Noshtopia

Snack Idea: Organic Popcorn Sprinkled With Sweet Kim Nori and Sea Salt

2012-02-09T16:27:42-07:00

Here's one of our favorite snacks that is so easy to make. Pop a bag of organic popcorn. Sprinkle on top some sea salt and Sea's Gift Korean Seaweed Snack Sweet Kim Nori.

You can find individual packets of the Nori for around $1.50 at Whole Foods, natural food markets or an Asian Market.

Easy and delicious!

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What Can We Make With Fridge Leftovers? Bacon Fried Rice With Sauteed Magda Squash

2012-02-07T16:47:28-07:00

Today was one of those days where I know food is low but I don't feel like going to the store because I'm in ponytail and sweats and frankly feeling lazy.

So, I take a peek into the fridge to see what is sitting on the shelves. I had one strip of Apple Honey Bacon I got from the Whole Foods meat department. Sometimes, I wonder why I hold onto just one piece of bacon, but that's a discussion for another time.

Also from Whole Foods was a box filled with salad bar fixings including carrot shreds, cremini mushroom slices, and peas. And next to the salad box, all by its lonesome was a single magda squash. There was also a pot of leftover white rice from dinner the day when I made Sesame Ginger salmon.

I sliced up the magda squash and sauteed it with red onions, canola oil, sea salt, and garlic powder for about 2 minutes in a wok. Simple.

Here's how I made the bacon fried rice:

Cut the bacon into bits size and fry up in a wok. Soak up some of the bacon oil so the rice won't taste too bacony.
Add about 1/2 tbsp canola oil back in the wok with the bacon bits and toss in the carrot shreds, mushroom slices, and peas. Sautee for about 30 seconds, and then add in the rice.
Sprinkle on about 1 tbsp of water to help soften up the rice. Add some sea salt and garlic powder or seasoning. Keep mixing rice for about 1-2 minutes until rice feels tender.

I don't use soy sauce when I make fried rice because I like my rice with less salt. Plus, in this case, the bacon will add saltiness. Enjoy!

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10 Healthy and Allergy-Friendly Super Bowl Snack Ideas Including Gluten-free and Vegan Beers

2012-02-02T03:04:34-07:00

Super Bowl Sunday is one of the biggest nosh days of the year. In fact, according to a Wall Street Journal post about game day food, baby carrot sales spike 25% on Super Bowl Sunday, 71 million pounds of guacamole is expected to be consumed, and 4.4 million pizzas will be ordered.

For those who have food allergies like myself, Super Bowl noshing can be just as exciting. You don't have to go without and feel deprived. In fact, I say some of our foods are the same or better than traditional versions. Oh yes, I went there!

Here is a list of 10 healthy and allergy-friendly Super Bowl snack foods including beer. I focus mainly on gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free, soy-free, and in some cases corn-free if I know for sure. Corn is in almost everything and some people are highly reactive to nut cross-contamination so I recommend double checking the ingredients to any of these foods. Here's a useful list of food additives that contain corn.

Portobello mini-pizzas. Use a portobello mushroom as the pizza crust instead of traditional crust to make gluten-free and lower-calorie pizza. The size of the portobello mushroom also gives you a nice single portion-controlled amount. Here's a recipe from MyRecipes.com to make Turkey Pepperoni Portobello pizzas. Try using pesto sauce instead of tomato sauce. To make your pizzas vegan top with grilled veggies and use Daiya cheese or no cheese at all. I'm allergic to cow and goat cheese, but I can eat sheep cheese, so I'll shave some pecorino or manchego on my toppings.

Honey Sriracha Chicken Wings. Hello! How about that for an American-Asian fusion twist to a bar food classic. Sriracha sauce is gluten-free, vegan, and soy-free. Some Sriracha sauce brands use Xanthan Gum so avoid if you're allergic to corn or the gums. If you're feeling ambitious, here's a recipe to make Sriracha sauce from scratch.The Food Network has a baked Honey Sriracha Chicken Wings recipe that is gluten-free. You can make the wings dairy-free by using Earth Balance Soy-free Buttery Spread instead of regular butter. You can also cut out the soy sauce to make the wings soy-free.

Edamame and Sweet Pepperdew Hummus Dip. Every time I make this dip, vegans think I've used cheese in it. This recipe is 100% vegan, gluten-free, and corn-free. It's not soy-free because of the edamame, but you can take out the edamame. What gives this hummus dip a cheese like taste is the sweet pepperdews, and adding ground up edamame gives the hummus a soft cheese-like texture. This hummus is also great to use as a sandwich spread instead of mayo. Here is my easy-to-make recipe for this awesome hummus dip.

