Oh the Citric Acid...

For those of you who don't know, Kennedy developed a rash on her face a few months ago that would not go away. It seemed to get worse at times and them some days not as bad. But it was always there. I asked her pediatrician at her 2 year check up about the suspicious rash. She said it looked like some type of contact dermatitis and it was nothing to worry about or do for it.

Well, the rash continued. I treated it with every cream known to man with no change. Several friends had suggested food allergy, but since the doctor had shrugged that off I was hesitant that food could be the cause. After several weeks of no change in the rash despite my avid attempts, I decided to start reading the labels of her foods. I noticed her rash was a thousand times worse after consuming Cran-Grape juice. I scanned the ingredients, only 3 or 4. I wondered if she were allergic to cranberries? I decided to eliminate the juice from her diet and see. It got a little better, but was still there and would still flare. I examined her diet again and decided to check the label on ALL her favorite foods- fruit snacks, fruit puree squeeze's, and ravioli. The only ingredient all three things had in common WITH the cran-grape juice was .... Citric Acid. Oooh I cringe at the word. With a few Google searches you will realize it is in virtually everything on an American grocery stores shelves. After eliminating the citric acid from her diet, her face returned to normal within two days. Ding ding ding... we have a winner.

Now here is the breakdown on the citric acid. It is man-made. Naturally occurring citric acid, like that found in citric fruits, is not the citric acid she is intolerant too. Citric acid is made from the mold Aspergillus niger. The mold is cultivated and allowed to metabolize sugar. The by-product is citric acid. Gross. I know. It's the by-product from a mold. And it is in everything. Deemed not harmful in general, it may also be GMO. After a little research you will see how the government regulates certified organic and that Citric Acid is allowed in certified organic product, even if it was produced by using know GMO's such as sugar beets or maize. Citric acid is used in products to create a sour flavor. It is also used as a preservative. So basically I can't count on a label saying "organic" and it being free of citric acid. My grocery store trips now take 20 mins longer as I have to read labels on so many items. Finding the right tomato sauce, apple juice, jelly, baby fruit squeeze's, loaf bread, bubble bath, shampoo and even yogurt (yes citric acid is in all of these things) takes time. Most of my info came from these sites: 

http://girlmeetsnourishment.com/citric-acid/

http://foodreference.about.com/od/Food-Additives/a/What-Is-Citric-Acid.htm

I wanted to share all this information with you for several reasons. One- your doctor doesn't know it all. Be your child's (and yourself) advocate. Take things into your own hands and find out what is really going on. Two- read your labels and know what you are eating. American food is full of chemicals, preservatives and toxins. Know what you are eating and what is good to avoid. Do some research. Americans have the 7th highest cancer rate of the world. Cancer in other less commercialized countries is almost non-existent. Their diet of fresh, unprocessed food is the key I believe. The United States is a money hungry, selfish country. Companies will put many preservatives and chemicals into our food found at the grocery store to make it last longer, look prettier and taste better. The FDA has allowed many additives into our food that are BANNED in other countries. To me, it's no wonder my baby is allergic to this and it's no surprise that so many others have food allergies. Our bodies were not created to consume these chemicals. 

http://www.buzzfeed.com/ashleyperez/8-foods-we-eat-in-the-us-that-are-banned-in-other-countries

Okay, I'm off the box for now. Hope this info will help someone, somewhere along the way!

Citric acid free face!

White Chicken Lasagna

I found several recipes for this and kind of made my own version. This would also be good a can of chopped artichoke heart, or a package of frozen spinach. My husband doesn't eat veggies, so I had to leave those ideas at just that.. ideas. This will fill you up quick, and we had a TON left over, so this would be good to serve to a crowd.

White Chicken Lasagna:
2 cups shredded cooked chicken
2 cups shredded mozzarella
1/2 cup parmesan
1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes (chopped)
2- 8 oz. boxes of softened cream cheese
1 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
2 tablespoons basil pesto (or chopped fresh basil)
1 tablespoon of Italian season (or fresh chopped basil)
12 cooked lasagna noodles
1/2 cup chicken stock reserved from boiling chicken

Boil noodles and set aside in cold water. Boil chicken and shred. In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, milk and garlic powder with a hand mixer until well blended. Blend in Pesto (or Basil). In a separate bowl, combine shredded chicken, 1 cup of mozzarella, 1/2 parmesan, 1/2 cup chicken stock and sun dried tomatoes. (You could add artichokes hearts or spinach here if you wanted). Combine 1/3 of the cream cheese mix with the chicken mix. Add 1/3 of the cream cheese mix to the bottom of a 9x13 pan and spread out. Top with 3 noodles. Top with 1/3 chicken mix. Top with 3 noodles. Top with 1/3 chicken mix. Top with 3 noodles. Top with remaining 1/3 chicken mix. Top with noodles. Top with remaining cream cheese mix and 1 cup of mozzarella. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of Italian season or Basil on top. Cook covered for 25-30 mins at 350 degrees, Uncover and cook an additional 5 mins to brown.

