This is the last of my Saskatoon Travelodge meal updates. I really wish I'd remembered to take pictures of the rest of my meals - it's just that I was so excited about them that I dove right in, only remembering that I meant to take a picture after it was all gone! Take this supper, for example. It was the last of my meals there and I was already halfway through the main course before I remembered.
Everything was carefully prepared within my dietary restrictions. They even made sure that the gelatin did not have a beef source! It just goes to show that, no matter what the dietary restrictions, it's possible to eat very, very, well.
I'd really like to thank Executive Chef Vincent LaPointe and his team. They made my stay in Saskatoon a memorable and highly enjoyable culinary experience.
Sorry for the poor image quality in this post; I'm not using the best of cameras.
This meal, as the others have been, was fantastic! It started with a small but tasty tomato, romaine, and onion salad.
Then came the main course. They don't just buy meat here; they buy entire pigs. The main course was the tenderloin with a berry sauce on top of a bed of vegetables with noodles. It, and the roasted vegetables on the side, were an amazing combination of savoury and sweet.
Dessert was simple in appearance but complex in flavour. Rice and blended fruit imparted a mellow fruity taste that was occasionally overwhelmed by a flattering burst of dark chocolate. It was so filling, I couldn't finish the whole thing - though my taste buds desperately wanted me to.
What will tomorrow bring? I don't know but, honestly, I'm kind of excited!
I'm in Saskatoon right now, staying at the Travelodge. I'm here to deliver a workshop.
Ever since I learned about which foods I was reacting to, I have been very careful to avoid them. Restaurants have been a no-go. Most of my travels have been planned using accommodations with kitchenettes where I can prepare my own meals. For the most part, it has worked out well. Grocery shopping is a great way to get to know a little bit more about a place (if they even have a grocery store). Sometimes, though, having to work around my food needs has been a royal pain in the butt.
On this trip, my client made my arrangements. Concerned, I did some research but couldn't find any kitchenettes available in the vicinity of the workshop. Grocery stores were noticeably absent from the area as well. I was worried. Really worried. The idea of starving for four days was not appealing.
Fortunately, the Saskatoon Travelodge website has a page about their Executive Chef, Vincent LaPointe. I've really been reluctant to burden anybody else with my food issues but, looking at the page, I could tell that Vincent is a chef that loves what he does and - more importantly - is someone who might enjoy a challenge.
I called him and knew right away that I was right.
Phew!
E-mailing off a list of "can" and "cannots", he sent me a response with the first proposed meal.
Oh.
My.
God.
It was delicious.
Here are some pictures:
For breakfast, I had an amazing sticky rice "pancake" with a gooseberry-coconut milk topping and top of assorted exotic fruits. Lunch was another fantastic salad followed by local pickerel in a cornmeal batter, amazinghand-made french fries, and asparagus followed by banana and strawberries with a freshly-made caramel sauce and creamy (non-dairy) topping for dessert.
Sooooo good.
The chef and his crew here are fantastic. I didn't take any pictures of breakfast or lunch, but will endeavor to do better tonight and tomorrow. For a brief spell, Michael's Meanderings is about to become a food blog (a.k.a. a "flog").
It's that time of year again, when Megan over in the snow-covered hills hosts her "Being David Hasselhoff" contest. If you've never checked it out, you really should. Oh, and you should enter, too. You may recall last year when I won Season One of Knight Rider for my Hasselhoff-inspired Children's Album.
My entry last year was designed to please the auditory senses. This year, I'm aiming to give you a taste of David Hasselhoff. Or, at least, what I imagine David Hasselhoff must taste like. Seriously, how often do you get to taste David Hasselhoff?!
And it's the closest thing to confectionary perfection that I can imagine. I like to call it "maple hoffee". It's a delectable combination of sweetness and manliness - just like the Hoffster himself.
Maple Hoffee: The Recipe Ingredients
1 pkg. bacon or side pork
1 c. maple syrup
1 person to stand over your shoulder and speak in a voice like K.I.T.T.'s.
In a non-stick or cast iron pan, fry up the pack of bacon or side pork until desired crispiness is achieved. If using side pork, season liberally with salt.
Remove bacon or side pork from pan and do whatever you want with it. Believe it or not, we don't care about the bacon or side pork. We just want the fat.
Pour maple syrup into sizzling bacon fat. Have person standing over your shoulder say "Watch out for sudden boiling and protect yourself from any splattering that may occur! We wouldn't want to singe those mighty chest hairs now, would we Michael?"
