Not Just Another Salad

One of my favorite things to eat in the summer is salad. They are easy to make, you don't have to turn on the oven and you don't feel like your face is about to melt off right after you've eaten one. You know that feeling? 

I have to admit, a "typical" salad filled with fruits and veggies usually doesn't cut it for me. It's just not enough and I'm lightheaded and starving by dinner time. This salad I made isn't just another salad... it's an amazing salad! 

It's a Quinoa, Cabbage and Avocado Salad. You want to know more about it, don't you!?

Quinoa Mix

Quinoa, cooked
olive oil
lime juice
black beans, drained
fresh cooked corn, or canned

So simple and so good! First step, cook that quinoa. I love that this is as easy to make as pasta, but so much better for you! I also like that it looks pretty neat, turning translucent, when cooked. While doing this, if you're using fresh corn you're going to want to cook that too. Depending if you like to keep it on the cob to cook it and cut it after or cut it off first and then cook it, will depend on how long you cook it. I personally like to cut it off the cob first and then cook it. After both the quinoa and corn is cooked let them cool a bit.that is cooked let it cool a little. I didn't put amounts on the ingredient lists because it's one of those things that you make what you want to eat, or make what you want to store for later. It's up to you, everything, as in most salads is "to taste". Add all ingredients together and mix well.

The best thing about this part is that it is both substance to the salad and the dressing!!

Not necessarily meant to be both, but after putting the Quinoa mix on my salad the oil and lime juice were the perfect amount of "liquid", although they weren't runny or anything.

Some of you who have read my blogs on salad before know that I usually use cabbage in my salads. Really, my only reasoning is because it's cheaper than lettuce. So while I used cabbage you could of course use whatever type of greens you prefer.

After chopping up the cabbage and placing it in my bowl I topped it with the Quinoa mix some shredded carrots and then cubed an avocado on top. Yes, I'm still loving avocados and until they get to a ridiculous price I will continue to use them in everything!

Here is the final product.

The best thing about this salad {ok, not really the best}, it's in Malachi's Monkey Bowl. Looks like it's time to start the dishwasher!!

Pasta and Tomato Sauce

One thing that I really don't eat a lot of is pasta... because obviously, it's generally made with wheat. Not only that, but the pasta sause I had in my cabinet was made with cheese... really, what am I doing to myself!! 

So, I had to fix things, because for some reason, after over five weeks, I wanted some carbs. 

I went for it and bought some delicious Quinoa pasta, which honestly, I couldn't tell the difference between this and the "real" stuff. It didn't make the water turn a funny color and didn't turn stringy like I've heard of other gluten free pastas doing. If I didn't tell you, you wouldn't have even known it was gluten free. I was impressed!

Pasta Sause

2 large tomatoes, diced

2 cans of tomato sause

2 tbsp of fresh basil

1/2 an onion, diced

3 garlic cloves, diced

1 green pepper, diced

salt and pepper, to taste

1/2 lb of ground beef or turkey, cooked and drained

I am the kind of cook who likes to prepare everything first and clean up as I go. It's a dinner failure if I have a lot of clean up. I'm not able to relax or enjoy post-dinner family time if I know there is a pile of dishes in the sink. So, thankfully, this meal made it super easy! 

First, I put my meat, I used beef, in a skillet and turned it on low to brown. While it was browning, I walked out to my balcony and cut some of my basil. I love having my own herbs right outside that I can access any time I want. Unfortunately, a mean worm also loves this, and has been attacking my basil. He wasn't around so I couldn't seek revenge... but I will get him! 

I cut up my tomatoes, basil, onion, garlic and pepper. Done. Once my beef was browned, drained and put aside, I added all the ingredients I had just chopped up, along with the two cans of tomato sause. I kept the heat on low so that it could all simmer together. I'm pretty sure I added some other spices I had in my cupbord, I honestly just can't think of what I added. I'm not one who knows what spices go with what... if it smells like it could taste good with what I'm making, I usually throw it in. After the sause is simmering I add back in my browned beef and allow to heat up. 

Oh yea, all along I was cooking the pasta. It takes about 7-8 minutes to cook. But don't make the mistake I usually make when making pasta with something else... I always forget about the initial time to get the water to boil! Seriously, I have done this far to many times to count. So depending on how much pasta you're making and how much water you need to boil, add that to your cook time. Lucky for me, this time I was just making the gluten free pasta for myself and "normal" pasta for Eric and Malachi so it cooked super fast. 

