begin to brown.

Cheers!
~Miriam

© 2012, Miriam Mason

Sugar Pumpkin or Butternut Squash Soup

This recipe is based losely on a number of recipes I researched and tried out. I found the simplest approach to my version be best. The soup is already complex tasting if you pick ripe in season vegetables (local is even better).

2 sugar pumpkins or 2 large butternut squash
3 C chicken stock
1 C full fat coconut milk (canned)
1/2 t. ground nutmeg (fresh grind will be better)
1 t. ground sage
2-3 teaspoons salt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Cut pumpkins/butternut squash in half and scoop out seeds. Spray a large glass baking dish with non-stick cooking spray. Place pumpkins/butternut squash, flesh side down on the baking dish and roast until soft to the touch or when poked with a fork through the skin, about 45 minutes. Remove pumpkins/butternut squash from oven and let them cool down. Once they are cool enough to handle scrape flesh from skins into a food processor. Discard the skins.

Add chicken stock to the pumpkin and puree. Pour soup into a large saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Stir in full fat coconut milk, nutmeg, sage and salt. Mix well and remove from heat. Garnish with parsley.

Serve with Big Buttermilk Biscuits and a lettuce and tomato salad with a simple oil/vinegar dressing.

Cheers!
~Miriam

Vanilla Coconut Cupcakes (Link)

Completely delicious cupcakes. Note the recipe says this doesn't work for whole cakes, just cupcakes. And sometimes instead of using all coconut oil, I'll make half of it butter. Adds a lovely flavor.

Vegan Cupcakes -- Allrecipes.com


They work well with jam on top. And we've been frosting them with this Easy Velvet Almond Frosting recipe from bakespace.com, which is what the banner picture is of at the top of this blog. :)

Cheers!
~Miriam

French Toast (Link) - Can you Believe it?!

Yes, french toast, and while it isn't exactly like its sulfury counterpart, is it ever so good on its own! Kudos, blessings, and joy to the creators of this recipe. We make extra, store it in the fridge for a quick french toast any time the mood hits.

This gets high ratings for a low sulfur dish, especially in light of the fact that it isn't supposed to exist as a low sulfur dish. French toast is all about the egg, yeah?

Not here!

Vegan French Toast -- vegweb.com

We used coconut milk from the carton. We nixed the cinnamon, too, cuz I'm not big on cinn in my french toast batter, and it still tasted divine.

Cheers!
~Miriam

Korean Zucchini Pancakes (Link)

This recipe is so yummy, and needs absolutely no replacements at all. Simple, savory and delicious, skip the dip sauces (which contain sulfur) suggested below the recipe and try these pancakes with butter and a bit of salt, or a dab or rice vinegar sprinkled on top. Delicious all by themselves, too!

Korean Zucchini Pancakes-gastronomyblog


Can't wait until zucchini is growing in our garden! :)

Cheers,
~Miriam

Friday, March 4, 2011

Baked Apricot Chicken

My simple basic recipe.

Preheat oven to 375 F.

2-3 lbs chicken thighs and legs

(You can use breasts, but dark meat supports the sulfur pathways and is actually better for high cysteine folks. White meat is fine if you can't stand dark. Just adjust down 1) temp to 350 F and 2) cooking time by 5-10 minutes. You can cut into a piece to see if it's cooked the whole way through. Don't let white meat cook too long or it will dry out.)

Wash chicken pieces and place them skin-side up into a 9x13" glass baking dish.

Whisk together sauce:

1 C apricot jam
1-2 t salt (to taste)
1/4 C balsamic vinegar
1/4 C olive oil
1 t Worcestershire sauce
Pepper to taste

Pour sauce over chicken, cover with foil and place in preheated oven for about 20 minutes. Then remove cover and allow to bake until fully done, for dark meat, about an hour, for light, maybe 50-55 minutes. Baste it if you like. We prefer to let our skins get crunchy by not basting too late in the baking process.

Serve on a bed of organic romaine lettuce with baked sweet potato. The apricot sauce will end up dressing the lettuce leaves, too.