Guacamole. Here's how I make guacamole. My secret to making creamy guac is to get avocados that are so ripe they are on the edge of over-ripe.The avocado should be mushy to the squeeze but not so much that you can smash it in your hand. Per one avocado, mix in diced red onion, cilantro, diced heirloom or vine-on tomato, cilantro, squeeze of lime and lemon, and a couple pinches of sea salt and garlic powder. Add some diced jalapeno is you want heat. Guacamole is raw, vegan, soy-free, corn-free, and gluten-free.

Some chips I like to nosh on include:

Pop Chips which all flavors are gluten-free. Some flavors are also soy-free and vegan. Check bags. In the guacamole photo are the Natural flavor Pop Chips which are also corn-free.

Beanfields Bean & Rice Chips look like tortilla chips and are gluten-free, soy-free, vegan, corn-free and all ingredients are non-GMO.

Food Should Taste Good makes an array of corn, and potato based chips which are all gluten-free and made from non-GMO ingredients. The Jalapeno Tortilla is my favorite chip as seen in the photo with the New Planet gluten-free beer. Most of the FSTG chips are vegan minus the ones that are cheese flavored and soy-free. The Multi-grain chips do use soy. Check the bags.

Beer! And speaking of beer, here is a list of vegan beers, and here's a list of gluten-free beers. My personal favorite gluten-free beer is Estrella Damm from Spain which can usually be found at Whole Foods.

Mango salsa is my favorite fruity version of this low carb and low fat food. Salsa is also gluten-free, soy-free, corn-free, and vegan. Here's a fast way to make mango salsa. Get a regular jar or better yet a tub of fresh made mild or medium salsa. Get mango chunks from the frozen food section of the grocery store. Thaw mango, dice into smaller chunks, and mix in with the fresh salsa.

Sweet creamy chili dip. Yes, I said creamy and we are not going to use any dairy. This dip is really simple to make. Buy or cook a pint or quart of your favorite chili. I just buy a pint of pre-cooked beef, bison, or turkey chili in the Whole Foods meat or soup department. Put the pint of chili into a bowl and mix in a 1/2 container of 170g size So Delicious Greek-style coconut milk based Vanilla yogurt and add a 1/2 tbsp of honey.

Traditional chili dips use sour cream. In my version, we use dairy-free Greek-style yogurt which has a thickness similar to sour cream. If you can eat dairy, just use regular honey flavor Greek yogurt. The sweet in the Greek yogurt is a nice complement to the salt in the chili. This sweet creamy chili dip is gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free, and soy-free. The So Delicious yogurt looks to be corn-free as well. Double check the ingredients.

See, noshing during the Super Bowl looks a whole lot more fun now doesn't it? What other allergy-friendly snacks will you be eating?

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Quick Veggies: Sauteed Baby Bok Choy Slaw

2012-01-31T23:53:00-07:00

Baby bok choy is one of my favorite vegetables and Whole Foods was having a sale on organic baby bok choy so I made up this recipe on the fly using other ingredients I found in the Whole Foods salad bar aka the pre-cut vegetable bar.

This dish is gluten-free, soy-free, vegan, and will take you about 10 minutes to make.

Ingredients (serves two):

Two baby bok choy
1/4 sliced red onion
1/2 cup red cabbage
1/2 cup bean sprouts
1 tbsp sesame oil (or canola oil)
2 pinches sea salt

Cooking:

Warm the oil in a wok on medium heat.
Cut the baby bok choy in slaw like fashion by holding the vegetable flat on its side on a cutting board, and cutting parallel to the bok choy bottom all the way up to the dark green top.
Saute the onion in the oil until the onion starts to soften.
Pour into the wok the baby bok choy, red cabbage, and bean sprouts. Sprinkle the two pinches of salt on the vegetables.
Toss the vegetables around the wok for about a minute just enough to slightly wilt the vegetables yet keep them crunchy.

Put into serving dish and enjoy!

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Superfood Dessert: Homemade Vegan Acai Berry FroYo Topped With Kiwi, Cranberries, and Walnuts

2012-01-27T00:43:25-07:00

Who knew a supererfood could look this luscious. At my local Whole Foods, Sambazon was promoting their organic Acai Berry smoothie packs, and OMG! I was blown away. The demonstrator made a simple blend of their Original Rio Blend Acai Berry + Guarana puree blended with banana and strawberries.

The consistency of the blend was just like frozen yogurt, and that's wonderful for people like me who are dairy allergic. This Acai Berry FroYo recipe is vegan, soy-free,and gluten-free, and uses only sweeteners from the Acai Smoothie pack and the other fruit.

