Holy mole...

[primsong]

Seeking to please my DH who now can't have sugar and has missed the wonderful pollo en mole that our favorite restaurant makes, I tried making some sugar-free in the crock-pot today. Only problem - it made a LOT - good grief. I have a large crock pot up to it's lid - the plastic lid is actually floating - with sauce and chicken (mostly sauce). And then we stuffed ourselves on it and thanks to the large amounts of unsweetened chocolate in the sauce, we're all completely caffeine buzzed now. Thank goodness for freezers - I think we'd all be buzzing along on mole sauce for a week otherwise.

All this steer-around-the-ingredient stuff is coming easier to me with time - I've now learned to steer around wheat, sugar and salt. It is annoying how much prefab stuff is loaded with all of the above, I am terribly fond of lazy convenience when I can get it.

How's the food allergy situation in your house? Or are you one of the lucky ones who can eat anything they like?

Comments

[maidoforange.livejournal.com]

Well, I have a problem with sodium. I retain water at the drop of a hat and my blood pressure can be high. Also, some foods like fried chicken or pasta with red sauce give me indigestion. I don't have any real food allergies, though. My mom and brother are somewhat lactose intolerant but not me. I got soy milk for mom when she and Louis where at my house. Blech. I am glad I can drink the regular stuff. Cass just avoids it. He doesn't like soy milk.

[primsong.livejournal.com]

Bad soy milk can be really nasty stuff - I have two brands I buy all the time, but that was only after having to find out which ones were good by trial and error. Now that I'm used to it, regular milk tastes really sweet to me.

Yeah, salt is evvilll... I have to watch it for myself, though it doesn't seem to affect the rest of my family. I just cook low-sodium and leave the salt-shaker out for them to doctor their own. Go you that you don't have allergies! Long may your immune system reign.

[adaras-r0se.livejournal.com]

We use fructose rather than sucrose in our house. We used to totally avoid refined sugar of any kind, but have gradually slipped back into eating evil chocolate. Maybe we'll give it another go at some point!

Hubby is allergic to most fruit (few exceptions are bananas, grapes, pineapple, avacado and strawberries, providing he doesn't have too many), unless it's cooked; he gets that unpleasant lip/tounge tingling that can, without adrenalin, lead to throat swelling. Luckily, he doesn't tend to react that violently. I have to avoid too much cheese, or I get migraines, and too much cocoa-rich dark chocolate, the 70% variety, has the same effect. Other than that, we're pretty easy to cater for!

I have friends who, between them, have allergies to wheat, MSG, cilantro, mushrooms and all kinds of other things which, whilst not necessarily allergens, provoke a less than pleasant reaction in the consumer (the urge to vomit due to the texture of something is not a problem I have, thankfully!).

[primsong.livejournal.com]

Fructose is great! I've tried all kinds of sweeteners (agave, xylitol, splenda) but fructose is the one we go to almost all the time. Sure a lot cheaper than the others. Trader Joes has a good sugar-free dark chocolate (maltitol)...

We are thankfully free of any truly nasty reactions if we slip up - it would be much harder if you were someone who had to live in real fear of accidently eating something wrong.

[boriel.livejournal.com]

i try to avoid white sugar, but dont do as well as i could most times. chocolate is my nemesis but since iv[e read how good the dark semisweet is for you i stick to that and a small square only. (starbucks)

no food allergies really, but sensitive to things. cant digest hamburger no matter how much i cut it with oatmeal, chopped onions etc. and cant do most pork..dont even like beef much. Hubby gets the steak i cook a lamb chop or a fish steak or chicken thighs.

i also dont eat bread of any kind unless its spelt or 100% rye, and i dont eat potatoes or corn (dont do well - even popcorn which i love). Most anything else is fair game though. my brother is worse than me - most of his foods to avoid are not sensitivies but full blown allergies and lack of being able to digest them - many foods cause him migranes.

chicken in chocolate sauce? are you mad woman? Lol

[primsong.livejournal.com]

Ooo... mole is so tasty! It has baker's chocolate, cinnamon, nutmeg, coriander, chicken broth, raisins, almonds, tomatoes, chilis, garlic... whirl it in a blender and cook the chicken in it all day. Yum.

I'm only beginning to explore alternate flours - spelt is the best for bread, but I've found oat flour cut with a little soy flour makes a very nice cookie/pancake type substitute, the flavor is so good. Rice flour is interesting stuff too, if you can figure how to keep it from being too gummy. I love exploring the health-food section.

[estellye.livejournal.com]

I had someone suggest to me that I avoid, meat, fish, wheat, yeast, dairy, sugar, malt, whey and any complex carbohydrate for six months to cleanse my body so I can be super-healthy and not have a nearly constant sinus infection. I ask you! What is left? I like tofu, but good grief!

Maybe when I hit the big time and can hire a personal chef. In the meantime I think I will keep the stuffy head if that is my only alternative.

