Gluten-Free Pesto Pasta Salad

Pasta salad is such an easy side dish (and great summer BBQ food) that I've been lamenting the loss of it since I started eating gluten-free. I've been aware of the gluten-free pasta varieties available, but was really trying to keep away and push myself towards more vegetables instead.

This weekend I decided grilled sausage (made at my favorite local deli) with peppers, mushrooms, and onions sounded like a really yummy and easy dinner. I'm not sure why, but I really couldn't get the idea of pasta salad as an accompaniment out of my head. 

As I was brainstorming, I was torn. Bottled salad dressing is something I really try to avoid these days (so many additives!), but I also didn't feel like making an Italian dressing from scratch. As I mentioned in my post about the kale salad, my husband is critical of my real food attempts and I knew that if I tried to make a traditional pasta salad with gluten-free pasta and homemade Italian dressing I was setting myself up for complaints. 

Instead, I found inspiration in my over-grown basil plant on the kitchen windowsill. I would make a pesto! I was counting on the stronger flavor of the pesto as a dressing to overshadow any flavor or texture issues that my husband could have with the brown rice pasta - and it worked! He didn't question the origins of the pasta and the salad wasn't measuring up against any expectation of what it *should* taste like so he just ate it and enjoyed. Success! 

Obviously this salad could be made with regular pasta, but try it out with a gluten-free variety and see what you think!

Gluten-Free Pesto Pasta Salad

Ingredients

1/2 lb cooked, drained, and cooled brown rice pasta

1 cup halved grape or cherry tomatoes

1 cup packed basil leaves

1 tbsp pine nuts or almonds (I used almonds)

1 clove of garlic, minced

1/4 cup grated Parmesan (use good quality stuff, not the stuff from a can!)

1/4 cup olive oil

1. Prepare the pasta and set aside to cool.
2. Chop the tomatoes and set aside.
3. Put all of the pesto ingredients into a food processor and blend. Add more oil, if needed, to thin appropriately.
4. Mix the pasta, tomatoes, and pesto together.
5. Chill at least two hours before serving for flavors to develop.

Forgive me

I need 5 minutes to rant because I just can't take it anymore. People need to stop comparing and competing their kids (and babies!!)

Every parent in the world thinks their kid is the cutest thing to ever appear on the planet earth. Every spit bubble, spaghetti face, and dance move is ADORABLE. In addition to being the cutest baby ever their baby is probably the earliest walker too. If not the earliest, definitely the most stable. Did I forget to mention that this same beautiful, master of balance also says more words at a year of age than any other kid in the history of the world?! And trust me, it doesn't stop there! Before the kid even knows how to use the potty (which they will do well before any other kid does), the parents are pretty sure they can tell their genius baby is presidential material from the way they shift in their sleep during conversations about politics.

Obviously I'm exaggerating (a little), but you all know what I am talking about. The problem isn't that parents think these things to themselves. Honestly, I think all parents should think their kid is the absolute best thing in the world. And they should post their pictures and videos with delight and vigor on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or whatever social media outlet appeals to them. The problem is when people are so obtuse that they forget that every other parent thinks their kid is awesome and the best too. This inevitably leads to the competition factor that is driving me INSANE.

Let's role play a scenario. Mama A was just at the playground with her son, little B. She took a photo of him on the swings and posts it to Facebook with the caption, "Mommy's cutie enjoying the sunshine! Aren't I lucky?" All her friends see the photo and agree! He's a cute baby. She's a lucky mom. Everyone feels warm, fuzzy, happy thoughts and moves on with their day.

Elsewhere on Facebook Mama C takes her daughter, little D, to the museum. She posts a video of D pointing at the mastodon exhibit saying something that might be mastodon with the caption, "I'm the luckiest mom in the whole world because I have the most beautiful AND the smartest baby girl ever!" All her friends see the video and get annoyed. If Mama C is the luckiest mom in the world and little D is the cutest and smartest that means that they lost the kid lottery and got stuck with a sub-par model. No parent wants to believe their kid is inferior so they start thinking about all the ways Mama C is wrong and how their kid is way better.

