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Yesterday we took our boat out all day.  We left at 9:00 AM and didn’t get home until 9:30 PM.  The key to not being hungry all day while following the FODMAP diet is to plan ahead.  I made sure to eat a decent breakfast – a piece of homemade gluten-free bread with Simply Nature Organic peanut butter, and a cup of decaf coffee with a tablespoon of french vanilla coconut milk coffee creamer and lactose-free milk.  We stopped for a snack half way to the lake since the kids were hungry.  I had a few True Goodness Rice crackers, which were not the greatest.

While on the boat we grilled hamburgers for my husband and myself and hot dogs for the kids.  I put 3/4 of an ounce of cheddar cheese on my hamburger and brought some homemade gluten-free bread to use for a bun.  I topped the cheeseburger with low-FODMAP ketchup and cucumbers and had strawberries, carrots, and Meijer crinkle chips to go with it.

Since I knew we would be out late on the boat, I made sure to bring extra slices of bread, peanut butter, and organic strawberry jelly with me.  On the way home everyone got hungry, so we stopped at Wendy’s.  I ordered a baked potato without the sour cream and chives (the chives would have been ok to eat) and topped it with salt and pepper, made myself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and had water to drink with it.  I made sure to keep the jelly to less than one tablespoon, since it still contains cane sugar.  I enjoyed getting to have something hot with my peanut butter and jelly, so the baked potato hit the spot.  I would recommend for anyone following the FODMAP diet to keep a baked potato in mind if they are trying to eat at a restaurant.  Just make sure they do not season the baked potato with garlic or onion powder.

Eating out is the hardest part of the FODMAP diet, but if you know you will be out and can plan ahead, it can make a hard situation not so bad.

This is a really good video explaining how the intestinal tract responds to FODMAPs.

Link to video

Homemade or boxed pancakes are made with wheat flour and milk, neither of which are allowed on the low-FODMAP diet.  This morning my husband made his homemade pancakes using gluten-free flour and lactose-free milk.  We used a mixture of King Arthur Flour Gluten Free Measure for Measure and Krusteaz Gluten Free All-Purpose Flour because we didn’t have enough King Arthur, but wanted to use up what was left in the bag.

Recipe

2 eggs, 2 cups lactose-free milk, 2 cups gluten-free measure for measure flour, 3T cane sugar, 5 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/3 cup canola oil

Stir eggs and milk together.  In a separate bowl mix dry ingredients together, then add to the milk and egg mixture.  Stir in the oil last.

Pour about 1/4 cup batter onto a hot griddle.  These pancakes do not bubble when cooked like traditional pancakes, so watch carefully to know when to flip.

           

After cooked thoroughly, top with Pure Maple Syrup (no more than 2T).

The pancakes turned out really well!  Neither my husband or I could tell a difference from the traditionally prepared homemade pancakes we are used to.  All three of my children loved them too!  Using the pure maple syrup is fine with me, because that is what we were using anyway prior to me being on a low-FODMAP diet.  I highly recommend these pancakes!

Update August 2016:  We made these pancakes using Krusteaz flour for the entire amount of flour.  They were very crumbly and not very good.  I would recommend using King Arthur Gluten-Free Measure for Measure Flour.

I have found it fairly easy to make homemade bread.  I use the recipe from King Arthur Flour.  I replaced the multi-purpose flour with King Arthur Measure for Measure flour, the milk with Meijer Lactose-free milk, and omitted the xanthum gum, since it is already in the measure for measure flour.

I mixed the ingredients per directions, let the dough rise for one hour, then transferred it to a greased bread pan.  I greased the plastic wrap before placing over the dough, so when the dough rose it would not stick to the plastic wrap.  I let the dough rise for 45 minutes.

I preheated the oven to 350 degrees and placed the bread in the oven for 33 minutes.  Both times I’ve made this bread it has not taken the full 38-42 minutes the recipe calls for.  I’ve even baked the bread in two separate ovens to see if that made a difference with time.

      

Once the bread was done, I placed it on a cooling rack.

After it cooled for 10 minutes I sliced it, then put the slices on the cooling rack to cool for an additional 20 minutes.

