Low FODMAP Ninja

Former stuffing addict here. I could have cared less about the turkey or mashed potatoes - stuffing made with potato bread was always my favorite part of the meal. Nothing compares to that, but this year I’ve created my best low-FODMAP stuffing yet.  Although the cream of chicken soup I use is not totally low-FODMAP, I’ve found that I can tolerate small amounts of onion and garlic powder so long as I’m fairly strict with the rest of my meal.

Ingredients (for approx 5-6 servings):

• 1 loaf Udi’s whole grain bread
• 3/4 cup green onion, chopped
• 1/2 cup celery, chopped
• 3-4 tablespoons butter
• 1 12-oz box Pacific foods gluten-free condensed Cream of Chicken soup
• 1 egg, beaten

Instructions:

• Sauté green onions and celery in butter over gentle (medium-low) heat until soft (about 15 minutes). 
• Chop bread into 1/2 inch cubes; place in large bowl.
• Combine egg and soup. 
• Mix green onion/celery in bread cubes. 
• Add egg and soup to bowl; mix until evenly coated.
• Grease 9”x9” baking pan. 
• Press bread mixture into pan. 
• Cook approx. 45 minutes at 325-350 F (depending on other oven items) until browned around edges.  

This takes awhile to boil down, but is tangier and healthier than the stuff in the can.  Although cranberries are currently deemed to be low-FODMAP, don’t go overboard on your serving size.

Ingredients (by volume):

• 2 parts cranberries
• 1 part (or less) water
• 1/4 to 1/2 part packed brown sugar OR maple syrup (you may want to add more - I prefer my sauce to be more tart than sweet)
• Optional: pinch cinnamon; orange zest to taste

Instructions:

• Rinse cranberries and place in large bowl of water.  Discard any stems and berries that are white or mushy, or that do not float.  Discard water.
• Measure remaining cranberries by volume. 
• Add berries to 1 part (or less) water and brown sugar in large pot. 
• Boil lightly until all berries have popped.  This can get messy; I recommend a splatter guard or a lid that allows for steam to escape (otherwise it will take forever to boil off the excess liquid).  You may want to assist the popping of berries by smooshing them against the side of the pot with a spatula.  Be careful - the berries will be VERY HOT when they pop.  You probably will want to wear an apron or other clothing that won’t show cranberry stains.
• Reduce heat to medium and continue cooking, stirring regularly, until sauce reaches your desired consistency.  I cook mine until I can see the bottom of the pot for a few seconds after stirring (i.e. past the point that the liquid would immediately fill that empty space). 
• Add optional ingredients, if desired.
• Pour into glass containers and chill before serving. 

Again - because this is a reduced form of the fruit, be careful with how much you eat so as to not overload your FODMAP digestion capabilities.

I tried making baba ghanoush last weekend and it was terrible.  I oven roasted the eggplant instead of grilling it or “grilling it” on my stovetop.  I’m sure that would have made a difference, but not solved my issue.  Anyone have a good recipe?

Growing up, Campbell’s condensed Bean with Bacon soup was always one of my comfort food staples.  This weekend I decided to try the can that had become a longterm resident of my pantry.  With the help of a little bit of Beano, and drinking a lot of water, I was able to eat half of the soup Friday and half on Saturday with no noticeable effects.  Huzzah!  

Since I’m predominantly a fructose malabsorber, and the pinto beans contain galactans, this fits with my findings that my FODMAP issues are generally only with excess fructose and fructans (and polyols).  If you’ve been tested for fructose malabsorption and have been avoiding all FODMAPs, definitely try challenging galactans to broaden your options. 

Now I have the confidence to try making hummus from scratch with canned chickpeas.  Exciting!

My local Trader Joe’s recently started carrying seafood - very exciting!  When I’m not feeling particularly ambitious, I’ll pick up some salmon or tilapia, heat a tiny bit of oil or butter in a pan, dry the fish, season with a dash of salt and pepper, and cook it for a few minutes per side until done.  I like it with a spinach salad or roasted veggies, or perhaps a splash of gluten-free soy sauce and a side of rice noodles and green onions.  Fast and easy!  

Well, there’s no substitute for a flour-y, wheaty wrap, but these will have to do.  Found these in the regular bread section at my local TJ’s.  Microwaved it 10-15 seconds to make it more pliable, as these tend to break easily.  I rolled mine around some canned chicken, bacon, cheddar, spinach, and a little mustard for dinner tonight.  

I might try making quesadillas with these - I’m not sure how well they’ll toast up, but I’ll update if I do. 

