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Offline RopeFiend

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Reply #160 on: September 14, 2017, 04:49:02 AM

I baked with my mom when I was a little girl boy, too.  I was an atypical child.  I enjoyed some stuff that was 'typically girly' back then and didn't think a thing about it.  Maybe that's why I'm reasonably well adjusted with no gender confusion.  I know who I am, and I'm happy with me.  I've never let societal norms decide who I should be, or what I should have fun doing.

We weren't rich, either.  My folks had 4 kids, and kept us clothed and fed, with splurges for birthdays and Christmas.  Mom worked some years as a nurse (various jobs), and did the homemaker thing the other years.  When we were young until around 10 or 12 years old she was a homemaker, then she re-started her nursing career after that.  It kinda sucked 'cos she was the school nurse at my grade school.  I couldn't sneak ANY excuse by her.



I found a handful more 'energy bars' that I can eat, which is surprising.  Most of the crap in the 'sports bars' section is SUPER unhealthy, chock full of artificial ingredients.  These pass muster:

First up, two from Taos Montain Energy Bars, http://www.tmebars.com/
Only these two from their line-up, as the rest have forbidden ingredients that I can't have on the AIP lifestyle:





And some from Kind Snacks, https://www.kindsnacks.com/products/pressed-by-kind
Same comment, these are only fruit, veggies, and chia seeds
(sorry, most of their ingredients and nutrition info won't load).
Only the 'Pressed by Kind' sub-brand of Kind Snacks is AIP-friendly.  The others have 'stuff' that I can't ()or won't) eat.




...and of course there's always the LÄRABAR, if your store carries them.  https://www.larabar.com/our-products  Gluten-free, nothing but wholesome food in the mix, no preservatives or artifical anything.  Sprouts has them, a few others do as well.

Remember the Golden Rule: you do me, and I\'ll do you (paraphrased)


Offline MissBarbara

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Reply #161 on: September 14, 2017, 03:12:18 PM

I baked with my mom when I was a little girl boy, too.  I was an atypical child.  I enjoyed some stuff that was 'typically girly' back then and didn't think a thing about it.  Maybe that's why I'm reasonably well adjusted with no gender confusion.  I know who I am, and I'm happy with me.  I've never let societal norms decide who I should be, or what I should have fun doing.

We weren't rich, either.  My folks had 4 kids, and kept us clothed and fed, with splurges for birthdays and Christmas.  Mom worked some years as a nurse (various jobs), and did the homemaker thing the other years.  When we were young until around 10 or 12 years old she was a homemaker, then she re-started her nursing career after that.  It kinda sucked 'cos she was the school nurse at my grade school.  I couldn't sneak ANY excuse by her.



Thanks for the fond childhood memories, Rope! Just the picture of the red Calumet can, with the figure of the chief, instantly sent me back 30 years.

[Minor Hijack] Seems like our upbringings were very parallel. I, too, was one of four kids (I'm the youngest and the only girl after three boys), growing up in a household with a tight budget. For us, too, Birthdays and Christmas were very special, since we didn't get a lot of "stuff" during the year, except on those two "splurge" occasions, which made them even more meaningful to us. And, like you, my Mom worked, and then stopped working to raise the four of us, and then returned to her career when I was old enough to fend for myself after school until she got home.

And thanks again, KitKat, for starting this thread. It has become one of my daily favorites. It's always interesting to read what's posted here, and it's packed with very useful information that everyone -- despite varying ages, body types, diets, etc. -- can use in their daily lives.





"Sometimes the best things in life are a hot girl and a cold beer."



Offline RopeFiend

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Reply #162 on: September 16, 2017, 10:57:05 PM
I found the best aluminum-free TRUE double-acting baking powder at a good price:
https://www.newenglandcupboard.com/bakewell-cream/10-original-bakewell-cream-gluten-free.html


It's apparently well regarded by bakers.  I'm all in; I ordered two cans at nearly half the price of Amazon.  Since you have to add your own baking soda to turn it into baking powder, it has an indefinite shelf life - the acid and base only get mixed when you're ready to cook.  I keep my baking soda in a blue Ball jar, and I'll spool the Bakewell Cream off into another large jar with desiccant and oxygen absorber packs when I get it.  I ought to be good for quite a long while.

I'll save the Hain and Rumford baking powders for a rainy day when I'm experimenting.



Re: What made your day today?

