New Jersey Firm Recalls Chicken Products Undeclared MILK & WHEAT

New Jersey Firm Recalls Chicken Products Due to Misbranding and Undeclared Allergens

Recalls, Market Withdrawals, & Safety Alerts Topnotch Cookies & Cakes Issues Allergy Alert On Undeclared Milk In Chocolate Chip Chunk Cookies

Recalls, Market Withdrawals, & Safety Alerts Topnotch Cookies & Cakes Issues Allergy Alert On Undeclared Milk In Chocolate Chip Chunk Cookies

You just have to ask...

the store I do most of our grocery shopping here in Portland is New Season's Market. Everything is just right; they carry all of the items we need, the employees are super nice always willing to go the extra step and the store is locally owned. They carry local food which is marked as such, the freshest fruits and vegetables, locally sourced meat and fish, plus all of the other galactosemia safe food items we like. With the prepared foods items,  sausages, ham, etc. the employees are always willing and able to tell us whether the item contains milk derivatives or not.  I have never encountered a person who was not willing to help.

The Soutions/Demo desk at New Season's Market on Hawthorne 

The girls also like to come along for the trip to the store.  Both of them have known New Season's Market their entire lives as the Seven Corners store opened right after Alena was born.  I think one of the reasons the girls like it so much is because there are always food samples at the demo/solutions desk.  The Seven Corners store generally always had a sign up stating whether the food contained any allergens.  We were used to the routine. Then the Hawthorne store opened about a year ago.  It is much closer to our house and is the natural choice for us for grocery shopping.  But you know what?  Yes, the food samples at the service/demo desk only declared nut and tree nut allergens.  Argh! - I was quite disappointed and talked with the lovely lady working the demo/solutions counter about this issue.  In my conversation I told her about the issue and that the other location, always declared all allergens.  I asked whether they would please implement the same system.  A week later or so, they did not have a sign up but they told me that they are working on finding a solution.  And yes, shortly the sign was there.  It list all of the major allergens, and the employees mark off which allergens are included in the samples. I was so happy and I never gave it a second thought until last week.  I saw the lovely lady I initially spoke with  through an ingredient list and mark all the allergens included on the sign.  It deserved a compliment and that is when she told me this specific sign was created just because I brought the issue up.  The demo manager came up with the solution to come up with the perfect sign.  Yay!!!!  Now that drives home the point, you just have to ask and you shall receive!

The perfect allergen alert sign

One last note, the opinion expressed in this post are my own and I have not received any compensation in any form from the store.  Thank you, New Season's Market on Hawthorne! You are THE best!

Troy, the demo manager and creator of the sign with Alena and Mia Rose

Eat your veggie stew with meatballs

was our Wednesday night dinner.  The girls were at camp were at day camp, while I worked from home.  Last night I decided to make soup. I took a cup of dry beans to soak overnight, and took out a package of frozen bulk sausage - remember our frozen family meat pack :).  In the morning I made the dough for the quick-no-knead bread and let everything rest until I picked up the girls.

We really like soup, and veggies especially on a rainy day. Oh, and yes today I made it with carrots, kale, onion, and sweet potato.

Here is the recipe

- Splash of olive oil
- one onion diced
- 2-3 carrots cleaned and diced
- salt
- 1 cup of dry 13 bean mix soaked overnight
- 1/3 cup dry barley
- 1 quart of chicken, or vegetable broth - I like Pacific Foods
- 1 large can of diced tomatoes - with broth
- 1 lb. of bulk sausage - optional
- 1 bunch of kale diced
- salt and pepper to taste

1. Heat olive oil and sautee onions with a pinch of salt.  Once they are soft,
2. add carrots and sauté for a little while longer, about 2 minutes until they are bright orange.
3. Add broth, canned tomatoes, barley and the soaked - drained - beans.  Bring to a boil, then turn heat
    down and simmer until beans and barley are soft.
4. Form meatballs out of the bulk sausage and fry them in a cast iron pan without oil.  When browned,
    drop them into the soup.
5. When beans/barley are soft, and meatballs are soft, add the Kale on top of the pot.  Put lid on pot.
    Leave it the lid on until the Kale is bright green and texture according to your liking.  We like it a little
    crunchy. Adjust salt and pepper

 Serve in a soup bowl with fresh, crusty bread. Enjoy!

