Misto Olive Oil Sprayer

I noticed that my purchased olive oil spray had all kinds of ingredients other than olive oil, so I stopped using it. But today at Costco I found a two-pack of Misto olive oil sprayers. At $19.99 (unfortunately) I found out later that they are cheaper on Amazon. Oh, well. I look forward to testing them out!

Bread-like Stuff

I made another batch of crackers but this time tried including some cooked quinoa. There was too much moisture for this to be crisp like the first batch but it turned out like thin bread, which was a great discovery. This is the first time I've made anything bread-like with the new ingredients so it will open up new possibilities. It really held together which is awesome.

Chinese Takeout Containers!

I was thinking about how to store freezer meals in a way that would make them easy to reheat, and store better, and the idea of Chinese food containers popped into my head! I called Smart and Final and they had the ones with no wires, so perfect for the microwave! Storage tip: Use square or rectangular containers for more efficient storage everywhere. It was so fun to have these tonight as I made dinner for a friend to take home and I put it in a couple of these awesome boxes!

Bean Crackers!

I wanted to try making crackers because I haven't found anything out there to buy that doesn't have forbidden ingredients in it. My, my, my, I can't even believe how good these were! I saw someone is selling packages of 18 gluten free crackers on Etsy for $7.50 not including shipping!! Crazy. Seriously, I'm not a fan of everything on the new diet but these crackers were almost as good as pie crust. I came up with the recipe based on a few I saw on the internet. I will make a larger batch next time; this is so small because I happened to have a half cup of pinto beans I needed to use. 1/2 cup canned pinto beans, drained and rinsed 1/4 cup ground flax seed 1/2 cup very finely grated dried coconut (mine is called "macaroon cut") 1/4 cup (maybe more?) olive oil 1/2 teaspoon baking soda sea salt black pepper 1 clove garlic Preheat the oven to 400. Pulverize everything using a hand blender or food processor. The dough should be about the consistency of cookie dough or grainy pie crust. Roll out the dough thinly (think Wheat Thins) between two sheets of baking parchment, transfer it (still on the parchment) onto a cookie sheet, and sprinkle a little sea salt on top. Press the salt in slightly. Cut into cracker-sized pieces using a bench scraper or table knife. Bake for about 13 minutes until crisp but not burned. Cool on a rack. April 18, 2012 Update: Our naturopath suggests we stay away from legumes for a while as they are harder to digest. In addition, since posting this recipe I have eliminated baking soda since it failed a muscle test our osteopath did a while back. We really haven't missed it.

14 Karat Cookies, Sam Style

This is based off a recipe for the best carrot cake I have ever eaten, baked by my friend, Lori. http://tblondonlori.blogspot.com/2011/09/14-karat-cake-and-frosting.html I adapted it to fit Sam's diet. No cream cheese frosting or sugar, but he LOVED these! 14 Karat Cookies 2 cups finely blended oatmeal 1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda (omit for Sam) 1 teaspoon cinnamon 1 cup mashed cooked sweet potatoes 1 cup mashed ripe bananas 1 fresh pear, grated or finely chopped 1/2 cup coconut oil, at room temperature (to make it liquid) 4 tablespoons ground flax seed 1 cup water 2 cups finely grated carrots 3-1/2 oz flaked coconut Mix dry ingredients, then mushy/wet, then chunky. Scoop onto cookie sheet, flatten, bake at 400 for about ten minutes.

Banana Zucchini Mini-Muffins

Sam was eating the batter raw, which was no problem since it contains no eggs. 1 cup grated zucchini, with skin on 1.5 cups mashed banana (about 3 bananas) 2 tbsp. ground flax seed 1/2 cup water 1.5 cups uncooked oatmeal (Note: try grinding part into flour next time) 1 tsp. baking soda (omit for Sam) 1/2 cup coconut oil Bake in mini muffin tins at 350 for about ten minutes.

Bean Burgers

1 can pinto or other beans, with liquid 2 tbsp. ground flax seed 1/4 green bell pepper, in chunks 1/2 onion, chopped and microwaved a little to soften 2-3 cloves garlic quinoa flakes olive oil Blend everything except quinoa and olive oil in food processor until smooth. Mix in enough quinoa flakes to make a fairly firm dough (like cookie dough). Form into patties and fry in olive oil, both sides, until brown. April 18, 2012 Update: Sam is taking a break from beans per our naturopath.

Banana Coconut Ice Cream

about 5 overripe bananas 1 can coconut milk Puree with hand blender, then freeze in ice cream freezer. Makes about 14 1-scoop servings.

