Yummy (and iron rich!) Breakfast

I noticed last night when I was making Quinoa Chicken Stir Fry how LOADED quinoa is with iron (10% dv per one 1/4 cup serving!!) and B vitamins (which I'm also low on).  This is the only meal I use this super seed in, so I thought I'd look up new ways to make it...  However, my two-year-old doesn't like it and my husband really only wants it for dinner (I asked), so it would have to be breakfast!  I found a recipe on Epicurious and have tweaked it a bit...   Here's mine!

1/2 c quinoa, rinsed
3/4 c water
pinch of salt
stick of cinnamon
chopped pecans
real maple syrup (also a good source of iron)
almond/coconut milk

Place quinoa, water, salt, and cinnamon in small pan.  Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer until the water is absorbed, about fifteen minutes.  Toss cinnamon stick.  Stir in pecans, maple syrup, and almond/coconut milk.

Really, you can treat quinoa just like oatmeal, put anything in the world in it and enjoy the crap out of it!  I had tried doing oatmeal with the A/C milk instead of milk and skipped the butter...  It was way too sad to be enjoyable, so I abandoned the idea of making it Sammy-friendly.  I think this is working so well because it's totally new, I don't have any preconceived notions about how it's supposed to taste (my oatmeal is always super creamy and buttery).  I'm pretty excited to have another (easier) breakfast option!

Enjoy!

New Hope

I've been missing my cereal MADLY!!  And since most cold cereal is iron-fortified I've also been missing a good opportunity to plus-up my in-take easily...  I've tried almond milk, I've tried rice milk, I refuse to consume soy milk (too much estrogen).  Everything has been a pathetic let down!  When I saw the nutritionist last week I told her all of this and she mentioned Almond/Coconut milk.  I didn't plan on trying it, but I saw it while I was grabbing milk for my toddler on Tuesday so I thought I'd just grab some...  We'll see.

Had some last night (with Quaker Oatmeal Squares) and it was sublime!!  Maybe it's just been a really long time since I've had milk, but this was totally satisfying!  There IS a coconut flavor, but it's not strong and is actually pleasant.  This is going to go a long way in making me a happier mommy!

So Fresh and So Green

Here is my green smoothie!  It is actually way more delicious than I was expecting!  This makes about three 16oz servings.


2 c Fresh Kale
2 c Fresh Spinach
2/3 c Frozen Peas
1 c Frozen Blueberries
3/4 c Frozen Pineapple
1 Nectarine
1 Apple
15 Dried Apricots
6 Prunes
2 c OJ (I used calcium and D fortified...  to make up for no milk!)

Blend.  Drink.

If my calculations are right this has about 45% of your daily value of iron as well as 60% dv of calcium, and is about 450 calories per serving.  Even if you're calorie counting PLEASE don't leave out the OJ...  Iron is better absorbed when vitamin C is present so your body won't be able to get all of the good stuff without the citrus.  My friend who helped me with this puts flax in her green smoothies but I eat about 1.5 tsp of flax seed meal in my breakfast every morning, so that wasn't necessary for me.  I've been having this with (or FOR) my 4pm snack every day and I think it's really contributed to my increased feelings of wellness.  I hope it pumps you up too!

Brownie Reprise

So...  After I posted about the S'Mores Brownies I had one every night for a week!  They were delicious, BUT after having them consistently I started noticing a reaction from Sam.  So, here is my new recipe!

1 c Semi-sweet Chocolate Chips
4 Tbs Coconut Oil
3/8 c Brown Sugar
3/8 c Sugar
2 Eggs
1/2 tsp Vanilla
1/2 c Flour
1/4 tsp Salt

Melt chocolate and oil over low heat, stirring ofter.  Off heat, whisk in sugars.  Whisk in eggs, one at a time.  Mix in vanilla.  Mix in flour and salt.  Spread in a greased 8x8" pan and bake at 320* for about 45 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean.

These are just as good at the others...  I can't even taste a difference, but I don't want to say that there won't be any coconut flavor...  The oil I used had a very mild taste to begin with, not as good as the oil I generally use which I linked to.  I hope you enjoy!