The vicious cycle continues as the kids get older. When the babies are little, the drama is just at the mama level. Snide comments looking at Facebook or talking on the phone to another mom or family member don't get through to the babies. But soon the kids are grade-schoolers, high schoolers, and college bound seniors who are so accustomed to their moms comparing them to cousin Bob or the neighbor's kid that they think in terms of comparisons too!

They start to have prejudices against the people that are "doing better" than they are. Family relationships and friendships are damaged as inferiority (or superiority) complexes push people apart. Entitlements creep up when kids ask their parents why they can't have what someone else has when they've always been told they are better than that person. And what I think is the worst outcome: these poor kids have no way of seeing their own unique intrinsic value outside how they measure up to someone else.

Is this really the message we want to send our kids?

I love my kids so much sometimes my chest literally feels like it will burst with happiness and pride. I want to build them up to be as proud of themselves as I am of them, but I want that pride to come from teaching them to be good people with admirable traits not from asserting that they are better than someone else.

Raw Kale, Carrot, and Cabbage Salad

Trying new foods sometimes feels like a lot of work in the kitchen with disappointing results on the dinner plate. "Under-spiced", "odd texture", and "it would have been better with X ingredient" are the complaints I commonly get when I take a gamble on a new recipe. I love to cook, but I find these situations so discouraging. Sometimes it makes me just want to throw my hands up in the air and tell my husband, "You're right! Ordering a pizza would have been a better idea!"

Luckily, the salad recipe I'm sharing today is neither time consuming to make nor disappointing in the taste department. Bonus points: it contains kale - a super healthy, hearty green that helps this salad hold up for lunch leftovers for the next two days.

You could make this salad more complicated (although fresher and probably even tastier) if you start with all local produce, but I kept it quick and started with some bagged organic kale and shredded carrots from Trader Joe's. You could also cheat and use red cabbage that's already been shredded. Whatever you do, don't cheat with the dressing. A bottled dressing will not have the fresh, acidic, tangy flavor you need for this salad to reach perfection.

Raw Kale, Cabbage, and Carrot Salad with Tangy Lime Dressing 

Ingredients

Salad

1/2 bag (or 6 oz) chopped kale

2 cups (or 4 oz) shredded carrots

1/2 head (or 5 oz) shredded red cabbage

1 apple, peeled and cut into sticks

2 scallions, chopped

1/4 cup raw slivered almonds (optional)

Dressing

Juice from 2 limes

1 tbsp spicy brown mustard

1 tbsp maple syrup

2 tbsp cold pressed olive oil

salt & pepper, to taste

1. Mix all of the salad ingredients together keeping the nuts separate.

2. Place all dressing ingredients in a small mason jar and shake well until blended. 

3. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss well to incorporate.

4. If you are using the almonds, sprinkle them over the salad just before serving.

Friday Five: Summer Family Friendly Activities

If you read my post about trying to make every second count this summer, you'll understand where this Friday Five is coming from. We're trying to save money with a larger mortgage and a big empty house in need of furniture looming in the immediate future, but want to make the most of our free time with the kids. Here are some fun ideas I've been brainstorming that cost very little...

