As I'm sure many of you know, often times people diagnosed with Celiac Disease will notice during the course of their recovery that there are a bunch of other foods they don't tolerate well. I already knew that dairy isn't a thing for me. It just isn't. It hurts. And gives me gas. Apparently, as I've recently discovered, my body also won't do corn. The other day, I had a corn and mixed bean salad for lunch and then a cob of corn with dinner and my body was pissed. I felt like I had been glutened (which remains possible), but looking back on what I'd eaten that day, everything appeared to be in the clear. Then I consulted my trusty friend Google and it seems that there's a protein in corn that is similar to gluten, and thus some very finicky individuals have a hard time with corn. I'm hoping that after a year or so of healing, my body will get the hell over it and be fine. I recognize that this may just be a temporary thing. I'll wait it out and try in a year.
Anyways, I've totally digressed! I discovered that corn and I can't be friends right now which lead me into a panic attack the other morning getting ready for work. I had made a double serving of this corn and bean salad and packed half away with the intention of taking the other half for my lunch. This was no longer an option. At seven in the morning, after a restless night, I had to figure out a safe lunch to make last minute before I ran out the door. My blender that I use for breakfast smoothies was dirty and I didn't have the time/energy to wash it. I was in a state. I stood in my kitchen just staring into space for about five minutes trying to control my breathing before I finally came up with a plan. I called work and told them I'd be a few minutes late. I threw on a pot of brown rice. I shook up my protein powder with almond milk and ate a banana. I managed to work through it, but I spend the rest of the day shaky and exhausted. I clearly need a better plan then just winging it!
So today, I made up a two-week meal plan. Smoothies for breakfast; nuts, seeds, fruit, veggies, and hummus for snacks; and varying combinations of lunches and dinners. I also made up a grocery list so I know what I need to buy each week to make it through my meal plan. I'm quite impressed with how it looks too! The goal is healthy, gluten-free, clean eating vegetarian and vegan meals which will fuel my training and help my body heal. In order to avoid anxiety, I will continue to alternate between these two weeks for as long as I need to until I get my bearings and develop some diet staples! This will mean that I will always know what I am eating and make sure I have the groceries to make it with, and a plan for when all my meals will be prepped. If that doesn't work, I may take to drinking. I'm kidding. Sort of.
Also, I have a recipe to share! Now originally my plan for the evening was to make the Carrot Cake Chia Pudding from the recipe found here:
http://www.veganricha.com/2014/05/carrot-cake-chia-pudding-vegan-gluten.html
However, when I starting making the pudding it was already 7 pm. I was not excited about the idea of roasting carrots and stuff before setting the chia seeds to soak up the liquid. If I did that, my pudding wouldn't be ready for ages... and I really wanted it now. So I modified the recipe a little and am very happy with the results. The following is my modified-version of the above recipe.
Raw Carrot Cake Chia Seed Pudding:
Serves: One very hungry person or two tiny persons
1 Large carrot, peeled and finely grated
2 Tbsp chopped raw walnuts
1 Tbsp maple/agave syrup
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger powder
1/8 tsp ground cloves
dash of ground nutmeg
1 Cup unsweetened almond milk
2-3 Tbsp chia seeds
1. Peel a large carrot and, using a grater or food processor, shred finely. If you're like me, you end up grating only about 4/5 of the carrot because your arms gets sore and you stop caring. Grate as much as you think will be delicious. The finer grater you use, the less crunchy your carrots will be. Mine were very skinny which gave a pleasant texture. Also, the more carrot you use, the more orange your pudding will be. I like the colour orange, so I ran with it.
2. Add all the other ingredients into a bowl with the grated carrot and mix it. I like to keep things simple. It all ends up in the same place. Whisk that shit up. The sooner you get it done, the sooner you get to eat it. If I'm being totally honest, I eye-ball things more than I actually measure things. The nice thing about the spices is that you can mix it up according to your tastes. I add more ginger because ginger makes me happy and is good for you. Do what makes your taste buds happy. What you end up with is a liquidy, carrot-cake looking mixture like this:
3. Cover it up with whatever the hell you can find and stick it in the fridge for at least two hours or overnight to allow the chia seeds time to soak up the liquid. For me, it was really about an hour and fifty minutes before I just couldn't wait any longer. But don't worry, it was still fantastic!
4. Eat it. I'd love to say that this picture you see above shows the true beauty of this pudding. It doesn't. It's kind of an orange, sludgy thing. The flavour, however, is truly spectacular. Reminiscent of leftover carrot cake you ate straight out of the fridge in the middle of the night with a giant spoon while nobody was watching. No? Just me? Even better though, because it contains none of that nasty, intestine-shredding gluten we all know and love.
Bottom line: I am a fan of this pudding. It was easy to throw together and enjoyable to inhale as a before-bed snack. I also don't feel guilty eating it as it's low in sugar and high in fiber. Yay winning!
Anybody have some late night binge-eating-worthy chia seed pudding recipes to share?
No comments:
Post a Comment