Category: Cooking

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Cole Cooking Mothering Ryan

Prosciutto Wrapped Melon & SpaghettiO’s

Summer has been heating up in Colorado, and by the time dinner rolls around, the last thing I feel like doing is making a heavy meal. I usually cook something substantial for the boys, but I’ve been trying to make simple and lighter food for myself. 

Today while I was grocery shopping, I spotted some natural and organic prosciutto.  I immediately thought of one of the tapas I love most from the Mediterranean Restaurant in Boulder.  They wrap prosciutto around cantaloupe, and top it with grated Parmesan cheese.  I thought it would make a perfect light dinner.  Pictures of the final product I made tonight:

As I sat down to eat with the boys, who were eating turkey, noodles, cheese, and melon, they asked me in their most critical voices, “What in the world is that?”  As if I had just picked through the trash can for dinner.  I launched into my explanation about how wonderful prosciutto is. 

I told them it is Italian ham, and asked them if they wanted to try it.  Of course, they refused.  I explained to them the salty flavor of the prosciutto mixes perfectly with the sweet melon, and the cheese gives it just a slight bitter taste.  I told the boys this is one of the best dishes which blends three flavors flawlessly.  I asked them again if they wanted to try it, and they looked at me like I suggested they ride their bikes to the moon.

Cole then said,” Mommy, do you know what I am going to make when I grow up?”  I was excited- I thought I sparked his culinary imagination. 

“What?” I asked him, eagerly.

He smiled at me from ear to ear and then replied,

“SpaghettiO’s.” 

I have never served my children SpaghettiO’s.  Up until tonight, I didn’t think they had ever heard of, seen, or (gulp) tasted SpaghettiO’s.  How could my son compare a perfect real-food dish to SpaghettiO’s? 

I almost cried into my prosciutto wrapped melon.  But it would have made it soggy, and I wasn’t going to have two tragedies in one night at dinner. 

Hopefully one day when we are all eating real Italian food, I can tell them this story and laugh.  I hope for my kids, appreciating real-food is an acquired taste.

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Cancer Cooking Health Parenting

Maple Syrup- The New Anti-Cancer Food

I never gave much thought before having kids to maple syrup.  Once I started paying more attention to ingredients in food, I found out that most “maple syrup” from the grocery store isn’t really maple syrup at all, and contains artificial ingredients.  I used to use Mrs. Butterworth syrup.  It contains: High fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, water, salt, cellulose gum, molasses, potassium sorbate (preservative), sodium hexametaphosphate, citric acid, caramel color, natural and artificial flavors.

I have grown increasingly concerned about the effects of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) in my family’s diet.  It is in almost everything.  Manufacturers like to say HFCS is a “natural sugar,” but the body processes HFCS totally different than sugar.   A new study from Princeton on HFCS released a few days ago, found “Rats with access to high-fructose corn syrup gained significantly more weight than those with access to table sugar, even when their overall caloric intake was the same.  In addition to causing significant weight gain in lab animals, long-term consumption of high-fructose corn syrup also led to abnormal increases in body fat, especially in the abdomen, and a rise in circulating blood fats called triglycerides. The researchers say the work sheds light on the factors contributing to obesity trends in the United States.

My kids like waffles and pancakes and I make them from scratch as a special treat, once a week.  As a mother and a cook, it didn’t seem right to take the time to make these and then pour a mix of artificial and potentially harmful ingredients over them.  A few years ago, I decided I was going to make the switch from the fake syrup to real, 100%-from the tree, maple syrup.  It cost a few more dollars, but I loved knowing we weren’t eating yet another thing with HFCS, and it tasted so much better too.  If you have never tried real maple syrup, do so when you can.  I have noticed I can use about half as much of it, compared to the commercial brands, because it is so rich and flavorful. 

The fact there is no HFCS in real maple syrup was reason enough for me to switch.  Now it turns out that researchers from the University of Rhode Island have discovered 13 new compounds in maple syrup they say are anti-oxidant rich, and contain anti-cancer, anti-bacterial and anti-diabetic properties.  The summary of the study is a short read, and is very interesting.   

The lead researcher, Dr. Navindra Seeram, is quoted as saying, “At this point, we are saying, if you choose to put syrup on your pancakes, it may be healthier to use real maple syrup.”  He also points out that real maple syrup costs more than syrups that use maple flavoring or have little or no maple syrup.  He adds, “But you pay for what you get and you get what you pay for, meaning there are consequences for what you eat.”

Sometimes making drastic changes to our lifestyle and diet are hard, and can be overwhelming.  It may be impossible to eliminate every thing that has HFCS in it, but when you can make a change to buy something, like pure maple syrup, it is a step in the right direction.  Not only are you not eating a mixture of processed ingredients, and as this study shows, pure maple syrup may also end up helping your health- not harming it.

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Cole Cooking Health Mothering Ryan

Easy Tortilla Pizza & Caprese Salad

Taking a break from school and health updates, I am totally stealing my friend Amy’s (Crunchy Domestic Goddess), blog post, but adding another element to it. 

Amy wrote a blog post today about a very fast and quick lunch idea that another one of our friends, Melissa (Nature Deva), passed on to her.  It is tortilla pizza, and it is a brilliant recipe.  I have been wanting to make pizza for a few days now, but have not been motivated to make the crust from scratch like I normally do.  I hate the store bought dough- it doesn’t do pizza justice.  I saw Amy’s blog post today and decided to make it for dinner. 

