AIP Spicy Ginger Turmeric Turkey

My wheels are always turning when it comes to AIP-fying my favorite recipes. Since going AIP with a lowFODMAP watch, I haven't had any spicy food with the removal of nightshades. I knew I need to find a way to add some spice back on my plate. In this recipe, I am using ginger to add the kick, it is more like a zing with a little slow burn. If you want more heat, just add more ginger. The slow baking method makes the turkey nice and tender. The turmeric and acorn squash can almost convince me to be enjoying a mild curry. 

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AIP Spicy Ginger Turmeric Turkey

Serves 4                      Prep time 30-60 mins                  Cook time 2 hrs

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 lbs boneless turkey breast with skin on

For marinade:

• 2 green onions
• 3" ginger root
• 1" fresh turmeric root or 1 tbsp  turmeric powder
• 2 tbsp Apple Cider vinegar ( I use Bragg's brand)
• 1 c water
• 1 tsp sea salt 

For sauce:

• left over marinade
• 1/2 cooked acorn squash
• 1/2 c bone broth ( 

Instructions

1. Put all marinade ingredients in blender and blend until smooth
2. Put turkey breast in plastic bag and pour marinade to cover
3. Squeeze all air out of bag and knot bag
4. Let marinade 30 to 60 mins
5. Set over to broil 
6. Take marinaded turkey out of bag and keep remaining marinade to make sauce with
7. Broil turkey in pan for 10 mins
8. Turn temperature down to 275 F and slow bake until cooked, about 1 1/2 to 2 hrs

To make the sauce:

1. Heat leftover marinade and bone broth at medium heat in a small pan until boiling 
2. Add acorn squash and cook for 5 mins
3. Remove from heat and use hand blender to blend until smooth

For serving, slice turkey into pieces, pour sauce over and garnish with cilantro or parsley

Virtual Book Tour - The Alternative Autoimmune Cookbook review

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One of my passion is healing with foods and nothing gets me more excited to find great resources to support my goal in life. I am so excited to be part of this book review tour. Thank you Angie from Alt-Ternative Autoimmune for inviting me on this Virtual Book Tour.

The night I received my e-book copy of Angie Alt's The Alternative Autoimmune Cookbook, I wish I had the hard copy in my hot little hands being the cookbook geek I am

Graphically speaking - the layout is clean simple with a cheerful color scheme.

I find it easy to read and welcoming. If there is such a thing as a graphic novel cookbook, this is pretty close to it.

Almost all cookbooks about healing foods start with the elimination phase, Angie follows up with a clear Reintroduction instructions, which can be the scary part of a new diet.  Angie breaks it down to easy to understand and follow steps. I am sure her Food reaction checklist will help a lot of people take the guessing out of, was it the food? dye offs? my imagination?

If you are still confused about the reactions, the Food Journal page will help you track your progress and make it more clear what could be the culprit to a reaction. My food journal has been one of my greatest healing tool.

I caught on to Angie's smart and sneaky intention where she inserted articles, like the emotional aspects of Autoimmunity, in between sections of beautifully photographed dishes and recipes.  Each recipe is labeled with which stage or phase they belong to. Just when you are thinking hard about " can I do this?" you are wowed and encouraged by more mouth watering AIP friendly recipes.

Yes you can.

The Butt manifesto is hilarious and addresses body image in a light and fun way.

There are so many recipes I want to try but the one I went with is the Homey Beef Stew. This recipe is in her Stage 1 category but easily fits into the Elimination phase by removing the black pepper.

I was excited to use my organic rainbow carrots and grass fed beef stew cut in this dish to make it even more colorful.

The only thing was my slow cooker was already in use, making a big pot of bone broth. I didn't feel like taking out my other ( yes, I have two) slow cooker, so I pulled out my vacuum pot to give it a try.
Angie's usage of a carrot and beets puree along with tapioca starch makes a the best, thick and hearty AIP gravy. She also mixes two kinds of vinegar to create a flavorful tartness and can trick anyone into believing there was tomato paste in the stew.

I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a guiding hand towards healing with food. If you would like to get a copy of this awesome Alternative Autoimmune Cookbook, here is the link for the e-book and the hardcopy.

