vegetables Archives

Tips For a Gluten-Free Journey

January 11, 2019November 16, 2018Leave a comment

Here we go starting one theory to help my son with his autism. Moms after moms have sworn by so much to improve the situation. I have learned a lot on this autism journey that I could never have imagined. I never realized how much our food is critical for learning and development. How food affects us EVERY SINGLE DAY.

I thought I ate well. All this time? I mean, I like chocolate and bread. Those are my addictions, if I am going to be honest. Time and time again, I have heard moms talk about going gluten-free when their child is autistic. I have listened to them talk about going dairy-free, and getting rid of red-dye items. I am like WHAT is this nonsense?

When Antonio had chronic ear infections when he was much younger, we put tubes in his ears. I did research. He was still getting ear infections with tubes. SO, we went dairy free because milk increases mucous (who knew). P.S. I am not a doctor nor do I claim to be. This information is my personal experience. We had to put in new tubes, so what better time to go dairy-free? We did, and NO ear infections, nothing. TWO years later, we still have the same devices and have had perfect hearing and NO more ear infections.

Back to being gluten-free. PARENTS SWEAR BY THIS. I researched again to find out more before we began. There are numerous different ideas and theories. You just have to think about it.

Why we chose to go gluten-free/red-dye free. We heard it helps with behavior, learning/processes, and even our son’s stimming. I want the best for my son, and I am willing to take risks (see our last blog post). I am a fighter and do not let anyone tell me something until I have tried it. Even his doctors and therapists have said it is worth a try.
I am not sure how I am going to give up chocolate and bread. OH, and pasta. But, you know what? We will adjust. We are strictly eating meat, fruit, and veggies. These should be the only items on your plate. We stopped taking vitamins just because of the fact that they contain the red-dye in them that is HORRIBLE for anyone. Get rid of it.
My husband has been gluten-free for under six months, so he has been waiting for us to be 100% on board with this lifestyle. It’s kind of scary and nerve-wracking, but at the same time, I need to do this for my son and hope for the best.

I’m sharing this journey now with you all, also. Keep up with us and maybe you will learn something or even get healthier along with us!

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The 3 Best Reasons For A Garden

June 13, 2018April 11, 201835 Comments

Gardening is a great hobby to have. I love being able to get out of the house and take care of my little garden. I love how healthy my food is and how I manage to save money at the same time. There are many motives/grounds why you should garden, but here are my best top five reasons:

Adose of Vitamin D. You get to go outside for a little while and soak up that sunshine. If you wanted to get a little tan, you could even do that. ; )
A good work out. Carrying a watering can is heavy. Getting the garden set up is the hardest part because you have to make sure that you remove all the weeds. And Hello squats!! I mean, you have to get down and pull out all those bad weeds!!
Get a little dirty. Okay, so this isn’t always a good perk, but it could be. It gives you an excuse to go in the shower, and get away from life for a little while.

So many more great benefits can be expected from gardening. But, more importantly, have fun!! Having fun and watching your little garden grow is so exciting.

Try these to help make your garden a success and allow you to truly enjoy the process:

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How To Use Sunlight To Grow Your Garden

May 7, 2018March 3, 2018Leave a comment

This year we are really going in head strong with our gardening. Last year we made some mistakes and learned from them, but we aren’t going to do that anymore!

It was so fun to pick our vegetables, and fruits, from the garden PLUS it saved us so much money. It really did, and I created a hobby out of it. There are somethings that you need to know about sunlight in order to be successful.

High Sunlight 6-8 hours per day: Tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, melons, cucumbers, squash, beans. These ones need a lot of sunlight! Make sure that they are planted in the spots where the most sun is.
Medium Sunlight 4-6 hours per day: Broccoli, Carrots, Radishes, Beets, turnip, potatoes. These ones still need quite a bit of sunlight so make sure to put them in good sunlight in order to get the best results.
Low Sunlight 3-4 hours per day: Kale, spinach, lettuce,Arugula, Asian greens, cabbage, parsley, scallions. These should be hidden so that the other items can hog up most of the sunlight.

Sunlight is important for your garden, study where your sun goes and make sure to strategically place it in the right spots.

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4 Tips For Freezing Vegetables

March 9, 2018January 31, 2018Leave a comment

Gardening can be a lot of fun, but if you do it successfully, there will come a time when you have so many vegetables that you might not know what to do with them! You could give them away, but you don’t want to give them all away. You also don’t want to let them go bad in your fridge. Have you thought about freezing them instead? Almost anything can be frozen, including your vegetables and fruits.
Here are four simple tips for freezing your vegetables.
1. Select and wash vegetable, precook, following the directions in your regular recipes. Cooking helps to impede the enzyme action, helping to retain the color, texture, and flavor of the food.
2. To blanch, boil your vegetables in a large kettle with a lid. Use a minimum of 1 gallon of water for each pound of vegetables. Boil the water, and then place the vegetables in a blanching basket and lower into the water. Cover the lid and heat for one more minute. You will want to maintain high temperature during blanching, so keep the water boiling.
If you want to steam the vegetable, as I do with broccoli, use a pot with a lid, and a steamer basket or trivet placed three inches above the bottom. Add an inch or two of water in the pot to boil. Again, keep the temperature up during steaming.

3. Remove the vegetable immediately from the water or pot. Then plunge the basket of vegetables into a large quantity of ice water. Allow as much time for cooling as for blanching, and then drain the vegetables. The cold water stops the vegetables from continuing to cook.

4. Pack the vegetables lightly into freezer containers, leaving the appropriate space. Seal, label, and freeze when you have completed all the steps. You don’t want to forget what’s in there, so the label is really important!

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