My kitchen may explode

Well the eczema cleanse is still going. We gave in Tuesday night and let C have some organic blue corn chips, so we lasted 15 days grain free :/ She didn't have many and quite honestly she seemed to be more into kale chips than the corn chips. I love it!!

Anyhow, the hubby and I will be away from the kids for a little over a week next week, so I am preparing all sorts of food, in order to make it a little easier for the people who will be caring for them while we are gone. On the list today:

•pancakes- this is the best recipe ever!! I have had some mixed results regarding texture, but 2/4 times they looked and tasted just like traditional gluten filled pancakes. 

•sweet potato brownies

•breakfast casserole with rutabaga hash browns, eggs and sausage

•chocolate zucchini bread

•gummies

•brown some meat
•pizza pie

•BBQ chicken

•sweet potatoes

•stuffed zucchini

Then I'll make dinner for us to eat tonight, which may end up happening on the grill!

Honest mom moment-- I'm still not convinced that we are making any progress. Just when her skin clears up, we have a flare up. Not sure what could be causing it from a gut level since her diet is so controlled, so I'm considering external factors such as soap, laundry detergent, fabric softener sheets, etc.- all of which we either don't use at home or use chemical free versions. However she did encounter bubble bath, unfamiliar bath soap and unfamiliar detergent and fabric softener at her cousins last weekend.  Not sure that she is that sensitive to detergent, but it could have been the bubble bath. Her skin was a mess at the beginning of the week and we are just getting it dried out now, but it's still very itchy for her. I'm sick of playing this guessing game. I'm ready to throw in the towel--but I won't.  I'm more than willing to make whatever changes are necessary, but I'm sick of being a detective- I just wanna make it better!!!!  Ok, I'm done venting.

If you care to see what I've been cooking, here are a few food pics for you to check out. 

Twice baked butternut squash with sausage from the paleo kitchen cookbook. Very thanksgiving-ish, but nonetheless yummy!!

More kale chips at the request of my children. My husband is now also on the kale chip bandwagon. As a family we can finish the whole cookie sheet in no time flat.

The brinner I made last night. Rutabaga hash browns with chard, bacon, and eggs topped with salsa and some avocado.

I also tried my hand at making beef jerky last night. I don't have a dehydrator so I dried it out in the oven. Took a little over 4 hours, but it is yummy!!

 

 

Chances are you won't hear much from me, until the end of the month.  I won't have much internet access after Saturday.  



Rough weekend

I'm going to keep this post short because I'm exhausted, but this weekend was rough.  When we left home yesterday we left some of our food at home- fail, C drank her cousin's milk- fail, and then she came running in the house a few hours later with a capri sun (which I'm not 100% sure has gluten, but you just never know) - fail.  I'm not gonna lie, at that point I had a breakdown.  This is not hard at home where so many factors are within my control, but going to other places where I didn't make the food that other people are eating is stressful and I don't want to have to start over on this cleanse.  I feel like I have to watch her like a hawk, which clearly is something at which I am no good.  I mean it's hard to try to explain to people what you are doing when it is so against what the majority of our society believes. 
The positive note for the weekend was that C's skin looked so much better last night after her bath.  Today was another story and I don't know why.  I think that's what is even more frustrating about this whole situation.  I have to wonder how much external factors, such as soaps, detergents, etc. may impact her eczema.  I just don't know how to figure all of this out, but I feel the need to, and I'm going to drive myself crazy doing so.
We did successfully feed the kids a paleo meal including cupcakes and coconut milk ice cream at the party.  C asked one time for a super cute Strawberry Shortcake cake pop, but that was it!  And truth be told, I wanted a cake pop too.  They looked delish!
Tomorrow is a new day and we will start fresh! 

prepping for the weekend

Another week has gone by and we are preparing for another weekend here at our house.  This weekend we have our niece's birthday party.  Again I contacted the host, my sister in law, to see what was on the menu.  They are having a pasta bar, with garlic bread, tossed salad, fruit salad and obviously cake and ice cream.  So C and I will eat zoodles (zucchini noodles) with some homemade meat sauce, so that I know it's gluten free.  I will also probably take some Paleo Bread by Elana's Pantry in case C asks for garlic bread.  I plan on whipping up some salad dressing, as many contain gluten, and 99% of store bought dressings contain canola oil- which I choose not to ingest if I can help it.  Really that's another step deeper into my nutritional beliefs, maybe I'll share more about that another day.  Anyhow, the only other thing that I will make is some sort of paleo treat, probably grainfree, dairy free cupcakes of some sort.  Store bought coconut ice cream is definitely on my shopping list for the weekend.  Yes, it's expensive, but I'm feeling a little lazy and have plenty of other things to prep.
Here are a few pics of random things we have eaten since I last blogged.

