Low Iodine diet - day 7

I am working at home today.  Nothing but conference calls all day long, I couldn't see the point of driving into the office.  So, since I'm home, I can come up with something for dinner.....

Breakfast was a latte made with the chocolate and regular almond milk.  (Again, it's very good, but will never be a choice over milk and the ganache I use to make mochas.)   Along with that I had scrambled egg whites and a piece of toast from my homemade bread.  I had sliced some of the bread and put it in the freezer - but it is time to make another loaf.  It's so easy with my bread maker.

For lunch I had a smoothie made with avocado, banana, blueberries and orange juice.  It was delicious.  The avocado makes it really creamy, like it was made with milk.

For dinner, I made pork chops cooked in a sauce with apples and raisins.  I also made candied sweet potatoes.  Both were very good and can be found in the thyca cook book.  

Low iodine diet - day 6

Day 6 started with cereal for breakfast, accompanied by the homemade almond milk.  I went into the office to work today, the first time since I've been on the diet.  For lunch, I took leftover spaghetti from the other night, some tangerines and a couple of the chocolate chip cookies. I forgot to take non-iodized salt with lunch, and missed that on the spaghetti.

I had a salad for dinner, I made the french dressing from the thyca cookbook.  We had some steak leftover from the other night, so that was thinly sliced to top the salad.  (Greens and veggies).

Not a terribly exciting food day!

Low iodine diet - day 5

Last night for dinner I made the chicken with orzo that is included in the LID cookbook from the thyca.org site.   (Page 37!) Yesterday was a weird day, I was feeling off all day long.  I don't know if it's the diet or the change in the levothyroxine.  Today is better, but I still feel a bit off.  Just not in a good mood.

Breakfast today was cereal - did you know that some of the wheat biscuit type cereals (Like Mini wheats) are made without salt?  I had Strawberry frosted Mini Wheats with my homemade almond milk.  Not too shabby.  Lunch was leftover spaghetti from the other night.  I am already out of the plain almond milk I made.  I have another batch of almonds soaking for another batch this afternoon.

For dinner, we're having pot roast with mashed potatoes and gravy.  I used the Cook's Illustrated recipe for pot roast - making some minor adjustments for the LID.  I used the following stock to braise the roast:

I should probably be making my own - there just isn't the time.  Thank goodness there are unsalted stocks in the grocery store!

This is a nice comfort food dinner on a cold day.  With our wind chills getting to about 40 or 50 below zero today, this will be great!

Low iodine diet - day 4

I made the almond milk this morning, one cinnamon and vanilla flavored, the other is chocolate.  I mixed the two together and used it with my espresso to make a mocha.  It was fine and definitely drinkable, but will never become a substitute for a real mocha or latte.

This afternoon, I made chocolate chip cookies using the following ingredients:

The shortening is 100% palm oil and allowed on the LID.  Egg whites only, instead of whole eggs.
The cookies are actually really good!
Sweet tooth and chocolate cravings - satisfied!

Here are the cookies baked:

By the way, breakfast was the same as the last two days.  Tomorrow I will have salt free cereal and the almond milk.  (Just to shake things up a bit.)  I was planning on making a pot roast today, but I have run out of time.  I took some chicken breasts out of the freezer, and will find something to make with those.   Tomorrow is the deep chill in Madison (and all of the mid west!), with temperatures at about 25 below and wind chills at 50 below zero.  I will be working at home and pot roast sounds like just the thing on a day like that!

By the way, how great is it that alcohol is still allowed on the diet?  I've been drinking wine with dinner and hardly miss milk at all.... :)

Low iodine diet - day 3

Let's start with last night's dinner.  I made spaghetti sauce.  First I sauteed one shallot and a large clove of garlic in olive oil   I added about a half pound of ground beef and browned the meat.  To that, I added one container of salt free tomato sauce (Probably about 24 oz.) and a can of salt free diced tomatoes.  Add non-iodized salt, pepper, basil and oregano.   Let it simmer for at least an hour.  I served it with angel hair pasta.  It was delicious.