Boil chicken and noodles.

Mix cream cheese (soft, not melted), milk, garlic powder and pesto.

In a separate bowl mix chicken, parmesan, stock or artichokes, chopped sun dried tomatoes.

Mix chicken with 1/3 of the cream cheese.

Pour 1/3 of the cream cheese mix in the bottom of 9x13 dish

Top with 3 noodles, and 1/3chicken mixture. Continue 3 times, ending with noodles on top.

Pour remaining cream cheese mix on top, Sprinkle 1 cup of mozzarella and 1 Tablespoon Italian Season

Bake covered for 30 mins at 350 degrees, then uncover and cook an additional 5.

Cheesy and delicious!

French Toast Casserole

I never make french toast. I enjoy french toast, but I have never taken the time to make it. This is a really easy way to make it, without dipping each piece and cooking them individually. The actual recipe I used left out an important ingredient. Cinnamon! I didn't realize this until I had already poured the egg/milk on the bread. So I added a sprinkle of cinnamon/sugar to the top and then baked. Also, if you wanted this to be a little fancier, you could cut the crust off to make it more aesthetically pleasing. This needs to made the night before, or at least 6 hours, so that it has time to soak in fridge. We had some leftovers that I reheated for my Sunday School class the next day and I don't think this is very good warmed up, but it was okay. Just a little gummy.Okay, here is the recipe:

French Toast Casserole: 

1/2 cup melted butter (1 stick)
1 cup brown sugar
1 loaf Texas toast
4 eggs
1 1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
Powdered sugar for sprinkling
1 teaspoon cinnamon (more or less to your liking)


Combine melted butter and brown sugar. Spread into the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish. Beat eggs, milk, vanilla and cinnamon. Layer a single layer of Texas Toast on top of the butter/brown sugar. Spoon 1/2  the egg mix on top. Add 2nd layer of toast. Spoon remaining mix on top. Cover and place in the fridge overnight. Bake at 350 degrees from 45 minutes. Keep covered with tin foil the first 30 mins. Sprinkle with powder sugar. 

Melt butter and add sugar.

Spread in dish.

Beat egg, vanilla, cinnamon and milk

Pour over toast.

Cover and refrigerate over night.

Bake at 350 for 45 mins. And sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Ham and Cheese Sliders

Dinners at the Hawkins house tend to get a little boring. I tend to repeat a lot of the same meals. I like to try and throw in a new recipe once a week though to break up the same old. This week, I tried ham and cheese sliders for dinner. They were delicious! I had to leave out the sesame seeds for this recipe though (my husband can't have them), but I think that would have made these perfect! So don't forget to add in the sesame seeds. This is also a great party finger food! You have your choice of bread here as well. You could use the Sister Shubert dinner rolls, or the parker house rolls (I thought those would be a little small), or you could use a larger roll you find in the deli. Some people use the Hawaiin sweet rolls. Whatever you chose, make sure it's cooked before you start. I chose plain old yeist rolls- the small balls you leave out covered in syran wrap for 4 hours and let rise, then bake. I think they were perfect for this dish! Not too big or small. Okay, now onto the recipe...

Ham and cheese sliders:
1 dozen  rolls
1/2 lb sliced deli ham
12 slices provolone cheese
1/2 cup butter
2 Tbsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp yellow mustard
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbsp poppy seeds

Split each dinner roll. Make a sandwich of the ham and cheese and the dinner rolls. Arrange the sandwiches in a 9x13 pan.

In a small sauce pan combine butter, brown sugar, mustard, Worcestershire and poppy seeds. Bring to a boil and pour over sandwiches.

Bake for 20-30 minutes at 350 degrees or until the tops are brown and crispy.

Mix butter, sugar, poppy seeds, mustard and worcestershire and heat until melted.

Slice open rolls and top with ham and cheese.

Place sandwiches in greased 9x13 pan.

Pour mix over the top of the sandwiches and bake at 350 for 20-30 mins

Sandwiches are done when tops are brown and crispy.

Fit Friends

 I have had quite a few people ask me "how I did it". Well , I really wish it was an easy answer. Unfortunately it's not. It's not necessarily a hard answer either... more so a long, complicated response. After all, it was not a quick process that put us in this situation either. You didn't wake up one morning and weigh 50 pounds more. You slowly put the weight on over time, so it only makes sense that you will have to slowly take it off. The more you need to lose the longer it will take of course. And the less you need to lose, the harder you will have to work. The important thing is to not get discouraged. Decide today, right now, this minute to make a change and do it! You are worth it! You are important! Your health is one of the most important things about you. Your health is also important to many other people. Your family, your spouse, your children... they all need you to be the best you can be. Carrying around extra weight not only causes pain and guilt, but it reduces years off your life. Consider an unhealthy diet like that of a smoker. Eating poorly leads to being overweight and an untimely death. The exact same as smoking! Both things put you closer to death than you should be. You are worth way more than that! Value yourself enough to take the steps to stop this. You have the control of what you eat. You have control of how much you exercise. You can do this!

