Sunday, January 20, 2008

Names for Soy

Remember our motto, check every label, every time? I have collected some key words --in alphabetical order--to look for if you are avoiding soy:

Abura-age – sliced deep-fried tofu
Atsu-age – deep-fried tofu
Bac-O's – Brand name for imitation bacon bits
Bacon bits, imitation
Bean curd
Dofu
Doufu
Edamame
Emulsifier 322 (this is lecithin in Europe)
Gan-modoki – soy dumpling
Hydrolyzed plant protein (HPP) – (source may be soy)
Hydrolized soy protein (HSP)
Hydrolyzed vegetable protein (HVP) – (source may be soy)
Kinako (Japanese for soy flour)
Kouridofu (not sure what this is)
Koya tofu (freeze-dried bean curd)
Kyodofu (freeze-dried bean curd)
Lecithin – can be made from soy, eggs, or corn. You can call the manufacturer, but I just avoid it. It is very cheap to make lecithin from soy because they can use the leftovers from making soy oil.
Miso
Natto – a Japanese food made from fermented soybeans
"Natural flavoring" -- you have to call the manufacturer to make sure this isn't soy
Nimame - boiled soybeans
Okara (soy pulp)
Olean – brand name for Olestra
Olestra – the stuff they use to make "fat free" chips
Uno-hana -- same as Okara
Protein extender
Protein filler
Shoyu
Sobee (brand name of a soy-based baby formula)
Soja
Soy (duh)
Soya
Soy bran
Soy butter
Soy cheese
Soy flour
Soy grits
Soy milk
Soy nuts (or soynuts)
Soy protein concentrate
Soy protein isolate
Soy sauce
Soy sprouts
Tamari
Tempeh
Textured soy flour (TSF)
Textured soy protein (TSP)
Textured vegetable protein (TVP) – (source may be soy)
Tofu
Tofurky -- brand name for a soy-based artificial turkey product
Vegetable broth – like in the tuna cans
Vegetable gum
Vegetable protein – (source may be soy)
Vegetable oil (often soy oil if it is not labeled as something specific like safflower or canola)
Vegetable shortening (usually a blend of soy and cottonseed oil unless labeled otherwise)
Vegetable starch – can be soy
Vitamin E - here I am talking about the kind in the capsule suspended in oil. What kind of oil do you think that is?
Yuba (tofu skin)

Note: some websites say to avoid MSG and mono- or di-glycerides because they can be made from soy. I am VERY allergic--one Whitman's chocolate and I am wheezing from the lecithin--but I have never had any problem with either of these. But, just so you know.

Here's a good website from Canada:
http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/fssa/labeti/allerg/soye.pdf

Monday, January 14, 2008

Avoiding Soy While Losing Weight

I have decided to lose--ahem--a few pounds. In a way this is easy, because I control all the food I eat, anyway, taking my own supplies to work.

Of course, in other ways, this is hard. One way it is hard, is, even if I wanted to, I couldn't use some of the commercial diet plans.
- Jenny Craig food has soy.
- Nutrisystem food has soy.
- L.A. weight loss uses your own food, but they sell you energy bars with soy in them. (I understand they are optional.)
- Weight Watchers uses your own food, but their commercial products tend to have soy.
- Lean Cuisine has soy.
- I am not sure about Diet to Go, but. . . .

My favorite radio and online doctor is Gabe Mirkin. He recommends a modified DASH diet, in which you eat per day:
About 8 servings of WHOLE grains
At least 5 vegetables
At least 5 fruits
Up to 3 fat free dairy products
Up to 2 servings of seafood (avoid meat and poultry)
Beans or legumes (no limit)
1-2 tablespoons nuts or seeds
Up to 3 teaspoons olive oil (optional)
Minimal added sugars (none if diabetic or trying to lose weight)
MOST IMPORTANT-Exercise!

I think that 1.) for me, this is too much food, and 2.) with the soy allergy, I tend to avoid beans and legumes lest I get allergies to these related foods, too. So, I will be eating meat and poultry, as well as fewer grain servings. But overall, this is what I am shooting for.

P.S. Yes, I exercise.

.

Sunday, January 6, 2008

Pizza, Pizza Dough, White Potato Pizza

My neighborhood pizza restaurant sold out.

No, I mean, really sold out--the Egyptians (!) who owned it, and made their dough without oil from scratch, and their sauce with olive oil from scratch--sold to a Hispanic owner who first used frozen crusts then discontinued pizza altogether.