Enchiladas made with collard greens

A random lunch when there is nothing in the house.

Pork fried cauli rice

I decided yesterday that maybe I should call my nutritionist, Dr. Heather Heck to see if she had any further nutritional suggestions or supplements that may help C as we continue on this 30 day journey.  To my surprise, I got an appointment for today!  I took C there this morning and got so much help!!  She made some great recommendations for supplements and food groups that she thinks are concerns.  For those of you who are fighting with eczema, asthma, or other allergies (including seasonal) this may be of high importance you.  She said she felt the top 3 contributors to C (and I think most people who suffer from any of the above) at this time are:
1.) Gluten
2.) Dairy
3.) Peanuts
Wait, What?? Peanuts?!?  How has that never occurred to me.  I thought all this time she was fine with peanuts, because her eczema did get better when we went gluten free, but it never totally went away.  Maybe peanuts have been the other issue all along.  She didn't see harm in removing grains (but I will probably reintroduce next weekend, as my hubby and I are leaving for a week, sans kids, so it will be easier for caregivers if C can have some grains), but grains were not a top three concern for her, at least not right now. 
So I guess we will take peanuts out immediately and see where that gets us.  Dr. Heather also suggested getting some beans into C's diet (which I don't do simply because I rarely eat them and since I do the cooking, I just don't make them much) which means she could have hummus again-- as well as increasing her wild caught seafood intake (for the omega 3's). 
She also helped me problem solve thru how to heal C's gut due to her lack of nutrition in utero and as a young infant.  (For those of you who don't know, we adopted C.  She came to our family when she was 21 months old. You can read more about our adoption story and journey to our son at my blog a faith-filled journey to a priceless gift).
Long story short, if you have nutrition concerns or are just frustrated with conventional medical practices, go see a trusted nutritionist.  If you are anywhere close to Findlay, Ohio I highly recommend Dr. Heather Heck.  You can find out more about her here and here also.   She has helped so many people I know, including myself! 

Ok, I think I've met my quota for parenthesis in a single post, so I'm done for now :)  Have a great weekend!!

Starting Week 2

Today I made some grain free, dairy free no bake cookies for the kids.  They aren't paleo because I used organic peanut butter in theirs since I'm thinking Chloe has the nut sensitivity.  I'd share the recipe if I had one, but I just kind of threw some things together in a double boiler.  Those ingredients included coconut oil, coconut butter, peanut butter, coconut sugar, cocoa, flax, chia, and shredded coconut.  Then I scooped it out onto parchment paper and placed them in the freezer.  I didn't take a picture of the kids because they were funky looking because I used too much coconut oil, but here is a pic of the paleo ones I made using almond butter instead of the peanut butter. 

Chloe seems to be adjusting to this grain free, dairy free diet.  It's been days since she has asked for cheese, and the coconut yogurt seems to be filling her yogurt void.  She really hasn't asked for a granola bar either, which is shocking because I think she would have eaten a 3 granola bars a day 2 weeks ago if I would have let her.  
Guess that's all for today....short and sweet!

Party Prepping

Well Fourth of July weekend has come and gone.  We had some parties to go to which is fun, but creates quite a bit of work when you or your daughter have dietary restrictions.  I am not going to share everything that Chloe ate this past weekend because it's boring and quite honestly I don't remember. 
Here's my strategy for attending parties.  I contact the host of the party to find out what's on the menu, so that my kids think they are eating what everyone else is eating.  This weekend it was hamburgers, hot dogs and brats, along with macaroni salad, fruit, veggies, baked beans, cookies and ice cream.  So here's what I took.
- Hot dogs-- Many hot dogs contain gluten and dairy, so I always take my own.
- Cucumber salad--  My kids love cucumbers and I got some in my CSA box this week, so it was an easy dish and I took enough to share.

(For some reason this is the only picture I took of my food this weekend...weird I know!)
- Cookies--  These are delish by the way.... Double Chocolate Cookies by Paleomg  The recipe calls for thick almond butter, which I have yet to find, so I just add some almond flour to my almond butter to thicken it up a bit.  They turn out beautifully....You're welcome ;)
- Lemon Fruit Tart -- I had to make something a little bit patriotic, so this was it.  It was yummy, but very lemony.  The consistency of the filling was awesome and I will definitely make it again! 
- Banana Ice Cream-- Slice a banana, freeze for a couple of hours.  Throw the sliced bananas in your food processor with coconut milk and some almond butter.  It will turn into soft served ice cream.  You could then add some Enjoy Life Chips, or berries or nuts or whatever else you like in your ice cream.  I personally go for chocolate.
My kids ate fruit and veggies at the party, to complete the meal. 

