Veggie soccas (garbanzo bean flatbread)

I've made it through Phase 1 and part of Phase 2 of the Anti-Candida Diet (ADA)

but I still crave dessert, not necessarily sugary desserts. I've eaten so much carob tofu or carob chia pudding, sweetened with stevia, (see previous post for recipe) that I'm surprised I haven't turned into carob pudding. Another of my favorite treats is carob-coconut-tahini balls. You just mix in a food processor about 1/2 cup of unsweetened coconut with 1 T. of carob powder, 2-3 T. of tahini, 1 T. of chia seeds and 1 T. of toasted sunflower seeds. Roll the mixture into balls and freeze before eating (if you have enough willpower) because they are better cold.

Something else I crave is garbanzo bean flatbread, known as soccas in southeastern France and farinata in Italy. It's hard not to consume it all when it comes out of the oven, all crispy around the edges from olive oil. I recently discovered a variation that allows me to use veggies in it which makes it healthier. This version also gives me a chance to use a lot of fresh produce from my garden. You can use zucchini, tomatoes, peppers, onions or even broccoli in it. I like to eat soccas with a veggie burger on top or as a cheeseless pizza or even in place of a piece of toast at breakfast. An added bonus is they are super easy to make. You can whip some up in less than 30 minutes.

Veggie Soccas (enough for a large cookie sheet)

Ingredients:

1 cup garbanzo bean flour

salt and pepper

1/2 tsp. each ground turmeric and ground cumin

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1 T. soy milk

1 onion, chopped

1 green or red or yellow peppers, chopped

2 Roma tomatoes, chopped

1 cup of fresh herbs, basil, cilantro, parsley, thyme, etc.

2 T. olive oil

pan spray

1 1/4 + cup water

Directions:

Combine in a large bowl, garbanzo bean flour, soda, salt and pepper, spices, 2 T. olive oil, soy milk and water to make a pancake-like batter. You may need additional water. You want the batter to be flowing. Stir in the chopped onions.

Heat the oven to 480 degrees. Preheat a cookie sheet, sprayed with pan spray and drizzled with 1-2 T. additional olive oil in the oven. Remove the heated pan from the oven. Pour the batter on the pan. Tilt the pan from side to side to spread the batter around. Evenly sprinkle the diced veggies and chopped herbs over the top of the batter. Place the pan in the oven and set your timer for about 12-15 minutes. Remove the soccas from the oven when the batter is set.

Soccas are best eaten warm in fact, I can hardly wait to get them out of the oven to have a taste. Cut the soccas into whatever size rectangles or other shapes you want. While best eaten immediately, the soccas can be stored in the fridge and reheated in a skillet, sprayed with pan spray. They are still absolutely delicious!

Chia seed parfait

Ch-ch-chia! I recently discovered that chia seeds are edible and incredible, and not just for Chia Pets, those clay pot designs that sprout "hair." Chia seeds have become one of my favorite foods. Packed inside them is all kinds of healthy stuff (protein, omega-3 oil, fiber, antioxidants, vitamins and calcium) but the thing I like best about them is they are good for your digestive tract.

Anyone with digestive issues might want to give them a try. They contain 90 percent soluble fiber which aids in digestion. I've had a slow digestive system for many years but since I started eating chia seeds, my stomach actually empties instead of food hanging around for hours and hours.

Some other benefits: the seeds provide energy, improve hydration, lessen the risk of cardiovascular disease, stabilize blood sugar, and provide the daily requirement for fiber and vitamins.

Another advantage is the seeds form a gel when added to water and are allowed to sit for 30 minutes. This property of the seeds provides all kinds of culinary opportunities because you can use them to thicken liquids or batters, and they really have no taste of their own. You can sprinkle them on cereal, oatmeal, salads, smoothies or yogurt, or mix them in muffin or other baked recipes.

My favorite recipe for chia seeds is chia seed pudding, which is basically like tapioca pudding with chia seeds doing the thickening. You can make the basic chia seed pudding or get fancy and try a parfait, pictured below, or add shredded coconut, whipped topping or fresh fruit. It's all good, even for someone on the anti-candida diet, like myself. I just use liquid, alcohol-free stevia as a sweetener.

Basic Chia Seed Pudding

Ingredients:

2 T. chia seeds

1/3 to 1/2 cup liquid of your choice: plain or flavored soy, rice, hemp or other milk

1-2 tsp. agave nectar or 5-7 drops of stevia liquid

Options: add 2 tsp. carob powder or cocoa powder, pumpkin puree.

Directions:

Place the chia seeds in a container and add the liquid. Stir well to submerge most of the seeds. Allow to sit 20-30 minutes but continue stirring every 5-10 minutes. Stir again before eating.

Tips: You can mix up the chia and liquid and allow to sit overnight in the refrigerator. I also found that heating your liquid before adding the chia speeds up the thickening process.

To make a parfait: prepare vanilla chia seed pudding, and carob or chocolate chia seed pudding and layer. Sprinkle shredded unsweetened coconut between layers. Ch-ch-chialicious!

Roasted vegetables with fresh herbs

For those of you who haven't visited my blog in awhile, I thought I should explain that my recipes have taken a new direction. I have embarked on an anti-candida diet for the past three months. This means my recipes have to follow the guidelines of that eating plan, rather than be strictly gluten-free or on a rotation schedule. The anti-candida diet (ACD) is basically a nutritional means to reduce candida albicans yeast that's present in our bodies, food and environment. In some people (those who have taken excessive amounts of antibiotics or who have comprised immune systems), the yeast can multiply out of control.

