Cauli-chicken risotto

Risotto is delicious. Even with cauliflower. On its own, cauliflower can be a bland. Even gross. But in fact there are many great things to be made from cauliflower, including "rice". The recipe below is based on a recipe the google told me about on Cynthia Underground. That's usually how I come up with stuff - google x + paleo and boom: endless inspiration.

So here it is, with my modifications...

Ingredients

• 1 head cauliflower, riced
• 1/2 to taste olive oil
• 1/2 small onion (diced)
• handful of fresh cilantro, diced
• 1 C zucchini, diced (I gave it a whirl through the food processor, since it was already out for the cauliflower)
• 1-2 C cooked chicken, cubed*
• 1/4 C goat cheese**
• 1/4 C canned coconut milk
• 1/4 C chicken broth
• Salt and pepper to taste

The ol' iPad doesn't take the best pics.

Instructions:

• Make cauliflower “rice” using a food processor.
• Steam or microwave rice for 5 minutes. Set aside (drain/press out any excess liquid)
• Use a strainer if necessary to press out any addition liquid. Set Aside.
• Sautee onion, zucchini, and cilantro in the olive in a large frying pan.
• Add rice, salt, pepper, milk, and broth.
• Cook until it starts to reduce, about 10 min, add goat cheese, stir.
• Add pre-cooked chicken, stir.

*I used meat from a BBQ chicken I picked up at the grocery store the day before. In consideration of the increased histamine content from the meat being left over, I popped a diamine oxidase supplement to be safe.
**I've been indulging in (not aged/old) cheese here and there. 1) It doesn't seem to bother me; and 2) I consider it to be a reasonable consolation for my histamine intolerance.

Brussels Sprout Chips

I definitely make better vegetables now than I ever did pre-paleo. Once you embrace the (good) fat, there are some delicious things you can do with veggies. For the most part, I roast 'em in the oven with evoo with some salt and pepper. Current favourites include broccoli, parsnips, and sweet potatoes. So simple, so good.

I noticed a while back that when roasting brussels sprouts that the BEST part are the few leaves that manage to separate from their sprout. These orphan leaves become crispy and delicious. Chip-like you might say. And let's be honest - is there anyone who doesn't like the odd chip-like experience? I don't think so.

So this is hardly a recipe at all, but just a quick and easy suggestion of what to do with your brussels sprouts. The ones I cooked the other night were beautiful (though it didn't occur to me to take a pre-pic), and although they themselves were not locally grown, I did purchase them from Riverview Country Market.

I probably should have left these in a bit longer, but you get the idea.

Ingredients:

• Brussels sprouts
• Olive oil (or coconut oil, or whatever fat you like)
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Pull leaves off sprouts
3. Toss 'em with some oil
4. Lay them out on a lined baking sheet (preferably allowing each his/her own space)
5. Sprinkle with salt and pepper as desired
6. Bake for 10-15 minutes, watching pretty carefully after the 10 minute mark

I find that whenever making chip-like veggies (sweet potato, kale, etc.), it often pays to leave them in longer that you think (and/or want) to. This gives them more opportunity to crisp-en. For your brussels sprouts, you want to see a good number of brown/black bits before taking them out.

Low histamine for the long run / salad dressing discovery

If I'm to be completely truthful, my diet has been less than great lately. It's not only the weight gain that tells me so, but other cues like skin issues, lower energy level, and less *ahem* regularity. If you will allow me, I'll play the low histamine complainer card for just a moment... Oh, to be simply paleo!

