Thai Green Fish Curry

My Beautiful, Authentic Thai Green Fish Curry

Thai food is my absolute favourite cuisine and to the untrained Fodmaper it seems a like a fate worse than death to miss out on this scrumptious little number.

That is where you are wrong.

Thai Green Curry Paste is VERY easy to make and also very quick to do so.

Here's how!

• 5 Birdseye Green Chillies (I added 9, and it was brilliantly spicy, but I'm half indian so I can do heat, 5 is probably a safer number!)
• 1 Bunch of Coriander(Cilantro) Leave half of the leaf part for later.
• Thumb sized piece of ginger
• 1/2 tsp of shrimp paste (I found this in my local supermarket)
• 5 Spring Onions (scallions) from a bunch - Green Bits only
• 1/4 tsp salt
• peel of 1/4 of a lime
• 1 stalk of lemon grass (flatten with a large knife then chop)
• 7 Dried Kaffir Lime Leaves
• 5 Tbsp Garlic Oil

Blend all these ingredients in the blender until smoooooooth. In a warm pan, add your paste. You wont need any oil because your paste already has some in. Cook the spice paste for 2-3 minutes. 

For the rest of the curry:

• 2 Green Peppers cut into bitesized chunks
• Cucumber sliced into 1/2cm slices
• Spring onion (scallion tops) use the rest of your bunch - again green bits only sliced into 1cm pieces
• 1/2 to 1 tin of Coconut Milk (try it at half a can first to see if you can handle the heat, if not add more) If you don't have this, you can use a combination of coconut cream/oil and regular LF milk, I had to do this because I forgot the tin of Coconut Milk but it turned out fine!
• 3 kaffir lime leaves
• 400g-500g 14-18oz White Fish don't cut these too small or they'll flake apart into nothingness and 200g-250g/7-9oz  Raw King Prawns(Shrimp)
• Coriander/cilantro leaves from earlier

Add your green peppers to the paste, and any other hard veg if using, and again let cook in the paste for 2-3 minutes until slightly softened. Add your coconut milk here, and stir until you have a sauce. As mentioned, taste your curry to see if you can tolerate the heat, if not add more beautifully creamy coconut milk Add in the Kaffir lime leaves. Bring this to a medium heat until it starts to bubble, add in your fish, cucumber and spring onions/scallions. Cook for 2-3 minutes then drop in your Prawns/Shrimp, move these around every couple of minutes to help them cook. Of course you could just add more veg if you fancy a veggie option. I used Cod and King Prawns, but you could add thinly sliced chicken or beef strips etc and just make sure you account for the extra cooking time. If you slice them nice and fine, you'll find that they cook quickly and retain their moisture.

Once the plump prawns have turned pink, stir in the remaining coriander/cilantro, check the final seasoning (I had to add a touch more salt just to make sure it was really hitting its full flavour potential and optionally add a touch of lime juice if you like it a bit more fragrant), the dish is ready to be served with a steaming pile of fluffy or sticky rice, or rice noodles.

I am so very happy with this recipe and I hope you will be to.

Over and Out

Sabina, x

Smoothie, Day 1

The other day, after realising I had been neglecting my veggies, I got myself online and ordered an on the go smoothie maker and stocked up on some great locally sourced fruit and veg. I chopped peeled and concocted lots of different combinations, bagged them up and froze them in individual portions so that every morning, I could pop a bag out of the freezer, add the liquid and blitz away before trotting off to work. My prepacked stuff looked a little like this:

So today I had my first greenie smoothie. But seriously, that thing was green.
Here's the video to show you how easy it was to make:

So that part of it was plain sailing, and yes, I did get some funny looks, but it actually tasted far better than I think even I was expecting (although, you do have to get used to it and I imagine some people would like to add some sugar/maple syrup to sweeten it slightly).
I maybe should have gone with something a little less adventurous (and by that I mean a little less green) as my first one, but I'm not put off. Tomorrow will be something with more fruit though!

After having had it, I felt incredibly quenched and after about an hour, I felt really good and perky! The downside was, because of the enormous water content, I felt very, very hungry not long after.

I haven't figured out how to fix this issue with the green ones yet, except have something along side it, such as GF toast, or a yogurt, but in my mind that defeats the object of what I was trying to achieve.

However, for some of the more normal fruit combinations here are some ideas

• Strawberry, Banana, LF milk and GF oats
• Strawberry, Blueberry, LF yogurt, LF milk and GF oats
• Blueberry, Banana and LF milk
• Banana, Peanut Butter and LF milk
• Banana, Maple Syrup, Vanilla and LF milk
• Orange, Ginger, Lime and Coconut Milk
• Pineapple, Ginger and Kale and Coconut Milk
• Spinach, Blueberries and Almond Milk
• Raspberry, Maple Syrup and LF milk
• Strawberries, Maple Syrup, GF oats and LF milk

A few to get you going. I've not put amounts on there, but go steady with the amount of fruit, you can over do it, and we each have our own tolerances to work against as well so just try and balance them in a way that means you're having about 1/2 portions of fruit, depending on what else you're planning to eat that day. See below for what the Monash Universiry say on what constitutes a portion. 

