Candida-Friendly Soup Recipe

I’ve decided to start posting recipes that fit in with my Candida diet.  Most people have never heard of a Candida, so here is a definition in a nutshell.  Anyway, when I first realized I had Candida, it required a complete change in the way I ate. No more starches , processed foods, no sugar in ANY FORM, etc.  It is easier to list what I can eat than what I can’t eat. Basically I can consume  meat, veggies and some complex carbohydrates like rice and barley.  I can also eat grains no one has ever heard of like buckwheat, amaranth, and the like.  I was seriously depressed for quite some time because I was hungry and had no idea what to make that I could actually eat.  But with the help of my Mom, my sweet friend Carmen, and lots of experimenting, I have a pretty broad range of recipes to choose from.  So in case anyone else with Candida ever stumbles across my blog, maybe they can benefit from some of the recipes I’ve collected.

So all that to say, I threw this soup together last week when we all wanted something warm, satisfying and comforting.  It turned out delicious! All of the ingredients are Candida friendly except the potatoes.  Those can easily be eliminated and the soup is still tasty and, most importantly, FILLING!

Ingredients

3 cups chicken stock

3 cups water

1 large can diced tomatoes

1 small can Italian diced tomatoes

½ cup rice or barley

½ cup lentils

2 potatoes, peeled and cubed

2 small sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed

2 celery stalks, chopped

1 large onion, roughly chopped

3 garlic cloves, roughly chopped

1 lb. sautéed sausage

2 tsp. thyme

2 tsp. oregano

1 tsp. red pepper flakes

Salt and pepper to taste

Simmer all ingredients until veggies, rice and lentils are soft.

A Kerr Christmas

Our Christmas was a busy one! We celebrated Christmas Eve with hubby’s family and had a wonderful time.  Bri is at the age where she has fully grasped the meaning and excitement of “presents.” It was so fun to watch her tear into gift bags, rip wrapping paper and exclaim, “Ohhhh!!” when the present was finally revealed. 

Emmie had no clue what was going on, of course.  She did thoroughly enjoy being around all the family, especially Nana and Papa’s dog, Ralph. Ralph is massive golden retriever with the sweetest temperament you could ask for.  He let Emmie hold onto his ears and get right in his face, which sent her into fits of laughter. 

[caption id="attachment_273" align="aligncenter" width="491" caption="Emmie and Great-Grandmama Kerr"][/caption]

We also spent quite of bit of time baking.  Bri started baking sugar cookies with Grandma, but rapidly lost interest.  She may do better next year when she has more of an attention span. 

Six hours in the kitchen on Christmas Eve day produced these four gorgeous pies!  I was, and still am, so proud of how they turned out.  They tasted good, too, which was a real plus after all that time I spent on them!

Bri also gave us our first Christmas gift this year.  She went to the bathroom on her potty for the first time!! Best Christmas gift we could have asked for.  I guess this means potty training is looming on the horizon of our New Year!

Emmie also had a milestone on Christmas Morning.  She pulled up for the first time on her own and I got a picture of it!! My babies are growing up so fast!

Emmie Grace

My sweet baby is 8 months old. So far, my favorite age range has been 6-12 months with both my girls.  Emmie is still a soft, cuddly baby but she sleeps through the night (for the most part), responds, interacts and is nearly always happy. 

It’s so interesting to watch Emmie’s personality develop.  This child loves being around people and is definitely not reserved.  She watches everything Bri does with intense curiosity.  I don’t think she’ll grow up to be a person who does anything halfway.  Her enthusiasm for learning to roll over, crawl and pull up is adorable and kind of surprising.  Maybe that much zeal is normal, but it’s new to me, since Bri is so cautious about trying anything new or different. 

This is Emmie’s first Christmas and she has not mauled the tree as I feared she would.  Obviously, she’s touched it and I think she’s pulled an ornament off once or twice, but overall, she’s done well. 

Baths are a big hit with this little girl, just like they are with her big sister.  She loves to splash, chew on the toys and try to eat the bubbles, as you can seein the pictures below :)

Splish-Splash, I Was Takin’ A Bath?

Bri loves her baths, or “bas,” as she calls them.  She can’t strip down fast enough when it’s time to get into the tub.  She has a blast with the bubbles, the cups and the bath toys.  The only drawback is getting her hair washed.  Something about water in her hair triggers wailing and uncontrollable thrashing.  I have yet to figure out the cause of this.  But I digress.