  First bite of 'bread' in 3 months! (the pitas and focaccia don't really count)



I used the starting recipe from here: https://elanaspantry.com/keto-bread/

Ingredients
4 cups blanched almond flour (not almond meal)
2 tablespoons egg white protein powder
2½ teaspoons cream of tartar
1½ teaspoons baking soda
½ teaspoon Celtic sea salt
8 large pasture-raised eggs

I didn't have enough blanched almond flour, so I substituted 2 of the cups with fine-ground buckwheat flour.  I knew it'd be more dense, so I added 2 tablespoons of raw honey and a teaspoon of Red Star yeast, both in the hopes of a little more rise and to give it that yeasty baked bread smell (I got no bench rise, so popped it in the oven).  I also added one TB of avocado oil to help keep it moist.  It worked out well!  I'll see how it does after a few days in the refrigerator.  Lots of gluten-free baked goods crumble when refrigerated for 3 or 4 days.



That's from the best online nutrition calculator I'd found, here (try it!):
http://preview.tinyurl.com/yb88dt28  << this link defaults with my recipe above
All the other nutrition calculators are missing some of the ingredients I use.  If you just want to look at one particular food, try this link:
https://www.nutritionix.com/search?q=almond-flour

Since I subbed half of the almond flour for buckwheat flour, it nearly doubled the amount of carbs (10g to 19g) and makes it neither Keto nor Paleo.  Hey, I'm not one that blindly follows the crowd.  ;D  I'm a freestyle cook - I use whatever is at hand.  I have two bags of cassava flour I'm experimenting with, but I was pretty sure the recipe would work fine with the buckwheat.  For this first 'bread' I figured I'd go for safe.

Edit, afterwards:  The next day and 2 days later, this stuff was SO DAMNED DRY that I used up 1/2 stick of butter in a pan (pan-fried browning instead of a toaster), trying to moisten it back up.  So, 4 slices over 2 days + 1 stick of butter total, and it was still barely edible it was so dry.  NOT trying *that* one again.
« Last Edit: September 22, 2017, 05:02:50 AM by RopeFiend »

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Offline RopeFiend

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Reply #163 on: September 22, 2017, 05:49:15 AM

GOOD NEWS: EATING HEALTHY IS CURING ME!


The last blood work-up I had done was in May, 3 weeks before I started this diet.  I have Hashimoto's Disease, an autoimmune condition that causes hypothyroidism, ending in the body killing off the thyroid gland eventually.  I was probably pretty close to *there* based on what the TSH (Thyroid Stimulating Hormone) levels were in December before I started adding synthetic thyroid hormone daily.  Starting at 12.5mcg of thyroid hormone in January, bumping up to 25mcg in March, and another small bump up to 28.5mcg in June, my T4 levels were in the 'normal' range by the time I was at 25mcg, but the TSH was still WAY above the range, in the high 6s when it should ideally be 1.8-2.5 when you're healthy.  The week after I started this diet in June they bumped the T4 supplement from 25 to 28.5, which should have dropped the TSH to mid-6s.

~3 months elapse on this new diet (I wasn't following it exactly) and the recent blood work shows TSH at 4.8... WAY closer to the 'lab range' of  0.5-4.7, and nearly within the 'normal' for the lab range (the lab range is wrong, should ideally be 1.8-2.5).

So, damned near 'normal' essentially by simply changing my diet.  What did the change do?  Easy: my immune system is no longer trying to kill my thyroid gland, and it's actually HEALING, which my doctor says never happens.  Yeah, well, OTHER doctors say it DOES heal if you remove the foods that are triggering the immune response.  Mine isn't healed yet, but it's on the path to recovery.  If I'd followed my doctor's advice, it would have gotten steadily worse.

Here's an intro to the Autoimmune Protocol diet that shows what I'm eating:
https://aiplifestyle.com/what-is-autoimmune-protocol-diet/

What that did for me was almost entirely eliminate inflammation by the end of the 3rd week, which helps the autoimmune system to cool down.  I also probably removed the trigger food that caused the immune response in the first place, helping to calm the immune system even further.  That means I'm not trying to kill my thyroid.

I followed that strictly for the first 2 months, then re-introduced nuts and eggs because I already know that nobody on either side of the family had a reaction to them.  My brother has a strong allergy to dairy, so that one stays off the list FOREVER.  I can't chance it, as I probably have the same genetic marker for it, but it hasn't expressed yet.

