Catching Up

Fresh juice; beets, ginger, carrots, & pears

Kelsey's favourite oatmeal, she loves it for breakfast and before figure skating. The oatmeal has in it hempseeds, cinnamon, apple cider, gogi berries, dehydrated apples, and almond milk.

Gogi berries have protein, fiber, vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium, iron and other vitamins and minerals. They taste great in hot apple cider, oatmeal and herbal teas, the kids love them. They are good in berry herbal tea with honey and fresh ginger if you are not feeling great.

Hemp seeds are great sprinkled on foods, they don't have any taste really and provide a lot of nutrients. I try to add hemp, flax, chia or sesame seeds to foods for extra nutrients. Hemp seeds have omegas, calcium, iron, vitamin E, zinc, magnesium, and phosphorus. You can sprinkle them on just before serving the food.

We have been using the dehydrator lots lately. We used the market fruits and have done apples, strawberries, apricots, pears and grocery store organic bananas. Yum! They make great school snacks. They don't last long here, they get eaten very quickly!

My SIL baked Connor gf banana bread and saltine crackers for his lunches. Connor loves banana bread and he was so happy to finally have it again. The saltine crackers were great and we have enjoyed them in soups, rice crackers are just not the same in soup. :)

Connor's lunch for the first day of school; gluten free noodles, local market vegetables; carrots, celery, broccoli, & cucumbers, hormone free leftover steak, oil dressing. He loved it. :)

local fruit from the market

We are back in the fall routine with school, homework, figure skating, Acro and hockey. Connor has been taking cooking lessons and loving every minute of it. We are going to the market on the weekends and enjoying all the local foods, we are going to miss it this winter. Starting to make fall foods and drinks and getting my fall menu plan ready.

What are your favourite foods and drinks in the fall?

Gluten Free Bread

Connor is a lucky boy, his Aunt Andrea is always making him yummy food that he can eat. She knows how much he loves to eat and how he just wants to be a normal kid. For her birthday pool party she made amazing gluten free cupcakes and he loved them. She has made many birthday cakes and yummy treats over the years that the kids and us have enjoyed. She read my blog the other day when I was saying how much he missed a good sandwich. She went and got a book from Chapters and made him a loaf of gluten free bread. It was sooo good, it was soft, had a great taste and texture and he loved it. We went today to find the cookbook but they were all out of them. Thanks again for the great bread Andrea, can't wait to try some of the recipes from the book.

Shopping in the States

rice crackers and gf pretzel sticks

gf pastas, Annie's was on sale for $1.50 :) :)

gf baking items :)

fruit snacks that do not have artificial flavours and colours

Wheat free cereals, Connor can eat oats. I love that the gluten

free foods are labelled, makes it much easier shopping.

One of Connor's fav Food Network Hosts, I could not resist buying him them.

I took a trip over to Water town to go grocery shopping with my SIL. We had a great day there finding all kinds of new things. I found a lot of things that were gluten free and free of any artificial flavours and colours. Of course I had to read all the labels and make sure each one was safe for Connor to eat. I stocked up on a good selection that would be good for breakfasts, baking, school lunches & snacks and dinner. I bought other things but these are the things that will be great for making gluten free meals and snacks. My pantry is now stocked up for back to school and hockey and figure skating nights.

Menu Planning

I have been planning and grocery shopping for the week ahead. Planning ahead saves time and money. I find it helpful to decide what meals we want to have during the week. I typically like to plan meals for a week keeping in mind kid's activities. On the days we will be going to sports I try to plan a crock pot, pasta or easy dinner so we can eat a healthy dinner before we leave. Here are a few of the meals I have planned for the next few days.

Breakfast; protein and fruit/veg smoothies, organic eggs, granola, greek yogurt, fruit, gf cereal and rice or almond milk, banana oatmeal, gluten free waffles and pancakes, gluten free toast, applesauce, nut butters, organic coffee, hot apple cider, organic juice, rice or almond milk, water


Lunch/Snacks;fruit, vegetables, rice crackers, leftovers from dinners, gf pizza, pb and banana sandwich on gf bread, breakfast items

*This week I am not planning breakfasts or lunches, I have all these foods in the house for breakfast/lunch choices. I will start planning them for back to school though to make it easier in the mornings.

