What is your experience with Lentils/Legumes?

Did you soak them before you ate them? Most dried kinds (but not all) need to be soaked for 4+ hours, ideally overnight, before you eat them. Otherwise you *will* get a stomach ache. And gassy. Never eat a hard lentil.

When you say starchy cabs, the starch in lentils is "resistant starch" which means they're digested slower and differently to pasta, rice, potatoes etc. The body digests it more like fibre than carbs.

And lentils are low GI; perfect for a slow energy release. (I seem to recall you have problems with blood sugar levels? Sorry if I'm confusing you with someone else.)

Of course, maybe they're just too tough for IBS. Have you ever eaten a dish with lentils (like moussaka) cooked at a restaurant?

Have you seen "special diets for special kids" cookbook? Well your not a kid, the cookbook has a lot of great recipes for people who have food issues. Also, the legumes could be causing gastro distress. Do you get them canned, frozen or dried? Sometimes canned ones are in a sauce with gluten. You could try some other soups. the Penzeys spice website has lots of great recipes. Try these GF/ bean free soup.

Pumpkin Soup

This may sound a bit unusual, but it is very delicious and velvety smooth.

1/4 Cup butter
1 Cup chopped onion
1 clove garlic, crushed (1/4 tsp. MINCED GARLIC)
1 tsp. SWEET CURRY POWDER
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. GROUND CORIANDER
1/8 tsp. CRUSHED RED PEPPER
3 Cups chicken broth
1 3/4 Cups freshly cooked pumpkin or 1 16 oz. can pumpkin
1 Cup half & half
1/2 Cup sour cream (optional)
2 TB. CHIVES (optional)

Melt the butter in a saucepan. Add the onion and garlic and sauté until soft. Add the CURRY POWDER, salt, CORIANDER and CRUSHED RED PEPPER. Cook for 1 minute. Add the broth and boil gently, uncovered, for 15-20 minutes. Stir in the pumpkin and half & half. Cook for 5 minutes. Pour into a blender in 2-3 batches, cover and blend until creamy. Serve warm and garnish with sour cream and/or CHIVES.
Prep. time: 20 minutes
Baking time: 30 minutes
Serves: 6 Cups

Nutritional Information: Servings 6;
Serving Size 1 cup (262g); Calories 150; Calories from fat 110; Total fat 12g; Cholesterol 35mg; Sodium 550mg; Carbohydrate 9g; Dietary Fiber 1g.

Or

2 lb. boneless pork roast ( a less expensive cut of meat like shoulder roast is what you want - more expensive cuts end up tough once cooked)
1 lb. package egg noodles - wide or thin
1 large onion, peeled and minced
3 TB. vegetable oil
2 TB. ADOBO SEASONING (any southwestern style seasoning)
2 quarts water
1 tsp. PARSLEY FLAKES ( 1 TB. fresh Parsley, chopped)
1 TB. PORK SOUP BASE (optional)
1-2 tsp. sugar
1/2-1 tsp. salt
Bring 2 quarts of water to a simmer over medium heat. Slice the pork into thin strips about 2 inches long. As you are slicing it, toss it into a bowl and sprinkle on ADOBO SEASONING, toss to coat. Heat one TB. oil in a large nonstick pan over medium high heat. Add 1/3 of the pork pieces and brown for about 5 minutes, stirring often, until the pieces are nice and brown on all sides. Add to the soup pot, then add another tablespoon of oil, heat and brown the next third of the pork. Repeat for the final third of the pork. The object is to not crowd too much pork into the pan at once, or it will steam instead of brown. Also, you can be browning the first third of the pork while you are still slicing up the rest.
Once the pork is browned and in the pot, place the onions in the pan. Add 2 TB. of water from the soup pot to the onion pan, which will start to loosen up the tasty pork bits left in the pan and help brown the onions. Add the onions to the pot after they have cooked for about 5 minutes, along with the PARSLEY FLAKES, PORK SOUP BASE, 1 tsp. sugar and 1/2 tsp. salt. Simmer for about half an hour before serving. While the soup is simmering, cook the noodles. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, add noodles, and cook according to package directions, but undercook by 2 minutes. Regular egg noodles take about 7 minutes to cook - remove from the water, drain and rinse after 5 minutes. Add the noodles to the soup pot about 10 minutes before serving time. Taste the soup after the noodles have been added, then use the extra salt and sugar if you desire.

Serves: 8-12.
Prep. time: 15 minutes.
Cooking time: 45 minutes.

2 pieces boneless/skinless chicken thighs
2 tsp. olive oil
1/2 small onion
1 tsp. THYME
1/2 tsp. GINGER
1/4 tsp. GARLIC
1/4 tsp. BLACK PEPPER
1-2 tsp. 4/S SEASONED SALT
4-6 Cups water
4 oz. extra wide egg noodles (sometimes called dumpling noodles)
1/2 tsp. olive oil
1 tsp. SWEET BASIL
1 sprinkle GRANULATED GARLIC
Bring a quart of water to a boil for the noodles. In a saute pan big enough to hold 4 cups water, heat 2 tsp. olive oil over medium heat. Add the minced onion, cook one minute, then add the chicken thighs. Sprinkle with THYME, GINGER, BLACK PEPPER and GARLIC. Cook till browned on both sides, which is about 8 minutes. Halfway through the browning, sprinkle heavily with 4S SEASONED SALT. Remove the chicken, then add 4 cups water. Stir the pot to get the browned bits up off the bottom. Cook the noodles according to the package directions - undercooking just a bit - 6 minutes instead of 7 for most egg noodles. Drain without rinsing, and while steamy warm, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with crumbled SWEET BASIL and GARLIC GRANULES. While the noodles are cooking, cube the chicken and return it to the pot for the final 5 minutes cooking time. Divide the noodles between 2 soup bowls (there will probably be enough for seconds), top with a ladleful of soup, and enjoy.

Serves: 2.
Prep. Time: 5 minutes.
Cooking time: 15 minutes.