Flip Flop

I have been having this internal...or maybe it's been quite external too...battle between whether or not to cut dairy.  At last post I decided it was time.  But I lied.  I just can't give it up, plus it seems that Nick is having issues with something other than dairy.  Something that is a little more difficult to pin point.  Like a preservative or a "natural" flavor.  I think that he is reacting because once I allow dairy back into my system I also allow more processed foods back.  And when we go out to eat, I can't really help but splurge.  But if it were the dairy itself that Nick had issue with, his symptoms would be a bit more clear cut.  On that note, I made some awesome meals with goat cheese lately.  YUM!

First, I will start off with something a simple that is actually a nice little splurge.  Jelly.  Why go through the trouble of making jelly when it's so easy to buy? Well, why not? It's easy and it's a great way to use some of the strawberries I get in my produce delivery.  And you can be in control of the type of sweetness you use and how much.  I actually like my jelly quite tart.  But you could add some agave, honey, stevia, or sugar to make yours sweeter.  I suggest adding it slowly and tasting as you go. 

You will need:

1 package of strawberries, greens removed and cut in half or quartered
some sweetener (I used about 1-2 teaspoons of agave nectar - kinda wish I had used honey)
2-4 tablespoons of water, depending on how many strawberries you have
acid, usually lemon (I didn't have any, so left it out, and it still tastes fine)

Heat resistant jar to put jelly into

So, you have cut up the strawberries and put them into a small pot:

Cover with just enough water to coat the strawberries to prevent burning

 Heat and simmer for about 10 minutes, or until enough liquid has evaporated to make your jelly a good consistency for you.  Once the berries have softened, use a potato masher, or fork, or whatever else you can find to smush up the berries.  Stir in desired sweetener as the berries cook.

Pour into jar and chill.  Eat as needed.  And repeat.

This is one way I enjoyed my jelly. Breakfast Pizza.  What a glorious way to begin enjoying dairy again!
Recipe for some yummy healthy(ish) cookies to follow :)

Back to Basics

So, as I have been doing the "dairy trial" and investigating where a limit may be in how much I can consume before Nick or I get sick, I have been letting more and more "stuff" sneak into my diet.  On one hand it's been glorious! I keep thinking that I really don't feel so bad...maybe I kept things out of my system long enough that I have been healed! And that, since I am healthier now, I can handle more crap before I feel yucky! Maybe "date night" shall survive!
Although, I do like to have a much bigger cup of coffee in the morning.  And I get a nice afternoon dip in energy.  And I keep getting these cravings for junk food.  And I've been kinda cranky......Doh! These are all things that went away when I was eating strict! I also realized that I have been consistently congested.  As for Nick, he has been fairly clingy, his sleep is disrupted again, and his eczema rash has returned.  His poop isn't as bad as it used to be, but it has been taking a turn back that way.  Soooo, it looks like I am back to cutting out dairy for sure.  I have also let a bit of gluten back into my diet on occasion, and while I think it was definitely the yeast that was giving us bigger problems before, I do feel better when I am gluten free. 
I do wonder if I have just been careless with the places we have been eating out, or if this is truly a dairy issue.  Or maybe it's a preservative issue.  The symptoms are relatively subtle.  But then I think about how happy and energetic I was when I had cut all of that out.  That's a much better way to feel. Especially after the cranky days I have had recently.
So, it's back to basics! It's a little bittersweet, since it's going to be really hard to figure out where to go on "date night".  But I am actually excited to go back to feeling so happy all the time.  I was getting so much done! The other thing that is keeping me going is that I have figured out that making cookies from scratch is actually really easy.  Like super easy.  Like, why on EARTH was I spending so much money on cookies!? And brownies too.  Once I get my stove figured out a little better, I will post a recipe. (The thermostat in our stove doesn't work right). So far I keep burning the cookies so I can't figure out if I've balanced the seasonings right.  I wouldn't want you to make yucky cookies.  So I just need to keep making them...and eating them.....and making them......and eating them.....life is so hard!

Ooey Gooey Mac 'n Cheese

So, most of my meals are pretty healthy.  Sometimes, though, you just need to indulge.  I've been playing with reintroducing dairy into my diet and hoping that it doesn't affect Nick anymore.  Here is one of the things I decided I missed like crazy - a good mac and cheese! I still have to put a sort of healthy spin on it, of course, and I certainly don't want to go back to eating out of a box, so I decided on a whim to try it from "scratch".  I haven't made my own pasta (yet).  Surprisingly, it wasn't hard.  And not much more work than making it from the box - the only difference is shredding the cheese.