Dinner;

• Dinner out with relatives


• Broccoli soup with homemade chicken broth, rice crackers, homemade pickles


• Sweet Potato & Butternut squash soup with rice


• Roast in crock pot, Vegetables, Quinoa

Searching for the best sandwich bread

We are on the search for a good gluten free sandwich bread. Before going gluten free sandwiches were not a treat for Connor but he misses them now. It is hard to find a gluten free bread that tastes good, does not need to be toasted, doesn't cost you a week's pay, does not have corn in it, does not crumble apart and that is in the store on a regular basis. I need to start experimenting with my bread machine but for now I have been buying gluten free bread occasionally. I just picked up another kind to try, it rang up as almost $2.00 more then the price was and I am glad I caught it, the cashier and people behind me in line were not. :) The kids liked the taste but said that it had a different smell to it. It had to be toasted but they enjoyed it enough to buy it again. Still searching though for more options though. We really enjoyed the bread from the Silly Yak in Kingston but it is too far to be buying bread from there on a regular basis. For now I think square rice cakes and rice crackers are our most reliable option. Our house always has some kind of rice cracker, chip or rice cake now. They can be used for many different things and the kids enjoy them still.

Kelsey goes to the market

It is Kelsey's Wednesday morning fun playing going to the market. She goes downstairs still sleepy with her pjs on and hair still messy and goes outside to see if our organic vegetables have arrived. She comes in with the bags and unloads them telling me all the things she bought from the market and what she did there. She is at a fun age with such a great imagination. She is enjoying all the yummy vegetables. Her favourites are beans, peas, carrots, sweet corn, cucumbers and mini red potatoes.

Rainy Day Fun

It was a dark, rainy day so we stayed home and enjoyed a family day. We worked on finishing the basement, rearranged and cleaned the kids rooms, played cards, baked peach cobbler and made a nice dinner.

Kelsey playing cards and eating organic purple beans :)

Kelsey's Canadian dolls joined in on the fun. :) She LOVES her babies :)

Connor helping make the peach cobbler and eating it, mmm. He loved it and nice to have a great dessert with everything he can eat in it :) :) We used the peach cobbler recipe from Elana's Gluten Free site. It has fresh peaches, lemon juice, arrowroot powder and vanilla and the topping has almond flour, grape seed oil, celtic sea salt and agave nectar. It was easy to make and was really good :) It makes a great dessert for anyone following a gluten, dairy or egg free diet or eats vegan. I know it is not nut free, thankfully Connor can eat all nuts and seeds so we try to add as many healthy nuts/seeds for the nutrients and healthy fats. His school is nut free so I need to get busy thinking of healthy and filling snacks and lunches for him to take to school. He enjoys warm food so the thermos will be put to good use again.

The summer has been good for Connor's health. He seems to be getting stronger and feeling much better. He has been following the diet and taking supplements and it seems to be helping him a lot. He still has some health issues but has felt much better and seems to be healing. He is getting lots of sunshine, fresh air, exercise, more sleep, and time to relax and enjoy the summer. His rashes and stomach issues are much better and it is so nice seeing him getting stronger every day. Some days he misses some of his old favourite foods and says occasionally he wants to be a "normal" kid able to eat what other kids eat. Thankfully he loves to eat and for the most part he is happy to eat everything we make. :)

Gluten/Dairy Free Snacks

A few ideas of snacks when you are eating gluten and dairy free;

• Square rice cakes with organic nut butters and honey or jam. Kelsey's fav is 2 square rice cakes together with organic peanut butter, cinnamon, and slices of organic banana.
• Vegetables with dips; hummus, guacamole, salsa, nut butters,etc
• Smoothies; Start with some fruits and/or vegetables-fresh or frozen, add a liquid-rice or almond milk work well, you can add protein powders, ice, etc. Blend well and serve right away.
• Rice crackers or chips, there are so many kinds in the grocery store
• Fruit and nuts/seeds
• Gluten free frozen waffle warmed up in toaster oven
• Applesauce
• Gluten free muffins
• Gluten free cereal with rice or almond milk
• Leftovers; heating up some leftover soup, casserole, etc.
• banana soft serve icecream or non dairy icecream in a gluten free cone or bowl
• Homemade pickles or beets
• Fresh juice made in juicer

What dairy/gluten free snacks do you enjoy?