It is a Mushroom Risotto kind of night...

with a side of mixed green salad. All of us love risotto it is the perfect comfort food to me. I generally make it with chicken broth, but today I used vegetable broth from Pacific Foods. It is delicious and full in color.

Here is the link to my risotto - this one is with asparagus. The mushroom risotto is just a little different, as I sautee them with a little pepper and add them at the very end, with a little wedge of Earth Balance. If you allow Parmesiano Reggiano you can also cook some rind with the risotto. It gives the risotto an amazing flavor. Okay so here is the recipe http://galactopdx.blogspot.com/2011/06/sunday-night-dinner-risotto-with.html

Monday Night Dinner Guest's

It is spring break and we have been enjoying a fun first day at home.  For dinner one of Alena's friends came over with his sister and parents.  The kids had a wonderful time, while all of us enjoyed some adult conversation.  For dinner we had pork loin with onion crust (Schweinefilet mit Zwiebelkruste), quinoa salad, pasta, home made bread, and mixed green salad.

The picture really does not do the pork loin justice.  It is a great meal, and prefect for guests.  The nice thing about it is that everything can be prepared ahead of time, and all you need to do is pop it in the oven about an hour before you are ready to serve it.

Recall of Pork and Beef Smoked Sausage by Texas Firm - Undeclared Milk Allergen

Texas Firm Recalls Pork and Beef Smoked Sausage Due to Misbranding and Undeclared Allergens

Baked Salmon, Roast potatoes, Quinoa Salad, and Mixed Greens

was our Sunday night dinner. Delicious Sockeye salmon to be exact - it is by far my favorite as it is so delicious. This dinner also was a hit with our girlies. Both of them love salad and potatoes, the protein was a split. Alena had thirds (!) from the salmon, while Mia Rose had at least four helpings of the quinoa salad. It made all of us happy :)

Here is the recipe for the quinoa salad

1 cup dry quinoa cooked (cook it like rice with 2 cups of water)
1 Roma tomato seeded and diced
1/2 cucumber peeled and diced
3 green onions, cut into fine rings
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Canola oil app. 1-1/2 T
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Cook quinoa and let cool
2. Mix vegetables with lemon juice, canola oil, salt and pepper to taste
3. Mix cooked quinoa under the vegetable mixture and adjust spices as needed
4. Chill for at least 30 minutes

Saturday Night Pizza

Saturday's are almost like a weekday in our house. The girls go to German Saturday School - Sophie Scholl Schule - while I work. We get back home a little after one and meet Ron for lunch out. So by the time dinner comes around I am too tired to cook. Good thing we had some frozen pizza left. Trader Joe's frozen Roasted Vegetable pizza it is dairy free and delicious...

Happy Friday - Tagliatele Bolognese

Fresh Pasta and fresh, homemade Bolognese Sauce are a prrfect start into the weekend. The sauce was on the stove for almost three hours and again, turned out great. Here is the link to the recipe http://galactopdx.blogspot.com/2012/01/friday-night-rigatoni-with-bolognese.html. To be honest, I think that Spaghetti or Rigatoni are better with Bolognese sauce.

The girlies ate their sauce on the side next to their Pasta and today both girls also liked the sauce. Yay

Thursday Night "Cheater's" Dinner

Tonight both girls will perform in the Talent Show and we needed a quick dinner. Luckily I had been to Trader Joe's a couple of weeks ago and a package of frozen Orange Chicken was in our freezer. Yay, served with a side of white rice and mixed salad it is a good occasional dinner.

Pictures of the Talent Show to follow soon...

