Cook-in Sauce

You lucky, lucky people.  Two posts in as many days.  ;)  Anyway, I thought I should blog an outstanding find this lunchtime, Co-op 'truly irresistible' Karahi cook in sauce.  I read the ingredients once.  I read the ingredients twice.  My eyes did not deceive me.  There was no sugar!  Just onion, tomatoes, yoghurt and a host of authentic spices.  Sounds absolutely delicious.  Bought some fancy-pants 'Elmwood' chicken too.  Shall have a lovely curry tonight!

Recipe: Super quick and easy flat bread

Very flat bread! By Basheem

Perfect for breakfast emergencies!

Serves many, best freshly cooked and serve warm.

Super quick and easy flat bread

3 cups of rye flour

1 - 1 1/2 cups of warm water

salt

vegetable oil

Put flour and a good pinch of salt in mixing bowl. Make a well. Add a small amount of water and mix together. Continue to add the water to the flour until a soft dough forms.

Pull off a small piece of dough, roll into a round. Place on a floured board and press flat until around 1 cm thick.

Add a small amount of vegetable oil to a small frying or griddle pan. Add flat bread to pan and cook either side for a minute or so, until golden brown.

A perfect accompaniment to savoury dishes.

Diabetic Hampers

Look what I've found! Of course, there's no guarantee that all the contents would be anti-Candida friendly, but it's a start.

Vegetable Bouillon

Just a quick note about Marigold Swiss Vegetable Bouillon (Reduced Salt). It's completely Candida diet friendly, suitable for vegans, and has less salt than the Kallo Yeast-free stock cubes. And a much more pleasant taste - very herby, and curry-powder free! Look for the purple tub!

Some new (to me) products

A new health food shop has opened just down the road from me, and I was delighted to find that they stock LOADS of Candida diet suitable products, including a few I haven't come across before:

Brilliantly they had at least three varieties of yeast-free (naturally leavened), wholewheat bread produced by The Village Bakery. I've been trying out the Organic Campagne. Dense in texture, but makes very good toast. And very reminiscent of my own attempts at sourdough a few weeks ago.

They also stock Savoury Seed biscuits (crackers, really), again made by The Village Bakery. Spicy and slightly crumbly, they make a nice change from plain oatcakes.

Finally, I found Biona Lucky Stars in their chiller cabinet. Made from tofu and vegetables, they're a great fridge/freezer standby. Probably aimed at children, but that doesn't bother me!

Super noodles!

In my local health store the other day, I was delighted to come across a packet of Sanchi Organic Ramen (wholewheat) with Seawood minus all the usual crap you find in other brands of instant noodles. And jolly nice they were too. I chopped up a couple of spring onions to add to the broth, just to give a 'home made' veneer to my lunch (makes me feel less guilty for using convenience foods!). Not something to eat everyday, but makes a good store-cupboard emergency standby - and helps to indulge my need to eat like a 'proper' student from time to time. ;)

Recipe: Beany shepherds pie

Here's a recipe for a vegetarian shepherds pie which has the same look and consistency of a 'normal' shepherds pie made with minced lamb. It was devised by my Mum over my Christmas break and went down very well with a meat-eating friend for whom I cooked it last week. It's packed full of fibre, is very frugal and can be made predominantly from store cupboard staples, providing you have an onion and a potato or two hanging around.

Beany Shepherds Pie

Serves 2

cooked lentils (consult the packet for quantities per person)
1 tin of Whole Earth baked beans
small onion
two large potatoes
yeast-free, vegetable stock cube
tomato puree
two cloves of garlic
freshly ground pepper
small amount of goats milk
small amount of olive oil spread
vegetable oil for frying

Cook the lentils and drain well. Meanwhile slice the garlic, dice the onions and lightly fry. Add the lentils. Cook for a few mins. Add a good squirt of tomato puree (about a tablespoon's worth). Stir in. Break up the stock cube and add to the mixture with freshly ground pepper to taste. Add the baked beans, mix well and check seasoning. Turn low and simmer.

Boil and mash the potatoes with a dash of goats milk and a couple of heaped teaspoons' worth of olive oil spread. Put the lentil/bean mix in a deep, oven safe dish. Use a fork to cover evenly with the mashed potato. Cook in the oven at a fairly high temperature (200 degrees C) for about 20 mins, or until the potato has browned.

Serve with peas and extra gravy if required.

Convenience food

Apologies for my long absence. It's nearly halfway through the month already and I haven't yet posted anything for January. Part of the problem is that I'm still at home in Suffolk on an extended Christmas holiday. I'm being cooked for and not getting the opportunity to experiment with anti-candida recipes as much as I would normally. The other factor in my elusiveness is my limited access to the Internet. And when I do get a chance to get online, I'm having to rely on a painfully slow dial-up connection. The other stuff I blog for my Department tends to take priority, meaning 'The Cardboard Diet' gets bumped down the 'to do' list. Oh well, I'll do my best to rectify the situation in the coming days and weeks - promise!

So, until I get a chance to get back in the kitchen, here's the low down on a few anti-candida friendly convenience foods I've recently found in the supermarkets.

Tinned Soup

Sainsburys' So Organic Spicy Lentil and Mixed Pepper Soup - yet to try this. Sounds good, but I wasn't very impressed with the other soups in their So Organic range I've previously tried. But, I'm prepared to give it a go.

Heinz Special Root Vegetable and Barley Broth - now, I was AMAZED to find this. Not necessarily because it is an okay Heinz soup, but because - with it being a Heinz soup - it should be available from most shops, helping to make life that little bit easier. I tried it at lunchtime. It's really not bad. It includes big chunks of parsnip and swede and slices of carrot which make it look fairly 'home made'. Plus, the addition of the barley is lovely. Little on the gloopy side for my taste, but beggers can't be choosers as they say.

Rice

Have been meaning to blog this for ages. Uncle Ben's produce a microwavable wholemeal rice, with nothing in it except rice, vegetable oil and salt. A great store cupboard standby. The whole pack just takes a couple of mins at full blast in the microwave to heat through. It's hard to believe it would be as good as freshly cooked rice, but seriously, it is.

Tinned tomatoes

Equally I keep forgetting to mention Sainsburys' So Organic Chopped Tomatoes, which are thankfully free of citric acid and any other additive nasties. My only criticism is that you do tend to get a lot of 'end' pieces in these tins (y'know - the bit where the stalk used to be), but if you're not fussy, that shouldn't be a problem. And if you are as fussy as me, you can always fish the offending chunks out of the tin before you use them!