Tasty Tuesday: My Son's Picks

When it come to kids meals there are some plain and simple classic favorites - chicken nuggets being one of them.  This week I am sharing my son’s favorite wheat free meals - including our take on chicken nuggets.  My son is 8 years old, all boy, and had a great heart.  He even likes to help in the kitchen to make his favorite meals.  Now... on to the recipes!  

Chicken Tenders with Sweet Potato Fries

Adapted from The Paleo Mom

Serves 4

1 lb chicken tenders (or skinless chicken breast, cut into strips)

1 egg, beaten

½ cup Almond Meal

½ teaspoon Salt

¾ teaspoon Paprika

¼ teaspoon Garlic powder

¼ teaspoon Ground Cumin

Directions

1.  Preheat oven to 425F.  Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Combine almond meal with spices on a plate or shallow dish.  Place beaten egg in a separate shallow dish.
3. Dry chicken with paper towel.  Dip in egg then dip in almond meal mixture, coating all sides.  Place on baking sheet.  Repeat until all chicken tenders are coated.
4. Bake for 16-18 minutes, turning once in the middle of baking, until completely cooked (interior temperature should read 180F).  I like to then turn the broiler on low and give them a little toasting to get them crispier. 

Sweet Potato “Fries”

 Serves 4         

2 Medium to large sweet potatoes

EVOO

Salt & Pepper, to taste

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 450*.
2. Peel potatoes and slice into ¼ inch strips to look like fries.
3. Toss sliced potatoes in EVOO to coat.
4. Place in a single layer on a cookie sheet.
5. Bake until tender and golden, about 20 minutes, turning once.

We often eat these with Simply Heinz ketchup - which has no high fructose corn syrup, and/or honey mustard.  

Hawaiian Meatballs over Rice

Adapted from Ready Set Eat

Serves 4

1 can (8 oz each) crushed pineapple in juice, divided

1 cup Weber’s BBQ sauce, divided

1 pound lean ground beef

2 cups cooked brown rice

¼ teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 green bell pepper, chopped

Directions:

1. Stir together half the pineapple and 3/4 cup barbecue sauce in small bowl; set aside.
2.  Mix remaining pineapple, remaining 1/4 cup barbecue sauce, beef, 1/4 cup rice, salt and pepper in large bowl until well blended.
3. Shape mixture into 24 meatballs, about 1-1/4 inches each. Place in large skillet sprayed with cooking spray; spoon sauce mixture over meatballs.
4. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Stir gently and cover. Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer 16 to 18 minutes or until meatballs are cooked through (160°F).
5. Add chopped green pepper to remaining rice, and set aside.  It helps if the rice is still warm to soften the green pepper slightly.  

 Serve meatballs and sauce over rice.

In making this recipe I searched far and wide for a BBQ sauce that did not have any high fructose corn syrup or added flavors.  I am please to say the Weber brand does not only NOT have high fructose corn syrup, but it is also gluten free.

Enjoy!

Mindset: It Can Take You Far

Mindset.  It’s not a word I understood or thought of very often.  I had heard of positive thinking, the “I think I can, I think I can”, and thought this was mindset.  But two years ago I read the book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol Deweck.  What I learned is mindset is so much more.  It’s a feeling, a choice, something that can be cultivated to change and to grow, and it is something I now think of every day.

So what is mindset?  Well, according to Dekweck when it comes to mindset you fall into one of two types – a fixed mindset, or a growth mindset.  How you see the world, how you view success and failure, and your reactions to stressful situations can help you identify your current mindset.  A fixed mindset feels like a victim, and feels they are as smart as they are ever going to be.  Things happen to you, and you have no control over them.  A growth mindset is different.  In a growth mindset you see the opportunities to learn and grow – to become better.  You learn from your mistakes and don’t dwell on them, always moving forward.

