Mardi Gras Madness

It's carnival time here in Louisiana. Mardi Gras Balls, parades and parties are in full swing.  With all the celebration comes king cakes, gumbo, jambalaya, poboys and more soul foods that us southerners are known for.  Unfortunately, us southerners are also known for our expanding waist lines.  Yep, I said it, we're getting bigger and less active here in the Gulf region.
Don't get me wrong, you won't see me pass up a slice of Randazzo's cream cheese filled king cake or some grilled oysters with a lemon butter sauce.  However, there are lots of ways to celebrate without having to invest in a new, larger spring wardrobe.  Here's a few...

Commit to your exercise- My group fitness classes get a big pop with New Year's resolutions, but the biggest increase in gym participants and personal training comes soon after Fat Tuesday when all of a sudden we realize that we've eaten our way through half of New Orleans and warm weather is only weeks away.  Start now and/or be diligent through the season.  A bonus of exercising through the holiday is having more energy to score the big beads :)

Run with the party crowd- The race season starts now.  5K, 10K and 1 mile fun runs can be found locally just about every weekend.  These can be really fun for the whole family or make a day of it with friends.  Especially, this time of year, races include live bands and fun post-race activities.  If you've never participated in one of these races, have no fear...you can do it!  It is perfectly acceptable to walk, jog, run or any combination to reach the finish line.  A lot of "racers" are there for the sheer fun of it, they deck out in great costumes, decorate jogging strollers and more.  So grab some friends, throw the kids in a wagon and go for a brisk walk with a thousand of your neighbors.  Check out http://runningintheusa.com/race/List.aspx?State=LA for local races and registration info or visit your local sporting goods store.

Prepare for hungry masses- Whether your hosting festivities or just taking the family to a local parade, prepare good munchies and pack lots of water.  You don't have to deprive yourself of all treats but starting with healthy snacks will keep you and the kiddos from ravaging something on a stick.

Yeah, yeah, you know all this stuff already...The real reason for this post is my health"ier" King Cake recipe, which I have coined my "Queen Cake" recipe.  It's a bit labor intensive since it's made totally from scratch, but totally worth it.

For the Dough
1/2 cup almond milk (you can use cow's milk if you must, but try the almond, it's sweeter and healthier)
2 T. butter (ahhhhh! butter! Relax, it's very little, but you could sub olive oil or applesauce)
1 pkg active dry yeast
1/3 cup warm water
1/4 cup pure cane or raw sugar
1 egg or 2 egg whites
1/4 tsp. finely ground sea salt
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
2 3/4 cups whole wheat or gluten free flour

1. Scald milk. Remove from heat and add butter (or oil).  Allow to cool to room temperature
2. In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water with 1/2 tsp sugar.  Set aside until creamy
3. Once yeast is bubbly, add cooled milk mixture.  Whisk in eggs.
4. Stir in remaining sugar, salt and nutmeg.  Beat flour in 1 cup at a time.
5. When dough becomes stiff, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface.  Knead until smooth and elastic.
6. Lightly oil a large bowl.  Place dough in bowl, roll to lightly oil all sides.  Cover with plastic wrap and let    rise in a warm place for 2 hours or until doubled in size.

In the meantime....
For the Filling
1/2 cup pure cane or raw sugar
1/2 T. ground cinnamon
1/3 cup chopped pecans, walnuts or almonds *optional*
1/4 cup whole wheat or gluten free flour
1/4 cup currants, raisins or dried cranberries
1/4 cup applesauce
1 plastic baby or token

1. Combine all dry ingredients.  Pour applesauce over mixture and stir till combined.

Once the dough has risen...
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Lightly oil a large cookie sheet
3.Turn out dough on wax paper.  Roll into a large rectangle approx. 1/4 inch thick.
4. Spread filling evenly along one long edge then use the wax paper to roll dough like a jelly roll.  Bring the ends together to form an oval.
5. Place ring on oiled cookie sheet.  Make slits 1/3 of the way through the dough every inch.
6. Let ring rise 30 minutes
7. Bake for 25 minutes.

For the Icing
This ones up to you.  I like to drizzle the top of the cake with 1/4 cup local honey then sprinkle with dried fruits like golden raisins and cranberries then decorate with beads and other festive, non-edibles.  You could sprinkle with colored sugar or make a powdered sugar icing.