Some research I found last week has changed my diet even further: I've utterly eliminated all of the vegetables that might potentially cause stress on the thyroid gland.  The research is here:
https://www.dovepress.com/effects-of-low-carbohydrate-diet-therapy-in-overweight-subject-with-au-peer-reviewed-article-DDDT

What that study did was take 180 people, and feed half of them the Autoimmune Protocol diet PLUS removing all of the goitrogens (vegetables that cause stress on the thyroid).  In the control group (normal Mediterranean diet) their autoimmune markers were WORSE after three weeks.  The group that strictly followed the AIP diet had 40% reduction in the autoimmune markers after three weeks.  That's a SIGNIFICANT reduction in immune response in only 3 weeks if you eat right.  I started this week on that last step, hopeful that I'll be healing and 'normal' again before Christmas, ~6 months into the AIP diet (total), 3 of those months on the revised version in that study.

So, short and sweet: FOOD CAN CURE YOU.  The *wrong* food can HARM you.  Even though I felt I was eating a healthy diet as an organic vegetarian, I was wrong.  Oops.  The vegans are equally as deluded, as they have to eat LOTS of soy and other beans to get the protein that I'm getting from grass-fed beef and pasture-raised chicken and eggs now.

The first half of this year I was vegetarian.  I'm now cooking beef and chicken using pork fat/lard and butter.  My blood work is nearly excellent, or it's at least headed that way.

Remember the Golden Rule: you do me, and I\'ll do you (paraphrased)


Offline RopeFiend

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Reply #164 on: September 29, 2017, 05:44:06 AM

Think you're buying healthy 'cos you're buying a name-brand organic product?  
Maybe not...  who owns your 'organic' producer?



<click the image for a larger hi-res version>

Reminder: The USDA 'organic' seal certifies AGRICULTURAL practices, it was not meant to apply to food safety or nutritional quality. Many large companies buy small natural and organic brands as a way to diversify their portfolio.
https://msu.edu/~howardp/OrganicJan16large.jpg (this is the link for the larger version)

Remember the Golden Rule: you do me, and I\'ll do you (paraphrased)


KitKat

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Reply #165 on: September 29, 2017, 05:30:42 PM
Wow!  :o



Offline RopeFiend

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Reply #166 on: October 11, 2017, 01:20:00 PM
Grain-Free Chicago-Style Pizza  (GF, Paleo & AIP friendly)

 

Base crust recipe from here; unabashedly fucked with, of course!


Serves 2-4
Total time: 45 minutes to an hour, includes topping prep

1/2 cup tapioca starch/flour *
1/2 cup arrowroot flour
1/2 cup coconut flour
1 cup fine blanched almond flour *
1/2 to 1 packet of yeast (this is purely for flavor & can be omitted)
2 large pasture-raised eggs (or 2 flax / chia eggs)
1/2 teaspoon fine Celtic sea salt
3 tablespoons Extra Virgin olive oil + 1-2 tbs for the crust
1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning Blend + rosemary
1 tablespoon of (preferably lard), tallow or palm shortening - you
 could use avacado oil, as well
1 cup boiling spring water

Toppings to taste: cheeses, uncured (no nitrates/nitrites) pepperoni, uncured sausage, artichokes, anchovies, 'shrooms, onions, olives, feta, bell peppers, marinara or pesto sauce, etc.  Hell, make a garbage-can pizza with whatever is in the fridge!

1) Place the flours, yeast, eggs, sea salt, Italian seasoning, and 3 tbs olive oil in the bowl of a food processor or blender (don't try this in a small food processor or mini blender – the mixture will be too thick).  I used a standard electric mixer & medium mixing bowl since my old food processor packed it in.  Pour in 1 cup of boiling water and immediately process until smooth.  Let the mixture sit for 10 minutes to a half hour.

2) Place a 12-inch cast iron skillet in the oven and preheat to 425ºF.  Let the oven preheat and then keep the skillet in the oven for 10 minutes after the oven has reached 425ºF.

3) Remove the skillet from the oven.  Add 1 tablespoon of lard or palm shortening to the skillet and swirl to coat.  Don’t use olive oil for the pan because the oil will burn and oxidize due to the high heat.  Pour (or spoon) the dough into the hot skillet and spread evenly.  If you're planning on adding marinara sauce, make a rim around the outside edge of the dough.  Place in the oven and bake for 15 to 20 minutes until it's golden brown.