Washing your food processor will take more time than to make this FroYo. This dessert is so incredibly simple and fast to make. Best yet, since the smoothie packs come in single servings, you have built-in portion control.

One serving of this FroYo recipe (Acai Berry, banana + strawberries minus toppings) is about 170 calories, so besides dessert, this FroYo could be a nice snack.

For topping, I added kiwi, cranberries, and walnuts. Visually, I love how the green of the kiwi pops against the beautiful purple of the Acai Berry.

Ingredients (one serving):

1 packet Sambazon Acai Smoothie Pack
1/2 banana
2 frozen strawberries

Put all three ingredients in a small blender or 3-cup food processor and blend until smooth. All done! If you want the FroYo to be a bit more solid, put your mix in the freezer for 5-10 minutes.

Put FroYo in bowl, add toppings, and nosh away.

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Purple Vegetables Are Cool And Help Fight Disease

2012-01-26T23:18:28-07:00

Lately, I have developed an utter fascination with purple vegetables and fruits. I am most enchanted with the purple vegetables like this beautiful kale, bell pepper, and cauliflower I found at the San Francisco Ferry Building Farmer's Market.

At The Herb Box in Scottsdale, I noshed on these most striking purple kale chips with a raspberry mojito. I was in heaven. The color purple or violet represents wealth, royalty and the crown chakra, spiritual awareness and universal consciousness. The shades of purple range from amethyst, eggplant, indigo, lavender, lilac, magenta, mauve, mulberry, orchid, plum, pomegranate, puce, royal, thistle, to wine.

At the Phoenix Public Farmer's Market, I found purple sage, purple top turnips, and purple Kohlrabi, a Chinese cabbage. Imagine what remarkable dishes you could make with a plethora of these purple vegetables. Smitten Kitchen has a most delicious vegan recipe for Fork-crushed Purple Potatoes.

The pigment responsible for the purple color in vegetables and fruit are called anthocyanins, a potent phytonutrient, or plant compound, acknowledged for its healthiness benefits. Studies show anthocyanins may help reduce the risk of heart disease, diabetes, stroke and certain types of cancer. Anthocyanins are also known to help boost brain power namely learning and memory. And maybe can help boost crown chakra power too since they are the same color? I speculate.

Next time you hit vegetable boredom, try some purple vegetables, beautiful and disease-fighting, a powerful combination. If you do, take a photo of your dish and share with us, so we can eat vicariously!

Note: all photos taken with an iPhone4

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What We Can Learn From Paula Deen Coming Clean About Having Type II Diabetes

2012-01-17T19:36:52-07:00

I am a fan of Paula Deen. I know that may seem odd given that I am all about healthy eating and on a bad day Anthony Bourdain proclaimed her "the most dangerous person in America" because of her decadent cooking. Time.com created a slideshow of her 9 most gluttonous recipes. Fried Butter Balls, y'all!

Paula reminds me of that larger-than-life aunt who is always fun and the life of the party. You love her to death because her cheeriness is so infectious but yet you also know that she doesn't always make the best choices and who knows when she'll say or do something flirtatiously inappropriate. But that's okay, those are her quirks and we take the good with the "needs improvement." We all have a relative like that.

I love Paula's energy and her obvious love of family and friends. As far as her cooking style, to me she is the Queen of comfort food. I would never recommend Paula's food for everyday eating but when it's time for those 20% days, the times when anything goes, Paula knows how to do that well. Remember, we're all about 80/20 eating here at Noshtopia.

But Paula is not just a grandmother, mother, wife and daughter, she is a brand. She has a built an empire around her style of cooking and now that she has gone public about having Type II diabetes her brand will have to change. Her brand must change because people will not watch her continue to cook the way she used to and be almost complicit in her unwellness by supporting with ratings even if Paula (and we) like to believe that her style is about moderation. Watching a diabetic eat Krispy Kreme Bread Pudding on TV is just not going to fly. At that point, it is no longer entertainment auntie Paula.

What I found most telling in her interview with Al Roker when asked if she was going to change the way she cooks and the way she eats, Paula dodged the question like a politician and simply said, "I've always eaten in moderation." If the answer was yes, she would straight out say, "Yes!" So clearly, the answer is no. She has not changed the way she eats and with her new deal with Nova Nordisk, pharmaceuticals and exercise are her means of diabetes management.

