Tomatoes

Just discovered that tomatoes contain Lycopene, one of nature's most powerful antioxidants, and that it is more readily absorbed by our bodies if the tomatoes have been cooked.

So today's menu was:

Breakfast -
fresh beetroot and apple juice
Weetabix with fortified oat milk, and topped with a puree of nectarines, blueberries, raspberries and blackberries.

Morning snack -
Maya had mini rice cakes spread with avocado, and a taste of my chestnut crackers with almond butter (first taste of almond butter)

Lunch -
Maya tried tofu pureed with her vegetable puree (courgette, potato and cheese) - she didn't like this at all, so I had to resort to defrosting a watercress, potato and courgette puree, which she gobbled up, and some toast, followed by fruit puree.

My lunch deserves a mention, because although spontaneous, it was really delicious! I had a tortilla wrap spread with avocado, and topped with some feta cheese, tomato slices, tofu, watercress, pumpkin and sunflower seeds, walnut hummus (made with 200g walnuts 2 tbsp tahini, 1 garlic clove, juice of 1 lemon and a handful of fresh parsely whizzed up) and drizzled with sesame and pumpkin seed oils and raspberry vinaigrette. Really yummy!
The big thing here that I have learned is to buy only the very best cold pressed oils (olive, sesame, sunflower, linseed, pumpkin seed) as they keep all their nutritional benefits and are easily assimilated by the body.

Afternoon snack for Maya - mashed banana and papaya.

Dinner -

Fillet of cod, served with a sauce made from skinned, deseeded, chopped tomatoes that are lightly fried in butter and mixed with grated cheddar cheese, steamed carrots and boiled new potatoes.
Dessert is a baked rice pudding made with almond milk, and swirled with raisins and nectarines.



After a weighing from the nurse yesterday we have discovered that Maya is still underweight and under-height for her age, the nurse's advice was to feed her more. So that is why I have introduced morning and afternoon snacks for her.

Thomas and Maya have suffered from lots of eczema since they were born. My pediatrician has prescribed cortisone creams followed by moisturisers. It has treated the problem at the time but it keeps recurring. (I don't like using them). I have tried sunflower oil (as recommended by one health store). Now I am trying to treat it with diet - we are what we eat, they say. Hence one of the reasons for avoiding dairy.
Also I have made an appointment to see a homeopath nutritionist next week, as he says he can offer a solution to the eczema......