30 Days to a Food Revolution Day 17- Lexie’s Kitchen

30 Days to a Food Revolution Day 17- Lexie's Kitchen Welcome to day 17 of 30 Days to a Food Revolution.  Today’s guest blogger is Alexa from Lexie’s Kitchen. Alexa lives with her husband and two boys in Cheyenne, Wyoming. She credits her youngest son for being the catalyst for change in the way their family eats. Her story is one of attempting to restore her child’s intestinal and neurological health through nutrition. She hopes to inspire and support parents of children on the autistic spectrum to do the same. You can count on all her recipes being FREE of gluten, dairy, egg, corn, refined sugars and artificial ingredients.

30 Days to a Food Revolution Day 17- Lexie's Kitchen

Alexa’s Recipe: Chicken Long Rice

Alexa’s Tip: Set aside one hour for a Pantry Purge Event

Hanging out at health food stores, co-ops and with my parents’ alfalfa sprout, hippie friends are among my most fond childhood memories. My parents understood the value of fresh, wholesome food and I am grateful for the example they set. Into adulthood I continued to eat well—at least I thought I did. One day, about 20 years after leaving home, I came to the sad realization that A LOT of sugar-laden, preservative-loaded processed food had crept into my pantry. Its convenience and glitz had made it hard to pass up. Looking back, I was shopping in innocent ignorance. Food had changed since the 60’s and 70’s and that change had come in the form of processing.

In the Fall of 2008 my husband and I had a wake up call. Our one-year old son began exhibiting digestive and neurological complications, which led to developmental delays. As any mother would do, I immersed myself in research and found that so many roads led back to diet—that the body is powerful and by re-establishing the right conditions, can heal itself. With the guidance of an allergist and two naturopathic physicians, we developed a plan that eliminated processed foods and those to which he was intolerant. Eight months after removing gluten, dairy, egg, corn, soy, refined sugar and artificial ingredients, his digestive health has returned, his speech and balance are coming and his energy has greatly improved.

My wish for everyone; don’t let a health crisis such as diabetes, a heart attack or cancer be what it takes to start eating right. Scare yourself into it (watch Food Inc. or the Earth Fare Supermarket videos). Read yourself into it (Nourishing Traditions is a great first read). Or just spend some time studying the food labels in your pantry. And here begins my tip.

Alexa’s Tip: Set aside one hour for a Pantry Purge Event

This week, set aside an hour, just one hour, and begin the journey to healthier eating! In our home it all started with a Pantry Purge Event. It’s fun, easy and enlightening. Print off The Boot List (a handy glossary of food ingredients) to refer to, grab a couple of boxes and you’re ready to begin. Here are the big health-busters we tackled in our home:

1. Give Canned Foods (and plastic food storage containers) the Can: Experts believe that epoxy resin-lined cans are our main source of bisphenol_A (BPA) exposure. BPA has been linked to hormone disruption, obesity, heart disease and more. Buy fresh, frozen, dried or glass jarred foods as much as possible.

2. Bye Bye Bad Fats: Avoid hydrogenated and polyunsaturated oils! Look into the benefits of using coconut oil, extra virgin olive oil, and yes, real butter.

3. Away With the Subtle Cereal Killer: In her book Nourishing Traditions, Sally Fallon writes; “extruded whole grain preparations [flakes and shaped cereals] can have even more adverse affects on the blood sugar than refined sugar and white flour!” Tossing the cereals is probably a good idea. Start your day with yogurt, eggs, an avocado, a smoothie, nuts, oatmeal, or whole-grain pancakes or muffins.

4. Anything Artificial is Outta Here: Most artificial ingredients are derived from petroleum, tar and corn processing and could exacerbate ADD, ADHD and autism symptoms. Be a stickler in this area, get rid of anything artificial.

5. Refined Sugars Take a Hike: Remove white sugar, corn syrup and artificial sweeteners. Consider using natural, minimally processed sugars such as zero-calorie stevia, raw honey, coconut sugar and date sugar. And while you’re looking at the baking shelf, get rid of the white flour and toss out any baking powder that lists sodium aluminum sulfate as an ingredient.

