IC Disease

Here’s another recipe to add to your IC friendly cookbook!  Try these burgers and remember to leave a comment on how they taste and how much you and your family liked them.

Spinach, Onion and Herb Burgers with Mozzarella

• 1 cup of fresh spinach leaves (not tougher stem parts), washed (cleaned) and finally chopped
• 1 lb of lean ground beef, chicken or turkey
• ½ cup white onion, finely sliced (use green onion if your bladder can’t tolerate white onion)
• Approximately ½ cup of dried bread crumbs (add a little at a time so that your mixture doesn’t get too dry)
• 3 tablespoons of cream cheese
• 3-4 tablespoons of  freshly chopped basil or 1 ½ tablespoons dried basil leaves
• lack pepper and salt to taste
• 4 hamburger buns or other buns of your choice
• Optional - mozzarella (or Monetary Jack, if you’re bladder can tolerate it) cheese to top

Any lettuce, vegetables and condiments that won’t affect your bladder

In a large mixing bowl, combine the spinach, onion and ground meat, stir well until combined. Add in the bread crumbs (leave out some if you think the mix is too dry, or add more if needed) followed by the cream cheese, basil leaves, salt and pepper; stir until the onion and spinach are well dispersed through the meat. 

Using your hands, on a dry clean surface or large plate for the meat mixture into 4 (or more, if you prefer smaller burgers) burger patties.

Cook the burgers over a medium flame on the grill (turning after 3 or so minutes) for a few minutes until browned and cooked through. Or lightly grease a large frying pan or indoor grill (I like to use Pam spray for this, but olive oil works nicely too) and cook the burgers over medium high heat for about 4-5 minutes per side (if you’re using beef the time may be less and for poultry you may need a couple more minutes).

Serve warm on your hamburger buns, topped with cheese if using. Garnish as desired. Any leftovers will keep, well covered, in the fridge for two days and are delicious eaten cold or crumbled over cooked pasta.

Makes 4 burgers (serves 2-4 people)

Shrimp is one of my favorite foods but the seasonings often used on shrimp are a big no no for Interstitial Cystitis patients.  Here is an IC friendly recipe for Shrimp & Broccoli Alfredo.

• 1 pound shrimp
• 1 package fettucine
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1/2 cup butter
• 8 oz. package of cream cheese
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
• 1-10 oz. package frozen broccoli florets
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• dash of black pepper

Saute shrimp and garlic in butter in skillet. Remove and keep warm. In the same skillet, combine the cream cheese, milk and Parmesan cheese. Cook until cheeses are melted. Place broccoli in saucepan with 1 inch of water. Bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 6-8 minutes.
Stir broccoli, shrimp, salt, and pepper into cheese.

Yes, even IC Disease patients can eat Mexican because contrary to popular belief, not all Mexican food is hot.  Check out this recipe!  Sounds yummy!

Puree for Thickening:

1 1/4 cup water
1/4 cup Vidalia or Maui onions, diced
3/4 cup baking potatoes, diced
1/3 cup carrots, peeled and diced
1/4 cup celery, diced or 1/4 cup frozen peas
1 garlic clove, sliced

Puree Directions:

Add the water for puree to a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Rinse diced onions in a sieve under cold running water (to help remove sulfur acids). Add onions and remaining vegetables for the puree. When mixture returns to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer, cover and cook 20 minutes. Let cool slightly then puree in a blender or food processor until smooth. (Can be frozen for later use at this point.) You can make the soup while you let the puree cool a bit.

Soup:

2 1/2 cups beef broth, additive-free (Health Valley makes a good brand)
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons sherry
1 bay leaf
1/4 tsp. dried parsley
1 lb. lean ground beef
1 egg
1/4 tsp. black pepper (optional)
2 tablespoons fresh mint leaves, chopped fine
1/2 cup green onion, chopped
all-purpose flour
vegetable oil
1/3 cup uncooked white rice
salt to taste

Soup Directions:

In a large saucepan combine the beef broth for the soup, water, sherry, bay leaf, and parsley. Place soup over medium heat and simmer. Add the puree. In a bowl combine the ground beef, egg, pepper, mint, and green onion for the meatballs. Mix meatball ingredients well. Pour a bit of oil into a skillet and heat. Form meatballs about 1-1/4 inches across. Roll meatballs in flour to lightly coat, and fry in oil until browned. As batches of meatballs are done, drop into hot simmering soup.

In the hot skillet you used to fry the meatballs, fry rice in a little oil until rice becomes white and opaque and some grains turn golden. Stir while cooking, scraping up browned bits. Drop rice into hot soup. Cover and simmer soup until rice is tender, about 25 minutes. Add salt to taste. Add water or beef broth as needed if too much has boiled off. Remove bay leaf and serve.

Cream Cheese Caramel Apple Pie

• 2 pie shells
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Gala apples - 6 cups peeled and thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup caramel topping
• 2 - 6 oz. packages of softened cream cheese
• Milk

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Stir together sugar, cornstarch and cinnamon. Toss mixture with apples, vanilla and almond extract. Press softened cream cheese into bottom of one pie shell. Pour in apple mixture on top of cream cheese. Drizzle melted caramel on top.

Take second pie shell out of tin and use to create top crust. Flute edges by pinching with fingers or using a fork. Sprinkle top of pie with milk and then sprinkle liberally with cinnamon and white sugar. Cut four 1” long slices in top of pie to vent. Cover edges with aluminum foil to prevent burning. Bake 45 minutes.

I love great breakfast foods and stuffed French toast is absolutely delicious!  I will be preparing this recipe for me as well as my family.  Enjoy!  The recipe below will serve six people.

