What happens if...

I eat something BabyE is intolerant to? Snot, lots & lots of snot, crankiness, recently all the snot caused a bad double ear infection, & NO SLEEP!!! The past week, she's been reacting to rice. 3 out of 5 of us were sick last Sun-Mon, and toast sounded really really comforting, so I had some, however it was rice. Add to that the fact I'd just tried rice crackers the night before to see if she could it & BabyE's tummy did not appreciate it. Then I made some Vanilla Bean Cake, unthinkingly using a conout flour blend that has rice flour in it. Doh! So now we're dealing with that reaction. Poor little baby! I know, when BabyE cries at night, she's in pain
& not being manipulative. If I let her "cry it out", she would be in pain & alone, so I can't do that.
My iPod touch has been a huge help through this time of reactions, it's self lit with adjustable brightness & I have a lot to do on it.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

I am thankful for my salvation through Jesus Christ alone, by grace. We're all sinners. The penalty for that is eternal death. Jesus came to take that penalty for us. If we accept Him and turn from our sin, we can have a free gift - eternal life. If we refuse Him, hell is our eternal destination.  ~Romans

Pie! Glorious PIE!!!

Last fall, I had a thing for pumpkins. I made pumpkin everything. I was already gluten, soy, dairy and by that point, corn free, so I had to bring my own food to Thanksgiving dinner. It was yummy! I had roast chicken, Sweet Potato Casserole (coming soon), other things and Gluten Free Pecan and Gluten Free Pumpkin Pie! Shirley, at gluten free easily, even mentioned me by name, because we were talking about how to make a crustless, gluten free Pecan Pie.

I tweaked Erin's recipe at $5 Dinner Mom:
4 eggs
1 cup Sucanat (I'd like to try honey instead next time)
1/2 cup maple syrup
4 Tbsp coconut oil, unrefined, melted
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup halved pecans (1 cup chopped, or beaten with my salt container, because I just now remembered I could have used my mini food processor to chop the suckers)
1/4 cup Coconut Flour
2-3 Tbsp Chia seeds

Mix all except 1/2 cup of pecans. Put in oiled pie plate. Top with concentric circles of halved pecans. Bake at 350 for 25ish minutes, until knife inserted is mostly clean when pulled out. Taste if you like ;) My dumb oven is taking a very long time to heat and bake, so my edges got a little burned, but it still tastes awesome.

Pecan Roll Quinoa

Quinoa is a wonderful gluten-free food. It's a seed and a complete protein. It needs to be soaked, to remove the bitter saponin coating, then cooked. You can cook it with broth for a savory taste or water for a neutral, or with dried berries/raisins for a sweet treat.
I made a super yummy breakfast this morning! The kids weren't as impressed as they should have been, but they'll come around. :)

Andrew, The Spunky Coconut's husband, wrote an interesting post on Quinoa. Check it out.

Pecan Roll Quinoa

Quinoa, soaked overnight, rinsed very well to remove the bitter saponin coating
Golden Raisins
Almond milk, vanilla (or milk you like)
Organic Grade B Maple Syrup
Pecans

Cook the Quinoa with a bit of water and milk until it's bubbling a bit, add golden raisins, then lower heat and let some of the liquid steam off.
Put in bowls, add Maple Syrup, Pecans and milk as desired.
Enjoy!!

Sweet Potato "Fries"

My husband, E, makes excellent food. One of the yummy things he makes is Sweet Potato fries.
Take a couple sweet potatoes, wash them well, cut the potatoes in half lengthwise, then slice very thin.
Toss with Extra Virgin Olive Oil, then salt & pepper.
Arrange on a baking stone, bake at 400 for 25-30 minutes (check periodically)
For a delicious mixup, sometimes I sprinkle cinnamon on top instead of salt and pepper.

I dip the savory ones in Spicy Brown Mustard, and it tastes like a soft pretzel!

Grain Free Baking Powder with Arrowroot

I made my own Baking Powder, because E3 seems to be sensitive to corn products, and most baking powders have Corn starch in them.

Grain Free Baking Powder
1 tsp Baking Soda
2 tsp Cream of Tartar
2 tsp Arrowroot Powder

Store in airtight container.

Pumpkin Spice Gluten Free Pancakes

I had a hankering for pancakes this morning, and the kids LOVE pancakes, so I whipped out my Mama's Coconut Blend Flour, used Hemp Milk, eggs, Grain Free Baking Powder, salt, and homemade pumpkin pie spice. Extremely easy, and extremely yummy!

Gluten-free Pumpkin Spice Pancakes
Mix:
1 cup Mama's Gluten-free Coconut Blend Flour
1 tsp Grain Free Baking Powder
1 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice
sprinkle of salt

Add:
1 cup Hemp milk (or any milk will probably do)
1 egg

Mix all together. Pour on hot pan until cooked.
Pour Organic Grade B Maple Syrup on top and enjoy!

