Recipe help available to make your cooking ... - Kidney Disease

Kidney Disease

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Recipe help available to make your cooking and baking dishes tasty and healthy.

Pappy58 profile image
18 Replies

I'm new to the community and recently discovered I have stage 3 CKD and have made drastic changes to my eating habits. I'm a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America at Hyde Park, NY. I was trained in the classical arts of culinary and pastry by Europeans and spent my career as a Chef and Pastry Chef. I enjoy eating well and CKD hasn't changed that. I've had to give up a lot of the good foods I love but there aren't many foods I don't like. The key to making food taste great is the masterful use of herbs and spices. I've done consulting for commercial bakeries and have written probably hundreds of formulas. Mostly baking but many for culinary as well. I love eating good food and having CKD hasn't changed that. I still eat good food. I just can't eat the same variety as I used to. If anyone needs help with modifications to recipes by all means feel free to ask me for help. Remember when cooking a recipe is a guideline. Use herbs and spices to give the dish your own signature. With baking it's different. Baking is a chemical reaction. Each ingredient serves a specific function and there's little room for error or experimentation. Except with flavorings. If anyone needs assistance making your meals more interesting or flavorful feel free to ask for help adjusting your recipes.

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Pappy58 profile image
Pappy58
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18 Replies
orangecity41 profile image
orangecity41NKF Ambassador

Pappy 58.. Thanks. Might ask for ideas on bread making, I use a bread machine and do use non enriched flour.

Pappy58 profile image
Pappy58 in reply toorangecity41

I apologize for taking so long to respond. I'm a banged up old veteran with a 2 year old daughter and between her and medical appointments they keep me pretty busy. I'm not familiar with bread machines or bread machine recipes so if you can provide me with a recipe as a reference point and what your dietary goals are I'll rework the recipe for you and post it here along with dietary info I'm able to find on reliable resources.

orangecity41 profile image
orangecity41NKF Ambassador in reply toPappy58

Thanks, Right now my big question is that when use non enriched flour now for bread making, do I need to increase the yeast?

Pappy58 profile image
Pappy58 in reply toorangecity41

You can use them interchangeably without making any adjustments to your recipe. The only difference is the nutritional value of the finished product. Enriched flour has iron, riboflavin, and thiamine added back to the flour in exact amounts which were stripped during the milling process. Enriched flour became the industry standard around 1942 during WWII when the US Army contracted only enriched flour for nutritional value. This change is said to have helped to reduce diseases and birth defects through better nutrition.

orangecity41 profile image
orangecity41NKF Ambassador in reply toPappy58

THanks for good information. Feel better about using non enriched flour.

Bassetmommer profile image
BassetmommerNKF Ambassador

Fabulous, Pappy.

I am a strong believer in cooking with home grown so I have been growing my own herbs for a few years. I have grown oregano, parsley, marjoram, a variety of basil, different kinds of sage, rosemary. This year I grew stevia and only ended up with about a tablespoon after I ground it down. I also grow my own lettuce.

I am always looking for recipes for veggies. I love to roast or grill them. It is so hard to be careful about potassium and still have a variety of things to enjoy. I learned how to make ratatouille without tomatoes and I make a variety of soups.

I do make my own yeast breads ( Italian, rye and whole wheat) and with a mixer and hand. I really miss baking other things, though. My hubby and I both have diabetes so sweets are very limited. I was really hoping to learn to bake with Stevia, but so far my experiments have been awful. Most of the processed stuff with stevia in it leaves a terrible aftertaste and my home grown was too small. Any ideas on how to bake with stevia? I do make a mean sugar free apple pie.

Please share you favorite ideas because I am sure there are many of us who would love some inspiration.

Pappy58 profile image
Pappy58 in reply toBassetmommer

I was forced into an early retirement a few years ago due to injuries and illness just when stevia was coming onto the scene. Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to work with it so I'll have to do some research and put a little thought into it. Sugar is an important basic ingredient in many baked goods. It provides structure, flavor, sweetness, shelf life, and tenderness. It's not always simple to replace sugar with a non nutritive sweetener as they don't have the same properties as sugar. If you have a specific recipe you want me to work on I can zero in on that. It may sound odd but I don't do much baking at home. I suppose I became burned out on sweets being in the business so many years. Plus I have trouble standing for long periods of time.