6. Sugary Drinks Go Down the Drain: Kick the soda habit (you gotta do it!). Toss the juice boxes. And if you are going to drink fruit juice, water it way down. Drink Water.

7. Ban the “Can’t Haves”: In our home, the big “can’t have” is gluten. Remove the foods to which you are allergic or intolerant.

8. Give GMO’s the No Go: It is suspected that modified grains contain foreign proteins that are likely to be highly irritating to the digestive tract. What’s the big deal with genetically modified organisms (GMO’s)? Watch The Future of Food or read Earth Fare Supermarket’s summary of GMO’s for more insight.

Hooray! You are on your way. Now, while you are at it, how about moving on to the fridge?

The journey to better health and eating is exactly that, a journey. Embrace it, seek out new flavors, buy organic as much as possible, and develop an appreciation for cooking and the role it can play in the health of your family.

30 Days to a Food Revolution Day 17- Lexie's Kitchen

Alexa’s Recipe: Chicken Long Rice

If you’ve been to a Hawaiian luau, chances are you’ve had Chicken Long Rice. Hawaii is a delightful melting pot of the cultures and flavors of the Pacific Rim and beyond. As a child growing up on the Hamakua Sugar Plantation, I’d always anticipate my dad bringing home a plate of leftovers from Friday pau hana (after work) parties. And almost always the plate included some Chicken Long Rice.

Though the name suggests it, there is no “rice” in this age-old Chinese dish, but rather Mung bean thread noodles. It’s a comforting meal, quick to assemble and a great choice for anyone avoiding gluten or grains. Mung bean thread noodles, bamboo shoots and dried Shiitake mushrooms can be found at most larger grocery chains and at Asian markets.

30 Days to a Food Revolution Day 17- Lexie's Kitchen

PREP TIME: 30 minutes

COOK TIME: 15 minutes

SERVES: 4

Soak 1/4 ounce dried SHIITAKE MUSHROOMS in 1 cup hot water for 30 minutes.

Soak 5 ounces MUNG BEAN THREAD NOODLES in a large bowl of warm water for 30 minutes.

In a large wok or pot over high heat, stir-fry for one minute:

2 tablespoons OIL

2 cloves GARLIC minced

1/4 medium ONION thinly sliced

2 tablespoons GINGER minced

Add and stir-fry until meat is just cooked through:

1-1/2 pounds organic CHICKEN TENDERS thinly sliced across the grain

1/2 teaspoon SEA SALT

1/8 teaspoon BLACK PEPPER

Add and simmer for 5 minutes:

3 cups CHICKEN BROTH (I use organic Superior Touch Better Than Bouillon paste)

Soaked SHIITAKE MUSHROOMS sliced and the SOAKING WATER

Soaked BEAN THREAD NOODLES

Add and simmer 3 more minutes:

2 medium CARROTS peeled and finely shredded

1 cup thinly sliced PURPLE CABBAGE

1/2 cup matchstick BAMBOO SHOOTS

Top each individual bowl with lots of thinly sliced green onion and serve.

Now, how about dessert! What about some gluten-free, dairy-free Cocoa Bean Cookie Truffles—just like the Oreo® truffles you used to eat!

Read more on Lexie’s blog today!

Don’t forget:

In order to be entered to win one of 7 cookbooks, here’s what you need to do to gather entries into the drawing.  The more you do, the more chances you have to win!

  1. Leave a comment on this blog on as many of the 30 guest food bloggers as you like.  Each comment is an entry.
  2. Sign up for The W.H.O.L.E. Gang newsletter.
  3. Visit that guest blogger’s site and leave a comment there too.
  4. Tweet about this project using both of these in your tweet so I’ll find you  #30days2 #foodrevolution

When the initial 30 days of guest posts are over on June 4th, we’ll pick the winners.

35 Responses to 30 Days to a Food Revolution Day 17- Lexie’s Kitchen

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