Hi, gang,

I have always loved Mexican foods, but as of late, it seems like I have to
avoid them (at least at Mexican restaurants). Under medical advice, I have
to abstain from meats and dairy products. The other day, I was in a
Mexican restaurant and the only thing there that I could eat was a very
American dinner salad.

I know that American restaurants often do not represent the actual cuisine
of which they purport to do. For instance, many Chinese restaurants have a
dish called Chop Suey, which is 100% American, originating, not in China,
but in Chicago, making it about as Chinese as steak and potatoes.

Does anyone have any good recipes for Mexican main dishes I can eat at home.
Please, since I am something of a cooking novice, make them more on the
simple side without exotic ingredients that are virtually impossible to
find north of Mexico's state of Chihuahua. Remember, that means no meat, no
milk, no sour cream, no cheese. However, very spicy hot peppers are
generally fine, though I sometimes have problems with jalopenos (not
because of the spice, but the acid in them), even hotter substitutes would
be acceptable.

Thanks. I appreciate any help you can give.


--
Andy Rugg - The Cheerful Pickle
To email me, please remove "postheap" from my email address. Thanks.

Victoria Wise
Chronicle Books
Mexico The Vegetarian Table

She was the First Chef at Chez Panisse.

On 25 Apr 2004 17:42:35 GMT, (Jay P Francis)
wrote:

>Victoria Wise
>Chronicle Books
>Mexico The Vegetarian Table
>
>She was the First Chef at Chez Panisse.

Vegetarian won't do it -- lots of dairy. The OP needs to look for
vegan recipes. Here's one book on Amazon --

http://tinyurl.com/2jt5e

On 25 Apr 2004 17:42:35 GMT, (Jay P Francis)
wrote:

>Victoria Wise
>Chronicle Books
>Mexico The Vegetarian Table
>
>She was the First Chef at Chez Panisse.

There's also
Meatless Mexican Home Cooking
by Nancy Zaslavsky

There's information about both these books, and a couple of others, at
amazon.com.

On Sun, 25 Apr 2004 01:19:36 -0700, Cheerful Pickle
> wrote:

>I know that American restaurants often do not represent the actual cuisine
>of which they purport to do. For instance, many Chinese restaurants have a
>dish called Chop Suey, which is 100% American, originating, not in China,
>but in Chicago, making it about as Chinese as steak and potatoes.

The origin of chop suey is cloudy. It was probably 'invented' in the
US, but by Chinese cooks. In Mandrin "tsa sui," means something like
"bits of things chopped up," which an English-speaker might very well
interpret as "chop suey." So it is more a Chinese-American thing than
"100% American."

On Sun, 25 Apr 2004 01:19:36 -0700, Cheerful Pickle
> wrote:

>I have always loved Mexican foods, but as of late, it seems like I have to
>avoid them (at least at Mexican restaurants). Under medical advice, I have
>to abstain from meats and dairy products.

That doesn't sound like a credible doctor.

Where do people find all these doctors that tell them things like
this?

-sw

>>Under medical advice, I have to abstain from meats and dairy
products.
>
> That doesn't sound like a credible doctor.
>
> Where do people find all these doctors that tell them things like
> this?

For a serious case of gout, for examplke. Been there, done that. And
it's the pits.

Steve Wertz wrote:

> On Sun, 25 Apr 2004 01:19:36 -0700, Cheerful Pickle
> > wrote:
>
>>I have always loved Mexican foods, but as of late, it seems like I have to
>>avoid them (at least at Mexican restaurants). Under medical advice, I
>>have to abstain from meats and dairy products.
>
> That doesn't sound like a credible doctor.
>
> Where do people find all these doctors that tell them things like
> this?
>
> -sw

Hi, Steve,

Don't knock it. I was quite skeptical myself, but in my case it works.
After all the other ideas failed (short of surgery) I was ready to see if
it might just possibly work. I had nothing to lose, except perhaps
surgery. Symptoms of a failed lower esophageal spincter muscle are down by
about 70%, some days by about 100%.

Peace.


--
Andy Rugg - The Cheerful Pickle
To email me, please remove "postheap" from my email address. Thanks.