The ACD program recommends starving the yeast by cutting out any foods that feed it or encourage it to grow to reduce the candida to a "normal" level. The strictest version of the diet would eliminate:

• Anything containing sugar;
• Simple carbohydrates, such as flour, cakes, cookies, breads, etc.;
• Foods that contain mold or fungus, such as yeast, mushrooms, peanuts, cashews, cheese;
• The most common food allergens, such as dairy, eggs, wheat, shellfish, peanuts, tree nuts;
• Foods that are fermented (alcohol, vinegars, all condiments including ketchup, mustard, soy sauce);
• Anything artificial, processed, containing chemicals or additives, imitation or artificial seasonings flavorings and colorings;
• Soda pop, fruit juice, pre-sweetened drinks, coffee, tea (except herbal teas).

What's left to eat, you are probably wondering? Actually, there are quite a few healthy, tasty choices including:

• All vegetables except starchy ones (winter squash, and heaven forbid, no corn. It's not really a vegetable anyhow);
• Whole, gluten-free grains (brown rice, quinoa, amaranth);
• Beans and legumes;
• Some nuts and most seeds;
• Water;
• Natural, cold-pressed oils, such as olive oil;
• Lemon and lime juice;
• Stevia (a natural herbal sweetener that does not affect blood sugar levels as long as it's alcohol-free);
• Unsweetened alternative dairy beverages, such as soy milk;
• Some fruit that has a low-glycemic index such as berries and cantaloupe.

There are quite a few slightly different versions of the ACD eating plan. One suggests you follow a rotation diet, where you never eat a particular food more than once every four days. It's a bit impractical, especially where you've already cut out a number of foods. However, I continue to try to rotate grains, proteins and some veggies but I'll admit not very faithfully, especially during the gardening season where certain ones are in profusion.

I do love fresh vegetables (zucchini and green beans) and fresh herbs (basil), and all are permitted on the ACD plan. Both also happen to be in abundance in my garden right now. And fresh herb nut that I am, I also have basil growing in my indoor aero-grow garden, pictured above.

Roasting veggies with basil or other herbs is something simple and delicious I enjoy making. The roasting process imparts a completely different flavor to veggies for a change of pace from steaming.

Sheree's Recipe for Roasted Veggies

Ingredients:

• 1 pound of fresh veggies, such as zucchini, peppers, green beans, yellow squash, asparagus
• 1 cup chopped fresh basil or other herbs
• 2 minced garlic cloves
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1-2 T. olive oil
• pan spray

Directions:

• Preheat the broiler or outdoor grill;
• Spray several cookie sheets with pan spray;
• Peel and chop veggies and herbs as desired;
• Place veggies in a large bowl and season with salt and pepper, and drizzle with olive oil;
• Spread veggies on pans and sprinkle with chopped herbs and garlic;
• Place in the oven or grill for 5+ minutes until veggies are tender crisp.
  
  

Fast veggie burgers with food processor

I recently invested in a new food processor, and I decided to go for the kingsize model. I learned the hard way that a small food processor really doesn't save you much time when you constantly need to be re-loading it.

A small one also is much noisier because it's working harder to get the job done. In the past, I always had to warn household members that I was about to launch the noise machine because otherwise, it could be quite startling. Even my feline pal, Pumpkin, would run for cover when I turned it on. Now, as you can see by the photo, above, Pumpkin could care less about my activities in the kitchen.


Fresh salsa was a snap with my new purchase, pictured left. Then, I decided to venture into making veggie burgers which has always been a time-consuming chore with my petite food processor. I picked a ton of fresh produce from my garden and decided to put the new machine to the test. Not counting the time taken to pick and wash the produce, it took me about 15 minutes to have the veggie burgers ready for the oven. In the past, I could plan on at least 45 minutes prep time.

My blog has taken a bit of a shift since I went from IBS/gluten-free/rotation diet to low carb/candida cleanse diet. I haven't been sharing many "carbilicious" recipes, although I continue to follow a gluten, dairy-free plan. But these veggie burgers are great because they will fit with any of these diets. Check out the recipe and directions below.



Fast Veggie Burgers

Ingredients:

1 cup cooked, drained beans ( I used pinto beans made from scratch but canned ones such as garbanzo, black or white beans will work.)

2 cups chopped veggies ( I used carrots, celery, red and green bell peppers, 2 medium zuchinis.)

1 small red onion, cut into chunks

1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds

1 T. raw pumpkin seeds

1/4 cup fresh cilantro (no need to chop)

1/2 cup fresh basil

1/2 tsp. each dried tarragon and dill

1/2 tsp. salt and black pepper

1 tsp. ground flax seeds

1 1/2 cups garbanzo bean flour (You also can use any other mild-flavored gluten-free flour.)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Spray a pan with nonstick spray.

Throw everything except the flour in the food processor. (Previously, I had to chop the ingredients in batches.) Blend the ingredients until almost smooth. (This part was so cool especially working with such a large amount of ingredients.) Begin adding the flour and pulsing to combine. If the mixture is too wet, add a little more flour. (I was seriously impressed by how easily everything was mixed.)

Shape the mixture into about 12 large burgers and place on the sprayed cookie sheet. Bake about 10 minutes, flip them and continue baking another 10 minutes until lightly browned on the other side. Extra burgers can be freezed.

Serve on gluten-free buns or flatbread or roll into a tortilla f you are not eating low carb. Or roll into a large lettuce leaf for low carbers. Try putting a little Thai red or green curry paste on top for a really zingy veggie burger.

Cacao nibs/chocolate stevia: my new chocolate fix

Cacao nibs and chocolate SweetLeaf liquid stevia are my two new favorite ingredients for getting my chocolate fix while on an eating plan with certain restrictions. With these ingredients, I can still enjoy a chocolate treat while still staying dairy, gluten and sugar-free.

Cacao nibs are absolutely amazing. They have a nutty taste, almost like coffee beans, and are packed with lots of nutritional benefits and antioxidants, and are low in carbs, and high in fiber and protein. Nibs are actually bits of cacao beans before processing. It doesn't take many to satisfy your taste which is a good thing since they have approximately 160 calories per one ounce and cost about $8 per pound when bought in bulk.

