GF Chicken Tenders

• Organic hormone-free chicken cutlets cut up in 1'' x 2'' squares
  
• Canola oil (since this is the only one that the little one, is not allergic too)
• 1 tsp celery salt and paprika (safe seasonings for Ellie - but I am sure there are better tasting ones!)
• GF bread crumbs (basically just roughly milled brown rice)

In a large sauce pan completely heat oil, about 1/4 inch high, on high heat. In two seperate plates, or bowls, add oil and seasonings into one and the "bread crumbs" in the other. Cover chicken pieces first into oil and then cover with "bread crumbs". Place into pan and cook for about 1-2 min. per side. Place onto plate with paper towel til cool.
I think next time I might try Rice Chex chopped in the blender instead of the GF bread crumbs and maybe even baked in oven instead?

Rice Milk

So I haven't found a milk substitute that Ellie can eat. Since all of the "milks" have safflower and or sunflower oil, and some have xanthium gum, and some vanilla... so, I decided to make my own. SO much cheaper with none of that added oil etc...

• 1/2 cup of cooked brown rice
• 4 cups of water
• 1/2 tsp sea salt

*optional, 2 tsp of raw organic cane sugar or agave nectar

In a large sauce pan place cooked rice with 4 cups of brown rice, bring to a boil, simmer and cover for 20 min. Poor into blender and mix on high for about 60 sec. Let sit for 20 min. You can play with the consistency, more or less rice, depending on your preference. You can add a tsp of vanilla (but Ellie is allergic, so its eliminated). Store in a glass jar. Should be good for about 10 days.
You can easily double the recipe according to your needs.
Before pouring into glass jar, you may want to pour through a small sieve or folded cheese cloth.

Ellies Food Allergies.

My new life style (diet) was taking all my focus and that is where 80% of my energy was going. Life threw me a curve ball the other day when I found out that my youngest has an astronomical amount of food allergies! After the 2 weeks of "detoxing" all of the foods that were positive, we will go through months of testing each of the foods, and spices out to see what ones are effecting her way of life. The foods that are being eliminated from her diet are; Corn (syrup, starch, popcorn... you get the idea), soy (in ALL its many forms), wheat, yeast (no beer for her!), casein (dairy), Eggs, safflower (this is in everything! including rice milk!), sunflower, huge list of fruit - so here are her yeses on fruit; apples, bananas and strawberries. ALL nuts, peanuts, "gums" (agin-everything!), pepper -cayenne and black, cumin, dill, ginger, nutmeg, mustard, parsley, sesame, vanilla, chocolate, beans - string, kidney, lima, navy, pinto, peas, carrots, mushrooms, olives and olive oil, onion, green peppers, potato, sweet potato, tomato, cucumbers, avocado, lentils, bay leaf, sage, thyme, and basil.... blah, blah, blah!

So what in the heck do you feed this poor child?

Not sure where my blog is going to go? Since Ellie's diet is a lot more restricting than mine, and because it is so limiting, I may find myself cooking things such as meat, and even using some sugars to keep a little one happy. So please dont find me hypocritical. Just trying to survive. Now my energy is 100% refocused.

Thai Tofu Coconut Curry

Ingredients:

1/4 cup dry shredded baking-type coconut, unsweetened
*1 package firm tofu, drained and cut into cubes (omit if tofu is too much for your diet)
1+ 3/4 cups vegetable stock
1/2 to 2/3 can coconut milk
6 lime leaves (purchase frozen at Asian/Chinese food stores)
1/2 cooking onion, diced or roughly chopped
4 cloves garlic,minced
2 thumb-size pieces ginger, thinly sliced into matchstick-like pieces
1-3 tsp. [vegetarian] Thai chili sauce OR 1/2 to 1 tsp. dried crushed chili or cayenne pepper, to taste
3 Tbsp. vegetarian fish sauce (or regular fish sauce if non-vegetarian) - OR substitute **gluten-free tamari sauce
juice of 1/2 lime
1 small sweet potato or yam, peeled and cubed
1 cup cauliflower, cut into florets
generous handful fresh shiitake mushrooms, sliced or left whole if small
1 red bell pepper, de-seeded and chopped into bite-size pieces
approx. 1 cup snow peas, left whole or cut in half
handful cherry tomatoes
1/2 cup fresh cilantro
optional: approx. 1 cup eggplant chopped into bite-size pieces or slices
2 Tbsp. olive oil for stir-frying
Preparation:

Place shredded coconut in a dry wok or large frying pan over medium heat. Stir continuously until the coconut is nicely toasted. Place toasted coconut into a bowl to cool.
Replace wok or frying pan on the stove. Add 2 Tbsp. vegetable oil plus the onion, garlic, and ginger. Stir-fry 1-2 minutes, or until onion begins to soften and the garlic is fragrant.
Turn heat up to high. Add Tofu, cook for 5 min. Add stock plus lime leaves, chili sauce, and most of the toasted coconut (reserve 1 to 1+1/2 Tbsp. for garnish). Stir everything together.
Add the sweet potato (or yam) and cauliflower. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium. Simmer 2-3 minutes.
Add the mushrooms, eggplant (if using), and tofu, stirring to incorporate. Cover and simmer 2 more minutes.
Add the bell pepper, snow peas, and tomaotes, and simmer 2-3 minutes, or until snow peas have softened but are still bright green.
Turn heat down to low and add the coconut milk plus the [veg] fish sauce or soy sauce, stirring to dissolve. Add up to 2/3 of the can of coconut milk or more, depending on how creamy or how much sauce you want with your curry.
Remove from heat and do a taste-test for salt and spice, adding more [veg.] fish sauce, Tamari or salt. Add more chili if you prefer it spicer.
To serve, scoop the curry onto individual plates or into serving bowls. Top with fresh coriander and a sprinkling of the reserved toasted coconut. Accompany with plenty of Thai jasmine rice.
ENJOY!
*Tofu is soy, in this form it is OK, once in a while. Just watch how you feel afterwords.
**Tamari sauce is a purer form of say sauce, this too should be ok in small, once in awhile doses.

