Green Veggie only smoothie (paleo)

So I have decided that smoothies are pretty good. Easy to get all the veggies and fruits in that I eat every day. Trying to get the kids onto the smoothie train too, but for now its mostly me and sometimes my daughter. Tonight I needed veggies but I am in a hurry as we have track and other things. So a smoothie is going to be how it happens.

HUGE handful of kale. I used baby kale this time. I probably used two huge handfuls as the blender was over half full of just kale after I packed it down.
1/2 of a cucumber
half of a red bell pepper
handful of parsley
1 peeled lemon
1 peeled lime
2 stalks of celery
liquid stevia to taste
about 2 cups water
10 ice cubes

I put everything into the blender and hit "smoothie"   Pretty good. Its kind of bitter without the addition of the stevia. Would be great with added fruit in place of stevia, but I wanted to see if I could get a veggie only smoothie to taste good. Enjoy!

Yummy Marinade

So tonight it was .. um.. chicken .. yet again..  But only because I wanted to experiment with a marinade for BBQ. And because my hubby really wanted a BBQ (since its Father's day)..  It turned out really good!

I took 4 chicken breasts and cut them in half lengthwise. Then split them through the middle so they were thin. I then marinated them in the ingredients below for about half hour. Then onto the nice hot grill about 3 minutes or so each side (or until no longer pink inside). These cooked up fast because they were thin. For thicker pieces,you will need to cook longer.
 They were very tasty, flavorful and juicy!!Especially for such a short marinade time. Made a great chicken salad.  YUMMM!!
                 I tried to get a photo of the entire plate of chicken I cooked, but before I could get back into the kitchen with my phone, they had eaten all but these two.. The chicken was apparently a success.

Marinade
1/4 cup black soy sauce (this is usually sweeter than regular soy sauce. Can be found at Asian markets)
1/4 cup low sodium tamari sauce (regular soy sauce would probably work)
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
juice from 1 lime
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
about 1 tsp of grated fresh ginger

Put into a ziplock baggie and shake to mix well. Let sit - so flavors marry- while you prepare your chicken.. or for about 10 minutes or so. Add the chicken, toss to coat all pieces and let marinate (I left mine at room temp) for about half hour. It could probably go longer, but I would put into refrigerator if it was longer than half hour.

UPDATE
I have now used this marinade several times. But only with chicken. It would probably be good with other meat, but we don't eat pork much, and I just have not had anything but ground beef, so no experimenting there. We eat quail, sometimes, so next time we are planning quail I will marinate those and see how they turn out. I once let chicken marinate for over 24 hours (because I was busy and forgot about it..). It is very good no matter the amount of time marinated. Every time I have made chicken that has been in this marinade, it flies off the plate! I grilled (literally) an entire 7lb bag of boneless, skinless chicken thighs that I had marinated and they were gone so quick I didn't even get the chance to freeze some for my lunches. I was able to hide one piece, and when I ate if for my lunch the next day I didn't even warm it up. It was still so dang good, even cold!!! My kids keep asking me to make more of "that chicken". We ran out of propane one night, and my son cried when I told him we would do the chicken another night.. So then I had to go get propane so he didn't have to wait. I have chicken that I just put into the refrigerator to thaw, but shhhh.. don't tell the kids I plan on marinating it, or I won't get a chance to put up any for my lunches.

Asparagus stuffed chicken

Tonight for dinner we are going with chicken..yes, chicken again. We eat a lot of chicken and turkey here.  But I wanted something different. I did some thinking and decided to make breaded baked chicken stuffed with asparagus. I went about this in a way that would meet both my son's diet, and also mine. Part of my diet is being mostly gluten free. So I had to figure out how to bread the chicken without using flour/wheat, but also taste good. here is what I came up with:

Ingredients
1/2 cup brown rice flour
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp parsley flakes
1/4 tsp pepper

Mix all of the above ingredients in a bowl
In another bowl you need about half cup of coconut milk. Coconut milk will help keep the chicken moist.