Another way to get your chocolate fix is with chocolate liquid stevia. You can add it to soy milk to create chocolate drinks or to silken tofu to make the delicious pudding pictured below.

Chocolate tofu pudding with cacao nibs

Ingredients:

1 pkg. silken tofu

3-4 T. cocoa powder

4-5 drops chocolate liquid stevia

1 tsp. espresso powder

cacao nibs

Directions:

Place all ingredients in a blender or food processor. Pulse until blended. Version 1: blend in some cacao nibs before chilling. Version 2: chill and garnish with cacao nibs when serving.

Stir-fry brown rice with seeds

I'm only allowing myself one serving of whole grains per day on the candida cleanse diet. I recently tried a recipe that was so good I'm having a hard time limiting myself to just one serving. It's called Stir-fry Brown Rice with Seeds.

Ingredients:
2 cups of cooked brown rice, cooled
1/2 T. olive oil
4-5 green onion stalks, chopped
1 cup mixed seeds (sunflower, sesame, pumpkin)

Directions:
Heat oil in a large skillet. Add onions and seeds and cook until seeds are lightly browned.
Then stir in cooked, cooled rice. Stir fry all until toasty and warm. Makes a delicious side dish or even the centerpiece of breakfast.

Quinoa Salad with Roasted Green Beans and Rotation Diet Past

It seems like very long ago that I was following a rotation diet but it really has only been three months. The rotation diet worked for me for awhile but as I later found out candida ( a fungus overgrowth) was sabotaging my efforts and making me increasingly sensitive to everything, including foods, chemicals, etc.

A rotation diet can be a useful tool for someone who keeps developing new food sensitivities. The idea is to keep your body guessing by never eating the same foods more than once every four days. However, it might be a good idea to thoroughly examine why you are developing new food sensitivities before plunging into a rotation diet because yes, it's a real pain. In my case, candida was causing my body to "misfire" so to speak but there are other causes such as "leaky" gut syndrome.

I thought it would be helpful to look back at my rotation diet for anyone who is considering trying one. Let's see how well I can remember. Day 1 was amaranth or soy flour for grains/flour; chicken or tofu for meat/protein; black or pinto beans for legumes; green beans, carrots, cucumber, peppers, spinach, onions, artichokes, winter squash, sweet potatoes for veggies; tomatoes, cranberries, mango, grapes for fruit; pumpkin or sunflower seeds. Day 2 was oatmeal or buckwheat for grains; some sort of white fish or shrimp; no legumes; bok choy, broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, kale for veggies; apples, cherries, nectarines, pears for fruit.

Day 3 was quinoa grains or flour; turkey for meat; peas or garbanzo beans for legumes; beets, beet greens, swiss chard, zucchini, yellow or white potatoes, celery, eggplant, lettuce, mushrooms for veggies; blueberries, kiwis, papaya, pomegranate for fruit. Day 4 was salmon for meat; brown rice for grains; no legumes; cabbage, brussel sprouts, bamboo shoots for veggies; strawberries, peaches for fruit.

It seems kind of limiting now that I can eat what I want with the exception of what I am allergic/ sensitive to. It's a much shorter list these days but still includes gluten, eggs, dairy, peanuts, tree nuts and corn. Who knows I might be able to eventually incorporate a few of these back into my diet.

For now, I have a much broader range of foods I can eat provided they are low carb. That brings me to a recipe I tried this week: Quinoa Salad with Roasted Green Beans and White Beans. It's flavorful and loaded with a ton of nutrition including protein and potassium.

Ingredients:

1 cup quinoa, regular or red

2 cups water

2-3 cups green beans, trimmed and cut. Or you can try a bunch of asparagus.

1/4 cup olive oil

1 T. lemon juice

Salt and coarse black pepper

1 (16-ounce) can low-sodium white beans, drained and rinsed

1 roasted red bell pepper, cut into strips

1/2 cup celery, chopped

2 T. minced green onions

salad greens

2 T. chopped fresh basil

Directions:

Preheat the over to 425 degrees. Cook the quinoa according to instructions. Place in a large bowl to cool. Arrange the green beans and red pepper on a sprayed baking sheet and drizzle with 1 T. olive oil. Season with salt and black pepper. Roast until tender, about 10 minutes.

In a separate bowl, combine the remaining olive oil, lemon juice, and salt and pepper. Add the white beans, roasted pepper, celery, scallions, roasted green beans, chopped basil, and cooled quinoa. Toss gently to combine. Serve on a bed of salad greens.

Cole slaw, veggies and potassium

A long ride on one's bike can be difficult at best when you are on a low-carb diet. Add in hot weather that leads to copious sweating and loss of potassium, and you've got the makings of a leg spasm in the middle of the night.

This kind of painful contraction in the back of your leg that results from over exertion and loss of potassium recently awakened me from a deep sleep. It wouldn't settle down easily so I was forced to get up, walk around and massage my leg before I could return to bed and get back to sleep.

The same scenario repeated itself for several nights in a row before it dawned on me what the problem was. I wasn't consuming enough foods with potassium. But how could I up my potassium if I couldn't eat foods like bananas and other types of fruit? That's when I decided to do some research. I discovered there are tons of other foods besides bananas that are high in potassium, including lots of veggies, fish and meat. Some high potassium foods that mesh with my current low-carb diet include: Swiss chard, beet greens, spinach, tomatoes, cantaloupe, salmon, cod, turkey, soybeans, lentils and white beans.

