Adventures in Food

A couple we know very well is going through a really rough time right now due to some major health issues. As a way of helping them out another lady and I have been making some meals for them to take some of that worry off their shoulders. Seems like an easy task, right? Well, he is diabetic, she has issues similar to Crohn's disease and can't have salt or anything with seeds, nuts, or fresh vegetables, and they are both lactose intolerant. This was an interesting challenge for me as we eat a lot of fresh food and us a lot of dairy, although we don't really drink much milk.

I did a lot of research and found information on using Stevia in place of sugar and rice milk in place of dairy milk. Soy is more common in place of cow's milk, but too many sites on the internet had negative comments about how soy effects our hormonal system and other problems so I went with the rice milk.

It wasn't too hard to come up with a couple dishes to make although so many recipes were for soups and I'm just not a big soup eater so I tend to shy away from those meals. I did make a broccoli cheese soup (they are able to eat cheese!) as I wanted to incorporate vegetables into what I made. A biscuit topped pot pie turned out really good and I also did a lasagna.

Now for the pie.................let's just say we need to tweak that recipe a little more. Apparently it turned out more like bread, which doesn't surprise me as it took FOREVER to look like it was done! The site I got my Stevia conversion chart from indicated that using Stevia in place of sugar will mean that there is volumn in the recipe that needs to be made up for somehow since you use so much less of it than you do sugar and applesauce is a good substitue, so that is what I used. I followed the recipe on the can of pumpking and used the spices it called for. Apparently, applesauce will change the flavor of the food also as it didn't taste like pumpkin anymore!

We've shared a good laugh over my attempts to follow their dietary challenges and when they need more meals I hope they'll give me another chance to test my culinary skills!