Red cardinals decorate our trees like tiny red apples blooming in the sun. The grass has transformed from a light spring green to a dark, lush and soft mid summer green in just two short days. And the birds!! The green-headed black-bodied birds have discovered a new place to build their nest. Can you take a guess?

In my husband’s gas grill! He can’t believe it. He hopes he can clean out his grill before the birds actually lay their eggs. Meanwhile, the birds create quite an interesting scene as we eat at our kitchen table and gaze upon their carpenter like activities. Life is sweet.

I have had many thoughts swirling through my head today. For example, I wanted to write a short ditty on “weekend food.” Simple meals for A’s center around canned fish. Whether it’s tuna, canned salmon, or even sardines, simply mix with honey, olive oil, soy sauce and a touch of salt for an easy meal. Serve the ‘fish salad” with celery sticks, carrot sticks, or salted rice cakes and an apple. Even fresh broccoli heads would work here. The fish salad would work for the O’s as well, but since my O’s won’t touch it, Swedish pancakes were served instead. (That’s 1 egg, a pinch of salt, 1 cup of rice milk, 1 tablespoon of sugar, and ¼ cup of btd appropriate flour.)

This morning I made several batches of pumpkin waffles (inspired by Jillthepilllady J)

1-cup brown rice flour

1-cup oat flour

1 tbl baking powder

1 pinch of salt

Brown sugar

Cinnamon

2 eggs

2-4 tbl of olive oil

1 – ½ cups of vanilla rice milk or goat milk

Currants

½ cup of canned pumpkin

I experimented with this recipe in several different ways this morning. In the end, I cracked the eggs first and then beat them. Next, add all of the wet ingredients. Add the dry ingredients, one at a time and mix well. When the batter was more thick than thin, I tasted my pudding like concoction. At this point, I would add more sugar or cinnamon or vanilla, etc. Whatever your taste buds tell you, go with the flow. Finally I sprinkled the currants on top and did not mix in.

With a preheated and canola oil coated waffle iron, I poured about 1 cup of the mix onto each waffle grid. Cook until well browned (4 to 5 minutes) and carefully lift out. They are easier to lift if they are WELL browned. Lastly, wrap the cooled waffles with wax paper and place into freezer bags (again, thank you Jill!).

Both pumpkin and the oat flour are beneficial ingredients for the A’s. Also, I think I may start to drift away from spelt for three reasons:

1) I suspect my husband is an O non-secretor and my muffins and such continuously disappoint him

2) My little A is allergic to wheat; ergo perhaps using an antique form of wheat just isn’t such a good idea.

3) It’s more economical to rely on brown rice flour and oat flour in its place. I think pumpkin rye waffles would be tasty too.



Here’s where it gets really wild. I truly think that my little A, with all of his food intolerances, is a non-secretor. Furthermore, I think he inherited some of the classic O non-secretor food allergies from Dad.

Hmmm, Ao (negative) non-secretor blood type. Ya see, I am an A + secretor. I know for a fact Dad is an O (negative) but the non-secretor is a guess based on his food preferences. He hates many of the foods on the O non-secretor list and is truly addicted to wheat. My five-year-old son can easily handle soy and likes spelt. Ergo, I am guessing he is an O secretor.

Mom A + secretor Dad O - (? non secretor?)

5 yr O + (?secretor?) 2 yr A – (?non secretor?)

My Sherlock Holmes attempt at solving mysteries will be proved or disproved soon enough. I am going to order the secretor saliva test for both of my children. I think I can obtain enough saliva by using a medicine dropper to suck it out of the mouth. I think that with enough “practice” runs immediately followed by some sort of treat, I will be able to collect enough for the sample.

After a brief stint outside (you just gotta get the 2 yr old out into the sunshine), I will finish the day by making a big batch of rice noodles and another batch of parsnip raisin bread. Cooking the rice noodles ahead of time was inspired by a cooking video I recently rented from the local library. To ‘refresh’ the noodles, simply place what you need in a little warm water and then drain. I have collard greens, spinach, romaine lettuce and lots of fish just waiting for me in my fridge and freezer. It’ll be interesting. Good eats, everyone.