I have recently felt led to start a group. A weight loss group so to speak. A place to come and be encouraged, to share, to teach, to learn. I have friends all over the United States, so I feel like the best place to start this journey would be online. I feel like the Lord has given me a desire to help others through their weight loss journey's. I have set up a facebook group. I want to invite anyone to come and join the group. This will be a place for accountability. We will share weight loss, recipes, exercise, vents, stress... whatever you want to share! I will post tips and information here as well. I would love to help anyone along on their journey and I encourage you to join if you need someone to "do it with you". This will be a journey to a healthier lifestyle! We will focus on eating healthy and being active and in turn, weight loss will come! The link to the group is:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/405643276202213/

You can use whatever plan you like, Paleo, MyFitnessPal, Weight Watchers, Atkins... I am pretty familiar with them all and I can provide a lot of insight with MyFitnessPal and Weight Watchers. Our group will also really focus on exercise. I will be pushing a good workout program and helping you with it. I will be starting a Couch to 5K running program locally for anyone who lives in the area.

I've settled on a name for the group. Fit Friends. I look forward to this program and I hope you will join me on this journey!

Two Timin' Pasta

I happened upon this recipe on pinterest. My kids love all things pasta. They love marinara style pastas, as well as alfredo style. This recipe gives the best of both worlds! You could use any pasta you wanted. Rigatoni, penne... whatever you like or have on hand. It's very simple and very quick and my kids loved it! You could pop this in a 9x13 pan, sprinkle with shredded cheese and bake at 350 degrees for 20 mins to make this a pasta bake. I was short on time, so we skipped out on the baking part. You can use your own alfredo or marinara, or use a store bought version. Here is the recipe:

Two Timin' Pasta:

1 box penne pasta

1 (15 oz.) jar Alfredo sauce

1 (24oz.) jar Marinara sauce

2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

1 cup shredded parmesan cheese

Boil pasta and drain. While pasta is boiling, heat marinara, alfredo, mozzarella and parmesan in a large saucepan until bubbly. Stir in pasta and serve! Or pour into 9x13 pan, sprinkle with cheese and bake at 350 degrees for 20 mins.

Heat all the ingredients in a large pot.

Boil noodles and drain.

Combine the noodles and sauce.

Serve like that, or bake!

Maryland Style Crabcakes

I have a family of seafood lovers. I myself love all seafood, so it's no wonder that my kids do too. We have crabcakes from all over. The east coast, the gulf coast.. We have had good crab cakes and bad cakes. Finally, after a few weeks of debate, I decided to try my hand at them. Unfortunately, I did not have fresh crab meat. That would have made these crabcakes AWESOME! The recipe was fairly easy. You of course could add onion or bell pepper.. but I stuck to the recipe. I was surprised how well these turned out. I did learn a few things in the process... next time I will use less oil and turn it down a little lower. Despite the fact that this recipe will only make 6-7 patties, that was plenty. One per person was very filling. I decided to serve these with my mom's famous hush puppies. Other side ideas would be salad, cole slaw or fries. I have included the recipe to my mom's hush puppies as well.

Maryland Crabcakes:

2- 6 oz cans of lump crab meat (or 1 lb. of FRESH would be even better)

1 egg

2.5 tablespoons mayonnaise

1.5 teaspoons dijon mustard

1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce

2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley

1 teaspoon Old Bay season

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup finely chopped celery

1/2 cup Panko crumbs

Canola oil

Combine all ingredients but crab and panko into bowl. Careful fold in panko and crab, being careful not to break up the crab too much. Pat out mix into 6-8 cakes. Place on a foil lined baking sheet and cover. Refrigerate cakes for at least one hour before cooking. Heat a couple of tablespoons of oil over medium heat. Fry each cake for 2-3 mins per side or until golden and crispy. 

Hush Puppies:

1 cup self-rising flour

1 cup buttermilk

1 cup self-rising corn meal

1-2 eggs

chopped onions

1 Tablespoon Oil

Salt

Mix all the ingredients well. Drop by spoonfuls into deep fryer at 350 degrees. Fry 2-3 mins or until floating and golden brown.

Ingredients

Mix all ingredients together but Panko and Crab meat.

Add in crab meat.

Add in Panko. Don't over stir.

Form patties, refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Pan Fry for 2-3 mins on each side over medium heat.

Cook until  golden brown. The picture makes these look burnt, but they were not.

Mix up all ingredients for hush puppies.

Drop by spoonfuls into deep fryer.

Fry until golden brown and floating. Usually 2-3 mins.