Mother's Little Helper #2

And I am completely in love with my large electric frying pan. I have a flat top electric stove and it's amazing how much more evenly this pan cooks, and I love the extra large surface area. With all the increased cooking I'm doing I am so grateful for this tool.

You CAN Freeze Sushi

Well, I make no claims about the safety of freezing and thawing fish. I'm talking about vegetarian hand rolls. We had to pack food to take on a road trip and Sam loved the homemade frozen and thawed sushi as much as fresh.

Sauteed Vegetables and Rice Rotini

This was simple and Sam absolutely adored it: Sautee zuchhini, yellow peppers, and onions in olive oil and toss in cooked rice pasta. Heck, I even liked it. The rice pasta didn't feel gritty in this dish.

Ode to Trader Joe's

Trader Joe's has organic brown rice pasta for only $1.99/bag! Sam hasn't had pasta yet and he will love this!

Coconut Raspberry Sweet Potato Sorbet

Sam LOVED this! It was not sweet enough for anyone who eats sugar every day, but surprisingly sweet, didn't taste like sweet potato, and was definitely sweet enough for Sam. This ingredient list is based on what I had already open in my fridge. I'm sure it would have been really delicious with a whole can of coconut milk. Half a can of organic coconut milk (with pieces of coconut in it, not the light stuff) Half a bag of organic frozen raspberries 1 cup cooked sweet potato (I keep baggies of this in my freezer) 1/2 cup water vanilla bean (I didn't have but I bet it would be good) Blend everything together with your must-have Cuisinart hand blender (or a regular blender if that's what you have). If mixture is still very cold, put it right into your ice cream freezer (mine is also a Cuisinart) and process for 15-20 minutes. If mixture is not cold, put in fridge for a couple of hours first.

Bacon-Wrapped Potatoes

One favorite family treat is tater tots wrapped in turkey bacon and baked until crispy. Here is my adaptation: 1 large potato cut into bite-size chunks 1 package Applewood Farms organic turkey bacon Preheat oven to 400. Steam potato chunks with a little water in microwave for 5 minutes. Cut turkey bacon into fourths by cutting strips once in half crosswise and once lengthwise. Wrap potato chunks in bacon and bake for 20 minutes. April 18, 2012 Update: We are avoiding potatoes for Sam for now since they are from the night shade family and failed a muscle test our osteopath did.

Brown Rice Pancakes

Cooked short grain brown rice
Eggs
Olive oil

For each pancake scramble one egg in a bowl with 1 cup brown rice. Pour onto preheated skillet that has been greased with olive oil, and pat with spoon into a 1/4 inch circle. Fry on both sides.

The texture of the brown rice is wonderful. Sam loved these. One is a serving. I cooked a whole batch to keep in the freezer.

April 18, 2012 Update: I posted this before I started omitting eggs from Sam's diet. Our naturopath says they are o.k. in moderation.

Rich Chicken Stock

This discovery yesterday reduced the sting of having paid $16 for an organic free range whole raw chicken at Jimbo's. I haven't been able to find chicken bouillon that doesn't have ingredients Sam can't have so I decided to make my own stock. I simmered the chicken with onion, celery, garlic and carrots, which is no big news.
But with my handy dandy immersion blender (and an idea I think I got from the Food Network), instead of discarding the mushy vegetables after I took out the chicken, I blended them into the liquid, yielding a rich, thick, delicious stock! Yeah! I will be freezing it in small portions for future use.

April 18, 2012 Update: This stock has come in so handy to flavor Sam's food! Since then I discovered organic frozen chicken thighs and breasts at Costco, which are a lot cheaper than Jimbo's. I often marinate the chicken, then grill it on the George Foreman and use the drippings to make stock.

Green Meatballs

These are the worst-looking and best tasting meatballs I've made so far! The green onion and lemon give a wonderful flavor, and better than regular onions because they don't stay crunchy. 1 pound ground beef 3 green onions, coarsely chopped 1/2 bag spinach 2 eggs (or 2 tbsp. flax seed mixed with 2/3 cup warm water) sea salt black pepper a squeeze of lemon juice some spoonfuls of cooked brown rice or cooked quinoa Blend everything except rice/quinoa with hand blender or food processor. Stir in rice/quinoa. Scoop onto baking sheet using cookie dough scoop and bake at 350 for about 20 minutes.

