Easy Homemade Macaroni and Cheese

We love the blue box. It was the one packaged food I would reach for even when Brenden was about a year and still reach for it today. Thankfully Annie's has a gluten free version.

It wasn't until I read that article about how much salt is in this gorgeous blue box that I had to rethink it. But making homemade macaroni and cheese is packed with fat and takes WAY to much time. I've tried the crockpot version and failed miserably. You could cut it with a knife. Not good.

To read more go to tTownmoms.com.

Thief

I read. I always have, but as a child and then in the not so distant past I read books. Now I collect blogs as often if not more than their paper bound brothers. The emotions the blog posts illicit are intense and real but to often fleeting. A posting that brings me to tears is quickly lost in the oceanic proportions of the internet.

Yet, reading the posts that touch my heart are really no different than conversations had with true friends. They are even more fleeting, gone in seconds only to be misremembered by an imperfect mind. It's the feelings from that exchange that are remembered perfectly, and treasured.

So for that, tonight I am grateful. I have been working without a daily peace for months now. Through one of the blogs I frequent, whose author I am privileged to have met, I found it again. The rhythm of motherhood that allows us to care for our families while still feeling peaceful. To make mistakes, be flawed, and still be amazing mothers, wives and friends.

Thank you.

Butternut Squash Pasta Recipe

Poor lonely spaghetti. I had planned tonight to be a pasta night, and usually I grab a quart of my frozen tomato sauce and 1/2 pound ground beef to pour over the whole wheat pasta. But tomato sauce just didn't sound good. Butternut squash did though.

I had this divine butternut squash lasagna at The Local Table in Tulsa so I googled "butternut squash pasta" recipes. I patched together a couple and came up with the following. It was heaven. Extremely filling but it had a very light yet rich flavor. Plus it was a perfect use for the butternut squash puree I put in the freezer last week.

Butternut Squash Pasta(makes 6 servings)

1 cup butternut squash puree

1 cup half and half(or any milk-like product)

3 cloves garlic diced

1/8 cup of fresh sage chopped(or 2 teaspoons dried)

1/4 pound sausage cooked

Salt and pepper

Whole Wheat Pasta of choice

Start your pasta water, and don't forget to add the pasta when it boils(not that I have ever done that). In a skillet saute your garlic and sage in a little extra virgin olive oil. When it starts to smell good pour in the butternut squash puree and combine. Whisk in the half and half until smooth and creamy. Salt and pepper to taste. As this cooks, it will condense a lot. I ended up whisking in 2 cups of the hot pasta water. Add in the sausage for the final step.

Serve over pasta and sprinkle with parmesan cheese.

To make it allergy friendly:

Use buckwheat pasta or your favorite kind

Use rice milk, or almond milk in place of dairy

Other than that, this recipe is just perfect for our set!

Health Insurance

L has been complaining about his stomach more than usual and it's been over a year since he's seen a gastroenterologist. Good grief, do they get longer titles the more they spend in school? I sat down with my notebook, a good pen and my trusty internet to start what I knew was going to be a long, long phone call.

I started with the Pediatric GI. In order to be seen, regardless of your health insurance plan, you have to have your child's previous medical history faxed over. Wait, this is normal, except, this group of doctors wants to see it BEFORE you can even schedule an appointment. The first available appointment? I landed a nice receptionist, so she fessed up and told me: not until December.

Since I've done this before, I knew there was probably a loophole. There was. You have to have the previous physician call to speak to the GI(cause Moms don't count), and then the new GI can decide whether or not your child should be fit into an appointment before December.

Whew. That was fun. Now onto the Pediatric Allergist. My new health insurance went into effect Sept. 1 but because of all the glorious red tape that is a large health insurance company, as of today we still don't have our health insurance cards containing those all important ID numbers. This tidbit of information is important for this next phone call.

After wading through the fun, fun list of "Press #1 for" I finally reach a person. The first question out of every one of these phone calls is, "What is your insurance provider". Never " how can I help you?". We get through every step, down to birthdays, previous physicians, and only then does she request the ID #'s. When I tell her that we don't have them yet, she explains that they can't even schedule an appointment until you have the ID#s. First available? November.