I used:

1 stick of organic butter (unsalted)
__of coconut milk.  I totally forgot to measure.  I should have.  about 1-1.5 cups.
1 tablespoon of flour
1 block of raw cheddar cheese.  I think it ended up being 2.5-3 cups shredded.  I used more than I anticipated because I didn't measure my milk first, and used too much.
Basil, Salt, and Pepper to taste
Your choice of pasta

This came out super rich and creamy! It served enough for Jason and I as a main dish (with a salad).

Put water on to boil the pasta, and add pasta when ready.
While that happens, melt the butter in a separate pot.  When the butter is melted, add the milk. Add the flour, and bring the mixture to a soft boil/simmer for about 5 minutes, or until mixture starts to thicken.  Now start stirring in shredded cheese.  When cheese has been incorporated, turn heat waaay down and add in cooked pasta, make sure it is evenly coated.  Toss with seasoning.  Remove from heat and let sit for a few minutes while the sauce thickens a bit.  Then Enjoy!!!

Unfortunately my camera is full, and I'm afraid to delete the pictures until our back up drive arrives.  :(
But this is definitely goooooood! Although, I guess it would be even better if you added other cheeses for a more complex flavor.

Protein Squares - First Attempt!

I visited a close friend last night, and she gave me something that changed my life.  She's done it before, and I know she will do it again.  This time she made these amazing protein squares.  They were fabulous, so I decided to follow suit and make my own with a few tweaks.  I still have some tweaking to do, but boy are these yummy! And healthy too! Each square is packed with protein, fiber, and healthy fats, and if you use unsweetened chocolate, very little sugar.

To make these, I started with about 1 1/2 cups of rolled oats, 1 cup of sunflower seed butter, maybe 2 tablespoons of honey, and 1/2 tablespoon of cinnamon.  Stir until ingredients are well mixed.  Press into the bottom of a dish.

Melt some unsweetened or semi sweetened chocolate chips, or a chocolate bar, then spread it into a thin layer across the top.  I probably had about two tablespoons of melted chocolate, maybe three...

Then to make it look pretty and some more fiber, protein, and antioxidants, ect, etc, I added some almond slivers to the top.  Then I put it in the fridge to set for a few minutes.  Or you could throw it in the freezer.  What matters is that the chocolate hardens into a nice solid layer.  Then enjoy them.  You may want a nice glass of (non dairy) milk or ice cream to accompany this.

Next time I make this, I will probably use less oatmeal and grind up some of it so that it's not so chunky.  Maybe even use almond flour to up the protein even more.  You could also probably substitute a number of nut butters here, but keep in mind that the sunflower seed butter is very wet, so it's easy to mix everything together, if you are using peanut butter or almond butter, you will have to work a little harder to get the oatmeal coated nicely, and the consistency will be a little different.  Also, if you use agave nectar instead of honey, it won't bind as well - the honey is pretty sticky.

Just be fore warned that you will probably eat the entire dish, so it's best to make two and keep one in the freezer.....

Raw Breakfast

This is a light, healthy, and delicious breakfast.  Score! I will be making this more and more as the weather heats up.  I'm excited for spring, can you tell? The longer days and sunny weather has been putting me in the mood to try out some warmer weather treats.  This one is a keeper, and so, so simple.

Take a serving of sprouted quinoa - however much you like.  I usually take about a half a cup.
cut up some fresh fruit - this morning I used my last kiwi from last weeks "bounty" and some blueberries
about a cup of yoghurt (i use coconut milk yogurt when I am not going "dairy free")
drizzle of honey

Mix all ingredients, and enjoy! Easy shmeasy. 

This Week's Bounty!!

So I decided that I would try out South Shore Organics food delivery program.  They take local (or off season not so local, but still small) organic and sustainably grown fruits and veggies from small farms and deliver them to my door.  Score! If I can balance it right, this should actually save me money.  On it's own, this costs about the same as it would for me to buy from Whole Foods, less the gas and actually having to drag Nick to the store.  If I do this right, I may be able to avoid my weekly shopping trips, thereby saving me money! AND I am supporting my local farmers and eating whole organic foods that are in season! Plus it's kind of fun to try different foods, and to be changing up the menu on a regular basis.
So this week, we have a nice array of fruits like apples, pears, oranges, blue berries, and bananas.  For veggies we got some onions, carrots, potatoes, bok choy, beets, broccoli, and butternut squash.

So this should be fun! Be on the lookout for recipes with these ingredients! I should note that this "bounty" size is their "single" weekly serving - so there are larger versions that will include more stuff. 

Lentil Loaf (vegan)

This was much better than I expected.  The thought of lentil loaf made even me a little skeptical, but this is GOOD! Not really the prettiest thing ever, but I'm sure adjustments could be made. 

Okay, for this I used:
1/4 red onion
1/4 orange, yellow, and red peppers
about 1.5 cups of lentils (I think)
about 1 cup of water
coriander, sage, dry mustard
1/2 cup of ground oatmeal
2 tbsp ketchup (for glaze -mix with worcestershire sauce and it's better!)