Gnocchi with Kale

and side of mixed green salad. Cooking tonight was an -almost - complete family event. We have not had Gnocchi in a long time plus I had some potatoes left. Served tossed with a mix of sauteed onion, garlic, sundried tomatoes, a little bit of - lactose free - salami, and Kale it was delicious. Plus the girls and I had fun making it.

Mia Rose helped make the Gnocchi dough, assisted with the chopping of the veggies, stirred the salad dressing to perfection and - most importantly - was the taste tester. Alena rollend the Gnocchi dough, helped chop the salami as well as the sundried tomatoes and "decorated" each individual Gnocchi piece by pushing a fork into it. Yes, we had fun...

Here is the link to the recipe I posted a couple of years ago - Let me know if you like it. http://galactopdx.blogspot.com/2009/07/homemade-easy-gnocchi-pesto-recipe.html

Pancakes on a late school day

Once a month our school starts two hours late. In a way it is a much appreciated little break in the middle of the week. On those days I like to cook breakfast for the ladies. So today, I decided to make my tried and true old pancake recipe. You know, the recipe I used to make before realizing that Bisquick is a actually Galactosemia safe. So I made the dough, took Out the griddle and started to pour the dough onto it. Oooops, you need the small pan...as the dough is too runny, more like a Crêpe. That was #fail number one, then I took out the pan but omitted the oil. Arghhh, I am sure you can imagine what happened. Stuck to the bottom of the pan #fail number two.

Long story short, I made a new batch with Bisquick but truth be said, the other ones tasted better.
For fun we had Kiwi eyes,a banana nose, organge smile, Earth Balance ears, and Maple Syrup hair. Happy girls, after all :)

Taco Tuesday

Is there a dinner that is more fun than taco's? I think not. We get out the lazy Susan, and set it in the middle of the table. We put guacamole - avocado, salt, lime, and garlic -, refried Black beans - Alena's favorite, Tofutti sour cream, ground beef, and salsa on the lazy Susan and each person assembles their own taco. So much fun for all and a dinner hit. Let's just say we had nö leftovers today...

The lesson learned today...

It seems there is a different lesson to be learned every day. Most of them are miniscule and will not matter to others, but every so often there is this "Aha" wake-up moment. I had one of those today....
I was getting the lunch boxes for the girlies ready, and decided that it would be soup today. I got a can - It is for lunches of last resort - from my recently replenished pantry, opened the can, and poured it into the pan to warm up. Summer vegetable soup it was to be exact - but when I poured it in the pot, it looked - to me - kind of odd. Could it be that a vegetable soup - not cream of - contains MILK? - Then finally I read the label, and it was disbelief. Yes, the vegetable soup contained non-fat milk and I almost fed it to my children...What happened? How could this me?
You probably think, it is not a big deal just move on, but it really hit me. 99% of the time I read labels. Even on foods I buy on a regular basis. But there is the 1% - and the soup was if.
So how could I not read the label of something I had never bought before? I went back when I made the purchase. I bought a bunch of "Amy's" soups when they were on sale at New Seasons. I rember looking at labels and trying to decide which ones the girlies would like. I simply missed to check, and double check the label - probably was being a Little sloppy.
So here is the lesson for me. Always double read labels on all items - belive ,me when I tell you that I felt horrible.

White "Chili", Cornbread and Mixed Green Salad = Monday Night Dinner

Today I picked up our new "family meat pack" from New Seasons. Whoo-hoo the freezer is replenished. I used one of the chicken breasts dor Dinner tonight. In snowed this morning, rained off and on throughout the day, so a perfect night for warming Chili.
Here is my version
Splash of Olive Oil
1 onion chopped
1 large garlic clove minced
1 full chicken breast diced
1 t cumim
1/2 t coriander
1/8 t cayenne pepper (or more)
3 t chili powder (or more)
2-3 generous pinches of salt
1 Cup dried white beans soaked overnight, or quick soaked
1 Small can mild canned green chilis
1 Quart chicken broth - I like Pacific Foods brand
1 Cup frozen corn
Splash of white Balsamic vinegar - optional
1. Heat Oil and when hot sautee onions with a pinch of salt until soft
2. Add garlic and all of the spices. Stir up well an sautee for a couple of minutes
3. Add chicken and cook each side until white
4. Add the green chili and beans
5. Add chicken broth and bring to a low simmer until beans are soft. It takes about an hour
6. When beans are soft adjust spices, and salt. If you want to brighten the flavor a bit, add a
splash of white wine vinegar, or white Balsamic
7. Add frozen corn and heat Chili through. Serve when hot, laddle into soup bowls and serve
with cornbread. I also sprinkled mine with additional cayenne - but I like it hot....