Stir Fry

I made stir fry and rice for dinner that was really good. I used wild rice which took a lot longer to cook but was good. I used beef but you could make it with any protein you would like. I cooked the meat first and set it aside. Then put in the pan an orange pepper, snow peas, green beans, garlic and ginger. Once that was cooked I put the meat back in, added some chopped pineapple, and the sauce. The sauce was organic peanut butter, fresh lime juice, soy sauce(wheat free kind), and maple syrup. Once that was all warmed up I put it on a plate with the rice and chopped peanuts on top. Yum. :)

2 Day Pickles

We made some more pickles tonight with the dill, cucumbers and garlic we just bought at the market. They have to sit in the fridge for two days, wonder if Connor will last that long before eating one :) These pickles are so good and so easy to make.

Soup and Soft Serve

I made the best soup tonight for dinner. Yes I realize it is very hot outside but our house is nice and cool and I was craving some comfort food. I needed to use up some of our organic vegetables and had a ton of red potatoes and garlic scape left. I got out a big pot and put in the cut up the garlic scape, red potatoes and a small onion, some celtic sea salt and freshly ground pepper, water, and epicure chicken soup base. I brought it to a boil then reduced the heat until the potatoes were tender. After it cooled for a bit I put half of it in the blender and pureed it and then added it back to the rest of the soup. It was so creamy and perfect and had a great taste. We grated some real parmesan cheese on the soup and had it with rice crackers, beets and pickles. The kids loved the soup and said it was the best soup ever :) :) They decided it would be perfect after hockey and figure skating. :)

For dessert we had banana soft serve with some organic peanut butter in it. mmm.

What is your fav kind of soup?

Have you tried banana soft serve, what do you like in it or just plain?

Baking Day and Fun Breakfast

my tester, she said these were the best muffins she ever ate and that they were not crumbly at all :)

mmm, homemade blueberry gluten and corn free muffins

I decided to bake today to use up some bananas and blueberries, I still have some peaches I need to use tomorrow. We have lots of fresh fruit in the house right now so don't want anything going to waste. I am also wanting to start baking weekly, now that I am pretty much stocked up with different flours and baking items it is a lot cheaper for me to make things myself. I can also adapt recipes for our needs, I changed the milk in the muffins to almond milk, used organic eggs, used gluten and corn free flour, etc. I have decided I need to just start experimenting even if that means some recipes may not turn out.

Homemade banana bread, I adapted a recipe that the kids had enjoyed from before to use up some bananas. I used gluten and corn free flour and added a teaspoon of xantham gum to the mix. The bread turned out good but a bit crumbly.

I made Kelsey for breakfast this morning a bowl of stove top oatmeal with bananas and she wanted organic peanut butter and organic chocolate chips in it. She had organic apple juice with it and her vitamins. I know not the most healthy breakfast but she enjoyed it.

Organizing your food

I bought some more mason jars to organize some more of our food. I find the jars great for bulk foods and things I use a lot of. If I have extra that does not fit in the jar I just keep the bag in our pantry in the storage room and fill it up when needed. I have all my gluten free flours, baking soda and powder and different baking things in mason jars. The flours I have labelled with canning labels and put the sticker on top of the jar. I have created an oatmeal bar here with the different mason jars. In the jars I have the oats and some of the toppings for cold or warm oatmeal. There are cocoa nibs, coconut, oats, almonds, organic cranberries, and chia seeds. I just use some of the toppings and it can be mixed together for a no cook oatmeal and can also be served with cold non dairy milk like almond or rice milk. You can also top this with berries, nut butters, organic yogurt, melted coconut butter, flax seeds, hemp seeds, use cereal instead of oats. Whatever you have in your kitchen and like works. This makes a quick breakfast or snack and can be nutritious and filling. Enjoy :)

Happy Long Weekend

Summer Squash filled with rice, hamburg, organic onions and garlic scape, mystery vegetable chopped in small, celtic sea salt and black pepper. I grated a bit of real Parmesan cheese on top before cooking it. I served these with organic pasta sauce for dipping and the rest of the rice mixture that did not fit in. These were so good and I would make them again. You could make this mixture and stuff peppers as well.

