Mayonnaise

Ah . . . mayonnaise. Is there anything better for a sandwich or potato salad?

Originally "mayo" was designed as a food of necessity. A french chef on a ship, far out at sea, realized that all he had to make for dinner was some eggs, vinegar, and oil. By combining these three things he created mayonnaise! Now, realistically thinking this probably did not help him much with dinner, unless he was making egg salad. Which I highly doubt.

After that this condiment became uber popular with the french nobility. Kings were eating it with meat, Dukes were spreading it on potatoes, and lords were just eating it with a spoon. That's right. Mayo was not exiled to the underside of the bun, but was placed center stage on the table. Mayonnaise was an art form. What happened, you ask? Well, first the American Revolution, then the great depression. Finally everyone in the United States came to the grand revelation that food had to come condensed in a can, sealed in a bottle, or packaged in a chip. Voila! Twelve different types of pure white semi-solid mayo-ish substances appear on every markets shelves.

Today, however, there is a grand movement to bring back the dignity and prestige mayonnaise once had. Some of the driving force behind this movement are those with allergies. Many people with allergies are unable to buy commercially available mayo, if the oil is not offensive, then flavorings or packaging disqualify it. Because of this many have gone back to the old fashioned way of supplying their homes with mayonnaise . . the food processor. Okay that is not entirely true, but who has the forearm strength anymore to continuouly whisk for five minutes? If you can, well more power to ya, but I can't. My arm would give out after the first 30 seconds.

The key to making a mayo that will stay emulsified in the fridge is the constant motion of the food processor. Without this motion the oil, egg, and lemon juice separate and it just looks disgusting. I personally use raw eggs for this. I hope that doesn't bother you.

Mayonnaise

2 Eggs (free-range, organic are a definite must!!!!)

2 Tbs Lemon Juice

2 1/2 c. + 2 Tbs Canola Oil

2 tsp Kosher Salt

Put eggs, lemon juice, and 2 Tbs of the oil to the food processor. Let it run for 60 seconds.

Then add the rest of the oil in a drizzle or by pouring it into the pusher thing on top of your food processor if it has a small hole in the bottom.

Allow to run till all the oil is incorporated. It will be thick.

Add salt. Pulse a couple of times to blend in the salt.

The mayo will keep for two weeks in the fridge.

Our Players.

Blending the egg, 2 tbs oil, and lemon juice.

Pouring oil into pusher.

Beautiful.

Blackwing Meats

I just recieved my bi-monthly order of meat, and thought I'd show you all what it looked like.

Here it is!! It weighs 50 lbs.

Here's Zander checking it out.

Cutting open the box.

Inside the box is lined with 1 1/2 in thick styrofoam.

It's filled with packing peanuts and a large metal bag.

The metal bag closed with tape.

There on the left is the dry ice. Normally it has melted by the time I get my shipment, but this time there was some left. My sisters had some fun with that!

The meat is completely frozen when you get it.

Here is my full freezer, stocked with venison, goat, pork, lamb, bison, elk, and beef.

I need to buy a bigger freezer.

Name Change

You might notice that my blog name and url has changed since the last time you were here. The reason for this is that I wanted the information and recipes on this website more accessible to those with multiple allergies. I feel that if a person who has to deal with food difficulties, they shouldn't have to deal with difficult search engine results  too. You know?

Anyway, that is not the subject I wanted to write about today. On my last post I mentioned that I wanted to tell you guys about some of my favorite hot spots on the inter-web to find some great allergen-free products.

Blackwing Quality Meats

Blackwing is a nationally recognized name in the healthy & organic meat industry. They have also been offering healthy organic meats to retail and wholesale customers in North America for more than 15 years.
They offer consistent quality, lean, healthy meats with no hormones or additives, including Organic Beef, Bison, Chicken, Ostrich and more. In fact, Blackwing is a leading supplier of meats to 5 star chefs throughout the U.S. They know their product... they have been providers of healthy meats for more than 15 years. I personally buy my bison, ostrich, pork, elk, beef, goat, venison, and lamb from them.

