Donuts

Things have been hard lately. Cadel seems to be having a bit of a tummy-ache relapse. Everyone wants "cheats" all the time.  I say "no" a lot. AND, I've been feeling in a bit of a food rut since our awesome rice-free finds.

Then, this weekend, there was a bit of a beacon of light. I tried the cake donut recipe from Babycakes Covers the Classics (this is the recipe book for the NYC based bakery where we also found our cinnamon roll and waffle recipes). I *delighted* my crew with her cinnamon sugar donuts.   They said, "these taste just like mini donuts!"  This is the ultimate compliment for a food coming from my children.

If you have food allergies and have not yet purchased this cookbook, I cannot recommend it highly enough. I'm really excited to try the cut out cookies and gingerbread man cookies for the holidays. What's best about these recipes is that they are EASY. They are quite foolproof, as long as you know how to follow directions (and once your kitchen is stocked with the right ingredients - this recipe was our first that called for potato starch).

So while things are still tough, generally, we continue to realize that life goes on with food intolerances. And it's not really so bad.

Forced Discoveries - GOOD FOOD!

The Consumer Reports / FDA statements on rice of recent sent our operation into a total tailspin.  In a nutshell, it revealed test results for arsenic in rice based products, and found some alarming numbers.  In our home, where we have already eliminated wheat, egg, and dairy, this felt like a big ol' punch in the gut - the kind where you lose your breath and in a moment of panic aren't quite sure you'll get it back again.

Then, off we went to do what we do... read all the labels in our pantry and freezer, take a walk down the aisles of the co-op, and adjust.  We are now rice free (with small exceptions - noted below).

Now, you may be wondering why we took such drastic measures - no one said that people shouldn't eat rice.  They said to "eat a wide variety of grains".  Hm.  Okay, then, for most people, maybe that seems reasonable.  Now, go to your pantry and your freezer, and see how many of your foods contain wheat (or modified food starch - aka wheat).  Then tell me how varied you are feeling.  Gluten intolerant families have already elimintated about 90% of the mainstream food choices, and a lot of what is left has at least one rice ingredient.

We had the following casualties: our pasta, our bread and rolls, our frozen pizza, our frozen waffles, our pancake mix, one brand of our chicken nuggets, our cake mixes, our snack crackers, our fake cheese, our muffins and cinnamon rolls, our snack bars, several of our breakfast cereals.  I could probably go on.

So you can see the pause that the news of arsenic would give us.  We consume a lot of rice. More than the average person.

In good news, we have gotten pretty good at this.  And we have as a result found these amazing products, that we like even BETTER than their predecessors... which is why I had to share today.

1 - Breads from Anna bread mix.  HOLY smokes!  Our rice-based pre-packaged bread has NOTHING on Anna.  Except of course that I have to mix it up and bake it.  But it is amazing.  It totally reminds me of the from-scratch wheat bread we used to make before the big gluten shake up.

I completely recommend this product!  Allergy or NO!  And she has a ton of varieties. (All of her products are gluten free, and can be made egg free)

2 - Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Chocolate Cake Mix - another HUGE winner!  Not only is it every bit as tasty as it's Cherrybrook Kitchen predecessor, it is possibly more moist and overall tastier, and it LASTS way longer - which is a huge issue in GF / EF / DF eating in general - baked goods die FAST.  Not this one.  We made cupcakes a week ago for a birthday party, and they were still good for a party today, 7 days later.  Simply awesome.  We love Bob, and don't know why we didn't try it sooner.  Thanks, Bob.  You rock our world!

3 - Thirdly, I have to throw some props at this delicious pasta.  Quinoa has been a staple for us for a while, but we had not tried this corn / quinoa based pasta.  It is so good.  Cadel even told her Nanny the other day that she doesn't think she should eat it, because it tastes like it must have wheat in it (this is a compliment - yet it is a bit sad - what 4 year olds shouldn't have to know).  It's also Non-GMO and Organic - woot!!