Cheers!
~~Miriam

Best Chicken Soup for Colds/Flu EVER (Link/adjustments)

Best Chicken Soup for Colds and Flu Recipe

Adjusting this amazing hot and spicey soup for low sulfur is super easy.

Simply do NOT add:
  • the onions
  • the cumin
  • the cilantro, or
  • the scallions
Otherwise, you can use this recipe with great abandon and add mushrooms, zucchini, potatoes, extra jalapeños or whatever, and (as we do) replace the white pasta with just-cooked brown rice to give it more nutritional punch.

I swear by this soup, it is truly medicine, especially if you're using free-range meat and organic veggies and grains.

And it's fine and dandy right through a round. It's fast turning into one of my comfort foods!

Cheers!
~Miriam

Sunflower Seed Butter Fudge (Link w/Replacements)

Yep, here it is, that fudge I mentioned earlier. Fudge is a favorite around here and this one will please both sulfur-sensitive and non-sulfur sensitive.

This recipe is a direct lift from an All Recipes Peanut Butter Fudge recipe and revised to be low sulfur.

Recipe Revision:
1/2 cup butter
2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup coconut milk
1 cup sunflower seed butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups confectioners' sugar

Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in brown sugar and coconut milk. Bring to a hard boil, then boil for 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from heat. Stir in sunflower seed butter and vanilla. Pour over confectioners' sugar in a large mixing bowl. Beat until smooth; pour into an 8x8 inch dish. Chill until firm and cut into squares.

Melty yummy, soft, terrific stuff.

Cheers!
~~Miriam

Coconut Milk Basil Ice Cream

Basil can be replaced with decaf green tea leaves also, but requires a bit more sugar to balance out the bitterness of the tea and a slightly finer strainer. Experiment! What herb/spice do you like that might taste great sweet? Cardamom, maybe? :)


3 13.66 oz cans of full fat Coconut Milk (well shaken)
1 cup loosely packed fresh basil leaves
1/4 - 1/2 C sugar or other sweetener (use less if sugar bugs you, it doesn't need much)
2 Tablespoons arrowroot or preferred starch
1 teaspoon vanilla (optional)

Open 1 can of coconut milk and put into a heavy-bottomed pot. Bring milk to a gentle boil over medium heat, then remove from heat and throw in the basil leaves. Cover and let sit for 20 minutes.

Pour basil/milk mixture into a blender or food processor and liquify for 1 to 2 minutes. Pour out mixture through a sieve to remove large bits of basil. Set aside in fridge to cool.

Open remaining 2 cans of milk, reserving about 1/4-1/2 cup into a separate cup. Add arrowroot to reserved milk and mix well to make a slurry and set aside. Add the sugar to the remaining milk and warm over medium heat stirring with a whisk until sugar is dissolved. Bring mixture to a low boil, then remove from heat and add the vanilla and the arrowroot slurry, whisking until the mixture is smooth.

Add in the cooling basil/milk mixture and whisk it all together. Cool the mixture in the fridge until it's well chilled (2-3 hours or more), then pour it into your ice cream maker and follow the manufacturer's instructions.

Coconut ice cream gets very hard once you freeze it, so plan to take some out 10 or so minutes before service so it gets softer.

This ice cream goes very well with slightly sweetened raspberries, or a raspberry shortbread or scone.

Cheers!
~Miriam

© 2012, Miriam Mason

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Clay Pot Thai-ish Sunflower Seed Chicken

This one is an original I did on a night I was utterly desperate for restaurant-style hot Thai peanut butter chicken. It came out so much better than I'd hoped that we've been doing this one a few times a month at least.

Use a clay pot with a lid for this, if possible. Soak the clay pot in filtered water for 20-30 minutes first. You won't preheat the oven, the clay pot must go into a cold oven or it will crack. The water seeps into the pot and makes the chicken delicate and moist.

If you use a regular iron pot, make certain you adjust for preheating time. I would suggest preheating in this case to 350-365 F (depending on your oven). I imagine a regular pot will be equally tasty.