4 chicken breasts
8 asparagus stalks, trimmed of bottoms
2 tsp coconut oil

I cut the chicken almost in half lengthwise, making a "flap". I then dipped each piece of chicken into the coconut milk, then into the dry ingredients, coating everywhere including inside the flap. I sat each on a rack on top of a baking sheet. I then pulled open the flap and placed 2 pieces of asparagus into the middle of each piece of chicken. I then put about 1/2 tsp of coconut oil on top of the asparagus then folded the chicken back over itself. Bake in oven at 375 for 20-30 minutes or until chicken is done.

The chicken was a HUGE hit.. Kids and hubby all loved it. I made mashed cauliflower to accompany the chicken. Those were only so-so. I am going to have to research more on the cauliflower recipe for next time.

Blueberry Kale Smoothie (paleo)

So yes... yes I will admit it.. I am on a diet.. ok. Not a really real DIET.. but just a diet.  However, it is working. I am down over 25 lbs now. Some of that I am sure is because I am supplementing my not diet with minerals that we all need. Because none of our fruits and veggies have the minerals that they used to, so supplements are the only way to get them. I read a study that suggested 90% of all Americans are mineral deficient and that is what causes a LOT of the problems we have today. I was a daily sufferer of headaches, and also the occasional migraine.  After taking the minerals for just a couple weeks I have not had any more headaches AT ALL.. and then I cold turkey stopped drinking coffee (and I am .. was.. a pot and sometimes 2 pots of coffee a day drinker) and I did not get even one headache from the caffeine withdrawals.
But anyway, that is not the topic of this post. (however if you want to know what minerals I take, get with me, or message me and I will let you know.)

The reason for today's post is the YUMMY smoothie I made for my lunch today. I am not much of a smoothie person, but on this diet I just feel like I am eating ALL THE TIME.. and sometimes I cannot finish. I eat approximately every 2-3 hours. SO I decided to just wing a smoothie to try and get everything into it that I would eat for my lunch.  Today's lunch needed to have a fruit, veggie, protein & healthy fat (and sometimes grain) but no grain in my smoothie today.

Ingredients
1 cup frozen blueberries
1/4 cup walnuts (protein and healthy fat)
6 BIG pieces of kale ( I had a variety of kale, from my garden. But its all still kale)
1/4 cup coconut water
1 to 1 1/2 cups water
few drops of liquid minerals (I incorporate them into nearly every liquid I drink all day long.)


Throw all of the above into the blentec and hit "smoothie".  And once it was nice and smooth, my daughter and I just drank it down.. It was great. I got everything except a grain for my lunch, and didn't have to take half hour to eat it. And even better, it was really really good.. My daughter wanted more. Couldn't get the boys to try it, but that's ok as it left more for me and my girl..

Homemade Natural Ketchup

I don't know about you, but our family LOVES ketchup.. I do mean that. My kids will eat ketchup with ANYTHING.. Including ketchup.. (not a typo.. my son has a shirt that says "I eat ketchup on my ketchup" and it totally fits). But here is my dilemma..Most ketchup brands have corn syrup.. and high sodium. The "natural" brands don't have corn syrup, still have high sodium, usually extra sugar and are expensive. So I have decided to try and make my own. I am starting first with low sodium organic stewed tomatoes. But later on (once I have more tomatoes coming out of the garden than I know what to do with) I will attempt to make it with them. And I will update here once I do.


Homemade Natural ketchup

2 cans -14.5 oz - organic low sodium stewed tomatoes. Drain only 1 of the cans
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp mustard powder
1 medium organic carrot
2 tsp apple cider vinegar
4 drops liquid stevia extract - optional. Taste before adding as you may not need it.