Most.Epic.EVER.

This might be my biggest breakthrough to date!!  It has changed my mood entirely and I'm SO exited to share it with a friend who is going though the same thing...

It is *drum roll please*

MILK FREE CHOCOLATE!!!

I originally got the idea from Dr. Oz.  I didn't have any carob though (and no desire to get some), and for the most part I only use sugar, no Stevia or fakes...  I tinkered around with the recipe and what I've come up with is amazing!  There are only a few draw-backs:  The melting point is super low, so they have to be hardened in tins and stored in the fridge or freezer, and for some reason I CAN NOT eat one without getting it on my shirt!!  I think that has more to do with me though!  I'm sure the calorie count is much higher than Oz's, but as I've said before, I need MORE calories and they are SO worth it anyway!  So, here it is!


2/3 c Coconut Oil
3 Tbs Liquid Sugar In The Raw
1/2 c Cocoa Powder
2 tsp Vanilla

Heat the coconut oil (in microwave or over low heat) until it's just liquified.  Mix in liquid sugar and cocoa and vanilla.  Place paper liners in mini muffin tin (or tartlet pan).  Fill each cup with about 1 1/2 Tbs of mixture.  Refrigerate until set.  Remove from tin and eat, store the rest in an air-tight container in the fridge or freezer.  Makes about 16.


If you can't find liquid raw sugar you CAN use regular white sugar, however, the sugar won't dissolve so they will be rather grainy and a little crunchy...  You should re-stir between tins.  They are not as enjoyable this way, but are still a Godsend and totally worth the (very little) effort.  I'm sure agave could be used, but as I never use substitutes (I only had the liquid stuff for iced tea), I don't have any to try it...

Like I said, this has totally changed my mood!  I have a serious chocolate addiction I'm not interested in getting over and not getting my daily Kisses was killing me!  Sam seems to be pretty sensitive to chocolate too, so when I would sneak just one tiny little bite he'd still notice!  I hope this changes your life as much as it has mine!!

I Love Lara

Now, my sister mentioned Larabars to me a while ago...  It left such an impression on me that I can't even tell you whether or not my second child had even been conceived yet...  She said something about the number of ingredients, "yummy something or other", "blah blah blah..."*

I didn't remember anything about them until I was scouring the grocery store shelves at Lake Tahoe for something to curb my raging desire for chocolate!  Since I had already learned that milk-free snacks were kept separate in stores (kind of like kids banished to the middle of the school bus: not cool enough to sit in back, too annoying to sit up by the driver), I was looking in the raw/whole/organic food section.  Chocolate Chip Brownie caught my eye...  So I read the ingredients: Dates (interesting), Dairy-Free Chocolate Chips (yes please!!), Almonds, Walnuts (well, I guess if you have to have nuts..), Cocoa Powder.  Hm.  WAIT!!  These are those bars Hayley told me about!!

I bought three, two days later I went back and bought five more.  They ARE NOT brownies.  But they are terribly satisfying, hunger-wise and for a good dose of yummy.  At 240 calories they are a good sized snack for one making milk all day.  They come in LOTS of flavors.  And they're not all that expensive.  I have three boxes in my pantry right now, and I'll probably keep eating them even when I can go back to ingesting whatever my little heart desires!


* Sorry Hayley!

What about a Parfait?!

I found this recipe a while ago but could never seem to have all the ingredients at the same time (I have a new baby, remember!)...  Until today!  What got me so excited was the promise of creaminess without dairy.  I have to say, it delivered!  The only problem was that it was WAY too sweet this time! I used strawberries and they were very ripe, so you might need this much honey (I left out the Stevia completely and would use regular sugar anyway) with black- or raspberries, but next time I'm going to omit it completely and add to taste.  For the crumble I used plain ol' Rice Krispies (since my husband loves them), so there was probably a little less fiber, but I have no problem making THAT up.  I was really happy to see coconut oil in there too.  I try to eat a tablespoon of coconut oil every day for my skin and nails, and since I ate most of this on my own for lunch I got a pretty good dose!

