Author: Kirsty Healey

Perpetual cocoyo (My weekday brekkie)

Posted on by Kirsty Healey

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Oh bliss…hanging out in my activewear in a different postcode, green tea in the sun and blogging about food…before lunch at the amazing 2 birds eatery and partying with friends tonight…thanks and gratitude for this juicy little MIT (Moment In Time ;)..its the little things that count right…? And the theme of the week has been work life balance…my solution is… Cocoyo….Seriously, life will be taken up a notch by this decadent (but healthy) treat.  Forget working late..make some cocoyo… its so easy! Put the weetbix aside…eat cocoyo..its so yummy!  Forget financial stress..save $$ with cocoyo..its cheap!

Coconut yoghurt is a staple in my fridge… As is a jar of soaked chia and a defrosted jar of chopped pineapple and a random jar mixture of nuts and seeds, cinnamon and cacao powder..and a sprinkle of maca. Most mornings I’ll grab the handful of oob blueberries I left out to defrost the night before and add a few tablespoons of all of the above and thats brekkie.  Fast, nutritious and easy on the digestion.  You could add some green powder…or really, whatever floats your boat, coconut is really good… Personally, I find green powder ruins the taste and I prefer to take my green shot (wheat or barley grass, moringa, spirulina, apple cider vinegar) as a one gulp tonic without bastardizing my food!

Note on nuts and seeds – The key to making the nuts and seeds more digestible is to activate them.  This removes the phytates.  Phytates are not readily available to our digestive systems.  This makes a lot of sense.  Heres why…Nuts and seeds are able to be stored dry for long periods of time.   During this time they lie dormant.  As soon as water and light are introduced, life begins!  Phytates are the energy that the seed uses to explode into its true form ….    (cue inspirational Discovery music and David Attenborough voice over)… a tiny little sprout!  So you don’t need phytates in your body..they are super duper seed energy – not homosapien energy. 

Anyway…sidetrack…you can buy activated nuts and seeds but they’re expensive.  However if you’re a crazy, hippy healthnut such as myself, you might have a dehydrator, in which case you can soak, then dehydrate and store your bounty in glass jars.  I highly recommend as you’ll end up with a crunchy, yummy nut or seed…once you’ve had activated, you won’t want to go back.  And your tummy will thank you for it!

You might ask the question of all those paleo-manics out there – so clearly cavemen didn’t pull out the dehydrator … so…why bother?   I say, take advantage of technology and science…try it..if it works..if its good value for the effort in your world…then good…There are many reasons why our digestive systems aren’t working optimally.  This is just one way of helping it along. 

I’m a huge fan of getting bang for your buck.  I’ve made several batches of cocoyo since my last published cocoyo recipe and after a prompt from a friend I thought I’d run a little update….

Cocoyo

1L Kara coconut cream
1 packet body ecology yoghurt/kefir starter
2 T non refined sweetener (raw honey/brown rice syrup etc)

1.  Heat the coconut cream just so its a bit warmer than room temperature.  You don’t want it too hot as the good bacteria in the honey will die as will your starter.
2.  Add the sweetener and starter.  Mix well.
3.  Put in oven overnight with the light on.
4.  Store in the fridge.  Lasts for a couple of weeks minimum.

So this is how you make your first batch.  However!! Reserve 1/4 cup from this batch to use as the starter for your next batch IN PLACE OF the body ecology.  Now you have Perpetual Cocoyo!!

Notes
1.  To make an even thicker yoghurt, store your Kara in the fridge and use just the coconut cream, not the liquid whey.  You can also strain it through a few layers of cheesecloth.
2.  I’ve found I have the best result (& value for money) with Kara.  The next best is the Tradeaid coconut milk which has the consistency of cream.  The best coconut cream on the market in terms of straight cream without any preservatives and additives is Ayam, but it just doesn’t make as good of an end product and its more expensive.
3. You can use 6-7 capsules of a good probiotic like Lifestream Advanced instead of Body ecology. 