I am lucky enough to own a Blendtec blender. I LOVE it!! I have also had a vitamix. I like Blendtec better. I burned out Vitamix, multiple times, just making peanut, cashew, walnut or almond butters. I have never burned out a Blendtec.. But maybe the Vitamix blenders just didn't like me.. hmm.. anyway - they are both good blenders, if you own one I recommend using it.. If not, a regular blender should work but you'll probably have to heat the ketchup on the stove-top to gain thickness. You can do that even if you do have a vitamix or blendtec, but I did this all in the blender without aid from Mr. Gas Range.

I put all ingredients into the blender and turned on. I set it for "soup" as I want this to thicken up. Which i hope will occur after heating, and letting the steam escape, like I would on the stove-top.  After the first go, I tasted it.. Very tasty. I had Connor taste it too. He said MMMMMM.. It still needs thickening, so I continued to cycle, then cool. Did this 3 times. Then it looked good. I then had everyone else try it. They like it, but said it doesn't taste like store ketchup... probably as there are no extras in it.. but they liked it so I guess it may pass the test.. I'll see (and update here) once I make some fries for the kids to eat it with..

( I may try mixing it into the leftover store bought ketchup we have, just so they get used to it. It does taste different, better IMO. But kids are finicky creatures, and never like new things. So if I mix it, then maybe they will like it and not know until I have them hooked.. Bawahahahha - yes... 'evil' mom laugh. )

Lemon Lime Chicken (Paleo)

So with this new way of eating, we are discovering ways to make food taste good without using much, or any, salt and trying to avoid "unhealthy" foods. It sometimes gets hard to find a meal that can satisfy us and meet the guidelines too.
Tonight I wanted something easy, tasty and done when I got home as we have a night of track meets to attend and want to have the kids fed before we go. So I did some thinking. And I cruised the internet. And decided to "wing it" again when I couldn't find anything that suited us just right. I love my crock pot and so this is what I am going to use for this recipe. I decided chicken was going to be the protein tonight, and using some ideas off the net, and my own I put this together.

 Lemon Lime Chicken
Ingredients

8 boneless, skinless chicken breasts ( I used frozen)
2 medium/large lemons
1 medium lime
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tbsp dried onion flakes
2 tsp dried rosemary
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp poultry seasoning

I put the chicken into the crock pot while still frozen. I zested the lemons and the lime. Then added that on top of the chicken. Then I "peeled" the lemons and lime, (really, I just cut away the pith with my sharp knife) removed the seeds (throw away seeds) and then sliced them up and tossed them into pot. Then sprinkled the remaining ingredients on top. I added no liquid. I put all this together the night before, then put into the refrigerator until the morning. Once I got up for work I put the crock pot into the heating part, and set it  up on low heat then went to work. When I came home my house smelled wonderful and I had this amazing chicken.. Juicy, flavorful, and shredded up like magic. I think we will have this with rice, or maybe noodles. Not sure yet. But it was good all by itself. Kids loved it, and I know this will be a repeat recipe.

Beans, Beans, the magical fruit...

Today's adventures are all about beans.. and more beans!
A friend of mine brought me 4 or 5 lbs of pinto beans so that I could try them out. She said they are the best beans anywhere, and so fresh. I usually use store bought dry beans & sometimes canned, but was excited to give these a try. And as one of our FAVORITE foods are Refried Beans, I wanted to utilize the pinto beans for this - as most store bought have LOTS of sodium. The "low sodium" can I have in front of me says it has 610 mg of sodium for 1/2 cup of refried beans.. That is more sodium than I think is needed, and definitely more than my son should be having for 1 serving. So I decided that if I could make them, with little or no salt, and have them still taste good then we will be in bean heaven.

I cooked about half the beans.. I am not exactly sure how many lbs there were, I estimated. But it is a good amount of beans. I have a large crock-pot, and half the beans filled over half the pot. So at least 2 lbs, maybe 3.  I sorted through them, making sure to get any out that looked bad, and checking for stones. Then I rinsed them a few times to remove any dust. These beans were very clean and pretty to begin with. And my friend said as they are so fresh there would be no soaking required. Hallelujah! I hate soaking beans for hours, then cooking for more hours. So being fresher eliminated at least the soaking part.
Once the beans were rinsed, I put them into the crock-pot on low, covered them with cool water until at least 2 inches of water above the beans. I did this later in the evening, maybe 8 or 9 pm.  Then I left them to cook overnight. I got up once, and checked on them and they did need more water so added a couple more cups of water. When I got up this morning (I am usually up very early) they were done. I did not add anything to the cooking of these, just beans and water.

