Scrumptious Saturdays

persimmons! a little early this year! the pure joy of waiting and eating locally and seasonally

Little Brother picked up with a huge, happy smile.  we share our love of persimmons.

totally excited to dig right in

while putting away market provisions-making foccacia, carmelized onions and hardboiled eggs.  eggs are only hardboiled in a specific pot which is cleaned with soap and water before going in dishwasher. 

the fresh market onions are ready

fresh, hot, allergen-friendly foccacia with Blue Heron green goddess, avocado, smoked sockeye salmon and caramelized onions. Animal Farm arucula salad along side.

just made some gazpacho in TM using today's tomatoes, green and red pepper and cucumbers

Little Brother has avocado and smoked salmon.  the rest of us take utmost care to avoid his contact with goat cheese. if you sit at our table, there are strict cross-contamination rules.

Big Brother making cucumber salad with toady's market cucs.

what I love about Saturdays: downtime, playtime, cooking time, family time. this "track" eventually runs the whole downstairs. Boys play so nicely together.

Teatime Today: acai bowl

Little Brother and I went to Trader Joe's yesterday with the idea that we would get the needed ingredients to copy his favorite treat from Sustain: the acai bowl.  We picked up frozen mango, frozen strawberries and frozen packets of acai.  Today, at 3:00, he reminded me that soon it would be teatime and that we had to make the acai bowl.  So together, along with our best kitchen-friend, Thermomix, we blended this up.

step one: add to TM bowl frozen strawberries, frozen mango, frozen cubes of almond milk and frozen acai

what mixture looks like blended on speed 8 for about 10 seconds

 

we added in some homemade coconut milk and blended up this ice cream

Cupcake Love

I once read that empathy is when head, heart and hands come together and act in alignment.  These vanilla and chocolate cupcakes for our end of the year class party are a metaphor of empathy, loving care and kindness.  A mom, a friend, allowed our allergic children to join in and enjoy a treat with the whole group.  What joy to be included!  I will always remember how I felt when she told me what she was planning for dessert.  I will always remember my child eating this cupcake with his class.  Thank you! These cupcakes are from Jodycakes.  My friend requested the cupcakes be made according to the same recipe Jody uses when we order.

froze leftovers for future parties

Scrumptious Saturdays

enjoying the last weeks of peaches

fresh grapes for chicken salad

fragrant papalo showed up in my life in a few ways 

freezer drawer all summer long

Buckwheat Millet Bread

We were in today.  Boys are congested.  Little Brother has had breathing difficulty as he always does along with any respiratory cold.  Could it be the high daily mold count and medium weed and grass pollen count too?

The Boys were playing and feeling better as the day progressed. They started to ask what we were going to make for dinner.  We agreed that we should try out the sandwich bread recipe we had discussed making at some point this summer.  We thank Quirky Cooking, a favorite source of the type of recipes that work for us, for providing exactly what we were looking for in sandwich bread.   Original recipe found here.

The bread baking was an experiment with unknown results; the process of making the bread filled the boys with wonder. I cherish the matched joy in their eyes as the bread was ready to come out of the oven.  How would it slice up?, we asked.  Would the texture be what we were hoping for?, we wondered.  How would it taste?, we thought as we patiently waited for the loaf to cool down.  

What you need: 
70g buckwheat kernals
80g millet
60g chia seeds
170g arrowrrot
1 heaped tsp instant yeast
1 tsp xanthan gum
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp real salt 
30g olive oil
30g raw honey
250g room temperature water

What to do: 
1. Place buckwheat, millet and chia in TM bowl and mill 1 min/speed 9
2. Scrape down sides of bowl and add remaining dry ingredients. Mix 10 sec/speed 6
3. Add wet ingredients and mix 10 sec/speed 6
4.  Knead on interval speed for 2 minutes
5. Add mixture to baking paper lined pullman loaf baker 
6. Smooth out top with a little water using spoon
7. Let rest in warm space for 1 hour
8.  Preheat oven to 344 degrees F
9.  Bake for 50 min.
10.Turn out loaf to check that underside is cooked enough
11. Let cool, then slice and enjoy 
 

Teatime Today: mixed nuts

I am thankful that tree nuts are part of Little Brother's diet.  Today he is having sprouted almonds, macadamia, sprouted sunflower seeds and walnuts.  He is loving the 3-D elephant placemat his friend recently gave him He loves these little dishes.  I served the walnuts in a separate little dish.  This isn't truly cross-contamination safe as I am allergic to walnuts.  The separation allows to me share.  This is not the case in all situations and for all allergic people! Meanwhile, Big Brother is out having his first chocolate chip cookie from Tiny's-a huge treat outing for him. 