Now they are on the pricier side, especially for the 3 day shipping which is required for frozen meats. I cannot stress enough how amazing it is to have so many different meat options available at a reasonable price, especially if you are on a rotation diet. The quality of the meat is amazing as well. The beef is free-range and organic. The ostrich is fed a special diet high in flax which actually bolsters the amount of omega-3's in the meat. The lamb and goat are the only all natural hormone and antibiotic free meat I've been able to find on the Internet. I love Blackwing Quality Meats. With their meat I've been able to keep a 5-day rotation diet.

I promise you will not be disappointed. If you are interested, send me an email and I can get you 10% off your total order.

ChefShop

I've only just started ordering from here, but I love the quality of the products this site has. My favorite item is probably the Tamarind Concentrate. I've used it to make delicious sauces, it also says that you can make a drink from it . . . hmmm maybe I'll try that soon. :)

                                 Plus, for shipping, they have a great deal: 12 lbs for $9.99. Oh yeah!

 If you live in Seattle go ahead and stop by their warehouse:

1425 Elliott Avenue West  Seattle, WA 98119

World Spice Merchant

They strive to find the freshest flavors on the planet and provide them to you in an informative, casual setting. For people with allergies, finding different spices is crucial in the prevention of allergic reactions. This store gives you a plethora of options! I buy my Cream of Tartar for my Corn-free Baking Powder at $1.25 an ounce, which is a steal in comparison to $4.95 for a little glass jar. If you want to visit their store:World Spice Merchants 1509 Western Avenue

Seattle, WA 98101

Amazon

I know this is probably a very obvious choice. Your probably thinking, "Ha, you loon, we all know Amazon." But, I just love it sooo much! I can peruse and window shop as much as I want without feeling guilty. I buy cook books, health books, pans, and cooking utensils. I love that I can buy used, save money, and get an exceptional product. Just remember to not buy used pans because they might be contaminated with gluten!

I visit these websites all the time. If they had website frequent flyer miles, I'd be flying to Paris tonight! Trust me you'll love the quality of the products from all of the purveyors on this page.

Little change

I thought the site could use a lil' change. I wasn't completely digging the other template. What do you think? Doesn't it look pretty?? :)

Have you ever noticed, when you watch "Deadliest Catch" you start to feel cold? Like, freezing cold?

 And you really want some fish?

I know I do.

Just a thought.

Cold and Blustery

It was a cold and blustery day here in Southern California. Of course, it was probably the same for most everyone in the United States. It's the kind of day that makes you want to eat something warm and filling. Speaking of warm and filling, how about some grits?
I know what your thinking, "I thought this was a corn-free blog?"
Well, it is!
Goodness people. . .  you must learn to control yourselves!

Typically a food served in the south, I have never had grits before. Then I found Bob's Red Mill Millet Grits at my local health food store. Millet Grits are a whole grain and contain 20% Iron per serving.

These grits cooked up really easily, I added Rice Cheddar Cheese, salt, and pepper. They tasted great like chunky cheesy mashed potatoes-ish. I would definitely recommend them as a side dish, not really as a breakfast cereal. They are a little too chunky. Now I don't really know what people in the south put in grits, maybe some of you southerners can enlighten me. I think these would taste great with some Rice Jack Cheese and diced green chiles. Yum.

Do any of you out there watch Oprah or Dr. Oz? I bet you do. Well, you might have seen an episode Oprah did on Blue Zones. A Blue Zone is a region of the world where people commonly live active lives past the age of 100 years. Well, I happen to live 15 minutes from the only Blue Zone in the US. Oh yeah! This gives me the unique oppurtunity to shop at some pretty amazing health food stores. My most favorite store is Loma Linda Market in Loma Linda, Ca. Dr. Oz actually visited this obscure little university store when he came to visit Loma Linda. If you live anywhere near by you should absolutely check it out. It's amazing. They have a large gluten-free section, as well as a huge bulk flour section. LLM has the best prices I've seen for the Bob's Red Mill and Arrowhead Mills products.

I would also recommend Clarks Nutrition and Natural Foods Market, they have locations in Loma Linda, Rancho Mirage, and Riverside. Clarks has a great selection of organic frozen berries, gluten free baked goods, gluten free flours, raw foods, herbs, and dairy-free butters, cheeses, and yogurts.

So these are a couple of my favorite resources. Next time I post I'll let you in on my favorite online resources.

