Keen-wha?

I’ve recently become more aware of what I am eating, along with what I feed my family.  With my Oral Allergy Sydrome, it is very difficult for me to get protein that is not from meats.  My search led me to try and find foods high in protein that I could eat to replace the fruits and veggies that I couldn’t eat.

Recently I learned about Quinoa, pronounced keen-wah.  It is a sort of seed that is full of protein.  It also has all 9 amino acids that we need daily.  Before trying this tiny little nugget of goodness, I researched a little bit about it.  Everywhere I read, it said how good it was.  I found nothing bad about it.

I decided try it and I used a recipe out of a book that I got on my Kindle fire.  The book is called Quinoa Salads and Side Dishes by Sarah Clarence.  The recipe that I used was called Potluck Favorite.  I can’t share the recipe with you, but you are more than welcome to download the book below onto your Kindle for it.  The garlic in this recipe was delicious and I really liked it.  However, I was eating only the quinoa, nothing else, and it needed something more to be able to keep eating it alone.  I added some soy sauce and it was great!

Check out the book here: http://www.amazon.com/Quinoa-Salad-Side-Dishes-ebook/dp/B008QD4BY4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1354943003&sr=8-1&keywords=Quinoa+Salads+and+Side+Dishes

The next time that I cooked the quinoa, I did as the box says and cooked it like rice.  I cooked it in chicken broth instead of water, like I do my white rice.  I tried it and it was very good.  But I like salt so I added some soy sauce again and gobbled it down.  Now what I liked about the quinoa being cooked this way was that the little sprouts come out a little.  You can see them in my picture above.  It’s the white parts that curl around the seed like little tails.

(Honestly, my favorite so far has been left over and re-heated!)

Last night’s dinner

While shopping at Safeway last week, I was given a chance to sample some new sausage meats that were out.  I loved the garlic flavor, so that’s what I tried.  Oh it was delish!  When I went shopping for food yesterday I had bought a package of that garlic meat to try and picked up a box of Quinoa and Brown Rice to try.  It was Olive Oil and Rosemary, a Mediterranean style.

The rice and quinoa was something new and different.  I liked it, but I’m not sure that I will buy it a lot.  The flavors are something to get used to.  The meat was really good, and even my hubby who hates bratwurst liked these.  The bonus part of Aidells All Natural sausages were that there were no added hormones or MSG and it was made out of chicken.  I didn’t tell anyone in the family that.  Shhh, it’s our little secret!

The dinner was all new and turned out pretty good.

Now here’s my list of extra bonuses with quinoa:

1. The kids loved it and even ask for more!
2. All 9 amino acids that our bodies need daily are in a single serving!
3. Quick and easy to make!
4. Can be bought in a flour form to use for baking to avoid wheat!
5. Perfect for diabetic menus!
6. Fills you up faster and leaves you filled longer!
7. Packed full of protein!

My dinner cooked and ready to eat!!

I really wish that we had found out about this little morsel of delight sooner!  I could have been feeding my family this awesome seed for a long time.  But thankfully, I’ve not wasted any time since knowing about it and we are benefiting from it’s goodness!

Oral Allergy Syndrome

Have you ever eating anything that made your mouth itch uncontrollably and not be able to itch it?  Have you ever enjoyed a dish only to notice that your lips tingle and feel swollen?  Maybe you’ve felt your tongue swell and you felt able to touch places in your mouth that you normally don’t feel?  I have experienced those things.

For a very long time now I have wondered if I have an allergy to almonds.  I love almonds.  I would eat some and feel an itchy sensation on my tongue and gums.  I ignored it for a long time.

While I was pregnant, Hubby made me eat veggies.  I don’t like very many veggies at all.  He made me gag down broccoli, cauliflower and carrots.  But if I had to eat them, I was going to smother them in ranch.  After that, I came to really like eating the broccoli.  My oldest is now nine and about a year ago, maybe two, I noticed that my lips tingled and felt swollen when I ate it.  After some testing of my own to pinpoint the problem, I found out it was the broccoli.

About the same time, I discovered that corn made me react also.  With this experience, I felt my tongue swell.  It was difficult to swallow.  My next decision was to have the dr do a test.  She did an IgE blood test.  It came back that I was allergic to peanuts and some other things.  It was not a much as I wanted to know though.  Still, I was given an epi-pen to carry around.

I continued to eat peanuts and peanut butter.  I had never reacted to it, so I felt safe.  I stayed away from fruits and veggies that were uncooked though.

One day, it happened.  I reacted to the peanut butter.  I did not want to shoot myself with an epi-pen, so I drank some benadryl to right the affects of my tongue swelling.  That is another story.

But now, I have to be very careful, and stay away from peanut butter.  That is sad.

My FIL decided to give  me my Christmas gift early this year.  It is a Nutribullet.  He knows that I enjoyed juicing.  I decided to find out last night if there if I am suffering from allergies or food intolerance.  I found out that there is a such thing as Oral Allergy Syndrome and it matched all of  my symptoms, whereas the food intolerance did not.

My next steps will be:

1. Call dr on Monday to make appt to meet with an allergist and get prick test done
2. Keep food diary and how I am feeling journal
3. Read book for Nutribullet

I will also be starting some posts on using my Nutribullet and maybe a journey in new eating habits!  So stay tuned!

Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end.  Amen
Ephesians 3:20-21