Wk 9, Day 5: Asian Pasta Salad

Today was pretty warm, so I wanted something for dinner that required minimal cooking and could be eaten cool. I was torn between Italian or Asian pasta salad, and my daughter said she was in the mood for soy sauce, so that made it easy. I found this recipe. I heated the pasta up just enough to warm it so it became soft, then my daughter waited for it to cool to room temperature before eating it. I made a quick version of the recipe, using our favorite veggies, broccoli and carrots.

Ingredients:
1 package gluten-free/rice pasta (I bet linguini or angel hair would be really good)
1 cup carrots (sliced or shredded)
1 cup broccoli, slivered
3 TB sesame oil
2 TB coconut aminos (in place of soy sauce)
2 cloves garlic
small chunk of fresh ginger, diced
dash of salt and pepper

Directions:
Cook pasta and drain.

I put the veggies on the stove top to steam over medium heat for just as long as it took me to mix everything else up, less than 10 min. They were slightly soft but not overdone.

Put 1 TB sesame oil in a wok or pan, add garlic and ginger and cook until light brown (but not burned). Add cooked pasta and add 2 TB coconut aminos, 2 TB sesame oil, dash of salt and pepper, and steamed veggies. Toss and serve.

Note: I made this with about 1/3 the amount of ingredients because that's all the pasta I already had cooked. It was enough for about 2 servings, and was delicious. If we had more pasta and veggies, I might have added more coconut aminos and sesame oil.

Week 3, Day 4: Pesto & No More Pineapple

For fun and something different, I picked up some coconut (from the bulk section at PCC) so my daughter could sprinkle it atop her fruit.  Both kids love it and are eating it straight, as well as adding it to other foods like baked potato and oatmeal. I keep it in a spice/sprinkle container.



Pasta primavera is quickly becoming one of my daughter's favorite meals for lunch or dinner: rice pasta (we use mostly Trader Joe's) mixed with oil, salt and pepper, kalamata olives, and veggies (here, just carrots). She does a great job eating her broccoli, and prefers it on the side rather than being mixed in. This was for lunch, so those are some kettle chips on the side.



One of my favorite meals is sun dried tomato pesto pasta:



Here's my recipe - its a basic vegan pesto sauce with sun dried tomatoes added in:

1 container fresh basil
2 TB olive oil
1 clove garlic, finely chopped (I use a garlic press)
handful of cashews
1 heaping TB sun dried tomatoes
sprinkle of salt and pepper

Add everything to the blender and blend. Add more oil if needed to keep the blender moving. Scrape down sides with spatula as needed until everything is crushed into a pesto paste.

Once the pesto is done, I mix it in a bowl with some rice pasta, then add another tsp (or more) of sun dried tomatoes from the jar (I use Trader Joe's Julienne Sliced Sun Dried Tomatoes in olive oil).

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My daughter had another reaction to food today, this time I think it was because of pineapple. We hadn't had any pineapple in about a week.  I sliced one up and gave some to her on the side last night with her dinner, and then again for breakfast this morning with strawberries. As it turns out, last night she cried twice, and this morning she was forwarding through scary parts in her cartoon. Today, within an hour of eating the pineapple her skin had a reaction.