To flavor the beans and make them "refried" I decided to try the following:
Remember - I do not actually "measure" and so these are estimates.

1 large onion minced
3 garlic cloves mince.
juice from 1 large lime
2 tbsp Mrs dash fiesta lime seasoning
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp of onion powder
1 tbsp of garlic powder
1 1/2 tsp of ground cayenne pepper

I cooked the onion and garlic in a little (1 tsp) butter until they were translucent. When they started to get dry, to avoid adding more butter or any oil I used some of the juice from the cooked beans. While the onions cooked I started ladling the mostly drained beans into my food processor. I did have to add some of the liquid, to keep the beans from being too dry or "gummy". Most places I looked recommended just smashing the beans with a potato smasher, but I just figured the food processor would be easier on my hands ( I have arthritis so anything I can do to make it easier is a good thing). I used the pulse to get the beans "smashed" up to where I wanted them to be. Once the onions were done, I turned off the heat and added in the smashed beans. I did have to repeat the beans in the food processor about 5 times to get all the beans that I had cooked, and I was able to add them all into my large stockpot.
Once I had all the beans processed and in the pot with the onions and garlic,I turned the heat back on low, and I added the other seasonings. The lime and Mrs Dash were a later addition as I just felt the beans needed something, and I just did not want to add any more salt than I had - 1 tsp for as many beans as I made is not too much. But not enough to flavor them much either. The lime and Mrs Dash did the trick! Once everything was mixed in and heated through I did a taste test. Everyone in the house LOVED them, and were begging for bowls of refried beans for brunch. And I was happy to say  "Sure, eat as many as you want."

Turkey and White bean stew -
2 lbs ground turkey
1 medium onion chopped
1/2 lb great northern beans
2 cloves of garlic minced
2 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp poultry seasoning
1 tsp onion powder
1 tbsp cayenne pepper
1 can low sodium chicken stock
1 can low sodium stewed tomatoes
5-6 pieces of curly kale. I use the long mature kale for cooking. not baby kale.


For Dinner we are also using beans. This time we are using white Great Northern beans. These were store bought dry, so I have soaked them already overnight in cool water in the refrigerator. Always seems they work out better for me if I do that.
I used about half a pound of beans. Checked, rinsed, and soaked. This morning I rinsed them again and put them into the crock-pot, covering them with several cups of water. I let the beans cook most of the day, until they were tender. Then I fried up some ground turkey, a diced white onion, couple cloves of diced garlic, some cumin, poultry seasoning, ground cayenne pepper, & onion powder. cooked this until the turkey was done, and then poured into the crock-pot with the beans. I added 1 can of low sodium chicken stock, 1 can of low sodium stewed tomatoes -drained- and a couple cups of water to the crock-pot to bring liquid level up to nearly the top. I then chopped up some curly kale, rough chop - large pieces and used the stems, then threw them into the pot too. I let this cook until the kale was tender. Then nom nom nom!  It was pretty good. Kids ate it, but were not overly excited about it. I think it will make a great freezer lunch to have handy  for work.

Breakfast Rice

Breakfast Rice

Today I wanted to make something that was not plain ol' oatmeal. I searched the net, gathered a few ideas, and came up with this. The kids all enjoyed it (and came back for seconds).