4) Remove the crust from the oven and brush 1 tablespoon of olive oil on top, then add the rosemary.  Put your toppings on top, finishing with more Italian seasoning if you choose.  Place the pizza back in the oven and bake for an additional 15-25 minutes until the toppings are hot and the cheese is bubbling and just turning golden brown.  Vegan cheese won't bubble and run quite like milk cheese will.  Let the pizza sit for 10 minutes before serving.

* Note: I knew I'd have gut issues with the 2 cups of tapioca flour in the original recipe, so I cut it to 1/4 of what she used.  I STILL got tummy gurgles.  Next time I'll eliminate the tapioca entirely and try 1 cup arrowroot flour, 1 cup almond flour and 1/2 cup coconut flour.  I bet it'll work just fine.  For a more strict Paleo version, swap the almond flour for cassava or pretty much any flour you want. ;-)

Remember the Golden Rule: you do me, and I\'ll do you (paraphrased)


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Reply #167 on: October 11, 2017, 04:37:44 PM
Looks great Rope!
« Last Edit: October 12, 2017, 04:48:45 AM by Merovingian »



KitKat

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Reply #168 on: October 11, 2017, 05:09:09 PM
Yumm!



Offline RopeFiend

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Reply #169 on: October 12, 2017, 04:11:07 AM

Yeah, I *will* be having that pizza again sometime.  I had leftovers this evening.  ;D  It was pretty easy to make, since I have all of the ingredients handy.  My pantry now looks like Gluten-Free / Paleo Incorporated, with a wide selection of nut, root and seed flours and other substitute items.  Cooking with them is still very much a learning process.

I know the yeast didn't survive the boiling water bath in step 1) above, but I was only adding it for flavor / aroma.  Pizza dough has a noticeable whiff of yeast, so mine does, too.  It's an important step in fooling the taste buds into thinking this is a normal flour pizza.  Details count. ;-)

I'm past the initial highly-restrictive first month (I let it run for 10 weeks) of the AIP diet, so now I'm slowly adding foodstuffs back in and waiting to see how I respond to them.  I've already added a number of things back in, including: eggs, seeds, most nuts, coconut sugar (an excellent 1:1 replacement for granulated cane or beet sugar) and maple syrup.  Next item is cheese, as I misunderstood my brother.  He and my sister are allergic to MILK, but not to any of the cheeses that they've noticed.  Cool, I can skip milk, but I'd REALLY, REALLY like to have REAL CHEESE instead of the funky nut-based vegan alternatives.  Real cheese cooks and tastes better, and has more fat.

For reference, here's the ingredients of Udi's Pizza Crust (a popular Gluten-Free pizza):
WATER, TAPIOCA STARCH, BROWN RICE FLOUR, NON-GMO CANOLA OIL, EGG WHITES, EVAPORATED CANE SUGAR, TAPIOCA SYRUP, TAPIOCA MALTODEXTRIN, SALT, XANTHAN GUM, YEAST, CULTURED CORN SYRUP SOLIDS (NATURAL MOLD INHIBITOR), ENZYMES.

I can have the water, egg whites, and yeast from that list.

For further reference, here's the Boboli recipe that Toe posted elsewhere:
Unbleached enriched wheat flour [flour, malted barley flour, reduced iron, niacin, thiamin mononitrate (vitamin b1), riboflavin (vitamin b2), folic acid], water, palm oil, yeast, salt, milk casein, sugar, mozzarella cheese (milk, cheese cultures, salt and enzymes), preservatives (calcium propionate, sorbic acid ), fumaric acid, modified food starch, sodium phosphate, whey, monoglycerides, lactic acid, natural flavor, garlic, artificial color

Yep, I can have the water, yeast, niacin, riboflavin and garlic from that list.

BTW, my restrictive diet is entirely MY choice.  I've studied the shit out of autoimmune conditions and Hashimoto's Disease in particular, and this is my best chance of curing the condition.  Many of the dietary restrictions will be FOREVER, some only for the short term until I'm well on the road to recovery.  My doctor can't cure me, so I'm curing myself, all by myself.  I'm doctor and nutritionist all rolled into one.

