Marnina and I are proud to introduce the newest member of our I Be a fooDie team…. Gutsy! Our new mascot Gutsy is a stuffed intestine created by our logo designer Shari Bodofsky. While Gutsy may not enjoy long walks on the beach, he does enjoy educating and raising awareness about IBD. We decided to unveil Gutsy in honor of IBD Awareness Week (Dec. 1 – Dec. 7). (more…)
Fresh herbs can make or break a dish. In the past, we have often used dried herbs as a substitute for fresh herbs. We turned to the fresh variety when we felt it would truly enhance the taste, but we often substituted dried herbs because of the convenience factor, and because we could never use up the entire bunch of fresh herbs before it went bad. But now, after consistently cooking with fresh herbs for a few weeks, we may never turn back. Needless to say we thoroughly enjoy the fact that our refrigerator is constantly stocked with an assortment of fresh herbs, whether it be dill, parsley, cilantro, or thyme.
Words to live by.
As noted many times before, we love spice (remember our Tandoori Cauliflower blogpost?) Whenever something tastes bland, we usually add some hot chili sauce known as sriracha, or we add some kind of spice to impart more heat. Many dishes that we are served at other people’s houses or in restaurants are too mild for our taste, which is one reason we enjoy Indian food. The generous use of spices ignites our tastebuds, and those first few bites are heaven. For these reasons, we were extremely excited when we were approached by Arora Creations, one of the top of the line retailers of authentic Indian Spices Blends. They were kind enough to send us a sampling of their line-up of organic spice blends. All of their blends are made from 100% pure spices, and they are vegetarian, gluten-free, sugar free, kosher, nut-free, contain no MSG and are non-irradiated. Many Indian packaged spice blends are very salty, so the low sodium content and absence of MSG was very appealing. These inexpensive Indian spice blend packets allow you to create unique homemade Indian dishes with relative ease. (more…)
Dinner in Cappadocia
We recently returned home from our global travels, and in many ways our trip was a gastronomic tour of Turkish and Israeli cuisine. We tried our best to sample as many mezes, main dishes, desserts, and other foods that we could fit into our stomachs within a 3-week time span. We were able to stay relatively svelte and fit thanks to walking an average of 8 miles each day. Our goal during the trip was to try all the authentic cultural foods that these two countries offer, and of course, to stay healthy. At times, Marnina was forced to expand her diet either because: 1) a Crohn’s-friendly dish was not available; 2) the language barrier caused confusion that led to Marnina biting into a food stuffed with seeds; or 3) she could not resist the temptation of ordering an authentic dish that contained some form of food that might upset her GI tract. However, thanks to proper plannning (over-the-counter medications, antibiotics, flushable wipes), Marnina was prepared for the worst. Luckily, neither of us got sick from the food and water in either country. It turns out that the water is unsafe to drink in Turkey (even for natives) so bottled water was incredibly cheap. (more…)
We are proud to present Part II of our IBD restaurant guide series! (To view Part I, click here!) The average American eats out several times a week, and those with IBD often have a more difficult time choosing IBD-safe foods at restaurants or even finding a restaurant that meets their dietary needs. In creating the guide, we wanted to provide the “average” IBDer with some practical knowledge of each cuisine, and to give tips on how to navigate a menu and order food when dining and exploring various cuisines. We hope the guide will become a tool for those with IBD to allow them to make smarter choices. We also hope to expand it to include additional information (by no means is this guide an exhaustive review of each cuisine!), and in the future we still plan to add more! Feel free to add your own thoughts about the guide, which cuisine you prefer, IBD-friendly restaurants that you recommend, or even certain dishes that you always order because they are “safe” for you.
Marnina loves to prepare stuffed foods. If you haven’t seen the pumpkin we stuffed, or read about the stuffed Zuccanoes, then hopefully you will now understand Marnina’s love for stuffing. For Shabbat dinner last week, we made Moroccan hamburgers, and stuffed tomatoes seemed like a suitable side dish. We even found a Moroccan-inspired recipe that uses couscous, a grain staple commonly found in Morocco, as the base of the stuffing. And on the topic of Morocco, Marnina and I are thinking of traveling there during the summer (any Morocco travel-related suggestions??). Wherever we go, we will definitely report back about the cuisines that we encounter.
Damion (left) with his daughter and wife
I Be a fooDie recently had the unique opportunity to communicate with fellow Crohnie, Damion Moyer. While Damion has been struggling with symptoms of Crohn’s Disease throughout his life, he was officially diagnosed with the disease this past summer. In an effort to maintain his health, Damion has committed himself to following the SCD Diet (Specific Carbohydrate Diet). Below, you can learn about the diet and about Damion’s journey with SCD.
If you are interested in following Damion visit “My Cranky Gut” at http://mycrankygut.wordpress.com/.
Grilling has been a cooking method that we have sorely missed since moving out of our homes, especially during the D.C. Spring and Summer months. There have been numerous times when we have said “this dish would have been perfect if we had a grill,” or “we could have grilled this with X ingredient.” Well, thanks to Marnina’s co-worker, the proprietor of Grilling with Rich, a well-known grilling blog , we have finally caught on to the grilling madness. We recently purchased an indoor grill faux equivalent to the outdoor grill – a George Foreman electric grill. While the George Foreman does not offer the smoky flavor, the food still sits on grates that leave nice grill marks, and it provides some charred pieces of food that Marnina loves to nosh on.
The Chefs!
I Be a fooDie: Cooking with Crohn's and Colitis 