Lotsa "kisses" going around today! It's St. Patrick's Day! (And yes, I am actually Irish. I am not faking that lol) ♣
Today I was reading a couple of articles online and I started thinking, ALLERGIES! Not tree pollen and pet dander but food allergies (I love food. Can you tell?). So today is more of a public service announcement.
People who's children have actual food allergies are a little hard core when it comes to things like cross contamination, hidden sources for that allergy, what you serve at your home for food. Here are a few little statistics and info bits to stew over while snacking or sipping on one of my previous recipes :)
• Just because you "washed" something does not mean the allergen does not exist on that dish/utensil anymore.
•It takes 1/44,000th of a drop of peanut oil to cause an anaphylactic reaction in someone who is allergic to peanuts. That is inconceivable to the human eye. Too small to see or taste or comprehend.
•Steak knives, bread knives and anything with a seraded edge is GREAT for hiding allergens and bacteria... better soak those puppies in some bleach/soap/water mixture before scrubbing.
•Cutting mats are bacteria cesspools! Replace them every 3-6 months. Really.
•Change your sponge for dishes! I mean it! Buy a 12 pack for a buck and use a new one every time you do dishes! It isn't very environmentally friendly but neither is the bio hazard waste that is accumulated when you end up i the hospital over something that could have been prevented. Not only are the sponges gross after a use or two... they easy trap little microscopic amounts of food in them and BOOM cross contamination can happen! It sounds insane but, it happens.
•If you use a toaster for bread with wheat or milk in it, you can not use that same toaster for GF or CF or GFCF bread. Ever. The bread sticks to the grill inside, cross contamination will happen! Every bloody time!
•There is dairy, nuts, soy, wheat, ALLERGENS hiding in everything! Lac = milk so does Whey, Skim Milk, Milk ingredients, Cheese, Cheese powders, Lactic Acid, Lactylate, Lactate... all of these would send my child over the edge! And they are in chips, crackers, some juices, vitamins, cakes, baking mixes, margarines, food spreads, deli meats, sausages, hot dogs, frozen foods, fries... I could go on for days. Reading labels is not always good enough. Some more education into what chemical based ingredients are is KEY!
•When in doubt, SO OLD SCHOOL! Cook a roast with the carrots, potatoes and onions in the pot with the roast! Natural flavor with NO CONTAMINATION! YAY!
Many spices and seasoning "blends" are contaminated with allergens. Salt and Pepper to taste is usually (but not always) safest. This dinner though, is 99% of the time SAFE for all who aren't vegan (that's another post though lol)
•Yes, I bring my own foods alot! Some people will be offended but trust me on this! They will be way MORE offended when you or your child end up puking on their floor due to an allergic reaction or having a reaction while still at the dinner table.
•Learn to cook and have the dinners and potlucks and events at your house! It would be easier in the long run and true friends would go out of their way to help you out, others can go straight to hades :) If they don't "get" it they can find others to play with.
•When in doubt, look it up! This is a great site to find out what is safer (nothing is 100%) when eating out! Whatcha got in that burger?
•Last but not least. What you eat stays with you. It's in your mouth and on your lips. If you wiped your hands on your shirt or dropped some well, it's there too! Always think before you hug and kiss or shake hands. WASH your hands, hand sanitizer is great and all but washing is best with LOTS of soap and warm water!
Now just air kiss your Irish friends and fam today :) ♣
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Spring is in the Air...time for a drink!
It's getting warmer and sunnier and the days are longer (well on my side of the earth anyways) and today the kids, along with their friends, were talking about why I don't drink cold pop. I just don't. I very rarely put pop in the fridge, never have. Nope, I don't know why. And then I said, "Oh today we have to make some lemonade iced tea!" I got 2 looks of MAKE? HUH? And then I explained why I make iced tea at home rather than buy it in 2 liter bottle at the store. It is way cheaper and full of flavour and way healthier to do it in your kitchen!
