9 Belfast Bites

[MeadowLily]

Excellent.  I didn't know you were only using small amounts of coconut products.  I was wondering about those. 

[jmcbn]

So I found my stand mixer, dusted it off, washed it out, put in the ingredients & whisked... & whisked..... & whisked - for about 8.5mins total.

Now I'm not going to say it became 'fluffy' or that I got any soft peaks forming, but it did thicken up and whilst I don't have what I would call MAYO, I do have a dressing made up of healthy fats that I can pour over my veg or add to salads - it's wet, it's fat, and it's not just oil - and that's pretty much all I needed although I'd probably double up on quantities next time as it's a long time in the making for all that it produces, plus I had to physically hold the bowl at an angle for all that time otherwise the whisks would have been whisking air  ... It's refrigerating now so we'll see if it thickens up any.

So for anyone needing an egg free mayo-ish type thing, here you go:

 

Egg Free Mayo:

1/3 cup avocado oil
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons palm shortening (or ghee)
1 teaspoon white wine vinegar (I used ACV)
1 teaspoon lemon juice
½ teaspoon garlic powder (I omitted)
¼ – ½ teaspoon sea salt, to taste (I also added freshly ground black pepper)
 

Combine all ingredients in the bottom of a stand mixer and mix on HIGH for 7 minutes, until fluffy and soft peaks form.

 

This mayo is very soft at room temperature, so you can stick it in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes after you make it to firm it up to thicken a little before using. Store in the refrigerator and stir vigorously with a spoon before using again to get a more whipped, fluffy consistency. It will keep well for a couple months, if you can make it last that long!

[jmcbn]

Excellent.  I didn't know you were only using small amounts of coconut products.  I was wondering about those. 

I think I've mentioned before that I'm okay with limited amounts of coconut milk. It's not something I use often anyway - a few tablespoons in with a whole large slow cooked chicken is about the height of it as I'm not a coffee drinker for the most part so it's probably not something I talk about much. 

I'm fine with coconut oil as it contains no carbohydrates which are the source of FODMAPs.

The recommendations for low FODMAP levels from Monash University are:

Coconut Water: 100mls 

Coconut Milk: 125mls (or about 1/2 cup) 

Coconut Flesh: 48g (or about a 1/4 cup)

Coconut - dried & shredded: 18g (or about 1/4 cup)

[jmcbn]

So, if anyone was in anyway concerned about the carbonation level of my Booch you can rest assured that it's good - really rather good.

SO good in fact that I would appear to have had my first case of an exploding bottle at some point in the past few days....       

Yup, my fizz is first class 

[jmcbn]

It's the May Day Bank Holiday weekend here, so yesterday my boys and I went out for dinner with my parents.

It was a carvery which can be hit or miss, but I managed to get a decent meal (albeit absent of any added fat) of roast beef, mashed carrot & parsnip, with potatoes perfectly roasted in duck fat   

Normally I'd opt for pavlova for dessert as it keeps me within my own personal postW30 rules of allowing dairy & sugar, but since eggs are currently off the menu I had to push my boundaries a little and opted for a slice of cheesecake, which was delicious & absolutely worth it, although I only had one bite of the base - gluten, to me, isn't worth more than a bite. I also had two glasses of prosecco (also worth it), and a few sips of a poor quality black coffee...

Is my sugar dragon raging today? Not at all.

Am I craving chocolate cake for lunch? Absolutely not.

Do I feel guilty at having enjoyed a delicious meal (plus alcoholic drinks) with my family which didn't meet Whole30 standards? Definitely not. I made the decision to eat off plan and I owned it.

Will I go back to my Whole30 eating again today without giving it a second thought? Yes - breakfast is already in the bag, and I'm about to get stuck in to the final stages of food prep as I'd less time to get it all done yesterday with going out.

Did my mayo thicken up yesterday? Yup - it's actually pretty solid and I'll be taste testing it with lunch after whipping it up with a fork a little.



 

[MeadowLily]

Yup - it's actually pretty solid.

 

Your plan is solid.  

[jmcbn]

Another mayo update:

So lunch was slow cooked chicken & mixed roasted peppers, zucchini & tomatoes with 'mayo'

 

The mayo was solid when I took it out of the fridge, and I had my doubts that it would whisk up into anything edible, but amazingly a quick whisk with a fork resulted in a smooth mousse like consistency. When I added a couple of dollop to the chicken & veg it melted in the same way that mayo would and when I tasted it I wasn't disappointed.

Did it taste like mayo? No. But as I mentioned before it was wet, it was fat, and it was something more than just oil, and I think it will work just as well as mayo does when mixed into a salad.

Will I be eating it forever more? No. After a week (or maybe two) of being completely egg free I'll try reintroducing my regular mayo using just the yolk.

