What's Hiding in Your Wine?

I had a breakthrough in my wine investigations recently, and that came with the realization of what is really hiding in our wine glasses: casein, albumen, isinglass and gelatin. All of these icky ingredients are commonly used to fine or clarify wine before it is racked.

Fortunately there is a wonderful site called Barnivore.com which has helped me to discover many wonderful casein-free "vegan" wines that I can enjoy with lessened repercussions.

Click here for my article about how casein makes it into your wine glass and how to avoid it.

Lecithin/Egg-Free, the Way for Me?

Well, I must be onto something.

I'm ruling out placebo effect since when Dr. Vikki mentioned that I could have a starch or fat sensitivity, I hopped on board. Wasn't starch, and going low carb--yet again--was not fun. I did, however, expect to see startling results since pre-gluten/dairy free I always lost weight on low carb diets. But alas, no mas.

And then low fat was more fun than low starch, but still, no progress.

It's been just two and a half days now, but I've got to say, I do believe that whatever is plaguing me may very well be processing out of my body, and leaving me the healthier/happier for it. Today my waist measurements were improved slightly and my energy, attitude and outlook has been just amazingly better.

I was even hyper this morning, wow! I have not been hyper in . . . too long!

So then, is it eggs, or lecithin (which would include eggs)? I'm not sure yet, but in the meantime I have no problem avoiding the suspicious foods considering how much better I feel!

I even spent half the day mixing up a delish, allergy-free cookie recipe for Waylon--which he liked, very, very much!

@ waist 28.9"
2" below belly button 31.6"

Modified Elim. Diet

I've been wondering whether this blog is worth keeping up--what with all of the other blogs and sites I work on. But a perusal of entries past has me remembering the value of this 'lil blog.

For the past three months I have been trying to sort out what's gone wrong in my diet.

Symptoms:
-bloating
-fatigue
-acid stomach

Old symptoms popping back up, and I have yet to lay a finger on just why that may be. I've consulted an expert (Dr. Vikki Petersen), been charting through my book about acupuncture (r/e symptoms and related foods) and now perusing back through old posts on this here blog to determine how my diet's changed, and what are my possible offenders.

Now, I may be completely off, but here are some possibilities, far as I can tell:
-eggs
-bell peppers
-onions
-garlic
-rice
-potatoes

I figure the offender(s) must be something(s) that I have virtually every day, so those are the most likely, but a bit of research has rendered most of these foods relative. To a lecithin intolerance that is.

Foods containing lecithin include:

• Tomatoes
• Potatoes (not yams or sweet potatoes)
• Eggplant
• Bell peppers
• Tobacco
• Soy
• Peanuts

This could very well be it, and here's why I think so:

1. I stopped eating potato chips about a week and a half ago since I was having Kettle chips daily and suspected that those were part of the problem.
2. We eat bell pepper strips nearly every single night.
3. I've not been much of a soy person since going gluten & casein free, but lately have been having it more often.
4. Peanuts give me a sore throat.
5. Too many tomato products leaves my tongue pale.

This is not the most imperfect or scientific experiment, but hopefully I am onto something.

I figured all of this out yesterday evening after a meditation on the subject and then began my modified elimination diet, using prior food journals and the above research to create a menu for myself.

Here are today's stats:

@ waist 29"
2" below belly button 31.6"

(yesterday was 30 and 32" respectively)

Breakfast:
-TJ's Chicken Apple Sausage (1 piece, microwaved, since Tay made eggs on the Le Creuset)
-1 of the Awful Almond/Coconut Cookies I made last night

Snack:
-1/2 Inspired Cookie, Choco./Jasmine
-1 of the Awful Cookies

Wine Contains Casein?

For months I have been trying to figure out why sometimes I feel so much better than others. I've suspected that I am getting "glutened" or even "caseined." But how?

Who'd have thought I could be getting "caseined" from wine?!

I am not even certain how I first came to realized that wine is sometimes fined with casein, but in the course of me research, I found this helpful article: Is Your Wine Fined?

Looking over my diet, it made perfect sense. But how am I to know which wines are safe? Look for vegan wines. Wines labeled "vegan" (not vegetarian) contain NO animal products/byproducts.

Unfortunately, finding vegan wine is not as easy as it sounds--even at Whole Foods. Some stores have begun labeling vegan products, but others do not. I did however fine this incredibly helpful resource: Barnivore's Vegan Wine List.

Cheers!