The kids and I had fun tonight. After dinner, I decided that my five year old needed to be tackled. Of course, the two year old had to get into it the brawl too! Next, the ingenious kindergardner grabbed some tape and decided to spin a spider's web. (He was trying to entrap me.) I laughed so hard. Bonus: the tape clumped together and was rather easy to clean up. Gotta like that one.

My second batch of bread was even better. I simply put the finely chopped parsnip at the very bottom of the bread machine. I also used a little less oil. The bread still fell, gosh darn it, but the texture was thicker and fluffier (is that even a word?) overall. My kindergardner is impressed that I have hidden vegetables in it and has given me permission to do it again (hee hee.)

The spinach and sardine frittata (forgive spelling please) was a leftover conconction. It really pleases me when something accidently turns out tasty.

olive oil

diced onion

minced garlic

coarse sea salt

leftover mashed up sardines

freshly washed spinach, torn into smaller pieces

5 eggs

Saute onion and garlic in oil. (On my gas stove, that is a level three or medium heat.) Add sardines and stir. Add wet spinach leaves and saute until wilted. Add salt. Stir. Beat your eggs with a little bit of water (if we could eat cheese, I would have added it here) and pour into pan. Shake pan to distribute ingreidents evenly. Allow eggs to set (about 2 minutes) and place pan into a preheated 400 degree oven. Bake for 10 - 15 minutes or until eggs have puffed up nicely. I can never get mine to look exactly like Emeril's - but he used a higher temperature I believe. Anyway, pull eggs out of the oven and allow to cool on stove top. Cut into pizza like wedges and top with a little fine salt.

The sardines actually tasted very sweet - must have been the onions. My two year old ate three slices of this egg bake - or 2 and a half eggs. As for myself, there was a definite energy surge after dinner. (The wine may have had something to do with it!) After our tickle fest, I cleaned the dishes, vaccummed the floor and mopped. That's just not normal. Good eats everyone!!

Oh, that piece of advice is right up my alley. My muscles were tense this morning, and my daily stretch took twice as long as normal. But it was worth it.

Cooking has been such a joy once again. The first time my five year old ate one of my btd calzones, it was too "mushy" and a definate thumbs down. "Never make this again, Mom!" The second time I served it to him (much flatter), he said in a surprised five year old voice "this is good..!" The filling contained one can of tomato sauce (no avoids listed within the brand, but genetically modified I fear), a little brown sugar, chopped steak and mozzerela cheese. The tomato sauce also had a little italian seasoning. I look forward to picking up tomatoes from grandpa's garden later on this year.

The A's were served rice and diced parsnips cooked in compliant chicken broth. Black beans, corn, a little brown sugar and a little cumin were added to spice it up. The parsnips made the dish so nice and creamy! I did find that cumin wasn't the perfect spice (in my opinion) so I am going to try Rosemary next. All of the sniffing of spices and taste testing during the cooking process is starting to become quite fun.

Today at lunch, I really took a creative chance. Sardines were mashed up, sprinkled with salt and combined with honey. This become our filling for the lunch time calzone. When it was done baking, I drizzled it with olive oil and served it to my two year old. He obviously liked it, because he wouldn't give me one bite! (Can you imagine a cranky two year old yelling "no!" and twisting his body so that his food is as far away from you as possible? ) Just for kicks, I drizzled a little soy sauce over the calzone. Fruit juice satisfied the need for sweet.

Next time, I think dicing up a small onion and some celery would be even better. Sardine salad, one might say. I also think it's time to increase my fish servings, as my muscles need more protein (weightlifting, in case you didn't know). Good eats everyone!

Wahhoooo! Both kids said thumbs up! I am just excited because my five year old has never eaten parsnips before. Before I share the recipe, I must admit: my bread keeps falling. It starts to rise half way through and then always plumets before it's done. Whether it is a noisy kitchen or it is too much moisture, I don't know. But if my kids like the taste, then by golly, it is a success story.