Breakfast this morning was a repeat of yesterday.  Scrambled egg whites and jellied toast made with homemade bread.  Later I just snacked on some of these items;

Tonight we're grilling t-bones, making baked potatoes and a side of corn.  (From frozen... January is not a good time for a LID!)

I am also soaking almonds overnight to make my own SALT FREE almond milk.  Tomorrow I shall have my coffee with milk and maybe even a latte!!  Use this site to make the almond milk.  I can't wait.

Low iodine diet - day 2

Low iodine diet - day 2
Last night, I ended up simply roasting the pork tenderloin.  Rubbed with olive oil, salt and peppered - it was still good.  I boiled some potatoes, and used a bit of olive oil and non-iodized salt on those.  Some of my homemade bread and a lot of fresh cut up veggies.  I made french dressing to serve with the veggies, the recipe is from the thyca website - LID Cookbook.  Pretty satisfying.  I had some orange sorbet later in the evening.

Started today with scrambled egg whites.  They were better than I thought they would be.  I also had a piece of the homemade bread toasted, with grape jelly.  Black coffee and tangerine juice.   I'm getting used to the coffee, had another cup without thinking twice.

Lunch was a repeat of yesterday - open face peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  A glass of tangerine juice again.  Some unsalted potato chips with my own non-iodized salt.  By the way, here is the site for the basic white bread recipe I made - Basic white bread recipe
It baked up beautifully in the bread machine, and it was so easy!

I haven't figured out dinner yet.  But if I get hungry later on, I am making an avocado blueberry smoothie.

Low Iodine diet - day one

January 2nd starts with low iodine diet and a new dosage of the synthetic thyroid replacement hormone I am taking.  Just as I suspected, the hardest part today has been coffee with no cream.  Plus, the new dosage of the synthroid is making me hungrier than usual.   So, this is what I have had today thus far.

Breakfast:
Banana/strawberry/orange juice smoothie
Black coffee with a little sugar
jelly sandwich with my homemade bread
The above was all before 10AM, like I said.... I was hungry.
Another cup of coffee with melted marshmallows.  A LID blogger said it made the coffee creamy.  It doesn't.

Lunch:
Peanut butter and jelly open face sandwich.  I used natural peanut butter with no added salt or sugar.  I put it in the blender and added sugar, salt and a little peanut oil.  Now it tastes good.
Grated carrot and apple salad with lemon juice topped off lunch.

By 2:30 I was hungry again.  Thank goodness for the best find ever - unsalted potato chips.  I just sprinkled non-iodized salt on each one.   I had that with a Coke Zero - most sodas are allowed on this diet.  Having a craving for something sweet, though.  Maybe an apple with the peanut butter....

Dinner tonight will be pork tenderloin.  I am not sure yet how I will fix it. I will make some home fries as a side dish.

So far, it seems like I will make it without feeling too deprived.  

Making grape jelly

I never got around to posting this a few months back... I made grape jelly last fall, from the grapes I planted in the back yard, over the berm.

To start, I picked the grapes off the vines, washed them and put the grapes in a large pot. Pick some that aren't quite ripe, they have more natural pectin.  Next step is to crush the bottom layer of grapes and add a tiny bit of water, just enough to cover that crushed layer. Probably about a half cup.


You cook this for about an hour, releasing the juices. I also add a quartered apple to get a little more pectin.  Carefully ladle the cooked grapes into juice bags, suspended over a container and let all that juice drip into a bowl.  


Now it's time to cook the juice into jelly.  First simmer the juice uncovered, for about 5 minutes and skim off any froth that forms.  I then add about 3/4 to 1 cup of sugar for every cup of juice and stir til dissolved.  Cook over medium heat until the jel or sheeting stage is reached.  (about 220 degrees)  Ladle into sterilized jars, to within 1/8" from the top, and put on the two piece sterilized lids.  Invert the jars immediately for one minute to complete the seal.  Turn upright and cool.  Store in a cool, dry place. 

Back on prednisone. Which is making me want to eat everything in sight. Everything. Argh. I am so hungry all the time!