This morning was a particularly whiny morning.  Nothing was making her happy.  She wouldn’t eat much, didn’t want to play with her toys and it was too early for a nap.  So when she followed me into the bathroom, whining, I told her to stop, use her words and tell me what she wanted.  She proceeded to point at the bathtub and say, “Bas, pease!” in the most adorable, pleading tone.  I told her it wasn’t bath-time yet.  She said, “No, bas, pease!!”  When she started trying to climb into the tub on her own, I gave in and lifter her over the edge.  She was THRILLED.  The child plopped onto her bottom, pulled out the bath toys and played in the dry bathtub, fully clothed, for an hour on her own.  I really thought she would want to get out when I left the bathroom, but she didn’t. She sat in there contentedly chattering and playing and didn’t even seem to realize that I’d left.

 

My Introduction to Organic Eating

My Mom bought me this awesome cookbook, Fresh Choices, last week and I've been pouring over it ever since.  It has tons of information about eating organic foods and why it is so much better for our bodies.  It has blown me away.  I always thought eating organic was unnecessary and kind of a waste of money, but not anymore. Since learning all of this new information I've been slowly buying a few organic items to get my feet wet, so to speak. In addition to being more nutritious, I've noticed the organic food I've purchased tastes so much better!  Last week, I purchased a pork roast that was free-range and antibiotic and hormone free.  I threw it in my slow cooker with an onion, three cloves of garlic and half a cup of water and let it cook all day.  It was the most flavorful, tender delicious pork roast I have ever eaten.  We polished off the last of it last night in pork fajitas.  Yum, yum. 

I tried the recipe below this afternoon and it was delish!

Orange Banana Smoothie

1 container (8 oz) organic vanilla yogurt

1 cup orange juice

1 fresh or frozen ripe banana, broken into pieces

1/8 tsp. ground cinnamon (optional)

Pinch of salt

In a blender, combine the yogurt, orange juice, banana, cinnamon and salt.  Blend until smooth and frothy, about 30 seconds.

Try it and let me know what you think!

Pumpkin Patch

I took Bri and Emmie to the pumpkin patch this morning.  It was a first for all three of us and we had a good time.  It would have been more fun if it hadn't been so hot.  It felt like a crisp fall morning when I was dressing everyone and by the time we got there, I realized I'd made a mistake by not putting us all in summer clothing.  Oh well, a lesson learned for next time.

 

 

[caption id="attachment_217" align="aligncenter" width="553" caption="Emmie on the hayride"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_218" align="aligncenter" width="614" caption="Bri on the hayride. She didn't seem too excited about it. "][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_222" align="aligncenter" width="614" caption="She had more fun in the corn pit!"][/caption]

My Girls

My girls are getting so big!  Brianna will be two next month and Emmie is six months!!! Crazy how fast time flies by.

[caption id="attachment_196" align="aligncenter" width="412" caption="Brianna - September 2010"][/caption]

 

Bri’s personality develops more and more every day. She says “otay day” which means “okey dokey.”  She says “uh-oh” ALL THE TIME. Whenever she does something she is proud of or excited about, she claps her hands and yells, “YAAYY!” She can point to and identify most parts of her body.  She loves to help me unload the dishwasher and is fascinated with closing doors, cabinets, etc. She’s more and more interested in Emmie and does try to help me with caring for her.  It’s so sweet.  Nick and I were commenting the other night that our “baby” has turned into a little girl all of a sudden.  She is so precious and makes me smile every day.  My first little love :)

[caption id="attachment_201" align="aligncenter" width="461" caption="Emmersen Grace - September 2010"][/caption]

 Emmie amazes me each day as she grows.  I swear, the child has no separation anxiety whatsoever.  She loves people and lots of activity.  She’ll probably be crawling in the next few weeks and is fascinated with the world around her.  She loves holding onto her chubby little feet and sucking on them!  When I bend over her crib to pick her up, she flails her legs and arms and squeals. I love her so much.

[caption id="attachment_197" align="aligncenter" width="614" caption="Me and my girls"][/caption]

Labor Day 2010

We had an awesome Labor Day Weekend this year.  Mom came to visit and we spent lots of time shopping and eating – two things which are always fun!  Bri got an entire new winter wardrobe, courtesy of Grandma, and loved seeing all the new items.  I think her favorite were her sparkly black sneakers…too cute.  She didn’t want to take them off. 



[caption id="attachment_182" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Grandma showing Bri another pair of new shoes. (Grandma loves shoes!)"][/caption]

We spent some time at the park since the weather was nice.  Nick got to chase Bri and I got to sit in the shade with Emmie.  I think I came out on the better end of that deal!

[caption id="attachment_183" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="My sweet baby"][/caption]





Another highlight of the weekend was this!! Can I just say YUM?!?!?  It received rave reviews, so here is the recipe if anyone is interested in trying it out. Unfortunately, I wasn't quick enough to get a picture before we started sampling!

[caption id="attachment_186" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Paula Deen's Peach Cobbler"][/caption]

Peach Cobbler

Ingredients

• 4 cups peeled, sliced peaches


• 2 cups sugar, divided


• 1/2 cup water


• 8 tablespoons butter


• 1 1/2 cups self-rising flour


• 1 1/2 cups milk


• Ground cinnamon, optional

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine the peaches, 1 cup sugar, and water in a saucepan and mix well. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat.

