The first couple of weeks of having no beef, no pork and nothing made from beef or pork (no broth, no smoked meat for seasoning, no butter, no milk, no cream, no cheese, no sour cream, etc.) was a bit difficult. One of the reasons it was more difficult than I anticipated is that we have plenty of beef and pork in the freezer, as well as lots of canned beef and pork. The canned meats can be soups, enchilada meat, raw pack beef and pork that cook completely while in the canner. I’m so used to cooking mostly with beef and pork and occasionally using chicken and seafood that it really has been a struggle to come up with recipes.
On the menu for today was tuna steak, cannellini beans, baked sweet potatoes and tabbouleh salad. We had a meeting this afternoon at 2 so I knew I had to get most of the cooking done ahead. Before we left to go to the meeting, I added a ginger to a bit of pineapple juice and let the tuna marinate in that, then all I had to do to cook it was add a bit of soy sauce, sear the fish in a skillet and then pour in some fresh pineapple juice.
The cannellini beans caused me to do some thinking because I usually add a bit of smoked pork fat to season my beans. Any time I smoke a pork butt or brisket, I save the fatty portions that we don’t want to eat, freeze individual pieces in small bags and then drop one of those pieces into my beans. Couldn’t do that today so I used this recipe (more or less) and the beans were maybe the best cannellini beans I’ve ever made.
I baked sweet potatoes (put those in the oven before we left to go to our meeting) and made a tabbouleh salad and that was it. I stayed within the fat grams I try to stay within, met my protein goals for the day . . another day’s meals done!
By the time I’m off this diet (Jan. 12), I’ll probably have to really think to be able to cook like I used to cook, even though it’s been only a bit over a month. The going back to “normal”, of course, is dependent on getting results that say the problem is not being caused by the alpha-gal allergy!
vivoaks says
I get a LOT of emails every day, so I don’t always notice everything, but I’ve noticed recently that I wasn’t receiving your emails. I just did a search, and your emails ended with December 9th, and I didn’t get another one until now. That’s really strange! I feel like I’ve missed months – today I see you started a different diet, and I don’t know a thing about it! I guess I’m going to have to take the time to go back through your list on your page to see what you’ve been up to! 🙂 Glad to have you back in my inbox! 🙂
judy.blog@gmail.com says
There’s been a problem with the blog’s posts being sent out. My blog guru worked on it all today so, it sounds like you got another email tonight. IF that’s right, then it’s fixed and that makes me happy.
The diet – just off all beef and pork and anything made with their products for about 5 weeks, get more blood work done and see if it’s the alpha-gal allergy causing the issues.
Pat Anderson says
Won’t it be great if you don’t have Alpha Gal and it is one simple thing that you need to avoid? Here’s hoping (and praying!)…
judy.blog@gmail.com says
There’s no doubt that I do have alpha-gal. I’ve been tested several times. The question is whether it’s an alpha-gal reaction causing my eosinophil numbers to be way too high.
Kathy Henderson says
I’m always so impressed by how you roll with the punches! For a smoky flavor without using bacon you could try adding a little smoked paprika. I’m always surprised how much smoky flavor it has.
judy.blog@gmail.com says
Thanks for that tip. I do not like paprika but I’ll try a bit of the smoked paprika and see if I can get the smoked taste without so much of the paprika flavor. You also reminded me that in Texas when we had a ton of garlic from the garden, I smoked a lot of it, freeze dried it and powdered it so I have about 10 spice jars full of smoked garlic. Thank you!!
We took a turkey out of the freezer yesterday and it’s in the fridge defrosting. I’m going to stick it in the smoker probably Saturday or Sunday. We’ll eat some of it, make turkey salad with some and I’ll divide the rest of the meat and some of the skin up into small portions for seasoning, vacuum seal all those bags and keep them in the freezer. I should have done that in the beginning but I guess I didn’t realize how much I would like that little bit of smokey flavor.
Rebecca L says
.I was thinking of smoked paprika, too. I think that’s what they put in “bacon salt” (a friend had some a few years ago).
judy.blog@gmail.com says
Did not know that. I need try it. Thanks!