On Sun, 25 Apr 2004 20:52:40 -0700, Cheerful Pickle
> wrote:

>Steve Wertz wrote:
>
>> On Sun, 25 Apr 2004 01:19:36 -0700, Cheerful Pickle
>> > wrote:
>>
>>>I have always loved Mexican foods, but as of late, it seems like I have to
>>>avoid them (at least at Mexican restaurants). Under medical advice, I
>>>have to abstain from meats and dairy products.
>>
>> That doesn't sound like a credible doctor.
>>
>> Where do people find all these doctors that tell them things like
>> this?
>
>Hi, Steve,
>
>Don't knock it. I was quite skeptical myself, but in my case it works.
>After all the other ideas failed (short of surgery) I was ready to see if
>it might just possibly work. I had nothing to lose, except perhaps
>surgery. Symptoms of a failed lower esophageal spincter muscle are down by
>about 70%, some days by about 100%.

Is that AKA Acid Reflux?

-sw

Steve Wertz wrote:

>
> Is that AKA Acid Reflux?

Yep. I tried a zillion things (short of surgery). That is the ONLY thing
that has had even the slightest success.

I used to tend to think of vegetarians as being eccentric (many are), but,
for at least a few, it is a serious matter of health.

--
Andy Rugg - The Cheerful Pickle
To email me, please remove "postheap" from my email address. Thanks.

Cheerful Pickle > wrote in message >...
> Yep. I tried a zillion things (short of surgery). That is the ONLY thing
> that has had even the slightest success.
>
> I used to tend to think of vegetarians as being eccentric (many are), but,
> for at least a few, it is a serious matter of health.

You poor thing! I think you're brave to entertain the idea of Mexican
food at all! Gosh, you are really limited in choices out there.

Karen

On Mon, 26 Apr 2004 08:49:14 -0700, Cheerful Pickle
> wrote:

>Steve Wertz wrote:

>> Is that AKA Acid Reflux?
>
>Yep. I tried a zillion things (short of surgery). That is the ONLY thing
>that has had even the slightest success.

I've never heard of avoiding meat for acid reflux. Dairy, coffee,
sodas, caffeine, etc.. but never meat. I'd rather take a double
dose of Nexium than give up meat. Heck, I'd grow an extra nose on
my forehead rather than give up meat.

-sw

Steve Wertz wrote:

> I've never heard of avoiding meat for acid reflux. Dairy, coffee,
> sodas, caffeine, etc.. but never meat. I'd rather take a double
> dose of Nexium than give up meat. Heck, I'd grow an extra nose on
> my forehead rather than give up meat.

Hi, Steve,

LOL :-)

Yep, I hear you. Hey, its worth it. Besides, if you look around you can
find plenty of other good things to eat. While I can hardly recommend
most soy burgers (such as Gardenburger and Boca Burger), for instance (too
often they taste not much better than the box they came in), MacDonald's
MacVeggie is pretty good. Even my ex-wife likes it, and she is a Grade A
Certified Carnivore. Yesterday, I had some meatless riblets made by
Gardenburger that I found to be almost indistinguishable from the real
thing. Yum, yum.

I have become quite the man for soup since changing diet. Give me a hearty
and very chunky homemade soup with tons of cabbage, broccoli, onion,
carrots, cauliflower, beets, beans and rice in it and... yum, yum. I was
never much for soup before, but am now.

As for Nexium, the crazy stuff does absolutely nothing for me. As far as I
am concerned, Nexium, Prilosec, Protonix, Ranitidine, etc. are simply
nothing but sugar pills at ripoff prices.


--
Andy Rugg - The Cheerful Pickle
To email me, please remove "postheap" from my email address. Thanks.

