Food help?

[ArcticChicken]

My aunt has gone on an anti-inflammatory diet, which means she can no longer eat:

Wheat
Dairy
Coffee
Sugar (honey, maple syrup, artificial sweeteners.)
Anything fermented (vinegar, wine, soy sauce, etc.)

Well, she already can't eat wheat, so that's the hardest thing figure out, right?

Nope.

EVERYTHING has sugar in it. If it doesn't have sugar, it has vinegar. But mostly it's the sugar. I had to buy three different brands of broth to get beef, chicken, and veggie without sugar or wine in it. ALL breakfast meats have added sugar. Almost all deli meats have added sugar. All kinds of sausage have added sugar.

We found a brand of deli meat that mostly doesn't have sugar in it, but can anyone help me out with sausage?

I'm having some trouble with meals because a lot of my usual substitutions don't work. Can't have bread crumbs - OK, I'll use cornflake crumbs. Crap, sugar. This recipe looks so good, damn it, it has soy sauce, OK, what does the internet tell me I can substitue? Nope, they all have vinegar.

I know that there are plenty of things I can make, but when the first three or four recipes have things I can't figure out a good substitute for, it gets really hard to keep thinking of things.

Can anyone help?

[AccountingDrone]

IF you have a food processor with a grinding attachment and a stuffing tube you can make your own sausages [or just grind the spicing into the meat and have loose meat sausages] though I am lazy - toss the spices and ground pork from the grocery into a 1 gallon freezer zippy bag and toss it to the goddaughters to knead to mix. Sort of like making meatloaf, just sausagy =)

What lunch meats do you want? You can buy your own turkey breast or slab of beef and roast it yourself, a meat slicer can be picked up fairly inexpensively used.

Soy sauce is mainly a salt and umami delivery system. Add salt, and for umami, it depends on what you are cooking. Though frequently, once a recipe is finished cooking it is difficult to taste any soy sauce, just a general saltiness. Frequently you can swap in a dab of anchovy for the salt and umami of soy sauce - a can of anchovies tends to be fish and salt.

For nonwheat/sugar cereal try the health nut stuff. If you need crushed cereal for breadcrumbs, a sugarfree puffed ricecake will crush nicely.

[42_42_42]

I make my own broths in big batches and then freeze them in quart sized bags. You can do the same to control the ingredients.

For breadcrumbs, get a recipe for gluten-free bread, make that, then dry the bread out in the oven, then pulse in a food processor.

I'd just use some salt or anchovy paste in place of the soy sauce as has been previously suggested.

Basically, you're going to have to make things completely from scratch.

[Cookie]

As someone who is allergic to sugar cane, I can vouch for having to make things completely from scratch. Thankfully, I can have alternative sugars like honey and fruit, though. Eating out is a total pain sometimes, though!

Here's one of my favorite Asian style noodle dishes and it actually doesn't have soy sauce: http://www.vegkitchen.com/recipes/sp...inger-noodles/ You'll just want to get soba noodles, not udon, and make sure you get a brand that's 100% buckwheat, not a mixture of wheat and buckwheat. It does call for a wee bit of agave nectar, but you can cut that out if it's not ok for her. The sauce isn't super sweet anyway.

Do you have a Whole Foods in your area? They have a lot of wheat free/gluten free selections and that would give you better odds for finding something that's also sugar free. It seriously irks me the stuff manufacturers feel that have to put sugar in. I mean, your example was broth. Broth isn't even supposed to be sweet!

You might want to look into Indian style recipes. They don't have things like soy sauce, and as long as you stay away from the desserts, you'll be fine in the sugar department. You're looking at a lot of spices, lentils, rice, vegetables, etc. Just stay away from the paneer and the ghee and you'll be fine in the dairy department as well. I like www.manjulaskitchen.com for vegetarian Indian recipes.

I know you guys obviously aren't vegetarian, but as far as sugar free stuff, this is what I really know since I had to give up all meat except for fish at the same time I discovered my sugar allergy. While I'm at it, though, here's a fish recipe we like: http://pinchofyum.com/spicy-fish-taco-bowls I don't see anything in it you said your aunt can't have.

[ArcticChicken]

Thanks guys! This has been really helpful. Deeply appreciated.

[Cookie]

I was just texting with a friend who has Celiac and asked her about the meatballs her girlfriend makes without breadcrumbs. Her gf takes fresh mushrooms, cuts the ends off, washes and dries them, and them squeezes them in her hands to get them as dry as possible. Once they're super dry, she'll pulse them in the food processor and use them in place of breadcrumbs in the meatballs.

ETA: My friend also hates mushrooms and still loves these meatballs since she can't taste the mushrooms, so don't worry if you're not a fan of them.

[Kittish]

For sausage, see if one of your local grocery stores carries plain ground pork (or ask in the meat dept if they can/will grind a boneless pork roast for you). Mix with spices yourself at home.

How is puffed rice cereal for sugar? I don't have any on hand to check, but it's a possible alternative to bread crumbs. Just smash it up. Ground oats, toasted or not, is another possible alternative. What about using almond flour and seasonings as a coating?

[Barracuda]

As for broth, it would probably be easier to make your own. It's rather simple. For vegetable stock, coarsely chop carrots, celery, and onion and toss in a pot of water with a few bay leaves and some salt and pepper. Boil until water has reduced and broth forms. Skim the scum (foam) off the top and strain out the solid ingredients. Cool and store for future use. For meat broths, use soup bones for beef broth (many meat counters at stores sell them or give them away.) For chicken, get a whole uncooked chicken. Remove most of the meat and use as you see fit, then put the carcass and attached scraps in with the vegetable base and boil, and voila, chicken stock! (Make sure the carcass is RAW when put in. Cooked will not work.) As for soy substitute, I'm not sure if it's fermented or not, but you could look at Asian fish sauce, like Vietnamese nuoc mam or Filipino patis. Mix with a little sesame oil, maybe some ginger, and it could work.

[Aislin]

Boarshead meats tend to be good for no gluten or additives

[MaggieTheCat]

(Make sure the carcass is RAW when put in. Cooked will not work.)

Not true, actually. I made this super-simple roasted chicken broth just a few days ago and it made delicious chicken soup: http://foodwishes.blogspot.com/2012/...part-1-of.html

[It's me]

Google "paleo diet". You'll find lots of good ideas on eating without milk, grains, sugar, etc.
Here's a place to start: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/

[lordlundar]

Not true, actually. I made this super-simple roasted chicken broth just a few days ago and it made delicious chicken soup: http://foodwishes.blogspot.com/2012/...part-1-of.html

Yup, in fact roasting before hand adds different levels of flavour to the broth due to the Maillard reaction. It's why you're supposed to sear beef pieces before putting them into the broth.

The chicken and turkey broth my family makes always uses roasted pieces.