Using a bread machine:

1 egg plus enough water to equal 1 cup

4 tsp of canola oil

1 large parsnip, peeled and diced with a food blender

4 tsp of brown sugar

1 tsp of salt

2 1/4 cups of whole grain spelt (give or take)

1/3 cup of cherries

1 package of very active dry yeast



At the beep, add 1/3 cup of raisins. It has a sweet and 'spicy' kick to it!

My two year old may or may not be having trouble with spelt. Once he is feeling better, I will be baking another batch of this and then serve it to him once again. 1 serving day number one, two servings day number two, and three servings day number three. This would be easier if he could talk!

Good eats everyone

Die you ba@@@&*%^*!

Ok, that’s spider number two I have killed today. I love spring, but really – the number of spiders that suddenly appear aggravate me to no end! At least the common house spider is relatively small. I think what bothers me the most are the accidental bites. For example, if they simply left my children alone while they were sleeping, then I would be happy to share the corners of my house with them. Instead, the five year old wakes up screaming as one crawls across his body. Thank the good Lord, we aren’t deathly allergic to spiders!

On a lighter note, it was a wonderful cooking day. Here’s what was on the menu:

Oatmeal pancakes with cinnamon, brown sugar and raisins

Oatmeal cookies

Parsnip – cherry spelt bread

Cal zones using whole grain spelt flour



Both my kids gobbled up the pancakes. (Forgive me if I have written about this already. My memory seems to be on vacation.) The cookies are a necessary “car” snack as I try to tackle a very busy week. The parsnip – cherry bread sounds a little wacky, but I just thought that the two flavors might just mingle. As always, I am on a vegetable crusade with my son. I had a piece of this new concoction today and I honestly liked it. But until my kids give it their approval, I will withhold from sharing the recipe.

The caaaallllllzzzzzzooooonnnnnneeeessss…. (Can you see the drool from my chin?) My five year old got so excited when I described this type of food to him. I have dedicated this week to making cal zones for dinner. Every type I can think of will be attempted. Between the traditional pizza toppings and omelet fillings, I think I can whip up quite a variety.

Ok – let’s talk about homemade pizza crust for a minute. Whole grain spelt works quite well. Since rye is a beneficial for the A’s, I will be working on a half/half combination sometime this week. If this is your first time attempting to make a homemade pizza crust (which folded over becomes a cal zone), please allow me to help you out:

1) Follow the pizza crust recipe in the “Cook for your blood type book.”

2) However, after dissolving your yeast in warm water, wait for ten minutes.

3) Look for bubbles. This guarantees that your yeast is alive! If you see only a few bubbles or no bubbles dump it out and start over.

4) Always cover your workspace or your rolling pin with more flour. I actually used rye – as it simply was a way to decrease the expense. (Rye is a lot cheaper than spelt where I am located.)

5) Knead your dough GENTLY. I can’t emphasize this enough. When the dough ball starts to look smooth (about five minutes), you are ready to oil it up and place it back in the bowl.

6) Follow the rest of the directions in the book. For the cal zone recipe, I would actually divide the dough into 4 or 6 pieces.

7) Fill with your favorite cooked or sautéed meat, cheese and veggies. (I just stuck with simple cheese today, as I was more concerned about my crust turning out.)

8) Bake at 500 degrees for 8 minutes. (I was following the advice of Emeril). He was right!

9) Last but not least, drizzle with olive oil or butter and lightly salt. I think I will set up dipping bowls for the kids. My five year old hates to get his hands messy.

I can’t wait to try ground turkey with onions, garlic, and maybe a little goat cheese tomorrow. I say maybe because I have this sneaky suspicion that the two year old cannot handle goat cheese anymore. He used to be able to eat it without negative side effects, but something has changed. Right after this blog, I will be double-checking the type base index. Ah well, if he can’t handle cheese of any kind, that I simply will have to get more creative. What?? Another excuse to cook versus clean my spider-infested house? Yea! ……No. Somehow, super mom will find the time to do both. (Imagine a chuckle followed by a snort.) In my dreams……..