We succeeded at making tasty healthy pizza with no cheese or flour (gluten) tonight. After so many failed attempts at meals the kids will actually eat (and that are nutritionally dynamic) I am so excited pizza was a success! I thought it was doomed when I figured out the $6 of veggie shreds "cheese" I bought had casein in it. I am not sure how I missed it! I read the label but after missing dairy and gluten in things a couple of times I have gotten in the habit of double and triple checking ingredients. I am also getting better at remembering the many names every ingredient has. Though I am still thinking I need to make flash cards to really make sure I know it! I rely very much on the "gluten free" "dairy free" statements on products as back up as well as looking at the allergens sometimes listed at the end of ingredient lists. Somehow though I was tricked still. In my defense it was at the end of a very LONG shopping trip. The veggie shreds had a "gluten free" and "lactose free" label on the front. I caught it after already having invested 2 hours into this pizza and it was very tempting to use it but I did not give into the temptation. So I have 2 bags of lactose free cheese that I don't know what to do with. So I continued with the pizza minus "cheese". I put a lot of ingredients into the sauce so I hoped and prayed the sauce could hold it's own and not need cheese but with kids as many people are aware it is all about the marketing. I was really worried that even if the sauce was good the kids would not go for pizza with a very obviously visible missing ingredient. So to try and hide the fact that the cheese was missing I sprinkled dry minced onion on top (for the little white showing affect more than the flavor-maybe they would mistake it for cheese?). I covered it in pepperoni and threw it in the oven. It looked great when I pulled it out and I cut it up and served it. Much to my amazement the kids did not even seem to notice the missing cheese and gobbled it up. As I ate mine I was very pleased with a deep and dynamic flavor all the ingredients came out to make. It was actually really good give me seconds pizza!! Yay! All the failed attempts at an entirely new way of cooking really make the victory so much sweeter! After taking 2 kids to Central Market to get essential ingredients that are an entire page long (for one week of meals) it is so nice to have it work out.
After walking every isle twice in a very crowded store with rude customers (who are completely impatient, lacking grace and easily annoyed by the fact that I have 2 young kids and a big cart and have the nerve to be stopped reading ingredients) it is nice to have a dinner that we can all enjoy. (I had a very intense shopping trip today and I could probably write an entire blog just about how I would never like to do that again! I had many thoughts on sociology and psychology. I would not have choose to take the kids but I have been needing to go for several days and been too busy. What can I say we were out of food and I had to go because I have so much work to get done. The kids were actually pretty well behaved it was the other people that were the problem. I tried really hard to keep a good attitude and I even managed to help a fellow mom not accidentally buy several packs of all natural hot dogs that were expensive and I had noticed expired. There was one moment where I really had to hold back and not ram a lady with my cart or curse her out (or both). I just gritted my teeth and tried to breath until she had passed)
But as far as the pizza I am hoping now that I can make it again and have it come out as good. Since I almost always stray from the recipe I am pretty sure I know about how much of everything I used BUT I did not measure or write it down. Ooops - rookie mistake! I have decided to start blogging the recipes that work (partly for my own reference) and in hopes that it can help someone else.
RECIPE TIME
So the crust was :
Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free (dairy free) Pizza Crust Whole Grain Mix
I followed the instructions on the back which called for warm water, olive oil but I did not use egg (daughter is allergic)
I substituted 2 tablespoons of ground flaxseed mixed with 6 tablespoons of water (for the 2 eggs)
I also let it rise 40 mins instead of 20 and I accidentally put the sauce on before I realized I was suppose to put the crust (alone) in the oven for 7 mins.
I put the crust with sauce in the oven for 7 mins then put the pepperoni and cooked 15 more mins
The sauce was:
Okay so this part will have some guesstimating :) For one thing the beginning of the sauce was left over spaghetti sauce from last night (recipe below)
1 cup meaty spaghetti sauce
1 cup chopped broccoli
1 small can mushrooms
1 can tomato paste
1 tablespoon garlic powder
-I used a food chopper to puree all of these together for a very thick sauce
On top of the sauce I put
2 tablespoons dried minced onion
then covered in gf/cf pepperoni - Apple Gate farms is the only brand I have found with reliable dairy free meats
The Spaghetti sauce was:
1 can Hunts Mushroom Spaghetti sauce
1-2 tablespoon dry sweet basil
1 lb 27/73 ground beef
-obviously we don't worry too much about saturated fat- we hardly eat fat and our son is very thin
The sauce is really greasy so you may not like it for spaghetti (next time I will probably drain it or use ground beef with less fat also if you like it more tomato flavored you could put tomato paste but we don't - we put the sauce on top of gluten free spaghetti)
December 15, 2010
December 03, 2010
New diagnosis means life continues to take it's dramatic twists and turns
So much has changed since my last blog! For one thing I am due with our 3rd child in March! Also we recently found out our oldest is EXTREMELY sensitive to gluten (wheat) and dairy. We are very excited and about the baby on the way. It was wanted :) and prayed for. (Though there are dark moments where I think "what in the heck were we thinking?"). I am going to try to have a natural birth and hopefully break this c-section history. I really can't choose to have major surgery with any type of peace. Finding a doctor who would actually allow me to try and have a natural birth was a challenge and I am lucky to have a friend who knew of one! I am blessed to live in a big enough Metro that there is one available. The huge majority of doctors would just require me to schedule surgery at this point (given my history). I am going to try to use hypnobirthing to help me have a good all natural (hopefully) birth experience. I am praying God gives me a good natural birth testimony at the end of it all (even though no matter what happens it will be a testimony to His goodness right?).
