Date night in Cleveland

While in Cleveland visiting family and friends, we set aside a night to go out on a date. There are a lot more restaurant options for me in Cleveland than in Las Cruces, so we were pretty excited. After searching the internet for a bit, I came across some info on the Black Pig and decided that would be a great spot for dinner.

The Black Pig is located in Ohio City, a historic neighborhood on Cleveland’s west side and home to the amazing West Side Market. I moved from Cleveland in 1995 and have visited Ohio City maybe a handful of times, and the last time was at least 5 years ago or more. There are a lot more restaurants than I recall from my last visit.

For dinner, we sat outside, which was lovely since eating outside in the summer is just not possible in the desert. I opted for the roasted half chicken (without ricotta) and Eli had the steak. Both of our dinners were excellent and the service was warm and friendly.

After dinner we decided to walk around the neighborhood a bit, since it was such a lovely evening. It was a Thursday, so there weren’t a lot of people out, but certainly more than you see out most nights where we live! We decided to drop by the Market Avenue Wine Bar for a glass of wine. We loved our wine so much we decided to stay and have more. What a great place! The bartenders were knowledgeable and very friendly. I had the best viognier I’ve ever tasted and swore I made a note in Evernote about it, but can’t find it. Eli enjoyed a moscato. We decided that next time we head to Cleveland, we’ll certainly drop back for a glass of wine (or two).

Zucchini Sushi Rolls

Tracie and I are gearing up for our wedding in a month and a half, which means we’ve spent a lot of time looking at different food items that she, and some of our other reluctantly high maintenance foodie friends, can eat without triggering anything.  (I have a Pintrest board of recipes I’m going to try and modify in the near future.)

Since we found a caterer who is sensitive to food issues, it gives me space to try some of the things on that board.  Today, I went with the zucchini sushi rolls that I pinned from In Sonnet’s Kitchen. I followed the recipe I found there pretty much verbatim, except that since Tracie can’t do cashews and she can do rice, we used organic California sushi rice instead of the soaked, pureed cashews.

Essentially, here’s what you do:

1. Slice zucchini using either a vegetable peeler as was suggested, or a mandolin (which is what I used. Fancy, I know).
2. Put rice, vegetables, avocado, cream cheese, cilantro… and/or whatever you like, at one end of the zucchini.
3. Roll
4. After the first go (below) I got toothpicks to stick in the rolls, as they kept coming unrolled.

They came out well, if I do say so myself.

They came out so well that I made them again the next day for Sunday Dinner with our framily.

 

Adobo Grill-Indianaoplis

Eating out brings a lot of anxiety and uncertainty given my food sensitivities and allergies. I’ve found that some waitstaff are more knowledgable than others. Those who lack knowledge make me nervous. Those who are willing to ask folks in the kitchen more questions always make me feel a bit more relaxed.

We were in Indy visiting family and wanted to a date night out. We searched for different places that had gluten free menu options. After some deliberating, we chose a Mexican place, the Adobo Grill. Perhaps we were missing home after being in the Midwest for nearly two weeks.

When we entered the restaurant we were promptly greeted and I asked about a gluten free menu. Instead of a look of confusions, extended time searching for a menu, the host happily provided us one and seated us. Our waitress arrived at our table soon after. I explained some my food restrictions, and we ordered drinks and some guacamole (mixed table side, so I was able to choose what they put in). When the waitress came back to take our order, she told me she had checked with the the kitchen and identified the times on the menu that I could eat. She also reminded me not to eat any of my partner’s meal as it had ingredients that I could not have. All of this was conveyed with warmth and kindness, making me feel like I wasn’t a nuisance to be dealt with.

I had salmon, and it was really tasty. Eli had enchiladas, which she really enjoyed. The guacamole was really tasty and fresh. Overall, it was a really tasty meal.

The service was the most outstanding aspect of the evening, through. Being treated with such warmth and care went a long way toward me feeling relaxed and enjoying my meal. The folks at this restaurant are nice people who really care about their customers. I will certainly visit them again the next time I am in Indy.

Enchiladas and Happiness

Enchiladas might be might be my favorite food of all time. Especially when super hot and topped with an over-easy egg.

But chile, of any variety, is on the no-go list for Tracie. She’s also a little tired of your mundane chicken dish. I, mighty Chef eli, took to the internet to see if I could satisfy her desire for a more interesting chicken dish and my desire for some tasty enchis. What I came up with was a chicken enchilada with a red pepper sauce (and almond cheese, because, you know: lactose intolerant).