Remember you can experiment with different herbs, like mint and basil, and don't be shy of cinnamon either. Please share your smoothie recipes and experiences!

Over and Out,

Sabina. x

References - The Monash University 

http://med.monash.edu.au/news/2012/fodmap-app.html

Download available via the app stores on your device.

Thai Chicken Patties

Thai Chicken Patties



So as promised here is the recipe for these bad boys ! Warning: They are SUPER Yummy, so good in fact, that my non FODMAPing other half chomped down on them like there was no tomorrow, and he's not even a huge fan of Thai food.

So here's what you do:
(I am in the UK, I'll try and do things in imperial an metric as I know we're all over the place.)

Makes 6 - 8 patties (more if you make them smaller, obviously)

600g/21oz of Chicken Mince (support your local butchers!)
A bunch of spring onions (scallions) (tops only) chopped finely
1 tbsp chopped coriander (cilantro), more or less depending on your taste.
1 tbsp garlic oil
1cm piece of ginger grated
Scotch Bonnet chillies - your call here, I used about half a tablespoon chopped and this was a good hit for me. (I like a good bit of spice)
1/8 tsp of lime zest
Salt - a good pinch, don't scrimp, there's a lot of meat here and it helps with the flavour so much.


It'll look a little something like this

From this point its simple, shape into patties, small ones work for buffets, and larger ones are good for main meals and to take to lunch. Either griddle your patties, or alternatively as I did, fry in a good non stick pan or add a little preheated oil. Note, if using a griddle, when they are done, they will come away from the pan on their own. If they don't, they are not finished browning, and you'll only be sacrificing half of your crispy bits to the griddle gods. Flip them halfway through cooking (this size took about 5 minutes on each) and if you've done big ones, you'll probably need to finish off in the oven for about 8-10 minutes. If freezing, leave them to cool after frying and freeze. When you reheat them put them in the oven and it'll take around 30-35 minutes from frozen to cook. Always check meat thoroughly before serving.

I served my patties with a courgette (zuchini) salad, just shave your veg, add some more chopped spring onions (scallions), a little chilli if you're brave enough, a pinch of sugar, a little salt and a squeeze of lime juice. I had plain rice noodles, but you can toss them in a little gluten free soy sauce or some FODMAP friendly sweet chilli sauce ( It does exist, I promise!) But I served mine plain and here is the end result. Pretty, eh?!

Om. Nom. Nom

Over and Out.

Sabina. x

Welcome !

Hello and welcome to my first post!

A little while ago, I started my journey into the FODMAP diet.

I was introduced by my best friend and it was the first time we'd ever discussed each other having IBS. On reflection, I imagine it's because even though I was diagnosed at 17  (I am now 22), I still felt as though talking about my IBS, yes, my irritable bowels, was embarrassing and taboo. What changed?
She'd found a solution, or at least, she had been led to one.
 I was excited, jealous and admittedly a little dubious.  She'd told me the general ins and outs, and to me, (I was 16st 3 at the time), the thought of cutting out the foods I love so much wasn't something I was prepared to do.
Looking back now, I realise I was putting junk food and convenience in the way of feeling normal, and so it was another five months before my journey really began.

I had it all planned out.  I was away at a course with work for four nights, all expenses covered and was due to be paid on the Thursday,  the final night before I was due to leave the hotel itself and set home the next day. I downloaded an App created by the Monash University, which I felt would be enough for me to start learning about what I needed to do in order to follow the FODMAP diet, and that night for dinner I was contented by choosing steak from the menu, with potatoes, and a salad all paid for, and cooked for me. This is easy, I thought as I supped my refreshing cranberry juice, and that night I went to bed, not even remotely aware of how hard it was going to get.
Then the morning came...

My breakfast that day was simple, I avoided the pastries and toast... and fruit... and yogurts... I settled for bacon and eggs, which has remained my treat breakfast when I eat out, or feel naughty on a Sunday. I love eggs and bacon,  but for some reason the choice, or lack of, really bothered me. Things only got worse by the time I was due to catch the train. All of a sudden, over priced sandwiches and not-so-good for you burgers were all I craved and as I drank my bottle of water I reminded myself why I was doing it, happy tum, Sabina. Happy. Tum.

Since then, I've cried in restaurants, skipped meals, lived off crisps and caught a stonking Christmas cold (which I'm convinced is due to a lack of vitamins and minerals because I was cooking two meals and it was easier to skip veg than potatoes or god forbid meat!) But with some support from the app, a good community of groups, and the help of my aforementioned best friend, things are getting better. Having trained as a chef for two years has helped and having a passion for food is pole vaulting me forwards into sharing what I want to do, with all of you - make happy meals, for happy stomachs, stools and smiles

Guys, I am not a FODMAP specialist, I am not an expert, and I by no means should be used as a reference. ALWAYS do what is right for your tummy, consult dietitians and nutritionists, and if you have comments, or suggestions send them my way.
Over and out,

Sabina. x