Sweet Potato Oatmeal Cookies

If anyone has had my cookies you know that this would not pass for a COOKIE (see first post). But it will certainly do for someone who hasn't had added sugar for almost two weeks. 3/4 cup cooked sweet potato 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 1 egg (can substitute 1 tbsp. ground flax + 3 tbsp. warm water) 1/4 teaspoon baking soda (baking powder has a corn derivative) a squeeze of lemon to activate the soda 1/2 cup oil 1 cup instant oatmeal Combine wet ingredients, then dry. Scoop with cookie scoop, then flatten. Bake on greased cookie sheet at 400 for 8-10 minutes. April 18, 2012 Update: Since I wrote this we've eliminated oatmeal, even so-called "gluten free" per our naturopath, as well as baking soda. She says we can buy the aluminum-free kind but I haven't even missed it.

Little Greenish Patties

Sam really liked these a lot! I have decided if he is going to feed himself all the time, I'm going to make some things into meatballs or patties or falafel-type things. The latest creation was to combine leftover pot roast, brown rice, spinach and egg, using my hand blender, and fry little patties of it. I also made pancakes with ground up brown rice, apple, cinnamon, and egg. He ate every bite of both!

Marinated Flap Meat

Marinate flap meat or other thin beef in lemon juice, sea salt, black pepper, olive oil, garlic, and green onion. Grill.
If desired, cut into strips with kitchen scissors. Great for carne asada, on salads, or with rice and teriyaki sauce for those who can have it.

Sweet Potato Smoothie

When you can't have sugar, but you can have sweet potatoes, you improvise. I made Sam a smoothie with organic raspberries, a little rice milk and water, and added a chunk of baked sweet potato for sweetness since the berries were on the tart side. It worked!

Mini Turkey Quinoa Burgers

I got the idea to make these because Sam really used to like Ling Ling frozen potstickers with a filling made from chicken and cabbage, and I had leftover Chinese cabbage. These were an unexpected hit with my daughter who might not have tasted them if she knew beforehand what was in them! I don't normally cook with ground turkey because I don't like the smell but this frozen organic all white meat no skin product from Jimbo's was awesome. leftover stir-fry vegetables (I had Chinese cabbage, bean sprouts, onion) leftover caramelized onions a couple of tablespoons cooked sweet potato (sweetness balances the cabbage) cooked quinoa sea salt pepper ground turkey 1 egg (or 1 tbsp. ground flax seed with 1/3 cup warm water) olive oil Grind the vegetables and quinoa with a hand blender, stir in seasonings, turkey, and egg. Form into mini patties or meatballs, fry in olive oil. I made extra to freeze and also froze some uncooked patties. My daughter asked to bring some in the car with her with some ketchup, on the way to Harry Potter 7.2! I haven't had a chance to tell her about the ground-up cabbage!

Finding Local Organic Produce

Lori sent me info about two local sources for fresh produce. Be Wise Ranch is organic, but I can't find information that tells whether Chino Farms is. It sure looks wonderful! http://tblondonlori.blogspot.com/2011/07/chino-farm.html http://www.bewiseranch.com/index.htm April 18, 2012 Update: Since I wrote this I have learned about Oakes Knoll Farm organic produce from the Vista and Carlsbad farmer's markets. Our naturopath actually visited the farm to make sure she approved of their practices. Their produce is wonderful.

New Diet No Longer a "Crisis"

Well, it has been a week since Brain Highways gave us Sam's Power/Brain Food Diet and by day four it no longer felt like a crisis. That is how I described what I was "in" to my friend last Sunday. It does indeed feel like a crisis when you have a house full of food but nothing to feed your child. Looking back, I realized I could have waited 24 hours to start, after I was more prepared, but there is nothing like pressure to force me to research and think on my feet.

This morning, day 7, for breakfast Sam fed himself patties made from fried rice, as well as sweet potato chick pea quinoa patties (that I invented last night and had ready in the fridge), and ate every bite. For school lunch I packed porcupine meatballs that I had made on Saturday and put in the freezer, along with apple, snap peas, and a baggie of chick peas with lemon juice.
Seven days ago he had never eaten:
--Quinoa
--Plain chick peas
--Plain tomatoes
--Raw snap peas
--Fried rice & chap chae without soy sauce
I am really grateful to Brain Highways for giving me so many great ideas (especially the bacon recommendation!) and a verbal tour of Jimbo's so I knew where to start and had something to work with.
I am also proud of Sam for trying so many new things and embracing a major change!

Chick Pea Sweet Potato Quinoa Patties

I was trying to think of things I could make for Sam that he can feed himself, and the idea of making chick pea sweet potato quinoa patties came to me. I looked on the internet and discovered this is a common idea. http://eatwellwithjanelblog.com/quinoa-sweet-potato-patties/#comments http://www.choosingraw.com/sweet-potato-chickpea-burgers/ Here's what I did. And let me say that if you have a hand blender you don't even need a food processor! Just put it right into the pan with the potatoes and mash them! And it worked great to mash up the chick peas as well. 1 can garbanzo beans, mashed 1 clove garlic black pepper fresh lemon juice a few slices of onion 2 baked or boiled sweet potatoes 2 cups cooked quinoa 1 onion, sliced and caramelized in some olive oil Puree everything except the quinoa and caramelized onions. Stir in the quinoa and some of the onions(?). Form into patties and fry in olive oil until golden brown.

