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Monthly Archives: May 2014

May 30, 2014
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Products I Love

Lotus Food Rice Ramen Review and Bonus Miso Soup Recipe

May 30, 2014 Products I Love Leave a comment
Miso Soup with Lotus Foods Rice Ramen

Ramen reminds me of my college days. My roommate and I would share a sodium and chemical goldmine of cup-o-soup. Back then I hardly cared about the food I ate, but a part of me still retains fondness for those curly noodles. If you haven’t noticed, ramen is making a comeback, but in a healthy way. Though traditionally made with wheat flour, Lotus Foods has created a great line of products so we can relive our youth and feel nourished.

Lotus Food Rice Ramen

Lotus Food Rice Ramen

Lotus Foods Rice Ramen comes in 3 flavors of individual servings with miso soup or simply noodles:

  1. Millet and rice: brown rice flour, millet, and white rice flour
  2. Jade Pearl™: brown rice flour, white rice flour, and bamboo extract
  3. Forbidden®: black, brown, and white rice flour

All of Lotus Foods Rice Ramen products are organic, vegan, gluten-free, and non-GMO. Lotus Foods started in 1995 and is based in California. The company focuses on sustainable global agriculture with an emphasis on traditional heirloom rice varieties. They produce a large variety of exotic rice, ramen, and heat and eat rice bowls. You can find their products at Whole Foods, Amazon, and on their website.

I really love that they provide the option of their ready-to-go individual rice ramen miso soup packs or just noodles, so you can make your dish of choice. All three flavor varieties have a unique taste and slightly different texture, while maintaining their curly noodle shape.

Lotus Foods Miso Soup Packs

Lotus Foods Miso Soup Packs

The ready-to-go individual ramen miso soup packs contain 25-33% less sodium versus typical wheat-based ramen soup packs. They also contain real ingredients, including miso powder (soybeans, rice, salt), spices, herbs and dried seaweed or vegetables. No unknown ingredients or preservatives. They have a nice miso flavor with the ability to take on add-ins like veggies and meat/seafood. They cook quickly (a few minutes in boiling water) and satisfy my need for a quick bowl of comforting noodles.

The rice ramen packs with just noodles come with 4 ramen cakes and are prepared the same way as the soup packs. However, you are in control of the flavors. I am a sucker for miso soup, but I am eager to try these rice ramen noodles in other dishes. Below I have added my quick and easy miso soup with mushrooms and scallions. I like brown rice miso, but you can use any miso paste variety of choice. Miso is a fermented food, so it’s a great digestive aid and it restores probiotics in the small intestine, among a variety of other health benefits. Just be careful of the sodium content, as it can creep up there.

Miso Soup

Miso Soup

I hope Lotus Foods Rice Ramen brings you back to younger days while giving you assurance that you are eating a healthy gluten-free food. Not much can be as comforting as grabbing a mound of curly noodles with chopsticks and gobbling them up!

Disclaimer: I am not paid or compensated in any way to review gluten-free products. I only review products that I love, use in my daily life, and feel that others can benefit from too. I cannot guarantee that you will think these products are awesome too, but it is highly unlikely.

Quick Miso Soup Recipe with Rice Ramen
 
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Prep time
5 mins
Cook time
10 mins
Total time
15 mins
 
Vegan
Author: FamilyGlutenFree.com
Recipe type: Soup
Serves: 1
Ingredients
  • 1 cake of Lotus Foods Millet and Brown Rice Ramen
  • 3 Tbsp brown rice miso paste (or any miso paste of choice). This is my taste preference, but you can adjust miso content based on your own tastes.
  • ½ cup thin sliced mushrooms (any variety, but I like baby portobellos)
  • 1-2 scallions sliced into ¼ inch slices
Instructions
  1. Prepare rice ramen per package directions.
  2. When noodles are soft, add miso and mushrooms and cook for an additional minute or until miso is dissolved.
  3. Top soup with scallions and enjoy!
3.2.1310

 

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May 22, 2014
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Soup and Salad, Uncategorized

Portuguese Kale and Potato Soup (Caldo Verde)

May 22, 2014 Soup and Salad, Uncategorized Leave a comment
Caldo Verde

My Mother is from Lisbon and came to the U.S. with my grandparents when she was a teenager. Cooking and food was a big part of my childhood. Going out to dinner was a treat and any get together was a massive feast of home cooked appetizers, entrees and desserts. My tastes and philosophies on food have been heavily impacted by my mom and my grandparents. We ate a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables, a lot of fish and shellfish, a little wine, and a lot of bread. Now that my son cannot eat gluten, my family is hard at work trying to reinvent their go-to recipes. However, the emphasis on home-cooked food using fresh ingredients remains. One of my favorite dishes is Caldo Verde (English translation: Green Broth), a popular Portuguese soup that is already naturally gluten-free.

kale

Kale

Caldo Verde is one of my comfort foods. It can be part of a meal or a meal in itself. It is easy to prepare and holds up well in the refrigerator so you can enjoy it over a few days. The base of the soup is made with potatoes and onions. The “verde” comes from kale, or more traditionally collard greens. Typically, my family has always made it with kale, even way before kale got famous. What makes it a meal and adds that something extra, is spicy linguiça sausage.

