Roasted Red Pepper Pasta Sauce

Roasted red peppers and a bit of garlic and olive oil are quickly turned into a stellar, simple pasta sauce perfect for those following the Interstitial Cystitis Diet. From icdietblog.wordpress.com.

Roasted Red Pepper Sauce


Ingredients:

6 red peppers (sweet bell peppers)
3 Tbsp. olive oil, plus more for taste and consistency
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. lemon zest (if tolerated)


Directions:

1. Roast and peel the red peppers. Chop the peppers roughly.

2. In a saucepan over medium heat, warm the oil. Add the garlic, salt, and chopped peppers. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the peppers look silky and the flavors have blended, about 10 minutes.

3. Transfer the mixture to a blender or food processor and whirl until very smooth. Add a tablespoon or two of olive oil, if necessary, to achieve a very smooth texture.

4. Add more salt and/or optional lemon zest to taste.

5. Warm, gently, if necessary. Use on freshly cooked pasta, over broiled or grilled chicken, or on baked or grilled fish.

Dry Onion Soup Mix

Miss your favorite California Dip, meatloaf, roast, and whatnot recipe because of the preservatives, artificial flavoring, and MSG in dry onion soup mix? Well, give this a try! Most have been skeptical that it won’t taste as good as the Lipton Onion Soup Mix, but they have found this to taste just exactly like it. Now you can make your favorite recipes that call for onion soup mix and enjoy it again! Great recipe to have on hand so make up several and store in snack size Zip-Lock baggies in the pantry. From allrecipes.com.

Dry Onion Soup Mix


Ingredients:

1/4 cup dried onion flakes (if tolerated)
2 tablespoons low-sodium beef bouillon granules (without problem ingredients)
1/4 teaspoon onion powder (if tolerated)
1/4 teaspoon parsley flakes (if tolerated)
1/8 teaspoon celery seed (if tolerated)
1/8 teaspoon paprika (if tolerated)
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper (if tolerated)


Directions:

Stir the onion flakes, beef bouillon granules, onion powder, parsley flakes, celery seed, paprika, and black pepper in a bowl. Use as substitute for a 1-ounce envelope of dry onion soup mix.

IC Friendly Ingredient Substitution List

One of the hardest things to do when you first get diagnosed with Interstitial Cystitis is to start following the IC Diet and learning to cook with new ingredients. Let's face it, adapting some recipes to the IC Diet is down right frustrating. While it's easy just to leave out potentially bladder irritating ingredients, the result may leave a lot to be desired in the flavor department. Through much trial and error, we have put together this ingredient substitution list.

As is always the case with IC, this ingredient substitution list is just a guide. Everyone with Interstitial Cystitis is different. An ingredient that is bladder friendly to one person may set off a 4 alarm bladder flare in another.

Check out what to substitute for the following from: healthyicrecipes.com.

• Lemon Juice Substitutes- Kefir Lime Leaves, Lemon Zest, Lemon Oil, Lemon Essence, Lemon Extract, Amchur / Amchoor Powder (mango powder)

• Salad Dressing and Condiment Substitutes- Homemade Ranch or Caesar using a mix like Simply Organic Ranch Mix or Garlic Oil (our favorite is Boyjilans)

• Chocolate & Chocolate Chip Substitutes- Carob Chips, Chocolate Flavored Stevia Drops

• Red Wine Substitutes- Blueberry Juice

• White Wine Substitutes- Pear Juice

• Hot Pepper Substitutes- Cayenne Oil

• Chili Powder Substitutes- Hungarian Paprika

• Cinnamon Substitutes- Ceylon Cinnamon (try Frontier Herb Organic Ceylon Cinnamon Powder)
A rough distinction can be made between two types of cinnamon: Cassia and Ceylon Cinnamon. When you buy Cinnamon in the United States, you are probably buying Cassia because it is less expensive than "True Cinnamon". Cassia Cinnamon, however, contains a moderately toxic component called coumarin which is known to cause liver and kidney damage in high concentrations and could be one reason why Interstitial Cystitis patients have problems with Cinnamon. That's why we recommend trying Ceylon cinnamon. Ceylon is often called "True Cinnamon" or "Real Cinnamon". True Ceylon Cinnamon has negligible amounts of coumarin and has a much more refined flavor. Ceylon Cinnamon is sometimes referred to as Real Cinnamon. Ceylon cinnamon sticks (or quills) have many thin layers and can easily be made into powder using a coffee or spice grinder, whereas cassia sticks are much harder.