Crazy for Cider Quinoa

Since even just the suspicion of a gluten sensitivity I have been cooking up quinoa. Though about a month ago I was ready to give up on the stubborn grain after my favorite marinade was no longer available at Whole Foods.

Flavoring this stuff is just never very easy--it requires just the right balance and potency. So unless you can actually still eat dairy and thus enjoy a good quinoa risotto, I am sure you know have fought similar battles.

Recently, however, I figured out my personal, perfect quinoa dish! After learning more about the possible digestive benefits of garlic and apple cider vinegar, I began incorporating them into just about every dish. I buy the brand Bragg's, since the pasteurized stuff never tastes the same, but I do microwave or cook it in, since there is supposedly a slight risk in consuming raw cider vinegar.

I wash my quiona, dump in a one-t0-two count of apple cider vinegar, add a splash of olive oil, a couple of chopped garlic cloves and begin to simmer. Once the quinoa is stirred and coated, I dump in the water and cook away, adding kosher salt to taste.

This is the best tasting quinoa I've had. The sour cider completely changes the taste, much to my liking!

The costs/benefits of apple cider vinegar are still controversial, but for girl who can't even eat cheese, I crave some complexity of flavor, and the cider really hits the spot.

Whole Foods Chicken: An Educational Experience

During the week I often make lunches easier by picking up a Whole Foods rotisserie chicken. I usually opt for the perfectly plain, and then de-bone it and flavor it with a marinade. Though I have always appreciated the clear list of ingredients in case I might want to branch out and try another seasoned variety.

Today, however, I learned something very interesting. The chickens were still in the cooker, when a very nice cook asked which kind I preferred, then removed and packaged one for me. Unfortunately, she misheard me and I realized that I cannot eat the lemon-herb seasoned chickens because of the ingredients (I can't have wheat or dairy).

I apologized and said that either the classic or perfectly plain would be find, but the lady was very nice and grabbed the plain chickens off of the top bar, informing me that the classic chickens are cooked at the very bottom of the cooker--so all of the other chickens (including barbecue and lemon herb) drip down, contaminating the classic chickens.

Needless to say, this is disturbing. Nowhere on the label does it say that that the chickens could be contaminated, but then again, they do not say "gluten-free" either.

Fortunately, I just received a very positive response when I called national headquarters. I spoke with Customer Service Specialist Jessie Walker who said that he would send out a global e-mail immediately on this subject. He was careful to warn that their kitchens are unfortunately, not dedicated gluten-free, so there is always a risk of cross-contamination. But that this is an easy enough fix: cook the plain on top, the classic right below, and all else underneath those.

I sure hope that my phone call does make a difference. Though in the future, I will definitely try to only buy chickens fresh out of the cooker so that I can ask on which level the were cooked.

Gluten-Free, Casein-Free and Really Good Spinach Frittata

Today I wish I were a better photographer. So many bloggers have these gorgeous images of the foods they cook that just makes your mouth water. Sorry y'all, I am not one of them!

But if you are looking for a healthy, lower-care recipe, this one's quite good!

My Aunt Di introduced me to oven baked spinach frittatas a few years ago, and since then, I have been trying to create my own gluten-free, casein-free version

What You'll Need:
2 pkgs. of frozen chopped spinach
1 pkg. cheese singles (we used Rice cheese, gluten and casein free)
1/2 cup gluten-free flour blend
1/2 tsp. xantham gum
4 eggs
4 egg whites
1 pkg. bacon
butter substitute

Heat oven to 425, take a muffin tin and put a small dollup of gluten/casein free butter substitute into each cup (about 1/3 tsp.) and place this in the oven for a couple of minutes until the butter substitute is melted to leave a thin layer coating the bottom of the tin and set aside.

Spray a cooking skillet with olive oil and cook spinach just until thawed adding Tony Chachere's or salt for flavoring.

Beat eggs and egg whites in a large bowl with an electric mixer. Add in gluten-free flour blend, xantham gum and mix. Then add about 6 squares of Rice cheese crumbled or sliced into little bits and add in the cooked spinach (spoon the spinach in, trying not to pick up excess moisture left at the bottom of the skillet). Mix.

Take the bacon and wrap a slice around the inside of each muffin cup, then fill the bacon cup about 3/4 full with the spinach mixture. Top each cup with slices of the remaining pieces of Rice cheese.

Bake for 35-45 minutes. You may want to take one out and check the filling to cook it to your liking, for crispier, cook 45, for more gooey, cook 35, but be sure the egg is cooked completely.

These are even great stored in the fridge and heated in the microwave for about a minute!

Enjoy!