Linguica

Linguica

Linguiça sausage used to be difficult to find, but now I can find it at most supermarkets. Linguiça is a smoke cured pork sausage and it is used in many Portuguese dishes. I found a “natural” version using pork raised without antibiotics and minimally processed at WholeFoods.

Potato and Onion

Potato and Onion

The soup is prepared by boiling potatoes with yellow onion. Once the potatoes and onion are soft and well cooked, the whole pot can is pureed to form the base of the soup. I like to use an immersion blender right in the pot, but you can also process it in a blender. Shredded kale is then added and cooked until softened. That’s it! The soup is served warm with a few slices of linguiça and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

Blended Potato and Onion

Blended Potato and Onion

Shredded Kale

Shredded Kale

Although it’s getting warmer and soon it won’t be exactly soup weather, I actually make this soup in the summer often. It is very light and enjoyable slightly warm and a great way to use up kale and potatoes I get from my crop share. It is also a great option for getting more greens in your diet. I hope you enjoy it!

Portuguese Kale and Potato Soup (Caldo Verde)
 
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Prep time
20 mins
Cook time
40 mins
Total time
1 hour
 
Author: FamilyGlutenFree.com
Recipe type: Soup
Serves: 6
Ingredients
  • 2 ½ - 3 cups peeled white or Yukon Gold potatoes, cut into 1 inch pieces
  • 1 yellow onion, quartered and larger segments separated
  • 1 Tbsp sea salt
  • 1 linguiça sausage, about 12 oz
  • ½ large bunch of kale (any variety will do, but I like Tuscan or flat-leafed kale)
  • extra virgin olive oil
  • additional sea salt to taste
Instructions
  1. Bring potatoes, onion, and 1 Tbsp sea salt to boil in approximately 6 cups of water in a Dutch oven or large pot.
  2. Simmer until potatoes and onion are soft.
  3. While potatoes and onion are cooking, cook Linguiça sausage in a frying pan until brown and slightly crispy on the outside.
  4. Slice Linguiça into ½ inch disks.
  5. Also while potato and onions are cooking, remove thicker stems of the kale and shred using a food processor.
  6. Puree the potato and onion using an immersion blender until smooth (you can also use a blender)
  7. Return pot to the stove and add shredded kale.
  8. Cook until the kale is tender.
  9. Add additional sea salt to taste.
  10. Spoon soup into a bowl. Add a few slices of linguica and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Enjoy!
3.2.1310

 

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May 16, 2014
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Our Story

My Son’s Story

May 16, 2014 Our Story Leave a comment
My Son's Story

I went away on vacation last week and I had some time to reflect on my life and I felt inspired to share a more personal story for this week’s blog post.  Not many people know all the details of my son’s story and I can probably count them all on one hand.  My journey to understand my son’s food allergies is complicated.  Instead of a straight path to a diagnosis, it was a winding trail of doctors meetings, online research, questioning my instincts, debating his often ambiguous symptoms, and mounds of frustration.  Today, I feel like I have his symptoms under control, but we lack a definitive diagnosis.

Unlike other food allergies, the symptoms of a wheat sensitivity, allergy or celiac disease are gray and less obvious.  This becomes far more difficult when you are dealing with a young child who may not be able to verbalize how he feels.  At this point, my son has not been diagnosed with having celiac disease nor has he had a concrete diagnosis as having a wheat allergy based on a blood test.  However, there is no doubt in my mind that his body cannot handle gluten and I will explain why.  I will also explain why, at this point, finding a concrete diagnosis is not something we plan on doing.

My son came into this world in a hurry.  For a first pregnancy, my labor was relatively short and he was born full-term, at a healthy weight.  He was beautiful and I loved him with my whole heart immediately.  However, our first few days in the hospital were intense.  He struggled to gain weight and I struggled, as many new moms do, to breastfeed, but I was determined to make it work.  He finally gained back 50 g (yes, that’s grams) after losing way too much, which gave us the ok to take him home with the condition that we were to see his pediatrician immediately for weight checks.