BTW if you’re in Palmy postcode you can buy Kara at any supermarket ($5-$6) and body ecology at Organic living.  Its about $10.

Go well healthnuts..have an off the chart weekend x

Onion bread

Posted on by Kirsty Healey

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Recipe credit Elaina Love

This recipe is raw, dehydrated and a satisfying bread substitute. 

The aroma wafting through the house as these are ‘uncooking’ is incredible.  Its the rich tamari seasoning and the pungent onions that catch my attention and demand taste tests ASAP!

This recipe is incredibly simple in terms of ingredients, as long as you have a dehydrator.  Do not attempt in the oven!!  It takes A LOT of time..24 hrs, then another 12 hours after flipping..so it pays to fill your dehydrator up with double or triple batches to make the most of the time.  Or..if you have a new Sedona (like me ;), then you can use your seperator tray to operate the top or bottom half only.

Onion bread

3 large yellow onions
3/4 cup flax seeds, unsoaked, ground
3/4 cup sunflower seeds, unsoaked, ground
1/4 cup wheat free tamari
1/3 cup olive oil

1.  Peel onions, slice finely using a mandoline.
2.  Place onions in a bowl, add remaining ingredients.  Mix well to combine.  Take 1/4 of mixture and blend to a smooth batter.  Mix this back into the remaining mixture.
3.  Spread 1.5 cups of mixture evenly onto a teflex lined dehydrator sheet.  Repeat until all mixture is used.
4.  Dehydrate at 41C or 105F for 24 hours.
5.  Flip and peel off teflex sheet.  Dehydrate for another 12 hours or until its reached the texture you prefer.  I like mine still moist and tender. Next time I’ll use a little less tamari and oil as the tamari is quite overpowering and I want the onions to be the king of this recipe.

I cut mine into pieces, wrapped in parchment paper and froze it.  I eat it by itself as its so tasty..or you can serve alongside a salad or with guacamole or hummus.

Coconut yoghurt!

Posted on by Kirsty Healey

There seems to be a dozen different ways to make yoghurt.  I just want one and I want it to be easy.  I have had loads of fails, but this morning I woke up to perfectly creamy greek style yoghurt!  Oh so yum!

When it comes to coconut cream, not all are equal.  Of most of the brands I looked at in the supermarket, most had a stabliser and an emulsifier.  The best one I’ve found in NZ at my local supermarkets is the AYAM blend which is 100% coconut.  You can really taste the difference.  The colour is more of a light grey than the white colour you see in other brands.  My second favourite is TradeAid coconut milk which is more like coconut cream because its so thick.

HOWEVER – Using cans and tetrapacks is not my preferred means to source coconut cream.  It goes against my whole ethos of shunning highly processed foods.  In this case, the desire for coconut yoghurt seems to have outweighed this in this moment!   My disclaimer is that doing the best with the ingredients you have and the education and budget you have is totally acceptable!

Ultra-high temperature processing (UHT), or ultra-heat treatment, sterilizes food by heating it above 135 °C (275 °F) – the temperature required to kill spores in milk – for 1 to 2 seconds. UHT is most commonly used in milk production, but the process is also used for fruit juices, cream, soy milk, yogurt, wine, soups, honey, and stews.

The second unfortunate thing about buying cans is they’re full of BPA’s.  There’s no doubt that making raw coconut yoghurt from fresh coconut meat is by far a superior method, however finding coconut meat locally is a tall order – a recipe for another day perhaps.  By the way if you’re in the Auckland area, The Kefir company sells frozen coconut flesh – just email Anita.  And you can get fresh coconuts delivered to your door from Cocoloco.

So before you get started, you might need to do a bit of a hunt around for some must have ingredients.  For the yoghurt culture, you can either use some store bought organic yoghurt or you can buy some yoghurt starter.  I used Mad Millie which you can buy from any health store.  It’s usually stored in the fridge or freezer.  You can also use probiotics (use 5), however they work out to be more expensive.