Speaking of that, one of my doctors had the temerity to tell me to STOP taking salmon oil.  I told him that his 4 or 5 credit hours in nutrition didn't qualify him for making that demand, and I damned well knew what I was doing, thanks all the same.  Don't ask your MD for diet advice, 'cos they flat don't know much more than YOU do.  4 or 5 credit hours 10 to 20 years ago is outdated and shitty information for them to be giving advice. 

MOST of the MDs are still pushing either the idiotic old USDA Food Pyramid or the newer (equally idiotic) My Plate.  BOTH of those diets will cause exactly what I'm trying to CURE (autoimmune disease).  I don't need heart problems added in from those crappy diets, either.  The sage medical advice on diet for the last 50 years is what CAUSED all of the arteriosclerosis in the last 40 years.  It's nearly triple what it was in the '30s and '40s.  If you want to avoid heart disease, EAT CLEAN FATS and skip everything that causes inflammation or oxidative stress. 

And for Christ's sake, STOP taking those statins your MD has prescribed.  They're the problem, not the solution.  They severely fuck with your blood chemistry.  Cholesterol does NOT cause arteriosclerosis; it's a vital part of your body, both the LDL and HDL (and several other types of cholesterol).  Without it, you'd die.

Remember the Golden Rule: you do me, and I\'ll do you (paraphrased)


_priapism

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Reply #170 on: October 13, 2017, 10:33:02 PM


And for Christ's sake, STOP taking those statins your MD has prescribed.  They're the problem, not the solution.  They severely fuck with your blood chemistry.  Cholesterol does NOT cause arteriosclerosis; it's a vital part of your body, both the LDL and HDL (and several other types of cholesterol).  Without it, you'd die.



After my fourth MI, I decided to stop arguing with my cardiologist.  Not a fan of statins, but not a fan of dropping dead either.



Offline RopeFiend

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Reply #171 on: October 14, 2017, 02:44:25 AM

Yeah, YOU might be one of the few that actually benefit from statins.  The general rule-of-thumb from enlightened MDs is: early middle-age, and have already had a coronary event.  Anyone that doesn't fit that profile merely increases their odds of having problems... sometimes deadly problems.

The root of the trouble is, the docs are following 60 year old misinformation, and slamming anyone with statins if they have an elevated cholesterol level.  Here's a clue for you: there's no such thing as a 'bad' cholesterol level.  Your liver won't produce a dangerous amount of cholesterol, unless you have a really rare condition.  Taking statins to solve a problem that doesn't exist is just plain stupid.  I can send anyone curious a list of links proving that cholesterol isn't 'bad', in any of it's forms.



The following report is 3 years old, so what?  It's still valid.  The only difference is that I can't find ANY ingredients lists on the Daddy Starbucks site now.  "Here, drink this and trust us..."



https://foodbabe.com/2014/08/25/starbucks-pumpkin-spice-latte/

Here's a handful of recipes that you can use to mimic the Starbucks drinks, but WITHOUT the 52 grams of sugars and WITHOUT the preservatives and artificial whatsis and unknown 'natural flavorings'.  Don't forget, uranium, arsenic and dog shit are "all natural" and could conceivably be in those unspecified ingredients.

http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2011/08/01/healthy-starbucks-frappuccinos/
http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2012/09/20/healthy-makeover-pumpkin-spice-frappuccinos/
http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2015/08/24/homemade-mocha-frappuccino-recipe/
http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2011/09/08/pumpkin-spice-latte-for-one/
http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2011/11/29/homemade-gingerbread-spice-latte/
http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2015/06/15/best-iced-coffee-recipe/
http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2017/10/05/pumpkin-breakfast-recipes/
http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/chocolate-covered-recipes/milkshakes/

I've tried a couple of these, and they work.



Remember the Golden Rule: you do me, and I\'ll do you (paraphrased)


_priapism

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Reply #172 on: October 14, 2017, 02:52:42 AM
Cholesterol is an essential ingredient in numerous body hormones, including testosterone.  Statin use has been linked to decreased libido, low T, and infertility.  As I said, not a fan.  But they fileted me, gave me CABG x 4, an ablation, and aortic resection.  21 days in the cardiac ICU.  I'm not so cocky any more.



Offline RopeFiend

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Reply #173 on: October 16, 2017, 01:27:24 AM
Click the image below for the full-res PNG version. 