Thanks for reading and Happy Healing in the Kitchen with the Alternative Autoimmune Cookbook

White soup

Serves 4                      Prep time 10 mins                  Cook time 30 mins

Ingredients

• 1/2 a celery root ( about 4 inches in diameter ), peeled
• 1/2 head of cauliflower
• 1/2 purple skin yam, peeled
• 1 tbsp bacon fat ( or fat of your choice )
• 2 whole cloves of peeled garlic ( don't smash it if you are on low FODMAP)
• 2 c. bone broth
• sea salt to taste

Optional: 1 tsp nettle tea leaves

daikon cabbage slaw or sauerkraut as garnish

Instructions:

1. Melt fat in large deep pan over medium heat
2. add garlic and turn heat down to low for 5 mins
3. You are making garlic infused fat for the flavour here
4. Remove garlic and discard let someone else in the family use it
5. Add coarsely chopped peeled vegetables, sautée on medium heat for 10 mins, add 1/4 c water to prevent it from scorching
6. Add broth and cook on low heat until the vegetables are soft
7. Blend with hand blender, add hot water to get the consistency you like
8. Stir in nettle tea leave for some extra iron, I garnished mine with daikon cabbage slaw.

My husband was craving for a white bean soup for days, so I whipped up this AIP low FODMAP version of a white soup. I am starting to infuse some higher FODMAP foods like garlic and onions in my cooking fat to add some flavor. I think it is better than the bean version, try it and tell me what do you think?

Chinese bunless burger in broth

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Ingredients

• 1/4 lb ground meat of your choice
• I used grass fed beef here
• 1 tbsp tapioca starch
• 1/4 c. chopped vegetables of your choice
• here I used beets with the greens and shredded zucchini
• 1/2 tsp  or more minced ginger
• a bunch chopped parsley
• 1 stalk of chopped green onion
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• Optional: vary the flavor with you own tolerable herbs and spices. Rosemary, oregano and cilantro are great choices. 

Instructions

1. Mix all ingredients together 
2. Spread mixture on a shallow dish with a lip to catch the juice from steaming
3. Steam for 15 minutes
4. The meat will shrink up floating in a delicious bath of broth

My steaming set up 

I use a large pot that will fit the size of my dish, with a little extra room to get my plate retriever tongs in while placing or removing the dish. I place a steaming wire rack like this one inside the pot, and fill water up to the height of the rack. I love the plate retriever tongs because I love steaming my food. After the water comes to a boil, I use my plate retriever tongs and place the dish into the rumbling water, I put on the lid and let it steam. 

Last month was extremely busy, I was starting to feel better and managed to keep up with the added demand and switch in gears.

Despite feeling a sense of accomplishment I was really looking forward to this month.  December is usually not a month I look forward to in the past. The weather changes to more grey and wet days but this year I feel different about it. 

This morning I found new perspective, it's only been a few days into the new month and I expected that I can adjust to the changes with the snap of my fingers?  I have decide to regroup, reset and focus on my yoga practice again. Yoga has always led me back to a place where I want to be. With gentle restorative yoga back on my plate, I can get back to more mindful meal planning. The busy month did rekindle an childhood comfort food that has served me well. I stopped making it when I cut out eggs in my diet but figured that using tapioca starch in place of gives a smoother texture. Here is my go to one dish comfort meal - steamed meat cake which I am calling it Chinese unless burger in broth. You can vary the herbs and vegetables to your liking as my recipe is AIP low FODMAP.

Eat to Live

NOW CLOSED

It was the night before I was to meet my visiting cousin for lunch. I haven't been feeling the best in the gut and have just started a new ( stronger ) dose of homeopathic remedy so I was nervous about where I could eat out. My cousin is also on a gluten free diet now too so I searched a bit harder to find a safe and enjoyable place to meet. I didn't feel like driving out to Vancouver to find a place where I could possibly indulge in a gluten free menu that is possibly filled with corn, soy, dairy and eggs, let alone Paleo options. I decided to type in "Paleo restaurant Vancouver" again, to see if something new will pop up.

The Living Cafe popped up, oh and it in Steveston. Bonus!

I liked their moto "Eat to Live". I reviewed their menu online and was wishful this could be a new addition to the far and few places where I can eat out.

I remember this location was a RAW food cafe before and it didn't look very busy, so I never bothered to try it. However I didn't know it had changed into a gluten and peanut free/ vegan and paleo option restaurant a year ago.