*Don't forget the baby!  Push the baby or token in from the bottom of the cake while it's still warm.

TIPS-
*Feel free to double, triple or quadruple this recipe to make multiple cakes at a time.  You could even freeze the uncooked cake for a later date...just be sure to defrost completely before baking.

*Even if you're not following a gluten free diet, a rice flour or almond flour will be closer in texture to a typical King Cake, as the whole wheat flour is denser and has a darker color.

*The texture of this cake is more like a scone than a doghnut or cinnamon roll, but still supper yummy!

HAPPY MARDI GRAS!!!

Gluten Free for almost 3 months

Liam and I have been GFCF since December 27th.  Almost 3 months.  I feel great and he has had nothing but great reports from his therapists and teachers.  I would love to think the diet is to thank, but I am cautious to give credit where credit isn't due.  I started incorporating the dairy back into his diet this week with no noticeable change in his behavior.  A noticeable change in the contents of his diapers, but meals have been a bit less complicated and less restricted, I'll deal.  I'm glad to find that there is no major dairy sensitivity, especially since it may reduce the number of groans from my other angels applied to our "diet".  I'm really curious to see how the reintroduction of gluten will effect him.  I don't want to deprive my son of anything unnecessarily, but I'm secretly hoping for an excuse to continue to eliminate or at least reduce the amount of gluten in my family's diet.

The fitness professional in me is grateful for another reason to read nutritional labels, avoid eating out and trying new, clean recipes.  I have not had that bloated, food comma feeling since I cut the wheat.  I find it much easier to eat smaller, cleaner meals and my energy level has been great.  I'm currently teaching group x classes 10 hours a week and personal training 5 hours a week and the tired I feel at the end of a long day is a good tired as apposed to the I've-been-hit-by-a-truck tired.  I'm also paying close attention to my water intake, drinking 2+ liters of water a day.  My new favorite trick is to buy the 1 liter smart water bottles, $1.25 when you buy them from the grocery store, they fit in my car's cupholders, I reuse them for a few days refilling them with the filtered water from my fridge, then toss the bottle and grab another.  Filling it up twice a day is much easier to keep track of than 4-6 16oz bottles or trying to guess/remember how many times I refilled my glass at home.  It may sound silly, but it works for me.

Enough about me.  We've had some great educational and sensory discoveries this week.  With Zoe's homeschooling I was about to lose my temper with her dawdling and spacing out during assignments, math especially.  Then I had an epifany, a realization I should have had much earlier.  I had been teaching the concept then giving her a work load of about 40 math problems, a combination of the new concept and a review of previous ones.  I was giving her an hour to finish the 40 problems, which should have been more than enough, yet some days it would take her three hours and me constantly having to remind her to focus on the task at hand to complete it.  For a multi-tasking mom that doesn't sit still until her head hits the pillow, this was increasingly frustrating and beyond my comprehension.  So, almost accidentally, I gave her a 10 problem assignment to finish in 10 minutes.  4 minutes later, she was finished.  Then we tried it again, another 10 problems finished before the allotted time frame, EUREKA!  I feel so short sighted for not acknowledging and accepting earlier that Zoe is not motivated by simply finishing a task, as I am, but accepts tasks that she feels are manageable and is happy to complete them.

As for Liam, I had another epifany, that I should have had sooner.  Liam is not necessarily a "head banger", however he does bang his head during his rare and occasional tantrums.  This has actually lessened over time, but I mention it because it may apply to his recent desire to wear my elastic headbands.  He's always had a thing for hair, so when he began stealing my headbands, which I wear almost daily, I didn't think much about it.  But then he started to put them on his head, which I thought was really cute.  Then he started to leave them on his head for a pretty lengthy time period, this got my attention as I have never been able to get him to wear a hat or tolerate a hood on a jacket.  Tonight, when he commandeered my headband I went to my winter clothes and got a thick headband meant to cover the ears.  I put it on his head, covered his ears and all, and he loved it, left it on until bedtime.  I now know that it is most likely the pressure on his head that he likes, something like head banging, but I got the feeling that the fact that it covered his ears and muffled sounds may have been a plus.

That's enough for this post...more sensory, homeschooling, nutrition, fitness stuff to come!