Personal note

     Yesterday, my Mom just got out of the hospital. She's ok now, but it was a 2 week ordeal. What sent her there in the first place were pains in her stomach and diarrhea. She of course feared the worse. The CT scan showed a good bit of colitis. I asked my Mom what she had been eating lately. She said that she had been having a lot of corn on the cob; delicious and in season. Can't blame her. This may have started it. They also found a kidney stone which may have caused some of the pain. Then they told her that she had a bladder infection and started her on antibiotics. She also had a colonoscopy and endoscopy. After she had been in there a few days with the diarrhea, they started giving her glucerna to get her calorie intake up. This made the symptoms even worse. The hospital then began testing her for c diff, a very nasty bacteria that you can catch in the hospital while on antibiotics. It causes extreme dirarhea and is very hard to stop. First they said she had it, then they said she didn't, then did... Back and forth for a week. Finally they concluded that she never did have it; it was colitis all along.

     Now I'm sure that there may be a genetic link here. My Mom is going to work with her diet and see which foods she has a sensitivity to. This thing does seem to run in families. I'm not sure if I can get my Mom to change her diet too much, but we'll see. She's 74 years old, it's going to be difficult. She's going to start by eliminating corn products and see if that helps. Thank goodness she is home now and recovering from her ordeal.

If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to write:
lynne1408@earthlink.net

Corn free, gluten free bread

     This is a recipe for corn free and gluten free bread. Bread is the one thing that you may miss the most on this diet. There are some gluten free breads in the health food stores, but they don't compare to this one. Even my daughters like this one, and they don't need to eat corn or gluten free. This bread tastes almost like corn bread and is slightly sweet with a course texture.

*3 whole eggs plus 1 egg white
*1 tbs apple cider vinegar (white vinegar is a corn derivative)
*3/4 cup milk or milk substitute
*2 tbs oil (canola)
*2 tbs sugar
*3/4 tsp salt
*1/2 tsp baking powder (featherweight; other baking powders contain cornstarch)
*1 tbs ground flax
*1 and 1/2 cup rice flour
*1/4 cup oat flour
*1/4 cup almond flour
*1 and 1/2 tbs baker yeast
*2 tbs gluten free oats

     DIRECTIONS:

      *in large bowl mix wet ingredients
      *in separate bowl mix dry ingredients and yeast
      *slowly incorporate the dry into the wet ingredients
      *grease 1 bread pan with canola oil
      *pour batter into pan (Note: it will not be doughy)
      *sprinkle top with gluten free oats

This makes one loaf.

No need to have it rise. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 to 50 minutes.

     This won't be a super high bread, but it is really really good and really full of fiber. I ate mine with peanut butter. It was quite satisfying. You can also try other flours in this and see how it comes out. I sometimes use soy flour, but limit it to no more than a 1/4th cup.

   

Mushroom broccoli soup

     This soup is great for using broccoli in your garden. Most commercial soups contain starches to thicken them up. Most starches are corn, wheat or derivatives. Make sure to use the Imagine brand mushroom soup for this base. The color of this soup is a little weird, but the taste is really good. Don't be put off by the looks.

*1 quart Imagine brand mushroom soup
*3 potatoes, peeled and sliced
*1 pint fresh mushrooms
*1 head fresh broccoli
*2 cups milk



---Cut broccoli and steam in microwave
---boil potatoes till soft
---in large pot, empty soup base and cook on low heat
---add steamed broccoli, cooked potatoes and fresh mushrooms
---continue to cook on low for about 20 minutes, stirring once in a while
---put soup and fresh milk in blender, a cup at a time, then add back to pot
---continue to process the soup with the milk until almost all of it is smooth. I like to leave some chunks in the soup and have some whole mushrooms floating on top.

Pepsi Throwback

     I was very happy yesterday when I found Pepsi throwback in the store. It had been out last year for a limited time. It is made with sugar, instead of corn syrup. This is a real treat for me. If you can only make one change in your diet, this may be a good place to start, especially if you drink a lot of soda pop. Enjoy! (:

homemade apple sauce

     As part of the BRAT (banana, rice, applesauce, toast) diet, applesauce seems like an excellent choice for when you're flaring or having diarrhea. But if you have a sensitivity to corn syrup, as I do, the applesauce can make the flare even worse. I make homemade applesauce using my crock pot. This batch was made using July apples, which are slightly tart. It's nice and chunky and tastes really good when served warm. It freezes very well too. I just took a batch out of my freezer and couldn't tell the difference.