Red pepper chicken enchiladas. View original on Instagram at https://instagram.com/p/4RhfyaSNcW

So recipe.

Red Pepper Sauce
*Note: Canned chicken for us = not an option, so I had the chicken breasts cooking in the toaster oven while I was working on the red pepper sauce.

6 large red peppers
~1/4 cup chicken stock
salt, pepper, and whatever other seasonings strike your fancy (or you can have with your diet)

1. Cut peppers into strips and boil until tender.
2. Combine a quarter of the cooked peppers with salt, pepper, seasonings and chicken stock in the blender. Blend.
3. Blend the rest of the peppers, a quarter at a time, into the sauce in the blender.
4. Season to taste.

One of the things Tracie is trying to get me to do is cook more at a time so we have leftovers and I’m not spending an hour and a half every day preparing dinner. Casserole style enchiladas it is.

Enchiladas

2 chicken breasts, cooked
corn tortillas, quartered (I used between 12 and 16)
shredded (almond) cheese
red pepper sauce

0.5. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
1. Grease the bottom of a 8×8 casserole dish.
2. Pour enough sauce in the dish to coat the bottom.
3. Place tortilla quarters over sauce, slightly overlapping.
4. Chicken > Cheese > Sauce > tortilla. Repeat.
5. End with a layer of cheese.
6. Bake for 20-25 minutes

I was so very happy with the outcome; I’m already thinking about making it again. If you give it a go, let us know how it turned out for you.

Blueberry Shortcake

On our way to the grocery store today, Trace says, “What I really want is like a strawberry shortcake. With blueberries.” Strawberries are on the IC unclear list, and store-bought shortcake is definitely a no go. So naturally, being the kind of person who enjoys cooking for their partner, I went to Google to see what I could find. The first recipe I found that I liked was from Betty Crocker, and called for gluten free Bisquick, which was unfortunate since (if I remember correctly) there’s something in there Tracie can’t have.

But that’s okay. King Arthur Flour to the rescue. When we finished, Tracie, my taste tester, went on a rampage about how amazing they were, which makes me happy. It’s not often she gets a desert that isn’t coconut milk ice cream.

Basically, I followed the recipe substituting King Arthur Flour Pancake mix for the Bisquick. I ended up using maybe 1/4 cup of milk instead of 3/4, so my recipe looked something like this:

Blueberry Compote (Tracie’s part — I don’t know how much of each she used. She should write a post about her compotes. We put them on pancakes instead of syrup, too)
Blueberries
Water
Agave Nectar

Shortcake, which is adapted from this recipe.
2 1/3 cup King Arthur Flour Gluten Free Pancake mix
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter (5 1/3 tablespoons)
1/4 cup milk (though you may not need all of it)
3 beaten eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla

And then follow the directions exactly as they are on Betty Crocker’s site. They’re fabulous.

We were thinking about a few other ways to use this recipe. Tracie suggested putting fruit in the batter to make it more like a scone. I was thinking they’d be great stew biscuits if we removed the sugar. Dinner or desert, these were awesome.

Root Cafe-Lakewood, OH

Whenever I visit Cleveland, I always spend some time with my pal who grew up across the street from me. We’ve been friends since we were 3 and always have a good laugh when we’re together. She lives in Lakewood, so on my way to her house (or when I leave it), I try to stop at the Root Cafe for something yummy to eat and a beverage. In the past this was coffee, but I can’t have that now. When I visited in December, I stopped for some tea and a bought a gluten-free cookie that was super yummy. What I really appreciated was that there was someone who was there who could tell me every single one of the ingredients used in cooking it so I could determine if it was on the safe list for IC. All of the ingredients were on the safe list, with the exception of chocolate, but I didn’t let that stop me (I only had a mild reaction to the chocolate). The cookie was really yummy and I devoured it in no time at all. In fact, I think I bought two, hoping to share one with my friend, but ate it before I got to her place. Yes, I’m horrible, but she’s forgiving. Particularly since I have limited food choices.

The Root Cafe has more than just bakery items on their menu. They have pizza’s, sandwiches, breakfast, and all sorts of other yummies to fill you up. Their menu indicates what items are gluten-free and vegan, and are happy to answer any questions you have about their food. They buy much of their food locally, and also support local artists and musicians by offering spots to exhibit art, or book musicians to play. Check out their website for more info on events and art.

