I'm mixing musicals here, but you get the idea. From Oliver to Les Miserables, the point is: We are deprived. This video totally put a mile-long smile on my face. I know it will put one on yours as well. And we all need those smiling moments!
We avoid high-fructose corn syrup. We also keep Kosher. Well, semi-Kosher. You see, I didn't grow up Kosher, and neither did my husband (he does it for me) and when we bought our first Thanksgiving Kosher turkey...well, it still had some feathers on it. I'm so not a farm girl. Do you know how hard it is to call a turkey company on Thanksgiving to ask how to pluck their turkey so that you can cook it? Oy. Eventually, we began buying organic meat. I know it's not really right, but compromises need to be made.
So now our goal is to also go gluten-free. This is a process and we are progressing. Udi's bread is OK. Glutino's crackers are good. Trader Joe's is a great resource. Israeli salads, Indian food with turmeric (anti-inflammatory) and sushi are all more than acceptable. My son, the one for whom we're doing this, is the least enthusiastic. What makes it even harder is that we recently discovered H-Mart, an Asian supermarket that sells the BEST dumplings (vegetarian!) outside of NYC (or, I guess, China.) And kimchi, green tea, freshest fish, RICE noodles...you get the idea.
But hey, some of my friends are gluten-free, sugar-free, yeast-free, dairy-free, nut-free, soy-free, yada yada yada. Why should we complain?
Healthy cooking:
I have learned NOT to use coconut oil when I make GF blueberry muffins because my son thinks the muffins taste like coconut. And he no longer likes coconut. Did I mention that food aversion is a PANDAS symptom? We have food aversions and then we have food aversions...lately, he doesn't like something IN THE MIDDLE OF EATING IT! Oh, PANDAS is very exhausting sometimes. My poor little starving boy.
The family is already suspicous of my baked goods. In the first place, I'm not a great cook. I could live on frozen (cooked) vegetables and chickpeas. Anything for a which a microwave is used.
In the second place, I try to sneak in veggies wherever and whenever I can. When my son was 5 and not allowed to bring PB&J to school, I made him muffins that had carrots, zucchini, yogurt, apples, the kitchen sink and a few bicycle tires thrown in. A Vitamix makes magic. He loved it. Add with enough vanilla and cinnamon....
But I just can't fool these kids anymore.
Really-I swear I only did this once--I mixed ground, green spinach leaves in regular, sugary brownies. It was the rubbery texture that gave it away. Nothing green about it.
Back to the video. I LOVE Les Miserables. And those of us keeping everything-free? Not so miserable. Just ask my son. The one who says there's no food in the house.