Wait for the sizzling to abate (it should only take half-a-minute) and remove pan from heat.
Now, you should have a pan full of bacon fat and maple hoffee. Scrape the maple hoffee out of the pan with a spoon and ladle onto a plate. Consume while still hot. Have the person standing over your shoulder say, "Be careful! You don't want to burn yourself on the hoffee's hotness, but if you wait for too long to consume it, you might chip a tooth in your eagerness to gobble it all up after it has hardened. I know I did."
DISCLAIMER: Michael's Meanderings is not responsible for any spontaneous oral orgasms that may occur.
I'm now ten months in on my restricted diet. Abstaining from things like garlic, mustard, dairy, gluten, and beef, as ubiquitous as they are, has been easier than I thought. I've found lots of great recipes that I thoroughly enjoy. The hardest thing about it all is being "the picky eater guy".
It's awkward when I'm invited for dinner but can't partake in anything that is being served. Instead of inconveniencing my host(s) by having them plan around what I can eat, I just bring my own food. It's weird and usually requires a whole lot of explaining. Which is awkward.
Then, of course, even when I bring my own food there are the continuous offers of the food that everyone else is enjoying. This is always accompanied by the question, "Can you eat this?" The answer is almost always, "No, but thanks for asking." And I really do mean that. They're being good hosts, after all. But it's awkward.
And don't even get me started on restaurants. For the most part, I don't even bother with restaurants anymore if I can help it. I just politely excuse myself or eat beforehand and have a cup of tea while everyone else eats their meal. When it comes to explaining that to clients or colleagues, though, it's awkward.
I often travel and, if there isn't a grocery store that I can depend on, I have to bring my own food. Whether it's a tiny northern hamlet or super-city like Vancouver, I have to find a place to stay where I can cook my own food or I can't eat a good meal. And that's really awkward.
I'm not attending either of my professional conferences this year and my restricted diet is a huge part of that. That's not so much awkward as it is just inconvenient and sucky.
But, ten months in, and as awkward and invonvenient as it is, I'm still feeling better than I have in years. In a couple of months, depending on what the next round of tests say, I'll be slowly reintroducing some of those foods back into my diet. At least, I hope I will. It'll be great to eat at a restaurant again and have something on the menu that I can eat! How fantastic to eat at a friend's place without having to question them about every single ingredient like I'm an interrogator for the Spanish Inquisition! How wonderful it will be! How very wonderful!
But even if I can't reintroduce those foods just yet - and even if I can never eat some those foods again - no matter how awkward it is, I'll be alright. I'll be alright because I've proven to myself that I have the willpower, determination, and self-control to do it.
I was torn about how much longer I should continue this game - especially since there are so many great food that I'm supposed to avoid - but decided to end it now while we actually have a winner. After an incredible ten-way tie in Round 2 and a narrowing of the field to five in Round 3, Round 4 saw one lucky person come out ahead. Instead of hosting another round and taking a risk that the game might get dragged on forever, I am officially declaring the victor.
Clare's prize, when I figure out what it is, will be likely be sent to him via UPS. He'll love that.
Thank you all for playing, and if you were wondering what other foods I need to avoid for the next year or so, here's a short list:
Cow and goat dairy
Beef
Eggs
Lamb
Turkey
Barley
Buckwheat
Gliadin
Gluten
Malt
Rye
Wheat
Flaxseed
Safflower
Spelt
Triticale
Crab
Lobster
Oyster
Shrimp
Almonds
Brazil nuts
Chili Powder
Ginger
Mustard
Poppy Seed
Vanilla
Avacado
Blueberry
Pear
Pineapple
Alfalfa
Asparagus
Beets
Garlic
Green Bean
Kale
Kidney Bean
Mushroom
Navy Bean
Pinto Bean
Squash
Tomato
Water Cress
Shopping for food has never been so fun -- and eating at restaurants has never been so impossible! Have you ever tried to avoid garlic? It's everywhere! No wonder we don't see any vampires running around.
Last Week's Results
The answer to last week's challenge was "mung"! I can eat mung beans, but most beans are out of the picture - which is too bad because when I eat beans, I eat them like this:
Congratulations to those who guessed correctly. After our incredible ten-way tie, five lucky guessers have taken the lead - but the game's not over yet and anything can happen! Here are the standings after Round 3:
And now, without further ado, it's time for Round 4!
The rules are simple. I'll list five foods and you guess the one that I need to avoid. Leave your entry in the comment section below, but remember to include a way that you can be identified! "Anonymous" is not allowed to win. You can guess only once per round. With each correct guess, you get one point that will be allocated to your final score. The highest score wins!
