Alternative to cinnamon?

What food/drink do you like? How about herbs?

Tarragon is a nice change with chicken, with lemon & butter. Or Italian herbs (a green mixture)
Rosemary with lamb.
Gammon -- cloves
Beef -- well, with a plain roast I like the usual mustard, and horseradish which has to be home-made on account of the barmy amount of sugar in the bought jars.
But I like rich spicy food and this means mixing curry spices with fruity ones (like you might put in mulled wine). If you fancy that I can give you a list. Very easy, just mix up your own in a jar.
Cumin & coriander to flavour the dreaded cauliflower. And turmeric to colour it. Your wooden spoons will never be the same again.
If cinnamon upsets you we have to be careful about allspice, cloves etc. Maybe they have a common factor, I don't know.
Is this any use?

carol43 said:

I love cinnamon but my body doesn't, it upsets my tummy. Is there a different spice I can use, not used to using spices, in fact not used to cooking very much at all but I am getting better with all the lovely recipes posted.

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This might help: http://homecooking.about.com/library/weekly/blspicesub.htm

AndBreathe said:

This might help: http://homecooking.about.com/library/weekly/blspicesub.htm

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Nice one. Bookmarked. Do you think @carol43 would be affected by any of the substitutes for cinnamon?

There are two types of cinnamon, Cassia and Ceylon cinnamon. Cassia is most widely used, and has a more robust flavour, which could be why your stomach doesn't tolerate it. Cassia also has high levels of coumarin, which can cause (reversible) liver damage.Ceylon cinnamon has much lower levels of coumarin.

The EU guidelines for the use of Cassia cinnamon by commercial bakers is 50 milligrams per kilo of dough for traditional or seasonal pastries eg cinnamon rolls and 15 milligrams per kilo of dough for everyday baked goods. Contrast that with 45 gram jars of ground cinnamon in stores, which aren't labelled as to type of cinnamon used nor given any warning label, if cassia.

I buy Daylesford organic Ceylon cinnamon quills from Ocado and grind it myself, because though I can tell the difference between sticks, I can't tell the difference between ground cinnamons and don't want to risk unlabelled stuff.

Tarragon is a very undervalued herb, it really puts some zing into food but not always easy to find. It might be worth buying a pot from a garden centre next spring for garden, balcony or windowsill.

If you're on a budget, I recommend going to an Asian store which will be cheaper or looking in the world foods aisle in ASDA, Morrisons or Tesco. The Range has some mid-size tubs of dried herbs. ASDA oen brand herbs and spices are pretty cheap.

I would recommend adding dried herbs in with your stock if using and fresh right at the end. The herb and spice jars themselves will tell you what you can use them for. Those are only guidelines though, my Pa used to stick apple pie spice on chicken when roasting it !

DeejayR said:

Nice one. Bookmarked. Do you think @carol43 would be affected by any of the substitutes for cinnamon?

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I have no idea. I guess it'll be trial and error.

carol43 said:

Thank you, I'll have to experiment. Any ideas if the slow roasted tomatoes will spike because I've a nice crop just changing colour.

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Cherry or bigger? I will have 1 or 2 cherry matoes raw like sweets or one larger raw with olive oil (& probably basil). I assume cooking releases the sugar so always combine with fat.

Nutmeg is one that I also favour with soups and some meat dishes.

Tomatoes don't have that many carbs. One large tomato has under 6g carbs, cherry tomatoes are 1-2 grams each. The glycemic load of half a cup of chopped tomatoes is 1

When I lose a spoon or knife it usually turns up a year later in the compost heap

There are some herbs and spices which have traditionally been used for their positive effects on digestion. How about looking for recipes which use those ones? Some that come to mind are mint, basil, fennel, caraway, cardamoms, coriander, ginger, turmeric ... just put one of those in a recipe website's search and you should come up with something you fancy.

DeejayR said:

When I lose a spoon or knife it usually turns up a year later in the compost heap

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I've only just noticed your '... No medication ... no portion control ... I get together as much low-carb food as I can find, add fat if necessary and then eat the lot.' Really made me laugh out loud!