Which Additives are Dangerous and Cause Behaviours?

I am glad that this topic is getting to be more and more popular.  Thanks to Food Matters, there is more awareness about how we are affected by all these "non foods".  Personally, I think this article should be titled Which Foods Should Be Banned, however it is nonetheless very interesting.
Check it out.

Which Additives Make Children Behave Badly?

Stewed Rhubarb with Vanilla Option (Dairy, Gluten and Refined Sugar Free)

     Rhubarb is an excellent source of fibre and at this time of the year, it so easy to come but organically.  It is is easy to grow and many people are willing to just give it away.
     This recipe actually comes from my mom.  She has been making stewed rhubarb for years but with refined white sugar.  Since my dad had cancer, they have dramatically been reducing their sugar intake.  This is her new and revised recipe and I did just add the vanilla option. We like to eat it as a snack, dessert or as a side dish.

Ingredients

• 4 cups washed and chopped rhubarb
• 1/4 cup water
• 5 drops liquid stevia
• 1/4 cup maple syrup or honey syrup (or to taste)
• 1 teaspoon gluten free vanilla (optional)

Directions

1. In a medium size pot combine all ingredients.
2. On medium to low heat cook rhubarb until it is soft and stringy, approximately 12-15 minutes.
3. Serve warm or cold and keep in a sealed container in the fridge or freeze.

Bell Pepper and Dill Salad (Dairy, Gluten and Sugar Free)

This is a great fresh summer salad with lots of colour and flavour.

Ingredients

• Juice of 1 lemon
• 1/4 cup fresh dill
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• sea salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 cucumber  chopped into matchstick size pieces
• 2 sweet bell peppers chopped into matchstick size pieces 

Directions

1. In a medium size bowl combine lemon, dill, olive oil, salt and pepper.
2. Add peppers and cucumber.
3. Let sit in fridge for at last on hour to soak up flavour. 
4. Serve.

Raw No Bake Energy Cookies (Dairy, Grain/Gluten, Egg Free with Refined Sugar Free Option)

It has been so hot already for May.  We wanted to make a healthy treat but didn't want to turn on the oven. My oldest daughter and I decided to just create something with whatever ingredients were in the house.  These cookies they turned out really well and can be easily adapted if desired. We will be making them more often as they make a great treat to take on the go and will give you some additional energy.

Ingredients (makes 12-15 cookies)

• 1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds or other seeds
• 1/3 cup raisins
• 1/3 cup chocolate chips (optional)
• 1 cup shredded coconut plus more for coating if desired
• 2 tablespoons ground chia seeds or flax seeds
• 2 tablespoons melted coconut oil
• 2 tablespoons raw sunflower seed butter at room temperature
• 2 tablespoons water
• 3 drops liquid stevia
• 1 teaspoon gluten free vanilla
• 1 tablespoon honey

Directions

1. In a food processor combine the sunflower seeds, raisins and chocolate chips and grind into tiny pieces. Dump into a large bowl.
2. Add all remaining ingredients into bowl and stir to combine.
3. Roll into balls and coat with coconut if desired.
4. Place in refrigerator for 1 hour to harden or freezer for 20-30 minutes.
5. Store in sealed container in fridge.

Digging in the Dirt

     As seen in some of my earlier posts, I am becoming more aware and appalled at the amount of pesticides we find on our "healthy" fruits and vegetables.  Whenever possible, I do buy organic produce and pay close attention to those on the "Dirty Dozen" list.  Unfortunately, it can be hard to find organic at times and it is of course much more expensive.
     We don't have the fortune of living in a home with enough yard to grow a proper garden, so with my mom's help, we decided to give it a try at the cottage.  I am not sure if little Peter Rabbit will make his own feast when we are not there but if so, it has been a great learning opportunity for the girls.  They are always up for an opportunity to dig in the dirt and my mom is also determined to pass down her gardening skills to her grandchildren.  Only time will tell if we will be eating our own swiss chard, kale, carrots, beets, tomatoes potatoes, squash, zucchini, and onions.

Digging some holes for the tomato plants.