Cooked rice. - I used Calrose rice as that is what I have
1 can (14oz) coconut milk  - unsweetened & with no "extras"
1 cup of 1% milk
1 tbsp honey
1 whole vanilla bean
dried cranberries
1/8 cup chia seeds
walnuts





I cooked regular rice. I have Calrose rice. I cooked it in water, no salt or butter. Once the rice was done, I set it aside in a bowl for a few minutes. Using the same pot I cooked the rice in, I poured the coconut milk, 1% milk and honey. I put this over low heat. I then cut the vanilla bean open, scraped out the seeds and added them to the milk. I also added the vanilla pod. I heated the milk/vanilla until it was at a simmer, stirring occasionally to keep from scorching. I let simmer for about 5 minutes, then added the rice. I brought this back up to a simmer, stirring often. Once most of the liquid was absorbed I added in the cranberries. About a half cup.  then I added in the walnuts. Probably about 1/4 cup. I smashed them up first with the back of a heavy cup. I cooked this for about another 5 minutes, then put in into my serving bowl, adding in the chia right at the end, and removing the vanilla pod. Stir and serve.

Cauliflower "tater tots"

My kids *LOVE* french fries...and tater tots.. Its a toss up as to which of the two is their favorite. One week it will be fries. Another week tots.. Fries are easy.. Just about anyone can make fries in the oven. But tots.. Well that is another story.. Tonight tots are what I attempted to make, as store bought tots have too many of the things that are "off" limits. Most of the brands I looked at had around 500mg of salt per serving, which averaged to be 7 tots (and what kid only eats 7 tots.. really)  .. and a couple brands had high fructose corn syrup.... Ok.. This is getting ridiculous. So after realizing that my kids would either never get tots again, or I would have to make my own, I decided on the latter.. I am creative.. I can do this!! I got online and did some searching, got an idea or two from Pinterest, but decided to just "wing" it when I didn't find exactly what I was looking for.

 I went about this adventure - without using potatoes.. (not a requirement.. but hey, carbs.. waistline.. you know how this goes.. ). and besides, I had cauliflower that needed to be used before it went bad.. So here is what I came up with after reading a pinterest post that had something similar (find the similar recipe here http://www.ibreatheimhungry.com/2012/01/cauliflower-tater-tots.html )

Ingredient list

3 large egg whites (yes.. eggs are *technically* off limits.. but I am using 3 WHITES for us all so figured the protein wouldn't be that much)

1 cup Matzo meal    - for matzo balls..   really it is wonderful stuff

1 entire head of cauliflower 

1/4 cup cheese - I used a blended cheese.  (again.. I know, off limits.. but its the sodium only that makes cheese off limits.. and 1/4 c for as much as this makes will be ok.. and there really is not that much sodium in the cheese I am using.. 130 mg for 1/3 cup.. not bad)

I started off by cutting up the cauliflower into florets. I put into a bot of boiling water only, and boiled for maybe 5 minutes. Just until tender. I then placed the drained cauliflower into my food processor and pureed it until it was like mashed potatoes. Then I put them into the refrigerator to cool down.

     While the cauliflower is cooling, I beat the 3 egg whites with a dash of cream of tartar until super stiff peaks.. and I do mean STIFF PEAKS.. I wanted to make sure they were able to support the "tater tot" shape and the egg whites were going to be my helper with this. 

     Once the cauliflower was cooled (about half hour), and my egg whites stiff peaks, I folded the cheese, cauliflower and matzo meal into the eggs. You do want to FOLD, not stir- or all the work in making stiff peaks will be worthless. Once everything was folded in I scooped the mix into a large zip-lock baggie, and cut a good size hole out of the corner, maybe 1/2 inch hole, creating a disposable "pastry bag". I then piped small "tater tots" onto a cookie sheet that I had lined with foil (for easy clean up) and had put a small amount of olive oil onto. I just made small tater tot sized "dollops". Placed into a 400 degree oven for 7-10 minutes. Turned over. Cooked for another 7-10 minutes (or til golden brown on each side).  Remove from oven, and put onto a paper towel lined plate to drain any oil. And then...  GOBBLE GOBBLE GOBBLE!!!