While your clay pot is soaking, whisk the sauce together in a bowl:

1-1/4 C sunflower seed butter
1 T sesame seed oil
1/4 C rice vinegar (or white)
1 T dry sherry (optional, NOT necessary)
1-2 teaspoons sea salt or to taste
1 t. ground ginger (or an inch of finely chopped fresh)
1/4-2 t. of dried red pepper flakes (depending on how much you like your Thai to bite back, I like it HOT)
1-1/2 Cups chicken stock

When your pot is done soaking take

2.5-3 lbs skinless/boneless chicken pieces (I like thighs)

place the chicken in the soaked pot, and poor the sauce over it. Turn the chicken over in the sauce to make sure everything is well coated. Cover the Clay pot and place it in a cold oven. Set the oven to 350. If you're using red chicken meat, time is usually an hour and 10 minutes. For white meat, time is 50-60 minutes. Check the meat by cutting into a middle piece to make sure it's done. Clay pots are very good at not drying out chicken if it needs to go longer.

For a regular pot, cover and place it in a preheated oven and allow to cook until meat is done, probably 45 minutes to an hour or so, depending on what type of chicken meat.

We serve ours over brown rice or red quinoa, and sauteed mushrooms on a bed of lettuce.

Japanese Cucumber Salad would make a super nice side.

Cheers!
~Miriam

© 2012, Miriam Mason

Au Gratin Potatoes

This recipe was taken from the vegan recipe at Dairy Free Cooking and modified for a low sulfur version:

4-5 lbs russet potatoes, scrubbed and peeled
1/3 C and 1 T. olive oil, divided
1/4 C ww white flour (if gluten-free, use potato starch mixed with rice flour)
3 C unsweetened coconut milk
1/4 C nutritional yeast (or less if you prefer)
1 ½ t. salt, plus more to taste
Pepper, to taste
1 C homemade toasted breadcrumbs (can also be gluten-free)

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Lightly oil 2 gratin dishes or 1 9"x 13" casserole dish and set aside.

Make the cream sauce. In a small saucepan over medium heat, heat the 1/3 cup oil. Add the flour, stirring constantly with a wire whisk, then slowly add nutritional yeast and whisk for 1-2 minutes, or until the flour smells slightly toasted but is not burning. Mixture will be very thick. Whisking constantly, gradually add the coconut milk, carefully pouring down the side of the saucepan. The sauce will sizzle and bubble slightly, and it is important to continue to vigorously stir at this point to prevent your sauce from forming clumps of flour or burning. Turn to low and cook until desired thickness, then salt and pepper to taste.

While the sauce is thickening, slice the potatoes into ¼"-thick discs and sprinkle lightly with salt. Evenly layer the discs in the dishes.

Pour the sauce over the sliced potatoes in the prepared dishes. Toss the breadcrumbs with the remaining 1 T. oil and sprinkle on top of the potatoes. Lightly salt and pepper as desired and bake until golden brown, about 30-40 minutes. Serve hot.

This one even won over my cheese-abled husband. :)

Cheers!
~~Miriam

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Butter Pecan Ice Cream

2 cans full fat coconut milk
1/4-1/2 C packed brown sugar
1-2 T salted butter
1/4 salt
1 t vanilla extract
1 cup pecan pieces

Shake both cans and open one into a heavy pot. Add in brown sugar, butter and salt and heat until the butter and sugar dissolve. Avoid boiling. Use a whisk to dissolve globs of coconut milk fat. After everything is dissolved, pour the mixture into a bowl, then add the second can of coconut milk and the vanilla extract. Mix well and set in fridge to cool. Once mixture is cool, pour it into your ice cream maker and follow the instructions according to your model. Once ice cream is really starting to set (3/4 of the way through), drizzle in the nuts, so they don't all settle at the bottom, but mix all through the ice cream.

It's usually ready after about 20 minutes in our ice cream maker.

Mange!

Cheers,
~Miriam

© 2012, Miriam Mason

Sunday, February 27, 2011

Homemade Vanilla Hazelnut "Nutella" (Spread)

Based on homemade nutella recipes, this combines the best of nutella without the chocolate.

2 C raw hazelnuts
10 vanilla beans scraped
1-1/2 C powdered sugar
1-1/2 T vanilla extract
1/4 C melted coconut oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Toss hazelnuts in a single layer on a shallow baking pan and toast them in the oven until the skins are almost black and the meat is dark brown, about 15 minutes. Stir the nuts halfway through baking for even color, and cool briefly.