This is my variation of The Paleo Chef's Phat Fudge Original; most of the her recipe is here:
http://paleochef.com/2014/11/19/phat-fudge-recipe/

and the packaged version you can find at Whole Foods is here:
https://phatfudge.com/collections/frontpage/products/phat-fudge-original



I boosted the turmeric and maca and fudged a couple of other ingredients.  Mine looks like rich dark chocolate with a bare hint of yellowish turmeric on the outside edges.  The coconut butter was added 'cos medium-chain triglycerides are important, dammit!  The black pepper was added to increase bioavailability of the turmeric.  WITH the black pepper, you get the benefit of the turmeric.  WITHOUT the black pepper, you get a 2,000 fold decrease in bioavailability.  It's a HUGE difference for just a little pepper.  Google 'Bioperine' if you don't believe me.  The patent holders for Bioperine say that black pepper doesn't work, but Ayurvedic medicine says that it does.  I'm going with the healers on this one.

It's kinda hard to gently stir unsalted Kerrygold butter, Tahini and honey with a whisk, so I use a silicone spatula.  I transfer the liquids to a small stainless steel mixing bowl so I can whisk the wet and dry ingredients together, and so I don't damage the non-stick finish on my sauce pan with a steel whisk.

Mary got cagey with how much sea salt was added, so I did the Sherlock Holmes thing.  Her recipe on the website showed "... 1/2 tbsp cinnamon, 1/2 tbsp maca ..." and the ingredients list on the pre-packaged Phat Fudge Original is:
Ingredients: Grass Fed Butter, Tahini, Cacao, Ground Coffee, Turmeric, Cinnamon, Sea Salt, Maca, Raw Honey, Vanilla, Cayenne *All organic ingredients, duh
Simple deduction on that list shows the sea salt = 1/2 tbsp, same as the other two.

Anything 1 tablespoon quantity or more I've listed the gram weight for, as I'm lazy.  I toss the sauce pan or mixing bowl on the kitchen scale and keep hitting the ZERO button between ingredients, and simply pour until I hit the mark.  Less mess to clean up later.  :D  #lazyisgold

The Nutrition Facts inset is from the back of Mary's Phat Fudge Original package.  My modded version is probably >20 calories higher due to the coconut butter.

Finally, ignore Mary's quip about maca being an aphrodisiac.  The Peruvians eat around a kilo of maca root per day, and I'm pretty sure I haven't heard any reports of wild orgies going on in the high Andes.  A fraction of a teaspoon per cube of Fudge isn't gonna do dick, other than give you some added micro-nutrients.



Remember the Golden Rule: you do me, and I\'ll do you (paraphrased)


Offline Elizabeth

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Reply #174 on: October 16, 2017, 01:30:14 AM
LOL....Nice Rope........
Great Picture of an ordinary job....."but".......He's right, how the heck do you explain it.....!!!!!
 :emot_laughing:

Love,
Liz



Offline RopeFiend

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Reply #175 on: October 20, 2017, 05:52:39 AM

Ladies and gents, soak your nuts!  But be gentle...  :facepalm:

Nuts have both enzyme inhibitors and phytic acid.  Roasting or soaking them breaks down the anti-nutrients and makes them safe to eat.  It's a similar issue with beans, though a different set of chemicals.  Soaking them mimics a deep, soaking rain that the nuts / beans use to signal that it's time to germinate, and the water helps break down the chemical warfare that the plant uses to protect it's children (beans, nuts, and some seeds).

Roasting them properly is quick, but if you over-roast them, the oils in them begin to break down and it oxidizes and gets rancid quickly, making it just as healthy as trans-fats.  Yes, roasting helps to bring out the flavor, but be cautious in your processing temps and times.

Soaking is the easiest way to deactivate the phytic acid and inhibitors.  Soaking nuts for 8 to 12 hours, followed by 12 to 24 hours at 125F to 150F (50 to 65C) to dry them does the trick.  Unfortunately most home ovens won't go that low, and you have to leave the door of the oven cracked so the temperature doesn't exceed 150F / 65C.  A dehydrator also works fine, but I'd bet most of you don't have one.  I'll dig around here at home; somewhere I have a large table that lists all of the nut & seed types that need to be soaked, and the minimum required times to do it successfully.