Gluten Free Pancakes with organic cherries sliced and added in before cooking. These were really good and the kids loved them. Connor and I were watching Food Network and on one of the shows they warmed up the maple syrup before serving for pancakes so we had to try it. I will never serve cold maple syrup again, it was really good.

Vegetables from the delivery this week, looking forward to trying the organic pasta sauce.

I took the kids yesterday to see the new Ramona and Beezus movie. It was such a cute movie and we all enjoyed it. Kelsey was excited that with her new haircut she looks like Ramona :) She loves the Ramona books. Afterwards the kids were really hungry and wanted to go out for lunch. Kelsey wanted to go to Boston Pizza and Connor agreed figuring he would get a salad. He was so excited that they now have gluten free pizza on the menu. It was so good, it was not dry like the other gf pizza he has tried from pizza places. Some of the toppings are not gluten free but they let us know which ones were safe. They only sell individual sizes but it has four generous sized pieces. You would never know it was gluten free and it was so nice for him to be able to order pizza.

Have a great long weekend.

Oatmeal

When I first started reading health food blogs I noticed everyone ate oatmeal and I didn't really love oatmeal but decided to try it again. I followed the recipe from Kath Eats Real Food, if you go to her Tribute To Oatmeal Link at the top of her website it has the recipe, a video, and many fun ways to decorate your oatmeal. It is the best oatmeal I have ever eaten, it is quick to make(5 minutes on the stove top), it is filling but not too heavy. This oatmeal is her exact recipe on the top of the oatmeal page, it has oats, chia seeds, banana, water, sea salt, vanilla, and I used almond milk but you can use whatever milk you have(regular, rice, almond, soy, etc) If you are gluten free you will need to buy oats at the health food store that are gluten free, oats that have not come in contact with any wheat making them. The topping ideas are endless, you could make a different kind of oatmeal everyday. You could do a topping bar for your kids with fun toppings like coconut, maple syrup, healthy muffins, chocolate chips, nut butters, different kinds of fruit, etc. You can make them themed for special days or holidays. Putting them in fun bowls makes everything taste better as well. This bowl of oats has a bit of pure maple syrup and fresh sliced organic cherries, yum! One of my favourite toppings is organic peanut butter and organic chocolate chips mixed in after cooking the oatmeal. A bowl of oatmeal makes a great start to your day. Let me know if you try it and what you put on your oatmeal. Enjoy :)

French Food at Home, Gluten Free Breakfast and Fresh Juice

My sweet boy received the best surprise in the mail yesterday. He got a letter from the host of French Food at Home on the Food Network. Laura Calder sent him a beautiful handwritten note. Connor was so excited and could not believe she sent him a letter, he loves her show. He said he would keep it forever and he wants to make a cookbook now. We had to watch French Food at Home today and he still couldn't believe he got a letter. Thank you again to my sister in law Andrea, she arranged this and we had no idea. Connor called all his Grandparents and Dad to share the exciting news.

I must admit it was a special moment for me as well. When Connor was so sick in the fall the first time he got sick we sat and watched the Food Network all day. He was miserable from his swollen lips, rash all over his body including his tongue, breathing problems, etc. He could not eat or drink and felt terrible. All he wanted to do was sit with me on the couch with pillows and blankets and watch the Food Network. We watched his favourite shows including his favourite host Laura Calder on French Food at Home. Many days he came home from school very discouraged that he struggles in school and was in tears. He has said many times he wants to quit school so he can go to chef school. Cooking is his passion and it is so amazing that someone who he loves watching so much would take the time to write a handwritten card to inspire him.

I made this yummy breakfast on the weekend. I got some brown rice bread from the health food store and it has earth balance on it, organic scrambled eggs, and slices of watermelon.

Connor was craving some fresh juice so we made peach and raspberry juice. The peaches were needing to be used so it was a great way to use them up. I put them and the rest of the raspberries in the juicer and served them over ice.

