I need help

mrs_mix

Hi everyone long time no see
After an horrendous 12+ months (hubby lost job we lost the house and a house move) we have finally settled but I have been hit by some ill health and I have a gall bladder full of stones and finding food to eat has become a big challenge .
It will be easier to tell you what I can eat in the hope you can give me some ideas
Chicken
Any veg and salad
rice and pasta
Some fish

I can't have any other type of meat no eggs no herbs or spices no bread or potatoes
I hope you can give me some ideas
Thank you
Pam

Brambleberry

Hi mrs_mix you have been through a lot! Has your doctor given you any timescale for how long you will need to follow this diet? (Any surgery or other treatment in the offing?)
I'm sure some seasoned OSers will be along with some good ideas but my suggestion is my favourite comfort soup, chicken, onion, carrot and rice - cook handfuls of all three in stock or water until thick and gloopy, season and enjoy - a little fresh rocket will give a peppery boost if you need it.
Things like wraps in romaine salad leaves are nice too if you are avoiding wheat.
Hope many more ideas follow and that you begin to feel better.

mrs_mix

No timeline I am waiting on the hospital now and will probably mean an op in the mean time i have pills ect and tbh the sooner the better the soup sounds great will try that tomorrow so do the wraps I hadn't thought of those wheat isn't really a problem yeast is and I can have a very small amount of fat but it can only be butter
Pam

VJsmum

Mrs Mix - could you make your own sourdough? I eat only sourdough bread, i made a starter over about a week and then make no knead sourdough. it's very easy but takes some patience.

I followed this guy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHFWAkKnkXg

Though my starter is runnier than his so I use 1 cup starter 1 cup water 1lb flour, tsp honey tsp salt. IT's lovely

No spices and no herbs is tough - not even turmeric, which is an anti inflammatory?

mrs_mix

I can't digest them so it aggravates the biliary colic ,some herbs and that would be lovely something with a bit of taste lol is sourdough used in ciabatta bread?
Pam

VJsmum

You can make sourdough ciabatta apparently - but it is olive oil, I think, that make ciabatta erm ciabattery!

Sourdough is distinctive and quite addictive. you can get commercial ones but they can have some yeast - making it means you have no yeast except that which ferments naturally in the starter. Lovely with that butter you can have

One of my favourite things to have is "vegetabletti" - i take carrot and courgette and run my veg peeler down then to make them into strips - orange, green and white. I steam this for a few minutes and top with a tomato based sauce - can you have garlic? Garlic onion and tomato mushed down and I top that with prawns fried in coconut oil (or butter if coconut oil is a no no) and garlic (i also use chilli, but you can leave it out) it's lish. I guess you could put salmon flakes or chicken on it instead of prawns.

CRANKY40

I'd recommend not using the butter if you can avoid it. Fat is a great trigger for the pain.

mrs_mix

I know Cranky but they told me to have a certain amount each week as your body needs it apparently , but that's all I have it's just very frustrating eating bland food all the time.
Pam

VfM4meplse

I would suggest you buy a big pack of quinoa. Very simple to make (like rice) but is in fact a protein and not a carbohydrate. My suggestion is that you use this to bulk out fat free soups (easily made, start with minestrone, for example and then get creative).

Or you can add salad ingredients and just a tiny quantity of oil from a bottle of sundried tomatoes. You will know how much fat you can tolerate before the gall bladder flares up again.

Otherwise, consider googling Rosemary Conley? Her recipes are v low fat (she lost weight this way having had a similar diagnosis).

Minimalist

Would you be able to use herbs like bay leaf, which give a good flavour but are taken out of the dish before serving? I really like bay, it's a nice subtle, savoury flavour that works well in vegetable soups and stews. You can get the dried whole leaves in the spices section - they keep quite well, but not indefinitely - so worth getting a refresh if they have been lurking around the back of the cupboard for a while!

I don't know if you've seen those bouquet garni sachets - they're basically a teabag of herbs that you place in your soup or stew once the liquid is added. You then remove the bag before serving - all the herby "bits" stay inside and are thrown away, after they've imparted their lovely flavour to your dish. I think they normally include thyme, parsley and bay, but you could make your own with the herbs you wanted to use, tied up in a piece of muslin? (you can usually get sheets anywhere that sells jam preserving kit) Rosemary would work well.

Could you try a little fresh ginger? (if you like it) Works really well in soups with veg like carrot or parsnip. You can blitz it to a paste in a food processor, or crush in a pestle and mortar, and it freezes well once pureed. Likewise garlic, if you can tolerate that?

madnotstupid

Soda bread is an easy yeast free bread to make:-
500g plain white / wholemeal flour, a mixture of the two is good. Value flour works fine.
400ml soured milk / fat free yogurt
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 tsp sugar
0.5tsp Salt

Combine dry ingredients. Add milk and mix well, then put in a large loaf tin or onto a baking tray. Bake for 50 minutes gas mark 4 / 180 on a flat tray, takes more like 60minutes if you are using a loaf tin.

If the soured milk or yogurt is a problem you can adjust the recipe. Take out the milk and bicarb, replace with 3 tsp baking powder and use water to mix the dough.

The same recipe can be used to make bannocks which you can cook in a dry frying pan on the stove. Form the dough into rounds and cook on a low heat for 15-20 minutes each side. I do these individual-size and use them like rolls, but traditionally one 'round' would be as big as the pan you are using.