As far as the new food sensitivities we have been adjusting (though not easily). This morning I did what I do every morning since we have completely overhauled our eating lifestyle. I stared at the stuff in the fridge and thought do I make pancakes which my kids may refuse to eat or a smoothie they may or may not drink. I had scheduled pancakes but did not feel like making them and then having them refused. Since I have been cooking more in general pancakes have always been a staple in our breakfast, but what has changed is the ingredients that go into those pancakes. A month ago the main ingredient would have been whole wheat. I would have made enough to freeze and last at least 2 weeks. The difference is now the main ingredients are expensive non-gluten grain, fruit and nuts. They are much healthier but they do not last as long and mentally I know that each one has costly ingredients put in it. I used to be perfectly fine throwing away un-eaten pancakes but now instead I make my kids breakfast and wait to eat until they are done to eat what they don't first as my breakfast. I feel it in the pocketbook everytime I throw food away now. Every smoothie that goes un-drunk has a scoop of $20 non-gluten/non-dairy meal supplement in it and expensive probiotic (not to mention nuts and fruit and almond milk). It makes me feel sick to pour them down the sink. Our grocery budget has easily doubled, this past month I would say quadrupled. Our food cost has gone WAY up and our enjoyment of it WAY down. The time I spend a day planning, prepping, cooking has increased. The longer we are eating this way the easier it is becoming though. We are certainly in the thick of it right now since we are still figuring out what the kids will eat and enjoy (and what we like). I have spent more money than I would like to even think about on approved pre-made snacks that are super expensive (and 90% of the time completely gross). It is part of the process of finding what we can eat (enjoyably) so I know that the cost will be less once we nail down what foods we can enjoy (hopefully only doubling our grocery budget). Through this time my husband has been working a lot of overtime and I have been taking all the work I can get. I can't complain because we need the money but it is harder obviously the more time we spend working. We do have to count any extra income as a blessing and it is amazing to me how God provides for us as we need. I know in my work (100% commission) income is completely an act of faith. It is different than when I received a check of the same amount consistently. I can't imagine if we did not have consistency in my husband's check (I am sure I would be a basket case). We have cut back a lot because I am planning to phase out my income in the next 4 months so I can just be mom (hopefully!). With 3 kids 4 and under I am sure there will never be a moment of boredom and more than enough to get done! It is difficult right now because of our budget. I have to schedule all of my work opposite my husbands hours. It saves us some on childcare costs but makes the time we actually all spend together as a family very limited and precious. We are motivated though by the positive changes we have seen in our son and in our health. The dark circles under his eyes are gone, most days he is calmer than he was a month ago, he is not complaining that his stomach hurts constantly, he has grown, he is getting better muscle tone and his stomach isn't bloated looking. It is funny how I did not notice some of those things until they were gone all of a sudden and I realized what I thought was normal was not. He did not look unhealthy to me before but he looks SO much healthier now. It gives me the motherhood guilt. What was I doing to my poor baby his whole life? How was I completely oblivious? With every child a baby is delivered, placenta is delivered and then this huge invisible bunch of guilt is delivered. There is always plenty to feel guilty about and if I didn't already find some things other people are always more than happy to provide me with some. Being a parent is the best gift and the hardest experience of my life. I have been through a lot in my own life but it all for the mostly only affected me. Now I am responsible for these other little humans and everything I do may affect them. Even when I think I am doing good feeding my children whole wheat, lots of calcium rich dairy it can quickly be completely flipped around. All of a sudden in my ignorance I find out I have been feeding my children something toxic (with complete love of course). Adjusting to the new way of eating is hard, spending more money than I would like on groceries might hurt my pocket but more than anything the hardest part of this food and lifestyle change has been the guilt and realization of what we were and were not doing all the way up until now. When we vaccinated our son and in my soul my intuition was screaming "no don't do it". Guilt. There was no logical reason to not vaccinate. Then seeing him completely go crazy for a couple of days and knowing I should not have done it! God gave us a gift that time by healing him (and forgiving me for not trusting what I knew - even when it was contrary to everything logical). I am believing this new knowledge is a gift as well. It could have easily gone undetected for years causing all types of damage to his organs, tissue, and brain. It is a blessing to know what direction to go and have clarity on what to do. It is wonderful to have an answer to a question even if it is not the answer we wanted (and a question we would not have thought to ask). I can just hope and pray now that God will heal any damage that has been done and continue to remind us that we can have peace even through the storms.