Frankly, I'm put off by the pharmaceutical endorsement but I get it, it's a business decision, and it's Paula's choice. As someone who also promotes a certain eating style, I have found it educational to read the tweets and posts reacting to Paula's diabetes announcement. People are definitely looking for consistency, authenticity, and accountability. Paula Deen has definitely disappointed many but she's also captured compassion from many others. The spectrum of reaction is wide, but clearly, the obvious is that we all now expect her cooking to change and evolve with her health.

Idealistic eating wellness wish

I would love Paula Deen to watch movies like Forks Over Knives and see that her Type II diabetes can be reversed with food versus pills - the Farmacy versus the Pharmacy. She can still eat okra, just sauteed instead of battered and fried. Of course, that would be an idealistic situation and Paula is not ready for nor desires that kind of change, obviously, at least for now. But we'll see what happens with her show ratings and product sales going forward.

Paula is in a wonderful position right now, if she chooses, to show how food can heal and affect a demographic of people especially in the Southern states where Paula is from where obesity and diabetes rates are highest in our country. Many can relate to Paula and the lifestyle changes she has to make for her health.

What did she bring to the table

Out of curiousity, I visited her new co-branded site with Nova Nordisk, Diabetes in a New Light. Of course, the first place I went to investigate was the recipe section. Now being a former marketing/advertising Pro who has done many launches, I was expecting at least a half dozen recipes to get people started. I was curious to see what these lighter Paula Deen recipes would look like.

Surprisingly, there was only one recipe. Just one, and the solo recipe was for a lighter version of her Lady and Sons Lasagna. More shocking to me was that the lasagna recipe listed 7 cheeses in it: Ricotta, Cottage, Parmesan, Mozzarella, Gruyere, Sharp Cheddar and Neufchâtel. Granted, the recipe called for no-salt, fat-free and reduced fat versions of these cheeses, and I'm no dietitian but really, 7 cheeses?

You can make delicious lasagna with just 2 of these cheeses. In fact, you can make an awesome dairy-free lasagne. The recipe does list nutrition information: Per serving: 260 calories, 9 g fat (5 saturated, 0 g trans), 55 mg cholesterol, 380 mg sodium, 23 g carbohydrate, 3 g fiber, 23 g protein. Before eating though, you have to cut the lasagna in 12 pieces to ensure you are getting a single serving size. I'm thinking these servings are very small and most would easily eat 2-3 servings for a dinner portion.

What I found off-putting about the Diabetes in a New Light website is that I wanted to sign-up for the newsletter to get future recipes but Nova Nordisk makes you list your home address and asks you a whole bunch of health-related questions that felt intruisive to me obviously to data-mine and create a database to let me guess, sell us more drugs and services. Dear Nova Nordisk, to get more people to sign-up just ask for the email at sign-up. Let us mingle with the recipes first and like the value we're getting. You can hit us up later for deeper information.

I wish Paula Deen all the best with her healing and health. Indeed, it will be fascinating to watch what she does on her shows and other ventures going forward.

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Garlic, Rosemary, Sage Croutons That Are Gluten-free, Soy-free, Vegan And Taste Crunchtastic

2012-01-11T01:37:35-07:00

I can't begin to tell you how excited I am about this recipe I made up for croutons. I'm about as excited as when I made these crunchy gluten-free and egg-free baked coconut chicken nuggets!

For Christmas, a bunch of my friends got together for a potluck. The host @KenScheer gave me the challenge of making a stuffing that was gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free and egg-free (basically vegan minus gluten and soy) because he and several of the guests had food allergies.

I was one of the guests with the dairy and egg allergies. I am also gluten-little and soy-little meaning last year I cut down my gluten and soy consumption by 80%. I eat gluten-free and soy-free as much as possible because I just feel better when I eat less of it.

I also love challenges, and my creative juices got going with this one. The big challenge with the stuffing was to make croutons. My bar is high so I wanted to make croutons that have the taste and texture almost identical to regular croutons. Making things even more complicated, most gluten-free breads are made with egg and can contain soy. Finding gluten-free, soy-free AND vegan breads is near impossible. Luckily for me, the key word is near not completely (impossible.)

I was able to taste test some of the gluten-free, soy-free, vegan breads made by Food For Life, and although the breads are tasty, they all had the texture of dense bricks - not working for me. Bread has to have some level of fluffy or soft to it. With croutons though, you get some texture leeway because croutons are recognized to be crunchy and heavier than say eating a slice of wheat toast.

I looked at making my own bread from scratch, but nixed that idea because mostly, I didn't have the patience to make a loaf of bread from scratch. I'm not a chef or baker. I'm an eater and my style of cooking is more assembly than from scratch.

