apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

i'm making my finnish grandmother's pannukakku (simple like pancake batter, bakes and poufs like a souffle, when settled it has the consistency of custard, but eaten with some maple syrup), also... maybe a frittata with mushrooms and tomatos and feta, and definitely some 5 minute sugar free chocolate puddin'!

We've got friends visiting for the weekend, and one of them is on a very restrictive diet to figure out what's causing her migraines. That means no alcohol, caffeine, msg, fresh yeast, refined white sugar, chocolate, onions, tomatoes, citrus, aged cheese, or flavored vinegar! It's REALLY hard to find interesting recipes without any of those, but I want to make something we'll all like. Any ideas? I was thinking simple baked chicken, salad with green goddess dressing, and baked potatoes or sweet potatoes, with a sauce for the chicken that the migraine-free among us could choose to add. But I'd love ideas for something more exciting, and also what to do for breakfast the next day...?

Funny - this week I let my 8 year old create the menu for the whole week, then we did our shopping list together. I thought that if she did the planning then she'd feel good about eating everything (which has been a bit of a battle lately) So far so good. Here's what we had/are having:

Saturday: Tacos! (of course! a kid made the menu...)
Sunday: Shake n' Bake with Carrots & Rice Pilaf (remember, the 8 year old planned this!)
Monday: Pan fried Tilapia, Roast Potatoes & Roast Sweet potatoes (can you tell I suggested "something a little healthier" to her? Still, she was the one who chose this)
Tuesday: Italian Sausages & a Salad
Wednesday & Thursday we're out at friends & relatives' places
Friday: Chicken Korma (yum!)

I think for 8 yrs old she did a pretty good job.

kd - I had a mushroom and Gruyere frittata today - such good spring food!

suewanda - that is SO cool.

SisterRae, that's a rough one. One idea is to search for Jain recipes. Jains are an Indian sect who do not believe in eating onions, garlic, or other things that grow underneath the soil. They are also vegan, and so Googling Jain recipes may bring up something more interesting. I think they would all be free of the restricted ingredients.

For breakfast you could do an Indian-style dish like the poha we posted last week - flattened rice, potatoes (leave out the onions), etc.

Tonight I'm making spaghetti with roasted asparagus and a poached egg on top as the "dressing".

I really like DeBolls (think that's the spelling) jerusulem artichoke spaghetti -- it's not as chewy as most whole wheat pasta, yet has a slight, sweet nutty flavor. Really delicious!

@Sister Rae, caffeine is usually recommended for migraine. Im serious. Beacuse caffeine opens up ur arteries and makes the blood flow better and faster, which is the main reason for migraines. Anyhoo. How about an easy saffron risotto? u dont need onions you canuse a bit of garlic and only olive oil. and u can use veggie stock or simple water. Also, remember that when u cook with wine, for example for the risotto, the alchool evaporates ALL and only the flavor remains. In this case you coudl add a bit (hlf glass) of red wine for the flaowr.

Or rosted fish with stemed veggies (or just sautee w/ olive oil, that is perfect cuz you just need a bit and give a nice flavor to everything)with quinoa.
Or chicken with rosted fennel
Or pasta with whatever is that your friend can eat.

Or soup, like a peas carrot potatoes cream, is simple and good. dont need cream just blend the veggies after u steam them with some water add some olive oil (sorry im italian and cannot do w/o it) and use herbs instead of salt (can u use salt?).
And lentils, are good, full of iron and protein and make a good side dish.

good luck.
now im hungry!

PS: the caffeine /migrain comment i made above is proven. by me and many other migraine people.

i've got somethingelese to suggest for migraine but... dunno if i can...... :-)

Thanks for the suggestion for the Jain recipes! I actually found some great-looking dishes searching other food blogs, like this one:

SPICED CRUMBLED PANEER
and Saroj's cookbook: Jain Dishes

Some saffron rice would go well with that, and maybe a yogurt-cucumber raita?

The local CSA boxes are beginning to fill with asparagus in Northern CA, so an asparagus and gruyere cheese tart on phyllo dough is on the menu for tonight with some leftover roast beef.

I'm moving in a few weeks so I'm trying to eat all the contents of my freezer and cupboards. It should proove to be interesting. Tonight I had breaded chicken strips, mashed potatoes, and broccoli with carrots...all from the freezer. That's fine for now. But I'm getting nervous at some potential crossing of ethnic foods. A french style flat bread with gruyere and ham sounds great...but not so much when paired with chicken taquitos.

I have a question for all of you. At my house, we have been addicted to spinach salads with a warm bacon vinaigrette. I've been serving these in a nice wooden salad bowl that I have, but I've noticed that it's started to discolor on the bottom. It's a black bowl, and on the bottom, it says it's made of rubberwood. Does anybody know if there's something special I should be doing to preserve my bowl? (It was one of those $20 Thomas O'Brien pieces at Target, but I'd still like to keep it nice.)

Suewanda,
That is an awesome thing to do with your daughter. I hope you're also involving her in the cooking too. There's nothing more fun that choosing, making and then eating said food when you're a kid.

Caffeine is included in many headache remedies because withdrawl from caffeine is proven to cause headaches. This person is being screened for triggers so they should listen to their Dr.

i was talking about pure coffee not medicine that contains caffeine. for some reason they dont work with me, but a lill'espresso does it. and lot s of water too. in women is also hormone imbalance that triggers migraines. that what my doc told me.