Put the butter in a 3-quart baking dish and place in oven to melt.

Mix remaining 1 cup sugar, flour, and milk slowly to prevent clumping. Pour mixture over melted butter. Do not stir. Spoon fruit on top, gently pouring in syrup. Sprinkle top with ground cinnamon, if using. Batter will rise to top during baking. Bake for 30 to 45 minutes.

To serve, scoop onto a plate and serve with your choice of whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

[caption id="attachment_187" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Top with vanilla ice cream and enjoy!"][/caption]

New Recipes

I’ve been working on cooking healthier meals and snacks in the past couple of weeks.  Since Emmie was born, I fell into the bad habit of throwing together anything that was quick and easy.  However, I knew it was time to get back on track when all the starches and processed foods started messing with me yet again.  So, I scoured the internet and came up with two new recipes and some healthy lunch ideas. 

Recipe #1

Breakfast Muffins

•  1 C Applesauce

•  ¼ C Nonfat Milk

•  ½ C Wheat Bran

•  1 XL Egg

•  3 Medium Bananas, Mashed

•  ¾ C Packed Brown Sugar

•  1 ½ t Vanilla Extract

•  ¾ C All-Purpose Flour

•  ½ tsp Baking Soda

•  2 tsp Baking Powder

•  1 tsp Salt

•  1 tsp Ground Cinnamon

•  1 C Quick Rolled Oats

•  ½ C Chocolate Chips

•  ½ C Chopped Dried Plums (Prunes)

•  ½ C Chopped Walnuts

In a small bowl combine applesauce, milk, and wheat bran and allow to soak for about 5-10 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray oil onto muffin tin. In a large bowl combine egg, mashed banana, vanilla, and brown sugar. Once it is mixed together, add the wheat bran mixture and combine. In a separate medium sized bowl, stir together your flour, baking soda, salt, baking powder, and cinnamon. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients slowly and gently stir to combine. Gently mix in nuts, prunes, and chocolate chips. Spoon batter into muffin tin and place in the pre-heated oven for 17-19 minutes depending on your oven. Allow to cool on a rack before serving.

These came out great!! I used flaxseed meal instead of wheat bran, dried apricots instead of prunes and  omitted the walnuts since hubby isn’t a fan of nuts in his food.  I doubled the recipe, froze the majority of the muffins and have been defrosting one for Bri every morning.  Nick takes these to work when he doesn’t have time to eat in the morning. 

 

Recipe #2

Roasted Garlic Hummus

• 1 can chickpeas/garbanzo beans (15 oz.)

• 2 tablespoons roasted garlic

• 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice

• 1 tablespoon olive oil

• 1/2 teaspoon oregano

Preparation: In a food processor, process beans, garlic, olive oil, lemon juice and oregano until desired consistency. If hummus is too thick, simply add olive oil in small increments (1/2 teaspoon) until desired consistency. Serve roasted garlic hummus garnished with finely chopped parsley with hot pita bread, pita chips, or veggies.

I added about a teaspoon of salt and it came out so yummy.  I decided to blog about the new recipes I was trying and ran to get the camera.

Nick: Why are you taking pictures of the food?

Me: You’re supposed to take pictures of your food if you blog about it.  All the pros do. AND it has to look pretty.

Nick: Oh… how does that look?



Me:  Well, that's a nice touch but I was thinking more along these lines.  What do you think?



Nick:  I like mine better.  It has more personality. 

I have to agree with him. Anyway, this is what I made for dinner.



I took a sundried tomato basil tortilla and covered it with a thin layer of basil pesto. Then I added pepperjack cheese, shredded chicken and lettuce.  I paired that with a helping of hummus and carrot sticks and had a delicious, healthy meal!

Dana Point

We flew out to California for a week earlier this month to visit Sue and my Dad. We stayed in Dana Point in a beach house that boasted a five minute drive to the ocean! It was amazing. The weather was incredible...it never got warmer than 75 degrees and the breeze was actually chilly at times. Nick and I were thrilled to be missing a solid week of blistering heat back home!

Bri had a great time at the beach again. That child simply loves the water. And, when she wasn't in the water, she was literally rolling in the sand! It was fun to watch her. Emmie did pretty well on the trip but didn't enjoy it quite like the rest of us did.

[caption id="attachment_156" align="aligncenter" width="201" caption="Bri discovered that sand can be thrown. Not cool."][/caption]



[caption id="attachment_150" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Bathing beauty!"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_149" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="My hunky beach bum!"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_152" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Doheny Beach"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_153" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Me and my honey"][/caption]



[caption id="attachment_154" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Dad and Sue"][/caption]