Life, Gluten Free

Amy and Brian's Coconut Juice Review

 

We have been drinking coconut water for several years now and Sophie loves it. Our brand of choice is Amy and Brian's coconut water, because 1) we like the taste and most importantly 2) we have spoken to them on the phone to verify that it is produced in a gluten-free and nut-free facility (they only produce coconut juice).

So, what benefits do you get from drinking coconut water?

Coconut water is very hydrating to the body because it is high in electrolytes, especially potassium. It even can take the edge off of hunger, making it a great snack if you are waiting for lunch or dinner.

Amy and Brian's coconut water won us over by its great taste, and of course, that it's allergy-safe for us. We often buy it by the case because it's more affordable that way. Of course, some of you may be thinking: it's in an aluminum can, is that safe?

There is evidence that shows that there can be harmful side effects of long-term exposure to aluminum. I believe in always being cautious, and it does make me wonder about the correlation between the consumption of canned food items and alzheimer's disease. (If anyone has more knowledge of this, please feel free to leave a comment!)

There are many coconut water brands out there (some are not safe for us, O.N.E brand coconut water produces a cashew flavor) and some are in tetra paks. While tetra paks are thought to be safe, they cannot be recycled.

Do you drink coconut water? What's your favorite brand?

*this review is not sponsored by Amy and Brian's. It is purely my opinion and I did not receive any free samples nor was I asked to post about it.

No Frills Banana Coconut Milkshake

Sophie liked this milkshake so much that she started drinking it before I had a chance to snap a photo. We love bananas around here, and we especially like that if you blend frozen bananas (in the vitamix or food processor) it comes out just like soft serve ice cream. But this time, I added coconut milk to make a milkshake because sometimes you just need to drink out of a straw. Am I right? 

No Frills Banana Coconut Milkshake

NO: dairy, gluten, soy, processed sugar 

Ingredients:

3 frozen bananas

1/2 cup organic thai kitchen coconut milk (full fat)

dash of cinnamon

1 tablespoon raw honey 

a cool straw

Directions:

Blend in vitamix or similar high-powered blender

Pour into a cup and serve with a straw! Good for one person or two to share.

Coconut Cream Popsicles

These were a big hit, I barely got to get any photos of them before they were gone. We will definitely make them again, and next time perhaps add some vanilla bean powder - not that they even really need it.

It's still hot outsie, if you haven't noticed. Too hot.

Coconut Cream Popsicles

no: dairy, tree-nuts, soy

Ingredients:

1 can organic coconut cream (full fat, we use thai kitchen which is 13.66 ounces)

1/4 cup water

1 cup organic finely shredded coconut (we use tropical traditions)

2 heaping tablespoons raw honey

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)

Directions:

Add coconut milk and water to a sauce pan.

Warm on medium heat, stirring in honey.

Allow honey to completely melt, continually stirring.

Add cinnamon, if you choose.

Remove from heat and add shredded coconut, mixing well with a spoon or a whisk.

Pour into popsicle molds and freeze! 

The dog days of summer

"Dog Days" (Latin: diēs caniculārēs) are the hottest, most sultry days of summer. (wikipedia)

I don't know about you, but the weather here sure has been hot lately.

I-sure-hope-fall-comes-early kind of hot.

Mom-please-can-I-have-a-popsicle kind of hot.

Luckily for my daughter, I've been enjoying expirementing with our new popsicle molds!

A good popsicle mold must have these qualifying specifications:

BPA-FREE

Easy to clean

Easy to store in the freezer

Fun

Groovy

Pink

The ones we have now almost fit the following requirements, minus the pink. So, we got yellow instead.. which is pretty too. Tovolo Groovy Yellow Popsicle Molds are easy to clean, but they do take up a lot of room in the freezer. 

This is what I do: once the popsicles have become fully frozen (4-6 hours) then I take them all and place them in a plastic bag, minus the yellow stand. I do still keep them in their individual sleeves.

My daughter's favorite popsicles, that I have created so far, are definitely the plum coconut cream ones. (pictured above).

The first day we received the popsicle molds, we had to make some.

I decided to do something rather simple with the first batch and so we cut up some bananas and grapes. We tossed them into the sleeves and pushed them down towards the bottom. I added coconut water to three of the popsicle sleeves, and then for the other half I pureed a coconut milk and banana mixture. 

