Thursday, October 29, 2009

Teff Chocolate Pudding - wheat, gluten, egg, soy, dairy, corn, refined sugar, peanut, and tree nut free!

It's day 4 of my rotation diet, and I'm not losing my mind! I'm definitely learning a lot, and I'm eating much healthier - lots of veggies! I'm making it into a game, sort-of - like "I know I'm going out to eat Saturday, so how do I 'save up' food groups so that I can eat what I want?" I'm also becoming very aware of foods that I was over-relying on, like onions, peppers, tomatoes, turkey...

Today will be the completion of a full rotation. To start out, foods are rotated on a four day schedule, so tomorrow, I go back to the food groups that I ate on Monday. I can tell that, as I get more comfortable doing this, I will be a bit more "free" with my meal planning - right now, I'm planning my meals mostly based on the rotation that is suggested in the book, but soon I will think about meals I want to have, then assign food groups accordingly. That will work out much better!


I ended up feeling a bit hungry on day Monday afternoon (rotation day 2), and started to panic a
bit - I didn't plan for that! I checked day 2 food groups and saw that I could have teff. I've always wanted to experiment with teff, but just hadn't yet. I looked at the back of the Bob's Red Mill Teff package for some inspiration and saw a recipe for Teff Pudding. It contained few ingredients, all of which I could incorporate on rotation day 2, so I went for it! I'm glad I did - it was so yummy and comforting...definitely something I will eat even when I'm not on rotation! The cooked teff has a texture that lends itself to pudding - almost as if it contains gelatin, but it doesn't.

Before the recipe, a word about teff:
Teff is packed with nutrition. It is higher in protein than wheat and has a high concentration of a wide variety of nutrients, including calcium, thiamine and iron. A cup of cooked teff contains 387 mg of calcium which is 40% of the U.S. recommended daily allowance. Teff has twice as much iron as both wheat and barley; the iron from teff is easily absorbed by the body. Since the grains are so small, the bulk of the grain is germ and bran. It is very high in fiber and is thought to benefit people with diabetes as it helps control blood sugar levels. Teff is available as a grain or as a flour. You can read more about the nutritional benefits of teff here.

Teff Pudding (serves 2 - 3) - wheat, gluten, egg, soy, dairy, corn, refined sugar, peanut, and tree nut free!

Ingredients:

  • 2 C water
  • 1/2 C teff grain
  • 3 T cocoa powder
  • 2 T maple syrup or honey, or 1 T agave
  • 2 t vanilla extract
  • pinch of salt (my addition, since it brings out the sweetness!)
Directions
  1. In a small pot, bring water and teff grain to a boil, then cover and simmer over very low heat for 15-20 minutes or until water is absorbed, stirring occasionally. Let cool to room temperature.
  2. In a blender or food processor, blend cooked teff and remaining ingredients until smooth and light. Add additional water if it's too thick.
  3. Pour into serving bowl, chill, and serve.
This post is linked to Slightly Indulgent Mondays.


2 comments:

  1. I'm so glad you posted this recipe. I love teff. Love it. I think, though, that I have teff flour which would probably create a different result. Maybe I'll pick up some teff. I agree that it pairs so well with chocolate.

    Thanks for linking to Slightly Indulgent Mondays! Would you mind adding a link so your readers can find the other recipes there? Thanks!

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  2. I'd never heard of the rotation diet before, but I'm going to keep reading your blog to see how everything works out.

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