Tuna Casserole for Hashi Warriors

   Hey everybody! Spring has sprung and we have assorted birds calling out to meet the bird of their dreams now! We are all coming out of the wintry conditions to feel the sunshine and smell the fresh breezes.

   Today, I'm going to chat a bit about how I manage my Hashimoto's Thyroiditis with something you need everyday...FOOD! Since my diagnosis, I have become quite a foodie and actually enjoy my food more than I ever have in my whole life! It's wonderful to eat and not feel lousy after I fuel my body. I have more flavor in every morsel than ever and I really do not have to pass on much except if we are at a community pot luck. There are diets to follow and it can really seem staggering to include all of those and convert to a Hashimoto's friendly atmosphere. While I won't go in depth here on the complete diet (click here to see what you can have!)  required for impact, I will share a tip or two on one of my family's favorite dish....Tuna Noodle Casserole. The topic of noodles cane up with our now afult daughter since she’s in her own and began cooking, so I thought I needed to share our noodle knowledge wealth! :)
   If you are like me, we discovered that gluten was a major trigger for my Hashimoto's. Removing gluten from your diet was tough at that time when labels weren't required to put GLUTEN FREE in bold, but these days, with the labels saying the allergens, it's so easy! That's the easy part....the tough part is saying good-bye to a few favorited food friends. I've always enjoyed my fruits and vegetables and rice as well. The important thing about halting the affects of Hashimoto's is finding the root or the trigger of your autoimmunity. Once that is pin pointed, you can stop your immune system from going whacky and attacking other important parts of YOU! OK, enough about FINDING YOUR ROOT CAUSE (click that link to start that journey!), and back to the chatter of yummy food!
   Not everyone in our family needs or has to be gluten free. But, I do the cooking so the majority of the creative genius meals are so we all can enjoy meals TOGETHER and not feel like outcasts in our own health journey! One of our favorite dishes is Tuna Noodle Casserole and we had to pull this from the menu temporarily while I was learning how to cook and bake gluten free. A good tip about gluten free noodles....always try to find corn and rice noodles to substitute for your old recipes. These taste and feel about the same as the wheat noodles. We have discovered that noodles made from other grains will feel like sand or the taste will be overwhelming and ruin an old favorite dish! I have substituted the corn and rice noodles and nobody was the wiser!

   Please enjoy my Tuna Noodle Casserole recipe and hopefully it will become your new comfort food! This dish with the dairy may not be everyone's cup of tea, and I do not have the nutritional content for it, but it was a welcomed favorite we had to put on hold for a while until I perfected the recipe. The old recipe had wheat noodles and Miracle Whip, both containing gluten.

Tuna Noodle Casserole

2-3 foil packets of tuna 
2 12 oz boxes of gluten free rotini noodles made with corn and rice
1 cup sour cream
2 cups mayonnaise
1-1 1/2 cups milk or nut milk
4 cups sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1/2 teaspoon sea salt, stay clear of Iodized salt! (get iodine through kelp instead)
Freshly ground pepper to taste

  Cook the noodles according to the package. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix together above ingredients in oven proof pan or dish. Bake covered for 30 minutes, uncover and bake for 10 minutes longer to achieve a golden top. Serve after briefly cooling a few minutes.

Blessings from our clan and enjoy your journey for health!

Boobie Food Love

   Interesting and catchy title....and now that I have your attention, I will be talking about, you guessed it, breastfeeding. And now that I have weeded down the crowd a little bit more, I'm going to go a bit further and talk about breastfeeding and hashimoto's thyroiditis or any autoimmune condition for that matter.

Breastfeeding in our hammock

   When we started this rainbow journey, I was certainly afraid I might not be able to keep an ample milk supply for our Finn. I've worked for two years to tame my new-to-my-knowledge  friend Hashimoto's and thyroidism.  My new menu doesn't lend itself to a lot of fatty foods. I'm gluten free and proud of it! It was such a hard road to get clean from gluten....very depressing, very difficult, very much like a drug addict. Gluten is a protein found in wheat, rye, and barley and in some products.
   When my milk came in and became established after a few days of Finn's arrival, I checked my milk by pumping some and letting it sit and separate. This shows you how much fat content is in your breastmilk. I periodically check the content of my milk to ensure Finn is getting enough fat in her meals. It comforts me to see the consistency of the food my body produces for our baby.
   I've started taking sunflower lecithin to add healthy fats to my milk and it helps me produce more. I used to drink fennel tea once a week or so but my fat content wasn't improving. I was making more milk, but it was more like skim milk.  Sunflower lecithin is a type of phospholipid abundant in sunflower seeds. This fatty substance is obtained by dehydrating a sunflower seed and separating it into three parts: the oil, gum, and other solids. Lecithin comes from the gum byproduct of this mechanical process. It works for me within an hour and I've come to enjoy it in some of my snack I eat for healthy breastfeeding.
   Which brings me to these wonderful brekky treats that my whole family enjoys!

Gluten Free Monster Brekky Bars

Ingredients:
3 cups gluten free old fashioned oats
1 egg
1 cup raw sugar
3 tbsp. molasses
1 tsp baking soda
2 1/2 cups peanut butter
1 tsp vanilla extract (I make my own)
1/2 cup  sunflower lecithin
1 cup carob bits or chocolate chips
2 cups mini m&ms if you desire and I really do

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray your cooking dish with coconut oil.

In a large bowl, blend  molasses, lecithin and sugar. Beat in peanut butter, egg, and vanilla. Mix until light and fluffy. I did this by hand. Add the oats and baking soda and stir well. Stir in the chocolate goodies.

Pour into the prepared pan and spread into an even layer. Bake 30-40 minutes until puffed, golden brown and mostly set in the center. Do not cook until it is all the way set or the bars will be dry. Cool completely in the pan and then cut into bars and serve. Bars may be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to five days. I like to keep mine in a cool place.

This yummy bar ensures I get plenty of antioxidants, vitamins and minerals  for my diet. The oats are a super food for breastfeeding moms. Rolled Oats consist of magnesium, zinc, fiber, phosphorus, selenium, and manganese. Oats are also packed with Vitamin E, flavonoids, carotenoids, and polyphenols. So ENJOY gluten free guilt free! I like to package mine separately and we all grab them on the go...especially handy to keep in the diaper bag for a snack for mom!

Her favored position at all times - even while napping :)🍯

Blessings and happy milk making!