I may have posted this one before. Please forgive the redundancy, but since my two year old child gave this one a 'thumbs up', I have decided to post the recipe today:

one can of sardines in olive oil or water

two ribs of celery

handful of parsley

lemon juice

red onion

2 tsp of minced garlic

tahini (1 - 2 tablespoons)

salt



Dice the celery, parsley and 1/4 red onion. Drain and mash the sardines. Add it all together along with salt, tahini and lemon juice. Mash very well and adjust flavors to taste. (I added a little extra salt and lemon juice.) The tahini has a slight bitter aftertaste - so mix well or use a little less. With some simple red grapes on the side, this was very satisfying.

As I think about it, were all 5 flavors represented? Sweet - the red grapes, Sour - the lemon, Pungent - the onion, Salty - the sea salt and the sardines, Bitter - the sesame seed (tahini). Someone once told me that if all 5 flavors were represented within a meal, then all major organs within the body have been nourished. (A chinese philosophy, I suppose?) Obviously, I am no expert. But I can say one thing-

That was one healthy lunch! Good eats everyone!

I cut my finger while attempting to pry open frozen salmon patties. My typing is atrocious! The bandaid keeps getting in the way!Grrr..

On a lighter note, I find myself unable to save money by buying raw produce versus the bagged salad because my little six year old won't anything that isn't bag crisp. I think that I am going to have to go back to some of the old ways despite my desire to pinch every possible penny we can. Buying crisp bagged half romaine and half iceberg lettuce is better than no vegetable at all. Luckily, the A's are not so picky. As long as there is olive oil, salt and garlic on the salad, we love it. In fact, I think we prefer salad slightly wilted.

Dinner was unenjoyable tonight due to multi-tasking. I barely get time to eat as I run around playing waitress and chef. I think that from now on, the kids will have two choices at meal times. They can either 'work' at the kitchen sink while I cook (and stimulate those brains along the way) or they can play in their rooms until I am done. The two year old keeps running outside while I am attemtping to cook something on the stovetop, and the six year old keeps asking me for help with the tv, the latest art project, etc. It just upsets my stomach.

Thumbs up to Dad tonight who cooked venison steak for the O's. It smelled delicious. My son gave my apricot raisins muffins a triple thumbs up. It's funny, because the recipe is so simple:

1 cup of buckwheat flour

1 cup of brown rice flour

1 tsp of baking soda

1 tsp of baking powder

1/2 pinch of salt

a little dark brown sugar (to taste)

cinnamon (to taste)

flax seeds (6 to 7 tablespoons)

raisins

dried cranberries

2 eggs

1 tablespoon of olive oil

1 can of apricots in fruit juice (no corn syrup here!)

Blend the eggs, oil and apricots together. Combine dry ingredients in a seperate bowl and shake gently until well mixed. Add wet ingredients and mix lightly. Spoon into lined muffin tins and bake at 350 for about 20 - 25 minutes. Allow to cool before serving.

Perfect for an O secretor and gluten free for all those possible A non secretor Celiacs!* Take care everyone!

I finally did it. With school lunches costing 2.70 for a single meal, I justified the cost of buying walnut butter over the internet! I accidently bought sunflower butter for my O at the local health food store, only to find out that it is an avoid for O's! But here's the good news: he ate the sunflower butter mixed with jelly without complaint! I called it "healthy" peanut butter!

So - I am hoping that walnut butter mixed with his favorite pure jelly will pass the taste test! School lunches will finally become a no brainer! (I am hoping.) A's have so many more choices!

Most of my recipes are perfect for a cold winter's night, but this 100 degree weather is killing me! It's amazing how often I get stuck in the 'traditional' way of thinking, which is why I appreciate Janet's blog. I switched out the sweet peppers for a red onion, and leaned heavily on the celery. Both my two year old and I enjoyed it for lunch. In fact, cold black bean salad is next on the list.

Dinner tonight included pan fried tilapia with white rice, a french spice combo (shute, I will have to look that up for the next blog), salt, and a little kelp. It was served with simple white rice, and a red leaf lettuce salad. Soy sauce was used on the rice and simple olive oil was used for the salad. (Hmm., I should have thrown my leftover salted pumpkin seeds and raisins into the salad. Next time, I hope)

It was very filling and very tasty. It's also a kid friendly meal.

I wanted to say thank you to Mrs. "K". It's hard to find the time to blog, but it feels so good to know that I may have inspired someone! Good eating, everyone!

IF you type in Shelton's gluten free on your search engine, it should take you to the right page. I forgot to type in the 's. Sorry!

I found Ezekiel hot dog buns at the health food store. I compromise with my six year old by allowing a little 'junk food' on the weekend. I was glad to replace his traditional white hot dog bun with this healthier version! The A's enjoyed sliced apples and sliced zuchinni with northern bean dip along with gluten free chicken sausage (Amy's.) Scrambled eggs with onion, garlic, salt, and kale along with buckwheat pancakes are on the morning menu. Sardine sandwiches are scheduled for lunch. Well, my six year old is requesting my attention, so that's it for tonight!