Learning some tips from Oma

Watching the vegetables grow

We can only keep a two year old interested for so long.  She then began her own search for bugs.

Look at the cute little "pider", mama!

Granola Bars -Oat Free (Dairy, Gluten and Refined Sugar Free with a Nut Free Option) )

I have tried making granola bars several times but these were by the far the best, as they didn't crumble all over the place.  I did make these with nuts but you could substitute more seeds to make them school friendly.  They have been great for breakfast and or for taking as an on the go snack.

Ingredients

• 1 cup rice cereal (I like Nature's Path Crispy Rice Cereal)
• 1/2 cup shredded coconut
• 1/2 cup chopped raisins and/or prunes
• 1/2 cup chopped almonds or cashews (example pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds or hemp seeds)
• 2 tablespoons ground flax or chia seeds
• 1/2 cup honey or other natural sweeteners if vegan
• 2 tablespoons sunflower seed butter
• 1 teaspoon gluten free vanilla
• 1/4 cup gluten/dairy free chocolate chips (optional, I did not add any)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F and line a 9x9 baking dish with parchment paper.
2. In a food processor add, raisins/prunes and nuts.  Chop into smaller pieces.
3. In a pot on low heat combine, vanilla, salt, cinnamon, honey and sunflower seed butter.  Heat until soft enough to fully stir and combine.  
4. In a large bowl combine cereal, coconut, flax seeds, chocolate chips and chopped fruit/nuts mixture.
5. Pour honey and sunflower seed butter mixture over cereal and nuts bowl.  Using a wooden spoon or hands fully combine all ingredients until well coated.
6. Pour mixture into prepared pan.
7. Bake for 10 minutes then score the bars into desired sizes but cutting with a knife halfway through batter.
8. Cook another 10 minutes or until golden brown on top.
9. Fully cool and then cut into bar sizes and remove from pan.
10. Keep in sealed container in the fridge.

How Healthy Is It?

A friend of mine introduced me to this very informative website, What's On My Food?  It is an excellent tool to get an idea of how many pesticides we actually ingest.  It can be very discouraging but yet eye opening.  This is an American based website but so is a lot of our food.  What's On My Food, will break down the toxins into five categories.

• Carcinogen
• Hormone Disrupters
• Neurotoxin
• Developmental or Reproductive Toxins
• Bee Toxins

Happy reading or well maybe not so happy.  I think I will go find some more recipes with onions. 

Shepherd's Pie with Chicken and Sweet Potatoes (Dairy, Gluten and MSG Free)

Another cold and dreary days makes me crave some comfort food.  I like to make this dish with sweet potatoes and with a variety of vegetables.  I prefer to mash the potatoes with coconut oil but if you don't prefer this flavour of coconut in your potatoes you may want to use a substitute.  With enough spices I feel a broth is not needed and you therefore don't need to worry about the MSG; which is found in many types of broth/bouillon.

Ingredients (serves 6-8)

• 6 diced potatoes (I used 4 white and 2 sweet potatoes)
• 3 tablespoons non dairy milk 
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 diced onion
• 4 cloves diced garlic
• 1 pound chicken cut into bite size pieces or use ground chicken
• 3 diced carrots
• 1/2 diced mushrooms
• 1 diced zucchini
• 1 diced sweet pepper
• 2 cup chopped broccoli florets
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/2 cup peas
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon thyme
• 1 teaspoon rosemary
• 1 teaspoon parsley
• 1 teaspoon basil
• 2 tablespoon nutritional yeast (optional)

Directions

1. In a large pan with water cook potatoes with two cloves garlic until tender.  Mash with coconut oil and milk; set aside.
2. In a large pot, heat oil and cook onion until translucent.  Add garlic and cook for another minute.  
3. Add chicken and cook until no longer pink.
4. Add all remaining ingredients and cook until vegetables are tender.
5. In a large 9x13 dish or in small oven safe dishes add vegetables and meat layer on the bottom.  Add  potatoes on top.  Bake for 40-50 minutes (or until bubbling.)  I placed mine under a low broiler for 2-3 minutes as well.