Once the slices were cool, I placed wax paper between each slice, placed in a plastic freezer bag, and put it in the freezer.  Gluten-free bread has a short shelf life and gets very hard if left at room temperature.

When I want to eat the bread I will pull it out ahead of time to thaw or just toast it.  It is very good toasted!  So far, this is the best gluten-free bread I have made.  Everyone in my family enjoys it!

Since commercially made ketchup contains high fructose corn syrup, onion powder, and/or garlic powder, it is not allowed on the low-FODMAP diet.  Even organic ketchup that uses cane sugar, still contains either garlic powder, onion powder, or both.  I decided to make homemade ketchup using the recipe on page 227 of the book Low-FODMAP 28-day Plan.  This recipe uses tomato paste, garlic oil, water, red wine vinegar, dark brown sugar, sea salt, allspice, cinnamon, and cayenne pepper.

I started out by making the garlic infused oil found on page 220.

I then combined all the ingredients and simmered until all the sugar was dissolved.

      

After the ketchup cooled slightly I stored it in an airtight jar in the refrigerator. The ketchup is not as good as Heinz ketchup, but it is definitely better than not using ketchup!  It is a little thick, but the flavor is definitely there.  I dipped chicken in it last night and it tasted good.  I will make it again while following the low-FODMAP diet.

Eating out is a challenge!  We went on a day trip today, so I made sure I ate a decent breakfast before leaving the house.  We stopped for a quick snack on the way to the destination, so I grabbed a bag of kettle cooked chips.  The kettle cooked chips just had potatoes, canola oil, and salt.  When it came time for lunch, I went to Subway and got a salad.  I was unable to have any of their meat due to unknown seasonings and sugars that are added to processed meats.  I decided to get a veggie salad with both iceberg lettuce and spinach.  I topped it with cucumbers and tomatoes, and less than an ounce of cheddar cheese.  It’s important to keep the cheese under an ounce due to the small amount of lactose found in cheddar cheese.  I had them put vinegar and oil into a small container to use for dressing.  Commercially prepared dressing is a no go on FODMAP, due to added high fructose corn syrup and, depending on the dressing, garlic and onion powder.  Overall, the salad was tasty and I would order it again, but it lacked substance.  I was getting hungry again within two hours.  On the way home we stopped at Target and I bought Dry Sparkling Vanilla Bean pop that only contained carbonated water, cane sugar, natural flavor, and phosphoric acid.  Even thought it only contains cane sugar you still want to keep in under 2T for a meal, so I only drank half of the pop.  It was very good.  I would definitely buy it again.

I made teriyaki chicken on page 168 of the book Low-FODMAP 28-day Plan.  It had gluten-free soy sauce, brown sugar, ginger, chicken breasts, black pepper, canola oil, scallions (green part only), and sesame seeds.  I added rice, broccoli, and carrots to the recipe.

I started by making white rice on the stove.

While the rice was cooking I pounded down the chicken and seasoned with salt and pepper.  I also made up the mixture of soy sauce, brown sugar, and ginger.

Next I cooked the chicken in the canola oil turning halfway through cooking.

While the chicken was cooking I steamed the fresh broccoli and carrots on the stove in about 1/2 inch of water for 10 minutes.

Once the chicken was cooked, the teriyaki sauce was added to the chicken and I cooked for about 5 minutes turning halfway through the cooking time.

I then removed the chicken, cut it into 1/2 inch pieces, and added it back into the teriyaki sauce with the broccoli and carrots.

After cooking down the sauce (and removing some of it because it would not completely cook down) I added the green parts of the scallions and sesame seeds to the top.

It was served over white rice.

Overall it had really good flavor.  It was slightly salty, but but still good.  My husband and I both liked it and we would definitely make it again.  Of the three kids, one of them really liked it and asked for more.  The other two just ate the white rice.  The entree was served with lactose-free white milk.

 

I am really excited to start blogging about my journey navigating the world of a low FODMAP diet.  Hopefully, as I learn, I can share my knowledge on here and help others navigating the FODMAP diet.