• Garlic Substitutes- Asafoetida

• Ginger Substitutes- Galangal

• Onion Substitutes- Green Onions or Chives, Shallots, Asafoetida
Tip: Try Cooking these items first, if you can tolerate the onion substitute cooked, then try it raw.

• Peanut Butter Substitutes- Cashew Butter, Sunflower Butter, Pumpkin Butter

• Raisins Substitutes- Dates

DIY Natural Food Coloring

Every so often a recipe calls for food coloring, but conventional food coloring is a no-no for IC. chickennugget therefore scoured the internet and found DIY natural food coloring and has graciously shared the information with us. Thank you chickennugget!! ((hugs))

Making your own all natural food dyes ---keep extra refrigerated for up to 4 weeks


Blue- red cabbage, 1/2 head cook covered with water. Use only the purple liquid. Add to a small cup of liquid, 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda and BAM! blue!

Orange- carrots, cooked/steamed until tender put with a bit of liquid in a food processor make mush. Strain mush to remove pulp and keep liquid.

Green- Spinach. Blanch this with a bit of water. Put in food processor and make mush. Strain mush and use liquid for coloring. You can try mint leaves too.

Purple- blueberries that are frozen with a bit of water (thawed out I assume?), make mush in processor, strain mush to remove pulp.

Yellow– Turmeric. A bit of water and a bit of turmeric, simmer and walla, yellow! Watch youtube video's on how to do this.

Red- Beets. You can use canned beets or cooked beets in liquid. Put in food processor make mush and strain out pulp, use liquid.

Pink- use beets as above but add less of the coloring.

You can use fresh, canned, or frozen veggies and fruits to make all kinds of natural food colorings. These are some idea's I found online and there are many youtube video's you can also watch. You may choose other natural foods and other methods. Just knowing you can make colorful foods with all natural food coloring can brighten up your life!

They say the food taste will NOT be effected by these natural food colors. I saw many more but NOT all were IC friendly to me.

Some of you that can use raspberries, blackberries, mangoes, You can go online and search how to make natural food coloring and you will find all kinds of great ways to use food to brighten up your food! :)

Let us know if any of you start using natural food colors in your baking! It can be used in rainbow cakes and many, many other recipes that call for food coloring.

Cream Soup Substitute

This recipe is labeled as a soup, but is suggested to be used as a base in casseroles, soups, as a pizza sauce, etc. You can use this in lieu of canned soups in recipes too.
From nikicooks.blogspot.com.

Cream Soup Substitute

Ingredients:

2 T butter
2 T flour
12 ounce can of skim evaporated milk
1/2 t salt
1/4 t garlic powder (you can use minced garlic)
3/4 T chopped dried chives (or onion if you can tolerate)
1/8 t pepper (if tolerated)


Directions:

Melt butter in medium saucepan over medium heat. Add flour blending with whisk until sooth. Slowly add milk, whisking constantly until mixture thickens, remove from heat. Blend in seasonings.

Soy Sauce Substitute

How we all miss soy sauce, but here is a recipe from nikicooks.blogspot.com that enables us to enjoy it again in all our favorite foods.

Soy Sauce Substitute

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups chicken broth (without problem ingredients)
2 tablespoon molasses
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 clove garlic, skin removed
1/5 of an onion (if tolerated)
1 teaspoon salt


Directions:

Add all the ingredients together in a sauce pan and bring to a boil. Reduce to about half the liquid. Remove the garlic and onion. Store in fridge.

Soy Sauce Substitute: Coconut Aminos

How many of you have tried Coconut Aminos? I never have heard of it until a friend introduced me to this wonderful soy-free sauce. Coconut Aminos is certified 100% organic, gluten free, no MSG, non-GMO, contains 17 natural amino acids, and is vegan. It resembles soy sauce and is dark, rich, and salty. Coconut Aminos is made from certified organic coconut tree sap, naturally aged, and blended sun-dried sea salt. So, whenever you see soy sauce in a recipe, just know there’s a substitute out there that is IC friendly and gluten free.

You can use it in salad dressings, marinades, and as a seasoning for toasted nuts and seeds. It also is a great dipping sauce. Coconut Secret products are available at many health food stores throughout the United States. To find a store near you, use the convenient store locator map that is at their website where you can search by zip code and/or state.