Sunday Night Leftover Corned Beef

was our dinner and I am happy to say that wie finished all of it. Mia Rose - our carnivore - loved the Corned Beef, while Alena much preferred the cabbage, potatoes, and broth. Both Ladies certainly enjoyed the rest of the Soda Bread. The recipe will be posted tomorrow...

Happy St. Patrick's Day - Corned Beef and Soda Bread

Last year we started the tradition - as many - to make corned beef on St. Patrick's Day. New Season's has the corned beef all ready to go with a brind that contains zero nitrate. It is delicious! I got the meat along with some brind. Put both of it in a arge pt along with a pint of Guiness on the stove and kept on a low simmer for 3 hours. I then added potatoes - used small red ones - and a small head of cabbage cut into wedges. Before serving I mashed the potatoes with some vegan butter. - Along side I served plain white soda bread which I made earlier in the morning. Brought Soda bread - unless of course from a vegan bakery - is Off limits because ist contains buttermilk. Tomorrow - I will post the recipe to the Soda bread. Happy St. Paddys Day!!!

Troyer Cheese, Inc - RECALL Backroad Country Carmel Puffcorn Undeclared Milk

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Chicken Spaetzle Kale Soup

A hodgepodge of the weeks leftovers was for dinner this Friday night. Spaetzle left from Tuesday night, the rest of the weeks vegetables, and leftover chicken. I also baked a loaf of bread - French this not "no knead" - which turned out pretty good. The soup and freshly baked bread made for a perfect Friday night dinner.

Giddy-up kitty

This is Ron's latest song and it includes our girlies, as well as our cat(s). And, do you know who eloped Ron come up with the title? It was Alena, she told him that it sounded just like "giddy-up" horse - but since the cat participates in the vocals as well as video Kitty seems much more appropriate. By the way, the girls are so excited about this song, and the video :)

Baked chicken leg, French Fries, and mixed green salad

An easy dish for a rainy Thursday dinner. Mia Rose stayed home for another day and she really wanted to eat Pommes Frites - French Fries - for dinner. My little patient got her wish! She was so excited...

Linsen & Spaetzle

Guess who was super excited about dinner? Yes, Alena :))) and today without any sausages. It was still hit and everyone loved their dinner. Yay! Just in case you are wondering, no sausages today because Mia Rose stayed he sick from school. My poor baby has an ear infection...and yes, both of our girls eat lentils we do not exclude them from their diet.
The Spaetzle are Galactosemia safe and made without any milk. Here is the recipe - this is plenty for at least two meals. You can always freeze the Spaetzle
Spaetzle Recipe
- 500 gr flour
- 5 eggs
- salt
- 250 ml water
1. Mix all of the ingredients together until the dough falls heavy off a spoon
2. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil
3. Add one portion of the dough into a Spaetzle press - a potato ricer may work as well, I just
never tried it - and drop/push dough into boiling water. Take
take the Spaetzle out of the boiling water once they rise to the top.
4. Put into a shallow dish and keep them warm until serving. - To reheat put in a pan with melted
Earth Balance and gently warm until hot.
Enjoy!

