Wednesday 16 May 2012

What's happening now?

I am very busy converting my website to the new navigation with new Tabs.

What will you get?
  • More choices and less restrictive options that better reflect your dietary needs
  • Better Key with a new definition of SEF
  • New Recipes that accommodate those with less restrictive diets
  • New Recipes to accommodate diets that are harder to accommodate (will take much longer)
  • Salicylate, Glutamate and Amine Diets will be accommodated as soon as my research is done.
  • Diabetics will have truly healthier choices that won't damage the Kidneys like the traditional diet does. (Animal proteins damage kidneys was proven. Type of Diabetes moot point.)
  • Multiple Allergies will have choices under their own tab.
  • Top 8 & Top 12 recipes coming soon! And, common additional multiple allergies accounted for. (Top 8 or 12 & Nightshade free, Top 8 or 12 & Allium free, and so on.)
  • Seed Free will finally have recipes, besides Pizza. 
  • EE & EGID where at least 2 items can be ate will have recipes as soon as I pass Raw Vegan cooking course I'm taking. I'm using techniques learned to create both Hot & Cold recipes.
  • Raw Foods Diet will have recipes as well. Dehydrator I now own! :D
  • Diabetics with allergies will be accommodated for under the Diabetic tab.

 How long will this take?
  • The Navigation I hope to have done by June 1st.
  • All current recipes will be converted and refiled, hopefully by June 1st or July 1st.
  • The New Recipes will be created as soon as the refiling is done.
  • Goal is to have at least 2 recipes per Tab/Specific Diet under "Main course" and "Drinks" by June 25th, but this might take until July 15th, especially if I make too many errors.
  • Salicylate, Glutamate and Amine diets coming hopefully October 1st. 
  • Diabetes Recipes: Aiming for August 5th.
  • Multiple Allergies: Aiming for August 15th.
Want to know more about the new Navigation's Tabs and Headings?
Read after the "cut". 

Currently, I believe that none of my recipes works for the Salicylate Diet, but I have a spot reserved.
Also, as I find food lists, I'll create a Salicylate, Glutamate and Amine Diet recipes (where these have to be low.)

I am working out the "Allowed" food list by the following categories:
Very Low Salicylate
Very Low & Low Salicylate
Very Low, Low and Moderate Salicylate
(Goal: November 20th for Drinks, Main Course and Salad recipes.)

Due to the nutritional needs of those on this diet, I am researching ways to incorporate Vitamins and Minerals from your allowed supplement source into my recipes. First, I need to find out if the vitamins and minerals in the supplements are destroyed in heat or liquid. B12 is very fragile and does get destroy. Currently, I recommend blending your supplements in your allowed cold drink, if you can handle the taste and need to up your intake of supplements.  I realize that in the more severe cases, water is the only option, even though Cow's and Goat's milk is considered "Negligible".

Also, I hope to use techniques learned from Raw Foods Cooking class to create flavorful dishes on a bland diet. Foods on the "Very Low" Salicylate list and the "Low List" will be used as "spices & herbs".  Idea for those allowed "Moderate" Salicylates: Use 1 serving of Pureed Beets as a "Tomato Sauce".  Spice it with finely chopped Organic Celery with the strings removed, small amount finely chopped Green Cabbage - both from the "Very Low" Salicylate list.



Tuesday 10 April 2012

Allergy Free Cauliflower Steaks without the Cauliflower

Martha Stewart's "The Bag Show" had these wonderful 1/2" thick Cauliflower "Steaks" fried in Garlic and Olive Oil. What if you are allergic to Cauliflower? And, what if you want more flavour?
The Original Recipe

Here you go! Allergy Free versions of her recipe. I give you 3 sauce options to accommodate various allergies and taste buds.

Options to make this Free of: 

CF, DF, EF, FF, GF, GaF, KF, LF, 

NSF, OF, PF, POF, RF, F, SEF, SHF, 

SWF, TNF, WF, V, Veg, SeedF, CerealF, FungusF


Take
1) Cauliflower, Cabbage Family Allergy? (There is no vegetable that will produce the lovely design Martha Stewart had with her Cauliflower.)

Your Choice of...
Zucchini (Courgette), sliced thin lengthwise (Seeded and washed if need Seed Free)
Summer Squash, sliced thin lengthwise (Seeded and washed if need Seed Free)
Portobello Mushrooms, cleaned with brush, stem removed, sliced thinly (Seed Free)
Bell Peppers (Nightshade), seeded, sliced into rounds (and washed well, if need Seed Free)

Fry In:
2) Olive Oil Allergy?