Finally, I just want to throw some props to Amy's.  This company has their crap together.  In addition to seeking out new foods, I've contacted the makers of all of our foods with rice ingredients to see what they do to control arsenic in their rice.  Amy's had the only response that gave us reason to keep eating their food.  They ALREADY MEASURE for arsenic, even though it is not a requirement.  And they measure themselves against the World Health Organization and the European / Austrailian standards (who are generally more stringent that the U.S. when all parties have regulations in a category - e.g., what qualifies for organic labeling).  They insure they are lower than both of those guidelines.  So these friendly little bunnies are going to be around for a while.  This is good news, given the 400 boxes in our basement:

Happy allergy and arsenic free eating, friends!!

Michael

More Dairy. Dairy Dairy Dairy.

I am slow to follow up my posts about what good non-dairy dairy products exist out there.  First, a little update on what is going on with us.

Several months ago, I started the GAPS Dairy Introduction Structure.  The purpose of this is to take someone who is dairy intolerant, and get them to a point where they can at least occasionally tolerate some types of dairy products.  I guess the reasoning behind the structure is that dairy is a key element of the GAPS diet.  So if someone needs GAPS to control another condition (common with Autism, Bipolar Disorder, Depression and others), they want to work dairy into the diet even if the person is intolerant.   They basically build up the 'right' type of bacteria in the gut.  It is only something to start once the gut has healed from whatever has been damaging it.  And the process can take years!

We began the process in the late spring, with homemade ghee (which is clarified butter).  You basically take regular organic unsalted butter, and heat it to a specific temperature, and then pour the clarified portion into a jar.  My girls did not react at all to the ghee.  So we moved onto organic butter.  I baked, cooked, and used organic butter on popcorn for the remainder of the summer.  No reaction.

With both foods (ghee and butter), I also performed a sensitivity test.  Basically, you put the dairy food in liquid form on the inside of the wrist before the person goes to bed.  If they wake up with no irritation there, they do not have a sensitivity to it.  Both girls showed no sensitivity to organic butter.  We are getting somewhere!!!

Now we are at the homemade yogurt / kefir stage.  I made my first batch of homemade yogurt last week.  The first jar I mixed with homemade strawberry jam (courtesy of Stephanie Johnson!) and some agave.  Do you know what the most eye-opening thing about this yogurt adventure has been?  How. Much. Sugar. Is. In. Our. Yogurt.  HOLY.  BUCKETS.  I cannot believe how much agave I used and it was still WAY more tart than what you get at the store.  That aside, I got it to a point where I think it tastes good, and Ullrich and Summer will both eat it (Ullrich enjoys it on his fruit - but he does not have a dairy intolerance, so he is eating it for the pure joy).  Guess who doesn't care for it?  Cadel Alana.

The Introduction Structure calls for the girls to get a teaspoon every other day.  So we have been doing so.  Cadel, I have to fight to get her to swallow hers down.  Summer asks for "mo pease" most of the time.

Once we are sure that they are doing okay with it, they can have a teaspoon daily.  And then a little more.  And more. Until we are at a half a cup daily.  I have no idea how I'm going to get there with Cadel.  Hm.  Might call for the straight up white sugar.  Hey, where can I get some high fructose corn syrup?  ONLY KIDDING.  I'm trying to drag her through this part of the process to get to the homemade cottage cheese next.  She LOVES cottage cheese and misses it terribly!

In bad news, Summer James has been waking in the night this week.  I think it is teething, but I'm pulling back on her yogurt for now.  I may try again in a week or so.  No rush, I guess.  Want to do this right.

Okay -now for a little something you can use.  But that I don't have to any more.  Now that we are back with our good friend organic butter, we will be buying a lot less of this (but maybe we will use it when the girls' immune systems are down like in the winter months?).  Earth Balance brand non-butter.  This stuff is the BOMB.  You would not know it is not real butter.  We used it for everything!  Even on popcorn when it would be hard to compromise the butter flavor.  It's really quite great.

OR:

Preschool Snack List

As I prepare myself for the school year, I have decided to put together a snack list. I plan to provide it to the parents in Cadel's class, with permission of our teacher, of course.  We always have snacks there for her if what is brought doesn't work for her restrictions.  However, I thought to myself "If it were someone else's child who was intolerant, wouldn't I want to know so I could try to work with their needs?"  I think so.  Yes. I guess I would at the very least like to know what some choices would be and make an informed choice (e.g., So I do not buy something that I think a child would be able to have only to find out they could not, and worse have to see their sad face when they can't!).  Note - Cadel does not make a sad face every time she cannot have something - it is really ALL in managing expectations!

