Sultan’s Delight!

What’s on the menu today, Gutsy?

This past week, Marnina and I went on a Turkish kick.  We literally ate and prepared all things Turkish for lunch and dinner.  Marnina’s mother recently bought and sent us a signed copy of The Ottoman Turk and the Pretty Jewish Girl. It is a wonderful cookbook that should be on every foodie’s shelf (especially if you love Mediterranean cuisine!).  The pictures reminded us of our culinary journey through Turkey this past summer and left us yearning to recreate some of those memories in our kitchen.  While the recipes are simple and involve few and easy-to-find ingredients, most are not quick to prepare.  We had taken a cooking class in Istanbul and afterwards we had still not fully understood how many steps were involved in most of the dishes we had prepared.

Guest Blogpost: IBD Struggle with Food

As you may or may not know, we just moved to Boston.  We are probably one of the few couples you know who set up a kitchen and spice rack before installing a 52″ TV. We know we are weird. That’s why we are foodies, right?

Our new kitchen in Boston!

As we continue to unpack and get settled we would like to share another foodie’s story with you. Meet Louise Hunt – a 24-year-old Crohnie and foodie. These are her thoughts on her struggle with food.

IBD Guide To Eating Out: Part II

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.

Download a printable PDF of the entire IBD Guide To Eating Out by clicking here.

The Fatty Foods Battle and a Delicious Recipe!

After a particularly fat-laden meal, Marnina will often complain that she feels irritated and bloated.  Crohn’s disease often affects one’s ability to digest or absorb fat normally.  When Marnina does occasionally eat red meat (that is not lean) for dinner, she will wake up the next morning and claim to feel like last night’s dinner is still sitting in her. Her body just does not digest fat very quickly and instead sits inside of her. While many fatty foods are trigger foods, there are some foods that are particularly troublesome, such as butter, margarine, ice cream, fried foods and fatty red meat, among other foods.  Fat is harder to digest than other nutrients, plain and simple.