Get your entry in by midnight (PST), January 22nd.
Last Week's Results
The answer to last week's challenge was "ginger"! Congratulations to those who guessed correctly. For those who didn't (and for those who have yet to play), it's not too late to win! Especially since we are now faced with a TEN-WAY TIE!!! Here are the standings after Round 2:
And now, without further ado, it's time for Round 3!
This week's round is a little different. The rules are still simple, though. Instead of choosing the one that I can't eat, choose the ONE that I can eat. Leave your entry in the comment section below, but remember to include a way that you can be identified! "Anonymous" is not allowed to win. You can guess only once per round. With each correct guess, you get one point that will be allocated to your final score. The highest score wins!
Get your entry in by midnight (PST), January 15th.
This week's theme is Beans. (Remember, this week you're supposed to choose the one that I can eat!)
Last Week's Results
The answer to last week's challenge was "beef"! Congratulations to those who guessed correctly. For those who didn't (and for those who have yet to play), it's not too late to win! Here are the standings after Round 1:
And now, without further ado, it's time for Round 2!
The rules are simple. I'll list five foods and you guess the one that I need to avoid. Leave your entry in the comment section below, but remember to include a way that you can be identified! "Anonymous" is not allowed to win. You can guess only once per round. With each correct guess, you get one point that will be allocated to your final score. The highest score wins!
The rules are simple. I'll list five foods and you guess the one that I need to avoid. Leave your entry in the comment section below, but remember to include a way that you can be identified! "Anonymous" is not allowed to win. You can guess only once per round. With each correct guess, you get one point that will be allocated to your final score. The highest score wins!
I have what you might call an "adventurous palate". I'll try anything once - no matter how obscure or unusual - and I'll almost always like it.
I like food. No, I love food.
So it was a real shock to me when I got the results of my food allergy testing back. If you really don't want to read a blog entry about someone's health, stop right now and skip to "Villainous Vittles" near the bottom.
If you're curious, read on...
The allergy results are displayed using a bar graph format. The fat black bars start from "Low" and can go up to "Moderate" and "Avoid". The "Moderate" and "Avoid" categories have a big "NOT SAFE" above them. Even the doctor was shocked by how much black there was on my results. I guess that's what happens when you don't recognize years of intestinal distress: You get a leaky gut and it lets all sorts of things through to the bloodstream. The body makes a bunch of little soldiers called immunoglobulins to fend off the invaders. When you build up too many soldiers, you get an allergic reaction. The reaction can vary, depending on who you are and how your body responds.
The good news is that I can reduce the number of soldiers by reducing the number of invaders. That means healing my intestine and abstaining from the foods that get through the system.
And, for me, that means abstaining from a lot of foods. Delicious, good-smelling, tasty, wonderful foods. It's especially hard during the Christmas season. It's going to be especially hard when I have to travel for work.
Abstaining takes a lot of will power, but that's not something I'm worried about. I've got that.
Abstaining is made a little easier by not looking at what I can't have, but what I'm getting back - and at what I've gained. Since I've made the shift, I've felt a lot better. I'm happier. The patience that I had lost is back. I'm sleeping better. My head feels clearer.
Also, I've become more adventurous in my diet. Yes, more adventurous. Nearly every meal involves the invention of a new recipe using "safe" foods. Some of the meals have been stunningly delicious. I never would have tried them if I hadn't been "forced" to.
One day, if I do a good job healing my digestive system, I'll be able to go back to eating the foods I currently have to avoid. I look forward to that day.
Who wants to be "that weird guy with the food issues"?
Not me. I want to be the guy who can eat anything.
Wish me luck!
Announcing Villainous Vittles!
Now, you may be wondering what foods I need to avoid (and even if you're not, keep reading). Well, I'm not just going to tell you. Instead, in true Michael's Meanderings fashion, I am going to drag things out and have a little fun with this. That's why I'm pleased to announce the great new game, "Villainous Vittles"!
Every week, until announce the end of the game, I will post an entry with five food items. Out of the five, you get to guess which food I need to avoid. Leave a comment in that entry with your guess (making sure that you leave your name, of course. Anonymous is not eligible to win.). One point is awarded for each correct guess (You get one guess per round, of course). At the end of the game, all of the points will be tallied. The winner(s) will be given a yet-to-be-determined food-related prize.
The first round of Villainous Vittles begins tomorrow. Good luck!
