Food is stress. Food is fuel. Food is life.

Food for Inflammatory Bowel Disease is one of the most stressful parts of this disease! It feels as if I do not know how to eat anymore. I have actually panicked in grocery stores to the point of almost running out in tears not sure what I could even eat safely. Food is also incredibly important for triathletes. So I'm going to use my blog to share some of my random fun food musings and tips for athletes and fellow IBDers. Every person with IBD has different food "triggers" and a lot of it is trial and error. There is unfortunately not a magic list to figure it out. Usually during flares, it is recommended to have more easily digestible foods, such as liquids or lower fiber content.

I bought a Ninja Foodi on Prime Day last year and it was honestly one of the best purchases of my life. It makes food preparation so easy and fast. For someone who has limited time and energy for cooking due to disease and life and training, it really is a game-changer. 

Homemade yogurt- 

I've actually been using my Ninja to make my own yogurt at home. It is cheaper overall to be able to make it at home and pretty easy to do, too! You can use any kind of Ninja or Instapot. The first time you make the yogurt, you will use a plain yogurt starter with active cultures, similar to the method of saving a sourdough starter. With the Ninja: just turn pour in the milk, seal the lid, turn the setting to yogurt, and push start! That's it! The Ninja does the boiling and cooling steps for you. In a few hours you will add the Greek yogurt, stir, and ferment (about 8 hours). Put the yogurt in the fridge to set for about 8 hours. This makes a regular yogurt, which is a little runny but perfectly good still if you are looking for regular yogurt. But now we can also make it fancy and expand our protein/probiotic baking options if we so desire. If you are using regular yogurt, save 3 tablespoons for your next batch. 

For Greek yogurt, put the yogurt through a strainer after it is set. This will leave you with a thick yogurt portion, and a yellow-ish color yogurt whey. The yogurt whey has active cultures and can be used for your subsequent batches of yogurt. You can also use it for some healthy baking! And now, you can use your Greek yogurt however you desire. My personal favorite is homemade smoothies with berries, cherries, Greenwise chocolate Protein (free of carrageenan and artificial sweeteners!!!), cherries, and honey.

Health Stuff-

The strained yogurt whey can be used as a substitute for any recipe that calls for buttermilk. According to Livestrong, the strained whey, which is acid-based, is low in fat and cholesterol, so it can be used as a healthy baking substitute in many recipes. If you see a buttermilk recipe, the substitution is 20% less yogurt whey since they whey is runnier than buttermilk. So the nutrition benefits if the yogurt whey: It is a rich in B vitamins, and has some calcium, and potassium. And then some of your cultures, too, since you fermented it so nicely. Of course, the primary carbohydrate is lactose, so if lactose is the your trigger, or if you are lactose intolerant, stay away!

Blueberry Muffins-

1.  Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly grease the cups or a standard muffin pan or line with baking cups.
2. Whisk together the flour, brown sugar, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon. Rinse and pat dry the blueberries with a towel. Stir in the blueberries last.
3. In a separate small bowl, whisk together the vanilla, canola oil, and yogurt whey.
4. Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients, stirring just to combine.
5. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups and fill them until full. 
6. Bake the muffins for 18-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the middle of one of the center muffins comes out clean.
7. Remove from the oven and let cool. Once cool enough to handle (about 5 minutes), transfer to a cooling rack.