Place the toasted nuts into a plastic bag and rub them firmly until most of the skin comes off of the nuts. Don't worry about the stuff that sticks, it just makes it pretty.

Place the roasted skinned nuts into food processor and process for about 5 minutes, scraping sides periodically, until you have smooth hazelnut butter. Add in the sugar, vanilla bean scrapings and vanilla extract. Process until smooth, then slowly pour the coconut oil into the processor until you have a spreadable texture.

Spread on breads, in sandwiches, on top of waffles or pancakes, an unusual frosting or filling for cakes, or any other nutella-like ideas that come to mind. And enjoy your vanilla nutella sulfur-free! :)

Cheers!
~Miriam

© 2012, Miriam Mason

Cookware While Chelating

It's amazing how much metal can get into the foods and liquids you cook and heat, just by the mere act of heating them. Since you are chelating, the best metals for you to use would be cast iron or titanium to cook in. The stainless steel pans with aluminum cores can still leach, although they are better than plain aluminum. Avoid nonstick pans and pure aluminum cookware. These leach and add unwanted chemicals to your body.

Silicon also works beautifully, but if you must use nonstick for things like muffins or cupcakes, line them with paper instead of placing food directly against them.

And of course, glass is always a good thing to use, if you can. Most of our bakeware is either clay or glass.

Clay pots are wonderful, and you soak them for 20 minutes before you cook in them. They make food so moist the delicate and they are healthy to cook in.

For big giant soups, titanium is very expensive but absolutely the ideal. Second choice would be stainless steel with a completely hidden aluminum core (for proper heat distribution). If you can see the aluminum either on the top of the bottom, the pot is no good, and you need a replacement.

Preferably do not store hot foods in plastic containers, or heat up food in plastic containers in the microwave. Transfer to glass, if possible. Plastics leach a lot and this is an added burden your body doesn't need right now while you chelate.

Cheers!
~~Miriam

"Buttermilk" Pancakes

Okay, let's start with breakfast in the first recipe!

These are delicious pancakes, considering no egg at all. This is my recipe, and if you want to post it as long as you include my name as the author, you may post freely.

BUTTERMILK PANCAKE
by Miriam Mason

1-1/2 T apple cider vinegar
2 C coconut milk (from a carton, not a can)
1 T melted butter
2 t EnerG egg replacer
1/4 C warm water
2 t baking powder
1 T sugar (or organic agave or coconut sugar)
2 C flour (we always use whole wheat white, but gluten-free will also work)
1/2 t salt

Wet: Put apple cider vinegar into a 2 cup measure then fill with coconut milk. Give it a small stir and let it sit for 5-10 minutes to sour. Mix together egg replacer and warm water, beat very well until frothy. After milk has soured combine in a small bowl with egg replacer water and melted butter and whisk together.

Dry: Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt together in a large bowl.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry and combined until just mixed.

Use 1/4 cup measure to pour out pancakes on a preheated (on medium) greased iron pan. Allow to cook until bubbly in the middle and slightly dry around the edge then flip the pancake and allow to cook for another 1-2 minutes until cooked through.

Serve and enjoy.

Cheers!
~~Miriam

Friday, February 25, 2011

Foods and Products

Since soy is not an option for those of us on low sulfur diets, we are sometimes even more limited than a vegan diet in terms of making dishes with loads of dairy products and eggs. Finding suitable replacements for those has been a huge asset.

For dairy products, we largely use unsweetened coconut milk from Turtle Mountain. They also have yogurt and cultured coconut milk. Ice cream requires full fat coconut milk in cans. Make sure there are no thickeners or preservatives. You can use other nut milks, like almond milk, or rice milk. All varieties of milk should sour with about a Tablespoon of apple cider vinegar to 1-1/2 cups milk, which gives you "buttermilk," and some nice variations thereof.

Recommend for oils a mix of butter and coconut oil for flavor. Occasionally we still use canola oil, I would much prefer safflower, but alas, safflower isn't a GM crop and is less readily available. With oils there's really no limit, since oils never contain sulfur.