2 TB of either...
Coconut Oil (Tree Nut)
Canola Oil (Mustard Family)
Any oil you use, especially if Seed free.
(May ask if Seed free can use Butter. Must use low temperature of Butter will burn.)

Add:
3) Allium Allergy? (Onion, Garlic, Chives, Lily Family and so on)
Choose one or both:
1 Fennel Bulb, sliced or diced, cooked for at least five minutes in the Oil
Ginger, to taste (Seed Free root)

Directions:
Cook until the vegetables are of desired tenderness, in a saute pan. You may keep the done strips warm in an oven by placing them on a baking pan, and covering with aluminium foil.

Note: You may want to start the Fennel first, and then after two minutes, add in the vegetables!

Alternatively:

If you want a "grilled" look, use a pan that has the grill markings, or fry without oil

right on top of the gas stove without using a pan, until the vegetables are blackened to your
desired taste. I prefer using a pan myself, as its less messy and does not pose
as much of a fire hazard.  You can then fry in the pan until cooked to desired tenderness.

A broiler can also be used, but smoking can be a problem. You will have to turn it very often. The smoke alarm is also likely to go off, which is why I'd only do this outside on a outdoor grill. Doesn't aggravate Asthma as much.  You can then fry in the pan until cooked to desired tenderness.


Sauce 1:
My favorite gravy, modified to be Soy/Allergy Free for most!

Puree together: (Seed Free)
1 Cup Portobello Mushrooms, finely chopped
1 Cup Steak Mushrooms, finely chopped
2 Cup Allergy Free or Seed Free milk you use or Water
(Top 8 free? Rice Milk or Potato Milk works.)

Mix in...
1 Cup Portobello Mushrooms, chopped to desired size (Seed Free)
1 Cup Steak Mushrooms, chopped to desired size (Seed Free)
Kosher Sea Salt, to taste (Not a Seed, but ask if allowed on Allergic Person's diet)
Tellicherry Black Pepper, to taste (Seed!
- Seed free? Skip the Black Pepper and substitute Ginger and allowed Green Herbs of your choice).
1 TB Sweet Basil (if allowed - I know one person allergic.)
2 tsp Cilantro
1 tsp Rosemary Leaves
2 TB Arrowroot mixed in 2 TB Water (if allowed. Ask for Seed free, as I'm not sure.)

Directions: 
Bring to a boil, then simmer. Cook on stove until reaches desired thickness.

Sauce 2:
Fungus free? And Soy Free? Not Seed Free!
Make a sauce out of...
2 Cups Your Allergy Free Milk
1/2 tsp Cloves (Seed)
1/2 tsp Cardamom (Seed)
1 tsp Allspice (Seed?)
2 TB Sweet Basil, or Marjoram (Herbs)
1 tsp Ginger (Root)
1 tsp Coriander (Seed)
1/2 tsp Cumin (Seed)
1 Cup Puree Cooked White Rice (Cereal Family)
(or 1 Cup Potato Flakes, a Nightshade)

2 TB Arrowroot mixed in 2 TB Water

Directions:
Bring to a boil, then simmer. Cook on stove until reaches desired thickness.


Note:
May add more or less of the above ingredients to suite your taste. I created this at the coffee shop, so I can not try out the Fungus and Soy Free sauce. Sorry! The pureed Rice or Potato Flakes are meant to make this creamier and not taste like a Indian Milk drink.

Serve with Gluten Free:
Tinkyada@reg; Rice Noodles of your choice.
(If can't have Rice, substitute Corn Noodles, or Quinoa).
(Seed Free, Cereal Free and Rice Free? I am not sure what is acceptable, so I would make a noodle out of allowed vegetables by slicing them to your desired texture and shape. Spaghetti Squash works very well, and just needs to be cooked and then scraped out into strings, if I remember correctly.)

Most noodles:
Cook in a large pan of boiling water for 14 - 16 minutes, until desired tenderness.

To get a Couscous substitute, use their angel hair noodles, and break up into smaller pieces before putting in the boiling water. Angel Hair may not take as long to cook, so read the package instructions.

Nightshade Free Salad: Vinegar Free too!