I'm hoping to be able to include with the list a note explaining Cadel's allergies, and a very sincere message about no one having to work around her - this is definitely not my expectation!  I will, however, be inviting the parents to email me a heads up if they would like to so I can provide a snack for Miss C that is in parity with what they are bringing.  For example, if  their child wants to bring birthday cupcakes, then maybe I could send Cadel to school with an allergy-free cupcake - not much more work for them, and a big win for us.  I'm hoping our awesome teacher will be supportive.

Anyway, I've segmented the lists somewhat for ease of shopping.   We do have nut allergies in our preschool class, so I've included some separate items in case you want to use my lists but don't have nut allergies.

Easy to find "healthy-ish" snacks:

- baby carrots

- sliced apples

- orange slices

- grapes

- strawberries

- raspberries

- fruit snacks, fruit rollups, fruit leathers / flats, twisted fruit

- air popped (or oil popped) popcorn (not microwave kind unless it expressly says GF, which most don't)

- applesauce

- cereals - Rice Chex, Corn Chex

Easy to find, but "not-so-healthy" snacks:

- Kraft jet-puffed marshmallows

- plain flavored Pop Chips (the other flavors have dairy)

- candy- Skittles, Starbursts, most lollipops.... actually, this is a great resource for candy - http://surefoodsliving.com/2011/10/halloween-candy-list-gluten-free-allergen-free-2011/ - she updates with each holiday!

- Lays potato chips

- tortilla chips
- Frito's

- most popsicles (check for dairy if you aren't sure!)

- cereals - Fruity/Cocoa/Marshmallow Pebbles

- most any kind of juice, Gatorade, lemonade

Off the beaten path (for people who may shop at co-ops, Whole Foods, etc):

- Annie's bunny cookies - snickerdoodle or cocoa and vanilla

- Enjoy Life brand chocolate chips

- Snyders of Hanover or Glutino brands gluten-free pretzels

- Lucy's and Enjoy Life brands cookies - both are nearly always free of all allergens

- Enjoy Life brand cocoa loco bars

Things to add if there are no nut allergies in your classroom:

- peanuts - regular or honeyroasted

- Environkidz cereals or bars

- peanut butter with the apple slices

Things that would work but that my Girl doesn't like:

- raisins and other dried fruit

- rice chips  (e.g., Riceworks Salsa Fresca are GOOD).  I bet we will find one that she likes eventually.

- pineapple (she's actually allergic)

- blueberries

Things that DO NOT EVER work, unfortunately:

- granola or other types of bars

- crackers (goldfish, graham, etc)

- yogurt  or Gogurt

- anything with milk chocolate in it (so for example, while Peeps candies themselves are fine, chocolate dipped ones are not)

- cheese sticks

- cookies as not mentioned above

Un-Dairy (Allergy-free Eating - Post #5)

I think one of the hardest things about our allergy situation was imagining a world with no dairy.  I grew up drinking milk, and I LOVE milk.  My kids were milk babies (once they were off the breast, of course).  And, well, cheese was a staple ingredient in many of our favorite meals - homemade pizza, lasagna, pasta with sauce and shredded parm, macaroni and cheese, tacos, enchiladas -- everything I could think of that I cooked often had cheese in it!  Wow.  This was going to be tough.

The first thing we did was target milk.  Milk for drinking and for on cereal (GFV of course!) and oats (GF certified, of course!).  We tried: coconut, almond, hemp, rice, and soy.  Here is what stuck:

Rice milk - kids use it on their cereal and in their oatmeal (I think because it has the least distinct flavor of all and it looks like skim milk).
Almond milk - we bake with it, and SJ drinks it in her bottle.  SJ was pretty flexible, and I wanted to use non-soy (for all of the unproven potential consequences of too much soy) but something that was more than just carbs.
Soy milk - Vanilla soy in my chai, thank-you-very-much.