Firstly, I soaked my lentils.  Usually I just give them an hour or so, but this time I got distracted and they soaked overnight.  Oh well! So just keep in mind that you will need more water and a much longer cooking time if you are using dry lentils. 

Okay, so put the lentils in a pot and cover with water, bring to a boil, then let them simmer.  In my case I only needed about 5-7 minutes, but if your lentils are dry you will need to give them about 20 minutes.  They should be soft enough to mush.  Speaking of which, you can give them a little mush while they are in the pan to make everything come together a little easier. 

While the lentils are cooking, saute the onions and peppers in a bit of olive oil.  Add about a table spoon of coriander, and about half a tbsp of sage and dry mustard.  ish.  Again, my amounts are approximate.  I do like to use heavy seasoning, and here you want enough to flavor the entire loaf, not just your peppers.  Heating the spices in the oil really makes them come alive! You could also season with the ever popular cumin/paprika/chili powder mix, or even with some basic meatloaf seasonings...this can work with a couple of different spins on it. 

Add the cooked lentils and the seasoned peppers and onion to a mixing bowl.  To make the oatmeal a little more binding, I ground it in a food mill.  The amount of oatmeal you need will depend on how much water is left in the lentils.  If you are not sure if the mixture needs more oatmeal, let it sit for a couple of minutes - the oatmeal will absorb a bunch of liquid.  Form into a loaf shape, and place on a baking sheet.  I forgot to grease mine, and it still came out okay.  Or use a loaf pan if you like. 

Slather the top of the loaf with ketchup, or if you like whisk some worcestershire sauce into the ketchup.  This will make a yummy crust around the loaf when you cook it.  My loaf only needed about ten minutes at 350 to heat through.  Everything is already cooked, so really heating is all that is really necessary. 

This was definitely a success, even Nick devoured it!!

Easy Salmon Dinner

This is just one of our "basic" dinners; a protein, a carb, and a veggie.  Somehow it just hits that "yum" place, and when you are done eating you feel content.  I like that. 

You will need:
2 servings of Salmon (I have buying the frozen fish from Whole Foods...not the best choice ever, but oh well!)
1 cup of rice (in this case, just plain white rice)
5 oz Spinach
1/4 red onion
1/2 tablespoon - ish of Dill
1 lemon

Preheat oven to about 350.  (Disclaimer, my oven is totally whack, and I need to set the oven at LEAST 100 degrees higher than I need it for it to come close to the temp that I think I need.  Who knows if that's where it gets to or stays! So my cooking times can very well be different than yours!)
Put salmon in a greased baking pan, and sprinkle dill over fish.  Cut the lemon in a couple of pretty pieces, and then squeeze the juice from the end pieces over the fish.  Put the pretty slices on the fish. 
Put about 2 cups of water for one cup of rice; bring rice and water to a boil (put a bay leaf in for some flavor) then turn down to simmer for about 10-15 minutes.  Or follow package directions.
When oven is heated, put salmon in and cook for about 10-15 minutes, or until fish flakes easily with a fork.
Saute red onion on olive oil until tender, then add spinach to pan and stir around until the spinach wilts.  (About 5 minutes). 

Plate and Serve!

Food Diary - Typical Day

I just figured I would make a post about a typical food day for us. 

For breakfast I typically eat some of my Berry Nutty Breakfast, which usually consists of 1 cup of dry oats, quinoa, or cornmeal, nuts and fresh berries if I have them.  Occasionally I treat myself to some scrambled eggs - three with spinach if it's around.  Yum! And of course coffee - I just can't cut that out!

Around ten I'm hankering for a snack, and depending on what we have I eat fresh fruit, or a bowl of cereal, granola bar, nuts, or some other easy to grab food.  Or, if I am really hungry I have early lunch or scramble some eggs if that's not what I had for breakfast.

Lunch time, I have been loving a simple rice dish with avocado and seaweed square things that my brother got for me - mini avocado maki I guess. I take a half a cup of sushi rice, one ripe avocado, and the seasoned seaweed and enjoy!

Second snack is usually a bit bigger, and today will be the second half of my lentil loaf (recipe to come soon!),  slathered with ketchup and mayo.  I would just make a sandwich....but I can't. 

Throughout the day I have also been known to continuously munch of finger foods such as nuts, fruit, chips, granola bars, carrots, or make a fruit smoothie. Other things that are likely to make an appearance in my food day are leftover dinner from the night before, salad with some kind of protein (leftover chicken, chicken salad, quinoa, eggs, etc).  

Dinner consists of any of the recipes you have seen on here.  Tonight, though, is date night!!

And that's my day!