You know you make good popsicles when all six of them are gone before a week goes by. Earlier this week I made a Coconut Cream Popsicle (with shredded coconut, sounds good right?) I know you're sitting on the edge of your seat. It is Sophie-approved, and the recipe will soon be in a google-reader near you.

How to make a good smoothie 101

We really love smoothies in our house, especially green smoothies.

To make a great smoothie, you really just need a few ingredients. For added nutrition, we like to add some type of green vegetable to our smoothies. Spinach is an excellent choice for smoothies, but often times we also use kale. The smoothie pictured in this post had kale in it from our CSA.

The key is to have a good balance of green vegetable and sweet fruit so that you end up with a smoothie that will satisfy even the most picky palate. Our smoothies have been kid tested and parent approved. We've even shared our smoothies with those that aren't used to eating anything green (basically!), and gotten a thumbs up.

So once you have your greens in hand with a sense of power and excitemet to be making your family a nutrition-packed drink that will no doubt make them jump up from the kitchen table and do every chore in the house with lightning speed, you must remember the crucial greens-to-fruit ratio. Basically, you want a bit more fruit than greens. 

It helps to have a basic smoothie recipe. You can check out our green smoothie recipe to get a better idea of what makes a good smoothie. After you make it a time or two, then you can start tweaking the recipe to make a variety of smoothies. We often add mango, peaches, frozen grapes, plums, etc. You can double the ingredients to make more. We usually make a smoothie for the day in our largest vitamix container. And we don't always use coconut water, the majority of the time we simply just use water.

My daughter Sophie loves green smoothies so much that if I forget to make one, she reminds me!

The other day I made one for myself with our small tribest "personal blender" that doesn't make very much,. Sophie had already had one earlier, so I thought she probably wouldn't want more.

Boy was I ever wrong.

Sophie: "Is that a green smoothie?"

Me: "Yes....." (I just knew where this was going!)

Me: "Do you want some?"

Sophie: "Yes!"

So, I devy it up and give her about half.

Sophie: "Is that all?"

Me: "Well...yes...but I can make more."

Sophie: "like, a lot?"

I made another. :)

Apricot Fig Bars

"It's not a cookie, mother, it's a fruit newton!"

If you get that reference, then you probably ate fig newtons as a kid like I did. I ate them with my dad and we would often imitate the popular fig newton commercial (at the time) where a young man told his mom that he wasn't eating a cookie, but a fig newton.

Well I certainly don't eat fig newtons anymore, but after I made these I realized that I just created a smashing gluten-free version of a fig newton. Better yet, no baking is involved. Who wants to turn on their oven when it's 90 degrees outside anyway? Right?

All you need is some dried fruit and a food processor. Basically.

Below, in the recipe, I note that you can use coconut cream or coconut oil. I have tried both and they work fine. I mean, I haven't made about 5 or 6 batches of these over the past few weeks.....

....Okay, I have... but that's just because I was testing the recipe to make sure it came out right each time.  At least, that's what I tell myself.

Coconut cream is a great choice because it adds to the flavor more than coconut oil, but if you don't have it on hand then do not worry. Simply replace it with coconut oil and you are good to go.

Also, my first version of these contains just fig and raisin (no apricot). That works extremely well too. If you want to do that, just add more raisin and leave out the apricot!

Make them. Eat them. Share them.

Apricot Fig Bars

no: gluten, grains, dairy, eggs, nuts, soy

Ingredients:

2 cups soaked figs (calimyrna or black mission)

1 cup raisins, well packed

1/2 cup apricots, lightly soaked

2 tablespoons lemon or orange juice (fresh)

4 tablespoons coconut flour

1 tablespoon coconut cream or coconut oil (room temp, soft but not completely melted)

shredded coconut

Directions:

Soak the figs overnight in water (or, if in a hurry - simply soak in hot water for about 10 minutes)

Lightky soak the apricots in hot water for 5-10 minutes

Do not soak the raisins, just measure them and add to food processor

Drain the water and add figs and apricots to the food procsesor

Place the rest of the ingredients, except for the coconut flour, into the food processor and begin to blend

One well combined, add the coconut flour and blend until thoroughly mixed

Add some shredded coconut to the bottom of a rectangular glass dish

Using a spatula, scrape the fig filling into the glass dish (don't try to spread it yet)

Since it's rather sticky, the best way to spread it is to simply add some more shredded on top and it will spread easily into the rectangular dish (or coat your spatula with coconut oil, that will make it not stick too!)