More than half of the foods on that list are vegetables, naturally low in carbohydrates but yet high in potassium. It occurred to me that I had a potassium gold mine at my fingertips---our community garden, pictured above. Our lush veggie patch has been churning out cucumbers and zucchinis at 300 plus per week as well as beet greens and chard so far. Most of the pickings have been going to the Salvation Army to help those in need. Soon there will be cantaloupe, tomatoes and green beans, all good sources of potassium.

My potassium problems were solved. All I had to do was incorporate more of the good stuff into my cooking. I was in the mood for a fish taco with cole slaw. How could I pump up the veggies and get more potassium? I came up with my super-duper potassium cole slaw.

Super-Duper Potassium Cole Slaw
Ingredients:
1/2 head each of green and red cabbage, chopped
3 unpeeled zucchinis shredded
2 cups broccoli slaw
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1/2 cup silken tofu
salt and pepper
2 tsp. lemon juice
1-2 drops liquid stevia
4 pieces of grilled cod, rubbed with spicy rub of garlic powder, chili powder,dry cilantro, salt and pepper


Directions:
Prepare the veggies for the cole slaw. Place in a large bowl. Mix up the dressing, including tofu, lemon juice, salt and pepper, stevia drops, in a measuring cup. Pour over the veggies and mix thoroughly. Place the slaw in the refrigerator to chill.

Meantime, prepare the grilled cod. Rub with your favorite spices. I like garlic powder, chili powder, dry cilantro, salt and pepper. Drizzle with olive oil and grill under the broiler or on the barbecue.

Serve the cod on a bed of slaw (with or without a taco shell or tortilla) and soak up a bounty of good taste and potassium.

Spicy carob toasted garbanzo beans

A friend's e-mail telling me she was sick with the stomach flu filled me with dread recently because I had been sitting next to her at a two-hour-long meeting just a few days earlier. The stomach flu was something I didn't need or want as I have spent the past several months getting my stomach functioning more like a normal one.

True to form, I came down with whatever was going around about a week later. The experience gave me flashbacks to the symptoms I had experienced on a day-to-day basis prior to my discovery that I had candida, a fungal overgrowth that can affect many systems in your body, including your stomach. When my stomach was still misbehaving after a week, I began to worry that it wasn't just the flu. Maybe my improvement had all been a fluke. I even experienced depression briefly until I got my head on straight and reached for some extra probiotics to get my gut back on track. A bigger dose of probiotics (50 billion) worked like a charm.

I also discovered something important about taking probiotics. Take them on a empty stomach and you'll see better results. My health care providers had always told me it didn't make any difference if you took them with food. Make sure you have the ones coated with enteric if you are taking them on a empty stomach. Enteric prevents the capsule from being dissolved before passing into the intestines.

I did find myself craving foods with a combination of salty and sweet while my stomach was screwed up. The problem is how to get that combination when you're on a low-carb diet. I came up with a bit of solution by toasting some garbanzo beans that had been tossed in spicy mix of salt, carob, cinnamon and cayenne pepper. Here's the recipe.

Spicy Carob-Toasted Garbanzo Beans

Ingredients:

1 can of garbanzo beans drained and rinsed (I get the kind with no added sugar. Yes, believe it or not, they even add sugar to beans.)

1 T. toasted carob powder

1/2 T. cinnamon

1 tsp. salt

dash of cayene powder

pan spray

Directions:

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Toss the drained garbanzo beans in the spice mix to coat. Spread the garbanzo beans on a baking sheet that has been sprayed with pan spray. Toast the beans in the oven for about 20 minutes or longer. Turn the beans about halfway through. Remove them from the oven when they are dry and crunchy and have a nut-like texture. Allow the beans to cool and then transfer them from the pan to a storage container. For some added crunch, toss in 2 T. of toasted pumpkin or sunflower seeds. This snack stores well in the refrigerator for up to a week as you nibble away at it.

Beet greens and tofu

My poor little beets were too crowded in my garden. It was time to do some thinning this week, and the end result was a giant bag of beet greens with teeny tiny beets. I tried to give away some but there were no takers. Everyone already had their own plethora of beet greens. So what does one do with them? I decided to try a beet green and tofu scramble. It was actually quite delicious and nutritious. The recipe follows.

But first, I want to talk about soy milk versus hemp milk. I love both of them because they are great substitutes for cow's milk which I cannot use. Both are similar in taste, texture and nutrition but soy milk wins in the category of mixing with hot liquids. If you like milk in your tea or coffee, definitely stick with soy. Hemp milk separates every time you add it to a hot beverage which tends to make your drink less appetizing. Fortunately, since I did the candida elimination protocol, I can tolerate soy again. Hemp milk works well in everything else but give me soy milk in my tea any time.

Those who are getting rid of candida, as I am, need to stick to the unsweetened versions of both which makes for a huge savings in calories. Admittedly, the unsweetened versions aren't very tasty by themselves but that's easily fixed with a drop or two of stevia.

Beet Greens and Tofu

Ingredients for one serving:

8-10 beet tops washed and chopped

Two-fifths of a block of firm tofu cut into cubes

2-3 minced cloves of garlic

1 T. olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Heat 1-2 tsp. of olive oil in a skillet. Add the garlic and cook until softened. Toss in the tofu and stir fry until crispy. Add in the beet greens and cook just until wilted. Season with salt and pepper and drizzle on a little more olive oil.

Gluten-free panini sandwich

Candida is one tough hombre to beat but I'm hanging in there. Why? I've seen so many positive improvements in my health, both physical and emotional, since I set out to defeat candida. I have to eat low carb but I can eat so many things that I never would have thought of eating before and with no consequences. I have more energy and look and feel better than I have in years. I feel more positive about my health and the fact that I will continue to get even better.





With that in mind, I thought why not build a meal around two foods, alfalfa sprouts and cucumbers, that had been on my "no way" list prior to going on the warpath against candida. I came up with the Mediterranean sandwich with two versions, low carb and lower carb. The first, pictured above, is a gluten-free panini made with garbanzo bean flatbread and a whitefish salad. The second, below, is the same thing minus the flatbread with lettuce leaves in its place. The recipes for the fish filling and mock garlic aioli needed for the filling are below.