Then you need a warm place to culture the yoghurt overnight.  I used my easiyo, however you could use a slow cooker or put your yoghurt into the oven with the light on:

Coconut Yoghurt

Eziyo yoghurt maker

2 x 400ml cans Tradeaid Coconut cream

1 x satchet of Mad Millie Yoghurt culture

  1. Put your cans in the fridge overnight and use only the cream portion – use the liquid for smoothies.
  2. In many recipes its better to heat the cream.  I didn’t do this, although if you have       lumps, it does smooth them out.
  3. Blend your cream with the culture.
  4. In many recipes you’re meant to sterilize your jars for 10 minutes – I did mine for 5 mins in a pot of boiling water.
  5. Fill your easiyo with boiling water, put your jar in and leave overnight.  If your yoghurt is not ‘tangy’ enough you can refill with boiling water and leave it a further 6 hours or so until its as you like it.  At this stage its probably still quite runny.  Don’t despair!
  6. Put your yoghurt in the fridge.  It firms up remarkably well.
  7. If you want thick greek style yoghurt, put a double layer of cheesecloth over a sieve.  Place this over a bowl and put your yoghurt on top of the cheesecloth.  Put everything in the fridge overnight.  In the morning you’ll have a thick, decadent yoghurt!

PS Don’t give up if your yoghurt isn’t exactly the way you like it.  Its finnicky, dependent on the weather and the methods you use.

coconut yog

 

The dirty dozen

Posted on by Kirsty Healey

When it comes to the contentious  issue of eating organically, I confess that a lot of the time I don’t.  While I was in Bali I ate ALL organic food because I went out to eat.  It was available, excellent and well priced.  Everyone around me was eating organic, plant based food.  But now I find its not as freely available, there’s less choice and its expensive.  So I want a bit of a yardstick to measure what items are FULL of pesticides that I’d be better off buying organic or growing myself.  And I also want a list of the produce that I can get away with buying despite them being grown with crap sprayed all over them.

Why would I go to all of this trouble? 

Xenoestrogens are one reason.  Pesticides and parabens mimic estrogen in the body, disrupting the endocrine system.  This can lead to a multitude of chronic conditions including hormonal imbalance which wreaks havoc, particularly for women.  Its called estrogen dominance (ED).  How many women do you know who have endometriosis, PCOS, fibroids, ovarian or breast cancer or the symptoms that go with them – acne, depression, digestion problems, inability to conceive, weight gain…the list goes on.

You probably would have heard that the addition of parabens to skin care products, cosmetics, shampoo’s and moisturisers cause the same endocrine disruption as pesticides.  Well, did you know that parabens are commonly added to packaged food?  The dirty dozen of food parabens as published by EWG, list a bunch of foods that could be causing havoc in your body including:

Jellybeans, tortillas, muffins, beverages, dairy products, meats, preserved meats, chips, sausages, lard, anything with artificial colouring, microwave popcorn….anything packaged listing ingredients with strange numbers…

…I should summarise by saying that anything processed that has a shelf life is likely to be full of crap and ultimately hormone disruptors.  And all of them are contributing to sickness.  How can the body regulate itself – how can it reach homeostasis – that place where the all of the systems work together harmoniously to provide the perfect recipe for the body to operate without Dis-ease?

In a study of children living on farms, their fat contained up to 14 pesticides of which some were estrogen mimicing

The dirty dozen
This is a list of 22 foods to buy or grow organically.  These suck up pesticides and hold onto them.  There was originally a dozen, hence the name.

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Apples, strawberries, grapes, celery, peaches, spinach, bell peppers, nectarines, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, potatoes, chillis, kale, collard greens, zucchini, lettuce, blueberries, fatty meats, milk, coffee, wine, chocolate.

The clean 15
This is a list of foods that don’t suck up pesticides quite so much.  One tip you can use is to rinse inorganic produce in a water/vinegar solution to remove any residue.

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Onions, sweet corn, pineapple, avocado, asparagus, frozen sweet peas, mango, papaya, eggplant, cantaloupe, kiwifruit, cabbage, watermelon, sweet potatoes, grapefruit, mushrooms.

