God is Good…As a Matter of FACT He is GREAT! August 15, 2008

Just thought I give God Praise.  What a merciful, loving, gracious, strong, awesome, wonderful, kind Father I have.  I can go on and on about the goodness of the Lord and how He is a PROVIDER, a WAY MAKER, PEACE in the midst of a storm.  WOW…What a GREAT GOD!!! 

Have you ever been busy doing something and then a praise came into your spirit and you start meditating on the goodness of the Lord.  Well that’s how I feel at this very moment.  God has blessed me and my family with His presence and a KNOWING that He is real.  He is with my children daily and guiding my footsteps on how to be a mom.  The Lord has even ordered my steps in finding ways to help my son.  He is definitely a Provider because after my third child was born we decided it would be best for me to stay home and through His grace has been providing for us daily.  I’m just happy to be a child of a KING. 

If you want to leave some praise reports in the comments section to share with others I welcome it.

God Bless:)

What happened to Food Commando? August 15, 2008

First let me begin by saying, “I LOVE THE FOOD NETWORK!”  My favorite show right now is Down Home With The Neelys.  Although their food isn’t the healthiest and a thorn in a dieter’s side they are very entertaining and their recipes make since and are really tasty…Ask me how I know

A few years ago I use to love this show called Food Commando with Chef Juan Carlos Cruz.  He literally loss weight by changing the ingredients in high calorie food to their low calorie or low fat counterpart.  He took recipes like lasagna, meatloaf, cheesecake and made them healthy.  It was a great show.  On his show he compared the calorie and fat difference between the original unhealthy recipe and the new and improved healthier version.

Many of you know that I am on Weight Watcher (don’t ask lets just say vacationing wasn’t good for my diet but I am back on the band wagon) and I’m using the points system.  So I’m trying to squeeze as much food in my day by using lowfat and fat free items such as milk.  Whole milk is 4pts  versus skim milk which is 2 pts.  With those extra 2 points I can have an apple and a WW peanut butter bar which is only 1 pt.  So do I drink that 1 cup of whole milk for 4pts or do I drink 1 cup of skim milk and still have room for two other snacks.

I really wish Chef Cruz’s show was still on because there are so many recipes out there that needs to be revamped.

Here is the recipe for his low calorie lasagna:

Meat and Cheese Lasagna Recipe courtesy Juan-Carlos Cruz Show:  Calorie Commando Episode:  Comfort Zone

1/2 pound turkey Italian sausage 1 cup low-fat ricotta cheese 3/4 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella, divided 1 tablespoon olive oil, divided 3 cloves garlic, minced 1 tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil leaves 2 (14-ounce) cans stewed tomatoes, diced 1 cup chopped red onion 2 tablespoons roughly chopped fresh oregano leaves 2 tablespoons roughly chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves 2 tablespoons roughly chopped fresh thyme leaves 12 medium button mushrooms (about 1 cup), store bought and pre-sliced (from produce aisle) 1 large zucchini, chopped (about 1 1/2 cups) 4 lasagna pasta noodles, cooked al dente per directions on noodle box  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.Remove the casing from turkey sausage and discard. Heat a nonstick saute pan over medium-high heat. Add the turkey sausage and brown until thoroughly cooked, about 1 1/2 minutes. Drain and discard any grease in the pan. Remove sausage from heat and add the ricotta and 1/2 cup mozzarella. Stir until well blended. Set aside. Heat 1 teaspoon olive oil in a small, non-stick saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the garlic, crushed red pepper flakes, and chopped basil and saute until the garlic just begins to soften, about 1 minute. Add the tomatoes and bring to a simmer. Remove from heat and set aside. Heat the remaining 2 teaspoons olive oil in a large nonstick saute pan over medium-high heat. Add onion, oregano, parsley, and thyme and saute until onions are just soft, about 2 minutes. Add the mushrooms and zucchini and continue sauteing until the vegetables are tender, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and add half of the tomato sauce to the sauteed vegetables. To assemble, line the bottom of a lasagna pan (roughly 13 by 9 inches) with 1/4 of the tomato sauce. Top with 2 lasagna noodles. Then spread half of the sausage mixture on top of the pasta. Cover the sausage layer with about half of the vegetable mixture. Top the vegetable layer with the remaining sausage mixture. Then top that layer with the remaining lasagna noodles and add the remaining tomato sauce over top. Sprinkle with the remaining mozzarella. Bake for 25 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand for 5 minutes before cutting.   Serves 8 Nutrition Information Nutritional Analysis per serving Calories 254 Fat 14 grams Saturated Fat 5 grams Carbohydrates 20 grams Fiber 2 grams

Gluten Free Diet is Driving Me Nuts August 15, 2008

I put my son on a gluten free diet to help with his autism symptoms (the behaviors associated with autism).  Grant it, it has been working BUT gluten free products are so expensive and not really that tasty.  Its been quite difficult planning meals and making sure he is getting the same meals we have to make sure he’s not feeling left out.  Now I have started him on a casein diet (dairy free)along with the gluten free (GFCF diet-gluten free casein free diet) which has been recommended by various DAN (Defeat Autism Now) doctors. 

Now since I am event planner extraordinaire, I’m always thinking about birthday parties, anniversaries, etc.  I just realized the other day that he can’t eat birthday cake because of the gluten content in flour and he can’t have ice cream cake because of the casein content in dairy.  So now I’m on line trying to find a bakery that makes pretty good cakes, rolls, bread, etc so that my son can have a birthday cake like a typical child.

We tried gluten free bagels.  Not only were they ugly and look unappetizing they were literally hard like a potato.  My son LOVES bagels so when he saw it’s gluten free substitute he played with it for a little while and finally took a bite and literally spit it out of his mouth.  I truly sympathized with him since my son loves bread, bagels, waffles, etc.

On the bright side, he likes the soy ice cream and the gluten free cones, and the gluten free ginger snap cookies but everything else like the bread, waffles, and bagels he seems repulsed by.

So I will begin my journey to finding the tastiest gluten free casein free foods for my son.  If anyone has suggestions please let me know.  Thanks.