Strawberry Spinach Avocado Smoothie (Dairy, Gluten and Sugar Free)

This smoothie recipe came out of our love for avocados.  We love making avocado pudding but I thought I would use them this time to thicken a smoothie.   We all enjoyed this shake which is full of vitamins A, C, K, fibre and omega 3.  

Ingredients (Serves 2)

• 2 cups non dairy milk (I used coconut milk)
• 2 handfuls spinach
• 1 cup strawberries (frozen or fresh)
• 1 avocado
• 1 teaspoon gluten free vanilla extract (or use vanilla flavoured milk)
• 1 1/2 tablespoons honey (optional)

Vegetarian Chili or is Chilli? (Dairy, Gluten Free, with BPA Free Option)

I did not grow up eating chili so it took my family awhile before we were introduced to this dish.  We have no family recipe so I will admit I have made it several times and was not pleased with the end result.  In one attempt  I accidently added cinnamon thinking  I had grabbed the cayenne.  Low and behold, I was pleasantly surprised.  So after many trials, I have finally figured out a recipe I am happy with; one that does include some cinnamon.  I prefer to make it with dried beans and fresh peeled tomatoes in order to eliminate the BPA which is often found in the cans.

Ingredients

• 1 cup dried black beans soaked and cooked (see below) or 1 large can rinsed
• 1 cup dried kidney beans soaked and cooked (see below) or 1 large can rinsed
• 1 cup dried navy beans soaked and cooked (see below) or 2 cans rinsed
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 diced onion
• 3 minced cloves garlic
• 2 stalks diced celery
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon or 2 tablespoons cocoa
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne or to taste
• 1 diced zucchini
• 1 diced bell pepper
• 1 diced or shredded carrot
• 2 diced celery stalks
• 1 jalapeno pepper (or to taste)
• 1 pound sliced mushrooms (I use cremini and/or portabello)
• 6-7 fresh peeled and diced tomatoes (see below) or 1 can diced tomatoes with juice 
• 1/2 cup uncooked quinoa (which has been soaked in water for 1 minute and then rinsed)
• 1 cup water/vegetable broth or more depending on desired consistency
• chopped cilantro

Directions

1. In a large pot or Dutch oven heat oil and cook onion until soft.  Add garlic and celery.  Cook for 1 minute.
2. Add chili powder, cumin, cayenne, sea salt, cinnamon and cayenne.  While stirring cook for 1 minute to bring out flavours.
3. Add all the beans, zucchini, bell pepper, mushrooms, tomatoes, quinoa and water.
4. Cook for 35-45 minutes on medium to low heat or until vegetables are soft.  I prefer to let it simmer for another 30 minutes to enhance the flavours.
5. Add 1/4 cup cilantro just before serving and stir into chili or have set aside to add to individual bowls.

Peeling Fresh Tomatoes

1. Boil a pot of water.
2. Put an x with a knife on the bottom of the tomatoes.
3. Place tomatoes in boiling water for 30-60 seconds.
4. Remove and place in cold water.
5. Peel and then chop if needed.

Soaking and Cooking Beans 

*I generally cook extra beans and freeze the remaining.   The method below will create approximately 4-5 cups of beans.

Option 1-soaking then boiling (more environmental, slower)

1. In a large bowl add 2 cups dry beans, rinse with water and remove any poor looking beans.  Add 6 cups fresh cold water to cleaned beans.
2. Let soak for 6-8 hours on counter.
3. Rinse beans and place in a large pot.  Add 6 cups fresh water to the pot and bring to a boil.  Tilting the lid a little let the beans simmer for 1 -2 hours depending on the bean.

Option 2- boiling then boiling again (uses more electricity, quicker)

1. In a large pot add 2 cups dry beans, rinse with water and remove any poor looking beans. 
2. Add 7 cups fresh water to cleaned pot and bring to a boil, turn off and let sit for 1 hour  
3. Rinse beans  again and add 6 cups fresh water to the pot and bring to a boil.  Tilting the lid a little let the beans simmer for 1 -2 hours depending on the bean.