Mediterranean Panini Sandwich with or without gluten-free bread

Ingredients:

2 cooked whitefish filets or 1 can of water-packed tuna

1/3 cup chopped artichoke hearts (canned, water-packed)

1 T. chopped fresh chives or basil

2-3 T. mock garlic aioli (recipe below)

1/2 tsp. each salt and pepper

garbanzo bean flatbread (recipe at: http://catsinthekitchen.blogspot.com/2009/04/garbanzo-bean-flour-flatbread.html ) or large lettuce leaves

alfalfa sprouts

cucumber slices

red or green pepper slices (optional)

For garlic aioli:

Blend in food processor: 1 package silken tofu with 4-6 cloves of fresh garlic, salt and pepper to taste, 1/4 cup olive oil or canola oil, 2 T. lemon juice, 1 tsp. mustard powder

Directions:

Mix fish (either cooked and cooled whitefish or drained tuna), artichoke hearts, chives or basil, garlic aioli, salt and pepper. Spread fish mixture on one piece of either garbanzo bean flatbread or lettuce leaves. Top with cucumbers, sprouts, pepper slices. Top with another piece of flatbread and heat. Or roll over your lettuce leaf and chow down.

Garden meatballs with basil

The community garden is going strong. Since the above picture was taken, the zucchini plants have produced baby zucchinis. I'm really excited to sample a little of this and that from the garden. Veggies are my long-lost friends since my stomach got a makeover thanks to a candida cleanse. I'm eating all kinds of veggies, cooked and uncooked. I even came up with a recipe to use veggies in ground turkey meatballs. I call them "Garden Meatballs" because you can use what you have from the garden.

Garden Meatballs with Basil

Ingredients:

1 pounds ground turkey

1 cup chopped fresh basil

1 cup chopped fresh parsley

1 large red bell pepper chopped

1/2 red onion chopped

salt, black pepper to taste

2 T. olive oil.

Directions:

Prepare the veggies and chop finely in a food processor. Add the ground meat, salt, pepper and olive oil and mix. Shape into meatballs. Heat a bit of oil in a large skillet and cook the meatballs. Turn them carefully at first.

Serve with pasta and sauce if not eating low-carb as I am because of candida. I served them with roasted veggies which provides another opportunity to use veggies from the garden. Try other veggies from your garden in the meatballs for variety.

Starting a Community Garden and Gluten-free Thai Chicken Roll-Up

A vacant lot and a community with many people in need prompted my husband and I to start a community garden this spring. With the help of neighbors and friends, we've transformed a half-acre piece of ground that had been a weedy eyesore for years into a potential bounty of produce for the community.



It all began with a telephone call to the owners of the property who were more than happy to donate the use of their land for our project. Seeds and plants were donated by many, and irrigation water was readily available. Volunteers got most of the garden planted during a planting night. I got the job of planting pumpkin seeds as shown in the photo above. Most of our seeds are up now, and we're eager to see how much our garden produces.

I have continued my cooking experiments making garbanzo bean flour pancakes or tortillas. Practice makes sort of perfect as I was able to make several tortilla-sized pancakes to make a wrap or roll-up. I filled it with a Thai chicken broccoli slaw filling with sunbutter (in place of peanut butter) sauce. Here's the recipe.

Gluten-free Thai Chicken Roll-ups

Ingredients for four roll-ups:

1 bag of broccoli slaw

1 pound chicken or turkey stir-fry strips

2 tsp. garlic powder

2 tsp. ginger powder

salt and pepper

1 T. canola oil

2 T. sunbutter

garbanzo bean flour tortillas (see recipe at: http://catsinthekitchen.blogspot.com/2009/05/garbanzo-bean-flour-pancakes.html

Directions:

Prepare garbanzo bean flour tortillas and keep warm. For the filling, stir-fry chicken strips in oil in a large skillet. Season with 1 tsp. each of ginger and garlic powders, salt and pepper. Remove chicken strips to a bowl and keep warm. Add a little more oil to the skillet and then the broccoli slaw. Season with the remaining ginger and garlic powders, and stir-fry until slightly soft. For the sauce, heat 2 T. of sunbutter or peanut butter in the microwave. Add 1-2 tsp. soy sauce and 1 T. of water. Stir to mix to a sauce-like consistency. I omitted the soy sauce and added some garlic instead and it was still quite tasty.

Spread some sunbutter sauce on the tortilla and then spoon on chicken and broccoli slaw. Drizzle with a little more sauce and then carefully roll it up. The garbanzo bean flour tortillas are pretty easy to work with as long they are warm.

You can use the same filling on other types of gluten-free or regular tortillas but I was experimenting with garbanzo bean flour as I am continuing to have to keep my carbs low to prevent a rebound of the candida (yeast infection) that thrives on sugar. I am probably looking at least 6 months to one year with restricted carbs.

But it's continuing to be worth it as my stomach is the best it's been in years. My husband and I took our son out to dinner recently for his birthday to a restaurant we hadn't gone to much for a long time because of my eating limitations. They serve an unlimited bowl of salad. I admit I devoured a good share of the salad. I just had to take my own dressing, an olive-oil, lemon juice, herb blend. My son kept staring at me in disbelief and finally asked, "So you can eat that much salad now?" Yes, I replied, and I'm loving it.

Gluten-free, chocolate-tofu brownie sundae

I wish I could bottle this kind of happiness---a cat in a barrel of catnip. It was a dream come true for my cat, Pumpkin, when I discovered that catnip had inadvertently come up in whiskey barrel planter outside my front door. I'm not quite sure how the catnip got there but I have grown catnip in other places in my yard in past years.