A substitute that is more like her sauce:

1 TB Apple Cider
1 Sprig Fresh Chopped Italian Parsley
1 - 2 Cups Beets, diced (May use 15 oz can Beets instead)
 1 TB Oil (of your choice) or Olive Oil

If not Nightshade free, you may use Roma Tomatoes or Cherry Tomatoes (original).

Directions:
Heat the Beets in a pan with a little water until tender.
Drain the extra juice (or reserve this for the pasta).

Transfer to a bowl and place bowl in an ice bath to cool quickly.
(Put a stopper in the sink, and add Ice and cold water to make a ice bath).

Add the Oil, Apple Cider and Italian Parsley.
Mix well.




Coming Soon to a Internet near You!

Coming in June: Separate Navigation for Legume, Top 12, Cereal, Night Shade Free. Food Substitution List. "Tag Line" changing to be more useful. :D

Lastly, Soy Free faux meats that are Gluten Free are still being worked out. Haven't figured out a good recipe yet. Not sure if it will be Vegan too, or just Vegetarian. Hope to have this resolved by July 1st.

And, in July, I hope to have a daily or weekly "useful" post.

Posting here and on my website by October: Will post ways a Dyspraxic might be able to cook for themselves. Some recipes will require a modified stove. I do NOT know if any company is willing to do this or not. Do email me if you need to know this information now. It will be up to the company to figure out the programming.

Writing draft of Cookbook. Recipes will get pictures in October, hopefully.
Want more information?

Happy Passover, Happy Easter

Belated Happy Passover and Happy Easter! I had in my mind that I don't have a new recipe to post, so don't need to post. ROFL My bad!



Tuesday 6 March 2012

Solutions for Other Ability Access

UPDATE: Just for fun, I added 5 themes for the geeky gamers out there. However, not all fonts are capable of being increased in size on the CSS side of things. This means you might have to use CTRL+ to get the size more readable. Sorry! This is also why certain fonts I did not use.

Update Number 2: As people ask for a specific theme, the "Just for Fun" themes will be changed,  per my original plan. 

Great News! My website now has new accessibility features so that those of you who need greater contrast will now have it on ALL pages. A cookie will remember your choice. However, I need to change the code on all of my pages so that your choice will be reflected across the website. This may take some time - and should be finished by March 12th, 2012.
NOTE: Liking me in Google and in Facebook WILL NEVER accommodate colour processing issues because they are ignorant and think you do not exist in such a high enough numbers where they need to be bothered by you. I do NOT like to support such companies, but find I do not have a choice. My apologies! 

Now, the other stuff:
1) Jaws Users: Please contact me if you need my official website to be tweaked in order to better accommodate you.

2) If you need a certain colour combination, just comment to this post (or the other post mentioning this) and I will accommodate you ASAP.

3) Dyslexics and Sight Impaired:
   a) I do intend to record my website in the future so that you can hear the recipe instead of reading it.
   b) I might have found a solution for Dyslexic readers when trying to find the spice they need. It also works for the profoundly blind or sight impaired. Using raised Letters code, you can feel whether it is B for Sweet Basil, or C for Cayenne, or which ever code you use. A store for the blind should have these stickers available, or a stencil set and paper that can help you make your own. I have NOT tested this, but I think the theory might work. However, you have to close your eyes and train your brain to feel the difference. My theory is that we dyslexics do not have dyslexic touch, but only dyslexic sight or hearing when processing language. My own dyslexic symptoms have gone away, so I can not use myself as a guinea pig anymore. Sorry! However, when I can't find something, I do close my eyes and then try to find it, and usually find it that way. I do still have issues processing when I have to find something amongst many items. This is how I came up with this idea in the first place.

c) Font size can be increased by pressing CTRL and + keys on most browsers. 

4) Other Abilities: In the future, I intend to write a tutorial on how someone with one hand, might accomplish the various tasks required to create my recipes. This tutorial will include links to great websites that have good products that might work for you. I do recommend investing in a food processor and an electric can opener. Kitchen Aide is the number one brand out there for food processors. Look for this tutorial on this blog (and a link to it) on my website and in the labels on the right, sometime in 2013. I want to do much research first. I shall also at that time, research many other abilities and brain processing disorders to see what I can do to create recipes that work for these people as well. If you have any suggestions PLEASE comment and let me know! I am All Ears! :D Thanks! I greatly appreciate it!

