Caleb's Corner - Soup for Days!

Hi Folk’s it’s been awhile since I’ve shared a bit of fun from Caleb’s life.  Since the last update he has turned three years old.  He is a wonderful soul that keeps us laughing and amazed!

Ever since he was around one and a half years old he’s been eating soup.  Yes…you heard right……..SOUP!  Needless to say I have become quite the soup maker over the last two years. 

I’ve stated before that he has many food allergies (diary, eggs, soy, tree nuts, peanuts, barley, wheat, rye, oats) and soup is an allergy friendly way of giving him protein, grains, vegetables and an overall hearty meal.  Legumes are a staple in our home and I’ve come to love Carribean root vegetables like cassava and yucca.  

Here is a soup that Caleb loves to eat with rice.  He’ll eat anything with rice.  He’ll even eat rice all by itself!

It’s a simple vegan red lentil soup.  Lentils are high in fiber, iron and can combat high cholesterol, constipation and anemia.  Because the red lentils are so small they don't take long to cook at all. When you are pressed for time, red lentils are a good choice.

 

 

Red Lentil Soup:

soaked red lentils

water

sea salt

garlic powder

chopped onions

anise seed

turmeric

fresh chopped cilantro

coconut oil
 

Preparation:

1.       Soak lentils overnight

2.       Boil lentils on high for 15 minutues in water

3.       Add seasonings: salt, anise seed, turmeric, chopped onions, garlic powder (all to taste)

4.       Let cook until smooth

5.       Add coconut oil and cilantro to finish

That’s it! Total time:  20 – 25 minutes.  You can also add kale, carrots, potatoes and anything else that suits your fancy!

Red lentil soup with brown rice

Caleb! Ready to eat!

Peace and love!

Caleb's Corner: Vegan (allergy free) Banana Pancakes

I've continued to explore alternative breakfast options for Caleb based on his requests for "no more chia Mommy".   A co-worker of mine, shared a great Paleo banana pancake recipe that I tweaked to make it vegan and allergy free. Most of food blogs I read ALWAYS show a finished product that looks amazing...but I can't help but wonder how many have struggled with their "first attempts" and ended up with great tasting food that looked like a train wreck! Well, that was my first experience with these banana pancakes.  But since Caleb ate almost every morsel I'm sharing the experience with you!
 
Vegan (allergy free) Banana Pancakes:
1/2 cup of hemp seed milk
2 fresh bananas
2 TBS of coconut flour
egg replacer
1/4 cup ground flax seeds
coconut oil


Bananas, coconut flour, coconut oil, hemp seed milk

Mashed bananas first

Then wisked all ingredients together

Added egg replacer (at the last minute)

Blended mix

First two pancakes.....not pretty!

Here is where I ran into trouble.  The batter seemed too moist and it was hard to maneuver the pancakes in the pan....so I added flax seeds  (1/4 cup) on the fly to improve the consistency of the batter. 

Added flax seeds to help with consistency.....

 I still had trouble with sticking in the pan but the result was MUCH better than before! SCORE!  Well kind of...:)

Finished product ....much better!!
 

He's loving them!!

Oh yeah! :)



Nearly demolished! :)
 

Ever tired the Paleo banana pancakes?  What recipes have you tried and ended up with great tasting food that didn't look so good?

 

Peace and love!

Caleb's Corner: Banana Breakfast Remix

Caleb's favorite fruit is the banana.....he would eat 10 in a day if we let him! For about a year, Caleb's favorite breakfast has been "banana and chia" (chia porridge that is).  Welp, lately the King of Banana Land is getting tired of chia.....not of bananas!  "No I don't want chia Mommy" he exclaims every time he sees me pull it out of the cupboard. 

Chia porridge with banana

So I've been trying to find different ways to provide a healthy, allergy free breakfast for the little guy. 

I landed on banana smoothies!  It's been a great hit and while we used to let Caleb eat 3 or 4 bananas a day (yes, you read right), now we limit him to 2 a day.  The banana smoothie is a great way to give him the bananas that he loves and other nutritious food in literally one gulp.  If you are not giving your children smoothies yet, start now!! Just like for adults it's a great way to get a power packed meal. 

Here's the recipe:

Caleb's Banana Smoothie
1 banana
4 - 5 dates (pitted)
1/2 cup of frozen mango
1/4 cup of hemp seeds
water for desired consistency - you can use any juice instead

Blend it all up at once and Enjoy!!

