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OK, we did not make this up. There actually is a Simplified Low FODMAP “diet.” This diet has nothing to do with our website. It was created by Monash University (The authority on FODMAP). This approach is somewhat the opposite of the elimination diet. Instead of starting by dropping off everything (every high FODMAP food) from your diet. Instead we start with just dropping off the biggest and worst High FODMAP foods. This is actually a FANTASTIC list to give to someone that wants to cook for you, even if you are on FODMAP. Sure there is still a risk they might unknowingly make a poor choice but at least this is a list of only 12 things and will generally guide them to safer food. I’ve wanted to create a list like this for years and I’m glad Monash finally has recommended one.

Here’s what you DO NOT EAT on Simplified FODMAP diet.

• Grains
  • Wheat and rye-based products
• Vegetables
  • Onion, garlic, leek, cauliflower and mushrooms
• Fruit
  • Apple, pear, dried fruit, stone fruit, watermelon
• Dairy
  • Milk and yoghurt
• Meat/alternatives
  • Legumes

So what does not eat mean?

It means that instead of eating these items you substitute something low FODMAP. For instance “Lactose free milk” instead of milk.

It means you cannot eat these items even if they’re incorporated in a dish. This is what I generally call “eating clean.” Of course you can always cheat but that means you need to restart the clock on your eating clean.

How do I get started?

Really, even though I watch a lot of “House” and “General Hospital” I’m told that doesn’t make me a doctor. What I strongly suggest is you consult a doctor or a nutritionist. If you want to know if you are a good choice for this diet, read about it on the Monash University’s website. It outlines if this diet is a good choice for a person or not. It also lists the steps on how to go about implementing the diet.

Here’s some extra resources if you have more questions:

• Great facebook interview talking through Simplified FODMAP with a MONASH nutritionist and Alana from alittlebityummy. (A great site for all things low FODMAP).

• The initial post on simplified FODMAP from Monash univeristy.

Ok, so you maybe never heard of Hing. Hing is also call Asafoetida. Wikipedia says “The resin-like gum comes from the dried sap extracted from the stem and roots and is used as a spice. ” It a secret weapon to give an leak/onion/garlic flavour when used in small quantities. Literally, you should only ever have a pinch of it. (I suggest you start with 1/2 a teaspoon in a pot of food until you learn if it’s for you.) In large quantities it’s quite pungent so avoid this. It’s often used in vegetarian curry dish to give the umami/savory component. Totally, ads some zip to your dish. I found it on amazon and had to wait for it to show up but I really like adding a pinch to my bowl of chilli as I find it give me those flavours I miss on a low FODMAP diet.

Here’s a discussion thread on reddit about it.

Things are still a little scary. Right now it’s a great time to practice saving a dollar or maybe you just want to reduce on waste. Here’s a quick tip that I learned recently.

I like to make potatoes. I typically boil them. (I definitely usually add stock to the water.) But for the sake of this argument lets pretend I don’t. When you are done with your potato water what do you do with it? If you are like me you probably dump it down the sink. Here are some alternative uses to help use it up.

Use it in whipped potatoes. Don’t have a lot of extra’s in your fridge at the moment? Skip adding milk to your potatoes and instead add the potato water back in. This changes the flavour slightly but it saves a little economically. It also saves on calories, so if you are trying to trim off a couple pounds give it a shot. Or even consider 1/2 water and 1/2 milk.

Are you trying to be gluten free? Potato water makes a great thickener. You can use it in gravy or soups as a natural thickener and flavouring agent.

Potato water is best used within 24 hours or frozen and thawed later. I know I’m going to be making potato water ice cubes so that I can keep it for when I need it and have it in a ready to use format.

In this day and age, (with COVID-19) are you thinking about doing more self-sufficient cooking? Here’s some tips to help you get through leaner times.

Stock is your survival tool.

Make and use Stock. Stock is just food flavoured water. It’s super simple to make and incredibly versatile for adding flavour. It makes a great substitute for water in almost all recipes. I am a huge advocate for adding 1 cup of stock for boiling potatoes or rice, to enhance the flavour. A ton of recipes call for it and unless you have a good low FODMAP source, you need to be making it yourself. And lets not forget it’s the basis for almost all soups. Soup is the cheapest, most filling thing you can make on a budget.

Why is Soup the cheapest thing to make? Water is free, stock is mostly free. The most expensive part of it is the heating of it. To make stock you literally just need to add all of your vegetable scraps to a bag…just keep it refrigerated, or store in the freezer, and keep adding more to it. You peel a vegetable? Those peels go in your stock bag. Cut off the top of a carrot, celery, or parsnip? Put it in the stock bag. You have vegetables that are old but you don’t want to eat them? …cut them up and put in the stock bag. Bones from tonight’s low FODMAP dinner? Put them in your stock bag.

When you need a batch of stock, check the contents of the stock bag. Then in a large pot add veggies from the scrap bag and add water to cover ingredients (one or 2 liters of water, 1 or 2 tsp of salt, a teaspoon of black pepper corns, 1 teaspoon of thyme. Bring to a boil, skim off and discard any top foam, turn heat to low and simmer a few hours uncovered (2-4 hours). Taste for salt. Simmer longer for improved flavour. Strain and discard the solid ingredients. Keeps 3 days in fridge and freezes well.

