DIY Hemp Milk!!

hemp milk is expensive. like, $4-5 for one quart.

and recently, the whole foods we normally shop at stopped carrying any sort of hemp milk (blasphemy!!). we kept requesting it. that became awkward. meanwhile, K had mentioned that it’s possible to make hemp milk in a vitamix.

that it was cheaper, even.

so we gave it a try. and folks, its easy, delicious, AND inexpensive.

here’s our recipe:

3.5 cups water
1/2 cup raw hemp seeds (find a store with a bulk section, its really cheap. otherwise you are paying for packaging)
1 tbs honey
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/8-1/4 tsp salt 

add it to the vitamix and blend it for about 30 seconds. pour into a jar of some kind, refrigerate, and shake before using. ENJOY!!!

the beauty of making your own is that you can adjust it for your needs. if you like sweeter hemp milk (the recipe is pretty neutral) for cereal but would like something more neutral for cooking its easy to do. also, if you want creamier hemp milk, add less water, if you refer less creamy, dilute it.

kale and chorizo soup

there i was, bored, hungry, and K was in class. what’s a non-cooking individual like myself to do?! well, i got creative and for once it turned out well. K loved it. it was the first time i have ever heard her exclaim “that’s fucking delicious!” after taking a bite of soup. oh snap, i must have done something right!

ingredients

• 1 medium red onion, diced
• 1 large potato, sliced any way you prefer
• 2 stalks of celery, diced
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• handful of shredded red kale leaves (about 1 cup)
• 1.5 tbs chopped parsley
• sliced mushrooms (i used the last couple in the fridge, but i don’t think the amount matters so use as many as you like)
• oregano
• salt
• dash of cayenne pepper
• olive oil
• 1 tbs better than boullion (chicken flavor)
• dry/cured spanish chorizo cut into small pieces (i used a roughly 3 inch piece)
• 4 cups of water

directions

1. heat a large non-stick pot with olive oil over medium-low heat
2. add in the onion, mushroom, and celery and sautee until the onion becomes transparent and the other veggies soften
3. toss in the garlic
4. sprinkle oregano and salt generously
5. add the potatoes and chorizo and allow to warm up for about 5 minutes stirring frequently. the chorizo will begin to release its oils. don’t allow it to heat too much because the cured chorizo will get crunchy. think bacon bits…not what you want in soup!
6. take a 2 cup measuring cup and fill with hot water
7. add one tbs of better than boullion to the water in the measuring cup and stir until it dissolves then pour into pot
8. add 2 more cups of water to pot and stir ingredients together
9. add most of parsley
10. bring to a simmer and then cover (i left the lid at an angle so it was mostly covered)
11. allow soup to simmer until potatoes have softened
12. add kale and simmer until leaves have softened
13. serve, top each bowl with fresh parsley

serves 4-6

Enjoy!

an ode to hail merry

these are fucking delicious. that’s right, i have to use bad language to describe how unbelieveably tasty they are. they are that good.

i LOVE them, and not just because they are free of everything bad. they aren’t just “good for being gluten free/vegan/etc” they are actually DELICIOUS simply because they are.

the last time K and i went to whole foods, she pointed at the hail merrys and said “more?” i said “always!” a man walking down the aisle witnessed the interaction and chuckled to himself, probably because he too knows how chocolately and rich and amazing these bad boys are.

plus, they come in other flavors. and the other desserts by this company such as the lemon or chocolate torte are equally as delicious. you should get some. 🙂

GF CF mac n cheese

one of the things i have missed most about being gluten and dairy free is tasty mac n cheese. i tried a couple of recipes but none were quite right, so my lovely kitchen-savvy partner whipped up this recipe in the kitchen one night. we love it! maybe you will too

-preheat the over to 350
-boil a pot of water and add 2 1/4 c. dry gluten free pasta (we used bionature elbows)
-cook pasta until it is half done then drain and set aside

while the pasta is cooking, add to another pot:
-2 tsp. butter substitute
-2 tsp. sweet rice flour
-1 c. unsweetened hemp milk
and make a roux–stir until lumps are out and the mixture thickens over medium-low heat
-add a pinch each of onion and garlic powder–a little goes a long way
-add 1/2 c. or more 🙂 of cheese substitute )we use daiya mozzarella and cheddar)
-allow cheese to melt and mix into roux
-salt and pepper to taste