This recipe calls for using tortillas for the crust.  The “crust” came out crispy and light, and you can use whatever kind of tortilla you want.  I love that I could make individual pizzas without a lot of extra work.  Cole loves pizza and will eat any topping.  Ryan doesn’t care for pizza, because he only likes pineapple as a topping and he does not like the tomato sauce.  I make a special section of pizza for Ryan, but he always found that one mushroom, or stray topping and wouldn’t want to eat his pizza.  This recipe solves that problem.  An added plus was the boys liked helping me make the pizzas and got a kick out of making their own.  Ryan wanted his pizza with very little tomato sauce, and topped with a little basil.  Cole wanted his pizza with normal sauce but no basil, and I made mine topped with fresh basil.

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I also made a caprese salad for me, and it made the perfect size meal.  We each ate only half of our pizzas, so we have lunch all ready for tomorrow!  Thanks Melissa for the recipe, and thanks Amy for blogging it first.  🙂

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To make the pizza, place one tortilla on a cookie sheet.  Prepare tomato sauce.  (I make my own sauce using tomato sauce, garlic, dried oregano, basil, salt and pepper to taste).  Spread tomato sauce on the tortilla, and top with cheese.  As Amy recommends, if you want to add some toppings, they should be cooked first, and you really don’t want to load up these pizzas with toppings, since the “crust” is very thin, and the cooking time is so fast. 

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Place pizza under the broiler in the oven for about five minutes, but keep your eye on it, since it can cook very fast.  (I put our pizzas on the bottom rack for a few minutes to make sure the tomato sauce got hot, and then put the pizza on the top rack. )

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That’s it for the pizza.  To make the caprese salad, slice tomatoes (ones from your garden are best!) and drizzle extra virgin olive oil on them.  Add salt and pepper.  Then put a slice of the best mozzarella cheese you can afford on top of the tomato slices.  Add fresh basil to the top. I drizzle more olive oil on top, and then let it sit for at least 10 minutes to let the flavors absorb. 

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Enjoy these fast, healthy, and kid friendly recipes.  🙂    Amy has some other ideas and pictures for these pizzas, and you can read her post here.  

Categories
Cancer Cooking Health low iodine diet Me

Low Iodine Diet Food & Information

I can’t write much, but a picture speaks a thousand words.  The boys’ dad watched them for the weekend, and my dad took me shopping for low iodine food for the week.  Then he helped me chop, dice, and grilled the chicken and meat.  This was all recommended to be done before I was in the hypothyroidism state, so it was very difficult to get it done, but we did. 

The diet says you can eat meat you prepare yourself, and as many fruit and veggies,  as you want (no soy), but I can’t get enough protein from the fruits and veggies I need, so having the meat will help me immensely with my energy level for the week.   

The website that I got some of the recipes from (you can download their free cookbook), and read up on the low iodine diet, is ThyCa– (Thyroid Cancer Survivors Association).  I found it to be very helpful, and so far the recipes have turned out great. One good tip they had was to read the labels.  We started to buy some organic ingredients, but found the organic black beans for instant, had sea salt in them, which is worse than just regular salt, because sea salt is higher in iodine.  I would have never had know that, if I had not read through their information.

 Here is a picture of most of the low iodine food we were able to prepare:

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I would have never been able to do it without the help of my and my boys’ family, so thank you.  I am still waiting to hear when I can take the thyroid replacement hormone.  Until I can take it, I am not going to start feeling better, but as of today there is only one week to go on the low iodine diet.

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Activities Cooking Family & Friends Holidays

Cookie Time & Toffee Recipe

One of my favorite parties during the holidays is my sister’s annual cookie exchange I attend every year. I wrote about how the exchange has evolved over the years,  last year in  Cookies, Cookies, and more Cookies. 

Last Saturday was the exchange, and I was a bit sad.  I usually try to make a really special cookie, because I just don’t bake that many cookies during the year.  Having an extra special cookie to give as a gift during the holidays motivates me try something new every year.  However, I just didn’t have time with us trying to move.

So I stuck to my old standby- toffee.  I made cookie sheet, after cookie sheet of it all week.  It is the easiest recipe to make, and it is the most delicious toffee- it is very addictive- so don’t say I didn’t warn you.  I normally don’t give the recipe out, but consider this an early Christmas present from me to you.  🙂  Enjoy!

Fool’s Toffee

36 saltines (can also use graham crackers)

1 cup butter

1 cup packed dark brown sugar

11 oz. milk chocolate chips

1/2 cup of chopped pecans, almonds, or walnuts (Optional)

 

Preheat oven to 375.

Line a cookie sheet with foil.  Butter or use Pam on the foil (I spray the foil with Pam). 

Spread crackers out on foil, filling cookie sheet. 

Melt butter and brown sugar on medium-high heat.  Bring to a boil, stiring occasionally,and boil for 4 minutes. 

Spread butter and sugar mixture over crackers evenly.

Cook in oven for 5 minutes. 

Immediately sprinkle chocolate chips on top.  Allow them to soften (about 5-7 minutes) and then spread evenly over top. 

Top with chopped nuts if desired. 

Place in refrigerator until cooled.  Then break into bite sized pieces. 

Can be stored in an air tight container in the fridge for up to two weeks.

 

Here is a picture of all the wonderful friends at the party (I’m second to the right, standing up in the blue shirt, and my sister and my niece are second to the left standing up. My sister-in-law is to the right of my sister, in the brown sweater):

 


 

 

And here is a picture of all the final goodies: