Hello lovely ladies and gents! We’re back with another week of meal inspiration, and let me tell you…it’s been an interesting one. P.S. Don’t forget to enter The Colorful Kitchen cookbook giveaway on my Creamy Baked Kale and Artichoke dip post from Monday!
Jeff’s been having some pretty bad GI issues with burning pain in his upper abdomen on and off for over a year now and we’re experimenting with a GERD-friendly diet for him until we can get in to see the doc. That means limiting caffeine (OMG), tomatoes, citrus, and no eating a while before bed. Oh, and eating more bland foods. Similar to a death sentence, basically.
I kid! But seriously, the past few days have made me so incredibly grateful that I don’t have a disease or an allergy that dictates the way I eat. I really take it for granted. I can’t imagine not being able to have coffee in the morning (even though it makes me have to run to the bathroom after…worth it) or nut butter or my lasagna loaded with tomato sauce. Our eating patterns are dictated by so many things and it’s important to remember that everyone is on a different journey, whether they’re experimenting from a place of curiosity or overall health or because they’ve been diagnosed with an allergy or intolerance that effects their food choices.
Breakfast
Craving a warm cozy drink in the morning but steering clear of coffee, I decided to make us turmeric lattes inspired by McKel of Nutrition Stripped. I had leftover full fat canned coconut milk leftover so I did 2 cups of a mixture of that, almond milk, and water plus a teaspoon of turmeric, some fresh ginger, black pepper, and about a tablespoon of raw honey (plus cinnamon in mine). I heated it on the stove and then blended it and it was amazing.
I was craving bagels so I grabbed some sprouted wheat ones in the frozen section at Whole Foods along with a tub of Kite Hill’s oh so instagrammy almond-based chive cream cheese because I’d never had it before and I was curious what the buzz was about. It tasted like normal cream cheese (which I eat, too) and it was super satisfying (although quite pricey). I had leftover carrot “lox” I’ve been experimenting with so I topped it with that plus arugula. An extremely delish breakfast!
Pancakes with heated blueberries, almond butter, and maple syrup.
A smoothie bowl with blueberries, banana, pineapple, spinach, almond butter, chia seeds and ginger topped with cinnamon Puffins.
I’ve been craving cereal like crazy. Usually cinnamon Puffins or cinnamon Kashi. Sometimes I throw granola in there, too and eat it with almond milk when I wake up.
Lunch
The yummiest buffet at Aab India.
Matzah ball soup!! Jeff was sick with a cold so I made him a big pot of chicken soup like my mom used to make. I used this recipe but added extra of all the veggies, a big parsnip, fresh parsley, and 8 cups of Pacific’s organic chicken broth instead of water. I added onion powder, garlic powder, and parsley to the matzah balls and used broth from the soup instead of water. I doubled that recipe and boiled the matzah balls separately instead of in the soup (I kind of just ate around the actual chicken pieces, no big deal. Chicken broth is KEY for matzah ball soup.). It was love at first bite.
Leftover African Peanut Soup from The Oh She Glows Cookbook that I froze, topped with extra peanuts.
Dinner
Pizza night! My friend made dough and we topped it with Carfagna’s pizza sauce, tons of veggies, mozzarella, and arugula. I made a caesar salad on the side using this recipe for the dressing (I use romaine, add a bunch of lemon to the dressing, and leave out the chickpeas). I went back for seconds of everything, obviously.
One Pot Vegetable Thai Red Curry. Wowza…we loved this one. I used sweet potatoes, extra broccoli for the cauliflower, and canned coconut milk because that’s what I had on hand. I encourage you to experiment and use recipes as a guide when you’re cooking! You can do it. 🙂
A huge pot of veggie stir fry similar to this recipe but I added peanut butter, 4 stalks of celery instead of snap peas, no pepper, extra broccoli, used more soy sauce and lime juice, and didn’t do pineapple or chia seeds.
Arugula salad with olive oil and lemon juice, wild tuna, avocado, salt, pepper, and dried dill + sweet potatoes and SunButter on the side.
Snacks/Dessert
Per above, I’ve been obsessed with roasted sweet potatoes with peanut butter or SunButter. Do it!
Brown rice cakes with peanut butter, blackberries, coconut, and sea salt.
Smoothie with blueberries, pineapple, peanut butter, kale, hemp seeds, turmeric, black pepper, and coconut milk.
These Chocolate Chip Cookies are my FAVORITE right now!! I’ve made them exactly as written with a real egg and a flax egg and while both amazing, they hold together way better with a real egg. I brought them to my friend Simi’s house and she made us hot chocolate to go with it made from hot water, coconut oil, and this incredible drinking cacao all blended up. It was the best.
Have the greatest week!
Peanut butter to stir-fry? I’ve got to try that! It sounds too good to be true! 😉
Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog
http://charmainenyw.com
It’s the perfect flavor punch!!
“But seriously, the past few days have made me so incredibly grateful that I don’t have a disease or an allergy that dictates the way I eat.”
My really good friend has IBS, a lactose intolerance, AND she was vegetarian before she realized she had all the digestive issues. So the poor girl is pretty limited to what she can eat…it makes me feel so guilty about how fussy an eater I’ve been all my life.
Also, again, your berry-y pancakes look amaze.
this is me! xD except i went veg after
Seeing the limitations other people have really puts things into perspective. Food is such a gift!!
I hope Jeff gets well soon! For over half my & my twin sister’s life, we’ve had what the doctors could only determine to be IBS. It doesn’t change what we can eat, but if our symptoms flare, we can be really really uncomfortable. In March 2014, my now husband was diagnosed with Celiac, Barrett’s Espophagus, & a poorly functioning gallbladder. They did not remove his gallbladder, & so far, he hasn’t had any more attacks. You’re so right about being thankful to not have a disease that dictates food – I hate it for him! I’ve worked as a Renal RD for 2.5 years now, & the renal diet is beyond depressing. I hope to never know how it feels to follow it! Your eats look so dang amazing! Love how you’ve experimented with recipes. Have an awesome day! XO
Wow what a journey!! Having to follow such a struct diet would be so hard. Seeing someone else go through it never fails to change my perspective. Wishing you and your husband all the best!
Thank you very much!
Tomatoes, black pepper, greasy foods, coffee, garlic and onion give me GERD symptoms. I switched to an acid free decaf coffee off Amazon and it has been extremely helpful!
That’s good to know! Which coffee is it?
https://www.amazon.com/HealthWise-Decaffeinated-Coffee-Colombian-Supremo/dp/B002HQMBYS/ref=sr_1_3_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1516196837&sr=8-3&keywords=healthwise+coffee
Hope the diet is helping Jeff! If nothing else, I guess it requires a little creativity in the kitchen. And I’m into this carrot “lox” concept. That’s a great sub, and I’m definitely going to try it out!
It’s changing up our food game for sure!The carrot lox was so sum. Happy experimenting!!
So sorry for Jeff, but thank you for what you said! I love eating plant based dishes but my husband has Crohn’s disease and does better eating paleo-ish. He eats a lot of veg in the form of soups and juices but eating beans and whole grains all the time just isn’t an option for him. I hate when we go to a party and people pressure him to eat a salad and I’m like the last time he ate a salad he wound up in the hospital with a blockage–NO freaking salad! I wish people would just live and let live instead of being preachy about what we should all be eating.
I wish more people could understand this! It’s so frustrating to have a disease that people have strong opinions about without actually knowing much about the disease. I get told all the time what I “should” be eating for my UC, but really I just want to eat what doesn’t cause pain- which also changes all the time. Most people are trying to help, which I can understand, but sometimes I wish people would just keep comments to themselves if they don’t know the whole story.