Overall this was a success and having it available will really improve my mood!

First Light

My first ray of light came, fittingly, for breakfast.  I'll be the first to admit that a lot of my trouble has stemmed from my own pickiness...  I won't eat eggs.  Ok, I WILL eat eggs as long as they come in a tortilla with sautéed onions and peppers, sausage, hot sauce, and LOTS of cheese!  At first I was just eating a lot of nuts and fruit.  You can imagine how boring that gets.  Then I ran into this:

1 Green Apple

1 Lemon's juice

2 Handfuls of Raw Almonds

Several shakes of ground Ginger (I always have to taste and add..)

Fig spread (this was easy to find, figs were not.  I get it in the deli section by the artisan cheese, the irony is not lost on me)

Grape Nuts, added just before eating for a nice crunch and more fiber!

A sprinkle of Flax Seed Meal

Throw the first 5 ingredients into your food processor and make it chunky!  This lasts me two days...  I make a double batch and it's good for most of the week (the lemon juice keeps it fresh).  I have found that it is absolutely necessary to use a food processor.  There have been a couple of occasions (on vacation) where I've had to use a blender and it's awful!  The mixture is yummiest when it's fairly chunky and the blender pulverizes it turning it into a mushy, nasty mess.  It's still edible, but NOT enjoyable.  

I have had this almost every morning for a month now and am still glad to eat breakfast.   Despite that I have another recipe I'll be trying...  I'll let you know how that goes!

The Beginning

On May 7th our lives were infinitely blessed by the addition of our second little boy, Samuel Arthur.  Within twenty minutes of his shockingly quick birth (story here) he was nursing like a champ!  He did not slow down.. ever.  Before his two week check-up his baby acne got REALLY bad, it looked tremendously painful and a friend mentioned a connection to dairy.  I did some research and while I didn't see any evidence that said there was a connection I read many testimonies of mommies who had tried it.  I figured cutting out some dairy could be a good experiment.  Before that my dairy consumption looked something like this:

Breakfast:  Yogurt AND cereal with milk
Snack:  Cheese with crackers or apple
Lunch:  Deli meat with cheese or pita with hummus and feta...
Snack:  Protein shake or something with Nutella
Dinner:  Pasta with cheese, or a cheese burger etc.
Snack:  More cereal with milk...

On top of that there was the iced coffee, the occasional glass of chocolate milk, or ice cream.  There was A LOT of dairy in my life, so cutting down was not difficult!  What was difficult was eliminating it, so I just didn't do that.

At his two week appointment I mentioned all this to Sam's doctor who assured me that dairy had no effect on a baby's skin, the only reason to cut it out would be gas...  My husband and I declared that he was still plenty gassy!  With that I went back to my regular diet.  Within a couple days Sam's gas got so bad that we were holding him ALL night as he squirmed and grunted and screamed...  He was by no means colicky, he was perfectly consolable and was not upset as long as he wasn't actively passing gas but we were getting NO sleep, and with a toddler, that just wasn't a good option!  After the second night of constant holding I put it together that things were getting worse the longer I kept up my dairy habits and resolved to cut it out completely... which was AWFUL!  Within a week though he was sleeping (quite peacefully!) for no less than four hours and up to six every night!  With all that sleep under my belt I decided

I CAN DO THIS!!

It's been very difficult.  I won't use soy because of estrogen concerns and being a dairy connoisseur, the almond milks and ice creams are absolutely not satisfying.  The second week was incredibly depressing when, during research into lactose-free items I figured out the problem is NOT lactose, it is a protein.  My doubt was quenched the night I had a dairy-free steak dinner...  Poor Sammy responded just as if I had had a bowl of yogurt.

I've spent the last two months unsatisfied, depleted, and hungry (although I've lost almost all my baby weight!)...  But every now and then I find something that makes me feel better, something that makes me feel satisfied one way or another and gives me the will to do this (terribly important) task.  That's why I'm writing.  I want to help any mommies out there who are in the same position and feel as strongly about keeping up with the nursing as long as they can.  I hope I can be a light to someone out there!