Raspberry Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream

The Nourishing Gourmet has amazing dessert recipes using natural sugars like honey, maple syrup, and palm sugar. I've been wanting to make a coconut milk ice cream for awhile, so finally did it! On the recipe, it says to use a little vodka to keep it from freezing hard in the freezer. I have raspberry vodka for cosmos, but no plain, but I figured the flavor wouldn't come through if I used just 2 tsp. It did. But it's good! Surprise!

Yummy Brussels Sprouts!

No, really! They are yummy! And, as my sweet mother-in-law said, "Someone has to eat them." Well, I will happily do my part to keep the world from being overrun by Brussels Sprouts! Credit for starting me on Brussels Sprouts goes to my gal pal, Holly!
I made these the other day, had them in the fridge for awhile and needed to do something with them. Super easy! I cut the stems off (because they were brown from being in my fridge a smidge too long) and cut them in half. Threw them with garlic in Extra Virgin Olive Oil, sauteed lightly, then added a bit of salt. Delicious! Easy! Quick!

"I would DIE if I couldn't eat cheese..."

That is the comment I got from a kid making me a burrito last year (when I was only off of milk & soy). . I wasn't new to food restrictions, so it didn't bother me as much as it might have. I could have replied, "
Really? Are you sure? Because I used to think that, and I haven't died yet..." but I didn't. I shrugged, smiled and said it's not necessary. We waaay overcheese things.

I think it's really important to be careful of how one speaks to those who can't eat certain foods, especially when it's not by choice. I didn't choose for me or my baby to have food intolerances. I prayed for self-control and God gave me food intolerances. I am thankful for these intolerances, because I have put into practice traditional eating/food prep that is healthy, delicious, and good for my family and me. I am thankful to now be at a healthy weight, to look and feel good, even being told I have a "glow". I am thankful that I am now modeling healthy habits for our growing children in a country where healthy habits are appallingly lacking. I am thankful that I get to share how the Lord has blessed me, and the way I eat and look at food, now with others. Almost everytime I'm with people who knew me 56lbs ago, I get asked how I did it. I've written before about attitude. I choose to have a good attitude about my restrictions. It can be really hard sometimes, when everyone around me is eating brownies (a former favorite) or pizza or I smell the nacho cheese food dip on the salad bar. I have hissy fits about it sometimes, when I am focusing on myself and not on God's will for my life. I have a wonderful friend who I text for encouragement and she also reminds me of why I don't eat certain things. I used to have bad GI tract problems. I'd have diarrhea, stomach pain, bad gas that felt like knives, felt icky, greasy skin, and lots of other stuff I don't remember right now or have blocked out. I would have to take Imodium AD if I wanted to eat something greasy, like french fries or onion rings. There was a nagging thought in the back of my mind that if my body was reacting this way and I had to take a drug to counteract the reaction, it probably wasn't the best idea.

So, please be careful how you speak to those who are restricted with their food. It can be really hard to see people eating things you used to love. It is also important for those of us who are restricted to have a good attitude about our restrictions and find new things we love to eat. I've made chocolate cupcakes (when I could have chocolate, lol), now I make Vanilla Bean Cake (yum!) and Cherry Smoothies. I eat  humanely raised beef and free range local eggs! Coconut Oil is not only the healthiest oil, imo, it's decidedly a treat to eat!

Fats!

I love fat. I eat a LOT of it. Everyone is always quite surprised, especially since I've been losing the fat on my body.
I don't eat just any fat, but healthy fats - coconut oil, olive oil, mayonnaise, avocados. I don't limit myself on these fats, and fry most foods in Extra Virgin, cold pressed, unrefined Coconut Oil. I use Extra Virgin Olive Oil for salad dressing, along with Red Wine Vinegar, salt & pepper. If I could do dairy, I'd eat butter. I plan on trying to make ghee (clarified butter) eventually, but right now, I just put coconut oil with salt sprinkled on top (tastes like butter!)
Healthy fats are ESSENTIAL for our bodies and brains. Katie, at Kitchen Stewardship, has done lots of great research on fats and posted her findings. I recommend reading her posts on the subject, may as well not reahash what she's eloquently stated already!

The Weston A. Price Foundation has this to say about fats:

Contrary to the accepted view, which is not scientifically based, saturated fats do not clog arteries or cause heart disease. In fact, the preferred food for the heart is saturated fat; and saturated fats lower a substance called Lp(a), which is a very accurate marker for proneness to heart disease.
Saturated fats play many important roles in the body chemistry. They strengthen the immune system and are involved in inter-cellular communication, which means they protect us against cancer. They help the receptors on our cell membranes work properly, including receptors for insulin, thereby protecting us against diabetes. The lungs cannot function without saturated fats, which is why children given butter and full-fat milk have much less asthma than children given reduced-fat milk and margarine. Saturated fats are also involved in kidney function and hormone production.
Saturated fats are required for the nervous system to function properly, and over half the fat in the brain is saturated. Saturated fats also help suppress inflammation. Finally, saturated animal fats carry the vital fat-soluble vitamins A, D and K2, which we need in large amounts to be healthy.
Human beings have been consuming saturated fats from animals products, milk products and the tropical oils for thousands of years; it is the advent of modern processed vegetable oil that is associated with the epidemic of modern degenerative disease, not the consumption of saturated fats.