In my family, we're pretty big fans of sause, if you've only got a little bit, well then, it's like you've got none at all. So final step, pour whopping spoonful of sause over pasta and eat your heart out. We were in a rush to go somewhere {pretty typical!} so I had to eat this pretty quickly. I had leftovers for lunch so I could enjoy it a little bit more.

Five Weeks

I can't believe it's been five weeks since I cut the top 8 allergins out of my diet. I've learned a lot in these five weeks. I've learned how to cook {this seems obvious, but it's a big deal for me!}, I've learned how to read labels {honestly never did this before}, I've learned how to find things I need for great prices, I've learned that I don't need to have snacks all the time, I've learned that this is all worth it!

Lucas is continuing to do great! I am so thankful that I have noticed a difference in how he is doing. It really helps me persevere through it all. Often when people ask me how I'm doing with this I say I'm doing good. Truth is, most days I am, but some days I'm not. Last Thursday I had an emotional break-down because I so badly wanted to eat "normal". I wanted to eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for goodness sake! But, no bread and no peanut butter... maybe just a spoonful of jelly? Gross.

In the midst of tears I realized that this is the hardest sacrifice I've ever had to make. Truly. I was comforted by the fact that it's okay that it's hard. It's okay that I lost it. It's okay that I'm dealing with a tough reality. No one said it would be easy, in fact, I was told by Lucas' pediatrician that it would be very difficult. Why did I expect anything different? Maybe because I felt weak? Maybe because I felt like if I acknowledged that it was hard I wasn't that great of a mom because I couldn't easily sacrifice for my son? What silly thoughts.

God's given me peace about this. Often I hear people say that God won't give you more than you can handle. Really? I have a sobering thought, that's no where in the Bible. Maybe people get confused with the verse in First Corinthians that saying God won't let you be tempted beyond what you can handle. That's truth. But that God won't give you more than you can handle. Then what the heck is happening to my life?! I think and know that God does both give and allow things to happen that I cannot handle. This is what makes me run desperately to Him. If I could handle it, then what would I need Him for? If I could handle it then what would I need those that He has placed around me for? See what I'm saying? 

I've come to the realization, the breaking point of not being able to do this. I want so badly to give up. I want so badly to eat a piece of cheese cake I have in the freezer. I want to badly to order a pizza for tonight so I don't have to make dinner. Even though this is what I want, it's not what I'm going to do. I know that I can do it. Not in my own strength, but because I can gain fresh perspective. I can remember that this is for Lucas and his health. I can remember that God has given me revelation of how He intended our bodies to work with good quality food. I can remember that I'm learning and growing in ways I never have before. All these things are gifts from God. I don't remember them on my own. If it were up to me, I'd sit in the place of self pity while munching on a frozen bar of cookie dough. Thankfully, it is when I'm in this low place that I am lifted up so that I can have fresh perspective, fresh hope that this is possible. 

I am thankful that I cannot do this on my own. I am thankful that I have a God who is personal and is walking with me through this. I am thankful that He has placed people in my life to encourage me and give me tips on things they have learned that make this journey easier. 

In three weeks from yesterday I begin to add things back in my diet. Until then, I will persevere. I will press in to Him who makes this all possible!

Father's Day Dinner

When I looked up the fish that I had to avoid I got these fish: Bass, Cod and Flounder. Great, I'm pretty sure I've never eaten any of those types of fish before in my life. No problem to avoid them. My fish of choice is Tilapia and Salmon.

For Father's Day Eric requested Fish Tacos. No problem! I had actually recently found an amazing recipe for Fish Tacos in the cook book The Earth Bound Cook that my friend is lending me. What a great day to try something new... hopefully it would turn out okay or I would have ruined Father's Day dinner.

Here is the recipe:

Fish Tacos

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp fresh lime juice {I didn't use fresh}

2 tbsp fresh orange juice {nope, not fresh}

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tsp dried oregano

1/2 large onion

1 lb skinless tilapia fillets

1 tbsp canola oil

8 corn tortillas

There are a few simple steps to make this work. First, place the olive oil, lime and orange juice, garlic oregano and onion in a medium bowl and mix together. 