Pumpkins have two big problems; insects love them and they catch lots of diseases such as bacterial wilt and mildew. So what do the farmers do? Apply liberal doses of pesticides and fungicides. More bad news, pumpkins are so efficient at absorbing poisons from the soil they could be used as a filter to clean out toxins like DDT, PCBs and Dioxins.

Well I got the above quote from the green eatz site and I don’t know how true it is because my Mum has a bumper crop of pumpkins growing  without pesticides.  However pumpkin doesn’t feature in EWG’s top 50 dirty dozen so I’m not going to fret over the inorganic pumpkin I used in this soup!

Pumpkin soup

1/4 pumpkin, chopped
Stock or bone broth
Cumin
Ground coriander
Garam Masala
Turmeric
Vegetable boullion

1.  Put pumpkin in pot
2.  Cover with broth.
3.  Add in everything else to taste
4.  Bring to boil, then simmer till pumpkin is tender.
5.  Blitz in blender until silky smooth.
6.  Add in a dollop of coconut cream if you’re feeling decadent.

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My vitamix turns out the BEST silky smooth soup!

References
Good housekeeping
NCBI
Clean eats
EWG

Tahini

Posted on by Kirsty Healey

Tahini is the easiest thing in the world to make.  I use tonnes of it to put in slices, hummus, as toppings or just by the spoon full!  It’s a great no-nut peanut butter substitute.  Sesame seeds are full of all the good stuff:

  • Incredibly rich sources of many essential minerals. Calcium, iron, manganese, zinc, magnesium, selenium, and copper are especially concentrated in sesame seeds. Many of these minerals have a vital role in bone mineralization, red blood cell production, enzyme synthesis, hormone production, as well as regulation of cardiac and skeletal muscle activities.
  • The seeds are especially rich in mono-unsaturated fatty acid, oleic acid, which comprises of up to 50% of fatty acids in them. Oleic acid helps lower LDL or “bad cholesterol” and increases HDL or “good cholesterol” in the blood. Research studies suggest that Mediterranean diet which is rich in mono-unsaturated fats may help prevent coronary artery disease, and stroke by favoring healthy serum lipid profile.
  • Sesame seeds contain many health benefiting compounds such as sesamol (3, 4-methylene-dioxyphenol), sesaminol, furyl-methanthiol, guajacol (2-methoxyphenol), phenylethanthiol and furaneol, vinylguacol, and decadienal. Sesamol and sesaminol are phenolic anti-oxidants. Together, these compounds help stave off harmful free radicals from the human body.
  • Sesame is among the seeds rich in quality vitamins, and minerals. They are very good sources of B-complex vitamins such as niacin, folic acid, thiamin (vitamin B1), pyridoxine (vitamin B6), and riboflavin.
  • 100 g of sesame contains 97 µg of folic acid, about 25% of recommended daily intake. Folic acid is essential for DNA synthesis. When given to expectant mothers during their peri-conception period, it may prevent neural tube defects in the newborns.

Just a handful of sesame a day provides enough recommended levels of phenolic anti-oxidants, minerals, vitamins and protein.

I used unhulled sesame seeds in this recipe, which you can buy from Binn Inn.  But you can use hulled (the white ones) seeds also.  You can also make this a raw tahini by omitting the toasting step.  Toasting (and the unhulled seeds) give the tahini a nuttier flavour which I prefer.

Tahini (makes about 400 gm)

Recipe inspiration from http://www.thekitchn.com

250 gm Unhulled sesame seeds

1/2 cup Grapeseed oil (or any neutral flavoured oil)

  1. Toast the sesame seeds in a dry pan for 5-10 minutes until they are fragrant.
  2. Blend until the seeds form a powder that starts to stick together
  3. Add in the oil until it reaches the consistency you desire.  It should have the texture of peanut butter.

Store in the fridge.

