4th of July and other adventures

My parents have been on vacation for almost 2 weeks, so we've been out and about even more than usual.

Here are some of the meals I've remembered to photograph:

blueberries, hummus, Lentil Crackers, potato salad, grilled corn

Asian pear slices, baby carrots, green beans, Tomato and Mozzarella Pasta al Forno, Udi's Whole Grain Bread with butter

Melon balls, baby cucumbers, beans, quesadillas, cottage cheese

For my dad's birthday I made Gluten Free cake! Turned out really  well and super yummy :)

My uncle Ben and aunt Connie came to visit from California, so we had a great weekend. We didn't do much for the 4th of July, though. Just grilled some burgers and corn and ate some of my uncle Ben's delicious potato salad. Good, low-key day :)

Hummus
1 15 oz. can chickpeas (or 2 cups cooked chickpeas), drained - reserve liquid
1 Tbs. Tahini
1 Tbs. lemon juice
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
2 garlic cloves
Salt to taste

Place all ingredients in food processor and add reserved garbanzo liquid until preferred consistency is achieved. Season with salt to taste.



Potato Salad*
Cooked potatoes
Hardboiled eggs
Pickles
Finely diced onion
Finely diced celery
Vegenaise
Mustard
Salt and pepper

Mix everything together and refrigerate until ready to eat.

*I don't give any quantities because we just "wing it" every time depending on how many people are going to be eating. It's all pretty much to taste anyway :)

I'm back!

I've sort of been neglecting this blog, but we've been busy with family. This past week we've been going to walk/ride bikes every morning at 6:30 for a couple of hours. The weather is absolutely beautiful! The kids are up anyway, so we might as well go. Well, David doesn't go because he goes in to work at 7:30...but my parents are on vacation so we've been going together along with my Aunt Debbie (my dad's youngest sister), Uncle Sem (dad's younger brother), and my grandma (dad's mom). Fun times.

Here's Levi in the bike trailer. His snacks are some blueberries and Honey Nut Chex.

Here's what he had for lunch....I think on Friday? Can't even remember. But he ate this at some point last week: Red apricots, Ian's Chicken Nuggets with ketchup, zucchini with corn, rice with saffron

Last week I also made gluten free bread. This is the recipe I always use.

In other news, Sophie can now sport a tiny ponytail :)

Zucchini with Corn

3 Roma tomatoes, grated on a cheese grater

1 medium onion, diced

1 garlic clove, minced

4 zucchinis, cut into chunks

2 cups of frozen corn kernels

1 jalapeno, washed

Salt and pepper to taste

In a large skillet, heat some olive oil and cook onion until translucent. Add garlic, tomatoes, zucchini, and jalapeno*.  Continue cooking until zucchini is almost tender. Add corn, salt and pepper. Cover and cook until zucchini and corn are cooked completely. 

* Add the jalapeno WHOLE. It just gives flavor without making it spicy. If you do like it spicy (like we do!) dice another jalapeno and cook it with the onion. 

Busy!

Ok, so I didn't take pictures of food today. Ha. I honestly can't even remember what he had for breakfast. For lunch, though, we went to eat at Gloria's Restaurant for the first time and had a great gluten free experience. Ok, to be fair, I don't really know if everything we ate was really gluten free....because I didn't ask. BUT, I made sure everything we ordered was as plain as possible and no reactions so far. Yay :)

Good thing Levi can't read menus yet because I know for sure he would have wanted the chicken tenders. On a tangent, it's so annoying that kids menus are full of gluten. What's with that? Cheeseburgers, nuggets, chicken tenders, mac and cheese. Ugh. This one had one option, though! Yay! Levi had a grilled chicken breast with french fries....I know, no veggies, that's another "kid menu" annyoance....

I had possibly the most delicious fish I've eaten in my life: Pescado Acajutla. SO good! For dessert we had vanilla and chocolate flan. My absolute favorite dessert.

So I definitely give this restaurant a HUGE thumbs up. The food was delish and I found plenty of food Levi and I could eat. Definitely recommend!

Bittersweet

So my paternal grandfather passed away last night. We all have heavy hearts but cling to the blessed hope of being reunited again. Far beyond the sun...

On the "sweet" side, we had a wonderful weekend. Sophie was dedicated by her grandfather, we enjoyed beautiful music at church and wonderful company for lunch. Sunday was busy. We had a special brunch at home to celebrate father's day and also our anniversary! Yay for 6 years! In the evening we went to the Fort Worth Botanic Gardens for concerts in the garden. We had a fabulous time despite not being able to enjoy fireworks to to high winds. Boo. A great time was still had by all  :)

In other news, Sophie had her 6 month appointment today! She's 17 lbs and 26 inches long. Growing well and meeting all her milestones. Great appointment. Her pedi talked to me about keeping her gluten free - what did I think? I'm not going to risk it, so she'll be gluten free too. No biggie, it's not like she eats much anyway. All fruits and veggies are gluten free, thankfully, so she can eat normally.

