Elana's Pantry

The other day S emailed me a post about a low-starch Strawberry Shortcake recipe. It was from the blog Elana's Pantry, a gluten-free foodie blog written by a mom of two boys. I don't know how S came across it, but I was proud of him for looking to gluten-free resources for ideas on his low-starch diet. I've found them to have some great ideas every now and then. While perusing Elana's site, I was suprised with 1) how she used highly nutrient-dense foods (the way I generally shop is by judging how much nutrition I'm getting for my money), 2) how very simple the recipes are (that's the only way I cook), 3) how her kids loved what she cooked (if kids are intro'd to healthy foods simply by making it available in a pressure-free environment, they'll eat it and sometimes love it more than we do!) and 4) how in love everyone was with everything she did (WOW, YOU MEAN SIMPLE AND HEALTHY CAN BE POPULAR???).

Part of me was just dying with the thought that, you mean, I could totally be doing my own blog about these things I've learned to do so simply (cuz they wouldn't happen otherwise in my life!), and everyone would just love it!? No way!!! The other part of me was simply in love with her for having learned what she has and for sharing it with others, despite the fact it's SO OVERLY EASY. It's true she does use some fancy oils (walnut, grapeseed) and salts, but those are no problem to replace with our typical olive or canola oils. Maybe they won't be quite as tasty, but hey, she's very obviously on a different food budget than we are!

Anyway, here are some of the ideas I gleaned from Elana's Pantry. Thanks, Elana for the ideas, new and old. I'm looking forward to more of them.

How to Store and Prepare Kale This is for those of you new to kale and greens in general. . . . Greens are not something I grew up eating. S just picked them up a year or so ago for us to try out. He's come up with a couple ways of cooking them that we like, but it's time to do something else so we don't just get sick of it. He can't have cabbage anymore, so kale and whatever other greens we decide to try out now have to be the replacement for meals the whole family can enjoy.

Simple Braised Greens

Sauteed Kale

Kale with Cranberries

Lemon Kale Chips

Oven Roasted Broccoli

Chestnuts with Brussel Sprouts

Squash Fries Squash, winter squashes at least, are now officially off S's list as well--who'd a thought cabbage and winter squash had moderate amounts of starch???--but the kids and I can eat them when H gets home from school.

Acorn Squash with Cranberry Apple Stuffing

Dairy-free, Egg-free Ranch Dressing I'm guessing the vegenaisse will be more expensive than the Tofutti sour cream replacement S and I have been using to make my mom's delicious dill dip all summer. However, it would be egg-free, allowing me to actually share this with Lil'S when it's just him and me eating at lunch time. If I have to hide and sneak my food around the kids, I'm much less likely to eat it, and what's the point of that?

S just arrived home from Kroger with both kids in tow. He only left an hour ago. How does he do that???

;)

Better go--Happy Eats!

Gen Conf

If you're not watching this right now, you're missing out!
12-2 ET, 4-6 ET Sunday

But if you're not, good thing there are archives.
:)

We're having a . . .

BOY!!!

Looks like he might be a happy little guy.

See his grin?

He was certainly active. We watched him play with his umbilical cord and kick and grab his feet. There were moments where he had one hand in front of his mouth and others where he looked like he was rubbing his eyes with both hands. Near the end of the ultrasound, I started to feel sleepy in that chair, yawned a big yawn, and laid my head back to rest for a moment. Shortly after, the technician laughed and pointed out that he'd just laid his hand on his chest and laid back to take a nap. I knew how he felt!

If he does end up being a little fire-ball, I'm grateful mild-mannered Lil'S came first! I don't know what'll happen when the next one follows, but at least for now, it's going to be much easier to have a mild 2-yr-old boy and an active infant than it would be to have the reverse!

The technician tried to get a picture of him while he was grabbing his foot and again when he had both feet together at the same time, but he was too quick!

4-d

We've got another 4-d where he looks like he's rubbing his eyes with both hands.

We were worried about H's reaction if it turned out to be a boy, so the possibility of either gender was a topic we brought up a number of times with her. (She was so set on having a baby sister when we were expecting Lil'S that she started crying at his ultrasound . . . and kept crying . . . and kept crying. We certainly didn't want a repeat of that!) Right before we left for the appointment, I asked, "Hannah, what will you do if it's a boy?" Her response was fantastic: "Play monsters!" She then danced into the family room where Daddy was and sang out something like, "Daddy! If it's a boy, I'm going to play monsters with him and [Lil'S]!" She continued on about how she could run away and they could chase her.

We then all headed out the door in smiles.

What a relief!

Lil'S wasn't sure what to think about the whole thing. (He's turning 18 months on Thu, so it's a big week for him too! Hopefully I remember to get some good 18-mo pictures taken and posted.) He was a little concerned about the moving chair his Mommy was sitting in at the beginning. :) As Daddy held him during the ultrasound, he wasn't quite sure where he should be looking: at his Mommy in the chair, at the technician's computer screen, or the huge screen on the opposite wall. I don't know if he understood the whole "baby in mommy's tummy" thing. He knows about babies at least, so I think it'll sink in at some point before Little One comes. Eventually, he got down and wanted sit with Mommy, but then sister distracted him and he went off and played with her and the privacy curtain and anything else he could find while the technician took Little One's measurements and all. Gratefully there wasn't much he could get into trouble with. :)

What a fun afternoon!