Thai Spicy Eggplant

I have to say that there is power in vitamins.  With gastroparesis comes gastritis and heartburn medicines such as Prevacid, Omeprazole, and Ranidine.  I have done the full gambit and have been on them for continuously three years.  Lately I have been really negative... every time someone asked me "how are you?" I couldn't say anything positive.  Work hasn't been effected, you can't be negative around my students, but everything else has been.  Then two days ago I took medicine and wasnt able to sleep all night.  You really can't work at my job without sleep so I drank a bottle of 5 hour energy.  It didnt give me more energy but it really improved my mood.  Suddenly I didn't have anything bad to say, it was great.  I looked up proton pump inhibitors and and vitamin B and found that they lead to to vitamin B deficiency.  For the last few days I have been taking large amounts of vitamin B12 and have been feeling so much better, its great!  If you have GP and have been struggling with your mood, check it out.

Back to recipes and food.  I think eggplants have been one of my main ingredients this winter.  I have made many dishes with them because they are so versatile.  This recipe is great because it allowed me to use the rest of my thai basil cubes that I froze in the fall.  Then there was a great recipe in this month's Bon Appetit that had me use the rest of my chives while combining them with potatoes, butter and grated lemon peel yesterday.  I only have a few more cubes of oregano pesto then I am ready for the fresh herbs in spring!  

Thai Spicy Eggplant

from Vegetarian Times

Ingredients
2 Tbs of oil
1 tsp of crushed red pepper
2 large eggplants, cut into bite size chunks
1 medium onion, diced
1 bell pepper, diced
4 cloves of garlic, minced
2 Tbs of nam pla
3 Tbs of soy sauce
2 Tbs of dark brown sugar

3 Tbs of chopped fresh thai basil
1 tsp of sesame oil

Heat a skillet over high heat and add oil, crushed red pepper flakes and saute for 10 to 15 seconds.  Add eggplant and stir fry 2 - 3 minutes.  Add the onion, bell pepper, and garlic and stir fry for another 3 minutes.  Add the soy sauce and nam pla.  Then sprinkle the sugar and toss for 2 minutes.  Take the pan off the heat and toss with basil and sesame oil.  Serve over jasmine rice.

Hoppin' John

So, why start a food blog during one of the most busy times of my life? I'm the head Special Olympics soccer coach for our school, it is 1 month into the school year, I'm heading a huge service learning project, and drowning in IEP paper work... I have to do something to get myself away from work.

I've been cooking for the past 3 years, but only in the last few months have I been making dishes and sharing them with anyone other than my husband (which is weird to write since we just got married after 10 years of being together and 13 years of knowing each other). People in my family were so impressed with my dishes that I have been sending them recipes for the past few weeks. This is one way to make it easier to get to them. I also love food blogs. The fact that I cant eat, or wont eat, most of the food on them is funny. I have a very specific diet, that is why the blog is called "What Can You Eat?" because there are so few things that I can eat. 4 years ago I developed Gastroparesis, a condition where my stomach does not contract any more, so that food just sits in it for hours. A year ago it we finally found a cause... allergies. However all the tests say that I'm not allergic to anything! However I have found, through elimination diets, that I have strong allergic reactions to gluten and cola nut. So between the allergies, not being able to digest heavy foods, and being a picky eater... you end up with a very interesting collection of food.

I wish I could say my first post is some amazing dish.... I made one the day before, but didn't take pictures...so this is the dish you get! I got this Hoppin' John recipe from Seriouseats.com. I have found in the past two weeks that eating vegetarian makes me feel alot better. Meat is very hard to digest. However, I have been a self-proclaimed carnivore since age 5 and eating just vegetables kinda freaks me out! I am trying though.

I found the dish to be a bit bland when I followed the recipe from seriouseats.com so I increased the spices in this recipe. Enjoy!

Hoppin' John

From Serious Eats

Ingredients:

• Olive oil
• 1 medium onion, roughly chopped
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 1 cup medium or long-grain rice
• 1 1/2 teaspoons smoked paprika
• 1 (20-ounce) bag frozen black-eyed peas
• 2 cups of vegetable stock
• 1/4 cup beer
• 3 chipotle chiles in adobo sauce, minced
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• Chopped scallions
• Halved grape tomatoes

Heat a bit of olive oil. Cook your onions and garlic for around 5 minutes until soft. Add your rice and stir it frequently for 1 minute to roast it. Then add the paprika and stir it for around 30 seconds until it is fragrant. Add your frozen peas, water, beer, chile and salt. Bring to a simmer, reduce heat to low, cover, and cook for 25 minutes without disturbing. After 25 minutes, check rice for doneness. Mixture should be moist, but not soupy. If mixture appears dry, add additional liquid, 1 tablespoon at a time, folding gently with a wooden spoon after each addition until desired consistency is reached, up to 1 additional cup liquid. Return lid and allow to cook for additional 5 minutes. Season to taste with soy sauce. Serve immediately, topping with scallions and tomatoes.