While reading Mindset I was surprised to learn I was more of a fixed mindset.  I believed I was as smart as I would ever be, and if I didn't know something I felt I wasn't smart.  When I was younger I really didn't participate in sports.  Looking back it was my fixed mindset that held me back.  If I couldn't just go out there and win, and know all the right stuff, then I didn't want to participate.  The idea of practice and hard work were things I knew, but not something I thought I needed to do.  Being good at sports was “natural”, or not.  But I changed my mindset.   I have developed a love and passion for running.   When I first started running in 2010 I couldn't even run half a mile without stopping or feeling wiped out.  If I had kept my fixed mindset I probably would have ended up hating running, and quitting before I even got started.  Focusing on growing as a runner helped change the way I look at things.  I have gotten to be a better by putting in the time to train, including some grueling speedwork, and reading about what it takes to be a good runner.  I now know that it does take hard work and there are so many pieces that come together to be a good runner, and one of the most important aspect of running for me is mental. (But that is a whole other post in itself)  Now I can run 13.1 miles, non-stop, and in under two hours – quite the accomplishment – all because I changed my mindset and decided to learn and grow.

So how do you change your mindset?  You have to make a commitment to yourself to think positive and learn from situations.   The next time you are faced with a situation and you feel the negative talk in your head or feel that something is happening to you, stop.  Think about how you want to approach this situation.  You have a choice to do as you always have done, and most likely get the same result.  Or, you can grow, challenge, and stretch yourself.  Step out of your comfort zone.  Once you've analyzed the situation, and thought about how you want to respond, make a choice.  It won’t always be easy to respond with a growth mindset.  But like anything else a little practice will make it easier and easier over time.

 I am happy to say that my mindset has improved, but is still a work in progress.  I am now more focused and open to learning new things, to putting in the hard work needed to grow, and to be successful on my own terms.  I am still a perfectionist, and have a fear of failure, but I don’t let it paralyze me or hold me back.   My focus now is on the effort I put into something, and how I can become a better person by learning and growing outside my comfort zone.

Tasty Tuesday: My Daughter’s Picks

An important aspect of us and our kids going mostly wheat free is to make food the kids like. Recently I asked them to share with me some of what their favorite foods are.  This week I am posting my daughter’s two favorites: banana pancakes, and tomato-pea salad.   I wouldn't recommend eating them at the same time.  The banana pancakes are from a recipe I found on Pinterest, and have become a family favorite; we not only enjoy these pancakes for breakfast, but also some times for dinner, along with a side of bacon or sausage.  The original recipe calls for gluten free oats.  However, since we do not have a need to be strict gluten free, we use the regular old fashioned oats.  On to the recipe…

Banana ­Oat Blender Pancakes

Adapted from Mountain Mama Cooks

Serves 4

2 cups gluten free oats

1 1/4 cups unsweetened vanilla almond milk

1 large ripe, banana

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 heaping tablespoon honey

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 large organic egg

Coconut oil or butter for cooking

Directions:

1.      Place all ingredients, except egg and coconut oil in the base of a blender and blend until smooth. Add egg and pulse a few times until egg is fully incorporated.
2.      Heat a griddle or large sauté pan over medium heat and melt a teaspoon or two of coconut oil.
3.      When hot, pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake.
4.      Brown on both sides (about 2­3 minutes per side) and serve hot with maple syrup.

  

*If batter becomes too thick to pour easily, add a tablespoon or two of almond milk to thin.

This next recipe is one of my daughter’s favorites for lunch or an afterschool snack.  This tomato-pea salad also goes well on top of a bed of greens, or as a nice summer side dish.

Tomato – Pea Salad

From GreenLiteBites

Serves 2 – 4

1 can organic chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1 pint grape tomatoes, halved

25 large basil leaves, chopped

3 cloves of garlic, minced

1 Tablespoon red wine vinegar

1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar

2 teaspoon olive oil

1/2 Tablespoon honey

Pinch of salt

Toss all ingredients together and chill for at least 20 minutes, allowing all the flavors to merge.          

How Our Kids Ended Up Mostly Wheat Free

It was hard enough for my husband and I to become mostly wheat free.  But our change also affected our children, who were 7 and 5 at the time.  Since we eat as a family for most meals, and I make one meal for everyone, the kids naturally started to eat less wheat.  To make the shift to wheat free easier it was best not to have any wheat products in the house.  We no longer bought bread (including waffles, bagels, and donuts), crackers, or pasta.   Instead we stocked up on veggies, nuts, fruits, and other whole foods.  Rice cakes and popcorn became snack staples early on.  As our kids eventually ate more vegetables, nuts, and fruits they stopped asking for cereal, goldfish, or other processed snacks and foods they used to love.  The rule in our house became if you are hungry between meals you can have as many vegetables and nuts that you want.  We have since refined this a little to be most vegetables, and a small amount of nuts – as we have learned it is possible to have too many nuts.  If there is something that they want – like banana bread – we now make it in healthier way using almond or coconut flour.