As always it's a work in progress.

[MeadowLily]

I hope you're the one who finds the cure.  Root it out like searching for truffles.  I can see that. 

Get in there and pull the roots out.  Think how many people you'll be helping.  The Q. will knight you or how does that work.  

[MeadowLily]

  Hope your Maw is doing well. 

[jmcbn]

Batch 2 of the egg free mayo is in the bag (or rather in the fridge  ) and this time I doubled up on quantities and got a much better consistency - still no peaks, still not real thick, but creamy enough to look appetising, and knowing now what a short spell in the fridge does for it I'm all set for a chicken salad for lunch tomorrow.

I almost forgot myself today when I nipped into the Farm Shop for a quick chat while out during lunch. They'd just made a fresh batch of their creamy potato salad and I'd actually gotten as far as asking for a large tub until I remembered about the eggs - I think excluding eggs has been so much harder for me than anything else so far... Hopefully I'll be good with the yolks 'cos in all honesty that's what I miss most.

 

[jmcbn]

So it's been over a week since I went completely egg free and I have to say that I don't feel markedly different than I did when I was still eating egg in my mayo, so I took the decision today to go back to my regular mayo recipe, using just the yolks. I like it better, it's quicker to make, it goes further, and well life's just too short, you know? I have quite a bit of the avocado oil left so I used some of that with walnut oil, ACV and three egg yolks and I got the creamiest mayo ever. It is AMAZING.

Also on the cards this week we have some pulled pork done in a paprika, freshly ground black pepper & cacao rub & wrapped in bacon, mackerel, salmon, and a whole slow cooked chicken.

I was out with friends last night and had a fantastic meal of salted chilli squid with rocket, followed by seabass, served on a bed of chorizo, and crushed potatoes, with a prawn & pesto sauce - no dessert this time because the taste of the food in my mouth was so good I didn't want to spoil it. Good food, with great company - a winning combination - and of course we chatted until the cows came home & set the world to rights...

Right now I'm sat in the sunshine in my back garden having caught up with chores & finished my food prep, enjoying a glass of cold kombucha, and listening to the sound of the kids playing in the street. We're having a bit of a heatwave apparently, and since the winters (& sometimes the summers!!) are cold and wet here it makes a very pleasant change - it's amazing what some sunshine can do for the spirit....

[kirkor]

On one of my internet radio stations I've been hearing an add for some kind of fancy hippie egg company, and they were saying that the soy in chicken feed can be in the egg ... so some people who are sensitive to eggs might just be reacting to the soy.  You probably don't have the soy issue over where you are that we do here in the states, but figured I'd mention it (and also for people reading your thread).

[jmcbn]

Thanks kirkor - I've read about that myself recently and although I currently buy free range eggs from the supermarket I was planning on asking at the farm shop I frequent what their chickens eat. They're more expensive at the farm shop of course (which is why I don't currently buy them there!!), but I love eggs and if that IS the problem and it meant I could eat them without issue then I think that would justify the expense. I'll have to do a bit of research on the supermarket ones too...

[jmcbn]

A quick google tells me that only two of the main supermarkets in the UK (Sainsbury's and Marks & Spencers) will guarantee that their eggs do not come from chickens fed with GM crops. One of those named I shop from occasionally, the other rarely unless it's a special occasion, so right away I'm thinking the feed could well be the culprit, and NOT the eggs.

Apparently organic free range is the only way to go in any of the other supermarkets...

Another quick google brought me to the Foods Standards Agency which gave me a run down of what chickens can eat. Poultry apparently don't digest a large amount of roughage/grass etc very well so their diet of veg scraps, worms & bugs (providing they're free to roam....) is supplemented by a variety grains, depending on the farm. Sometimes though they're fed only grain because it's cheaper, or there are so many chickens they don't get enough time outdoors, etc etc.... This got me thinking about corn too as corn absolutely floors me.

Maybe I'm overthinking this, but it's certainly worth asking the questions locally, and maybe doing a little experimenting...

[MeadowLily]

http://www.egglandsbest.com/superior-nutrition/superior-feed/

 

There's definitely some corn up in there. ^^^ I think Kirkor is onto something, the pathway that leads to healing. Keep searching.  It's probably time to raise your own chickens.  They are delightful creatures. I have a young niece who paints the rooster's 'toenails'. There are no fried chicken dinners at that house. They're pets now.  I have witnessed the rooster getting his nails painted on the kitchen table. 

 

https://www.scratchandpeck.com/product-tag/organic-no-soy-no-corn-chicken-feed/

 

[jmcbn]

Corn-fed chickens are a thing. A BIG thing. A BIG EXPENSIVE thing on some menus here. The wife of an old friend used to always order corn-fed chicken, served with corn on the cob when we went out, and I always thought the yellow skin looked so processed, so fake.... and, well, it is.