Eat-Your-Veggies Stew and Cornbread

was our Tuesday night dinner. It always turns out a little different depending on the veggies. Today's veggies were parsnip, golden beet, carrots, onion, potatoes and for a change white beans instead of the 13 bean mix. Alongside I served cornbread, which I - yes, I admit - made from the Trader Joe's Cornbread Mix. It becomes galactosemia safe by adding soy, rice, or hemp milk - I use soy. The stew turned out great.
You will need
Splash of olive oil
1 onion diced
2 golden beets, peeled, and cut into small chunks
2 parsnips, cleaned and cut into small chunks
2 carrots, cleaned, and cut into small chunks
2 small sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
2 medium potatoes - I used yellow - peeled and diced
1 cup of dry white beans, soaked overnight
Optional 1/2 Cup of dry white wine
1 qt of broth - I used beef broth leftover from last night, any broth works
2-3 cups of water
Salt, and pepper to taste
Splash of white balsamic vinegar to taste - optional
1/2 cup of dried quinoa
1. Heat the oil and then add the onion with some salt. When the onion is soft add
2. Parsnip, beets, and carrots - when the carrots turn bright in color add the potatoes (both types)
3. Add beans and, if using, the wine. Let it cook down - takes a coup,e of minutes and then
4. Add the broth, and water. Bring to a slow simmer and cook for at least one hour, or until
Beans are soft. When beans are soft,
5. Take about 2 cups of the stew to mix in a blender. Careful it is very hot! When puréed put
It back into the pot to the rest of the stew.
6. Adjust spices, and add some white balsamico - I added some to brighten the flavor.
7. Add quinoa and simmer until quinoa is done
Serve in soup bowls with cornbread. I sprinkled mine with cajun pepper for a little heat - the rest of the family however does not like to eat spicy. We all enjoyed eating all of our veggies today :)

Beef Stroganoff

No that the weekend is over, I cook again...Today I used the last of our "family meat pack" which we had in our freezer the 1 lb of sirloin steak. Here is my galactosemia safe version of Beef Stroganoff which I adapted from several different recipes to create this one.
You need
Splash of canola oil
1 lb or more of sirloin steak sliced thin
1 chopped onion
1 garlic clove minced
1 lb mushrooms cleaned and sliced thin - I used Crimini, but white certainly would work as well
1 jar of cornichons drained, and cut into "rings" - I got mine at Trader Joe's
1 Tbs of Earth Balance - vegan "butter"
2 Tbs of flour
1 cup of white wine
1 cup of beef broth - I really like Pacific Foods brand
1/2 cup of Tofutti "sour cream" or other vegan sour cream
1 Tbs Dijon mustard
Salt, pepper, and paprika to taste. - I also added a dash of white Balsamico at the end to brighten
the flavor a bit more
1. Heat oil and when hot add meat. Season with pepper and paprika. When browned remove
from pan and keep it warm
2. Add onions and fry them at high heat, add salt and when soft add garlic
3. Add mushrooms, and after a couple minutes the cornichons. Put lid on pan, stirring them
frequently.
4. In separate pot melt the Earth Balance, add the flour to make a roux. Be careful that it does
not burn. When all blended together, add white wine and beef broth. Bring to a quick boil, and
until it thickens and alcohol cooks off.
5. Add sour "cream", and the Dijon mustard. Adjust spices - I added a couple of splashes of the
white Balsamico at this point. When flavors are adjusted
6. Pour sauce over mushroom, cornichons, onion mixture and also add meat back. Reheat
gently on low heat.
Serve over egg noodles, or Spaetzle along with a big salad!

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First "Al fresco" dinning of 2012

took place on March 1st, 2012 at the Hedgehouse in Southeast Portland. Look at that sky, the sun, oh and did I mention the cute sunglasses?! - This is a fun brew pub with a large grassy are for the girls to play, great adult beverages, and good plus "safe" food.
We have been going there for years and never had a bad experience, or had any up issues because of the girls diet. The breads from Grand Central Bakery - safe - chips are plain potato chips - check, safe, and their favorite sandwich is the Avocado-Bacon-Tomato Sandwich. It usually comes with Provolonne, but we explain to the server and they have always been super nice about it. Oh, and you know what Is next to the Hedgehouse? Pix - fantastic desserts most of them are unsafe, but there is always sorbet, and fruit pate. So after dinner the girlies had some Lychee Sorbet....
Here is the info for both places http://www.newoldlompoc.com/hedgehouse_home.html and Pix http://www.pixpatisserie.com