(image source)

Once again, King Arthur comes to the rescue in satisfying my dessert cravings.  This time it’s the Gluten-Free Cookie Mix.  I mixed in about 1 cup of chocolate chips, put the dough in the fridge, and baked up a batch the next day.  The cookies were incredibly soft once they cooled.  The gluten free flours used in the mix create a silky cookie texture - very different from wheat flour but delicious nonetheless.  The mix is on the sweeter side for my taste, but I still ate the whole batch.  Next time I might switch up my add-ins; a commenter on the KAF website mentioned they added cinnamon and oatmeal.  

(Note - I don’t get paid for products I post here - I just eat them and like them.)

(Adapted from Betty Crocker’s Creamy Potato Salad)

It’s just about summer, which means it is time for some potato salad!

• 2 pounds medium potatoes (I recommend Yukon Gold and I do not peel my potatoes)
• 1.5 cups mayonnaise (I use Trader Joe’s regular (non-organic))
• 1 Tablespoon white vinegar 
• 1 Tablespoon yellow mustard 
• 1 teaspoon salt 
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper 
• 1 cup green spring onions, chopped (green parts only!)
• 1.5 cup celery, chopped 
• 4 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
• 1/2 cup chives, chopped
• Paprika (for color)

1.  Boil potatoes in covered pot until tender, drain.  Let stand until cool enough to handle.  Cut into cubes.  

2.  Mix mayonnaise, vinegar, mustard, salt, and pepper in large bowl.  Toss with potatoes, celery, green onions, and chives.  Stir in eggs.  Sprinkle with paprika.  Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours to blend flavors and chill.  Store covered in refrigerator.  

This salad goes great with anything on the grill or by itself.  

Okay, I literally cannot stop eating these.  Thank goodness I’ve been hitting the gym a lot.  

(I promise I will get some non-blurry pictures of everything on this blog at some point.  Until then…)

Full credit to Kate Scarlata for this recipe - I made a few tweaks for my personal taste.  I also refrigerate my dough because I like how it gives the cookies some structure.  Try not to eat it all before it goes into the oven.

Ingredients:

• 1 stick (8T) butter, at room temperature (this is very important - if the butter is too hard/cold, it will not combine well)
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup oat flour (I use Arrowhead Mills Organic Oat Flour)
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 3/4 cup chopped cashews (CAUTION!) or walnuts (Kate uses walnuts, I prefer cashews! I tried pecans but I didn’t love the flavor.  Peanuts might work, though.  ****Obviously, don’t use any nut that gives you FODMAP-related symptoms.  Cashews seem to be kind to me but I try to not eat too too many of these cookies at once, as cashews do have some FODMAPs in them.  So - use with caution but if you are past the elimination phase, see if cashews can work for you because they are delicious! ******Seriously if cashews give you grief, don’t eat them, as they have been recently labeled a FODMAP offender.)
• 1 oz. Gharidelli 60% bittersweet chocolate or other high quality baking dark chocolate (I actually don’t like a lot of chocolate in my chocolate chip cookies, so add more if you do), finely chopped/shaved  OR 3/4 cup dark chocolate chips, unchopped (I tried this recently and preferred it to the shaved chocolate)

Instructions:

• Mix butter and sugars until creamy.
• Blend in egg and vanilla.  (I usually whip mine for a while because I think it helps the cookies get slightly fluffier)
• Stir in oat flour and baking soda.
• Fold in oats, nuts and chocolate.
• Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes (longer is better, if you can manage not to eat all the dough).
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Shape dough into small pucks, about 1/2 inch thick and 1.5 inches in diameter (I make a circle between my index finger and thumb as a rough guide for size).
• Bake for about 11-13 minutes–should be slightly gooey in middle but every so lightly browning on the bottom and edges.
• Let cool for a few minutes on baking sheet after removing from oven. 

WARNING:  This stuff smells so good when it’s baking that it may induce erratic behavior, including trembling, impatient outbursts, and excessive drooling. 

(Adapted from Chow.com Turkey Meatloaf)

Ingredients:

• Butter or cooking spray, for coating the pan 
• 2 pounds ground turkey breast 
• 1 cup quick-cooking oats 
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/3 cup Simply Heinz ketchup (no high fructose corn syrup!)
• 1/2 cup chopped green spring onion/scallion
• 1.5 tsp dried parsley (crushed)
• 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce (this doesn’t bother me in this small of an amount, omit or decrease if you’re sensitive)
• 2 tablespoons gluten-free low-sodium soy sauce (I use Tamari)
• 1.5 tsp dried thyme leaves (crushed) 
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Instructions:

• Heat oven to 400 F
• Grease loaf pan/baking pan
• Wash your hands!
• Place all the remaining ingredients in a large bowl and mix until combined (don’t squeeze or overwork)
• Transfer the mixture to the pan, spread to the edges (or in a loaf shape if not using a loaf pan - I do it this way), and smooth out the top
• Bake until cooked through, about 1 hour (until thermometer indicates internal temperature has reached 180 F)
• Let sit 10 minutes before serving (hard, I know)
• ENJOY.