I bought some almond milk. It has more calcium than regular milk and I thought it might be kinder to my digestive system. I just made an iced latte with some espresso and the almond milk, and it was pretty good. I am hoping the caffeine from the coffee supresses the hunger for at least a little while. I still want to eat the blueberry muffins and chocolate chip cookies I made yesterday. And some M&Ms... and a peanut butter cup and some dark chocolate. Oh, and dried cherries and pretzels and chips. I have managed to limit myself to one cookie, a tiny dark chocolate square, a peanut butter cup and a lot of beef jerky. And sunflower seeds. And olives.

I give up. It's a losing battle with prednisone.

I am getting better, though!

Peach pie too! I was lazy and didn't feel like making a lattice top.

It's a pain... cut the strips lay them all down in one direction... lift half back up... weave in strips in the other direction.

So much easier to just cut HOLES in the crust! Plus it's cute. And it doesn't change the taste, so why go to all the trouble of a lattice top?

Okay, fine, I'm lazy. But, it was a delicious pie!

Lemon meringue pie.....



I don't even have to say anything.

Well, except it was DELICIOUS!

Summer drinks

This is a great refreshing summery drink:

Raspberry Rickys - the name just sounds delicious.

First make raspberry syrup:
6 oz fresh raspberries
1/4 c. granulated sugar
1/2 oz. lime juice
1/4 c. water

This will make enough for a few drinks. Combine the ingredients for the syrup in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir until sugar dissolves. Cook the syrup until the berries are completely broken down, stirring occasionally. (about 10 minutes) Strain the seeds out for a smooth syrup. Let syrup cool in refrigerator before using.

Raspberry Ricky:
1.5 oz. gin
1/2 oz. fresh lime juice
1/2 to 1 oz. raspberry syrup
Soda water
Lime (for garnish)

Using a highball glass, pour the gin and lime juice over ice. Gently stir in soda water. Top with a the raspberry syrup and stir gently. (Start with the smaller amount and add to taste.) Garnish with lime.

Lovely and delicious!

Next I will try this with blackberries!

Fun Stuff

I am a member of BzzAgent. (I'm an agent!) BzzAgent allows its members to try a product or service (for free!) - then you share your opinion of the stuff you try. I got two free lipsticks.... how can you go wrong with that?? I just signed up for a new campaign - you will get free books downloaded onto your Kindle or Kindle reader on the iPhone or iPad. Waiting now for the first book, we'll see how this goes. Seems like it will be a good campaign to be a member of!

Gin Cosmos

Sounds horrible, right? But, wow.... they're incredible. You have to use GOOD gin. Okay, it doesn't have to be Hendrick's or Right... but it should NOT be Fleischman's either! Make sure it's at least triple distilled. Why? Because it's better and will help in the hangover department. We make them like this:

1 oz. really good gin (see above comments)
1/2 oz. really good orange liqueur - Patron's Citronge, Cointreau.... NOT Triple Sec (Yuck!)
1 oz. cranberry - you can even use diet... it works and cuts carbs
1/2 oz freshly squeezed lime juice
1/2 to 1 oz. water - depending on your taste

Shake with ice in a Boston shaker and strain into a "triangle" glass. (AKA Martini glass)

I don't have a picture. They don't last long enough to take a picture anyway.....

You must have strong will power so you don't drink these into oblivion.

Apple Pie

I made an apple pie on Sunday - it was delicious. That surprised me, because the apples (Granny Smiths) had been in the refigerator for a really long time - a few months at least. But, the pie was awesome and very pretty, too!

Rave reviews from the family....

I haven't posted in so long!

Delicious!

These fudge drops taste like moist decadent brownies - they are delicious!

Check out the recipe on the King Arthur Flour site or their blog.

Time to start baking again

I am taking some time off from work - a short leave of about a month. I plan to do a lot of baking to catch up on all those things I have wanted to try. (I think at the same time, I should start an exercise program to burn off those extra calories I will end up consuming!) Today, I am making angel biscuits, fluffy biscuits made with yeast, and Fudge Drops - a recipe from King Arthur flour. The biscuits are now spending an hour in the freezer, the cookies are about ready to go into the oven (after an hour in the refrigerator.) Here is a picture of the unbaked fudge drops.

I fail at blogging......

Will try to have something soon!

The singing trees

It took a while, and a lot of testing...but we finally found the right combination on the trees.....