Oh, and as a side not, she also got her shots. She did so well! Screamed for less than a minute, then she was all smiles. Brave girl :)

Levi has now been gluten free for an entire week. It was pretty easy, honestly, because we usually eat naturally gluten free anyway - mostly whole foods, not too many processed items. The biggest changes were his crackers. He LOVES Wheat Thins and Triscuits. Poor guy, I think that was his biggest bummer. Although he also really likes the crackers I gave him, so it helped him get over it :)

Here are some pictures of our fun weekend:

Sophie's Dedication

Marissa, Me, Krystal - He Knows My Name

Levi playing with my cousins Brandon and Paola

They turned the office into a bounce house....

We got them to sit still with Veggie Tales :)

After her shots

Today's lunch - pasta salad, goat cheese, blueberries, hazelnut Nut Thins

Pasta Salad

16 oz. cooked and cooled elbow macaroni (we use Tinkyada or Bionature)

Half of a red bell pepper, finely diced

Half of a yellow bell pepper, finely diced

1/4 of a red onion, finely diced

1 cup sliced black olives (or to taste)

1 stalk celery, finely diced

Half a bottle Italian Dressing OR Caesar Vinagrette (this is what we always use)

Combine all ingredients and refrigerate until ready to eat. 

Day 3

I'm really hating these super hot days. We haven't been able to go outside too much because it's scorching by noon! Good thing Levi likes puzzles. They keep him occupied for hours.

So this weekend Eva will be dedicated! David's parents will be here and his dad will be doing the honors. My baby cousin, Liam, is also being dedicated by my grandfather Sabbath afternoon so we will have a lot of family over! As excited as I am about everyone being here, I'm also a tiny bit nervous about all the extra people who like feeding toddlers.

I don't think anyone will give him gluten maliciously, but if you're not very familiar with the issue you might not even realize how many things contain gluten. It's easy to weed out the obvious: bread, pasta, cookies, cakes, basically anything made with flour. But the hidden stuff is hard: soy sauce, condensed soups, some seasonings, gravies, etc. I really hope we make it through the weekend unscathed!

Breakfast: Brown rice cereal with blueberries, sliced apples, hardboiled egg, milk

Snack: Chobani Blueberry Yogurt

Lunch: Jasmine Rice, garbanzos, corn, blueberries, cherry tomatoes, Potato Cracker Thins

Snack: Apple Juice

Dinner: Quesadilla, cottage cheese, beans, baby cucumbers, melon balls

We also had a some overripe bananas that no one was going to eat, so I made some gluten free banana bread. Yum.

Fresh out of the oven 

Day 2

Breakfast: Oatmeal with cranberries, sliced strawberries, garbanzos, milk

Snack: Apple

Lunch: Curry with cauliflower and chicken, jasmine rice, cherry tomatoes, pineapple, baby cucumbers

Snack: Chobani Pomegranate Yogurt

Dinner: Egg salad, Hazelnut Nut-Thins, Kumquats, red and yellow peppers, milk

Just in case you're wondering, Levi does eat all that food! Sometimes he asks for seconds, especially the fruits and veggies. I can ALWAYS count on him eating whatever fruit or veggie I give him. Proteins...maybe. Grains? Not so much. Unless it's rice. He likes rice :)

Egg Salad

2 Hard boiled eggs

1/4 cup vegenaise (you can, of course, use regular mayo)

1 to 2 Tbs. sliced green olives

1 tsp. mustard

salt and pepper to taste. 

Mash or use a cheese grater to grate eggs and combine with remaining ingredients. 

*This is a very basic recipe. I sometimes add very finely chopped onion, celery, or red bell peppers. It's always yummy :)

Day 1

Fortunately, Levi is a great eater. I can't really think of any food he doesn't like, and he'll usually try anything new we offer. I try to make all his meals as balanced as possible, so you will notice most of his plates will include a protein, grain, veggie, and fruit. 

Breakfast:  Sliced strawberries, Greek Gods Honey Strawberry Yogurt, Vans mini waffles, a scrambled egg, and milk. 

Snack: Horizon Strawberry Milk

Lunch: Pineapple, red and yellow peppers with broccoli, ranch dip, rice, oatmeal patties. 

Snack: He didn't really have a snack. He slept most of the afternoon (he didn't sleep well last night) and when he woke up he just wanted some milk. Which is strange since he doesn't usually ask for that. Anyway, he had maybe half a box of Horizon Chocolate Milk. 

Dinner: Cherry tomatoes, mango, arroz con leche, Udi's Cinnamon Raisin Bread with strawberry cream cheese.