Pappy58 profile image
Pappy58 in reply toBassetmommer

Here's some info I found regarding baking with stevia. I don't know if you've already read it but it might help. If you need help converting recipes I'll be glad to do that where I can. Regarding yeast leavened breads such as French bread and sour dough if you allow a long fermentation and proofing time very little residual sugar remains resulting in less residual sugar. You can make whole wheat bread using a French bread recipe but typically whole wheat flour has too little protein to make a good bread so it helps to add a product called vital wheat gluten. This may be available at some natural food stores or online.

extensionpublications.unl.e...

Bassetmommer profile image
BassetmommerNKF Ambassador in reply toPappy58

Well Thank you Pappy. My experiment with baking was to try to make a frosting. I pulverized the stevia product to confectionery consistency. But OMG, it was awful. I did try making cookies but they too were funky. However, my apple pie is fabulous and I use stevia in the apples. I see a recipe on the site you gave I might try. I guess the best thing is to not eat pastries....... sigh. I use Sweet Leaf as it has the least amount of other weird sweetener in it. Truvia is terrible.

Thank you also for explaining why my home made bread does not raise my glucose levels. I love home made bread. When I make whole wheat or rye, I make it 2/3 white flour and 1/3 the other wheat so it is fluffy and rises well. I also add molasses which is a sugar but also a great flavor.

Pappy58 profile image
Pappy58 in reply toBassetmommer

I found this list of sweeteners with glycemic index you might find useful as well.

sugar-and-sweetener-guide.c...

Molasses is not only a great tasting but it helps to naturally extend the shelf life of baked goods and retain moisture of these items. I'm sure you've noticed how oatmeal raisin cookies never seem to get hard. It's because of the molasses. For a more technical explanation I'm attaching a link also.

bakerpedia.com/ingredients/...

Dragondog profile image
Dragondog in reply toBassetmommer

Bassetmommer at my health food store I just bought a pure stevia powder called ‘Sure Stevia” made by KAL. I’ve not tried it yet. Like you I don’t want to use Truvia or the others with additives.

Hugatree737 profile image
Hugatree737 in reply toBassetmommer

Do you have recipes for your bread? I'm looking for some good ones. I was going to use my bread machine but a few years back I "cleaned out" and now we can't find it!😄

Bassetmommer profile image
BassetmommerNKF Ambassador in reply toHugatree737

HI,

My recipe is for handmade. I do use a mixer. Are you still interested?

Hugatree737 profile image
Hugatree737 in reply toBassetmommer

Yes!!

Pappy58 profile image
Pappy58 in reply toHugatree737

If you tell me what type of bread you're specifically interested in I can modify a formula for you and return it with nutritional info. I personally have to stay away from comercial yeast for a while because I just got my labs back and my potassium is a little high. I had been eating bread almost every day. Yeast is high in inorganic potassium and is processed differently by the kidneys than organic potassium.

orangecity41 profile image
orangecity41NKF Ambassador in reply toPappy58

Pappy 58 thanks for good info on sugars in bread making. Will not be afraid to use reasonable amount. I am pre-diabetic and told to watch my sugar.

Rene70 profile image
Rene70

I m going to surely contact you! I'm suppose to be doing the Vegan diet ran out of choices...

Pappy58 profile image
Pappy58

I apologize for not responding to messages. I've been offline for a while. In the meanwhile I was working on a recipe for sourdough bread made with natural leavening instead of store bought yeast as this has less potassium and is processed easier by the kidneys because it's organic vs inorganic potassium. Before I got to finish it though I botched the starter and had to discard it. I don't have time to start over before I go out of town for vacation because it's a 14 day process and has to be tended to every day. Once I return and successfully produce a loaf of sourdough bread I'll post the recipe with nutritional data.

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