Green Smoothies and Vegetables

I have been trying to make a green smoothie everyday. It is an easy way to get lots of nutrients in and is quick to make. Once you get past the colour of it the taste is great. It had in it spinach, ice, frozen cherries, almond milk, and a powder, Vanilla Almondilla made by Vega. Smoothies are easy to adapt to your diet needs. They can be made gluten free, dairy free, vegan, and free of other allergens like eggs, chocolate, nuts,etc. You can add whatever you have in your kitchen and try different kinds.

We got a new vegetable delivery, we have been enjoying getting a variety of vegetables each week. I need to figure out how to cook the vegetable that looks like bigger carrots with the greens. I am not sure what it even is or what to do with it. Any ideas???

Clean out your fridge pasta dinner

Tonight we had an easy dinner to clean out some of the vegetables since we will be getting a new vegetable delivery tomorrow morning. I bought brown rice spaghetti noodles and a pasta sauce from the organic section at the grocery store. We added some meat, garlic scapes and summer squash to the sauce. We also had a salad with the rest of the carrots, lettuce and cucumbers.

A few days ago we made a good stir fry to use some of the organic vegetables. We used carrots, garlic scape, summer squash, mushrooms, peas, and thinly sliced beef. We served it over rice.

Making pasta or a stir fry is a great way to get extra vegetables into your meal. They can be made into easy dairy and gluten free meals and can be adapted to your favourite vegetables and to use up what your already have in your fridge. Enjoy :)

Kristi's Greek Pasta Salad Recipe

Kelsey and Kristi at her wedding in October, they share a birthday and have a lot in common. :)Kelsey waited in the line with her cousin to see the princess, it was very sweet :)

My cousin Kristi gave me her famous Greek pasta salad recipe so I could make it for Kelsey's first communion lunch. I adapted it to make it gluten free with rice noodles, you can find them in your grocery store or health food store. The pasta salad was very yummy and was eaten up quickly at Kelsey's communion lunch. It was very easy to make and would be great for lunches, dinners, bbqs, camping trips, etc.

Mix together in a big bowl;

• penne pasta, I used brown rice but you could use whatever you prefer
• olive oil or grape seed oil
• club house Greek seasoning(in the shaker bottle at your grocery store), epicure also makes a Greek seasoning I think
• diced peppers(red, orange, green, yellow) whatever you would like or a combo of them
• diced red onion
• can of sliced black olives
• feta cheese, the chunk in liquid and crumble it into the salad

Cook the penne pasta and rinse, add to a big bowl, coat with oil, sprinkle in Greek seasoning to taste, add the diced peppers and onions, add your sliced black olives, crumble feta cheese in. I made this the night before her lunch and it let the flavours set in but you could eat it right away. This would be good with bbq chicken as an easy summer meal. Enjoy :{)

Upper Canada Village

We went to Upper Canada Village for the day and had a great time. We enjoyed exploring the village and spending time together as a family. I packed a picnic lunch since I was not sure what options there would be to eat. I was glad I packed food and drinks because there would of been very limited choices and not enough for a healthy lunch and snack. Packing a lunch, snacks and drinks makes the day go so much smoother. Looking for gluten and dairy free options are not easy and when everyone is hungry it is no fun for anyone.

Some tips for packing a gluten and dairy free lunch for an outing.

• Get a cooler backpack, we picked one up at Canadian Tire and we have used it for Disney, soccer, camping, beach, car trips,etc.



• Pack drinks; water with ice, frozen juice, enough drinks for the day. Drinks can get expensive and it is important to stay hydrated in the heat.



• Keep the cooler bag cold so everything stays fresh, little ice packs and frozen water or juice work great



• Some ideas of what to pack; cut up veggies, fruit, rice crackers, rice chips or rice cakes, gluten free muffins or breads, hummus, salsa, pickles, gluten free treats, fruit to go, organic peanut butter and jam on thin square brown rice cakes, nuts and seeds, pasta salads with gluten free noodles, bean salads, etc.



• Don't forget napkins, plates and utensils if needed



• Have fun with it; pick up your child's favourite drink, lunch or snack to make the picnic fun