Potato Soup - made from leftover (s)mashed potatoes

the picture certainly is not the best, however this soup was delicious. Earlier this week I made smashed to serve along meatloaf - http://galactopdx.blogspot.com/2012/03/meatloaf-perfect-smashed-potatoes-and.html. I made plenty so the girls had meatloaf for lunch a couple of days, and there were enough potatoes left to make Friday soup.
I got Wiener's from the German butcher in Portland - http://www.edelweissdeli.com/ - and served the soup "German" style - this is what Ron calls it :) Meaning I warmed the whole sausages in the soup and each bowl had soup and one sausage (btw - the pictures did not turn out) a person. It was quite a success as Alena ended up eating her entire bowl of soup and three Wieners.
You need
Splash of olive oil
1 onion diced
3/4 celery root, peeled, and diced
2 carrots diced
1 leek cut into fine rings
salt and pepper to taste
one vegetarian bullion cube - optional (pls read label careful to make sure it does not contain
lactose, whey, etc.)
leftover (s)mashed potatoes - I had about 2-3 cups
Wiener's - optional or other mild sausages
1. Heat olive oil and when hot add onions. Sauté until soft.
2. Add leeks, carrots, celery and a couple of generous pinches of salt
3. Sauté until leek and carrots are bright in color. Add (s)mashed potatoes and stir it all up.
4. Add 2-4 cups of water and bring soup to a low simmer. Simmer until celery is soft.
5. Either remove 1/2 of soup to blend in pot
6. Add pepper, and adjust salt. You may want to add a bullion cube at this point (I did)
7. Add sausages - if using - and warm gently until sausages are warmed up
We had crusty bread with it as well as a bowl of mixed green salad. Enjoy!

Smoothies for breakfast

What took me so long to figure out that smoothies are perfect for breakfast? Well, it could have been the missing blender but I just never thought how much the girlies would love.
So finally it clicked :) I really want the girls to eat fruit in the morning and we were all out besides bananas, and frozen berries. Voila - and the breakfast smoothy idea came to life in our little house in Portland. Frozen berries - raspberries and blueberries in this one, vanilla soy yoghurt (we like WholeSoy), and some plain soy milk. Put it all in the blender and it was perfect...The other great thing about the smoothies is that it gives the girls calcium plus the perfect "vehicle" for the vitamin D drops. Well, I should say that Alena generally drinks fortified chocolate soy milk for breakfast and Mia Rose used to drink fortified OJ. Here is the kicker Mia Rose used to drink OJ and has only been drinking water. So adding smoothies for breakfast will also great for increasing the amount of calcium. Let's just hope that by posting it I did not jinx our new found perfect breakfast drink :)

Pork in coconut curry with jasmine rice and mixed green salad

Oh, what a week this is. So busy for all of us - packed with school, work, meetings and fun. During weeks like that I am happy for all the easy meals, and short cuts there are. So here it is, pork in coconut curry. We still had one pack of pork left from our "family meat pack" from New Season's market. There was also a pack for the coconut curry mix in our pantry, as well as onions, frozen peas, and coconut milk. Voila - served along side jasmine rice, and salad it was a perfect, easy, delicious meal :)

Meatloaf, perfect (s)mashed potatoes, and mixed green salad

was our dinner on Tuesday.  These are THE perfect mashed potatoes.  Creamy, smooth, delicious - wow what were we missing all this time.  This was the first time I tried "smashed potatoes" from a recipe I saw on Twitter from @familyfoodie All I can say is wow, wow, wow - amazing here is the recipe  http://familyfoodie.com/how-to-make-the-perfect-smashed-potatoes-sundaysupper/ I followed it to a "T" and used Earth Balance - or use other vegan butter you like - instead of the "cow", and soy milk - rice, or hemp would certainly also work great - instead of the "cow" milk.  Voila - perfect smooth, creamy, galactosemia safe (s)mashed potatoes. You must try it...