These little gems did have a "potato like" taste to them. they were crunchy on the outside, and soft like mashed potatoes on the inside. The cheese gave a nice flavor, just a hint of cheese,  and helped with the need for any salt, as these would probably be very bland otherwise, and as I added NO salt other than what was in the cheese.  Two of my three kids were all over them.. My daughter did not like them much. She said they were just to "weird".. but the boys (who are my hardest critics) ate about 20 tots each. I thought they were great. And my hubby liked them pretty good too.. 4 out of 5 likes.. That says keeper to me on my recipe scale. 

OK.. I know they look more like chicken nuggets.. but they were good substitute for tater tots.. in my opinion. Plus they are low carb, low salt, no HFCS, and technically, just another veggie. Which helps in that department. I may have to try making some and freezing (before cooking) to see how they turn out if cooked from frozen like store bought tots. And to save on time as these did take a bit of time to make. Would be nice to be able to pop out of freezer and into oven and have dinner ready in just a few minutes. hmm. I'll try this and update once I do. Probably be a bit before I get to it though. 

Avocado Pesto from Scandi Foodie - (Paleo)

Tonight's dinner was FABULOUS! There is just no other way to describe it. I made thin (regular chops cut in half) pork chops, with asparagus wrapped in filo dough, and shredded blanched zucchini with the best pesto I have ever eaten. Of course, the kids still really did not like it.. But Mike and I were in HEAVEN!! The pesto was so good.. On EVERYTHING.. I was eating it straight off a spoon even..

So for the Pork chop.. I took regular pork chop and sliced it in half, making them thin. As we have to cut back on protein this was hopefully to help with that. I then preheated a pan with a little olive oil, and sprinkled the chops with white pepper only (as we are also limiting the sodium). I fried the chops until golden on each side, then placed them into a holding pan. Once all were cooked, I put the juice from half of a lemon over the chops and let them rest.

The asparagus was easy. Just trimmed it down, then took 1/8 sheet of filo dough, brushed with melted butter, rolled up asparagus then placed on baking sheet. Brushed outside with remaining butter, baked at 350 until golden brown.

Zucchini.. I shredded 3 small zucchini and then blanched them in boiling water for maybe 3 minutes. Drained well and set aside.

Now for the star of the show. I found a recipe on Pinterest that sounded good. And OMG it was!!! I changed it a little, but only because of ingredients on hand. It is the BEST pesto I have ever had ~ IN MY LIFE!!!  Seriously!   Here is a link to the recipe at Scandi Foodie Blogspot.com.
 http://scandifoodie.blogspot.com/2010/09/zucchini-with-avocado-pesto.html

But I'll also post it here in case the link is not working.

(Recipe adapted from the 80/20 Diet by Teresa Cutter)

1/2 avocado, peeled and stoned

1 garlic clove, crushed
juice of one lime
juice of 1/2 lemon 
small handful basil 
small handful flat-leaf parsley 
20g green, unsalted pumpkin seeds 
40g natural almonds, chopped 
1 tsp honey 
pinch of sea salt 

4 small zucchini 
200g cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 small handful flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped 1 tbs balsamic vinegar

To make the pesto, put the avocado, garlic, lime and lemon juice, herbs, pumpkin seeds, almonds and honey in a food processor. Process until smooth, add 30 ml water, and season well with freshly ground black pepper and a pinch of salt.

I adjusted the recipe a little and this is what I did -
 (put all into food processor)

1 large ripe Avocado, peeled and stoned
1-2 garlic cloves, diced
juice from 1 large lime
juice from 1/2 lemon
handful of Basil   (I LOVE BASIL.. YUMMMMMM)
handful of parsley
1/4 cup unsalted pepitas  (hulled pumpkin seeds)
1/4 cup walnuts (or almonds)
1 tsp honey

Blend all in food processor until smooth.. YUMMM!!