I've never seen him so eager to go outside on his leash now that he knows the catnip is right outside the door. He reaches up for the door knob on the front door to give me a not-so-subtle hint that he wants his catnip fix for the day.

While my cat's fix is catnip, mine is chocolate or carob. But getting my fix, while being on a low-carb diet for eliminating a yeast overgrowth, can be a bit tricky. Ingenuity and cravings prompted me to come up with my chocolate-tofu brownie sundae. It's all low-carb and has no gluten, eggs, sugar or milk. You also can substitute carob for the chocolate if chocolate creates issues for you.

Sounds like it's missing all the good stuff but no, it actually tastes delicious. Admittedly, I haven't taste tested it on anyone but myself. But it has all the texture and chocolate or carob taste of a brownie to me.

Chocolate-Tofu Brownie Sundae
Ingredients for the Brownies:

1 1/2 cups garbanzo bean flour

1/2 cup each soy flour and coconut flour

Option 2: Just use 2 cups of garbanzo bean flour and skip the soy and coconut flours. It still works.

1/2 tsp. salt

2 T. baking cocoa or carob powder

Optional: 1 T. ground cinnamon

Optional: 2-3 T. chocolate vegan rice powder to up the protein content

1 1/4 cups water (possibly more)

2 T. olive oil

Pan spray

Ingredients for Tofu Pudding Sauce:

1 package Silken tofu

Optional: 3-4 T. chocolate vegan rice powder (This will give the pudding sauce a firmer texture.)

Optional: 1 tsp. cinnamon

2 drops chocolate or plain liquid Stevia

2 T. baking cocoa or carob powder

1/4 cup soy or hemp milk (I use the unsweetened versions.)

Directions for brownies:

Mix all the dry ingredients in large bowl. Add the olive oil and water. Stir to blend. Add more water if needed as the flours will absorb a lot of moisture. The batter should have the consistency of cake batter. Allow the batter to rest for up to an hour while the mixture thickens.

In the meantime, preheat the oven at 480 degrees. Heat a large glass baking pan (9 X 13 inches)

for 10 minutes prior to baking. The pan should be sprayed and drizzled with 1-2 T. of additional olive oil.

Once the pan and olive oil are heated, add the batter and place in the oven to bake for about 12-15 minutes. Allow to cool slightly before cutting into serving size pieces.

Directions for the pudding sauce:

Place all the ingredients in a food processor and pulse to blend. Chill before serving.

To assemble the sundaes:

Spoon some chocolate or carob sauce in a serving dish. Then add a piece of "brownie." Spoon in some additional sauce and top with another "brownie." Finish with another dab of sauce. Garnish with tasted seeds or nuts if tolerated.

Garbanzo bean flour pancakes

Allergy season has arrived full throttle in my area, and my poor dog, Kona, started suffering as much as the humans. In the photo above, she was wearing a "halo" to keep her from biting at her itchy places. Good news though. She only had to wear it for a week and then her itching subsided.

Intense itching was how she was reacting to the pollens that were bothering her. The only way to stop her from biting herself constantly until she drew blood was to put her in this halo. She also continues to take six allergy pills a day which was doing little to deter her when she was wearing her special bonnet. She was looking pretty sad in the photo and was doing a good job of making us feel sorry for her.

Garbanzo bean flour continues to be a favorite of mine while I'm on my restricted carb diet to rid my body of too much yeast or candida. It's really no longer bothering me that I cannot eat sugar and must restrict my carbs. The bad news is I probably will have to follow this diet pretty closely for a year. I try not to dwell on that but rather on how good I am feeling.

Yesterday, we had friends over for a Memorial Day barbecue and they could not believe all the fresh veggies I could eat. These friends had watched me in the past eat only well-cooked veggies and deny myself things like salad and other hard-t0-digest foods. I could sense their disbelief but also their pleasure in seeing me so much better.

Candida is definitely a missing diagnosis for many individuals. But it is no cakewalk to get rid of and requires a high level of commitment to follow the eating protocol. A friend mentioned to me that she had an acquaintance who thought she would be rid of her candida problem after just six weeks of following a low carb diet. Unfortunately, after improving, she quit after six weeks. Within a short time, her symptoms returned.

Not me, I'm in this for the long haul. And garbanzo bean flour will continue to be part of my arsenal of foods. I found out that garbanzo bean flour breads, crepes and pancakes are a staple in certain parts of Italy. This week, I tried garbanzo bean flour pancakes. Actually, I was trying to make crepes or tortillas but I'm still perfecting those.

Garbanzo Bean Flour Pancakes
Ingredients:

2 cups garbanzo bean flour

2 T. vegan rice protein powder

salt and pepper to taste

fresh or dried herbs to taste

2 T. olive oil

1 1/2 cups water (possibly more to get a pancake batter consistency)

Pan spray and more olive oil

Directions:

Mix all dry ingredients in a large bowl. Then add olive oil and water. Add more water if needed to get a batter with the consistency of crepe or pancake batter. Allow the batter to set for a few minutes. The batter tends to thicken so you may need to add some more water.

Heat a large skillet or better yet a crepe pan until very hot. Add olive oil and heat until it smokes slightly. You want it very hot. Test with a bit of batter. Make one pancake at a time. Allow the dough to bubble up just like regular pancakes. Flip and cook on the other side. Add more oil before you start a new pancake.

These pancakes are best eaten while hot. They roll pretty easily so you could make some sort of breakfast wrap with them. I'm going to continue to experiment with them and will post more later.

Garbanzo bean flour "calzone"

I guess you could say I am in the maintenance phase of a candida cleanse. My goal is to continue to minimize it and not allow it to take charge again. That means eating only high-quality carbs such as whole gluten-free grains (quinoa, brown rice, amaranth, steel-cut oatmeal) and low-glycemic fruit (blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, melons, cantaloupe). By the way, I can't believe I can eat cantaloupe again. Before going on the anti-fungal program, I hadn't eaten any in five years for fear of what it might do to my digestive tract.