Chickens are NOT vegetarians. Feeding them soley on corn is cheap & bulks them up much faster, allowing farmers to produce more in a shorter time.

When chickens are TRULY 'free range' they will forage for animal proteins like worms & bugs as they wander about the farm, and supplement their diet with fruits & veg - just like ourselves really. The problem is that many chickens are technically free range, because they are allowed access to roam outdoors for a certain number of hours in the day, but because of the high number of chickens kept in one place they don't often get the chance to do so - plus the feed is kept indoors so they get lazy.

My trusty assistant at the farm shop tells me that their chickens are not supplemented with grain. At all. They have the freedom of the farm (well, their part of it at least...!!), and they forage like they should when left to their own devices, and get supplemented with 'left overs' from the farm shop (well, the stuff that doesn't get fobbed off on me...!!). They are free in the truest sense of the word, and whilst they are not fed any grains or GM produce they are not classed as organic because the Farm owners would have to pay for the pleasure of using that label, and they're not producing enough eggs to make that worth their while.

So when this batch of mayo is done (ie. by the end of this week) I'll reintroduce eggs, in their entirety, from the farm shop - just to see how that goes.

[Zoe]

Hi all

I work in the animal feed industry

You so do not want to know what is going into feeding the main stream animal production line

I could rant all day - but it wouldn't make a blind bit of difference

I buy most of my meat and eggs at my small / quirky butchers - it is better - not much but better

The only saving grace is that the agri food industry in NI is still pretty good compared with the mass production you get in other countries

Z

[jmcbn]

Thanks Zoe - I buy all of my meat & veg from a local farm shop too for this very reason...

People say you are what you eat, but in reality you are what what you eat ate - which is much harder to keep tabs on!

[Zoe]

jmcbn

where is your farm shop ? always on the look out for other good places to shop

also have been remiss in getting back to you re the "booches"

now that i have my fundraising complete i feel ready to take on the nxt challenge

[jmcbn]

I buy my meat from Corries, or occasionally McKee's if I'm out that direction.

Fruit & veg I get from Hamilton's - their farm is in Comber (not of Mash Direct fame), but their shop is right next to Corrie's in Ards.

I was just asking about eggs in Corrie's when I was out at lunch because Hamilton's didn't have any and since the Mum & Dad are on holiday, & they usually look after the chickens, it's unlikely there'll be any collected this week as everyone else is too busy out doing other chores. The guys at Corrie's tell me their eggs are as free range as they get because it's also a small production but they're going to check about any supplementation for me - just in case. Funnily enough one of the butchers there can't eat eggs either so I've piqued his interest in the whole grain/feed thing - he had a bit of a light bulb moment while we were talking - this gives me a lot more faith in what he'll tell me once he's asked the questions...!! 

 

Whereabouts are you?

 

And when/where is your trek?

I have a friend going off to the Rockies in June with a crowd from the Spar and he's been fundraising like mad too....

[Zoe]

I use the butcher / grocers on Belmont Rd (Belfast)

Used to go to McKees but found them expensive

Also buy F&V mainstream

My butcher does eggs - he has been there for ever and is old school - with old school suppliers - as I say it is better

I am in Belmont - super handy for everything I do

Trek is in Nov - but my target has been raised now so the pressure is off - any more raised now is a bonus

[jmcbn]

I know Belmont quite well - or I used to at least - I have an aunt who lives in that area and we used to spend a lot of time there as kids, and in fact my cousin (her daughter) owns a Bakery on the Belmont Rd.

It's a small world...

 

[Zoe]

Small world indeed

In US terms we are next door neighbors

 

I would freak out if I owned a bakery - bad enough dealing with GF flour let alone the real poison (GLUTEN) - we are the coeliac family of doom !!

[Zoe]

Sorry another post - just popped into my head

I have relatives in the US 

When I asked them how long it took them to go and visit their parents / grandparents - they said about 5-6 DVD's !!! they have kids (10 hrs)

Luckily enough for us we call fall off the island before driving 10 hrs !!! 

[jmcbn]

I used to LOVE the smell of freshly baked bread, and years back we'd get these HUGE date & wheaten scones from a different bakery on the Belmont Rd (not sure if it's still there), but since I cut out gluten a few years back the smell now actually turns my stomach   

My cousin has three boys - one of them may well go to school with one of your boys - they all go to different schools though!

And at the other end of the spectrum the company I work for does quite a bit of work on the Isle of Man, which as you know is tiny. I'd phoned a cleaning company a while back to do a deep clean on a property we'd been working on and they turned it down because '...they wouldn't be on that side of the Island this week....' - You can drive north to south or east to west in about 45mins but it might as well be the other side of the world....