5) This post will NEVER be considered old. So, do NOT worry about necromancing on my website, as I will read all comments ASAP no matter how old the post is, as I find that comments are never out dated. People always use search engines to find information that is often found only on older posts. I believe that these people deserve to be honoured with their questions answered. I will, however, try to update posts as new knowledge comes in. Also, because I do not want this website to become unwieldy, I will update old posts with new information where appropriate.

6) If my website does not work for you in one browser, try another browser. Firefox, Chrome and Safari are still the best browsers and considered the safest browsers to use. However, I am unaware if JAWS users are forced to use IE or not. Sorry! I thought Firefox and Chrome now works with JAWS, but I'll have to research this again, then make changes, if necessary (and if I can figure out which changes needs to be made).

Monday 5 March 2012

Inadvertant Discrimination on my website

UPDATE: EVERYTHING WORKS NOW!  JAWS users, please comment if you have issues with my website, being as specific as you can. Thanks! If I can figure out the fix, I will.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Great News! My website now has new accessibility features so that those of you who need greater contrast will now have it on ALL pages. A cookie will remember your choice. However, I need to change the code on all of my pages so that your choice will be reflected across the website. This may take some time.
==>> If there is a colour combination that works best for you, just comment to THIS POST and I'll create a button just for you! Thanks! <<==

 
[old]
Sorry, but I have yet to figure out HOW to make my website changeable so that YOU can choose YOUR colour scheme. I am still working on this and will not stop trying to figure this out until I finally have a website that works for all. :P on me!

What am I doing? There is a little JS you can add to your website that will allow a click of the button to switch between CSS sheets. The problem is that this code worked on someone else's website but has never worked on mine. When I can figure this out, then I will add this code to ALL of my pages so that you can choose your background colour and text colour. These colours will include my fave black background with bright blue text, yellow background and black text, and other more common combinations.
[end old]

To increase the font size on my website, many browsers allow you to do this by simply clicking " ctrl + ", making the clicking on larger "A" to increase the font size, not necessary.

JAWS readers: I do not know if my website is JAWS friendly or not. However, I do use a horizontal navigation system and do use the "||" at the end of a series of links to indicate the end of the links. I only do this where several links are presented, instead of 1 or 2 links.

If a JAWS user gives me good feedback as to what works and what does not work, I can then see what I can tweak in order to fix the issues any JAWS readers may have. Until I get this feedback, I will have no way of knowing what works and what does not work.
Thanks!

.ps When I can afford to hire a programmer, I will get many of these issues fixed.

Faux HP Sauce and Barbeque Sauces

Faux HP Sauce, what I call Faux HP'ish Sauce has been created. I hope to tweak it further to make it taste more like the original, but with a twist for those who can not tolerate Vinegar. A Nightshade Free version will also be made soon - hopefully by the end of next week. My version will be Alcohol and Vinegar free, as well as Gluten free. I intend to use Vitamin C as a preservative (if I remember). Otherwise, the sauce will only keep in the refrigerator for 4 or 5 days.  I will make other version as well, that will contain vinegar.

Barbeque Sauces will be made over the next several weeks - including Nightshade Free versions!  I'll have various versions to accommodate different tastes from mild to spicy hot to Vindaloo, and I do mean Vindaloo!  The Vindaloo Barbeque sauce will even come with its own Fire Alarm Warning!

Various Spice Blends Recipes will be made over the next three weeks as well. These will include my Italian Seasoning, Garam Masala, Mughal Garam Masala, Dosai Milagai Podi, Karuvepilai Podi, Nuvvulu Podi, Paruppu Podi, Pudina Podi, Sambaar Podi and Tengai Podi. Nightshade free versions will also be found. I'm still tweaking these recipes and making them my own.

After I finish tweaking the Indian spice blends, I will finally get the Indian inspired pizzas made. I do have a couple up already, but will may tweaking those as well.

Over at Allergic Vegetarian, I tweaked it a bit and gave it a more uniform look and feel! Lovely lavender purple background for some of the recipes with a Black text. Every page will have a new look soon! So, head on over and see what you think.

Goal: To have all this done by April 15th!

Oh yes, I should really make some Kosher for Pesach meals too, but I do not know if I'll get those done this year or not. I used to make a good Matzo Ball soup before I became very allergic to Chicken and had to become Gluten Free. We'll see, but don't hold  your breathe. These recipes will more likely be done for 2013, as I really want to be sure the are error free.