1. Have a picnic - for breakfast! Picnics at the park for lunch and dinner BBQs with friends and family are expected during the summer, but the typical morning meal remains about the same year round. Honestly, this makes no sense to me because the morning is a PERFECT time for a summer picnic! The sun isn't as bright and in your face. The weather isn't as hot, humid, or unbearable. And, most kids are in a great mood after getting a full night of rest. You can trek to a park or just spread a blanket in your own yard. Serve easy to eat finger foods like "breakfast sandwiches" (nut or soy butter with fresh sliced strawberries), hard boiled eggs, slices of cheese and meat, fresh fruit (bananas, sliced apples, berries, or oranges), and raw veggie sticks (carrots, cucumber, raw zucchini, peppers). Bring along your own milk, juice, and coffee - never forget the coffee - and enjoy!
2. Go swimming! There are few things my children love more than splashing through water like madmen. I want to give them that joy as often as I can during the summer. From a parenting standpoint "swimming" or "going to the beach" sometimes sounds like a nightmare because of all the stuff it requires. It really doesn't have to take a ton of effort to get them to a body of water if you plan appropriately. Keep a swimming bag stocked at all times that contains a swim suit for each person, a towel for each person, sunscreen, and diapers (if applicable). You'll still need to get life jackets, snacks, etc but you're more than halfway there!
3. Start a Summer of '14 time capsule! This year is especially momentous for us because of our big move and my bug starting kindergarten in the fall, but I think this is a really fun idea for anyone. First, you'll need to get a shoe box - bonus fun, let your kids color and decorate it! Then, make a list of all the things your family plans to do for the summer (family parties, day trips, vacations, hikes) to put in the box. As your family goes on all of your adventures check off your completed activities and don't forget to add "pieces" of your summer to the box. Ideas: family pictures, "journal articles" about certain days, ticket stubs from concerts, movies, or amusement park admission, receipts from a fun meal out, scorecards from mini golf, and anything else that your kids want to add. At the end of the summer seal the box up tight and bury or store it until the date you choose - 2 years? 5 years? 10 years? Your choice!
4. Make your own popsicles! First, you'll have to get a mold - we bought this one from Target for about $3, I have no idea why it's so expensive on amazon. I'm sure you can find about six dozen links on Pinterest to pop recipes, but it's much more fun to let the kids decide. Throw some combination of fruits, water, juice, milk, or yogurt, and, if needed, sweetener (maple syrup or honey to keep it natural) into the blender, pour into the molds, and see what happens! Surprisingly, my bug's decision to make watermelon, orange juice, and whole milk yogurt pops turned out delicious.
5. Have a Family Field Day! You can invite extended family and make this a big deal, or keep it as a small, silly family event. Big or small, the idea is to keep the adults and kids playing together. Let each family member create or choose (from a list you make) their own event with the goal being to have fun, not to win. Some event ideas: water balloon fight (make sure you pick up the balloon pieces afterwards so none of our furry friends eat them!), three legged races, sandcastle building, carnival style games, beach ball volleyball (or just keeping it in the air), and silly relay races (jumping, walking backwards, crab walking, etc). At the end of the events, you can have ribbons that you can award your kids for things like "great attitude" and "happiest player" or get more specific to the events you planned like "tallest sandcastle builder" and "silliest crabwalker". 

Life Lessons...Building a House

It's almost over. Feeling stressed. Worrying if we made the right decisions. Being displaced. Finally, it's coming to an end. In just about a month we should be closing on our new house.

I'm excited. I'm scared. I'm grateful. I'm overwhelmed. I'm happy. But mostly, I'm relieved. The 15 month process of marketing and selling a home, taking up temporary residence, and building a new home has been one I don't want to repeat anytime soon.

For all the badness I've felt during this turbulent time, I think I've learned some important lessons as well. At the very least I hope my struggles can help someone else going through the same process, but I hope my "life lessons" will be inspirational for anyone in a difficult situation.

1. Never forget what you DO have. When you are moving and 75% of your personal items are packed away it's easy to feel discouraged. I'll be very happy to have my own couch, family photos, and extensive kitchen supplies back, but living without them reminded me to appreciate people and moments over "things". We tried really hard to take a time out whenever we started to get too wrapped up in the process. My advice: just be present with each other and let that be enough.
2. Trust your instincts. My husband stressed himself out over every single detail when we were picking out carpets, cabinets, tile, siding, etc for our new house. After the initial stress of choosing each item, he continued to worry about whether it was the right choice until it appeared in the house months later. In the end, things came together beautifully and he put himself under tons of unnecessary stress worrying. My advice: make a thoughtful decision, have confidence it's the right one, and move forward.
3. If it doesn't seem right, it might not be. When our siding went up, it was not a good day. It did not look the way we expected from the samples. It wasn't "us". How could we have picked these colors?? My husband looked back at all of our records and was confident something was amiss. He contacted the designer, foreman, and saleswoman. Somehow an error had been made and an old color scheme had been ordered. It was an honest mistake, but wasn't what we chose. They quickly fixed it and everything was back on track. My advice: Don't be afraid to ask questions when things don't seem right.
4. Channel your stress into something positive. Unlike my husband, I didn't really stress much about details. My stress was worrying about the "big picture." I spent a lot of time feeling guilty about what the moving process was putting our girls through and bad for myself that life was on hold. For awhile I let my stress impact me in really unhealthy ways - indulging in sneaky trips to Starbucks, eating unhealthy foods, being grumpy with my family, etc. Finally, I started taking my stress and laying it on the line each time I go for a jog. I tell myself I can't stop until I let go of the previous day's frustration. It's amazing how well it works. My advice: Find a positive outlet and use it on a regular, scheduled basis.
5. Put it in perspective. It is a huge pain to move with little kids, only have a fraction of your belongings, live in less than ideal housing (too small or too crowded), and have an unclear endpoint to the whole process. But really, in the grand scheme of life and the world, these are pretty insignificant problems. Babies get cancer. Kids go to bed hungry. People are murdered for their beliefs. Natural disasters claim thousands of lives. Those are problems - what we dealt with were minor inconveniences. My advice: Whatever your struggle is, pick two or three things that are going well and focus on those instead. I used to repeat to myself, "We're healthy and we're together" whenever I was having a bad day and it kept me sane.