One of the biggest challenges in the beginning was breakfast.  Cereal and toast were so easy.  Now what?  When we stopped buying cereal the kids would search and search for something that they recognized as breakfast.  There would even be frequent outburst of “I wish you guys didn't read that stupid book!”  At times I wondered why we were doing this, and if it would make a difference for them.   From what we had learned, eating less when was the right thing, so we pushed on.  Breakfast became a rice cake topped with peanut butter, banana, and a sprinkle of cinnamon, or a bowl of oatmeal with berries, nuts, and a drizzle of honey.  While those are better choices compared to cereal and toast, they got boring quickly.  We soon began to think out of the box.  Breakfast has become more about what do we feel like eating.  Some days breakfast is eggs and bacon or oatmeal, other days it’s a salad with lunch meat, or celery sticks with peanut butter.  Our kids think it’s fun to have other foods for breakfast – and not stick with the traditional breakfast foods.

My son's lunch

Lunch was also a challenge at first too.  Our kids liked to have grilled cheese, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, or macaroni and cheese for lunch.  Our daughter even got hooked on Ramen noodles – this was the food item she asked for the longest.  Packing school lunch was easy with these quick convenience foods; even the Ramen noodles went to school in a thermos.  When we stopped buying bread and noodles there was some resistance for reading that “stupid book”.  In the beginning lunch was fruit and a granola bar like usual, but getting some protein in there seemed harder.  Cheese sticks, yogurt, and beans became part of their normal lunches.  On the weekends and no-school days lunch wasn't much easier, and once again I had to remember why we made this change, and look to the Internet and Pinterest for help.  Today lunches are still the most difficult for me, but include many more choices.  Our kids eat tuna or egg salad, other various salads, fruit, carrots, nuts, protein bars, rolled up lunch meat, soup, or beans for lunch.  There is still as occasional request for Ramen noodles, but not a fight over them.  She even loves spaghetti squash with meat sauce now, and takes this for lunch on occasion.

It’s been two and a half years since we got rid of most of the wheat.  Over time we all noticed differences in how we felt that we didn't realize were connected to the foods we ate.  Over the past year we realized that our daughter has a sensitivity to milk products.  After cutting out wheat we began to see a pattern of stomach pain, bloating, and congestion after she ate dairy.  Yogurt was great as a snack, cheese sticks were good for packing lunches, and of course many meals are just better when topped with cheese.   Realizing that dairy might be causing some of what our daughter was feeling we deiced to remove all milk products as well.  Now our daughter does not have belly pains or stomach bloat and could not be happier.  She knows what she feels like when she has dairy – so much so that she self-regulates when it comes to dairy products.  She does eat some dairy at time, but not very often.   We are not concerned about her bone health because she gets a lot of calcium and vitamin D from eating vegetables, beans, and fish.

Another notable time when our kids notice a difference in how food makes them feel is when they visit grandma’s house.  We realize not everyone is wheat free, and do not rule with an iron fist when it comes to what the kids eat when not at home.  However, they have learned on their own.  A few times after visiting grandma and having a donut, cookies, or pizza they have had an upset stomach, headache, or became moody.  We gently remind them of how they ate differently, and now they feel this way.  While they don’t want to believe us they test this theory on occasion.  However, they are starting to see the connection and choose to either avoid the foods completely or not over-indulge and be satisfied with just one or two bites.

While it seemed like hell at times, we made it through.  There is still an occasional outburst of “I wish you guys didn't read that stupid book!”  But as a family we have come a long way.  Sticking to what we learned and enforcing the mostly wheat free lifestyle has paid off, and it has become second nature to grab a handful of baby carrots, snow peas, or celery with nut butter as a snack. Our kids have adjusted just fine, and actually choose vegetables, fruits, and nuts on their own.  We feel better than we have in the past now that we have made the connection between what we put in our mouths and how it makes us feel.