oh and the meatloaf? It turned out fantastic as well - I just made my usual recipe.  Please let me know if you would like me to repost it :)

Walnut Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

What happens with bananas once they turn brown?  One thing is for sure, nobody in my family will eat them anymore.  So what do you do?  Make banana bread - I know it is hardly a groundbreaking idea.  I have tried to make it on several previous occasions, but it just never turned out in a way that everyone in my family loved it.  Well, that was until yesterday. Yes, finally - delicious, Galactosemia safe, banana bread that everyone in my family loves

they actually love it so much, that it is gone within 24 hours :)

I adapted the recipe from the Joy of Cooking http://www.thejoykitchen.com/

It is quick, easy, delicious, and takes about 1 hour in the oven.

You need

1-1/2 Cups of flour
1-1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
1/2    teaspoon of salt
1/2 cup of sugar
6 tablespoons of Earth Balance or other vegan butter
1/4 teaspoon of lemon extract
2   eggs
2-3 bananas
2/3 cup of finely chopped walnuts
1/2 cup of dairy free chocolate chips

*Preheat oven to 350 F
1. Cream sugar, vegan butter, and lemon extract together
2. Add on egg at a time
3. Add mashed bananas, or if very ripe add one at a time until well blended in
4. Mix together flour, baking powder, and salt
5. Add flour mixture in 1/2 cup increments to the dough.  Mix in well before adding another 1/2 C
6. Add walnuts - or other nuts and blend well into dough
7. Add in chocolate chips
8. Pour batter into a well greased loaf pan, and bake in preheated oven at 350F for about 1 hour, or until
    toothpick comes out clean

Enjoy!!!

Monday Night at the Oregon Symphony...

to hear the symphony together with Inon Bartnatan on the piano. Ron and I already heard the full program on Saturday night, but there was this special the Oregon Symphony offered. Come back to see the program, present the ticket stub and pay $5 each ticket. Too good a deal to pass it up, plus we both loved the program.
You may know that both girls are taking piano lessons so we took this great opportunity to see a live piano concerto. We stayed for the first half of the program and it was - again - fantastic! Both girlies loved it as well, and listened attentively to the concert. Before we left they both got their programs signed by Inon Bartnatan - they where in awe. Mia Rose told me how she felt very, very shy :) Just in case you are interested in the program http://www.orsymphony.org/bios/guests_1112/barnatan.aspx . Oh, and dinner? Well, I would rather not talk about it right now...but tomorrow I promise two food posts :)

An entertaining weekend...

recap on this rainy Monday morning.  We had another fun weekend and I did not cook one meal the entire weekend.  Can you believe it?!  Not one meal - besides breakfast on Saturday morning....I probably should not admit to that, right?! So what did we do? 

We spent our Saturday as usual, with the girls going to the Sophie Scholl German Immersion Saturday School, and me working while they are there.  After school, we met Ron at Porque No in Southeast Portland for lunch, and then went back home to relax.  The sitter around 5 pm, took the girls to the playground, made them dinner, etc. while Ron and I went on a date.  Fun was had by the entire family!  

For Sunday we went out for lunch - again - to the girls most favorite places.  Do you know what it is?  Do you want to guess?  No, ok, ok...here is a picture of Mia Rose at the restaurant

Do you know where this is?  Yes, it is the occasional fast food at Burgerville.  The girls certainly enjoyed their Hamburger Kid's Meal along with a - very, very rare treat of an orange soda.  And yes,  it is galactosemia safe :)  Just in case you are interested here is the link to the allergen information on the Burgerville Website http://www.burgerville.com/our-food/special-dietary-needs/

We followed up the fun with a trip to the movie theater where we saw The Lorax in 3-D.  It Ron's fabulous idea - and I have to say it was a fantastic movie.  No, no worries I am not about to start reviewing movies - but we all enjoyed it very much.  What however is a visit to the movies without popcorn, right?  Even if you have just eaten lunch...