Bummer. I asked at some of the nearby pizza places and can't find one who doesn't use soy. I called Papa John's and they very nicely sent me their ingredient list and it is chockablock with soy. So now, if I want pizza, I have to go downtown into Washington D.C., or make it at home. Going to New York is good, too, but not convenient.

My husband and I have been experimenting with pizza for years. Some of ours have been good, but none have been great. You just can't reproduce that 800-degree oven effect at home. But our latest experiment approaches it. We preheat the oven to 450 with a cast-iron griddle ($12 at Good's Clothing and Hardware in Lancaster County) in it, then slide individual pizzas onto the griddle and bake for 10-15 minutes. We use Barilla marinara sauce with a couple of shakes of red pepper flakes added to it, part-skim mozzarella, and any of a variety of toppings:
-- sauteed onions and peppers (if you put them on raw, they get watery)
-- black olives
-- canned or sauteed mushrooms (ditto for the raw ones getting watery)
-- Canadian bacon (good with mushrooms and pineapple, though I can't believe I like this.)
-- pepperoni
-- cooked Italian turkey sausage
-- jalapeno slices

Pizza Dough in the Bread Machine

1 1/2 cups bread flour
1 1/2 cups whole-wheat flour, or use all bread flour
1 1/4 cups water
1 Tbs olive oil
1 Tbs sugar
1 tsp Italian herb mixture (optional)
1/4 tsp garlic powder or 1 tsp chopped garlic (optional)
1 1/2 tsp dry yeast

Process on dough mode.

Pizza

1. Cut the dough into 4 pieces and roll each one into an 8" (or so) circle.
2. Put onto a cutting board sprinkled with cornmeal and put on sauce, then half the cheese, then toppings, then the other half of the cheese.
3. Slide however you can onto the hot griddle in the 450-degree oven.
4. Cook for 10-15 minutes, or until the edges are crunchy.

White Potato Pizza
Had this in Connecticut one time. Another one I can't believe I like.

Pizza dough
Light sour cream
Gruyere, or emmethaler, or Monterey jack cheese, grated
Cooked sliced red potatoes with the skin on
Red onion slices
Broccoli florets

Roll out the pizza dough as above, and spread with sour cream. Sprinkle with the cheese, and add toppings. Bake as above.

Tuesday, January 1, 2008

Fish to go with that Tartar Sauce, and Cole Slaw

Because a large percentage of prepared foods have soy in them somewhere--I read it's upward of 65%, but I can't prove it--you have to learn to cook more when you're soy-allergic. For example, I have to make my own dried bread crumbs. I let some bread get stale, then whirl it in the blender. For really fine ones, I shake them through a sieve. Store in the freezer or they get rancid or buggy. It doesn't seem to matter to the recipes I use them in if I mix some whole wheat or rye in with the white crumbs.

Being from New England (see the post on Tartar Sauce, July '07), I love fish. Even fish sticks, which I can't eat anymore (even if I wanted to.) But I learned to pan-fry fish by misremembering a recipe in I read in one of my cookbooks. Like some of the others I've posted, it's more of an idea than a recipe . . . here goes:

Pan-fried White Fish

1.) Choose rather thin (1/2 inch or less) filets of white fish--flounder, tilapia, catfish, etc.
2.) Mix homemade fine bread crumbs in a shallow bowl or pie plate with some flour (use about a quarter as much flour as crumbs) salt, paprika, and dried herbs or Old Bay Seafood Seasoning.
3.) Put milk in another shallow bowl.
4.) Heat a frying pan and add a shallow layer of canola or other cooking oil--enough to cover the bottom of the pan.
5.) Dip the fish filets in the milk first, then the bread crumb mixture. It will go faster and easier if you use one hand for the milk dipping, and the other hand for the crumb dipping.
6.) Fry fish over medium-high heat for 2-3 minutes, turn, and cook until the fish flakes. The time will depend upon the thickness of the fish.
7.) Serve with Tartar Sauce [July '07 post], Oven Fries [October '07 post], and Cole Slaw

Cole Slaw

4-6 cups shredded cabbage and carrots (the amount depends on if you like your cole slaw drier or soupier)
1/4 cup mayonnaise (Hain is best here, too. Hain Light is fine.)
2 tablespoons milk
2 tablespoons dill pickle juice
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning

1. Measure 1/4 cup mayo in a 1-cup liquid measure.
2. Add the rest of the dressing ingredients and stir to combine.
3. Pour over the cabbage and mix.

You can also use a bag of shredded broccoli in this too, for Broccoslaw.