Results of Brain Food Diet (Day 6)

1. Who would have thought, a week ago, that Sam would be gobbling up grape tomatoes and cucumber slices like he used to eat chips and crackers?! Not me! (He would NEVER go for a plain green vegetable on his plate before unless it was in a Chinese sauce.) And he doesn't seem to need nearly as much food to be satisfied.

2. Since day 1 of the diet he has been sleeping through the night!! He used to go to bed at around nine then wake up again, sometimes for two hours, when he heard us going to bed later. Or would pop up at 4:00am and be in his room making repetitive sounds for at least an hour. Last night he fell asleep early in the living room so it was understandable that he woke up a few hours later when he heard us. His sisters read Harry Potter to him for a while and he went back to sleep.

3. I will probably be losing weight because I don't want to eat any forbidden foods around Sam, so usually I just don't bother.

Going back and reading what I just wrote, it sounds completely unbelievable. But it's for real.

Char-grilled Asparagus, Courgettes, and Manouri Salad

Another one from Bill! Courgettes are zucchini, and he says you can use halloumi in place of manouri cheese if you can't find it--you need a Greek cheese with a firm (rubbery?) texture that will fry without melting. I could just leave the cheese off Sam's serving. http://eattherightstuff.squarespace.com/blog/2008/6/7/char-grilled-asparagus-courgettes-and-manouri-salad.html

Fennel Apple Orange Salad

Thanks for this refreshing salad recipe, Lori! She used the mandolin to slice the fennel and apple and says it's a crunchy alternative to lettuce salad. Fennel Sliced granny smith apple sliced orange fresh squeezed orange juice sea salt black pepper

Kosheri

Another one from Bill in Sweden! http://stilllifewithwhisk.wordpress.com/2009/10/25/ottolenghikosheri/

Mother's Little Helper

I've had friends recommend these hand blenders and since my blender is broken, I figured I'd give it a shot. I ordered this on amazon for $29.00 and got free shipping so it was a great deal. It has saved my life with the new diet! Sam is getting tired of taking his meds in applesauce so last night I made a tiny unsweetened smoothie with frozen raspberries and a little bit of rice milk and this morning with half a peach and rice milk. He loved it! It's hard to believe he has made the transition to so little sugar in such a short amount of time. The blender makes it frothy, so 1/4 cup of ingredients yields what seems like 1/2 cup of drink.

Chick Peas and Spinach with Honeyed Sweet Potatoes

I have friends all over the world who are interested in Sam and now my old friend, Bill, who lives in Sweden, (and I haven't seen in almost 30 years!) is contributing to the effort. He is a real foodie and is always trying something new to feed his family and grow his talent. Thanks, Bill, for sending this recipe my way that can easily be adapted to Sam's parameters! http://www.joanne-eatswellwithothers.com/2011/01/chickpeas-and-spinach-with-honeyed.html

Korean Chap Chae

Mung bean noodles, soaked according to package directions Meat or chicken, seasoned with lemon juice, sea salt, pepper 1/2 onion, sliced olive oil vegetables cut into bite sized pieces (I used broccoli, mushrooms, red bell pepper, mung bean sprouts) (For the rest of the family, add soy sauce, sesame oil, and sesame seeds if desired, at the table.) Stir fry the meat in olive oil and remove from pan. Stir fry the onions, and add the other vegetables starting with the ones that take longest to cook. Season with some black pepper. When vegetables are done, add the cooked meat with any juices, then add the soaked, drained noodles and stir around. Others can add soy sauce and sesame if desired.

Teka Maki

Great idea from Lori! nori, brown rice, avocado, julienne carrots, juienne cucumber

Porcupine Meatballs

1 lb. ground beef 1 egg 2 cups cooked brown rice 1 cup shredded carrot 1/2 cup diced onion, microwaved to soften 1-2 cloves garlic, crushed squeeze of lemon juice chili powder celery seed sea salt black pepper mustard tomato juice or sauce? Mix all ingredients together except tomato juice/sauce, form into meatballs, bake uncovered at 350 for 30 minutes, then uncovered for 15? I'm baking these right now; I made 28 using my cookie dough scoop. Update: I didn't use any sauce. Sam will really like these. I would like them better with soy sauce or ketchup or more salt, none of which he can have for now. The onions were still crunchy after an hour in the oven so next time I'll microwave them a little before mixing into the meat.