This means of course to still obey FODMAP rules, so watch your quantities (i.e. Celery). Everything will boil down so don’t worry about ‘germs.’ If you are low on money this really is something you can do to stretch out your food dollars. Once you have stock, you can make soup, and just add some extra spices, chopped fresh herbs and vegetables and you are good to go. Super easy and super in-expensive.

Here our some of our recipes for stock:

• Chicken
• Vegetable
• Beef

I recently updated my resource page to lists I regularly share with users. To make it easy for you I also posted this list here:

• Monash university – where the whole thing started. Great resource for new people.
• FODMAP app– yes the one written by monash, it’s worth the money!
• Hot Peppers and Low Fodmap– Brought to you buy FODMAP Everyday. Great source of info all in one place if you like spicy food. They’ll warn you on their site, but spice is an irritant for many people, so please as first if cooking for others.
• Low FODMAP cheese– Brought to you buy a little bit Yummy. I find this an easier list to work from than searching in the Monash app.
• Need a meal plan? A little bit yummy comes to your rescue once again
• Low FODMAP Fast Food ideas – these should be good but do you research, I found the list, I didn’t write it.

Yeah the list is small for now but I hope to grow it over time and make it easy for others to gain resources. Most of the link go to other sites, I have no issues sharing other site links, my site is about how to cook, so I hope you find it useful. If you have other sites that I should add please post here, or here. If you want the latest list of the resources please click on resources in the menu bar.

Oh man! There are just some recipes that speak to your sole…and have great flavour that really ties everything together. One great example is Coconut Pad Thai. To me these flavours all mix together in a way that I would never had thought of putting together. Once I tried it, “WOW!” Oh yes, give me more!

I didn’t see the nut/lime combo coming and the bok choy and red pepper is so at home in this dish. It’s crazy. Look, I totally love this dish, and it’s a little nutty. So if you are looking for something to try and want to venture off the beaten path this is totally worth it.

The short answer is yes. Will your Burgers taste great? Yes. Is this a good stand in for BBQ sauce. YES. Do you have to make it yourself NO. So for all of that … this is a good BBQ sauce.

OK, is it amazing? Well, if you don’t want to cook, want a great stand in for regular BBQ sauce as a component of a meal, it’s great.

Maybe I’m spoiled, but I make my own BBQ sauce. (Mind you using Foddy Ketchup). And I feel like BBQ Ribs is an excellent showcase for a good BBQ sauce. I recently tried this with the Foddy Sauce on Ribs. And well, probably not unexpectedly, I like my sauce better. It’s thicker, tastier, and doesn’t have a tomato sauce finish. Don’t get me wrong, that tomato sauce finish is probably because they are trying to keep this strictly low FODMAP. Or maybe it’s the translation from a home kitchen to a commercial kitchen. Freshness, and making it
extended for shelf-life , can reduce flavour. This finish is probably likely because their sauce is healthier than my sauce. But I like to live a little.

My ending comment is: Buy it, use it. If you’re making ribs, make your own sauce.

Here’s a hit for when you only have beef and broccoli. The rest of the ingredients are super simple and likely in your pantry. OK maybe you don’t stock sesame oil or oyster sauce, but once you do it’s simple. This recipe came from a craving for chinese food. Often impossible to order as someone that can’t have garlic. But this version is bang on and seriously tasty. If you need some good old beef and broccoli. Here’s your fix. Specific tip, mix the water/stock with the cornstarch before you heat it. This is just a simple tip but it WORKS for thickening without getting lumps. Lots of recipes just ignore this and say to add cornstarch to your mixture directly. Adding it to water/stock first really is really a pro-tip that makes your life way easier. (No lumps, less crazy stirring!)

Here’s the links for today’s tasting party:

• Slow Cooker (S)mashed Potatoes
• Scalloped Potatoes in a slow cooker
• Bacon Green Beans
• Ranch Dressing
• Caesar Dressing
• Lemon Basil Salad dressing

I want to give a shout out to a great article written by Dédé Wilson @ fodmapeveryday.com . If you aren’t aware of this site you are really missing out. It has a huge wealth of information about living/eating low FODMAP. This site has great recipes, meal plans, and is a great resource for everything low FODMAP.

I use garlic oil all the time as a replacement. I have made it myself but I’m also really lucky that it’s actually available in my grocery store. I had to take the leap of faith, try it and thankfully it was good for me. If you don’t want to take a risk (, and I mean who does!) Then Dede over @ fodmapeveryday.com has you covered. Please take some time to read her extensive article on Garlic Infused Oil. (Good ones/bad ones.) One take away that from the article. It’s probably easiest to just make Garlic Infused Oil at home yourself. Here’s our recipe of how to make Garlic Infused Oil.

Another gem from the article: You can freeze oil indefinitely! So make a big batch and freeze it for when you need it!