Garnish with more shredded coconut and place in the fridge, covered, for a few hours

Cut into bar size pieces and serve!

Better yet, eat them on a lazy Saturday morning just because!

Yum.

Perfectly Green Smoothie

My friend Debbie, over at The Gluten-Free Dish, recently posted a recipe for her Energizing Spring Smoothie. It got me thinking about one of our favorite - and simple - green smoothies.

And green it is, perfectly so. Green happens to be my favorite color, but that's not the real reason we like this smoothie so much. It tastes good, with just the right amount of spinach for a good helping of Vitamin A, Vitamin C and Folate.

Green Smoothie

a generous heaping handful of organic spinach

1 organic banana

1/2 - 1 cup of coconut juice

Add to a blender and process until it's completely liquified.

Serves 1 adult and 1 kid, double for a larger crowd!

**We also like to add fresh orange juice to this smoothie recipe!

Warning: side effects may include, but are not limited to, a green moustache

How to cook plantains 101

Plantains are firmer and lower in sugar content than what we know as a "regular banana." Bananas can be eaten raw, because they are soft and sweet. Plantains are more starchy and are better cooked in some way (fried, boiled, baked, etc).

Keep reading to find out how to cook these tropical wonders. We really love them in our house.  I've been eating them since I was a kid. My dad used to fry them on the stove in a cast-iron pan (usually) and then he would serve them with yogurt and a sprinkling of dark brown sugar.

And while plantains definitely make a great dessert, there are many other ways to serve them too.

What we do, usually, is sauté them in coconut oil and serve them with a sprinkling of sea salt. The key, however, is to allow them to fully ripen and even become what may seem overipe. You can cook them at varying stages of ripeness, but we prefer them to be quite soft.

So, we let them become blankened and to the untrained eye, it may seem they should be discarded rather than consumed (See pic above).

Where to buy plantains?

We buy organic plantains from our local natural grocer, but I am sure you can find them at a variety of stores.

How to cook plantains:

Peel them as you would a banana, though realize the peel is thicker and they will not peel quite as smoothly as a regular banana.

Sllice them into rounds.

Add coconut oil to a pan and start cookung them on medium heat.

Once they start cooking, you may want to turn the heat down to medium low (every stove is different, adjust as necessary!).

Flip them so that they cook evenly on both sides.

Before they are cooked, they are a peachy color. Once done, they will be a nice golden yellow.

Put them on a plate and sprinkle with some sea salt! Yum!!

Why not fry some potato fries in the same pan whie you're at it?

Nut-Free & Oat-Free Granola

What kind of snacks do you feed a kid with allergies? easy, try this nut-free and oat-free granola!

It's beyond simple to make and is a good at-home and travel-friendly snack.

My daughter loves it. And the coconut chips add some crunch (in place of the nuts).

 

 

Nut-Free and Oat-Free Granola

no gluten, eggs, dairy, soy, nuts, oats, grains

Ingredients:

organic dried plums

organic dried apricots

organic raisins

organic coconut chips (we buy ours from Tropical Traditions)

dash of sea salt (optional)

Directions:

chop the dried plums and apricots into smaller pieces

add to a bowl, along with the coconut chips and raisins

toss in a sprinkle of sea salt

stir well and add to a jar to store

 

Making Food Fun

Since my daughter has food allergies and there are a lot of foods she can't have, I always jump on the chance to do something a little different to make the foods she can eat even more fun. So when I was browsing another blog, Frugal Family Fun, I noticed a post about creative ideas for lunchbox fun. I saw that she had cut carrots into flower shapes and cheese into star shapes.

My daughter can't have dairy, so I started thinking about what else I could make into star shapes besides cheese. I quickly thought of banana, apple and dried apricots! Cucumber and pear would also work well.

So I got to work cutting carrots and daikon radish into flowers and my daughter thought it was all very neat. I used a mini star-shaped cookie cutter for the fruit.

Another fun idea:

place a variety of fun-cut fruits and veggies on a plate and let your child eat them and make designs with them! Use celery sticks for stems to make flowers and have fun with food art.