In more specific terms, here's my assessment of the problem:
- Working too much, so other (real) life needs going unmet (such as CrossFit)
- Getting bitter about low histamine restrictions
- Getting tired of limited options

As a result of the factors above, I'm:
- Snacking instead of eating proper meals (with few well balanced low histamine + paleo options)
- Not working out enough
- Eating out more than usual (which still isn't a whole lot as compared to pre-paleo, but more than necessary due to depleted lunch stocks in the freezer)
- Letting gluten-free crap (i.e. bread, cookies) creep into diet to make up for missed traditional paleo options (a reaction to the bitterness referenced above)

So what am I going to do about it? I've been tossing around a few approaches in my brain:

1. Go strict low histamine paleo for 30 days to reset
2. Re-prioritize where I use my "willing to take my chances eating this high histamine food" credits (e.g. from chocolate to avocado)
3. Revert some meals (e.g. quick dinners, weekend lunches) to regular ol' paleo (e.g. left over meat, tomatoes, bacon, whatever) with the help of a DAO supplement

For the past two days, I've been taking a combo of approaches 2 and 3. I already feel better and eczema-wise, my skin is (knock on wood) in pretty good shape. One of the "indulgences" as I revert back to some of my pre-low histamine paleo foods includes salad (which may actually seem sad). A salad without vinegar of some kind doesn't do a lot for me. That, coupled with the typical histamine-prone salad additions like less-than-fresh meat, tomatoes, avocado, vinegar, bacon, cheese, etc., had reduced my salad eating to periodic treats while eating out (and accompanied by a DAO pill).

President's Choice makes this delicious lemon-infused extra virgin olive oil. The grape tomatoes are another shouldn't have treat, but I live on the edge sometimes.

I was intrigued when I recently discovered lemon infused extra virgin olive oil. I wondered if this would give my salad enough taste and liquid, more than I'd get from choking down a green salad with only olive oil to dress it. This oil is simply evoo with lemon extract. I realize citrus is (yet another) item on the histamine hit list, but I figure a bit of lemon extract will surely have less impact on my histamine threshold than a good serving of balsamic vinegar. Well it turns out it absolutely does the trick. It's now worth having salads again. It's now worth buying greens again.

And so, having had enough symptoms of deteriorating health to alert me, I'm getting back on track. For now, I don't have a strict 30 in the plans, but you never know. Now that I know it's the histamine intolerance that's causing my eczema, it's actually harder to go really strict low histamine. Rather, I tend to maintain a small amount of rash that is a price worth paying for the most part.

For those of you in the histamine intolerance camp - how have you managed to regulate your diet in a sustainable way? Or perhaps you are more sensitive than I, where any symptoms are too many symptoms and strict is the only way to go.

Finally histamine intolerance talk in Paleo community

If you've been paleo for any length of time, you're probably familiar with Chris Kresser, and his site The Healthy Skeptic. Chris recently published an article about histamine intolerance in those who have switched to a clean diet. 

From time to time I reflect on why I continue to follow a paleo/primal approach to eating after it "gave me" a histamine intolerance. Here's why:

1. I still feel better this way.
2. I'm proud of my grocery cart.
3. I want to maintain the same high standard of food I insist for my daughter. In other words, if I wouldn't let her have something, I probably shouldn't be eating it either.
4. Pandora's box is open. I'm pretty sure there's only one way out of this predicament, and that's a low histamine diet. Re-introducing grains, etc. will do nothing to save me at this point.

Anyhow, the article is not lengthly, but worth the read. It's also interesting to read through the comments on a site like his, which no doubt gets a whole lot of traffic. 

How I treat coffee

I've been reflecting on coffee today. You see, up until about a year and a half ago, I was not a partaker. I eventually started drinking coffee for a few (not compelling) reasons: the social element, reduced sleep-in ops that come with parenthood (i.e. slow to warm-up in the morning), and the neat Keurig machine at my new office at the time. Coffee also seemed to have a bit of a paleo feel/acceptance, as there seemed to be a number of folks who regularly enjoyed a heavy cream/coconut milk/almond milk version.

For the last year and a half, I've been drinking coffee with whipping(!) cream about five days per week (Monday to Friday). With the odd exception when breakfasting or brunching out, I don't drink coffee on weekends. I feel this approach keeps my coffee drinking "in check" (like sugar, I try to keep some discipline over addictive foods). What's interesting about this intermittent approach is that I observe the impact of coffee fairly regularly. For example, some Saturdays I find I have a dull headache for a good part of the day, or my energy level isn't what it should be. I generally take this scenario to mean I've had too much coffee through the week (note to self: keep it at one cup a day).