So, yes, we always have 3 kinds of milk on hand.  Costco helps us out a bit by selling these:

So what about cheese, say you?  UGH.  We have no such luck with cheese.  I have tried a variety of things such as Dai ya shreds, but nothing that doesn't come from animals really tastes decent.

I do want to caution you about some non-dairy products which actually contain casein.  We also have casein allergies (as do many people with dairy intolerances - casein is milk protein.  I liken it to people being allergic to wheat AND gluten).  So always read the labels.  If they are marked Vegan, they won't have casein, because it is an animal-derived ingredient.

I can stand the flavor / texture of a little soy cheese on my salads, and on pizza it's "okay", but I'd honestly rather eat pizza cheese-less at this point. 

One thing I will say that I like surprisingly is this:

I will have to be honest in saying that I'm not sure if I like it because it is actually good, or if I'm just finally desparate enough.  Either way. 

I think I will have to dedicate an entire TWO posts to un-dairy.  I still have butter, yogurt, and ice cream left to cover!  More soon....

Photo Book

I *finally* finished the FIRST part of our 2011 Photo Book on Shutterfly. 111 pages... and I got through June 2011. 

I blame my pathetic pace in creating the book on Shutterfly's new Custom Path Photobook product. There are SO many options for page layouts, embellishments, and backgrounds that I was a bit overwhelmed for a while. Once I got in the groove though I had a ton of fun making original pages. 

Check out how you can use a photo as a background. I did that quite a few times! Fun! 

Click here to view this photo book larger

Click here to create your own Shutterfly photo book.

Holy Pink Eye!

We interrupt this series of important food allergy eating posts to bring you this PSA about pink eye. When I tell people that we were in the Children's Hospital ER this week for pink eye, most can scarcely believe it. I couldn't, either. But it's true. Here's the story:

Ullrich came home from camp Kota on Thursday looking like he might have pink eye. Since Summer had it on Sunday, it wasn't a complete surprise.

 He looked like this:

So we started Summer's drops immediately. However, within the next couple of hours, he continued to look worse.

Until he looked like this, causing me to call our nurse line:

I didn't take his picture right before wiping his eye. I took it right AFTER wiping his eye. That goop was constantly streaming from the eye, as if he were crying green stuff. I told him that he looked like a monster!

The nurse line told us we should take him to the ER due to the rapidity of the swelling. They were concerned about cellulitis (aka- eye infection).

They got us in pretty quickly at the hospital, and upon walking into our room, the doctor literally gasped at how he looked (eye even further shut than in the picture above). It took her about five seconds to decide to prescribe both oral and topical antibiotics. She wanted him to get 3 doses of antibiotic in yet that night (it was already 10pm!). She was very concerned about eye infection, and said if it wasn't much better tomorrow to bring him straight to the hospital.

I had initially felt a little foolish for taking him in for pink eye, as if I were possibly over-reacting.  I definitely felt that it was the right decision when I saw the doc's level of concern. Anyway, this is how pink eye lands you in the ER in case you ever find yourself in a similar situation.  Now you know and won't feel crazy like I did! :-)

Allergy-free Eating - Post #4

Okay - I still have LOTS of packaged foods to introduce here, but I decided that I should start mixing in good recipes when I make them.  It also will provide the opportunity to highlight some good ingredients.

This weekend, I made 2 meals "from scratch".  Friday night, we had brinner (breakfast for dinner), of homemade chocolate chip waffles, and bacon with fruit and juice.  This is a BIG crowd pleaser.  I got the waffle recipe from this AMAZING cookbook, Babycakes Covers the Classics.  This isn't the cupcake / donut maker babycakes (I was confused at first, too).  This is the cookbook of a woman who has a vegan New York City bakery.  I picked up the cookbook on a recommendation at Williams Sonoma, and I am SO SO happy I did.

I have, thanks to this cookbook, been able to make home made waffles using the belgian waffle maker my mom bought me *right* before our diagnosis, AND cinnamon rolls - another favorite we had been missing.

The waffle recipe is very easy, and not overly time consuming.  Here are the ingredients - I think this is everything:

The key ingredients to point out that have become staples for us:

- Bob's Red Mill GF flours.  One thing I have learned is that bulk flours will not work for GF.  The reason is in the way they are transported and stored.  There is basically bulk wheat floating through the air as they do these things, which would obviously be a problem for people with wheat / gluten allergies.  In the cookbook, the author goes so far as to say that Bob's is the ONLY flour to use on her recipes.  She is so confident in it.  I have to say it has produced really good results every time I have used it.