Falafel!

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9401E7D81F30F937A35757C0A9619C8B63

Fried Rice Without Soy Sauce or Sesame Oil

Leftover cooked brown rice 2 eggs Carrots cut into matchstick-size strips Diced leftover chicken or bacon Half an onion, diced peas or any other vegetables, in small pieces sea salt black pepper Cook the eggs like a thin pancake in a frying pan. Remove and cut into strips. Saute the onion in some oil until soft. Add carrots and other vegetables, and meat. Add the rice and seasonings. Wish you had soy sauce......

Mexican Rice

This is adapted from The Food Nanny Rescues Dinner. You can make it a one-dish meal if you add small chunks of chicken, the way my daughter likes it.  2 tbsp. olive oil 1/4 cup chopped onion 2 to 4 garlic cloves, minced 1 1/2 cups uncooked long grain brown rice 1 vine-ripened tomato, diced 3 cups chicken broth [I use 3 cups water + bouillon] Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook and stir until the onion is soft; be careful to avoid burning. Add the rice and stir until the rice browns a bit. Stir in the tomato, broth, and salt. Bring to a boil, cover, and decrease the heat to very low. Simmer for the length of time it says on the rice package and serve immediately.

Breakfast: Brown Rice Hot Cereal

1 apple, diced small brown rice cinnamon Cook brown rice according to package directions, with chopped apple and dashes of cinnamon in it. Do this ahead of time so you can just heat it up in the microwave for breakfast. Serve with rice milk poured over it. Hope Sam eats this even though there is no added sugar.

Salsa Chicken

Chicken Jar of salsa with all approved ingredients Cook in crock pot. Serve with brown rice, avocado, and salad.

Crock Pot Roast

Beef Garlic Onions Other seasonings? (Don't want to use packaged mixes) Note: Can't use flour or cornstarch to thicken gravy Use all organic ingredients, cook in crock pot, serve with brown rice and green vegetable.

Fried New Potatoes, Onions, and Bacon

Our first "clean", organic meal! It was delicious! 2 organic new potatoes, diced 1/2 of an organic onion, diced 2 strips Beeler organic gluten-free casein-free bacon, diced (use kitchen scissors) Kosher salt* Freshly ground black pepper Saute everything together in a pan until done. Makes two servings. That bacon was absolutely delicious! *I just read on a corn allergy web site that iodized salt contains dextrpse, which is derived from corn. Yikes. I'm also going to have to return the bottle of chicken bouillon that contains maltodextrin, which is also derived from corn. And apparently baking powder and powdered sugar contain corn products.

What I Bought at Jimbo's

Notified Sam's Teacher of Brain Food Plan

I phoned Sam's teacher at school this morning to let him know that Sam won't be eating any foods that don't come from home for now, so to let me know if they are planning any future field trips (like the one I found out about after they got sundaes at McDonald's) and I can send in or suggest a replacement. Also, they keep foods in the classroom for snacks and I will send in something Sam can have that can be shared with the class.

Best Chocolate Chip Cookies Ever

I am starting this blog with a recipe for something that Sam can't have, at least for now, on his new Brain Food regimen, but it's symbolic of the fact that I can do this. I can come up with delicious foods to feed Sam, with the restrictions I am working under to give his brain the best chance. I developed this recipe for a vegan Mormon Missionary who was coming over for dinner, and it is still my all-time favorite recipe for chocolate chip cookies, actually for any kind of cookies.


2 sticks butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs (or flax-seed egg substitute*)
1 teaspoon vanilla
2.5 to 3 cups sifted flour (lightly spoon into cup; level with knife)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup chocolate chips
A couple of handfuls of oatmeal (optional)

Preheat oven to 350. Cream butter and sugars. Stir in eggs and vanilla. Add flour, soda, powder, salt, and chocolate chips. Add oatmeal if desired. Using cookie scoop if possible, scoop onto baking sheet and bake for 8-11 minutes. Don't overbake. If they are too flat or greasy, add a little more flour. (I usually start with 2.75 cups and bake one cookie, then if it's too flat I add a little more flour and bake another one, doing this until it is the consistency I like.)

*I use a homemade egg substitute made of ground flax seeds. For each egg, put 1 tbsp. ground flax seed with 3 tbsp. water in a microwave safe bowl and heat for about 30 seconds. Stir, and as it cools it will be the consistency of beaten eggs. Now you can eat the dough raw without worry! (Unless you have a rare flax seed allergy....) The ground flax from Costco is great (flaxusa.com). I keep it in the freezer as once it's ground it is perishable.