The next 3 months were a blur.  We took him in regularly for weight checks and he managed to put on weight little by little.  The real blur came from the lack of sleep.  He cried endlessly, all night, and he nursed constantly.  I used to say that I spent my day and night trying to get him to stop crying.  On top of that, he started developing severe eczema, to the point of bleeding.

In my head I thought, ok, he’s a little colicky, skinny maybe because I don’t produce enough milk and he got a rough start, and it was winter so he has sensitive skin like me.  The first few months were hard, but none of the concerns my son faced caused me to consider anything other than, he’s just a tough baby and all this is normal.

After 3 months, we had more smiles than cries.  By, one year, he was a very happy and laid back toddler.  However, he was a skinny kid, constantly in the 5th percentile for weight.  Eating was a struggle.  He was never a kid who would eat much in a sitting and I tried every technique imaginable to get him to eat.  Maybe he would eat grapes cut this way or maybe he’ll like soup or maybe if I try 6 mini meals…  It was an endless job trying to figure out how to put weight on this kid.  Also, his eczema continued to be an issue.  Its severity would come and go in waves, but it was a constant.

Another event started occurring regularly around 1.5 years.  He started having tantrums that ended with him turning blue and occasionally passing out.  The first time it happened was one of the scariest moments of my life.  We called 911 immediately and he came to very quickly.  Our pediatrician told us that a lot of kids do this and it wasn’t a big deal.  My son didn’t tantrum often, but this kind of tantrum was different.  It was usually over something minor, such as wanting something he couldn’t have.  He would escalate into this tantrum state in seconds and turn blue and pass out.  It wasn’t something he could control.  It never happened over a long blown out tantrum and it happened a couple times a month.

By this point I thought, he’s just a skinny kid by nature.  A lot of toddlers are picky eaters.  The pediatrician is not concerned as long as the trend is gaining weight even if it is only a little each check-in.  He just has sensitive skin, a lot of kids have eczema.  My pediatrician told me that kids sometimes have intense tantrums and pass out, he’s just one of those kids.  Again, I dealt with all of these concerns as within the normal range of toddler issues and it never struck me as anything else worth pursuing.  He was happy, very smart and energetic.

However, right before his third birthday, a change happened. Initially, the changes I saw were only things a mother’s intuition would notice.  He seemed less focused, it became more difficult for him to sit and do an activity.  Prior to these changes, he loved doing puzzles.  It became harder and harder for him to sit through a puzzle or book.  He also began having episodes of hyperactivity throughout the day.  All of these behavior changes were difficult to notice and explain.  He didn’t do it all the time and, in general, he was still a very laid back, mellow kid.

We potty trained my son a few months before he turned 3.  It went pretty smoothly at first and though he did have accidents a few times a week, we knew boys could be more challenging in the potty department.  However, as time went on, the accidents continued to a point that they were a daily occurrence, months after we potty trained.  His accidents were mostly due to not being aware enough to go and he seemed unphased by them.

I brought all of these concerns to our pediatrician on 3 separate occasions over a few months.  Each time, I was told, “he’s 3, this is all normal, try not to get stressed about it”.  However, deep within my mommy intuition, I knew something else was going on.

I started doing research on-line and putting together all the pieces of my son’s symptoms since birth.  I thought maybe this could be a virus or maybe he’s just tired.  My son had never been a stellar sleeper.  Around 3 we had given up on naps because he resisted them so much.  Maybe we can try harder to get him to nap?  I also started looking at nutrition.  Maybe because he is such a poor eater, he isn’t getting all the nutrition he needs?

Finally, after posting questions on my local moms club forum (can’t say how grateful I am for those forums and moms who respond), I was recommended a local doctor focused on natural healing through nutrition.  I remember calling my mom to tell her about our upcoming appointment and I remember her saying, “I wonder if they will take him off wheat”.  In my head I was thinking…I really hope not.

After our first appointment and evaluation, I was given homework.  Take my son off gluten for 1 week, see what happens, and report back.  The results were astonishing.  The potty training issues and behavioral issues resolved after 24 hours.  His skin started clearing up and he was eczema free a few months later.  After 6 months and up to now, he is in the 50th percentile for weight.  Since going off gluten, he has never had an intense tantrum causing him to turn blue.  He is a happy, healthy, beautiful, incredibly smart 4.5 year old.