 

 

 

Satisfied customer (Go Mommy! Go Mommy!)

Caleb's Corner: Green Plantain Porridge

Caleb, the King of Banana Land is getting weary of his morning staple: Chia porridge.  He has been making requests for me to NOT add it to his bananas in the morning. Instead he wants puffed rice cereal. I don't mind the puffed rice, but I don't want him eating it everyday.  It's not as nutrient dense as chia.   So I began to search for a good breakfast alternative.  I spoke to another mother about our breakfast dilemma and she suggested making green plaintain porridge.  Sounded good to me, so off I went!

Here is how I did it:

Green Plantain Porridge:
1 green plantain
3 TBS of honey
1 cup of hemp seed milk (or any other milk you want to use)
1/4 cup of coconut butter/manna
dash of salt
cinnamon (to taste)
Optional: garnish with pumpkin seeds and dates

Step 1 - gather all ingredients

 

Step 2 - Make hemp seed milk

Step 3 - Add hemp seed milk and coconut butter to pot.  Let heat up and stir often.

Step 4 - Peel and grate up the green plantain and add it to the warm milk mixture

 

Step 5 - Stir, Stir, Stir with a wisk.  Let it cook until creamy.

 

Step 6 - Add salt, honey and cinnamon



Step 7 - Since I wanted a smoother consistency, I removed 1/2 of mixture from pot, blended it until smooth and returned it back to pot.

Step 8 - Serve and enjoy! One bowl for me....garnished with pumpkin seeds and dates

and one for Caleb....garnished with chopped up dates

 

Caleb said he liked it...and called it "oatmeal".   But he did not finish his bowl.  We will be making this again! A great alternative!

This is a great alternative for children who cannot eat oatmeal (like Caleb).  You can add any other fruit or nuts you want.  We are a nut free home (97% of the time).  Try it and tell me what you think.  You can get plantains (green and yellow) at most local  ethnic grocery stores - - especially if you live in the North East.

Peace and love!

Caleb's Corner: Got Hemp Milk?

A few weeks ago a mother of a 12 month old who was recently diagnosed with dairy and nut allergies asked me about milk alternatives.   Caleb is allergic to dairy, soy, tree nuts, peanuts, eggs, wheat, rye and barley (The Alternative Child).  When he was six months old after consuming my breast milk, soy and dairy formulas, we found out that his little body didn't like any of it!

Most infants consume milk as their main source of nutrition.  To find out that your baby cannot have the "normal" fare is overwhelming.  We began to investigate and almond milk wasn't even an option.  Some allergists say that if a person has an allergy or intolerance to nuts they may also have adverse reactions if seeds are consumed.  For Caleb, thankfully this was not the case.  Seeds in general are packed with nutrition and are great additions to any diet.  Hemp seed milk in particular, is a staple in our home.  I sometimes make pumpkin seed milk and have supplemented the hemp seed milk with coconut products for a caloric boost.

Hemp seeds

If you or your child has allergies to nuts, soy and dairy try seed milk.  They are rich in nutrients and can be used in all sorts of dishes just like you would dairy milk.

How we use hemp seed milk:
1. To make macaroni and cheese (the vegan version)
2. To make mashed potatoes
3. In smoothies
4. For chia pudding
5. I personally like to add it to my chai and nettle tea
6. With cold cereal

How do you make seed milk:
1. add seeds to blender
2. add water
3. blend until smooth
Note: you can add any other ingredient you wish such as dates, honey or vanilla

Fresh glass of hemp seed milk

Whole Dairy Milk vs Seed Milk: 
The table below shows a comparison between whole milk and hemp seeds, pumpkin seeds and coconut milk.  You can see that the negative nutrients (saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium are higher in whole milk).  The positive nutrients are in abundance in the seed alternatives which makes them a great alternative.

Although the caloric content for most seeds are high,  once diluted with water and other seeds you can get a very balanced nutritional profile. Plus...I like to say...it's the good calories.  I'd rather consume healthy nutrient dense high calorie foods than empty calories like potato chips cookies and sweet pastries.