Wheat & Endometriosis

Why no wheat? I gave up certain foods in stages, 1st was meat, then sugars, dairy then wheat. Several days after I gave up wheat, I noticed the biggest improvement in my pain and bowel habits. I even can say that I was almost symptom free! (80% of woman who give up wheat have been able to alleviate a lot of their symptoms ) I caved the other day while making mac-n-cheese for the kids, I had a bite leaving me with several days of sever cramping and very painful #2's! Enough so, that I will be sure not to make that same mistake. A large group of woman with endometriosis ARE wheat intolerant. Also many of "us" suffer from candida growth - as wheat feeds the growth of yeast. So, I highly recommend - if you pick and choose your endo-diet, wheat alone can make a significant difference.

Side Note: I was talking to a girlfriend of mine, a fellow endometriosis sufferer and she was telling me about her experience with the hormone shot. "I have had 2 series of Lupron Depot and I was SO miserable with the side effects, like hot-flashes and moodiness that I didn't even notice if it helped my endometriosis!"
Hormone shots may be the answer for some, so please make sure you know all there is to know before you make that decision.

Salmon

Although there is no recipe for this particular entree (right from the freezer). Just wanted to throw something easy and very healthy in here for the days that you just don't have time to cook. For those who are on the endo diet, or ones similar, fish high in omega fatty acids are very important for our diet, anyone's for that matter. Eating salmon and fresh tuna no more than once a week (due to mercury scare) will benefit us greatly. So easy to prepare and the whole family is excited (my kids rave when this is made)! And if you are lucky to have leftovers - perfect over a fresh bed of lettuce for lunch!
The Brand is Morey's Marinated Wild Alaskan Salmon, freezer section at Costco.
Just follow baking directions on back.
Serve over brown rice, mangoes (or any fruit) and a nice salad.

Banana Date Cookies

I honestly ate the WHOLE batch! I did 1/2 a cup of dates and 1/2 cup of carob chips (I have yet to find carob chips, or any for that matter, that are soy -free, so use at your own discretion!) just to help entice my kids... but they never even got to try them. I ate them for breakfast, snack and dessert! Another idea, add walnuts- or other nuts!

3 mashes bananas
2 cups of rolled oats
1 cup of dates (the dates really add a nice flavor)
1/3 cup of sunflower or olive oil
1 tsp. vanilla

Bake @ 350* for 20min.

SO easy to make!

Chips!

Kale Chips
What makes these chips truly satisfying is the crunch! The sound they make as you are biting into them makes these a perfect snack.
Simple to make!

• 1 bunch of kale cut into bite size pieces washed and dried
  
• misto spray with olive oil
• sea salt

Has any of you seen the MISTO spray bottle. Ingenious! I found mine at TJ MAXX. Just fill the bottle 1/2 way and pump it with air, ready to spray on anything! Great replacement for those chemical "PAM" sprays.

preheat oven to 350*, spread kale onto baking pan. Spray with olive oil and add sea salt to taste. Bake for about 15 min or crisp.
Serve. Yum!

Hot Pink Smoothie

Thanks Kaila for this recipe!
I added a banana, flax seed, and about a 1/3 cup of oats - to sustain me a little longer.

1 ½ cups coconut liquid (best raw, or from a can, both can be found at Asian markets) - I didn't have this on hand so I used coconut dream

1 large carrot (or 5-6 baby carrots)

1/4 of a medium beet, raw, peeled

¼ cup cashews

4-5 dates

2 tsp. vanilla

12 frozen strawberries (I only had 7, so I added wild blueberries)

optional: 1-2 Tbsp. hemp protein or SunWarrior fermented brown-rice protein powder

optional: 2 Tbsp. kefir or yogurt

Puree all ingredients except strawberries and hemp protein in BlendTec for 90 seconds.

Add strawberries and puree on high until smooth. Add hemp protein for the last 5

seconds.

Notes:

Raw beets are an excellent blood purifier, coconut liquid is packed with minerals and

electrolytes. Makes one quart, a 450-calorie breakfast that has 4 servings of fruits

and vegetables, 15 percent plant protein, and good fats in the cashews.

Homemade Refried beans & Tacos

I want to thank my family for all their support in this crazy new life style. Christian requested Tacos tonight for dinner, so here it goes...

Refried Beans:

• 1 lb bag of pinto beans
• 1 small onion
• 5 garlic cloves
• 1 tbls olive oil
• 2 tsp cumin
• 1 tbls chili powder

Directions:
Cook beans according to directions on bag. Once they have boiled add chopped onions and garlic, replace lid until beans are soft. Drain beans reserving liquids. Place beans in a food blender and chop/smash till desired texture. In sauce pan heat olive oil and add seasonings and beans, add enough liquid to keep the beans moist. Add sea salt to taste.

Tacos & Toppings:

• Corn tacos (double check ingredients some may have soy or other unwanted ingredients)

Of course, add what ever toppings you like, here are some I like:

• Chopped tomatoes
• avocado/guacamole
• cilantro
• diced red onions
• chopped red lettuce
• plain Greek yogurt (I did cheat here, but a great sub for sour cream, and I feel it is better than the soy dairy replacements they have)
• Fresh squeezed lime over the top

Enjoy!