-10 medium apples (mixed variety)
-1/4 cup sugar
-1/2 cup water
-cinnamon to taste (I like a lot)


     Peel and cut up the apples into the crockpot. Add the sugar and water. Cover the pot and cook on high 3 hours. Open and add cinnamon. Stir and use potato masher for desired consistency. I like mine to be really chunky; but it can be worked with to make a smoother consistency.

spinach egg omelet

     My daughter wanted to enter her own addition to my blog. She made this beautiful spinach omelet. She cooked the egg very slowly and added fresh spinach when the inside was nearly done. Then she continued to cook it until the outsides browned slightly. Sometimes she also adds a little bit of cheese along with the spinach.

gluten free, corn free waffles

     This is what I had for breakfast yesterday. These waffles (gluten free and corn free) were good and my daughters ate them and liked them. My oldest daughter said that she couldn't tell the difference from regular waffles. I like to really dress mine up with peanut butter, banana and pure maple syrup. I always use the maple syrup since the commercial syrups are mostly corn syrup. This is also a nice hearty meal if you have recently lost a lot of weight. The box comes with 6 waffles.

Glutino cookies

     These are just plain yummy. Even my daughters, who don't need to eat this way, love them. I actually found these at Walmart. Our local Walmart now has a gluten free section, though very small. These taste almost like a kitkat bar.

Trigger foods

     After reading a lot of posts, it seems that some people may have certain trigger foods which sets off their Crohn's, while other people have reactions to other foods. I found my trigger foods by keeping a food diary and keeping careful track of everything I ate and drank and the reactions. It became very clear to me that my trigger foods are wheat, gluten and corn.

     I can not assume that avoiding these trigger foods will help all people. I can only hope that it will help some people. I have eliminated these foods from my diet entirely. That is all foods that contain these ingredients and foods that contain derivatives of these foods, such as white vinegar (corn derivative), ketchup (contains corn syrup), mustard (vinegar), soda pop(corn syrup), soy sauce (contains gluten), powdered sugar (made with corn starch), mayo (vinegar), maltodextrin (gluten and corn) and many others. I've had to make a lot of substitutions. I've read hundreds of labels. I've eaten and tracked the results, sometimes not so pleasant. In the end, I've found a way to prevent my flares from coming back. I am selling nothing. I do not represent the products that I talk about. I just reference them, it they have been useful to me and my diet.

Stonyfield yogurt

     I found a yogurt that I can eat. I love chocolate and this is really yummy. It is made with sugar. This comes in fat free and regular. This is chocolate underground flavor.

     I've really missed macaroni and cheese...until now. I found this Annie's macaroni and cheese that is made with rice pasta. Ok, honestly, it's not nearly as good as regular kraft, but in a pinch, it'll do.

Long grain and wild rice

     Here is another one of my staples.I  only use the Near East brand. Uncle Ben's has some ingredients that I can't eat. I know that rice is good, but plain rice can be boring. This is flavored rice, without any added starches. Also, there is no maltodextrin that other flavored rices have. It is very easy to make and goes with anything. The wild rice adds to the nutritional content.

Gluten Free chex

     This is one of my new favorite cereals. It is gluten free, and more importantly, corn free. I will not buy the chocolate or honey nut gluten free cereals since they do contain corn meal. This one is really really delicious. It's also very portable so I can take a bag of it with me in case I'm hungry and there's nothing safe to eat. It is also conveniently available in the grocery store.

Mints

     Well, I have finally found a mint that I can tolerate. I like the cinnamon flavor of these altoids. They are made with sugar. Other mints have corn syrup and starches. But be aware, the mini version of these mints is made with corn starch.

Cookouts

The summer is now upon us. It is the season for grilling out and getting together for cookouts and cook-ins. Remember, the way that I have beat Crohn's is to avoid all corn, wheat, gluten and their derivatives. What to avoid: corn on the cob, potato salad, coleslaw, processed hot dogs. Safe things to eat are pure burgers, lots of fresh fruits and Hebrew National hot dogs. The salads are unsafe as they usually contain vinegar, a big corn derivative. Of course these salads could be made with Veganase and apple cider vinegar. The Veganase can be found at some health food locations. I get mine from out local Co-op. It's no fun to go to a get-together and avoid certain things. I also feel very inhibited asking my host/hostess all the ingredients in their foods. Most people are very willing to let you know everything in their recipes and may even change their recipes to fit your needs. It takes minutes to eat, but days or weeks to recover from a flare. I'd rather be very very sure what I'm eating.