Egg replacers are varied and depend on what recipe you are using. For most baking, I have found using a lot of EnerG egg replacer is good (usually twice what is called for). For binders, ground flax seed soaked in warm water is excellent. Sometimes all that is needed is some extra starch, in which case, tapioca, potato, arrowroot or even corn starch will work fine. For moisture, applesauce or pearsauce is lovely in some cases. And combinations can be interesting. Tofu is out, alas.

Cheese is tough, but I have found vegan recipes that use ground nuts, pimentos or red bell peppers with nutritional yeast, a bit of water and a whole lot of grinding for cheesey sauce. For hard cheese, you use a similar mixture, but can add Agar Agar to it to harden it. No, it isn't cheese, for those of us who love cheese so dearly, the very thought activates our salivary glands, but it's a reminder of what cheese can mean, which is important, I think.

Which brings me to the question of whether or not nutritional yeast contains sulfur as yeast extract does. If it does, since I am sulfur sensitive, especially around chelation rounds, I have no trouble at all with it. Perhaps because I'm not using a lot of it. 1/4 cup can flavor 4-6 pounds of potatoes, so overall, the intake isn't that high. If it makes you uncomfortable, exclude it, and perhaps use a different overall seasoning. It does not seem to be responsible for raising my thiol level, which is pretty noticeable to me now after nearly two years of being on this diet.

And alas, it's hard to be without dark leafy greens and many of the vegetables that contain sulfur, but I have been exploring different ways of using varieties of lettuces, and it's surprising how versatile it can be. We also juice a lot of carrots and apples around here. And celery sticks with sunflower seed butter in them rock for a snack. Squash and sweet potatoes are enormously healthy and can be used in a diverse set of ways; eggplant is a girl's best friend when it's cooked properly; and cucumber is a great refreshing addition to all kinds of things and french artichoke is lovely with melted butter.

Suggest that you make your own chicken or beef or turkey stocks with carrots, celery and salt then strain and freeze them in pint size containers so you always have a sulfur-free variety of soup stock available to you. Obviously, contrary to common practice (even in the store bought brands) never use any onion or garlic of any sort in your stock.

Fruits are great, and most, with the exception of pineapple, are free of sulfur. There is nothing like a fruit crisp with warmed coconut milk poured over it on a cold day. Fruit offers so many options and so few limits.

Chocolate? Yes, sad. No chocolate. No coffee, either. This does not mean you must be deprived of amazing desserts, though. Some of the desserts here might be too sweet for stomachs having trouble with candida. Apologize to those out there for whom some might be too sweet. I will try to present a diversity of choices as this progresses.

For those with a hankering for some fudge, though, this might be your place. :)

Cheers!
~Miriam

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Introduction to Low Sulfur Cooking

According to Andrew Cutler, about 30-50% of mercury toxic people will be high cysteine, and will have difficulty tolerating foods with high sulfur content. I'm one of those folks. I'm on a low sulfur diet, especially when I'm detoxing.

This blog is based on the information and food lists available at Living Network's Sulfur Food List site. Please read that page before continuing. It explains how to do a test diet to see if you are high cysteine and precisely which foods you may and may not use.

The recipes on this blog are intended for people who are high cysteine, are probably chelating mercury using the Andrew Cutler Protocol.

Disclaimer: I am just a high cysteine individual who enjoys digging for great tasting foods within the limitations of my low sulfur diet. I am not a doctor, nutritionist or health care provider. If you have additional food sensitivities, you may need to revise these recipes to fit your needs. I am doing this blog to have a centralized spot to collect recipes, create recipes, revise recipes and offer tips. Some foods that people insist have sulfur (i.e. nutritional yeast), and that are not on the list, I have found I am quite tolerant of. Obviously, follow your needs. Also, these recipes may not be completely free of sulfur, but they are low sulfur and I have tolerated them very well, even during a chelation round.

I love good food, and I think good food contributes to feeling good which then contributes to better healing. Food is pleasure. Food is celebration. Food is connection and nurturing. I love little more than experimenting with a new recipe, revising other recipes to answer my various pangs. It is in that spirit that I begin this blog. I hope you enjoy it, and feel free to comment.

Cheers!
~~Miriam