20160301_102137

 

References

Nutrition and you

The Kitchn

Cashew cream & chia parfait

Posted on by Kirsty Healey

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Chia seeds are native to South America.  They are a nutrition powerhouse.  A serving of 28 gms contains:

Fiber: 11 grams.
Protein: 4 grams.
Fat: 9 grams (5 of which are Omega-3s).
Calcium: 18% of the RDA.
Manganese: 30% of the RDA.
Magnesium: 30% of the RDA.
Phosphorus: 27% of the RDA.
137 calories

They also contain a decent amount of Zinc, Vitamin B3 (Niacin), Potassium, Vitamin B1 (Thiamine) and Vitamin B2.

These are the reasons I love chia :

*  High in protein
*  Full of antioxidants
*  Can be used as an egg replacement
*  Contains 18% RDA of Calcium
*  High fibre, wholegrain
*  Easy, versatile meal

Cashew cream & chia parfait

I usually love my parfaits with coconut yoghurt – but I ran out, so I whipped up some cashew cream as a substitute.  Its creamy decadence is wicked and calorie wise should definitely be restricted!  However its a versatile cream that can be used on top of anything from pancakes to soups.

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Cashew cream recipe adapted from http://www.healthyblenderrecipes.com

Cashew cream:
1 cup raw cashews soaked for 2 hours
1/4-1/2 cup filtered water depending on desired thickness
1-2 tablespoons brown rice syrup, plus more to taste
1/2 teaspoon natural vanilla extract, plus more to taste
a pinch of Celtic/himalayan sea salt

Throw everything into the blender and blast on high until thick and creamy.

It is a good idea to start with ¼ cup of water, and then gradually thin it out in order to achieve the desired thickness.

**Please note – you will need a high speed blender in order to achieve a really creamy consistency. With a conventional blender, you must soak the cashews by covering with room temperature water for about 4 hours or the quick way (albeit not raw) by covering with boiling water for 15 minutes.

Parfait
1/2 cup frozen berries (thawed)
Water to blend
1/4 cup soaked chia
Extra brown rice syrup for topping

I keep a jar of soaked chia in the fridge, however if you are making this last minute use boiling water for instant soaked chia!

Blend your berries with a little water.

Start your parfait with the chia, then layer with berries, cashew cream and LSA, finishing with cashew cream on top and a sprinkle of LSA and a streak of syrup.

You can add seeds or nuts or granola to give it some crunch!

Enjoy!

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References
Authority Nutrition
Healthy blender recipes

Battle of the gingernuts – Griffins v Leda

Posted on by Kirsty Healey

Leda ginger cookies

Leda-Gingernut-GF-Cookies-155g.jpgLeda gingernuts are gluten, dairy, egg free, but still sugar heavy with 1.3 tsp of sugar per serving – which is just 2 cookies.

I don’t dare have these in the pantry – they’re just too scrummy – I prefer them to Griffins!  If you’re looking for a gingery, crunchy treat thats gluten, dairy and egg free and a little healthier than you usual gingernuts, these are great.

The sugar content comes from golden syrup,which is a refined sugar containing 25% fructose.  Its Glycemic index (GI) is lower than sugar at 60.

Unlike molasses the calories in golden syrup are empty – no nutrition whatsoever, no vitamins or minerals.

These cookies are vegan.

Ingredients:

Gluten free flour (Tapioca, Besan), Raw Sugar, Vegetable Oil [Vit E – Soy derived], Golden Syrup, Treacle, Ginger Powder (1.4%), Guar Gum,  Raising Agent – Sodium Bicarbonate, Salt. Contains Soy.  Also contains sulphites.

Griffins gingernuts

griffins gingernutsCompare these to Griffins gingernuts which have 2.3 tsps of sugar per serving (from brown sugar)and contain gluten and dairy.

Brown sugar is effectively refined white sugar with a bit of molasses added back in to give it a brown colour.  It has a GI of 64.

Again there is scant nutrition in brown sugar.

Ingredients

Wheat Flour, Sugar, Vegetable Fat [Antioxidant (306)], Brown Sugar, Ginger (1%), Salt, Flavour, Raising Agent (Baking Soda), Milk Solids.

Palm oil is used in both of these biscuits, and apparently in most commercial biscuits.  Its cleverly disguised as vegetable fat/shortening.