 

 

Nutritional Comparison of Whole Milk vs.  plant based milk
Nutritional Data	Whole Milk	Hemp Seeds	Pumpkin/Squash Seeds	Coconut Milk
Calories	146	174	747	552
Total Fat (g)	8	14	63	57
Saturated Fat (g)	5	1	12	51
Cholesterol (g)	24	0	0	0
Sodium (mg)	98	0	25	36
Total Carbs (g)	13	2	25	13
Dietary Fiber (g)	0	1	5	5
Sugar (g)	13	0	1	0
Protein (g)	8	11	34	5
Vitamin A (%)	0	0	10	0
Vitamin C (%)	0	0	4	11
Calcium (%)	28	0	6	4
Iron (%)	8	16	115	22
Resource: NutritionData.com

The Food Journey: Pleasant Plantain Chips

Hi Folks -

Since I am in detox mode I have to find snacks that will satisfy my snackaholic ways and nourish my body.  Plus, Caleb cannot eat processed/packaged foods and the little guy loves to snack too (wonder where that trait came from!).  So I made some raw plantain chips.  You can usually find this snack food in a bodega or corner store.  It's usually fried in vegetable oil and seasoned with salt.  My rendition is similar except no hot oil touched these plantains...I used the dehydrator!

This snack is EXTREMELY simple to make.  I thinly sliced one ripe plantain, put the slices on the dehydrator tray, set the temperature to 135F, sprinkled salt and coconut oil on the plantain slices and let it dehydrate for about 18 hours.

Chip preparation (thinly sliced plantain, pink Himalayan salt, touch of coconut oil (not shown))

Plantain slices on dehydrator tray

Nesco dehydrator (set to 135 F)

Final result! Pleasant Plantain Chips!

Plantains are naturally very sweet and once in dehydrated form they were even sweeter! However...I think 18 hours was a little too long.  The chips were really hard, but so tasty.  For the next batch I make I will decrease the drying time, add more salt and cut the slices a wee bit thinner. 

If you don't have a dehydrator try doing this in an oven with very low heat.

FYI...This snack is Caleb approved! :) He had a hard time biting them at first...but he adjusted and tore up those chips!

Any suggestions for other healthy snacks I can make?

Peace and blessings!

Caleb's Corner: Gardening with a Toddler

It's important for children to know where their food comes from.  We are teaching Caleb to compost and how to garden.  Yes...He's only 2 years old but as we all know, toddlers are sponges and can learn just about anything you put in front of them.  So off we go to the garden!

In the garden
 

This year Caleb assisted in harvesting jalepeno peppers, basil and kale, planting herbs and was keen on watering all things...even the pavement! Recently he's started tearing leaves off of the house plants.....not ideal, but I like to think he's in "harvest" mode.  LOL! Yeah right!

Picking peppers

Picking peppers

Picking peppers

Watering the drooping tomato plants

He's even been on Dad's riding lawn mower! Have mercy!

On the riding mower!

It's important for children to spend time in the sunshine and vegetation. In this day and age of increasing technology you have to expose them to another side of life.  Living green things!  Caleb is also well versed in "shooing" away mosquitoes. 

If you have a garden, make sure your children partake in caring for it.  It will build an appreciation for good food and love for the environment!

 

Raking??

 

Get out in the fall weather and enjoy!


Peace and blessings!

 

 

Caleb's Corner: Prince of the Mango Mountains

Another fruit has come on the scene in Caleb's life:  the mango.  The tropical fruit that people love to eat and drink.  I don't know anyone who doesn't like  a voluptuous, sweet and juicy mango!

A few months ago you could not get Caleb to even taste a mango....now it's second in popularity to the  banana (King of Banana Land). Personally, I love mangos! There are so many different types.  In my opinion each one has a particular flavor profile and amount of pulp (aka those pesky strings).

I'm pleased that Caleb has entered into a relationship with mangos. Here are 5 reasons why:

1.  Mangos are extremely rich in vitamin A. Eating one 300g mango can provide the RDA for vitamin A.  It has the greatest vitamin A content out of all the fresh fruit.

2. If you need a vitamin C boost, eat a mango! One mango provides 138% of the adult requirement.  Try this when you are sick instead of vitamin C tablets!

3. Vitamin E, what I like to call the "skin oil" is represented well in mangos.  It can provide 33% of the daily requirement.

4. Having skin issues? Go get some mangos quick! It has been cited that vitamin A deficiencies produce dryness and scaling...mangos can combat that by hydrating and toning the skin (VERY GOOD for Caleb's eczema issues (Bye Bye Eczema!). 

5. Mangos are beneficial to the circulatory system and should be included in your diet if you suffer from poor circulation (my hand is raised!..... I need to eat more mangos!!!!!)

After learning about these excellent properties...I'm all for Caleb being the Prince of the Mango Mountains!

Peace and blessings!!