 

A banana and two eggs walked into a bar…

I found a recipe through Facebook for this super simple recipe. You guessed it… All you need is one banana and two eggs. Mash the banana until smooth then mix in two eggs. Then cook them as you would pancakes. I have tried this recipe a couple of times. Both time they were really good. Once I added in an extra half a banana to thicken it up and this time I added a little bit of baking flour. Both turned out to have the same consistency. I think this recipe is one you can play around with to get it just right for you. I added frangelico the first time and it was great. I imagine vanilla being the same. They are naturally sweet and no syrup is required. That is a lot coming from me because I like sweet! If you are like me and tend to eat mono-meals this is great for a healthy quick breakfast or snack and takes very little effort and time. It would also be great as a side at brunch.

So what happened when a banana and two eggs walked into a bar? I don’t know…

Liz the lazy, not as funny as she thinks, cook

mySymptoms Food and Symptom Tracker

I recently downloaded mySymptoms to my Ipad so that I can keep better track of different food triggers. I am impressed with this app, which was developed by SkyGazer Labs. I checked out a few different ones, but this one seems to be the best. You can track food and symptoms, and you can even include medications, supplements, exercise, and environment, which makes it easy to customize to suit your needs. They have a list of common symptoms, but you can also add your own, which I did to track different IC symptoms I experience. It works with android, iphone, and ipad.  and you can learn more about it from SkyGazer Lab’s web site.

Support

For folks with food allergies and chronic health issues, having a great support system can help to alleviate some of the stress experienced from those issues. I feel very grateful to have such a great support system. In the past, reaching out for help has been difficult. Showing others that I am vulnerable used to always feel like such a huge risk, and I did not want to appear as “weak” or “needy” to others. Various life challenges have taught me the value in reaching out to others and I am getting better at asking for help.

When I was first diagnosed with IC, I struggled. Liz, my fellow blogger, was a huge support. I recall dropping by her house one day and standing in her living room crying because I was so frustrated. We traveled together from Memphis to Las Cruces last December, and it was really easy to travel with someone who had similar food issues. Each time we were hungry, we consulted phone apps and tried to find a place that would accommodate our combined food issues. We crabbed about the lack of choices offered, and celebrated when we found a place that had yummy food AND we didn’t experience any reactions to said yummy food.

My partner is another huge source of support. Sometimes the thought of going to the grocery store will bring me to tears. On those days, she offers to go instead. She knows that I love food, so she seeks out new recipes and tries to modify them to accommodate my food issues. When I am in pain, she tries to find ways to soothe it. There have been a few times when we ate out and I was tempted to eat something I shouldn’t, and she gently asked if I was sure I wanted to risk it.

On Sundays we regularly get together with friends for Sunday dinner. My friends ask me about what food I can have, and are sure to make adjustments to the food so that I have something to eat. They make sure I get salad before any vinegar is put on, they use rice noodles instead of regular ones, and they always ask “hey, can you eat…”. I am so grateful for their attention to this. It’s a small thing to some, but to me it feels like a lot.

Spending time focusing on the gratitude I feel and expressing it to those who have been so supportive helps me feel better. It really helps when I’m having a bad day with food or pain, because somehow it takes the focus off the pain or limited food choices, and replaces it with feels of warmth and love. This doesn’t mean I ignore my real feelings, it just helps me to shift my perspective a bit. If you’re not used to reaching out for help from others, or letting others know what you’re going through, give it a try. It will make your food issues easier to cope with.

Who Moved My Cheese?

Who moved my cheese? is a great book about change, fear, and acceptance. In my case, it is figurative and literal. I love cheese but cheese does not love me. It has been a life long, unhealthy relationship. Initially, after finding out that I cannot have casein my love for cheese grew stronger. Over time I learned to live without cheese. But there are times that most of us with food restrictions go through when all we want is to eat ‘cheese’. I found myself this week eating a lot of cheese. My self pity overrides my common sense (and, frankly, my concern over others’ discomfort around me at these times) and I refuse to change. Accepting change is hard. Maintaining it can be just as hard.

Who moved my cheese? points out that we need to alter our behaviors in order to let go of fear and embrace change in order to survive. If we don’t chaos ensues and our well-being is threatened. So someone moved my cheese. So what? We all need to ask ourselves is it about the cheese or is it about being told I can’t have the cheese.  Why fear change? Use the maze you were put in and focus on the positive.

Movement in new direction helps find new ‘cheese’. Life moves on and so should we.

~from Who moved my Cheese?

Liz the lazy, cheese eating – cheating, cook