Even though I got things wrapped up for my spring coursework at the end of April, May has been a busy whirlwind for me! I’m already leaping ahead trying to make sure I’m prepared for my summer capstone and independent study, so I haven’t really felt like there has been much of a breather between semesters. On top of that, lots of traveling in a week’s time and I’m still a little spun around. When I’m busy and I’m not in my own environment, eating well and making any attempting to sticking to the FODMAP diet are pretty tough! The conference I went to had some pretty limited food options; for example, breakfast consisted only of muffins/baked goods or a horrific looking “egg”-croissant sandwich! Ew.. Luckily I had thrown in some bananas at the last minute and of course had my trail mix handy, so that was my breakfast both mornings. Lunch the one day was also a little rough: choice of chicken, beef, or veggie burrito! Come on people, where are the GF options here?? I was thankful that avoiding gluten is simply a choice for me and not a requirement since I did not have time to go hunt down a better option. Definitely nothing low FODMAP about these burritos (wheat, beans, onions, garlic, etc??). Luckily dinner had some more options and then the second lunch was open choice of restaurants in town. But yes, my GI system was not feeling so hot all day Saturday!
The one meal I made between trips was inspired by sage I bought a little while ago because I thought I had tons of recipes that I could use it for, but then really didn’t have time to hunt down said recipes. Plus the sweet potato fries appetizer from the prior trip really got me digging sage! I used this ravioli recipe as inspiration, but made quite a few tweaks. Here’s my recipe:
Brown Butter Pasta with Chicken, Walnuts & Sage
4 chicken breasts (only needed two for the pasta, so two were leftover)
Rubbed with a mixture of smoked paprika, thyme, salt and pepper.
4ish servings of pasta (I did two servings of GF pasta and two of regular spaghetti for the hubby)
1/2 cup walnuts
4 tbsp butter
1/3 cup fresh sage leaves
1 thick slice of smoked gouda, chopped into small chunks
2 tbsp (ish) of grated parmesan
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Rub herb mixture over both sides of the chicken. Heat a skillet sprayed with garlic olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook for 2 minutes until golden brown. Flip and cook for two more minutes. Transfer chicken to oven-safe dish and continue cooking in the oven for 25-30 minutes. Allow the chicken to cool for 5 minutes, then chop into bite-sized pieces. Boil and drain the pasta according the to package directions.
Place the walnuts in a large skillet over medium heat and toast for 5-7 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove and chop. Wipe the skillet clean, and melt 4 tablespoons of butter in the same skillet over medium heat. When the butter just starts to turn brown, add the sage and stir constantly for one minute. Immediately add the pasta and stir to combine. Add the chicken, chopped walnuts, smoked gouda, and parmesan and stir.
GF pasta with chicken & sage
Ended up very tasty- I asked the hubby if this was a repeater and he said yes! Again, the smoked gouda may have played a role… 🙂
Otherwise, we have been nibbling on leftovers or going out to eat or just having salads this week so far! I’m hoping to make up some burgers tonight for something different! I did make up another batch of coconut milk yogurt with a slightly different formula. 4 cups Aroy-D coconut milk, 4 cups of homemade coconut-oat milk, 1 heaping tsp of agar and 3 tbsp tapioca starch (with half a container of SO Coconut yogurt as starter). I wanted to see a) if using half “real” coconut milk and half homemade would still work and b) if having less agar would still make it fairly thick. I just felt like the last few batches I could see little pockets of agar (like a small clear ball of gelatin), so I thought perhaps it didn’t need as much. It seems to have turned out just fine, perhaps slightly less “firm” but I always felt like it wouldn’t hurt for it to be a little more runny!
My other project has been trying to get my granola to clump, without having to add more sweetener! I think I have had success, though I still want to experiment a bit! Still using the oats & amaranth granola recipe as a base, I again replaced the amaranth with sesame seeds as well as some sunflower seeds, did 1/2 cup hazelnuts and 1/2 cup pecans, and still used the egg white. Oh and I also added some cardamom and smoked salt for slightly different flavor. The big differences I made were I lined my pan with parchment paper (most recipes say to do this but I was lazy before) and I left it out overnight to cool. When I went to break it up: tada!
granola clumps!!
So much easier and yummier for snacking!! I will say, it tastes just a touch stale, so my next batch I’m going to just use the parchment paper, but not let it sit out overnight and see if that still yields clumps but keeps the crunchy-ness. I also found a granola recipe that uses homemade milk pulp, so I might give that a try since I have a full gallon ziploc in the freezer full of coconut-oat pulp!
I really gotta get back to meal planning, that was so nice!! The summer is going to be hectic, so it would be nice to have some meals already planned out to reduce brain-strain.. 🙂
Adventures in Picky Stomachs 