-pour pasta into the roux and stir until noodles are coated
it should seem a little too saucy–this is what you want because the noodles are going to need moisture to continue cooking
-pour the noodles and sauce into a small greased baking pan
-sprinkle more cheese and some gluten free bread crumbs on top
-cook for about 20 mins until the cheese is melted and the sauce is bubbly

serves about 4

and if you are daring, the next morning you can fry an egg and throw it on top of the leftovers for breakfast like i do.

Enjoy!!!

gluten and dairy free

if you were to go to the MS society right now, you would find that their website spouts some drivel about how having MS does not require any sort of special diet other than the same balanced “healthy” diet that is recommended to the general public. if you then brought up a dairy and gluten free diet to a top MS specialist and researcher (such as the doctor i saw at UCSF for a second opinion) you would probably hear the same answer i did–that no special diet has been shown through research to be of benefit to a person with MS. and this is true, but its only half the truth. what the doctor is leaving out is that no one is bothering to look into it from the medical world, which says nothing about the potential efficacy of such a thing. it simply means that at this point there is a lack of interest. and why would they be interested? who would fund them? teva neuroscience?

think about it: MS medications are costly and patented. there will never be a generic form of copaxone. it will never cost under $2000 a month. why would it? they have us cornered. we have no other choice but to take what they offer and for the price they offer it or take nothing at all. the docs back them up by telling us, the patients in our weakest moment that this is all that there is to offer us. that this is the only piece of hope out there. of course they do.

you can’t patent food, my friends.***

we have choice at the supermarket and we can grow our own food. insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies, and your doctor will never benefit from you having these choices. so why would they encourage you to make them? why would they disrupt the power dynamic they are profiting from?

the other thing that they don’t tell you is that there is a wealth of data–both researched and anecdotal that supports diet as a factor in autoimmune disease. and there are people (like Dr. Swank) who have devoted their lives to getting this information to those suffering with MS.

the medications that our neurologists have told us we should be taking all have side effects. for me, copaxone has caused new allergies to surface. for other medications, there can be a negative effect on liver function, flu symptoms, and or other side effects. the treatment for these is usually more trips to the doctor or more medication. thats a win-win for your doc and pharmaceutical companies.

i get asked frequently by people what my reason is for choosing to be dairy and gluten free. its simple: medications are expensive and they aren’t all that effective. they also have side effects. to be fair, changing my diet has had side effects too: i lost weight, my blood pressure went down, my complexion cleared up, and i am eating way more fruits and vegetables than i ever have in my whole life. even if it doesn’t help with my MS, this diet is a win-win for me.

when i was first diagnosed, i was offered a lot of different medications. valium, flexeril, neurontin, etc. each one of these has serious side effects including physical dependence and NONE of them will, without a shred of a doubt keep me from progressing. there isn’t even a guarantee it will make me feel better. but most doctors would be more apt to suggest taking any one or all three of these medications over recommending a dairy and gluten free diet. something is wrong with this picture, don’t you think?

while i don’t think that diet is enough to keep this disease from progressing, i think that we have a right to know the whole truth about it. MS medications are not the holy grail of treatment. there is no magic pill to make this all go away. but there are pieces we can add together to hopefully create a better outcome for ourselves.

“there is no money in healthy people or dead people. the money is in sick people”

–bill maher

***except that sadly, in our times monsanto would LOVE to see just that happen. this is why organic, local food is so important! in the short term, conventional foods might save you a buck or two (and don’t get me wrong, i’m not on a soap box here and i do still eat at non-organic restaurants and buy some non-organic foods), but buying GMO foods (and nearly all conventional food is GMO) is, IMO and as my grandmother would say “penny wise and dollar foolish.” consider the larger picture, folks.