What brought this up?  I've been making some fat bombs and protein bombs to snack on at lunch time.  The protein bar recipe that I posted several pages back uses pistachios.  Well, this last batch I made just over a week ago has given me some REAL issues, and I finally walked it down to the nuts this evening.  About 2 hours after I have a couple of them at lunch, I get REALLY, REALLY sleepy, and my eyes won't track properly.  I'd cheated and dumped a cup of coffee before driving home so I wouldn't have an accident.  By a process of elimination, I got it down to the protein bars at lunch, and then looking at the ingredients the only thing I'd changed recently was a fresh batch of nuts from Sprouts Farmer's Market.  SHIT!!!  The nuts I'd bought from that bulk bin previously were shelled and roasted (unsalted).  I didn't notice when I bought them 2 weeks ago that the bin now says SHELLED, UNSALTED, RAW.  Oops.  Total between two protein bars I'm getting maybe 12 to 15 raw pistachios, and that's apparently enough to make me severely sleepy, addled, and give me significant vision problems.  Your mileage may vary.  With the wonky thyroid issues I have right now, apparently a small handful of raw nuts is enough to give me grief.  D'oh!

Here's one quick guide to times and temps I have handy, but it's not as comprehensive as the other graphic:


I'll edit this post later once I find the more complete list.

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Offline RopeFiend

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Reply #176 on: October 21, 2017, 04:52:48 AM
Mushroom & Sausage Breakfast Quiche (Gluten-Free, LCHF)

 

Ingredients -

For the crust:
  1 1/2 cup almond flour (170g)
  1 large egg (50g)
  1 tbsp coconut flour
  1 tbsp tapioca flour (optional)
  (I added a half-teaspoon of Italian Seasoning to my crust,
   plus a little salt and pepper)

For the filling:
  4 large eggs (200g)
  2 crushed and minced cloves of garlic
  1 link (3/4 cup,  160g) sweet Italian sausage (left over from the pizza last week)
  1 1/2 cup (125g) mushrooms, sliced (more leftovers)
  1/2 cup (125ml) heavy cream,
   or 2 tbsp coconut cream + full-fat coconut milk to 1/2 cup
  1 1/4 cup (100g) feta or blue cheese (or your favorite; cheddar works, too!)
  5 spring onions / scallions
  Salt, pepper and seasoning to taste

Instructions -

For the crust:
Mix all the ingredients together with a fork until well combined. (looks like a dense pastry dough)
Grease or line a 9 inch pie pan or flan dish. (I didn't line mine; the non-stick coating worked fine)
Dump the pie crust into the lined dish. Smooth evenly with your hands, and press down.  Place a piece of baking paper on top and smooth out the pie crust with the back of your hand or a glass tumbler. Remove the top baking paper.
Make holes all over the base with a fork. This will help the pie crust bake evenly and brown beautifully.
Bake at 350F (180C) for 15 minutes. Remove from oven

For the filling (while the crust is baking):
Heat the butter in a frying pan and gently fry the garlic, sausage and mushrooms until soft and cooked and any water has evaporated.
Remove from the heat to cool down.
In a mixing bowl, whisk the the eggs, heavy cream and cheese. Pour over the cooked pie crust.
Place the sausage, garlic and mushroom mixture evenly into the egg mixture.
Bake at 350F (180C) for 20-30 minutes until cooked in the center, but do not overcook.  Mine needed 30 minutes with the pan shown.

Nutrition info for 4 servings (quartered):



Base recipe from https://www.ditchthecarbs.com/blue-cheese-bacon-mushroom-pie

His recipe called for 8 servings.  REALLY???  Jeezus, I just ate half the pan for supper, after scarfing down a mixed salad.  The rest of it is for breakfast Saturday and Sunday. :D

The crust is sturdy enough that you can eat it like a piece of deep-dish pizza.  I could probably have done without the tapioca flour, but I've found it helps the cohesion of these almond-flour crusts; they're not as crumbly.

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Offline RopeFiend

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Reply #177 on: October 26, 2017, 05:01:58 AM

Let me save you $11USD and a wasted purchase: don't buy Rawcholatl 'Cacao Spice Drink'.