Nutrition content

nutrition ginger cookies

Summary

The big differences are in sodium levels, fibre and total fat – Griffins has over twice as much salt and no fibre plus twice as much sugar.  Leda has over twice as much fat but 40 less calories – due in part to the smaller serving size.

I kind of wanted Leda to win this contest but all in all, it’d be better to make my own!…At least I’ll know whats in them!  These cookies are really easy and taste crunchy and delicious.  I don’t think they require the sesame seeds, next time I’ll leave them out.  Oh, and space them out a little – mine are smooshed together!  While these are no substitute for my Leda cookies, they’re pretty damn good!

Sesame ginger cookies

1.5 cups ground almonds

1/2 cup brown rice syrup

1/3 cup unhulled tahini

3.5 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup sesame seeds for rolling (optional)

Method:

Combine ground almonds, ginger, baking soda in a bowl and stir to blend.  Add syrup, tahini and vanilla and stir until the mixture forms a moist dough.  Take teaspoons of the mixture in wet hands, and roll into balls.  Drop into the sesame seeds and coat evenly.  Space the balls out on a baking tray, they expand.  Flatten. Bake in a preheated oven at 160C for about 10-15 minutes.  Be careful not to overcook as they burn easily.  Makes around 40 small biscuits or 15 larger sized.  If you want them larger, cook for 5 minutes more.

sesame ginger cookies

References

Stuff

My fitness pal

Fat secret

Leda

Griffins

High histamine foods

Posted on by Kirsty Healey

Do you experience unexplained headaches or anxiety? What about irregular menstrual cycles? Does your face flush when you drink red wine? Do you get an itchy tongue or runny nose when you eat bananas, avocados, or eggplants? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then you could have a histamine intolerance.

What is histamine?

Histamine is a chemical involved in your immune system, proper digestion, and your central nervous system. As a neurotransmitter, it communicates important messages from your body to your brain. It is also a component of stomach acid, which is what helps you break down food in your stomach.

You might be most familiar with histamine as it relates to the immune system. If you’ve suffered from seasonal allergies or food allergies, you may have noticed that antihistamine medications like Zytrec, Allegra or Benedryl provide quick relief of your symptoms. This is because histamine’s role in the body is to cause an immediate inflammatory response. It serves as a red flag in your immune system, notifying your body of any potential attackers.

Histamine causes your blood vessels to swell, or dilate, so that your white blood cells can quickly find and attack the infection or problem. The histamine buildup is what gives you a headache and leaves you feeling flushed, itchy and miserable. This is part of the body’s natural immune response, but if you don’t break down histamine properly, you could develop what we call histamine intolerance.

Because it travels throughout your bloodstream, histamine can affect your gut, lungs, skin, brain, and entire cardiovascular system, contributing to a wide range of problems often making it difficult to pinpoint and diagnose.

Anybody can have Histamine Intolerance, but you are at higher risk if you eat a GAPS diet, low-carb diet, enjoy gourmet foods, or have been swept up in the current fermented foods fad, because histamine is found lurking primarily in aged, fermented, cured, cultured, and smoked foods. Foods like aged beef, ripe cheeses, salami, sauerkraut, red wine, and natto can all be quite high in histamine.

What Causes High Histamine Levels?

Common symptoms of histamine intolerance include:

  • Headaches/migraines
  • Difficulty falling asleep, easily arousal
  • Hypertension
  • Vertigo or dizziness
  • Arrhythmia, or accelerated heart rate
  • Difficulty regulating body temperature
  • Anxiety
  • Nausea, vomiting
  • Abdominal cramps
  • Flushing
  • Nasal congestion, sneezing, difficulty breathing
  • Abnormal menstrual cycle
  • Hives
  • Fatigue
  • Tissue swelling

What Causes High Histamine Levels?