So, I looked at pre-made bread mixes and found this Chebe brand Focaccia mix that was free of almost everything: gluten, soy, corn, rice, potato, yeast, tree nuts, iodine, sugar, dairy, peanut and GMOs. That focaccia sounded like allergen heaven! The mix called for egg but said you could use an egg-replacement. I made the focaccia using the Ener-G egg replacement.

As you can see, my focaccia looks pretty good on the outside although on the white side. I added some garlic, rosemary and sage on top. On the inside, however, it was a rubbery mess. My bread did not look as near fluffy as it did on the box. I was sad :( The outer crispy edge was tasty, so had this focaccia been made with egg, I have no doubt the bread would have been delicious.

When I got to Ken's house, I told him of my bread experiment disaster and so he figured that we were not going to have stuffing for Christmas dinner. I still had not given up so I asked him if I could go through his pantry and fridge and see if maybe he had any bread like foods I could work with. Ken remembered that he had these Brown Rice Food For Life English Muffins in his fridge. I took a bite and instantly got excited. Actually, I said "OMG! This just might work!"

Why? Because the English muffin had a lighter fluffy texture to them compared to the breads that Food For Life makes. More excitedly, the English muffin tasted and had the texture like a regular bread.

I made the croutons and then had a couple of the guests who didn't have food allergies try the croutons. They had no idea that the croutons had no gluten, egg, soy, or dairy. The croutons turned out crunchy just like regular croutons, and I love using the soy-free Earth Balance because it doesn't leave an after taste like the soy versions do.

We're talking major win my friends and now I share this crouton magic with you! You can use these croutons in any stuffing recipe of your choice. These croutons are amazing for salads, stuffing, and French Onion soup. Oh the delicious allergen-friendly foods we shall eat!

Makes about 2 cups of croutons:

Ingredients:

3 Brown Rice Food For Life English Muffins cut into crouton shaped squares
1-1/2 teaspoons minced garlic
1-1/2 teaspoons minced fresh rosemary and sage (combined)
1/4 tsp sea salt
3 tablespoons Earth Balance Buttery spread - Soy-free version

Cook:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
In a large saute pan, melt the butter on medium heat. Add in the garlic and saute in buttery spread for about a minute.
Toss in the bread crumbs to coat with the buttery garlic.
Sprinkle on the rosemary, sage, and sea salt.
Toss a little more to ensure bread crumbs are well coated with the herbs, salt, butter, and garlic.
Spread the croutons on a baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes or until crisp and dry. Keep an eye on the croutons so they do not burn. I baked mine for 19 minutes.

Let cool. Enjoy!

Note: All photos taken with an iPhone 4

The Year in Food 2012 on Instagram

2012-01-08T22:10:17-07:00

I love doing challenges!

I have never tried to do anything for a year long before, so I decided that since I really love taking food shots on my iPhone I am going to take at least one photo everyday this year and post it on Instagram. I'm tagging each photo with each day number (#day7) and the hashtag #yif12.

If you're on Instagram, you can follow me at: stephaniequilao.

If you're not on Instagram, here are options for you to follow along:

on my @skinnyjeans photo gallery
on Followgram at stephaniequilao
subscribe to my personal Facebook page.

It's going to be a foodtastic year!

Yumminess: Chocolate Chip Cookies Gluten-Free, Soy-Free, Vegan, and Gum-Free

2011-12-20T14:32:06-07:00

Hello cookies and rice milk! @jenmyronuk is excellent at finding sweet treats that are allergy-friendly for us. I was most excited when she introduced me to these Adean Dream Quinao Cookies that are gluten-free, soy-free, vegan, corn-free, and gum-free.

One of the issues I am discovering with gluten-free baked goods is that many recipes and products call for gums like Guar Gum and Xanthan Gum for thickening and binding.

My stomach and gut are not reacting well to the gums. In fact, I was reading here at WebMD that Xanthan Gum can cause flatulence, bloating, and laxative-like effects. With Guar Gum, if you don't drink enough liquid, the GG can cause intestinal blockage.

As soon as I hear "blockage," I think poopis interruptus and me no like.

These Quinoa cookies are awesome! Dip them in rice or coconut milk and even better. The cookie texture is close to a soft biscotti so it's a hard cookie not a soft one. Even nicer, the cookies are low in sugar. In fact, there is only 5g of sugar per serving size which are two cookies. As a point of reference, one packet of Sugar in the Raw is 5g of sugar.

Quinoa is one of my essential power foods because it's packed with protein, so in a cookie, well, I'm in heaven. The Quinoa used in these cookies is sourced from Bolivia and is Fairly Traded. To buy, look at your local Whole Foods Market or you can buy online.

photo taken with an iPhone 4