So when I hear people expressing worry about a govenment option for healthcare or any government involvement in the US healthcare, I want to laugh hysterically. Long waits to be seen? Got 'em. Loop holes or needing to "know" the right person? Oh, hell yes. Impossible red tape? That too.

The only people who don't experience these issues are healthy people. Mother's to children who will never have an illness worse than an ear infection or a cold. Adults who will sail through life nary a scratch until late in life. Good for you. I didn't have that child. I have a beautiful, passionate, brilliant little boy whose stomach is on fire and because of our health insurance system he won't be cared for until December.

Unless his mother dedicates many a morning on the phone; requesting files, sending faxes, pleading, manipulating, and even lying to get her child seen. Because I've done it before and I will keep doing it.

Why am I not picketing or testifying before Congress? Sorry. I'm on the phone.

Lunch at School

I picked up L from school today only to discover from his teacher that he didn't eat much of his lunch today. Translation: he ate his orange, and drank his juice. He ate none of his almond butter and honey sandwhich on buckwheat/millet bread or his carrots(we're trying carrots until his allergy tests). At least he got plenty of Vitamin C.

He has not been loving my bread lately. Now when it's fresh out of the bread machine the whole family will devour it. Schmeared with some all-fruit jelly or apple butter, it will stand shoulder to shoulder with some of the best baguettes I've had. But by day two it's starting to dry out and get firm. Not hard but not a good bready texture.

So what's a mom to do? We have three major food rules at our house.
1. You don't have to eat anything you don't want too.
2. If you are hungry, you eat what's served.
3. No protests or bad opinions on what's being served.

I give these rules credit for producing such great eaters. Both boys will pretty much eat anything that's put in front of them and are very willing to try new things. So when L puts his foot down about a particular food there is usually a reason. We talked about it this afternoon and since he is loving my crackers, we will rely on those for awhile. Spread with almond butter, served with sliced turkey and cheese, my crackers do rock(blushing demurely). The recipe is here of course. My most recent batch was sorghum and hemp seeds. Hmmm, sneaky mom omega-3's.

And I'll tackle the bread dilemma again another day. I'm not ready to admit defeat in the face of allergen-free bread! Success will be mine!

I'm making cookies for L's class on Thursday. So make sure you check back in. The recipe will involve butternut squash, almond butter and millet. Those poor, poor children--they'll never even know.

Homemade Chicken Stock

Before you officially check me off as the weirdest person on the planet, let me explain. Because for crying out loud! Who has time to make their own chicken stock? And, why on earth would you? It comes in these handy, dandy little packages at the store. Even Rachel Ray, queen goddess of all quick cooking, says that store bought stock is fine.
Much like all my funky food, my chicken stock story begins with Landon's food allergies. Chicken stock is great to cook with when you are trying to sneak nutrients into a limited diet. The problem is that ALL store bought chicken stock has carrots in it. Landon was allergic to carrots. What's a girl to do?
Read more at tTownmoms.com

No-Bake Cookies

I don't know if it is the full moon or the urge to create something new but I HAD to make these cookies this evening. Childhood and No Bake Cookies really need to go together. They are typically one of the very first recipes we make with our mothers and then one of the first we try on our own. For food-allergy households this simple recipe is easy to convert to one that will work for you.

Making these I remembered an ingredient friend that had been tucked into the back of my cupboard. The Quinoa Flake. Getting all the essential amino acids into a kid can be hard but getting them in a restricted diet can be even harder. Quinoa Flakes can help with this. You can use them as a bread crumb replacement, substitute 1/4 cup to a bread or muffin recipe or make no-bake cookies!

No Bake Cookies

Bring to a Boil for 1 minute

1/2 cup butter or Jungle Shortening

2 cups sugar

1/4 cup cocoa or carob powder

1/2 cup milk of choice(coconut, rice, goat, soy, etc)

Take off heat and stir in:

1 tsp vanilla(beware lurking corn syrup!)

1/2 cup nut butter(sunbutter, almond, hemp, pecan, etc)

3 cups oats(Quinoa Flakes, barley flakes, cooked rice)

Drop teaspoonfuls onto wax paper. Let cool and eat! Sorry for the lack of picture--a darling 3 year old is busy throwing tantrums about bedtime. Must go attend!