Stuffed French Toast

• 12 slices of bread (you can remove the crusts if you prefer)
• One dozen eggs
• 16 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 2 cups of milk
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla or use another flavor if you desire

Cube bread and set aside. Mix eggs, milk, cream cheese and vanilla together in a bowl. Grease a 9X13 inch pan and then line it with the following:

Add 1 layer of bread cubes, spread evenly; 1/2 of the liquid mixture, and pour evenly. Add the rest of the bread cubes, spread evenly; add the rest of the liquid mixture, spread evenly.

Refrigerate overnight. The next morning take it out and let it warm to room temperature (very important). Then bake in a 375 oven for 45 minutes.

It won’t be long and the holidays will be here and it will be time to serve our family and friends the hams and turkeys we so carefully prepare.  Ham has always been one of my favorite choices at holiday meals but once IC hit I had to watch out for the cloves and nutmeg used in the sauce or ham glaze.  Here is a recipe I found that is IC friendly and you can still enjoy the ham!

• Boar’s Head Deluxe Ham cut into 1/2″ slices.  This ham is preservative free and is usually found in grocery store delis.
• Honey or maple syrup
• Brown Sugar

Place slices in a baking dish and pour honey or maple syrup over them. Sprinkle liberally with brown sugar. Cover with aluminum foil. Heat oven to 350 degrees and bake for about 15 minutes until hot and syrupy.  Each slice will serve 1 person.

Out of all of the food groups, fruit is the category that is most limited to Interstitial Cystitis patients.  This is because of the citric acid that is found in many fruits.  Here is a great recipe for mock applesauce you can make that uses pears.  Good luck with this one - I hope it is a good recipe for you!

Mock Applesauce (Pear Sauce)

• 8-10 large ripe pears, peeled, cored and sliced into small chunks
• ½ cup water
• 11/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• ½-1 1/4 cup sugar, depending on how sweet you want the final taste to become-the sugar can be added as the recipe cooks to adjust for sweetness

Combine all ingredients in a large, heavy bottomed pot and cover. Simmer over low heat for at least an hour, stirring frequently.

You want a very soft texture so it’s perfectly fine to let this simmer for several hours or alternatively cook it in a slow cooker for 6-8 hours. Once prepared mock applesauce will keep covered in the fridge up to one week, or frozen in a freezer proof container for 3 months. Delicious warm, at room temperature or cold.  This recipe makes about 2 cups worth of pear sauce, depending on the size of your pears.

Here is another great recipe in the IC Friendly Recipe series for this site!  As always, if you try one of these recipes please comment and let me know how you like them!

Blueberry Salad Dressing

• 1 quart of pure organic blueberry juice - watch out for citric acid preservatives (a big no-no for IC Disease patients)
• 3 tablespoons of organic cornstarch
• 1/8 cup of regular sugar
• 1/8 cup of brown sugar
• 1 cup olive oil

Combine the blueberry juice and cornstarch in a pot over a low heat. Stir until the cornstarch is completely dissolved. Turn up the heat a little and add the sugar, stir constantly to avoid lumps. Heat until the mixture thickened and is reduced in volume by about 1/3. It should be the constancy of a thin jam. Remove from the heat and allow it to cool, but not cold. Pour the blueberry mixture into a one quart bottle and add the olive oil. Shake well.

If you’re not sensitive to small amounts of soy, you can add ½ teaspoon of lethicin as an emulsifier (prevents the blueberry mixture and the oil from separating so much).

I found another great IC Disease friendly recipe that is a great pasta side dish - Fettuccine Alfredo.  If you try this recipe, let me know what you think!  

IC Friendly Fettuccine Alfredo

• 12 ounces fettuccine
• 1 cup evaporated skim milk
• 1/2 cup half and half
• 1 1/2 cups grated fresh Parmesan cheese
• 2 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces
• 2 tablespoons fresh chives, snipped

1.  Cook pasta according to package directions. 

2.  In a medium saucepan, heat the milk, half and half, and butter over medium heat only until the butter is melted and the mixture is hot.

3.  Gradually stir in 1 1/4 cups of the Parmesan cheese. Cook and stir just until the cheese is melted.

4.  Drain pasta and add to the cheese mixture.  Toss pasta until well coated.

5.  Put pasta on plates to serve and sprinkle with the remaining 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese & chives. 

This recipe makes 6 servings.

If you have IC but you like sweets, this great IC friendly recipes for Crunchy White Chocolate Drops will curb your sweet tooth without acting up your IC symptoms.  Talk about having the best of both worlds!  This recipe is great for the whole family to eat - not just for IC kids and patients.

This recipe is for a large group of people so feel free to half the recipe to suit you and your family’s needs.  If you try this recipe, let me know what you think! 

Crunchy White Chocolate Drops

• 3 cups of pretzel sticks (broken into small pieces)
• 900 grams white chocolate (make sure you use a good quality of white chocolate)
• 3 cups of Rice Krispies cereal
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup sliced almonds

1. Melt the chocolate either by using a double boiler over medium heat or in the microwave. Be careful if you microwave the chocolate -the bowl will be very hot when you remove it.

2. In a large mixing bowl, add chocolate and all other ingredients listed above. Stir well.

3. Form small walnut-shaped balls out of the mixture. Place balls on wax paper or parchment paper. If you are making the whole recipe, make sure you have a big table prepared to place all of the drops.

4. Allow the drops to cool and harden. Place in a lined airtight container. They don’t need to be refrigerated and you can keep them for up to two weeks.

Options:

If you don’t want to make balls, you can pour the mixture into cake pans and let harden then cut like you would fudge.

Recipe makes about 90 drops.