Place the fish in a baking dish and cover with marinade mixture. Put in refrigerator for an hour. 

I left it in for a longer time than that because we went to the YMCA to go swimming. :) When I got back I heated canola oil in a large skillet over medium heat and cooked the fish, about three minutes on each side. After they were cooked I put them aside. Then I took the marinade the fish were in and caramelized the onions. I never did this before and felt like a real chef just saying I caramelized something! Finally I warmed the tortillas. Usually I just throw them in the oven for a few minutes, but this recipe actually showed me how to fry them. So good! Lightly film a skillet with canola oil and place it over medium heat. Sprinkle the tortillas lightly with water and stack two tortillas on top of one another. Place in skillet and heat for one minute, then flip them over and heat another minute. 

Set aside and cover with a towel to keep warm. Repeat with remaining tortillas. Seriously, this was amazing. They were soft and light and perfect!

With our Fish Tacos I made a Black Bean and Corn Salsa which was super easy to make.

Bean and Corn Salsa

1 can sweet corn, drained

2 c black beans

1.5 c diced tomatoes

1/4 c chopped red onion

3tbsp fresh cilantro

1tbsp lime juice

Mix together and serve. 

The original recipe was for black beans and grilled corn. I, however, had to go tend to a crying baby and burnt my corn to a crisp, so I just threw in a can!

Once this is done simple assemble your tacos and enjoy!

Oh yea, I also added some guacamole since I pretty much eat it on everything. Since I cannot do cheese the guacamole adds a nice creaminess that the cheese would add. Eric asked if there was cheese for the Fish Tacos, sometimes I forget that he can have cheese so I just don't prepare it, but after one bite he said they were perfect without the cheese! I'd definitely call that a success!!

Dinner and Dessert OR Dessert and Dinner

So it's been a while since I had a good dessert. While this dessert I made wasn't made with chocolate {which of course is the best kind!} it is super sweet because of all the fruit that is used.

I'll start with dessert first!

Breakfast {optional} Cookies

3 mashed bananas

1/3 c apple sauce

2 c oats

1/2 c rasins

1tsp vanilla

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 papaya chunks {I added this!}

Preheat oven to 350. Mix all ingredients together.

Use spoon to put a plop {I honestly cannot think of another word...} on a cookie sheet, flatten and bake for 15-20 minutes. I baked mine for 15 minutes, but should have left them in another 5... I think we were running out the door. 

This recipe I found here off of pinterest. I stuck my cookies in the refrigerator and snack on them every so often. They are delicious and fruity and just the perfect snack, or dessert.

On to dinner! When I first looked up how to make curry, the recipes I found had both butter and milk in it. I only have vanilla coconut and rice milk and just the thought of that sounds pretty terrible. Then I remembered something I found on pinterest a month or so ago. Here is it!

Chicken Curry

3 tbsp all-purpose {gluten-free} flour

4 tbsp curry powder

2 tsp cumin

2 chicken breasts, cut in to cubes

2 c chopped and peeled sweet potatoes

2 c baby carrots

2c coarsely chopped mango

1 c chopped onion

1 zucchini, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 chicken bouillon cubes {1 c gluten-free chicken stock}

The best thing about this recipe, it makes TWO meals! That's right. In her recipe she says to divide everything in two, one gallon freezer bags, shake, seal and freeze. The only work: chopping. When you're making two meals out of this even the chopping isn't bad. 

cooked for 6 hours

plated over rice

stick in freezer for another night!

I didn't have time to freeze half of what I chopped, so stuck it right in the crock pot and froze the other half. One meal for tonight and one for another night. Perfect! Oh, the other change I made was the chicken bouillon cubes. I didn't have any, and I'm not sure that I could have used them anyway. Instead I used half a cup of chicken stock that is gluten free. 

For your frozen meal, take it out of the freezer 30 minutes to thaw then throw in crock pot for 4 hours on high or 8 hours on low. This is a colorful, tasty meal!

**Note, my crock pot seems to be incredibly good at it's job and cooks things fast. I left it in the entire time but would definitely cut down the time next time. The veggies are mushy, and they're supposed to be, but it seemed the other flavors just mushed together too. Hmmm, I also didn't put them in frozen, that could have made a difference. **

I also wanted to update you on my little Lucas man, who I am doing this elimination diet for.