You know what I love more then anything else? Ribs! Specifically, baby back ribs! Oh they are soooooo delicious. Juicy and tender. Succulent and crunchy. And the best part is that ribs are naturally gluten-free, corn-free, and soy-free. But you must make sure that the BBQ sauce you use is corn-free and gluten-free like Bullseye BBQ sauce. Anyhow here is what you do for perfect ribs.

Prepare your ribs with a sprinkle of olive oil, salt and pepper.
Bake at 250 degrees for an hour and a half.
Spread with BBQ sauce and bake for half an hour more at 400 degrees.
They will be PERFECT! Like these:

Don't they look juicy!

Comments

Hey everyone! I noticed from my views counter that people out there in cyber space are reading my blog, and to them I thank you! However not one of you has left a comment. People you are killing me! Drop me a line, send me a cyber carrier pigeon, write me a note; in short, leave me a comment. Anything. Please? Okay, I'll be here . . . waiting.

Ch-Ch-Chia!

Ugh. I have a cold. Or a virus. Or a trojan horse. I don't know. One of those.

I hate being sick. My head is fuzzy and stuffy.

But on the other hand it did give me a lot of time for one of my other favorite pastimes. . . Knitting.

 I love to knit. I taught myself how to knit from a book I bought when I was 14. So, recently my mom asked me to knit her a hat, like the one I made for my sister. We went, bought the yarn, and I got started knitting. It took me about 3 days to finish the hat. It had a little brim that curls up, and a knit flower on the side. She loves it, and it keeps her warm during the winter. Now my dad and other sister both want hats. I was having a really difficult time finding a pattern for my dad's hat. So I found a unisex pattern and started working on it. When I finished the hat and sewed it off, it looked ridiculous. I realized it looked like a girl-y Rastafarian hat. Cool for a girl. Weird for a middle aged guy. So next my mom tried it on, but she is so small that no matter how she tried, it slid off her head. Now my sister Eden tried it, and LOVED it. So now I am up to my ears in knitting requests from my family. But I don't mind, like I said, I love to knit. I'll post pics when I'm feeling better. Then you guys can tell me what you think!

Okay, so you all know I'm trying to lose weight, but what you don't know is that my father is too. He only has a little bit to lose, like 10 or 15 lbs, but he unfortunately has an achilles heel. Biscotti. I started making biscotti because I thought it would be good to have something in the cupboards for my family to snack on. My dad tried one biscotti and he was hooked. No matter what flavor I baked, he ate them up, he is like a biscotti addict. The middle of last week I baked up four different flavors of biscotti. My pantry was stocked. On monday I checked the pantry and found that there was only eight biscotti left. My dad and youngest sister had eaten them all!! Thats about ten biscotti a day! I was shocked. Now my dad says I need to hurry up and feel better so I can make more. Hahaha. So here is my favorite type of Biscotti. And bonus it's actually healthy for you! Boo-yah!

This is not the best photo sorry! Still working on my photography skills.

Chia Coconut Biscotti

3/4 c. Amaranth Flour

1/2 c. Tapioca Starch Flour

1/2 c. Chia Seed Meal

1/2 t. Xanthan Gum

1/2 t. Salt

3/4 t Corn-Free Baking Powder

1/2 c. Spectrum Organic Shortening, cholesterol free

1/2 t. Vanilla

1 t. Imitation Coconut Flavoring ( I use McCormicks because it is Corn-Free)

1/2 c.Sugar
3/4 c. Splenda ( you can try replacing all of the sugar with Splenda, that is my next step)

4 Eggs

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Line a square cake pan with parchment paper or spray with non-stick spray.
3. Mix together the flour, chia, xanthan gum, salt, and baking powder. Set aside.
4. Beat the butter until creamed, then add sugar and flavorings. Beat the eggs in one at a time.
5. Add the dry ingredients, and mix until just combined.
6. Pour batter into pan and bake for about 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
7. To cool, place damp paper towels on loaf and cover with aluminum foil and let cool.
8. When cooled wrap loaf in foil and freeze for a couple hours or overnight.
9. Preheat oven to 325 degrees, and cut down the middle into two loaves, then slice each half as thinly as possible.
10. Lay out  on a cookie sheet covered with a silpat or parchment paper, and bake for 15-25 minutes.
11. Take the cookies out of the oven as soon as they start to brown, don't wait until crispy. They will completely crisp up later.

This recipe makes about 60 biscotti. FYI these are 47 calories each.