About the recipes...

All recipes and ideas contain ingredients from the new IC diet "safe" list. Also, all ingredients are either low-oxalate content, or in small enough amounts where they can be considered low-oxalate. If there are any ingredients that don't fit these criteria, I have labled them, and you have the option to omit them from the dish. Enjoy!

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Comfort Food

Even though it's been unseasonably warm this winter, I still find myself gravitating towards comfort food this time of year.  My absolute favorite is macaroni and cheese.  Nothing is better than a bowl of mac and cheese on a chilly evening snuggled under a blanket on your couch watching a good movie.  I used to love making the packaged Velveeta shells and cheese, but it has so many artificial ingredients (and even paprika), I had to forget about that after being diagnosed with IC.  I can sometimes get away with the boxed Kraft mac and cheese, but this is also loaded with artifical ingredients.  And lets face it, it's powdered cheese!  Here's a recipe that I found on the Velveeta cheese box that I changed slightly by substituting real cheese for the fake cheese.  I find it satifies my mac and cheese craving, and it has to be better than consuming all that fake cheese!  You can serve as a main dish, but it also makes a great side. 

Cozy Macaroni and Cheese:
3 cups medium elbows or shells (measure after pasta is cooked)
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup flour
salt and pepper to taste
2 1/2 cups milk (2% is best-but skim also works)
1 cup shredded Jack Cheese
1 cup shredded mild cheddar cheese
homemade bread crumbs (optional)

1) preheat oven to 350.  Cook and drain pasta.
2) over medium heat, melt butter in saucepan.  wisk in flour, salt and pepper until golden.
3) Gradually pour in milk and stir with wisk to combine.  Cook, stirring constantly until sauce thickens and mixture begins to boil.  Add cheese and stir until melted.
4) Add pasta and stir.  Pour into square pyrex baking dish.  Top with breadcrumbs is desired.  Bake for 30 mintues, covered with tin foil.  Remove foil for last 5 minutes of baking so the top browns up.

My Mother used to make this fabulous baked chicken with honey mustard sauce when I was growing up.  It was one of my favorite dishes, and I even started making it when I moved out on my own.  After the IC, I could no longer think about eating mustard, but really wanted to make that chicken!  So I removed the mustard and came up with my own version. While it's slightly different, it's just as tastey as the original, and it's actually lower in fat!

Honey-Citrus Baked Chicken:
package chicken thighs with bones (each package has about 5 thighs)
honey
garlic powder
corriander  (this will give the chicken a citrus taste with out the actual citrus!)
salt/pepper

1) preheat oven to 350.
2) remove and discard chicken skin.  It should peel off easily, and you may have to cut the edges off with kitchen shears.
3) line 9x13 baking dish with tin foil.  Place chicken in dish, squirt honey over each piece to cover, sprinkle with salt, pepper, garlic powder and ground corriander to taste.  
4) bake for 1 hour-1 hour 15 minutes, or until done.   Bake covered for first 30 minutes, baste with sauce in pan, and bake for remaining 30 minutes without the cover.  Baste with sauce as needed when baking and before serving.

I hope you're able to snuggle up and enjoy my favorite comfort food on the next chilly evening!