Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Best Juice I've Tried So Far

This juice brand is becoming more popular and popular. But I don't know about kids. Kids love super sweet juice. But they only need natural sugars that come from eating fruits and vegetables. If you check the sugar content in juices like Caprisun, Mott's & any other juice in the regular grocery store you'll find 24 -30 grams of sugar in it. I personally don't give my children packed juice in their lunch bags. All they have is water. My son happens to be taking probiotics as part of his treatment. As much as I want to avoid giving him juice, I have no other way of bringing this probiotics into his stomach but to mix it with juice. Only then do I use Honest Kids which has only 10 grams of sugar in it to fulfill this part of treatment.
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Yeast Free Pizza

I got the recipe from Special Diet for Special Kids 1. I've been thinking about making the pizza crust for a very long time and I'm glad I did today. This pizza crust is made out of chickpea flour and sweet rice flour. After 15 minutes in the oven, I got it out & tried it. It taste very good and can be a substitute for bread as per my opinion. My son ate a piece and I think he loved it. He was too busy watching the dvd on his player that he just kept eating. I don't know yet if he will have a second time on this pizza. But as for me, it was awesome good.

Ingredients:
1 cup Chickpea flour
1/2 cup Sweet Rice
2 TBL Vegetable or Olive Oil
2 tsp Baking powder
1/2 tsp Garlic Powder (I use garlic salt instead & skip the salt)
1/2 cup Water
To taste Salt

Combine all ingredients together. Mix thoroughly and spread into a large pizza pan or greased cookie sheet. Add toppings prior to baking. Preheat oven at 450 degrees. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until crust is brown and toppings are cooked. For my son, I don't usually put toppings for he only likes marinara sauce or tomatoe sauce. Makes it easier for me.

Sunday, May 3, 2009

Pansit Using Rice Noodles

My son has been asking me for "moodles", his way of saying noodles and I have just discovered this Thai Kitchen Stir Fry Rice Noodles at Whole Foods Market. Well, the main ingredients are basically the same except for some substitution of the regular soy sauce we use.

Ingredients:
Rice Noodles
Carrots
Cilantro
Green beans
Pork/Chicken (can be mixed together)
Celery
Onion slices
Garlic/Garlic Salt
Tamari Sauce/La Choy (my son is on a mild yeast free diet so I try to avoid this stuff)
Chicken broth or chicken bouillion (some people use GF Chicken bouillion, I don't because I try to avoid yeast and MSG)

If I am in a hurry, I use 365 Organic Thai Stir Fry Mixed Veggies. They are awesome!! I like the way they mixed the onion into it. It makes it easier for me to skip a step.

Saute onion, garlic and pork/chicken. Throw the veggies into the pan and stir. Put the rice noodles. Pour in the broth and garlic salt to taste. Once veggies are cooked, leave a little bit of liquid/broth to allow the rice noodles to expand and suck in some of it.(so as not to make the pansit dry)
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Saturday, May 2, 2009

Spring Cleaning Now That It's Allergy Season




Six months ago, I stopped buying household cleaning supplies from the store. I came to realize how toxic they are in human bodies even though they work really fast in getting read of germs & stains inside my house. I admit using them every single week to clean my sink, windows, toilet bowls & tub because they are really super heroes to me. But not anymore..

My husband & my kids have allergies that can be worst at times especially during this time of the year. I still remember the time when I took a day off to relax at home away from kids (they were in school). An hour after my husband dropped them off to school, the teacher called me and asked that I pick up my son for he had a severe allergy reaction... to what?? She said he has not eaten anything and they just came out to the playground and he started having this hives like thing all over his body. I figured it must be the tree or pollen..I don't know. Seeing my son with his face swelling made me realize how fragile they could be when exposed to this elements. And that I have to start getting read of all harmful chemicals at home which means changing almost completely everything over to more environmentally friendly cleaning products. Of the estimated 80,000 synthetic chemicals in our environment, only a fraction of them have been tested for safety. That makes me worry about the long-term impact of chronic exposure.

Organic Housekeeping

I'd like to share to some of my new found best friends in the kitchen and everywhere in the house with you. I hope that you will make use of them not only to protect your family but also for our mother Earth. This is part of my contribution to help green the earth, recycle and save.

Sweat stains-soak shirt in vinegar before washing them
Leather furniture-use glycerin-based liquid saddle soap
Hard woven/wicker-scrub furniture with a moderately stiff scrub brush dipped in warm salt water.
Water rings from wood-remove with a mixture of 1 tbsp. white vinegar in 1 cup olive oil.
Furnitures-use 4 parts olive oil and 2 parts beeswax heated in a double boiler
Sink-hot water & mild dishwashing liquid and/or baking soda, rinse with water.
Sink stains- use hydrogen peroxide on a clean wet cloth, rub it on the stained surface and rinse it off immediately.
For sanitizing sink-Use Bon Ami or Oxyclean (an oxygen bleach)

More tips to come..