Tropical Fruit from SE Asia {And How My Kids Don’t Eat Much Else}

So, yeah, our family has food issues.

I have one kid that has claimed vegetarianism for the past 6 months, one kid that I think has a gluten-allergy and also hates rice {yeah, in Asia, he hates rice}, and another child that literally wants ketchup on everything from noodles to watermelon {yeah, I am not kidding on that one, either}.

You add those, ah-hem, issues to the realities of living in a foreign country without an oven and without having access to things like packets of gluten-free pizza dough, frozen veggie burgers or decent ranch dressing for raw veggies {which you shouldn’t eat too many of anyway because of the truckloads of pesticides they use}, and you have yourself a full-blown problem that might even stump that high-cheek-boned nutritionist from The Biggest Loser.

Seriously, ya’ll, I stand in my kitchen and check out my cupboards and want to cry or cuss more often than not.

So, yes, we eat a lot of popcorn. And cereal. And smoothies with allll kinds of stuff thrown in. I flavor the water, and we eat out at local restaurants lots. {A dollar a meal, but with the vegetarian, the non-rice-eater, and the ketchup-maniac, even that becomes a struggle.}. Thankfully, though– very, very thankfully– we do have access to all kinds of crazy-awesome tropical fruit.

Pineapple, pomegrante, mangosteen, mango. And, that, at least, is something.

Several of the fruits we often eat classify as “superfoods.” Mangosteen is supposedly one of them, as is pomegrante. If you haven’t heard about superfoods, essentially they are foods that are classified as packing the most nutritional value. There are several listings on the web, but this one is an article from Oprah that lists the 25 highest- ranked superfoods with recipes, if you’re interested.

And if your kids will eat them. And if you can afford to buy them.

I don’t know, maybe they go good with ketchup?

********************

And, just because I’ve been watching The Biggest Loser lately, what’s one healthy change you want to make in 2012?

Tagged as: thailand

http://www.mamaworkinprogress.blogspot.com Courtney

This post appealed to me because my 3 year old has suddenly become a stubborn guy who doesn’t want to eat this, that or the other thing. I can’t imagine dealing with that in a Thailand with NO OVEN! Great goodness, I will pray for you on that front. I can’t remember where I read it now, but one New Year’s resolution post somewhere made the point that if you aren’t taking care of the basics (eating well, exercising, having spiritual time, etc) then there is no point in making other goals. A mom who survives on leftover PB&J and Diet Coke isn’t in the best position to learn a new language – for example. So, my goal for 2012 is related to “the basics” and it is simply to exercise 3 times a week. I think The Biggest Loser would approve
Courtney recently posted..For You Have Set My Heart Free
- http://www.lauraparkerblog.com Laura
  
  Courtney, I love this. Sometimes I think we have these lofty goals and then we fail miserably b/c there’s no chance in succeeding. I like that . . . the basics.
  
  And isn’t the Biggest Loser like motivational, somehow? This is the first time I’ve really watched it and I am all into it! haha . . .
http://ckbarber.tumblr.com Caitlin Thompson

Oh man, you think Cade may be gluten-intolerant?
My mom and Meg are 100% gluten-free, and my dad and I have been almost completely gluten-free since I returned from Thailand, so I understand how tough that can be…especially starting out. ESPECIALLY if your son’s name is Cade and it’s hard to get him to try anything, period. Haha. If you’d like any ideas for gluten-free foods, etc…let me know. What’s available in Thailand is actually much different than here in America, but thankfully a lot of Asian food can be made gluten-free naturally…so there is hope! Right?
Love and miss you all so much!
Caitlin Thompson recently posted..Neat.
- http://www.lauraparkerblog.com Laura
  
  ahhh . . . can i just say i smiled when i saw your NEW LAST NAME?!?!??!
  
  How’s it going, married lady??!!!
http://evenonesparrow.blogspot.com rachel @ even one sparrow

So wait.. maybe I missed something.. but why don’t you have an oven? How do you cook things? Are there no ovens in Thailand (I have no idea, honestly – I must be very ignorant).

This year I am doing without refined sugar (wrote about it here: http://evenonesparrow.blogspot.com/2012/01/resolutions.html) . It’s the last step in my efforts to be totally/ridiculously healthy. I’m going to allow myself sugar on birthdays and holidays, but nothing otherwise. When I find time (ha!) I’m going to experiment sweetening things like cookies with dates or something.

I am gluten-free by necessity (definitely not choice). Do you have access to plaintains? Because they can be very filling for a gluten-free person, especially with no access to gf bread. Also, do your kids like eggs?
rachel @ even one sparrow recently posted..an inadvertent technology detox
- http://www.lauraparkerblog.com Laura
  
  Rachel,
  
  Loved reading this! About the oven . . . they do have them in Thailand– they are just kinda expensive and we haven’t bought one yet. Not that we won’t — just don’t have one yet. Everyone mostly cooks with a wok here on a gas burner. We do eggs and stirfries lots. We have a rice cooker, too. And we have a microwave, too!
  
  Love your brave commitment to no sugar! Awesome! That is so great. Proud of you and am heading over to read your post about it, too!
  
  And, yes . . . we do eat lots of bananas . . . wonder if i could be more brave in experimenting with that. I do corn tacos sometimes and rice cakes with pbutter lots, too. . . . and my daughter loves eggs, but my son, the one who is struggling with gluten, no so much.
  
  let me know how your no-sugar fast goes! love from here, L
http://www.stumblingaroundinthelight.com Teri @ StumblingAroundInTheLight

Good golly, that was so stinkin’ cute…
LOVE it when she shoves that whole piece in her cheek at the end!!

So, I’m thinkin’ – how COOL that you’ve got superfruits, my friend!

Over the holidays, we finally, positively, frustratingly narrowed it down and discovered…little Nekoda is not only acutely allergic dairy, but also to gluten. Like aCUTEly. And it ain’t cute at all. Especially not in his foulish diapers.
But – hey – now we know! So, hopefully, no more Thursday afternoon throwin’ up. And maybe, just maybe, he’ll start to grow. The boy is the pickiest, crankiest eater on the face of the planet.
I’m really wishin’ for some superfruits about now.
Just sayin’. =)
Teri @ StumblingAroundInTheLight recently posted..Launching The New Year
- http://www.lauraparkerblog.com Laura
  
  Oh, man– amazing isn’t it how frustrating it is when your kids have food issues?! ugh. didn’t realize food was such a big deal, but it can be such a catalyst for frustration for me, for us, for sure. hang in there . . . .
Carol

Laura,
I am teaching a biology class on-line for 4th-6th graders. On Monday, January 23 we are talking about flowering plants and fruit. The class meets at 8am EST (8pm for you, right?) Can she be a guest speaker and show that again? My class is small this semester. I have a students living in P.R., Canada, S. Africa, and the U.S. If the timing does not work for you guys, can I have your permission to show this video? If you have time, please send me an email. Happy New Year!

I still can’t wrap my brain around no oven! I have used my cast iron skillet with lid as a make shift oven over our camping stove before. Everything that I made had gluten in it though. I wish that I had some great recipe to share.

Carol

Carol
julie

We get pretty much the same fruits here in India … the produce is definitely an awesome benefit of life in Asia! My 2012 health change is to STAY gluten-free. I started the diet a week ago with amazing results. But the honeymoon stage is wearing off and like you, I’m like “wear’s the gluten-free freezer section in my supermarket??”
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