- Coconut oil.  We have long been using coconut oil but it is almost exclusively the oil used in baking.  I'm not sure what property it has that helps GF foods work, but we know it also has terrific health benefits.

- Xanthan gum.  This weird little ingredient has been on food labels forever, and I've wondered before what it is (Why did I always imagine something more like bubble gum?  And why did I accept that it was in our food with out knowing?!).  Anyway, it is a powder, and is imperative when you cook with GF flours.  Somehow helps everything work with out the wheat protein

- GF baking powder.  I had no idea there was a difference?!  Some baking powders are, some aren't.  Read the label.

- Again our fab-o Enjoy Life mini chips

- Rice Milk - I'll run you through our milk-substitute opinions in a later post!

Here is the recipe:

1/4 C melted coconut oil (more for oiling the waffle iron, or use vegan cooking spray)

1 1/2 C Bob's  All Purpose GF Baking Flour

1 C Brown Rice Flour (Bob's!)

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

3/4 tsp xanthan gum

2 1/2 cups rice milk

3 tbsp agave nectar

1 tbsp vanilla extract

Preheat waffle maker (per mfg instruction).  Brush with oil or spray.

In a medium bowl whisk together flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and xanthan gum.  Add the rice milk, coco oil, agave nectar, and vanilla and stir until combined.  Add chocolate chips if desired.

Pour 1/3 to 1/2 cup of batter onto waffle iron and bake per mfg instructions.

Ta-da!

Allergy-free Eating - Post #3

Our family used to be HUGE on pasta.  We would eat whole wheat spaghetti at least once / week, and pasta was one of my favorite from-scratch things to make.  Needless to say, since we have stopped eating Gluten, the Kitchen-Aid pasta attachments have not gotten much use.

We have found with eliminating foods containing Gluten and Gliadin that many replacements are rice-based (at least in the packaged grocery realm).  Rice pastas (spaghetti, macaroni, penne types) taste "okay" but are VERY tricky to cook.  Another issue I have with straight rice pasta is insuring that we get enough variety in our diets.  I've read that by substituting another grain, you can actually develop allergies to that one from over-exposure (one of the many theories as to why we have wheat protein allergies to begin with -- too much of these things in the Standard American Diet (aka SAD)).

This multigrain pasta has become a staple:

In addition to the rice, it contains quinoa (super food!) and amaranth (another high protein good-for-you grain).  You have to be careful when cooking it that you use a large enough pot, or the noodles will break each other under their own weight (we found this out by trying to cook multiple boxes as once - they need space!).

Ron and I have been eating a lot of rice noodles pad-thai style (with chicken, thai spice / sauce, bean sprouts, etc).  These types of rice noodles are on the other hand EASY to cook.  The kids have grown to LOVE these noodles (a little less nutritional value in my opinion, but good to change things up).  They eat them plain or with marinara sauce.  You can of course buy them in the Pad Thai kit ala:

Or, you can buy just whatever ones you can find in your store plain ala:

There are a zillion brands.

This is how we do pasta.  Enjoy!

Allergy-free Eating - Post #2

Before I get to the goods, I want to share an overall food allergy update.

I am proud to report that we have been free of *the sickies* for the longest time I can really remember (we did get pink eye, but we came into contact with kids that had pink eye, and well, it's pink eye). Our kids have never been super sickies, however, runny noses used to be pretty common for us. 

This summer no matter how late we push the bedtimes, how hard we play, how many germs we expose them to, etc etc., they just don't seem to get "run down".  I have to believe that this is at least in part related to better gut health. Makes me happy, and makes me believe that we are making the right decisions.

The kids have even gotten to have some 'cheats' recently. Pizza on vacation turned out to be a poor decision. My Girl got pretty emotionally volatile, and my Baby started screaming in the night. Both occurred immediately following the exposure. It is pretty wild.

However, my Bigs both had a 'cheat' cookie in Iowa, and both rode it out fine. I'm so happy.