Regular coffee with a  good helping of whipping cream.

On the flip side, my Monday re-introduction to caffeine often results in the jitters - especially those odd Monday mornings when I tell myself I need that second cup. On a related note, I've been on an enviable stretch of post-Christmas leave from work this week. As a result, I've only had one coffee Monday morning with a friend, and another coffee date this morning (Friday). This morning I enjoyed a real chai latte (not that syrup crap), plus a regular coffee (which was absolutely not necessary). Since the coffee, I've been buzzing like hummingbird. It's a weird feeling I'm not sure I like. On the upside, I've done quite a few chores around the house.

So, with these considerations and observations in mind, I'm formalizing my personal rules guidelines for coffee consumption:

• Limit coffee days to no more than five days per week
• Limit individual servings on any coffee day to one
• Do not drink any coffee concoctions with sweetener (especially that syrup nonsense)
• Resist the temptation to by a fancy coffee maker for home
• Do not let these (perfectly reasonable) guidelines make you batty about coffee drinking

Anyone else out there conscious about coffee consumption? 

Note: I don't find coffee to bother me from a histamine perspective. My brother suggests it does negatively affect his eczema, despite it being "allowed" according to the International Chronic Urticaria Society.

I'm not one to take pills, BUT...

I want to be clear here - I was raised in a home where you more or less had to have an arm hanging off before there was a visit to the doctor, let alone taking medications of any kind. I'm not inclined to 'take stuff' aside from, say, vitamins. However, I also cannot accept a life without tomatoes, wine, chocolate, condiments, etc.

Much to my relief, there is a 'supplement' for histamine intolerance. It's essentially the diamine oxidase enzyme (DAO) sourced from pigs (porcine kidney) in capsule form. You take one or two capsules with your food and the idea is your body then has the DAO to balance out the histamine.

So does it work?
Yes, I think it helps. Of course, nothing beats a low histamine diet, which should be the first defence. But we're all human, and every now and again it's nice to indulge in beef jerky or aged cheese. I believe taking DAO with my histamine-filled holiday meals did help reduce my symptoms (eczema) from bad to something fairly manageable.

Where to get it
My first DAO experience was with Histame, but they are expensive. To my pre-Christmas delight, I found a better source in Swanson Health Products. I've only ordered from them once so far, but it was a good experience - reasonable shipping to Canada, and the package arrived within only a week or so if I recall (my Histame seemed to take forever).

Creamy Avocado and Sausage Spaghetti

Dinner tonight was delicious. So much so, I have to post it right away. There are several recipes out there similar to this one, like here and there. When I'm looking for inspiration, I usually google a few ingredients (e.g. sausage, avocado) together with the word "paleo". Once I have the gist of how to make whatever it is, away we go.

Ingredients

• 1/2 large spaghetti squash
• 3-4 large sausages* (mine come from Bluefield)
• 2 avocados
• 1 sweet bell pepper, thinly sliced
• Juice of 1-2 limes (I used the juice of about 5 cute little key limes)
• 2 T guacamole spices**
• 1/4 C almond milk (coconut milk would probably be better here, but sometimes I'm too lazy for cans)

Instructions

• Cook the spaghetti squash in the oven or the microwave if time is limited
• Slice up the sausage and throw it in a large pan on medium heat and cook until mostly done
• Add sliced pepper
• Put avocado, lime juice, milk, and guac spices in a small food processor and mix until mostly smooth
• Add sauce to the sausage mix
• Shred out half of the spaghetti strands and add to the pan
• Mix well and serve

*Sausages are definitely not low histamine. But I like them. And they're convenient. So I cook 'em up every now and again when I feel my skin can take it.

**Here's a confession... I use this stuff from Epicure and it's tasty: http://www.epicureselections.com/en/products/food/seasoning-for-dips/1070/guacamole-dip-mix/

It may not look great, but it was delicious I can promise you.

Getting more use out of my noodle bowls than I ever have, ironically enough.