It has been over four weeks and we got back his first diaper with no white blood cells! Praise God! We have been waiting for this day to come. What does that mean? It means that whatever allergins he is allergic to are out of my system and now how of his. Also, we haven't noticed mucus in his diapers for the past few days. This is another mile stone! As his digestive tract continues to heal we should notice his gas issues decrease as well. On July 10th at his 4 month appointment we're going to talk about adding things back in my diet. Whew! Less than a month to go!!

This has been an incredible journey as I learn about food, nutrition and the art of cooking. It has also been a difficult one. I have {honestly} had meltdowns when there was nothing I was able to eat and all I wanted was to order a pizza or have a tasty snack in our snack cabinet. But it has been worth it. We're many steps closer to finding out what it is Lucas cannot have and most importantly helping him get past the pain whatever that food is. For that, I am so thankful!

Mexican Night

Mexican food is one of my best friends. Minus the cheese and sour cream I can eat almost anything on a corn tortilla or with corn tortilla chips. Yay! Last night and tonight we had delicious meals which I'd love to share with you.

Crock Pot Enchilada Chicken Wraps

2 chicken breast, frozen

Las Palmas enchilada sause

Las Palmas green chilis

1/2 onion, diced

1 can navy beans (use black for better color!)

corn tortillas

guacamole

fresh cilantro, garnish

This was yummy and delicious and so simple! I love anything that you can make in a crock pot since it requires little to no work at all. Stick it all in in the morning and it's ready by dinner time. This was no different. I took the enchilada sause, green chilis and onion and mixed it in my crock pot. Then I added the chicken, still frozen. Turned it on low and went about my day. About 20 minutes before dinner I shredded the chicken and let it continue to simmer. I went out to my balcony and picked some fresh cilantro that I've been growing. I figured since I use it so much I might as well grow some! 

Yum! For the guacamole I used Wholly Molly Guacamole. While I normally make my own, avocados sky rocketed in price at my grocery store and I haven't had time to go to our health food store where they are still a good price. Next time! 

After heating the corn tortillas, which you always want to do so they don't fall apart, I put everything on top and enjoyed!

Do you have any recipes using a crock pot? I've found some yummy oatmeal crock pot recipes I'm going to try, but clearly that's not Mexican food so I didn't even bother for this post. I'll let you know how they turn out once I make them. :)

The second meal I didn't even know it was a Mexican dish until I was almost done eating it. In the mail the other day we got an add for a Mexican restaurant near by. We were looking it over, thankful we finally "found" somewhere we could go out for a date when Eric read the description of their Mexican Burger. He said, "hey, that's what you're eating right now!" And do I'd like to present to you the newly discovered Mexican Hamburger.

Mexican Hamburger

beef hamburger patty (I'm sure you could use turkey or veggie too)

corn tortilla

guacamole

ketchup

I know you're aching to find out how to make it. Ha! Grill your burger and cut in quarters. Two pieces will go in each tortilla. I spread a generous portion of guacamole on the bottom of my tortilla before putting the burger on it. Put burger slices on tortilla and top with ketchup. Done. Eat. Be satisfied. 

This will make two tortillas with one burger patty. If you wanted to add tomatoes and lettuce you certainly could too, I just didn't happen to have either of those things. I didn't just stack the burger like this for presentation {although it does look fancy!} but for practicality. It makes it much easier to simply fold the tortilla up around the sides of the burger. 

Anniversary Food

So today is a special day! It's Eric and my six year anniversary. It's crazy that six years have flown by. I'm going to share the yummy food I made for today here, but if you want to read more about our day, and the fabulous gift I made him, click here. Yes, I have two blogs going... lately this one has taken the forefront, but the other one covers our life and ministry in general. 

Breakfast first, since you eat that first! Sundays are usually crazy in the morning for us because church is at 9, we have to leave at 8:45 to make it in time to check Malachi in kid's church and get our coffee. :) If I sleep in until 7:30 and then make breakfast, I only have a little bit of time to get Lucas and myself ready. Eric usually takes care of Malachi, which is a blessing! Since I didn't want to be stressed out this morning, I prepped breakfast last night. Did you know you can prep pancakes!? Well, you can! 