The mole sounds like a total success! And now you know when you make that recipe to be prepared with freezer containers. Your own cooking is the ultimate convenience health food when you are clever enough to plan, cook in quantity and freeze. I aspire to that cleverness.

[primsong.livejournal.com]

I can be clever, but it gets cancelled out by my laziness. I just don't want to be bothered with having to cool it down and get it into all those containers, and then label all of them and tote them out to my freezer in the garage. :-P So instead I *think* about how I *ought* to do that and then cop out and want to open a can of soup instead.

Human nature. Ain't it grand?

[iorhael94.livejournal.com]

I'm supposed to be avoiding sugar, and have gone largely to sugar free foods, but this week I got hooked on spearmint mints to help with the nausea I am getting from taking a supplement to regulate my neurotransmitters...that happens often with me...something (food, med, or supplement) I take to help one condition is bad for another...its just a never-ending merry-go-round :(

Wht is a DH? Dear Hubby? Designated Hitter? ;)

[primsong.livejournal.com]

It's shorthand for "Dear Hubby" - heh... designated hitter :-D

I too am fond

[lyria-theringer.livejournal.com]

of the lazy convenience. I have been trying, without much success, to steer clear.

I really need to buckly down and plan things better. That will be the only way I can shed these tag along friends that have taken residence on my hips, butt etc etc.... Oh, and chin, can't forget that my chin friends are multiplying.... haha

Luckily, I don't think we have any real food allergies in the house. I have thngs I need to avoid due to migraines, and hubby seems to be develeping some digestive issues if he eats too many complex carbs at once..

I've been reallly lucky so far.

Re: I too am fond

[primsong.livejournal.com]

Those tagalong friends can be so persistent about following you wherever you go, can't they?

I got rid of a bunch of them over the past couple years, but drat if a few of them have gone and moved back in...

Seems a lot of folks have sensitivities that cause headaches - my son gets a lot of headaches and I've really been wondering if that's the cause. Hard to get a boy to stop eating a certain categories of food to find out, but we may do that soon.

[liz-fairy.livejournal.com]

the mental image of your family being all hyped up on chocolate for the week made me laugh. :-D

i'm allergic to dairy but usually my mom just make a seperate thing for me, if we're having casseroles or whatever, and substitutes soy milk, or doesnt put cheese on top, or whatever. i dont use a substitute for cheese and have learned to just deal with not having it. course i miss phili cheese steak sandwiches and stuff, as the meat by itself just isn't the same. ;)

[primsong.livejournal.com]

I'm used to soy milk and my "pretend" tofu cream-cheese simply because I also watch my cholesterol, but have never yet found any good replacement for cheese - I would really miss it, if it were completely off the list. An understanding mom is a fine thing!

[lin4gondor.livejournal.com]

I used to have a problem with eating out -- anything fried would give me an asthma attack. Nice! But either I got my asthma under control or they changed the oil they use in restaurants during our last stint in Pakistan. I'm okay with it now -- usually! Caffeine is actually what helps me when I'm having one of those kind of attacks. I still carry No Doze around in case of an emergency.

My hubby is allergic to fresh mangoes, but that's not so much a problem here. They cost too much, anyway.

[primsong.livejournal.com]

My DH has asthma attacks sometimes - I know adrenaline shots are amazing at opening everything up, so I can see where a good dose of caffeine would really help that happen. I'll have to mention it to him, to see if he's heard of doing that.

Fresh mangoes? It's so nice when if you have to have an allergy at least it's an allergy to something obscure and easy to avoid. My daughter itches if she has kiwi, for instance, but they're so easy to "not eat" that it's never been an issue.

[mrs-pippin-took.livejournal.com]

Primsong....would you believe food allergies can even happen when you are older? I have an allergy for sal-ammoniac (is this the right word) When I eat even the tiniest bit of it, I will get from those white spots in my mouth that will hurt very much. And they will last for two weeks before they disappear.
I will never laugh at somebody with food allergies. It is not funny and it is a problem too. But to find good alternatives can be fun sometimes.

[primsong.livejournal.com]

I had to go look that one up! Wikipedia says it is used in soldering, for feeding cattle, in shampoo, in printing, and in cough medicines among other things - And the real clincher for you, I'm sure - "In several countries sal ammoniac is used to spice up liquorice-type dark candies (Finland's salmiakki is a popular example), and as a flavoring for vodkas." Wow - I guess you have to just read the labels then. :-P

I'm very allergic to sulfates in medicines, but thankfully haven't run into any reactions like that in any day to day foods. (((mrsp)))

[accioboytoy.livejournal.com]

Luckily, digestion isn't a problem in our house.

Unfortunately, digestion isn't a problem in our house - meaning we can eat all the bad food that exists, with the only visible result being that annoying roll around the middle that I blame on pregnancy - except the "baby" is 6 1/2 now.

So much for that. =D

[primsong.livejournal.com]

Hee! Yeah, I did that too - I didn't lose any of that "baby fat" until my youngest turned 10, and I went up a size with each baby! :-P At least we ladies *can* have it for an excuse, unlike the potbellied dads.