Basic Iced Tea
Boil water, add about 3 or 4 tea bags for a liter of boiling water, put it in the tea pot as if you were making regular tea. Add sugar (I use either Agave Nectar or Stevia instead, you can use splenda too but this has to be done while the water is HOT so it mixes) Stir it gently for a couple minutes with a wooden spoon (metal spoons rip tea bags) and then take the tea bags out.
Pour this into a pitcher. Add 1 liter of COLD water and some ice cubes. Put it in the fridge til cold and you have iced tea. Now what did that cost to make? 30 cents? maybe 50 cents at most? Easy and cheap! (Hell even chemical laden kool aid costs more!)
Now to sass it up!
Tyler loves lemons and limes. So when I make citrus iced tea, I take citrus flavored or white tea and then when adding the cold water, I toss in a sliced lemon or lime. It looks cool and its "LEMONY" as he says!
Berry tea, easy! Summer berry flavor teas, when adding cold water add some sliced strawberries or whole raspberries or blueberries.
Apple cinnamon iced tea... now this is an acquired taste. Ty doesn't like it but, Bill does. Make your flavored tea, add a dash of BROWN sugar to the hot water! And a small shake of cinnamon... now I make this with Apple juice instead of the cold water and it. is. excellent. (Thanks to inspiration from Starbucks!)
Blueberry peach tea. This one is fun! We take blueberry tea (with 6 bags instead of 3 or 4), make our iced tea, add a can of sliced peaches with nectar juice to the jug instead of water but, add about a cup and a half of ice to it as well. YUMMY and sweeeeet!
There is no reason to break the bank in the warmer weather. ALL of these can easily be made into popsicles and flavored ice cubes! As well, it is a great treat especially for folks with a limited diet or special dietary needs!
There are so many options out there besides chemically based drinks and sugar packed crap! These will please many and the kids will love the flavor. My super picky eaters have always enjoyed these!
You can find flavored teas in the tea/coffee aisle in the grocery store or you can contact an independent tea dealer through companies like Steeped! I have a friend who sells it. If you are interested, let me know! :)
Basic Iced Tea
Boil water, add about 3 or 4 tea bags for a liter of boiling water, put it in the tea pot as if you were making regular tea. Add sugar (I use either Agave Nectar or Stevia instead, you can use splenda too but this has to be done while the water is HOT so it mixes) Stir it gently for a couple minutes with a wooden spoon (metal spoons rip tea bags) and then take the tea bags out.
Pour this into a pitcher. Add 1 liter of COLD water and some ice cubes. Put it in the fridge til cold and you have iced tea. Now what did that cost to make? 30 cents? maybe 50 cents at most? Easy and cheap! (Hell even chemical laden kool aid costs more!)
Now to sass it up!
Tyler loves lemons and limes. So when I make citrus iced tea, I take citrus flavored or white tea and then when adding the cold water, I toss in a sliced lemon or lime. It looks cool and its "LEMONY" as he says!
Berry tea, easy! Summer berry flavor teas, when adding cold water add some sliced strawberries or whole raspberries or blueberries.
Apple cinnamon iced tea... now this is an acquired taste. Ty doesn't like it but, Bill does. Make your flavored tea, add a dash of BROWN sugar to the hot water! And a small shake of cinnamon... now I make this with Apple juice instead of the cold water and it. is. excellent. (Thanks to inspiration from Starbucks!)
Blueberry peach tea. This one is fun! We take blueberry tea (with 6 bags instead of 3 or 4), make our iced tea, add a can of sliced peaches with nectar juice to the jug instead of water but, add about a cup and a half of ice to it as well. YUMMY and sweeeeet!
There is no reason to break the bank in the warmer weather. ALL of these can easily be made into popsicles and flavored ice cubes! As well, it is a great treat especially for folks with a limited diet or special dietary needs!