I was running low on Dagoba cacao powder, and happened to see this in the vicinity of the chocolates:

 

Rawcholatl Ingredients: Cacao Powder, Coconut Palm Sugar, Mesquite Pod Meal Powder, Aji Amarillo Powder (mild yellow chili powder), Aji Panca Powder (red chili powder), Vanilla Powder, Cinnamon Powder, Allspice

It looked interesting.  Well, maybe not.  Opening it, it smells EXACTLY like Hershey's Cocoa Powder.  We're talking I-D-E-N-T-I-C-A-L, not just 'sorta close'.  I couldn't smell the vanilla, cinnamon nor the two Peruvian chili powders.  Okaaayyyyy... I rolled a cup.  It FUCKING BURNS the back of my mouth!!  This is *not* a 'happy spicy flavor', it's a damned BURNING TISSUE SENSATION!  Yeah, NOT what I'd hoped for.  I'd have to cut it 4:1 with some other cocoa powder so it's even vaguely drinkable.  I'm more than half considering just chucking it in the trash with the other waste... it's purely not worth trying to make this shit 'work', and possibly destroy some 'good' cacao powder.

Edit: I ran the whole bag through my finest sieve, ending with a 7+ ounce bag of super-fine powder plus THIS:


The chilis were the 'fines' in the photo above, and I suspect the large-ish chunks are the mesquite pod powder.  They crush and powder sort of like chocolate, but there's little or no taste to them at all.  I tossed it all in the trash.  All told, the super-fines that I filtered out to save aren't any better than Hershey's Chocolate powder or Nestle's Hot Cocoa Mix, certainly not up to the level of excellence of Dagoba or Himalania Raw Cacao Powders.  Given any choice, buy one of those two, as they're both excellent.  I highly recommend them for the 'hot cocoa' drink below.





Hot Cocoa for one, without any funny chemicals, additives or 'preservatives':

1 cup milk (or coconut milk / almond milk / cashew milk alternates)
2 tsp to 2 tbs Dagoba or Himalania Cacao Powder (1 tbs is *perfect*)
2 tsp to 2 tbs sugar (coconut sugar, or your fav. alt; 1 tbs maple syrup tastes good)
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
dash of sea salt

Mix sugar, cocoa and salt in a large mug.
Heat milk in microwave at HIGH (100%) 1 - 2 minutes or until piping hot (not boiling).
Gradually add hot milk to cocoa mixture in mug, stirring until well blended.
Stir in vanilla and cinnamon, top with dairy-free whipped cream and shaved chocolate or cacao nibs (if desired) and serve.

« Last Edit: October 28, 2017, 11:43:55 PM by RopeFiend »

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Offline Army of One

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Reply #178 on: November 05, 2017, 08:29:28 AM
I'm going to be straight up, I was tempted to put carob in, since we're talking about chocolate and the like. But then I did a little extra research, which I'll summarise as a pro-and-con list.

Pros:
  • Hypo-allergenic. This was my initial reason for wanting to talk about it, since I knew it was an allergen. And I know this part because I was put on an allergy-free diet when I was in my early teens.
  • Caffeine-free. It's made from an entirely different source (the carob seed instead of cacao), so doesn't have the caffeine load of chocolate.

Cons:
  • Still contains milk solids. So not great for lactose-intolerant people.
  • Has the same sugar, fat, and calorie content as chocolate. To make things possibly worse, the sugar in carob is naturally occurring (for the most part), hence it being sweeter. So, if you have a choice between cacao powder and carob powder, take the cacao.
  • Rare as hell! You need to buy it from specialty shops, and/or get bloody lucky. It is beaten only by the recently-created pink chocolate, and I just gave the reason for the latter's rarity.

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Reply #179 on: November 11, 2017, 11:58:16 PM

I don't know where you live, but Sprouts Farmers Market carries carob powder in the stores here, same as THIS BRAND.  I prefer the flavor of the Dagoba cacao powder, so don't have any driving need for carob powder.  I used to buy carob pseudo-chocolate bars when I was backpacking regularly, since carob won't turn to soup in the Arizona heat.




I've been waiting for MONTHS for cranberries to be in season so I could make this variation on the Banana Blueberry bread that I posted >here<.  The concept is based on the recipe my mom used, found on the back of a bag of Ocean Spray cranberries back in the '50s or '60s, essentially the same as this recipe crossed with that one.  Yeah, I cook like mom, always tweaking, changing, combining recipes.



(click the pic for the full-resolution image)

Mom and I loved it, the rest of the family was so-so about this bread, so she made it occasionally for the two of us.  I asked for it instead of a birthday cake a couple of years.  :-)

Remember the Golden Rule: you do me, and I\'ll do you (paraphrased)