Oda A Las Cebollas

                                                    Before a good cry

Today I'm making brisket.  It's always requested when family comes to stay.  I remember all the garlic cloves I used to stuff in the slits of brisket before searing.  These fresh onions (just washed off the dirt) from Gundermann Acres make me not miss garlic so much.

Freezing Homemade Mylk

If I still have a good amount of homemade mylk (in this case almond mylk) left a few days after making it, I freeze some.  This way, I finish what I have and also have ice cubes for smoothies. No waste!

Changing Up Our Almond Milk

Trader Joe's no longer carries organic, Spanish, unpasteurized almonds :(  While I am upset by this sad fact, I had these mylk almonds in the pantry.  I will be using these almonds for now on.

Watermelon Popsicles

if any watermelon is still in the fridge after a few days, we blend with some lime juice and then strain and freeze into pospsicles.  great to add in some mint too.

Taking dessert out with us: mini allergen-friendly chcolate cups

Today we went out for brunch since Abuela is visiting us.  Little Brother had 3 lamb chops and some steamed cauliflower at Harvest Grill.  He loves his Harvest Grill meal.  We took these cute little chocolates along with us.  He had never had them before.  He was delighted to have 3 lamb chops and 3 baby chocolates afterwards.  We ordered them from Vitacost.  Perhaps we will order another bag to keep in our pantry, but better to wait until the weather cools off as they will melt along the way to Houston.

Hot Summer Day Lunch: safely seperating allergens at the table

It's another hot, humid Houston afternoon.  For lunch, I chopped up some cucumbers, celery, carrots, purple grapes and leftover rotisserie chicken.  This plate contains items safe for all of us.  I also have an avocado for slicing.  Allergic Mom has her own plate of fresh lettuce from Animal Farm as a base.  Things that are different: Little Brother has buckwheat crackers while Big Brother has stone wheat crackers, a hard-boiled egg and some favorite Blue Heron goat chevre. Both boys know to keep to themselves at the table.  Big Brother has the allergens on his plate only and Allergic Mom serves everyone from the center plate.  Utensils are never mixed. When we are finished, the boys go wash up and then clean the crumbs from the table, chair and floor.  They have a mini duster and dust pan to help.   After putting away leftovers, Allergic Mom washes off Big Brother's plate and utensils with soap and water.  She never uses the sponge as to avoid allergen cross-contamination.  Then all plates and utensils go in the dishwasher.  This is how we all eat what we can while keeping each other safe.   

lots of favorite choices for lunch.  Gazpacho helps on a hot day.

Teatime Today: helado de palta y lucuma

Little Brother wanted to make ice cream today. We came up with the ingredients together

 

 

 

What we mixed:
1 can of coconut milk
1 avocado
2 tablespoons of lucuma powder
dash of cinnamon
dash of vanilla 

What will we mix next time? Fun!
 

 

Teatime today: a very simple chocolate pudding

We enjoy this favorite chocolate pudding in little glass cups.  These are the same cups we use for making our coconut yogurt.
What you need:
2 cups of full-fat coconut milk
100 grams of dark chocolate (we use Enjoy Life Chips)
1 tablespoon gelatin (we use Great Lakes)
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla 

What to do:
1. Heat the coconut milk to 60 degrees in TM Bowl
2. Take out a little coconut milk, place in small bowl and whisk in the gelatin
3. Add the Chocolate to the TM Bowl. Mix on speed 3 until smooth
4. Add the gelatin mixture back to the bowl
5. Add in the vanilla and mix for 10 seconds, speed 3
6. Pour into little glass yogurt containers an place in fridge to set.

original recipe found here