(adapted from SkinnyBlog)

These are great by themselves or on top of pasta.  The trick is to make sure the cheese is frozen prior to baking the sticks.  I haven’t had complete success preventing the cheese from oozing out of the crust (it could be the lack of glutenous flour) but hey, it’s baked, melted cheese - I’m not complaining. 

Ingredients:

• 12 sticks part-skim, reduced sodium mozzarella string cheese (Sargento), frozen
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 2 tbsp gluten-free flour (I use King Arthur Gluten Free All-Purpose Flour)
• 5.5 tbsp gluten-free breadcrumbs (I use Glutino Breadcrumbs)
• 2 tsp parmesan cheese
• 2 tsp dried parsley
• 2 tsp dried oregano
• 1.5 tsp dried basil

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 400 F. 
• Line a baking sheet (with sides) with foil and lightly oil.
• Remove frozen cheese sticks from packaging and cut in half to yield 24 pieces.
• Place flour on a plate; beaten egg in a bowl; and breadcrumbs, parmesan, and herbs in a second bowl, stirring to combine.  (Be sure to release the flavor of the dried herbs by crushing the leaves with your hands to turn them into a finer powder.)
• Roll the frozen cheese sticks in the flour, then tap to remove excess. 
• Roll the cheese sticks in the egg bowl to coat. 
• Place the cheese sticks in the breadcrumbs bowl and gently shake or stir until coated. **
• Place coated cheese sticks on oiled foil on baking sheet. 
• Bake for 3-4 minutes.  Turn.  Bake for another 3-4 minutes until crust starts to turn golden brown OR until enough cheese oozes out that you feel silly calling them mozzarella sticks. 

** - the original recipe calls for the sticks to be placed back in the freezer at this point.  This is probably not a bad idea because I have yet to successfully bake them without the cheese melting too soon as I cannot wait this long for melted cheese once I start making them.  I will try to experiment in the future and update if I can manage it. 

Let’s get this out of the way:  there’s no substitute for wheat-filled, gluteny pizza. We have to accept this. 

Phew.  Okay.  On to the good news:  there is a way to have FODMAP-friendly pizza! Here’s how I do it:

1a.  Schar Gluten-Free Pizza Crust

This stuff does not come cheap, but it is better than many others I have tried.  Bonus (for some): it is also soy-, egg-, and preservative-free. 

1b. King Arthur Flour Gluten Free Pizza Crust Mix

I had a box of this in my kitchen for more than a year (and in fact it was past the expiration date!) but made it recently and was pleasantly surprised.  I would recommend trying this if you have some more time to burn (on a weekend, perhaps) as the dough requires resting/rising time and additional baking time.  The box makes 2 crusts-worth of pizza and has a texture closer to real pizza than the Schar crust can provide.  I would recommend making it on the thinner side (which can be tough because the dough is very, very sticky) because the thicker pieces tasted very obviously starchy to me.  That said, I made this with a friend who is not FODMAPping and she was either very honest or very kind and said that it tasted like real pizza and was very delicious.  

The bonus of 2 pizzas is a lot of leftover pizza! I have some in the freezer just waiting for me to pop in the toaster oven to reheat.  Yum. 

1c.  Gluten-free english muffins - I found some frozen english muffins at Whole Foods (orange label - can’t remember the brand - oops!) and they made perfect lil pizzas:

2.  Mario Batali Pizza Sauce

What’s this you say?  A pre-made sauce with neither onions nor garlic?  Yes!  And it’s tasty, too.  Must be the San Marzano tomatoes.  In a pinch, for a substitute, I use Prego Three Cheese pasta sauce (which contains small amounts of garlic).

3.  Part-skim shredded mozzarella cheese - I use the frozen kind and apply directly on top of the sauce.

4. Finely-chopped green spring onions (green parts only, of course!).  Maybe also some sliced pepperoni (check the ingredients!) or very thinly sliced red peppers … and possibly a mushroom slice or two per slice of pizza, if you can handle them.

5. A sprinkle of grated parmesan cheese. 

I oil the bottom of my crust with high-heat olive oil and bake at 15-20 minutes at 425 F until the cheese turns golden brown at the edges, taking care that the crust does not burn on the bottom.  I generally try to only eat half the Schar-crust pizza in a sitting, but sometimes I’m really hungry and only have 1/4 of the pie left over at the end.  A small price to pay for a FODMAP-friendly pizza that hits the spot.  

Glutino makes a tasty FODMAP-friendly line of pretzels.  

I’ve eaten these plain, with cheddar cheese, and with nuts, and also drizzled melted dark chocolate on top for dessert.  

I don’t like to eat too much starch because it’s easy to get into starch overload, but sometimes I just need a pretzel.