There are so many options out there besides chemically based drinks and sugar packed crap! These will please many and the kids will love the flavor. My super picky eaters have always enjoyed these!
You can find flavored teas in the tea/coffee aisle in the grocery store or you can contact an independent tea dealer through companies like Steeped! I have a friend who sells it. If you are interested, let me know! :)
Sunday, March 13, 2011
But, but, but I don't like veggies Mom!
That's ok. Your Mom is reading my blog lil one. You are about to be duped! BAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
My kids refused veggies. They would eat them off the vines in the garden no problem but, once on a plate it was NOT happening. Ya, kids suck when it comes to meal time. So, what's a Momma (or Dadda) to do? Get sneaky! Kids are sneaky... we all were at one point in our life so, tap into that inner child and think hmmm what would my Mom do if she was cool? (Eating veggies at gun point is never fun so you have to think coolness)
SHRED 'EM!
Yes, get out your food processor (or cheese grater if you got one) and shred those veggies and fruits! But do not do this in front of the kids!
I take zucchini's and summer squash (the yellow lookin' zukes) and I shred 'em up! I then put 1 cup or 2 per freezer bag and freeze 'em! They stay good frozen for about a year and a bit and I add this to cakes, cookies, chili, spagetti, soups... they go transparent when cooked like this and BOOM something becomes extra healthy! Chocolate cakes are amazing at hiding veggies!
Carrots... shred shred shred! I am serious! Carrots in a chocolate cake... I told my boys that it must have had "gold chocolate" in the flour of the cake! Suddenly, the cake becomes something awesome to eat. Kids react the way you react, think buried treasure/pirate but without the growling voice. lol
Broccoli. Ya, I know a lot of kids don't eat it and they won't especially if you call it BROCCOLI! OMG that word to a kid is intimidating and gross. We never ate broccoli. We ate "Little Trees". My kids saw the plants in the garden looked like little trees so, they associated what I was cooking with something from the garden. It was the one thing they would eat... but "Only eating the leafy parts Mom, you aren't supposed to eat the tree trunk!" was Jake's declaration when he was 7. I didn't care. He was eating broccoli. Mom 1. Kid 0. :) Now cut your little trees smaller. The big chunks are too intimidating and LOOK LIKE BROCCOLI! Make them look like little trees instead!
Carrots. I called carrots "sun sticks". My kids couldn't talk as toddlers but, they understood every word out of my mouth! So I called carrots sun sticks and told the kids lepherchans collected them from the base of rainbows. They like lepherchauns so they were cool with that explaination. Once Bill was 8 we called them carrots and I used to serve them carrots cut in slices with a bit of honey. Natural and cheap and good :)
Cut your veggies to look like french fries! Why? Because kids like sticks! And with a little dip anything is edible! My favorite dairy free dip... Honey mixed with some dijon mustard. Sweet and spicy! Or some thai chili sauce with some mayonnaise! Looks like ketchupy dressing but it is a dip!
Once you have been able to sneak some extra "goodness" into their diets, try making a veggie packed chili! Corn, mushrooms, peppers, tomatoes, black beans, kidney beans and serve it with nachos. The kids will eat it like salsa and chips and BOOM you win again... please do your happy dance in the other room away from the kids so they don't know they were duped yet again!
I WANT CHIPS!!!
No problem. Here is a SUPER AWESOME trick. You know the side of your cheese grater that is a slicer... its about to get a work out! (Or use your food processor like I do, I am lazy, I admit it) Wash carrots, small beets, potatoes, sweet potatoes, yams (yes they are different from sweet potatoes) and scrub em down GOOD... no dirt or freaky things on them ok? Now thinly slice them in the processor or the cheese grater thingy, cutting them with a knife they are too thick and won't cook!
now heat up the deep fryer or oil in a deep pot on the stove (I never use more than a liter of oil at a time) and then deep fry those veggies, NO COATING just make chips.