Herbivore Hash

Gluten free Quinoa Chocolate chip cookie for little man

Egg Free, refined sugar free chocolate chip cookie for me

As always, I asked the server what kinds of gluten free flour they use in their bakings and she smiled and said she could bring me the ingredient list. To my surprise she brought a thin binder filled with listings of every ingredient in all their baked goods. I was a little overwhelmed but impressed with how detailed they were. Later I learned the owner/ chef, Amanda Kroetsch is a celiac. I admire and applaud her dedication to open up a business that caters to an audience that has to be one notch above healthy eating, some of us are healing our bodies with food. The reason why any restaurant that caters to restrictive diet seems to be niche is because most people with special diets have limited choices and usually have to cook and eat at home. We have to plan ahead all the time or suffer the consequences of off limit poor food choices. Depending on the level of food sensitivity one has, it can be have a serious affect on someone. We cannot pop in anyway to grab a quick snack.  Until now, maybe some of us can take advantage of the curb side delivery service The Living Cafe provides or head on upstair for sit down.

What is so different about The Living Cafe is even though the chef is a celiac and her focus could be mainly on gluten free food, Amanda also offers many Vegan ( which means no egg or dairy ) and Paleo options on their menu.

In their retail section, you can find gluten free baguettes, breads and bone broth to take home.

Being on the AIP ( Autoimmune Protocol)  low FODMAP eating plan, I still have to ask and read up on the ingredients.  At The Living Cafe, the time and care they have taken to list all their ingredients for their customers have taken the anxiety out of the equation for me.  There are seeds used in some of the baked goods, but having the knowledge of the ingredients list helps me make proper food choices.

I look forward to making this one of my safe and relaxing eating out place. 

My healing soup

The sniffles have been hitting our household. First the older one got it, then the little one and me. Today I brought the little one along ( since he is missing school ) and went to the market to get all the ingredients for my healing soup. I'm sure every family has their recipe of a go to healing soup but here is mine.

Healing Soup

Ingredients 

• 1/2 chicken or 2 lbs of chicken parts 
• 10 carrots, peeled and cut into 3" length 
• 2-4 celery stalk, cut into 3" length  
• 1/2 to 1 whole onion
• 1/2" or more ginger root
• 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar 
• Sea salt to taste 

Instructions 

1. Added 10 c filtered water to slow cooker 
2. Remove skin and fat from chicken, rinse and add to cooker. 
3. Add prepped carrots and celery
4. Add Apple Cider Vinegar, and tolerated herbs and spices. 
5. Cook for 3 hrs on low, loosen chicken meat from bones, remove bones. 
6. Take carrots out and blend. 
7. Add back to soup and cook for another hour. Sea salt to taste.  

Here I added leftover beef and carrot stew to it to make a hardier meal. 

AIP crispy pork belly

Lately I have been really obsessed with making crispy pork. I had forgotten that as impressive as it looks, it is really quite easy and quite to make. The challenge is to find AIP friendly spices to create the traditional Asian crispy pork taste. I have made this one more of a fusion version, but I think the real importance is the crispy skin on top right?

AIP Crispy Porky Belly

Serves 4                      Prep time 10 mins                  Cook time 1 hour

Ingredients

• 1 lb. Pork belly ( pasture is best, I buy mine from Big Bear Ranch, BC, Canada )
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
• 1/4 tsp ground clove
• 1/4 tsp ginger powder
• sea salt
• juice of 1/4 lime

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 475F, bring pot of hot water to boil ( big enough to semi submerge only the skin down)
2. Scald pork belly skin only in hot water for a minute or so. The skin will shrink and tighten.
3. Lay pork belly skin down and sprinkle and all spices on meat and sides, squeeze lime juice on meat side too and rub well. 
4. Put seasoned pork belly ( skin side DOWN)  on wire rack roasting pan and roast in oven for 10-15 minutes
5. Take pan out and flip th pork belly over exposing the skin side. Prick skin with shape knife. Rub Sea salt on skin and roast for another 25-30 minutes until skin is golden brown and crispy.
6. You may need to broil it on High for 5 mins if the skin is not bubbling.
7. Remove from oven, let cool for 5 minutes, cut and serve. I like to squeeze some lemon juice over the meat before serving.