 Okay, so my next item (still working through packaged foods) is the entire line of Ian's allergy-free foods. (www.iansnaturalfoods.com)
These are frozen "kid foods" (very few families I know dare to try to live with out some variation of a frozen nugget or pizza).

When you consider the fact that there are NO restaurants where you can take you child to get a gluten/dairy/egg free chicken nugget that I am aware of (unless they serve these - or the 1 other brand we know of!) - it is quite a good thing to be able to let them have them once in a while at home. Again, they want to feel normal.

We buy the Ian's brand chicken nuggets regularly, and on occasion have the mini corn dogs, pizza, fries, or 'meals' (nuggets, fries, corn, and cake).

Ian's has a really nice website, where you can click boxes to select your allergies, and they will point you to the foods that will work for you. Their products are a bit more challenging to find, and we almost buy them exclusively at the co-op. Whole Foods carries some, and the 'normal' grocery store *might* carry something, but it is very rare to see something at a chain store.

(PS - Before you go judging me, imagine going home today and throwing out 100% of the things in your cupboards, fridge, and freezer and starting anew with strange products / brands you have never heard of. Oh, and you have to feed your kids dinner tonight.)

I also have a great home made chicken nugget recipe, which I've made several times. The kids love it! I'll share that in a future post, when I'm running through recipes.

That's it for now!

Allergy-free Eating - Post #1

We have learned so much on our journey into the allergy free way of life, that I thought it was time I started officially sharing some product reviews to help others that are just beginning.

 First, some history on our situation. Our Cadel was diagnosed with allergies to gluten, wheat, gliadin, milk protein (casein), all dairy products, beef, and pineapple in early February 2012.

 As a result, our family did a complete 8 week elimination of all of these foods. Upon systematic reintroduction of each of these foods one at a time (with time between to "reset"), we found that the allergies extended to each of us. So we all are basically on the full elimination diet at all times.

The first thing we knew we had to replace was pancakes. Come on - you have to have priorities, people. Our goal here was to come up with some things to eat that Cadel would really love, so as to put the 'new diet' in the most positive light that we could. Success was quickly ours when we found this:

This was a WINNER.  Throw in a few of these:

and what you have is HAPPY kids.  We use almond milk in the pancake mix.  They sortof taste like cupcakes!

Both of these products are available at our co-op (http://www.lakewinds.com/store/index.aspx).  Many local grocers seem to carry the Cherrybrook Kitchen brand in cookies, cakes, etc., but the pancakes have been a bit harder to find.  Amazon carries them, if you can't find them locally.  The chocolate chips I've seen at our local big chain grocer (Cub Foods) as well as at Target!  These chocolate chips are minis, fyi.  If you prefer big chocolate chips, these are also endorsed by the Scherer family:

 Each of these products, at the time of this post, are also nut and soy free.  Our family doesn't have nut or soy allergies, however.   In any event I ALWAYS recommend reading labels, or doing some research as of course these things can change over time.

Here's to chocolate chip pancakes!

Things my mom did that ROCK:

• Grew me inside of her.  Seriously.   This is a big one, people.
• Raised me in the company of siblings.  LOVE my sisters!
• Played music in the house - ALL THE TIME.  Ala Simon and Garfunkel, Neil Diamond, Kenny Rogers, and sooo many more... 
• Cleaned the house every Saturday from 8am to noon.  And made us help.
• Made home cooked meals with dessert every night.
• Took us swimming - a lot.
• Came to every concert, ball game, honors ceremony, etc.
• Composted and recycled wa-ay before it was 'cool'.
• Told us to 'be good and stay together' every time we left her sight.
• Decorated the house for every holiday.
• Celebrated "Kids Day" (our made up holiday to offset Mother's Day - I kid you NOT).
• Survived raising 4 teenage girls with one teeny tiny bathroom in the house.
• Sliced bananas and sprinkled sugar on them
• Loved me unconditionally.
• Was one of the first people to hold each of her grand-babies - even though she lived in another state.
• Mailed birthday cards with confetti (often home made) in them.
• Baked cookies (and cakes, and bars...)

Happy Mother's Day to all of the awesome Moms, especially MINE.