here is Mia Rose ready for the movie, and eating the family pop corn.  By the way,  at the concession stand they made a new batch just for us which was popped right into our bag.  The seasoning did contain lactose.  We all very much appreciated the extra effort by the staff.   The key as always is to ask.  People almost always want to help.  Oh, oh and before I forget here is the link to the movie http://www.theloraxmovie.com/index.php#/splash

"soy" and "cow" right next to each other

Alright, it is a strange headline but do you know what I mean? On the weekend I like to put the different choices on our lazy Susan in the middle of the dinning table. For some reason it is just adds a little bit of more fun instead of the usual "please pass". In any case,  all of us like to eat yoghurt.  The girls however - of course - eat Soy Vanilla Yoghurt, while Ron and I eat Greek Yoghurt.  So, I put the two choices right next to each other. There is no question, and both girls know exactly that the "cow"is off limits for them.

You, know when our kids were much smaller this would have been unimaginable for us.  I cringed just at the thought of having "unsafe" foods in the fridge.  But what good does it do for the children?  Our friends in South Tyrol, Italy -who also have two children with Classic Galactosemia - told me.  Alena and Mia Rose was 3 and Mia Rose 18 months at the time. Karin told me "if they do not learn at home which foods are safe, where will they learn?" And she was so right.  I will never forget how their breakfast table included soy and cow yoghurt, soy and cow milk, unsafe Nutella and safe chocolate spread, butter and vegan butter - I cringed and was nervous.  But then I saw how their children - 10 and 8 at the time - chose the foods that are safe for them.  Never even questioning an item which they could not have.

This was the turning point for me, and I think both of us.  From that point on when going out for dinner, we each order foods for us without worrying, and of course always sure that the food for the girls is "safe". OK - as a matter of full disclosure I had never before ordered "unsafe" food in a restaurant when the girls came along. Since that time our fridge includes "cow" and soy choices, our table includes it, and this is how the girls started to learn about their diet.  They know that there are many foods that they cannot eat - well, but there are still many foods that are safe.  The key which they have both learned is that they always need to recognize whether or not the item is safe.

I am positive that without that approach they would not be as understanding of their diet.

Dinner out at...

Hopworks - we let the girls choose what they wanted for dinner, and both of them chose Hopworks. Fun on a Friday night for all of us. Once we got there Alena was so excited as one of her friends from school was also there.

Oh, and as for dinner? Both girls had hot dogs with fries...No dinner photo but this beautiful picture of Mia Rose snuggling up to Ron :)

Baked egg noodles...

mixed salad, and soup as a starter. It sounds a lot more elaborate than tonight's dinner was! We had some leftover white bean-barley-kale stew - not enough for dinner for the entire family, so perfect as a starter. The noodles are "Schinkennudeln" - ham noodles, and then baked in the oven until the cheese is melted. Yes, I did say cheese! In case you do not know, we allow our kids to eat Emmenthaler, Gruyezer, Jarlsberg, and Parmesiano Regiano. We think it is a much better source of calcium. Now back to dinner - this is a quick and easy weeknight meal. Also perfect with leftover pasta - I just prefer egg noodles for this meal.

All you need

- splash of olive oil
- cooked pasta
- chopped onion
- Italian herbs, or herbs de provence
- ham
- a couple of seeded and chopped tomatoes (optional)
- 2 tablespoons of Tofutti sour cream
- salt and pepper to taste
- shredded Emmenthaler, or Gruyezer or both mixed

1. Heat up the olive oil. Add onions, and herbs.
2. When soft add the ham, and after a couple of minutes add the tomatoes
3. Add the noodles/pasta and sautee on medium heat until thoroughly heated through. Stir it up
frequently to prevent it from sticking to the pan
4. Add sour cream, as well as salt and pepper to taste -> if you stop here you have
Schinkennudeln :) I you would like them baked continue with step 5
5. Preheat oven to 375 F
6. Transfer noodles to one, or several individual baking dish(es).
7. Mix the cheese underneath the noodles, and top each dish with extra cheese on top
8. Bake until golden brown

Serve with a big mixed salad.