I totally agree, these digestive diseases are so individual for everyone. So sorry you have UC! My husband (and I’m sure you, too!) has such a good attitude, but I know it makes him feel weird when people make a big deal about him eating something different than what everyone else is having. If he’s eating something “healthier” people automatically assume he is judging them, if he turns down pizza people say, “But you are so thin, you can eat pizza!” (he is constantly trying to gain weight, so these comments are especially unappreciated). If at a social event he is eating a plate of meat and white rice because that is all he can tolerate, people seem horrified that he has skipped the salad. I try to remember that people are (hopefully) trying to be helpful and that they don’t know the full story, just like you say, but sometimes it really drives me crazy. Maybe I have become overly sensitive lol, but between dealing with disordered eating myself and seeing him go through the challenges of Crohn’s I really wish people would just not say anything about anyone else’s body or food choices. You never know what someone else is going through. Lots of love to you, I hope you are in remission and doing well!!
I can’t wait to make the curry! Did yo also add chick peas?
Yum those cookies look SCRUMPTIOUS! And sweet potatoes were born to be with nut butter; it’s love at first bite. Sunbutter and almond butter are my fave accompaniments 🙂 Have a great rest of your week!
Come over and drown sweet potatoes in nut butter with me!!
I have a cold right now and that matzah ball soup looks amazing! My mom who is not a great cook; makes the best what I call “Jew” food. Her chicken soup and kugel are instant comfort foods for me. Wish I didn’t have to wait until Pesach for a bowl. I might have to make my own this weekend…
You totally should!! Nothing like a weekend comfort food making sesh.
ohhhh my gosh i haven’t had matzah ball soup in AGES! man that sounds good right now. i also think i need to start using full-fat coconut milk in my turmeric lattes too…for some reason the almond milk just isn’t thick and creamy enough for me! i want to love them so badly, because i know they’re good for me, but i can’t get fully on board yet!
The full fat coconut milk makes all the difference! So creamy and satisfying!!
Thank you for sharing about Jeff’s struggles! It’s been a really tough 5+ years of severe GI issues for me and I have tried EVERY diet out there to find some relief and healing. Unfortunately I’m still trying to find what works for my body, but as a past foodie it’s so tough to still want to be involved in the “foodie world” but unable to truly participate. I also struggled with disordered eating throughout college so I aspire to be able to eat intuitively one day soon! Best of luck to Jeff, I hope he can get some answers and feel better!
you’ve probably tried this but just incase- looking at the FODMAPs diet really helped me! not everything on the list triggers me but a lot do (raw onions, garlic, cruciferous veg (cooked is fine), some alcohol, excess caffeine, nut/seeds, most oils, but beans/lentils are fine.)
If the pain happens right after he eats it might be a gastric ulcer. Try a PPI for two weeks and avoid NSAIDS.
Thanks for the suggestions. We’ll see what the doctor says!
I love that spirit of just using recipes as guidelines! Playing around in the kitchen and experimenting is SO fun. I had extreme GERD when I was a little baby that actually caused my breathing to stop and it resurfaced when I was a kid. I remember having to take out CHOCOLATE (!!!) when I was like 5 or 6. That was craziness and after a few weeks when we reevaluated I definitively told the doctors, “NOPE, chocolate wasn’t the problem!” haha. Luckily, in the past few year I haven’t had many reflux problems at all. We actually think it’s possible it was linked to me growing since it always acted up around growth spurts. You have a great week too and I wish Jeff the best 🙂 .
xxMeah
Not the chocolate!!!! Three cheers for the fact that you can still eat it and GERD is gone! Thanks for the well wished. 🙂
okay, I need to make those chocolate chip cookies asap… also the cinnamon puffins are my fav cereal ever. Thank you for sharing!
xo hannah
The cereal and cookies are my FAVE things right now!!
Per usual love getting inspired by your eats! Hope Jeff feels better soon!!!
Thanks love!!