For flour, I rely on bean flours such as garbanzo and soy. I haven't ventured in to trying any of my other gluten-free favorites, which are quinoa, brown rice and amaranth flours because the carbs are too high but eventually I will. In the meantime, it's amazing how creative you can get with garbanzo bean and soy flours.

I especially enjoy garbanzo bean flour because it has an almost nutty texture, cooks quickly and is amazingly easy to work with. Today's recipe for Garbanzo Bean Flour Calzones (and I use the word calzone loosely) was inspired by a leftover turkey burger. I was really hungry for a burger with some kind of bread and voila the idea for calzone was born.

Garbanzo Bean Flour Calzones (for 3 calzones)
Note: Adjust quantities depending on how many you are making.

3 turkey burgers

Fresh spinach leaves

Fresh basil leaves

1 cup+ garbanzo bean flour

2 T. olive oil

salt, pepper and dried herbs such as basil, oregano, etc.

1/4-1/2 cup water

Directions:

Heat the oven to 480 degrees.

Prepare turkey burgers in advance. Mix lean ground turkey with salt, pepper, chopped spinach and basil leaves. Form into patties and grill or fry.

For the dough, mix garbanzo bean flour with salt, pepper and desired herbs. Add in 2 T. olive oil and water. Mix into a fairly still dough. You may need to add more flour or water.

Allow the turkey burgers to cool slightly. Spray a baking sheet. For each calzone, wet your hands with cold water before grabbing a hunk of dough. Press the dough onto the baking sheet into a circle large enough to accommodate a burger and then be folded over. Keep wetting your hands as needed to keep the dough from sticking. Place a few spinach and basil leaves on one side of each circle. Place a turkey burger on top of the leaves. With your hands wet again, pull the other half of the dough over the turkey burger. Pinch the edges of the dough together to completely enclose the turkey burger.

The trick here is to keep your hands wet. Garbanzo bean flour is tremendously easy to work with if your hands are wet. The flour is extremely absorbent so any extra moisture will be soaked up like a sponge.

Drizzle a bit of extra oil on your baking sheet and on each calzone. Place in the oven and bake for about 15 minutes. Check a few times as garbanzo bean flour cooks rapidly.

Slice each calzone in half. Serve with a spinach or spring mix salad. Make a mock mayo by blending silken tofu with minced garlic, salt, pepper, dried mustard powder and some canola oil.

I think you too will soon be singing the praises of garbanzo bean flour. I know I have my family converted over to garbanzo bean flour pizza crusts.

Garbanzo bean flour brownies with no egg for my Mother's Day treat

Just because I'm still doing candida clean-up duty doesn't mean I can't have a treat with chocolate for Mother's Day. I'm on a restricted carb diet to keep a fungal infection from returning but I thought I'm going to feel really deprived if I don't come up with a yummy treat for Mother's Day. And it's always best to have something healthy waiting in the wings so to speak to avoid giving in to tempation.

I started to ask myself what do I want for my little, low-carb, no-egg, no-gluten splurge? That's when I came up with Garbanzo Bean Flour Brownies with No Eggs. They really satisfy my sweet tooth even though they have no sugar or other sweeteners. However, if you are not avoiding sugar, you could add some agave nectar or maple syrup to this recipe to up the sweetness factor. They do have a lot of chocolate flavor and texture of a real brownie, and are a cinch to make.

Garbanzo Bean Flour Brownies with No Eggs

Ingredients

2 cups garbanzo bean flour

1/2 tsp. salt

2 T. cocoa powder

1 tsp. cinnamon

2 T. olive oil + 1 more

1 1/2 cups water

Optional: 1-2 drops liquid stevia (no alcohol variety)

2-4 T. roasted pumpkin and sunflower seeds

Pan spray

9-by-13 inch glass pan

Directions:

Preheat oven to 480 degrees. In a large bowl, mix all dry ingredients. Add the 2 T. olive oil, water, and drops of stevia, and stir to blend. Allow the mixture to rest for 5 minutes. In the meantime, spray your glass pan and add remaining tablespoon of olive oil. Preheat the pan in the oven for about 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and pour in your brownie mixture. Spread it around and sprinkle with sunflower and pumpkin seeds (or nuts if allowed).

Bake in the oven for about 12-15 minutes. Garbanzo bean flour cooks up quickly so keep an eye on it. Test with a toothpick or fork before removing from the oven. Allow to cool slightly and then cut into squares. If you like pure chocolate flavor, you'll love this recipe!

For an extra treat, mix up some tofu chocolate pudding and spoon it over your garbanzo bean flour brownie.

Soy breakfast casserole

I'm still working on ridding my body of candida. It's insidious stuff. At least, I'm no longer taking the prescription anti-fungal medication. That made me nervous. It seemed like pretty potent stuff. Now, I take an herbal remedy to keep the candida and good bacteria in proper harmony. Probiotics continue to be my friend at every meal.

My stomach has made tremendous strides. Although I must admit, the improvement made me venture into eating a few things I should at the very least limit to every now and then. I'm talking about sunbutter. It's so yummy but my new rule is just 1-2 teaspoons every three or four days otherwise I pay for it.

My sinusitis is still clearing up. It's hard for me to believe that so much yellow gunk was squashed inside my sinus cavities.

Eating low carb continues to be challenging for someone like myself who loves carbs and needs them for physical activity. I started teaching yoga to a group of teachers along with my cycling. I did create a recipe using soy flour that tastes like a quiche to me but has no eggs or gluten. I call it Soy Breakfast Casserole (pictured above). It would make a great breakfast treat for a mom on Mother's Day who cannot eat eggs or gluten.

