Snikiddy: Product Review

This week my family and I tried Snikiddy Baked Fries. We saw these at our health foods store on sale and thought why not give them a try. A quick read over the label and I like what I saw. This product is gluten free, preservative free, MSG free, corn syrup free, peanut and nut free, and no bad fats. This product does contain cornmeal and has some dairy, of course the cheese ones have more dairy in them. This company is a mom and daughter team who have the passion for good food for good health. The name is a shorted from the word persnickety. You can read more about that on their web site.

We tried the original and the ketchup flavored ones. We liked them a lot. They are baked and not fried, which I liked. They are also low in salt, compared to most chips. My daughter ate them up, but with her favorite condiment- ketchup. I think my daughter had the right idea dipping these into something. Because they are baked so they are kinda dry and they needed a sauce to go with them. I loved how filling these are, just a few or a small handful was enough to feel satisfied. This is normally the kind of snack my daughter would try to live off of for days, but just a few served next to her hot dog at lunch was enough. She of course liked the ketchup flavored ones the best.

I can't really say if this snack is good for the food budget because we got them on sale, but you can get a coupon online. They only bad things about them is that they are really dry, but not a turn off at all. It seems that the ones with added flavor elements weren't as dry as the original. It would be nice if they at least made the original ones dairy free too. It is nice to have a flavorful snack that is gluten free. So many chips and other snack foods use gluten as a binding agent for chips, but these are practically worry free.

They have many other flavors and we hope to try them all soon.

The Mommy Prospective of Gluten Free

I just wanted to share something that has been on my mind for the last few days that I think shows the great love that people can have and the wonderfulness of God in all circumstances.

My daughter has been gluten free for a year now. We decided to take her off gluten because she wasn't growing the way she should and she was having constant diarrhea.  When my daughter was a baby she would put on a few pounds every month, like a normal child, but when she turned one things started to really slow down. She has always been small, she was born small, so for her to kinda stop growing was a  concern. The rate at which she grew was at regular intervals, but had decreased quite a bit since she started eating what we ate. Even with half of her parents eating gluten free it still didn't seem to help her out much. So when she was a year and a half we talked it over with her doctor and took her off gluten. She started gaining weight and her height took off. People who haven't seen her in awhile are always in shock at how much she has changed in a matter of months. So as any good parents I protect her health quite a bit.

Before GF at 14 months, in size 9m.

After GF at 2, in size 2T

Thankfully we have supporting family and friends who understand and see the change it has made in her little life. I am thankful and very blessed to have a church family who cares and has done what they can to make sure she gets the right kind of snacks. At times snack time hasn't gone well for her. They normally serve a brand of cheese like cracker snack that my daughter use to love, but of course she can no longer have them. This broke my heart when I realized this would be a challenge for her and for me when we she went gluten free. The staff, (bless them!) made the nursery gluten free for when my daughter was there. It worked out very well.

This week my daughter graduated to the next level in the churches childcare, which is pulling on many of mommies heart strings: my little girl is growing up, she needs me less, and her peers are starting to become a bigger influence on her. Not to mention a whole new group of teachers to educate about gluten, this is the part I've been thinking about for days now. I didn't sleep much worrying about this and thinking about scenarios of conversations I might have to have with people and preparing for the worst. I prayed about it, but somethings are just really hard to let go. But letting go is what needed to happen. I had to force myself to understand that God put this little girl in my hands, he is trusting me with her, and it isn't the other way around. He has her best interest in mind long before it even pops into my brain.  So I calmed down and handed it over to God as best as I could. When I dropped her off at her new class tonight I started my whole long speech about what she can't have and how it should be handled and what they should do...starting to sound like that super annoying parent.

Then the best thing in the world happened. The staff stepped up and took care of my fears, and talked to me about what all they could do just for my daughter. They offered suggestions and promised to take care of it from then on out so I wouldn't have to worry about this sort of thing ever again. I was so ready to lay down the law, as it were, and put on my boots and stomp around to get my way, but instead God showed up and said "Do not be afraid" (as he so often does in the Bible). He meet mine and my daughters needs and took care of it all before I really even had the chance to do something and it was all taken care of at once. No meeting to deal with it later or "we'll do that next time," but right then and there. The churches staff and I worked things out in a polite, friendly, timely, and in a loving matter right then and there. 

Just as God says in his word:

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Philippians 4:6

In other words, pray about everything, but don't stew, worry, or get anxious about anything. God knows all and will handle all, we just need to trust him and have faith. All things work out in his perfect timing. We may not understand why and when or even how, but he does. This week is the perfect example of this scripture. I worried, but then I prayed and God took care of it perfectly. I am so thankful that God took care of everything and for the wonderful children's staff at my church. It's amazing what happens when you let God take care of everything.

Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Matthew 6:27

Cinco de Mayo Dips: Tomatillo Salsa and Guacamole

Cinco de Mayo is just a few days away and I wanted to share some dip recipes. I love chips and salsa, it's my favorite snack. However, tomato doesn't love me. This can making eating ethnic foods kind hard. I love Italian, but can't do tomato sauce - even thought I do every once in a while, because I just can't get away from it. Then Mexican food also has a lot of tomato, but I solved that problem with my recipes. I decided to try something new, tomatillos and roasted red peppers.

Tomatillos are funny green looking vegetable that look like a tomato with a paper husk. They can cost a bit of money, but luckily you only need a few for this recipe. I love peppers and I thought why not use red peppers to make the red color of salsa instead of tomatoes. I roasted my ingredients to create a more in depth flavor.  

Tomatillo Salsa
1/2 onion chopped
1/2 jar of roasted red peppers (about 2-3 peppers)
4 tomatillos pealed and roasted
1 clove garlic
1 jalapeno seeded and rough chopped (optional or use other pepper or only half)
1 ear of corn roasted and cut off the cob (optional)

Preheat the broiler. Take the husks off the tomatillos and cut them in half. Place tomatillos on a baking sheet, face side up, and put them into the oven, just several inches below the broiler.  Roast the tomatillos for 5 minutes on each side. You can do the same with the red peppers, but I like the jarred ones the best. Scrap the black skin off the tomatillos with the back of a knife. Roast the corn on the grill till the ears start to turn dark, beware they may pop if they get too hot. Let the corn cool before cutting it off the cob.

Add all of the ingredients to a blender or a food processor and puree till smooth. Add water if you want a thinner salsa. Makes about 2 cups. 

 I love avocados, they go great on everything and they are super healthy. This is a very standard type of guacamole, but you can dress it up however you want for what every crowed you will be serving. I normally just do avocados, onions, a lemon juice; but at times I throw in chopped tomatoes, corn, peppers, and cilantro. 

Guacamole 
3 avocados
1 lemon
1/2 a large onion finally chopped
1 jalapeno seeded and finally chopped (optional)
1 tomato seeded and chopped (optional)
salt to tastes
red pepper flakes to taste. 

Put the flesh of the avocados into a bowl and smash with a fork. Add the lemon juice, onion and other vegetables of your desire, and mix well. You can blend this if you want a smooth creamy guacamole or you can keep using your fork to create a lumpy texture. Add salt and pepper flakes to fit your taste. I do add a lot of salt to mine, and you could use a coarse salt or even a margarita salt to this if you like.  Makes about 1 1/2 to 2 cups. 

Zucchini Pancakes

When I was kid zucchini pancakes were one of my favorite dishes that my mom made. I think I even ask to have them for my special birthday dinner once. When I first went gluten free, this was one of the first recipes I tinkered with. Now the recipe is very simple, but the main issue I had in making it work was the moisture from the zucchinis. I never remember my mom having issues with this recipe, but I sure had a lot of issues getting everything to work. Finally I realized my problem was very simple; too much water. Zucchinis have a lot of water in them and by adding freshly grated zucchinis to my gluten free pancake mix was only setting myself up for failure. So I started draining my zucchinis and it worked. Letting them sit on the counter in a strainer for a few hours did the trick. If you don't have a few hours, ringing them out in a kitchen towel works great too. I use my Kitchen Aid's vegetable/meat grater attachment to shred my zucchinis, and it does a beautiful job.

I am so happy that I have this recipe figured out, because my daughter is a pancake nut. She loves her pancakes. When she isn't going through a growth spurt she becomes a super picky eater. Luckily for me she loves fruit, but too much of anything isn't a good thing. So I try to sneak in vegetables as much as I can into whatever I can. Good thing she loves these pancakes, they are a life saver with my picky eater.


Zucchini Pancakes
Double recipe pancake mix (I use Pamela's pancake mix)
2 zucchinis shredded and drained

Depending on what kind of pancake mix you use, your results may come out different from mine. 

Mix together the pancake mix, but leave out the water or milk till the very end. Add the shredded zucchinis and mix together. Slowly add in the water as you mix the batter. Depending on the moisture from your zucchinis, may need to change the amount of water you use, even after letting your zucchinis drain. Once the batter reaches the consistency of a regular pancake mix, you can go ahead a make your pancakes on a griddle over medium heat. Makes 4-5 servings.