Cheerful Pickle wrote:
>
> Hi, Steve,
>
> LOL :-)
>
> Yep, I hear you. Hey, its worth it. Besides, if you look around you can
> find plenty of other good things to eat. While I can hardly recommend
> most soy burgers (such as Gardenburger and Boca Burger), for instance (too
> often they taste not much better than the box they came in), MacDonald's
> MacVeggie is pretty good. Even my ex-wife likes it, and she is a Grade A
> Certified Carnivore. Yesterday, I had some meatless riblets made by
> Gardenburger that I found to be almost indistinguishable from the real
> thing. Yum, yum.
>
> I have become quite the man for soup since changing diet. Give me a hearty
> and very chunky homemade soup with tons of cabbage, broccoli, onion,
> carrots, cauliflower, beets, beans and rice in it and... yum, yum. I was
> never much for soup before, but am now.
>
> As for Nexium, the crazy stuff does absolutely nothing for me. As far as I
> am concerned, Nexium, Prilosec, Protonix, Ranitidine, etc. are simply
> nothing but sugar pills at ripoff prices.
>
I assume you've tried Prevacid. Also, have you tried combining
the proton pump inhibitor with Pepcid AC? That's what a friend
who is skirting on the edges of BE takes. And the few times I
have had a problem with Prevacid, I took a Pepcid AC and was
fine. Other things that help (all of which you are probably aware
of and do/have done): shed the excess pounds, don't eat and drink
for a few hours before you go to bed, avoid food triggers. Re the
latter, I try to eat the more controversial stuff earlier in the
day, and that seems to work for me. I don't think I have ever
seen meat and dairy on the list of foods to be avoided, but my
handout may not be the same as yours.

--
Jean B.

Where "ulcers" are caused by a bacterium, I wonder if "acid reflux"
doesn't have a similar cause. Andy's soup suggestion is a delicious, sane
eating at any time. Soy "granules" have been widely available since the
early '70s .. . but strangely not that readily available in mainstream food
stores. I can remember buying 1/2 gallon milk cartons of soy granules for
reconstituting in water for addition to meat or vegetarian meals. Now .. .
they're difficult to find (I guess "TVP" is a more profitable sell!). In
Vernon, CT, just off the interstate, there used to be a privately owned
restaurant converted from its predecessor "Ho-Jo's" - orange roof and all.
They sold a 50/50 soy-beef hamburger that was completely delicious. They
folded in the '80s for other reasons .. . but it shows that MacDonald's etc.
haven't begun to scratch the surface (IMHO), mad-cow and all for meat
alternatives.
Given disease vectors, mad-cow and arterial health concerns for beef
... . vegetarianism isn't a crazy idea. It just isn't "P.C."! Diana
Kennedy's books are pretty good for "real" Mexican cooking . .. and she's
hardly a meat-freak. If you review all the health-producing, longevity
diets from around the world I think you'll find the common denominator: meat
is used as a "seasoning" and not as a staple food. Mexican, Chinese,
Japanese, Korean, Mediterranean, Italian etc. are good examples.
Ultimately, the old truism is that we really are "what we eat."

Bill


Cheerful Pickle > wrote in message
...
> Steve Wertz wrote:
>
> > I've never heard of avoiding meat for acid reflux. Dairy, coffee,
> > sodas, caffeine, etc.. but never meat. I'd rather take a double
> > dose of Nexium than give up meat. Heck, I'd grow an extra nose on
> > my forehead rather than give up meat.
>
> Hi, Steve,
>
> LOL :-)
>
> Yep, I hear you. Hey, its worth it. Besides, if you look around you can
> find plenty of other good things to eat. While I can hardly recommend
> most soy burgers (such as Gardenburger and Boca Burger), for instance (too
> often they taste not much better than the box they came in), MacDonald's
> MacVeggie is pretty good. Even my ex-wife likes it, and she is a Grade A
> Certified Carnivore. Yesterday, I had some meatless riblets made by
> Gardenburger that I found to be almost indistinguishable from the real
> thing. Yum, yum.
>
> I have become quite the man for soup since changing diet. Give me a
hearty
> and very chunky homemade soup with tons of cabbage, broccoli, onion,
> carrots, cauliflower, beets, beans and rice in it and... yum, yum. I was
> never much for soup before, but am now.
>
> As for Nexium, the crazy stuff does absolutely nothing for me. As far as
I
> am concerned, Nexium, Prilosec, Protonix, Ranitidine, etc. are simply
> nothing but sugar pills at ripoff prices.
>
>
> --
> Andy Rugg - The Cheerful Pickle
> To email me, please remove "postheap" from my email address. Thanks.