Oat and Flax Pancakes

1 3/4 c. rice milk

3 tbsp flax seed

1/2 c. oats

1c. whole grain flour mix

4 tsp baking powder

2 tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

I found this recipe here, but made some changes. I'll get to that... So last night I put all the dry ingredients in a bowl, mixed it and put it in the fridge. I even got out the griddle and set it up. I will do anything to get a few more minutes of sleep. In the morning I added coconut milk {instead of rice milk} and whisked it. If you've ever used gluten free flour you'd know that it's not the same consistency as "regular" flour. So whisk like crazy to get the clumps out! 

Here is where I ran in to a problem. I often just read the ingredients and not the instructions to a recipe. I was supposed to put the flax and oats in a bowl and mix in the milk, let it sit to soak up the milk then add other ingredients. Since I didn't do this my pancake mix was incredibly watery. I added some extra flour and a little bit more of the other dry ingredients to thicken it up a bit. This worked and the pancakes turned out great! Next time I would either follow the actual recipe OR keep them watery and use the batter to make crepes as the consistency was perfect for that!! 

Lunch... leftovers. I didn't feel like making too many things since it was a day to celebrate, not be in the kitchen all day. I still had some pulled BBQ and pineapple chicken that I wrote about here, and had it on a corn tortilla. 

Dinner. I've wanted to make this recipe ever since I found it but it's pretty "fancy" so wanted to save it until tonight. Two of the ingredients are capers and white wine... I feel like my cooking just went to a whole new level. I've never used either of these ingredients before!

Tilapia Piccata

2 tilapia fillets

salt and pepper to taste

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp butter (I omitted this)

1 splash dry white wine

1/4 c. chicken stock

1/2 lemon (juiced)

1/2 lemon (sliced)

2 tbsp capers

1 tbsp parsley (chopped)

Season the fish with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a pan. Add the fish and fry until golden brown on both sides, about two to three minutes per side and set aside.

Add the wine and deglaze the pan. I had to look up what this meant. :) Add the chicken stock, lemon juice, lemon slices and capers and simmer to reduce the liquids by half.

Pour over fish and garnish with parsley. The plan was to have the fish over brown rice, but it didn't cook in time. We were on a time crunch, and in my typical fashion I was running way behind. Luckly, this whole meal took maybe 15 minutes {minus the rice}, so it wasn't too bad.

Final product! It may not look to "special", but it sure tasted great. You'll notice there is no parsley, yea, I forgot that. Now I have a bundle of it in my fridge... what should I use it for!? Guess we'll find out!

Two Weeks and Two Days

That's how long it's been since I've taken the top eight allergins out of my diet. Crazy! That's sixteen days with no wheat, milk, soy, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, fish {some kinds} and shell fish. 

The most common question people ask me is, "is it really hard?!" Honestly, it's not too bad. Sure, there are things I miss... like just being able to go in a cabinet and grab a snack, or at the end of a rough day just being able to order a pizza. But other than that, I'm feeling healthier and despite the few afternoons when I realize I have nothing I can eat for lunch, more satisfied with the food I do eat. 

A renewed way of thinking about food. I think this is key to making this a success. I'm learning more about nutrition, how to plan meals out to make shopping cheaper and easier, and ways to combine what I like with what I can eat to make tasty meals. You may not think this is a big deal, but for me, it's huge! 

I'm excited because I know that even when I can go back to eating "normal", it will be a different normal. The things I have learned in these sixteen days will stay with me as I prepare meals from now on. I am thankful that this journey has {already} led me to helping my family eat healthier.

As far as Lucas goes, he's still doing the same. His pediatrician said that it takes about two weeks for the "bad food" to get out of my system, about another two weeks to get out of his system and then another week or two for his digestive tract to heal. So, we're still looking at quite a few more weeks, but it's great to know we're one step closer to figuring this whole thing out.

And seriously, look at him- he's he may have gas and mucus in his stool, but he's a happy guy!

The other day some of my friends were praying for me and this whole journey. They were assuring me that there is a bigger picture to all of this. The things I'm learning, not just about food, but sacrifice and love, are things that are going to be key in raising my boys. If that alone is something that I get out of this, then it's all worth it. If Lucas has allergies to every one of the top eight allergins {God, let it not be so!!}, but I learn to better love my boys through it, then bring it on.