 

Low histamine level foods:

  • Fresh meat (cooled, frozen or fresh)
  • Freshly caught fish
  • Chicken (skinned and fresh)
  • Egg yolk
  • Fresh fruits – with the exception of strawberries, most fresh fruits are considered to have a low histamine level (also see histamine liberators below)
  • Fresh vegetables – with the exception of tomatoes
  • Grains – rice noodles, yeast free rye bread, rice crisp bread, oats, puffed rice crackers, millet flour, pasta (spelt and corn based)
  • Fresh pasteurised milk and milk products
  • Milk substitutes – coconut milk, rice milk
  • Cream cheese, butter (without the histamine generating rancidity)
  • Most cooking oils – check suitability before use
  • Most leafy herbs – check suitability before use
  • Most non-citric fruit juices
  • Herbal teas – with the exception of those listed below

High histamine level foods:

  • Alcohol
  • Pickled or canned foods – sauerkrauts
  • Matured cheeses
  • Smoked meat products – salami, ham, sausages….
  • Shellfish
  • Beans and pulses – chickpeas, soy beans, peanuts
  • Nuts – walnuts, cashew nuts
  • Chocolates and other cocoa based products
  • Vinegar
  • Ready meals
  • Salty snacks, sweets with preservatives and artificial colourings

Histamine liberators:

  • Most citric fruits – kiwi, lemon, lime, pineapple, plums…
  • Cocoa and chocolate
  • Nuts
  • Papaya
  • Beans and pulses
  • Tomatoes
  • Wheat germ
  • Additives – benzoate, sulphites, nitrites, glutamate, food dyes

Diamine Oxidase (DAO) blockers:

Diamine oxidase is an enzyme that helps us digest.  It’s present in food in various levels.  Legumes contain high amounts, as well as some internal organs like kidneys and intestines.  You want to have DAO, so the blockers should be limited.

  • Alcohol
  • Black tea
  • Energy drinks
  • Green tea
  • Mate tea

Debatable:

  • Yoghurt – depends on the bacteria culture used
  • Egg white – it is a histamine liberator only when in its raw state

Other

  • Yeast – even though it does not contain histamine as such, yeast serves as a catalyst for histamine generation during manufacture. There is no yeast in the end product.

 

References
Histamine intolerance UK

Diagnosis diet

Mindbodygreen

Rice krispy treats

Posted on by Kirsty Healey

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Very similar to the millet slice recipe, but using rice puffs instead. 

Express version:

2.5 cups organic puffed brown rice
1/2 cup tahini
1/2 cup brown rice syrup

You can just use the above for minimum ingredients.

However for the luxury version I amended to this:

In a pot heat on a low heat:

1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup brown rice syrup
2 T coconut oil
1/2 cup tahini

Add:
2.5 cups puffed brown rice
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1/4 cup chopped pumpkin seeds
Handful of chopped dried cranberries
1 tsp vanilla

Press into a slice tin.  Refridgerate for an hour.  Slice and keep in the freezer for instant snacks.

Delicious Buckwheat oat pancakes for 1

Posted on by Kirsty Healey

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Screw it, I’m having pancakes for dinner!

This recipe is based off the buckwheat pancakes I posted a few days ago but in a single portion and its now gluten free, dairy free, refined sugar free, low fructose and NO eggs!!  And I prefer them!  Yummy!  And so easy to make.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup milk of your choice (I used ricemilk)
1/4 cup buckwheat flour
1 tsp aluminium free baking powder
Pinch of himalayan salt
1 T coconut oil (melted)
1 chia egg (1 T chia meal in 3 T water..sit for 5 mins in fridge)
1-2 T brown rice syrup
1/2 tsp xanthan gum (optional)

Coconut oil to cook

Pour milk into oats and sit for 10 minutes.  Add rest of ingredients except xanthan gum and mix.  Sprinkle in xanthan gum and stir a few times quickly.  The xanthan gum is optional.  This recipe should work without it but haven’t tried it yet.

Cook until golden brown on either side and serve with your choice of berries, syrup and yoghurt.  I had mine with maple and brown rice syrup and fresh tart plums from the garden.

Heat coconut oil in pan until hot and make 3 big round pancakes.  The mixture will be thick and easy to shape.

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