As far as the new food sensitivities we have been adjusting (though not easily). This morning I did what I do every morning since we have completely overhauled our eating lifestyle. I stared at the stuff in the fridge and thought do I make pancakes which my kids may refuse to eat or a smoothie they may or may not drink. I had scheduled pancakes but did not feel like making them and then having them refused. Since I have been cooking more in general pancakes have always been a staple in our breakfast, but what has changed is the ingredients that go into those pancakes. A month ago the main ingredient would have been whole wheat. I would have made enough to freeze and last at least 2 weeks. The difference is now the main ingredients are expensive non-gluten grain, fruit and nuts. They are much healthier but they do not last as long and mentally I know that each one has costly ingredients put in it. I used to be perfectly fine throwing away un-eaten pancakes but now instead I make my kids breakfast and wait to eat until they are done to eat what they don't first as my breakfast. I feel it in the pocketbook everytime I throw food away now. Every smoothie that goes un-drunk has a scoop of $20 non-gluten/non-dairy meal supplement in it and expensive probiotic (not to mention nuts and fruit and almond milk). It makes me feel sick to pour them down the sink. Our grocery budget has easily doubled, this past month I would say quadrupled. Our food cost has gone WAY up and our enjoyment of it WAY down. The time I spend a day planning, prepping, cooking has increased. The longer we are eating this way the easier it is becoming though. We are certainly in the thick of it right now since we are still figuring out what the kids will eat and enjoy (and what we like). I have spent more money than I would like to even think about on approved pre-made snacks that are super expensive (and 90% of the time completely gross). It is part of the process of finding what we can eat (enjoyably) so I know that the cost will be less once we nail down what foods we can enjoy (hopefully only doubling our grocery budget). Through this time my husband has been working a lot of overtime and I have been taking all the work I can get. I can't complain because we need the money but it is harder obviously the more time we spend working. We do have to count any extra income as a blessing and it is amazing to me how God provides for us as we need. I know in my work (100% commission) income is completely an act of faith. It is different than when I received a check of the same amount consistently. I can't imagine if we did not have consistency in my husband's check (I am sure I would be a basket case). We have cut back a lot because I am planning to phase out my income in the next 4 months so I can just be mom (hopefully!). With 3 kids 4 and under I am sure there will never be a moment of boredom and more than enough to get done! It is difficult right now because of our budget. I have to schedule all of my work opposite my husbands hours. It saves us some on childcare costs but makes the time we actually all spend together as a family very limited and precious. We are motivated though by the positive changes we have seen in our son and in our health. The dark circles under his eyes are gone, most days he is calmer than he was a month ago, he is not complaining that his stomach hurts constantly, he has grown, he is getting better muscle tone and his stomach isn't bloated looking. It is funny how I did not notice some of those things until they were gone all of a sudden and I realized what I thought was normal was not. He did not look unhealthy to me before but he looks SO much healthier now. It gives me the motherhood guilt. What was I doing to my poor baby his whole life? How was I completely oblivious? With every child a baby is delivered, placenta is delivered and then this huge invisible bunch of guilt is delivered. There is always plenty to feel guilty about and if I didn't already find some things other people are always more than happy to provide me with some. Being a parent is the best gift and the hardest experience of my life. I have been through a lot in my own life but it all for the mostly only affected me. Now I am responsible for these other little humans and everything I do may affect them. Even when I think I am doing good feeding my children whole wheat, lots of calcium rich dairy it can quickly be completely flipped around. All of a sudden in my ignorance I find out I have been feeding my children something toxic (with complete love of course). Adjusting to the new way of eating is hard, spending more money than I would like on groceries might hurt my pocket but more than anything the hardest part of this food and lifestyle change has been the guilt and realization of what we were and were not doing all the way up until now. When we vaccinated our son and in my soul my intuition was screaming "no don't do it". Guilt. There was no logical reason to not vaccinate. Then seeing him completely go crazy for a couple of days and knowing I should not have done it! God gave us a gift that time by healing him (and forgiving me for not trusting what I knew - even when it was contrary to everything logical). I am believing this new knowledge is a gift as well. It could have easily gone undetected for years causing all types of damage to his organs, tissue, and brain. It is a blessing to know what direction to go and have clarity on what to do. It is wonderful to have an answer to a question even if it is not the answer we wanted (and a question we would not have thought to ask). I can just hope and pray now that God will heal any damage that has been done and continue to remind us that we can have peace even through the storms.
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