I'm so impossibly busy, I just have to blog!

Do you know that feeling? When you have so many things to do that no one thing takes precedence over the other and you become paralyzed and end up doing something else altogether that isn't even on your LIST OF URGENT THINGS TO DO!

That's where I'm at. We're heading overseas (to Hawaii!!!) in four days, and before we go I have to write two 2-hour Contract Law Lectures, organize everything for my organic business stall at the Going Green Expo in Melbourne June 5-8, clean the house (actually we've outsourced that to the fabulous folks at EASLI), and pack a number of items to keep the toddler entertained and organically fed on the way too long plane trip.

As far as entertainment goes, I've been collecting books that are small and light, but will keep him amused for a long time... Katie from We Heart Books (a fabulous blog about kids books) has been a great source of ideas for what books to bring. I've also bought some new Charlie & Lola books, including one filled with stickers, which will definitely provide hours (or at least half an hour) of amusement, but I'm a bit worried about the toxicological effects of being covered in stickers (him and me). Has anyone done any research into this?? If so, please leave a comment!

As for food, I'm sure Qantas hasn't added an Organic meal into their selection of special meals, at least not in economy. I have a hard enough time arranging a meal that is Gluten AND Dairy-free (some airlines will do it, others just laugh at you). For me I think I will just stock up on yummy, organic "health" bars with lots of chocolate in them to keep me going, but I can't give that to the BABY!

One of our staple "convenience" foods is banana muffins, which are not so convenient, as I have to bake them from scratch, but it's a great recipe for people with multiple allergies:

1 cup organic brown rice flour
1/2 cup tapioca flower
1/2 cup amaranth or quinoa flour (high protein, gluten-free south american grains)
3/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp cream of tartar
1/4 tsp sea salt
mix these dry ingredients and then separately mix:
4 ripe mashed organic bananas
1/3 cup of oil (I use rice bran oil, but olive oil works too)
1/4 cup honey (I use pear juice concentrate)
Add all ingredients together and add some liquid if necessary (I use rice milk or juice).

Bake for 15-20 min in a moderate oven (160C or 320F). Makes 12 yummy muffins. They go stale pretty quickly, so any that I'm not eating right away I freeze for later. I'm going to make a double batch right now... to get us through this week and the trip to Hawaii!

I'll also need to make sure we all consume lots of antioxidants to counteract the high radiation levels associated with air travel.

Personally, I have a drink made with Berry Radical most days, which is a yummy organic chocolate, berry concoction, that gives me lots of energy and a full day's worth of antioxidants.

But I can't give that to the BABY because he is very sensitive to salicylates, a naturally occurring chemical found in many fruits and vegetables, especially berries. More on that later...

Fun with Fishy Finger Food!

My 2 year old son LOVES the British children's books and dvds "Charlie & Lola". They really are adorable, and I don't mind reading and watching them over and over and over and over... One of the things I like about Charlie & Lola is that they live in a modest apartment, not a McMansion, and they spend lots of time outdoors, in their local park, going to the library, etc... and, unlike my son, they never watch tv!

One of the best things about Charlie & Lola is the first episode, from Charlie and Lola, Vol. 1, where Charlie (Lola's older brother) convinces Lola to eat all of the foods that she doesn't like, such as carrots (orange twiglets from Jupiter), peas (green drops from Greenland), mashed potato (cloud fluff from the top of Mt Fuji) etc. My son will therefore now eat all of these foods happily, because Lola eats them.

Most importantly, Charlie gets Lola to eat fish fingers (ocean nibbles for mermaids). I was lucky for a while because my son would eat fresh and canned fish (the bones are a great source of calcium), but more recently he has stopped eating all fish (he still eats the bones, which are a nice crunchy treat and especially good for a kid that has a dairy-free diet). Since becoming obsessed with Charlie & Lola he has been asking for fish fingers. This is a bit of a problem, since he is also gluten-free, and I haven't, as yet, found gluten-free fish fingers, and especially not organic, sustainably harvested, mercury-free (etc...) fish fingers.... at least not in Australia... maybe in America!

So as with most things, I had to make them from scratch... my first attempt was remarkably successful... I bought some white fish from the supermarket, sliced it into "fingers", crumbed it with a mixture of organic rice flour and some rice bread crumbs, and fried it lightly in rice bran oil until golden brown. They were delicious! My son loved them, and even ate them re-heated for lunch the next day!

Flush with my initial success, I tried again a few days later, but this time I felt bad about having chosen a cheap, farmed in Thailand fish, so I picked a more expensive, wild-caught in Australia, Blue Grenadier. Sadly it didn't hold its form as well as the farmed fish, and it really was more like "ocean nibbles" than fish fingers.

I ended up with a lot of crumbly fish left, so the next night I tried making it into fish patties... first time lucky with these as well, and they passed the "lunch the next day" test too... I made them by mixing the cooked fish with some leftover organic potato and leek soup, some sea salt and organic rice flour (to bind it together). I also lightly fried them in rice bran oil until golden brown...

Again the second time was not as successful... I got cocky from my previous successes and thought I could be clever and slip some brussels sprouts into the fish patties... no such luck! He picked up on it straight away... "No like it". He ended up eating a fair amount, but painstakingly picked out all the green bits...

My next project is to make them really organic. There is some fantastic organic fish available in Australia from Soul Fish. Sadly it is not widely available, and I have to head to the Prahran Markets to get it, frozen, and then transport it quickly home before it thaws, as it comes in packs of 5 filets.

I know there is a lot more organic fish available in North America, and hopefully it will catch on here... I'll let you know how I go with the organic, gluten-free, mercury-free, sustainable fish fingers!