August 29, 2008 at 5:52 am (Uncategorized)
Tags: acid reflux, GERD, GORD, healthy eating, healthy food, reflux disease, vegetarian
The shepherd’s pie went down a treat. For me anyway. 
Tonight I have a large amount of that pasta sauce I made a couple of days ago (scroll down for previous post). I can’t be bothered cooking up more mashed potato to make yet another shepherd’s pie. Strolling the supermarket this morning I saw gnocchi and I thought perfect! Gnocchi is fresh pasta made from mashed potato. Another soothing to the stomach comfort food. So tonight it’s fresh gnocchi with the lentil/tomato/pretend mince and mushroom pasta sauce. A healthy sprinkle of freshly shredded parmesan melted on top. Yum!
Lunches the past few days have consisted of dipping into the left over mashed potato for a couple of spoonfuls, a handful of grated low-fat tasty cheese, and a beaten egg with a spoon full of water. Mix ingredients in small dish and microwave until egg is cooked. Today, just because I had some, I added a large hand of chopped fresh parsley. So the messy, eggy mush is sort of like scrambled egg with potato. Tastes good though and is soothing to the GERD afflicted stomach.
This afternoon’s snack was 3 slices of tinned peaches, a teaspoon of muesli for the crunch and nut factor, topped with yogurt that I’d mixed with a teaspoon of blood orange juice. Very tasty and quite filling. Normally I’d avoid citrus but I have found that a teaspoon of the juice of the sweeter varieties doesn’t upset me. And blood oranges smell divine!
Cheers,
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August 27, 2008 at 6:26 am (Uncategorized)
Tags: cooking, GERD, GORD, healthy eating, healthy food, recipes, vegetarian
I’m after comfort food today. Comfort food for GERD sufferers that is. Something that will not irritate, not cause an excess of stomach acid, something that will be soothing to my oesophagus and stomach and other digestive organs. This means cooking something with potatoes, you can’t go wrong with potatoes as long as they’re microwaved, steamed, baked or even boiled, just don’t add fat. Shepherd’s Pie. Lots of potatoes. But wait, I’m a vegetarian! How do I accomplish this?
Let’s start with the potatoes. I’ve chosen the casserole dish I’m going to use and worked out how many potatoes, once mashed, it will take to cover the dish. For me it’s 3 large potatoes (Lady Christl potatoes as it happens, nice yellow flesh that mashes nicely). I don’t bother peeling, just chop and microwave till tender. I mash them adding only 1 teaspoon of butter. Now here’s where I do something a bit different. My mash is quite lumpy and textured, nice but not smooth. I make up a small serve of Deb instant mash and add it to my own potatoes. Makes for a very yummy tasting potato mash! And it spreads nicely. Okay, potatoes done.
For the “savoury mince” I basically make up a very thick pasta sauce, vegetarian of course. For those GERD sufferers who are saying “but I can’t eat tomatoes” please remember the 10 minute/2 hour rule – either cook the tomatoes for less than 10 mins (i.e. leave them raw) or simmer them for 2 hours. This will eliminate or neutralize any acid in the tomatoes. Tinned tomatoes have usually been cooked so won’t need the full 2 hours, experiment and see.
My “savoury mince”/pasta sauce consists of sauteed onion (small) and mushrooms (lots), add a 425g tin tomatoes (no added salt), 425g tin tomato puree (no salt), 425g tin of lentils (Sanitarium’s Savoury Lentils), a squirt of worcestershire sauce (small squirt) (and I could have used red wine or other flavouring), diced carrots and chopped zucchini. A bit of water, some salt (1 tsp) and herbs and spices (remember to use “warm” spices only or if you’re having a bad day just go with the green or dried herbs). Allow to simmer on the stove top for an hour. Should thicken up nicely and smell delicious.
For extra protein I added a can of
Sanitarium’s Casserole Mince. This looks like dog food which is why I only use it in thick, rich tomato based dishes. Once it’s covered it doesn’t look so bad. It is made from gluten, so for those of you who are allergic or wish to avoid gluten, try a soy based “mince”.
Casserole Mince
Place some of the “savoury mince” into your casserole dish. Top with the mashed potato. Sprinkle with your preferred cheese (I used grated parmesan) and perhaps some dried parsley and/or sweet paprika (just for colour). Bake in a 180C oven for about half an hour until the potato is crisp and golden or the cheese has melted.
Mine is cooling on the bench and smells just divine! (Sorry, no photo for now). Looking forward to dinner!
Cheers,
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August 26, 2008 at 7:28 am (Uncategorized)
Tags: GERD, GORD, healthy eating, healthy food, macadamias
There’s still plenty of that pumpkin cannelloni left, so guess what we’re eating tonight?
My stomach and abdomen are still very sore and I’m having lots of reflux and regurgitation these past few days. Not pleasant. Powerade helps ease the nausea, I sip about 200mls over the course of the day. After many months of not eating them I have placed macadamia nuts back into my diet. For the calories and low volume. They also taste nice! My stomach seems to be enjoying them as it’s settled down a lot this afternoon. I used to mix macadamias with some diced dried fruit, but of late in Australia our dried fruit is often imported and tastes odd (I think so anyway). So I’m skipping the fruit and just eating the nuts. One has to be very disciplined not to eat too many nuts. I limit myself to 6 macadamias per day, I forget the number of calories or kilojoules that equates to, but it’s enough to top me up.
Cheers,
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