Serve with a little dip and they will eat them! If Ty will eat them anyone will! lol
Hope these ideas help you find ways to get sneaky and out think your kiddos. There is hope! Bill and Jake are teenagers and gladly eat vegan meals with no complaining.
Happy faking folks!
My kids refused veggies. They would eat them off the vines in the garden no problem but, once on a plate it was NOT happening. Ya, kids suck when it comes to meal time. So, what's a Momma (or Dadda) to do? Get sneaky! Kids are sneaky... we all were at one point in our life so, tap into that inner child and think hmmm what would my Mom do if she was cool? (Eating veggies at gun point is never fun so you have to think coolness)
SHRED 'EM!
Yes, get out your food processor (or cheese grater if you got one) and shred those veggies and fruits! But do not do this in front of the kids!
I take zucchini's and summer squash (the yellow lookin' zukes) and I shred 'em up! I then put 1 cup or 2 per freezer bag and freeze 'em! They stay good frozen for about a year and a bit and I add this to cakes, cookies, chili, spagetti, soups... they go transparent when cooked like this and BOOM something becomes extra healthy! Chocolate cakes are amazing at hiding veggies!
Carrots... shred shred shred! I am serious! Carrots in a chocolate cake... I told my boys that it must have had "gold chocolate" in the flour of the cake! Suddenly, the cake becomes something awesome to eat. Kids react the way you react, think buried treasure/pirate but without the growling voice. lol
Broccoli. Ya, I know a lot of kids don't eat it and they won't especially if you call it BROCCOLI! OMG that word to a kid is intimidating and gross. We never ate broccoli. We ate "Little Trees". My kids saw the plants in the garden looked like little trees so, they associated what I was cooking with something from the garden. It was the one thing they would eat... but "Only eating the leafy parts Mom, you aren't supposed to eat the tree trunk!" was Jake's declaration when he was 7. I didn't care. He was eating broccoli. Mom 1. Kid 0. :) Now cut your little trees smaller. The big chunks are too intimidating and LOOK LIKE BROCCOLI! Make them look like little trees instead!
Carrots. I called carrots "sun sticks". My kids couldn't talk as toddlers but, they understood every word out of my mouth! So I called carrots sun sticks and told the kids lepherchans collected them from the base of rainbows. They like lepherchauns so they were cool with that explaination. Once Bill was 8 we called them carrots and I used to serve them carrots cut in slices with a bit of honey. Natural and cheap and good :)
Cut your veggies to look like french fries! Why? Because kids like sticks! And with a little dip anything is edible! My favorite dairy free dip... Honey mixed with some dijon mustard. Sweet and spicy! Or some thai chili sauce with some mayonnaise! Looks like ketchupy dressing but it is a dip!
Once you have been able to sneak some extra "goodness" into their diets, try making a veggie packed chili! Corn, mushrooms, peppers, tomatoes, black beans, kidney beans and serve it with nachos. The kids will eat it like salsa and chips and BOOM you win again... please do your happy dance in the other room away from the kids so they don't know they were duped yet again!
I WANT CHIPS!!!
No problem. Here is a SUPER AWESOME trick. You know the side of your cheese grater that is a slicer... its about to get a work out! (Or use your food processor like I do, I am lazy, I admit it) Wash carrots, small beets, potatoes, sweet potatoes, yams (yes they are different from sweet potatoes) and scrub em down GOOD... no dirt or freaky things on them ok? Now thinly slice them in the processor or the cheese grater thingy, cutting them with a knife they are too thick and won't cook!
now heat up the deep fryer or oil in a deep pot on the stove (I never use more than a liter of oil at a time) and then deep fry those veggies, NO COATING just make chips.
Serve with a little dip and they will eat them! If Ty will eat them anyone will! lol
Hope these ideas help you find ways to get sneaky and out think your kiddos. There is hope! Bill and Jake are teenagers and gladly eat vegan meals with no complaining.
Happy faking folks!
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