A Life of Limited food choices

         We are not vegetarian. We are also not vegan. We are not whole foods subscribers, nor are we into paleo. We are a normal family that loves everyday foods. Meat, cheese, dairy, the occasional visit to a fast food restaurant. I liked having ready made foods available for days we are in a hurry. Like burritos. Tater Tots. Corn dogs.. You get what I am talking about..  However, we have become the family that cannot have the foods we love most due to health factors. This new (and seemingly limited choice) food journey began about 2 years ago, but has only become super limited this year.

              This all began when my then 5 year old started randomly urinating blood. It would happen once, then not again for weeks. Then it would happen again. Doctors had no answers for us. I think they actually thought I was crazy at first. But they did run tests, and even came up with a "diagnosis".. or three. Which did not satisfy us, as their "answers" just didn't make sense.. And they were hesitant to offer any solutions as they just couldn't "see" what was happening. Not until my son again urinated blood, and we were able to capture it and take with us to a doctor did I finally start getting somewhere. After more tests, and an ultrasound where the doctor said he thought he saw a tumor (scaring us half to death) we were finally referred to specialists at Primary Children's Medical center. To make this looong story short, we underwent many, many tests, and finally it was determined that he had severe kidney stones. To remove the stones he underwent several surgeries. And made dietary changes -no fast food, no soda, no high fructose corn syrup, and other items. Some of these items were only occasional treats to begin with..  Unfortunately, that did not solve our problem. After just a few weeks, the stones were back with a vengeance. It took us several more tests and procedures before a specialist determined that part of the problem was a malformed kidney. To fix this, they removed a piece of my son's kidney, removed the ureter (the tube that runs from your kidney to the bladder) and then reattached the ureter to a lower section of the kidney.  After a few weeks, we went in for more testing to see how everything was "flowing."  It all looked good, until the blood and urine tests came back. Apparently the surgeries (there were 11 of them) did help, but did not fix the real issue. The tests show that his kidneys are not flushing out the sodium, calcium, and protein. Which is kidney stones just waiting to happen. YIKES!  So now we are adjusting our eating habits even more, and going in for testing every few weeks..  Here are the items he (read all of us) cannot have -

Soda
High Fructose Corn syrup  (HFCS)
Sodium  =  Salt or salty foods
He must limit his protein
NO CHEESE (omg.. dying here.. Cheese is the family favorite.. we would seriously use 10lbs a month!!)
No processed foods
No fast foods
No preservitaves
Doctor would prefer us to avoid foods with high oxalate (even though his oxalate count is low)

So basically (if you understand that the above items are in MOST foods) he cannot have anything that most kids enjoy. Cheese is going to be the hardest thing, as they all LOVE cheese.. and Ketchup.. Seriously, how can you live without ketchup? I have seen my kids eat ketchup sandwiches (yes, its gross, but they liked it. and who would have thought that ketchup was that bad for you?). And my son  LOVES eggs.. He would eat 3 eggs for breakfast.. But now he cannot have more than 1 egg, every other day. Pasta without marinara or tomato sauce? No Pizza?? No hot dogs? Grilled cheese and tomato soup? Have you read the back of most items at the grocery store... they all have high sodium or high fructose corn syrup.. most juices do and even frozen bread rolls! (which we used a lot too)..  Holy cow! What do I feed my kids?
Then we realized that even letting him eat school lunch is going to be an issue.. which means we also have to prepare foods he can eat at school, as most school foods are (sadly) unhealthy or full of preservatives, HFCS, or salt (and sugar.. which no one should have too much of)

I decided to start this blog to share our journey of new food choices. And maybe gain some input from anyone living a similar lifestyle. And also to share the recipes I create, or find on the net that will meet our criteria and that the kids will eat. Some will, undoubtedly, have a few of the things "off" limits, but I am going to do my best to keep them at minimal. It is very hard once you start realizing that most foods contain some of the "bad" items, even fresh veggies. We eat a lot of kale here, which contains oxalate, but honestly as his count was low, we will not cut out that item as it is very healthy food choice. We will just continue to avoid other foods with oxalate and try to limit how often we eat kale. And hopefully, with a new diet and increase in liquids, the next phase of testing will be much better.