Reeling it in...making better choices thankfully one day at a time!

Before I was pregnant with Liam I had been eating gluten free and reducing my sugar intake trying to do my part to keep my MS symptoms at bay. When I found out I was pregnant my DR advised me if I didn't have any real sensitivity to foods I should try eating a well balanced diet for the remainder of my pregnancy. I gladly reintroduced whole grain bread back into my balanced diet. However balance started to shift and healthy bread turned into "healthy" muffins which turned into cookies then into cake and most recently I added a piece of cheese pizza to my salad to act as the much needed croutons. At this point I decided I needed to reel in my eating! 

Last week I got a great report from my last MRI showing no new lesions and that several of my lesions had shrunk; thank you Jesus!  So I feel I should take that good news and get back on track by doing my part. Removing gluten and refined sugars has always helped combat issues with my digestive system. As well I find for myself if I remove those items as choices I choose better; more fruits, vegetables and natural whole foods!

Cher and Hurley were coming over to join me and the kids for an impromptu dinner. I grabbed some chili from the freezer and decided gluten free corn bread would be simple enough.

I just tweak my regular recipe;

1cup Tapioca flour starch

4tsp baking powder

2tbsp honey

1 tsp salt

1 cup cornmeal

2 eggs

1/4cup olive oil

1 cup milk

I mixed all the dry ingredients together first.

Added in all the wet ingredients at once and then mixed well.

I then added in chopped jalapeños and shredded old light cheddar cheese.

I baked this at 375F convection for 30 minutes.

The kids both enjoyed the cornbread!  Because of the corneal being a huge part of cornbread texture you really can't tell that it's "missing" anything. 

Happy Liam!

Two minutes later!

Sleeping Liam!

Couldn't resist!!

The next day I still had half of the cornbread left. 

Cornbread repurposed:

Jeff decided to cut thick slices of cornbread, toasted them and served it with an over easy egg and salsa; that was a delicious brunch. So delicious there was NO time for a picture. 

I decided for dinner to accompany BBQ chicken and quinoa I would make a yummy spinach salad. I toasted large chunks of the cornbread with olive oil to make tasty croutons.  This was a great way to repurpose the cornbread and a much better choice than cheese pizza as croutons!

I also did up some honey chili lime peanuts to add in. Jeff introduced me to this simple garnish a while back:

Chili flakes and lime zest in a hot skillet.

I added a teaspoon of honey and 1/2 cup of unsalted peanuts. I cooked this until the honey browned slightly and then I took it off of the heat. 

I squeezed in the juice of a half a lime and added a pinch of salt. This also stops the cooking so the honey doesn't burn.  I poured this out onto parchment so it wouldn't cool into one big clump.

I made a lime vinaigrette and served this with spinach, bell pepper, cucumber, the cornbread croutons and chili lime peanuts. Very delicious and it was the perfect accompaniment to somewhat bland quinoa!  Light and healthy can still be tasty. I'm just trying to make better choices; taking life thankfully one day at a time!

Share with Cher; Baking 101

My sister Cher is crazy! I mean that in the best possible way. 

As most days go we meet up with the kids. We amalgamate food, ideas and forces to occupy the attention of our larger than life  two+ yearolds. This being the norm there was a time when Aubrey referred to her as mama-Cher and most recently we hear the kids discussing who's mom is who's. This usually does not end civilized. 

We discussed going to mom and dads after preschool camp for a much needed kiddo nap time and then dinner. 

As shift working wives we often find ourselves together for dinner; usually at mom and dads. 

Cher suggested bringing food this time; she asked me if she should throw out unopened expired Greek yogurt. "Uh NO" we can make coffee cake. That's all I had to say and coffee cake was added to the dinner menu.

While the kids are napping the world is our oyster. I was tasked with finding the recipes; homemade burgers and coffee cake. Once I found a straight forward coffee cake recipe I couldn't even think of getting up off the couch. Cher suggested I send it to her and she'd make it.  

Little did I know the next hour I would be entertained! 

The whole process started out so promising. I would peak up from the couch into the kitchen to see what was happening.

A few questions that we're asked...

"What's granulated sugar?" White sugar.

"Another bowl, really?!"

"3/4 cup?"

"How long is this to take?"

Finally I yelled over "wow how long have you been at this??" 

She answered back "well I think I started around the time of Adam and Eve and I think I'll be wrapping this up around the time the trumpet blows!"

I heard a lot of sighing, "oh my words!", and thought i'd go see what was happening. The hand mixer was starting to smell. There was a little mishap with when to add the yogurt so it got a little thick. Crisis averted!

My dad watched with amazement! I think he had gotten 6 snacks in the time she completed making the cake.

Wow I think we set a record for dish use!

So this actually took 70minutes to bake and it tasted delicious! 

A job well done Cher! Aubs gives you a thumbs up!

Now for the burgers!

I have learned my lesson and I know my capabilities! I am not able to handle ground meat without a recipe. Meatloaf, meatballs and hamburger patties are beyond me. Cher wanted a yummy burger so that's what I googled and this is what I found. I decided to stuff it with jalepeno cheese.

I thought I'd share this tip since it was new to Cher; once I had seasoned the meat I cooked a small amount to taste and make sure the seasoning was good. You can't taste raw meat so rather than ruining the entire mixture by under or over seasoning this is a fool proof way of taste testing it.

Once the seasoning was good I wrapped the meat around the rectangles cheese I cut and flattened them to make the patties proportionate to the buns we had; always important!

And there you have it! I put those in the fridge until we were ready for them. My dad did an excellent job of BBQing.

So dinner was a success we had roasted broccoli and potato wedges to accompany the burgers. It was truly a team effort.

It's so much fun being in a family that gets along and not only that but we actually like eachother!

I am so thankful for all of my siblings and I feel very blessed that we get to do life together!

"You have to embrace the classics" Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Well we have had a very busy week full of fun and excitement. 

We got our first family pet; Goldie the gold fish!

Aubrey picked out the gravel and plant if you were wondering!

Aubrey got to go for a ride in Jeff's truck.  Jeff is getting his truck ready to sell so these will be precious memories.

Liam's had a stressful week!

Aubrey and I made homemade play dough; this was huge revelation of how easy this is to do at home.

Here's the recipe we used.

Aubrey has been at a Pre-school summer camp all week as well; Needless to say Aubrey has had a blast this week. We thought we'd make a little treat for the teachers.  They deserve it!

In thinking about what to make Jeff begged me to make a classic cookie; oatmeal raisin.

 Growing up the word raisin was considered a swear word in our house. I even remember baking a cake to take to school for my grade five Egyptian project and my dad suggested putting chocolate chips in it instead of raisins as it was suggested in the recipe! 

I actually think raisins are growing on me atleast in certain recipes.

Here's the recipe I found and I would definitly use it again.

We used sultana raisins; my favourite for baking.

We added 1 teaspoon of cinnamon and 3/4 teaspoon of nutmeg and 1/2cup of whole flax seed. These were the only variations to the recipe that we made.

We baked these at 350F for 13 minutes and let sit on the stove for a few minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. 

Here's the packages of cookies all ready to take to camp for the teachers! Aubrey had a blast making these cookies as well as eating the cookie dough!

What a great week; full of fun, laughter and family.  I am truly thankful!