Why this summer matters to me

My baby starts kindergarten in the fall. All moms who have met this milestone know that it signifies something huge in the world of parenting. My girl has been in daycare since she was five months old, so it's not just about separation. It's about accepting that this beautiful, sweet, innocent, perfect - not perfect in the dictionary sense of the word, but perfect to me - little girl must be surrendered to "the outside." She will no longer be in the company of children and adults that we ultimately have the power to veto if we so choose. There will be teachers that we might not like - or might not like us. Tasks that may be difficult. Experiences that might be scary. Kids that may - or more likely will - bully. 

The day she was born - instantly in love

My fears about elementary school are deeply rooted in my own experiences. I was a fat kid. A smart fat kid. A smart fat kid who was nice to everyone and had strange fashion sense. I was teased relentlessly because of my weight and messy hair. Kids asked me in secret to help them with their homework, but laughed at me in front of others. I let their words get to me and each year my opinion of myself slipped a little lower.

Me: The awkward years made more awkward next to my sister in her "cute as a button" phase

It is this history that fills me with trepidation when I think of my daughter starting kindergarten. Each day the words I have have tried to pass on to her - you are smart, you are kind, you are beautiful in every way - risk being lost as the new people in her life pass on their own words. Instead of a gentle whisper in her ear at bedtime, I want my words to become a roar that echoes in her ears. My mom did her best to do this for me and it kept me afloat.

My princess on her 5th birthday pretending to be Olaf

That is why summer means so much to me this year. I don't want to waste a single opportunity to build her up so that she's harder to knock down. I want my daughter's days to be filled with so much love, happiness, and validation that she radiates confidence when she walks through that classroom door in September. 

Don't Walk...Run!

Last month my posts were all about the food changes I challenged myself to make. Six weeks later, I've hit my first rough patch. There have been significant changes at home and my work schedule was rough this week. I was doing early rounds at the hospital and attenting late meetings or events most nights. I allowed gluten and more sugar to creep back into my diet. The consequence? Poor sleep, low energy, breakouts in my skin, and the return of my daily stomach pains. 

I'm resolving right now to put an end to it. I felt too good the past month to go back in this direction. Right now I'm going gluten free and refined sugar free again - indefinitely. 

On a more positive note, two months ago I decided I was going to start running. This was HUGE for me because I've never even been able to run a mile without wanting to die. Multiple times I've tried (and failed) to become a runner. I tried to run around the high school track with my friend in our teens and quit because I was so much slower than she was. I tried to do the "Couch to 5K" plan in college and decided my time was better spent studying. I planned to do a 5K mud run last fall with my cousin and could barely finish on race day due to lack of preparation. Each failed attempt re-affirmed my belief that I was incapable of running.

I really can't pinpoint what was different this time, but I've really been sticking to it. My goal has been to run every other day and I've mostly been able to keep it up. And when I haven't, and two or three days have lapsed, I haven't given up! I'm not fast and I'm building my distance gradually, but I've never felt more in control of my body. Huge success!