Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Mushrooms and "Apple Crisp"

Thanks for all of your wonderful comments on my last post, which discussed my thoughts on the book The Omnivore's Dilemma. I really encourage everyone to read this book, especially the first hundred pages (the book sort of takes a sharp turn half way in and begins discussing vegetarian diets, hunting, and mushrooms. In other words, I dunno, it gets....kind of boring).


However, the information about mushrooms was rather interesting. As I read the book I was seriously sad that due to my IBS I cannot enjoy mushrooms.


Or.....so I thought.



Mushrooms have always been one of my favorite foods, but after discovering the low FODMAP diet I started noticing they caused me bloating and gas (despite not being on the list of foods to avoid). The other night I just had to have one, so I did, but I had no problems. That's when I discovered it was the garlic that I always add to my mushrooms that was causing the gas and bloating, not the mushrooms!!


So I grabbed a bag of frozen spinach and threw it and a bunch of sliced mushrooms into a pan with some balsamic vinegar. I cooked them until they were both nice and soft, and finished it all within a few days (with no help from Nick, because I was being selfish). It had been almost a year since I had enjoyed a mushroom. Boy am I glad I took the chance and tried a mushroom again!!




Something I still can't eat, due to my IBS and fructose malabsorption, is apples. However, I still have to create recipes using apples at work. I had a recipe for apple cobbler, which I wanted to create at home for Nick. I forgot the recipe at work so I sort of came up with my own. It's hard to just "throw together" a recipe when baking, but when cooking it's another story! This recipe was a huge hit

Gina's "Apple Crisp"

~1 cup water

5 chopped Granny Smith Apples

~3/4 cup chopped walnuts

~3/4 cup rolled oats
(** Choose gluten free oats if you want this to be free of gluten **)

1 lemon to create about 2 T lemon juice

~3 T Smart Balance 50/50 butter blend sticks (these things are awesome!!)

~1/2 cup raisins

~ 3 T ground flaxseed

~2 T sweetener of your choice (I used Truvia, natural sweetener)

~1 T Splenda brown sugar (or 2 T regular BS)

~2 t cinnamon

~2 t nutmeg



Preheat the oven to about 370 degrees. Get a 9 x 9 glass baking pan and layer all ingredients in order of the ingredient list above.

Put in the oven until apples are soft to your liking (took about 35 minutes for me)




ENJOY!!
(Photo above taken with my phone, therefore it's not too great)



QUESTION
: Do you like mushrooms? What about apples?

14 comments :

  1. That's super great that you can eat mushrooms. They're one of my favorites! I love them because they're sort of meaty...but not! And apple crisp is one of my favorite fall treats. When I went home a few weeks back, my mom made a cherry apple crisp from some of the apples I picked...gahh, so good.

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  2. That's awesome you can eat mushrooms again! I loveeee mushrooms of all kinds! I also love apples and am hopefully going apple picking this weekend!

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  3. I love mushrooms - I for some reason haven't had them in a long time but they are so good!

    I also love apples - I'm going to have one for dessert tonight!

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  4. Firstly I want to say how much I enjoy your blog. I stumbled across it while researching more about Fodmaps after my dietitian told me about it and suggested I try it for my IBS.

    What a relief Fodmaps has been! After years and years of suffering from bloating, tummy pain and constipation, I can say I'm fairly normal now!

    I too have trouble with garlic - I know that for sure!! However, I seem to be fine with mushrooms even though they're on the "don't eat" list.

    Excluding apples from diets is one of the miserable things about Fodmaps! But they make me so ill it's just not worth eating them!

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  5. I love both apples and mushrooms-especially sauteed mushrooms. I feel twinges of sadness for you each time I read about the foods your tum tum can't handle. :-(

    But you seem to be on top of it and are still able to find perfectly tasty things to eat!

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  6. Your apple crisp looks wonderful! We went apple picking and then discovered that we have an apple tree in out new yard! We have so many apples now, I think I'll tr this. It looks easy :)

    Apples can be rough oon my stomach, but if I peel then and if I cook them, they are much more digetable for me.

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  7. Glad that you found out you can have mushrooms! Personally, they aren't my fave, but I'm glad you can eat them! :-)

    Your apple crisp looks really good. We have a ton of great local apples here that I am really enjoying!

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  8. I LOVE Mushrooms, and I LOVE apples! I eat both of these quite often! Your mushroom spinach concoction looks really amazing, and I would love to give it a try, except I may try it with bok choy instead of spinach. Do you like Bok Choy?

    They thing I learned about apples for myself is not to eat them on a empty stomach with a cup of coffee! I'm sure you can figure out why, but in case you never thought about it, do heed my warning haha.

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  9. Yummy looking apple crisp. Recently, since I bought an apple wedger/corer thing I have been cutting them up and spreading a little PB on them. I love granny smith best. I also really like pears, probably more than apples. I do love mushrooms so I am so glad you can enjoy them again. I love all mushrooms. I could eat them raw, cooked, whatever, but I love them, they are awesome.

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  10. it's so funny that you just realized that it wasn't mushroom the trigger but garlic. :)
    I love both mushrooms and apples! can't have enough of them!!! :D

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  11. Such an awesome blog! :-) I love it -- great post!

    For some reason I don't like mushrooms unless they are on pizza or it is cream of mushroom mixed with hot rice...but I love apples. Especially green and yellow apples! Those are delicious.

    Alex

    Psst: Come check out my charity blog:
    http://www.idealcharity.blogspot.com/
    Please become a follower! ;-) (check out the contest)

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  12. I love mushrooms and apples! Glad you get to eat mushrooms again! Your recipe looks delicious! Baked apples are my favorite!

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  13. mmmm i LOVE shroomies and apples! haha i bet the book made you crave mushrooms! mmmm so garlic gives people gas? interestingggggg

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  14. I actually used to hate mushrooms but they are one of the veggies I can eat these days so I have learned to love them and now I really do haha, it's funny how that works huh?

    I also love apples and apple crisp- though I tend not to eat much of the apple crisp anymore because of the butter- but I think I could probably manage this version. I don't know if I could ever give up apples- I eat one ever day, with the skin peeled though- I find the peel gets me :)

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