This is a beginning of a second week of the elimination diet for my kids.
They've been on this diet for 14 days for Emily and 8 days for Andrew. They are dying for a juicy steak and mashed potato with butter. Lots of butter. Or a big plate of spaghetti and meatball. And most of all, Clementine Oranges.
Well, those dishes weren't on the menu at Chez Karen. Instead, White Chili was the "Special of the Day."
Even my red meat loving husband liked it. He said, it was "clean" and it didn't "repeat" on him. I made the chili with ground pork and ground turkey but next time, I'm going to try with tofu instead. I think it'll be tasty even if there was no meat in it.
Here is the recipe. I have to warn you though; I don't cook according to recipes. I'm a "pinch of this, and dash of that" kinda cook so this measurement might be a little "off". But I did try to measure for the purpose of writing it here. You can always adjust the spices to your liking.
I like to cook enough chili to last two days for our family of four. But if you want to half the recipe, it's easy to do.
This was so easy to make. It is wheat, dairy, red meat, and sugar free!
White Chili: Gluten-Free and Dairy-Free
Recipe
White Chili: Wheat-Free, Dairy-Free, Sugar-Free, Red Meat-Free
Ingredients
- 2 lbs. ground pork or turkey
- 1 lg onion chopped
- 4 stalks of celery chopped
- 1 green pepper cubed
- 3 russet potatoes cubed in one inch size
- 19 oz. can of white navy or cannelini beans drained and rinsed
- 1 C cilantro chopped & reserve ½ for garnish
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 28 oz chicken broth
- ¼+ C Olive Oil
Spices
- ½ teaspoon of cumin
- ½ teaspoon of cheyenne pepper
- ½ teaspoon of chili pepper
- salt and black pepper to taste
- ½ C chopped scallions for garnish
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a large pot.
- Saute onion, garlic, celery, green peppers, in that order, for ten minutes.
- Add ground pork and turkey and stir until cooked
- Add tomato paste, spices, potatoes, chicken broth and simmer until potatoes are tender
- Add beans and cilantro.
- Simmer for 30 minutes.
- Serve with chopped cilantro and scallions
Eczema Status Update
Emily had a setback yesterday. Emily had, in her words, "tiny weeny teensy little piece" of milk chocolate while my DH was in charge. Well, if there's one person who would sneak in a contraband, it would be my DH. Needless to say, she is lightly red in some areas. ARGH~!!!! She was also not drinking enough water since she's not bedridden anymore and going to school.
Andrew also had a setback since he's been fencing everyday. His face, arms and behind the knees are not as red but his neck is red and dry. He also admits not drinking enough water since he is back at school and it's hard to fill up his water bottle every hour. I can see how this is going to be very hard while they are in school. Lunches are hard too since there's nothing to eat. 🙁
But call me an optimist but I am still happy about the progress. I wish I took pictures of their skin before the diet but I can tell you that they are much better than before. I'm going to start taking pictures weekly. I am also keeping a food diary. Let me tell you; this is a full time job!! I'm constantly thinking about what to cook more than ever. Grocery shopping is no picnic with absolutely nothing to buy and twice as long since I have to read every label. I'm sure once I'm educated about which ones to buy, it'll get easier but oh boy, do I miss my farmers market.
Thanks for keeping me company on this journey. I need all the encouragement I can get.
I wonder if I can sneak in a chocolate that my friend gave me for Christmas. Shhhhhh. Don't tell the kids. But I think I deserve it though. Don't you?
Allison George says
Nursing a food allergic baby (milk protein allergy and mystery food) and toddler who is weaned who is milk protein allergic. Too tired and forgot to add that! 🙂
ecokaren says
Allison,
Cow's milk allergy is no fun for sure. And lucky for us, they were good with soy milk but I know soy is also a big allergen for some. Did you try Goat's Milk for your toddler? Heard that it's better. My kids didn't like it. When I nursing, I ate mostly rice, veggies and seaweed soup (it's a Korean 'thing' for nursing moms). Even cruciferous veggies is not so good for babies so I avoided cabbage, broccoli, and Brussels Sprouts while I was nursing.
Good Luck with this recipe and let me know how your family likes it.
Allison George says
Thank you! Dealing with Food allergies here too. Can't wait to try this recipe as I am nursing and craving some real food! This looks like something the whole family will love. Keep up the good work. It's challenging but you sound like myself... unwilling to give up! We can do this!
Elisa says
Karen,
I know how frustrating this skin condition is. When I was back in the states working in the pharmacy I always had patients asking me for solutions. You did a lot of research and sounds like you still are. Hang in there. Seems the diet is paying off despite the small setbacks.
The recipe looks colorful and good I will try with tofu as I am vegetarian but kudos to you. (...sshhhh I won't tell, ..so eat that piece of chocolate you deserve it!)
Erin from Long Island says
I commend your efforts, most people would just get a pill or a cream from their doctor and ignore any diet control. Perhaps you could use mushrooms to make up for the lack of meat? Even grinding dried mushrooms with tofu and whatever else you want to make mock meat balls?
Karen says
Hi Erin,
The only remedy their doctor can give me was steroid cream which did not work. And pills? they'll kill you in other ways. One thing I could do is to take them to an allergist to find out exactly what they are allergic to but since we know what Andrew's initial allergies were, we are going with those first.
Elisa,
This problem is not uncommon. As you can see from the comments I received, food allergies are very common and can be very serious. I think it's more prevalent than people realize. Asthma, IBS, Colitis, Celiac, just to name a few are food allergy related or are condition aggravated by foods.
You know, I didn't have that chocolate today. I had no desire to. The huge Christmas bag from See's Candies (our favorite!!!) is just sitting in the middle of the living room. Any other Christmases, at least half of it would be gone by now.