Looking back and writing about this journey is therapeutic.  During the whole process I constantly questioned my gut instincts.  Was I over reacting to symptoms?  Was I being one of those crazy moms?  My answer is no.  I am so thankful I didn’t sit back and let gluten destroy my son longer than it did.  I am also so thankful for the doctor who could see beyond conventional medicine and know that diet could be the factor impacting my son.

So what now?  Would it be helpful to know for sure that my son could have celiac disease or even a wheat sensitivity?  My husband and I have decided to wait.  The reason is that all that testing, regardless of the outcome, would not change excluding gluten from my son’s diet.  Also, the testing is not always conclusive and can be rigorous.  Many people test negative for celiac, but have the same symptoms.  It may also involve reintroducing wheat in his diet for an extended amount of time to get an accurate result.

My son is also too young to understand and verbalize how he feels if we decided to give gluten another try.  So our decision is to wait until he is old enough to understand what gluten is and how it impacts his body.  I want him to be able to decide.

Until then, here I am.  I am a mommy who loves to cook and wants to make my son’s gluten-free life as happy and fulfilling as any other child.  I also hope our story resonates with others and I can do my part to help someone else, in the same way that so many people have helped me.  Thank you for sharing my story.

 

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May 1, 2014
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Smoothies and Drinks

Strawberry Coconut Cashew Smoothie

May 1, 2014 Smoothies and Drinks 2 Comments
Strawberry Coconut Cashew Smoothie

For me, making smoothies is a daily ritual, but it is never boring.  There are an infinite amount of ingredient combinations to make every morning interesting and fun.  I like using what I have on hand, what is going on seasonally, and what my latest fun trick might be.  I always stick to the framework I laid out in my How to Build a Better Smoothie plan.  I use a combination of fruit, greens, seeds or nuts, natural sweeteners, and high quality liquids.  From there the possibilities are endless. My latest favorite flavor combination is my Strawberry Coconut Cashew Smoothie.  All the ingredients are lovely together and they are easy to have on-hand.

My latest trick is using light coconut milk from cans.  Coconut milk sold in cartons, either on the shelf or in the refrigerated section of the grocery store, is full of additives, food stabilizers and preservatives. We have to be careful of the BPA from cans, so if you can, try BPA-free canned coconut milk.

The light version is typically a 1:1 dilution of the full fat version.  I am not opposed to the full fat version, but it’s kind of a pain to deal with.  It separates very easily and it’s difficult to get a uniform solution, especially if you want use the leftovers out of the fridge over a couple days (I store leftover canned coconut milk in a covered glass cup in the fridge).  The light coconut milk is easy to use and adds a nice creamy coconut taste to smoothies.

When spring starts and the leaves begin to pop out, I inevitably start craving strawberries.  Frozen strawberries hold up extremely well in smoothies and they are easy to find.  Try to find organic strawberries, as they are one of the Environmental Working Group’s dirty dozen.

Cashews, especially raw, are packed with nutrition.  They are good sources of Manganese, Magnesium, Copper, Phosphorous, Zinc, Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids, and healthy monounsaturated fats.  They are a great snack for kids because they are easy to chew and don’t have a strong flavor.  They add a soft nutty taste to this smoothie that goes well with creamy coconut milk and sweet tangy strawberries.

Without further delay, here is my Strawberry Coconut Cashew Smoothie recipe.

Strawberry Coconut Cashew Smoothie
 
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Prep time
5 mins
Total time
5 mins
 
Vegan, Paleo
Author: FamilyGlutenFree.com
Recipe type: Smoothie
Serves: 2
Ingredients
  • 1 small banana or ½ large banana
  • 1 cup frozen strawberries (organic if possible)
  • 1 Tbsp unsweetened shredded coconut
  • 1 Tbsp raw hemp seeds (or raw chia, flax, or sesame seeds)
  • 2 Tbsp raw cashews
  • 1-2 medjool dates (remove pit)
  • 1 handful of baby spinach or baby kale
  • 1 cup coconut water (or regular water if coconut water is not available)
  • ½ cup light coconut milk
  • ½ cup almond milk
Instructions
  1. Combine all ingredients in a blender.
  2. Blend until smooth and enjoy!
  3. (Note: if not using a high-powered blender, substitute 2 Tbsp honey or agave nectar for the dates)
3.2.1303

 

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  • Lotus Food Rice Ramen Review and Bonus Miso Soup Recipe

    Miso Soup with Lotus Foods Rice Ramen

  • Portuguese Kale and Potato Soup (Caldo Verde)

    Caldo Verde

  • My Son’s Story

    My Son's Story

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    Strawberry Coconut Cashew Smoothie

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