Ingredients:
2 cups soy flour
2 T. olive oil + 1 more
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/2 tsp. coarse black pepper
1 T. dried herbs of choice (I used basil.)
1 1/4- 1 1/2 cups water
2 cups sauted veggies of your choice (I used chard, zucchini, broccoli, asparagus and spinach. Others that would be good include red peppers, onion and garlic.)
Optional for non-vegan: shrimp, flaked salmon or bits of grilled chicken

Directions:
Heat oven to 480 degrees. To a large bowl, add soy flour, salt and pepper, 2 T. olive oil and water. Mix ingredients with a whisk or large spoon. Add a small amount of additional water if needed to create a dough with the consistency of gravy. Allow mixture to rest for about 5-10 minutes. In the meantime, saute the veggies in olive oil.

Spray a 9 by 13-inch glass pan with pan spray. Pour 1 T. olive oil in pan and place in oven to preheat for 5 minutes. Remove the pan from oven. Spread the veggies and optional fish or meat evenly in the bottom in the pan. Pour the soy flour mixture over the top and spread evenly to distribute. Sprinkle with additional herbs if desired. Another option is to sprinkle with some vegan cheese.

Place in the oven and bake for 15-18 minutes. Check often. Test with a toothpick to make sure it's set before removing from the oven. Allow to cool slightly and cut into squares for serving. You'll be surprised how much it reminds you of quiche.

Garbanzo Bean Flour Flatbread

I can't believe it! Someone yesterday told me I had a healthy glow. It truly made my day since I haven't looked healthy in months. She wondered what kind of face lotion I was using to give me such a healthy-looking complexion. I said it was the same one I'd been using for the past year. In other words, the healthy glow was all me.

I'd say the candida cleanse and positive thinking have made a world of difference. That's not to say I can just sit back and say, "All right, I'm cured." I'm still avoiding foods that cause symptoms and limiting carbohydrates and fermented foods (such as vinegar, cooking wines, things with added alcohol). A typical eating day for me still involves no dairy, no gluten, no eggs and no nuts. But before, I eliminated a whole slew of other foods as well (peppers, soy, chocolate, raw vegggies and fruits). Now, I can eat many raw veggies, including spring greens. Fruit is limited to one serving a day but I actually ate some cantaloupe the other day for the first time in years (no ill effects). I eat one serving of whole grains (usually quinoa) for breakfast.

I have been hitting the Garbanzo Bean Flour Flatbread, this week's recipe, a little too hard. I think the carbs add up if you have too many pieces even though garbanzo bean flour is low in carbs compared to other flours. The flatbread is hard to resist. Here's the recipe.

Garbanzo Bean Flour Flatbread
(makes about 24 small squares)

Ingredients:

2 cups garbanzo bean flour (It's gluten free because it's made from garbanzo beans.)

2 T. olive oil (plus 1 more)

1 tsp. sea salt

1/2 tsp. coarse black pepper

1-2 T. dried basil (or other dried herb of your choice or even a mixture.)

1 1/4 cup water

Directions:

In a large bowl, mix garbanzo bean flour with salt and pepper. Stir in olive oil and water. Allow mixture to set for 1 hour to thicken.

Heat oven to 480 degrees. Spray a large glass pan. Place one tablespoon of olive oil in the pan. Pre-heat the pan in the oven for 5-10 minutes. Add the dried herbs to the flour mixture and pour the batter into your heated glass pan. Bake for about 8-12 miutes. Keep on eye on it as it cooks quickly. When slightly cool, cut into squares. It keeps well in the refrigerator for a week but you also can freeze it. Serve flatbread with hummus or my favorite, artichoke/spinach/tofu dip (shown in photo).

Creamy Lentil Soup

My pal and cat in the kitchen, Oreo, died last week. I'm sitting here in my home office missing her because she was always in here with me. She was as much a fixture in the office as she was in the kitchen. She put up a good fight and despite her bad tummy and other health issues made it to the age of 13. My home and kitchen just won't be the same without her.

It's a good thing I have been doing my positive affirmations daily and listening to a tape that encourages positive thinking because I really needed that to help me through last week. The day I had her put to sleep was an emotional day. I could feel the effects on my sinuses and stomach as well as tension throughout my body. It definitely illustrated for me how emotional stress plays a role in our health. I must admit on that particular day I was uttering my positive affirmations constantly.

I'm coming to believe that many of my health problems have been related to an overgrowth of candida (fungus) as well as negative thinking brought on by unresolved, chronic illness. Of course, it's easier to be more positive when you're starting to feel better as I am. However, for a long time, I kept telling myself that I had to remain a skeptic because this might not work either. But I'm finally getting where I'm a believer that candida was definitely playing a significant role in my health issues. But just to be sure I keep getting better, I'm staying on the low-carb diet and uttering my affirmations as much as it takes.

Here's another gluten-free and low carb recipe I've been enjoying.
Creamy Lentil Soup

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups dried lentils

4-5 garlic cloves, finely chopped

2 T. olive oil

1 T. ground coriander

1 1/2 tsp. ground cumin

2 large cinnamon sticks

1/2 tsp. ground cardamon

1/8 tsp. ground cloves

1 tsp. ground ginger

1/2 tsp. white pepper

8 cups veggie broth or chicken broth (with no sugar added)

1 1/2 tsp. salt

Directions:

Soak lentils in cold water for one hour. Saute garlic in olive oil in a large pot. Stir in spices. Next, add in the lentils and broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer about one hour or longer. Add the salt and remove the cinnamon sticks. Puree about half the mixture and return to the pot.

This lentil soup almost tastes like chai tea with all of its wonderful spices. It's a great recipe to make if you want a lot of soup to eat for breakfast, lunch, dinner or snacks. I found it tasty for breakfast.