So it's been a week since we started these diet restrictions, and I have to say it's getting a little easier.  Last Friday and Saturday Chloe was itchy, but did not have any new eczema spots.  I was very worried that maybe I eliminated the wrong foods, and I am still thinking she may have some sensitivity to nuts (not peanuts because that's a legume and she has never had any trouble with her organic peanut butter, but she has been eating more almonds in the past week), but now the itching has decreased.  She also does not have any new spots of eczema.  So we'll continue on this track, one week at a time, and hopefully we can complete the diet as planned.  If we have to eliminate nuts in the middle of this thing, it's not going to be pretty. 

Day 4

Today I didn't work!! We went to the library this morning and had a pretty enjoyable day overall.

Here is the rundown of the food that went on in our house today.

Breakfast-- banana sliced in a bowl with almond milk and a hard boiled egg that C wanted to put in her almond milk 😝 Thankfully she did not do that!

Lunch was leftovers. Taco salad with guacamole and salsa, kale chips, apple and coconut milk yogurt. 

Dinner was quite the battle. I made stuffed collard greens (stuffed with ground beef, sausage, some green pepper, onion, and some random spices--then baked in bone broth for about an hour) and green beans. I also finally made those gummies I've been talking about for the past 3 days.  I used strawberries, Great Lakes gelatin and kefir water, which were by far her favorite part of dinner. After she dropped her fork three times, jumped back and forth between her chair and mine seven times and fell on the floor twice I made the executive decision that dinner was over for C. Then we had a giant three year old melt down and moved on with our lives.
 

I've decided the gummies really shouldn't be called gummies, they should be called  jigglers, well maybe not that, because I bet chemical filled Jell-o had that trademarked, but they are more of that consistency than gummy. Anyhow the recipe is as follows:

1 cup puréed fruit (I most often use strawberries)

1/4 cup Great Lakes gelatin (make sure it's the orange container)

3/4 cup kefir water or juice

Mix the fruit and gelatin in a small pot on the stove and heat until mixed and thickening. If you are using fruit juice you can add that now too, but if you are using kefir water wait until your mixture cools slightly, as you don't want to kill the probiotics in the kefir.  Mix that all together and pour into silicone molds or in a pan (I've done both).
 

Here is the gelatin I use. I buy it from amazon and it lasts a long time. This has lots of great health benefits--check it out. For those of you with texture aversions, they also have a green container that does not thicken liquids, so you can add it to almost any liquid for the benefits. 

 

As far as kefir water goes, I recently started to make my own. It's a good source of probiotics. I don't care for it by itself, but will often add it to my shake in the morning. 

To be honest with you I am not looking forward to the next few days as we have parties to attend and I will be cooking full meals to take along with us. I normally can survive, but I know C will struggle and want cookies and ice cream like the rest of the kids. I'll share what I bring along with a few recipes.  

Happy 4th of July!!!

Third Day

Today was another day at the babysitters. I have always packed the kids lunch and snacks since we have been pretty strict with gluten free for about a year now. I have gotten into a routine with what I usually pack them (gluten free chicken nuggets, ham with cheese and pickles, peanut butter and jelly on paleo bread, and leftovers) so this week has been a bit rough. The nice thing is the kids only go to daycare once or twice a week in the summer as my work schedule is reduced. I made sure to add se extra veggies today to make up for the fruit overload I packed yesterday. :/

I fed the kids breakfast before we left the house this morning and decided to skip the granola and made them eggs with red peppers and ham. Needless to say, both kids were less than thrilled, but they did eat....eventually! 

The packed lunch for the day included leftover sausage and spinach stuffed sweet potato, green beans, and a pear.

Snacks were Cliff kids fruit ropes, boulder potato chips (cooked in avocado oil), and a banana. Clearly I'm bad at packing snacks and think a snack=carbs...oops!

Dinner tonight was a battle for some reason. Paleo taco salads with chicken, red and yellow peppers, red onion, tomatoes, salsa and guacamole. Followed up with a clementine, half of a coconut yogurt, and part of an apple that was split between the kids. 

We've been doing almond milk at bedte, which is going over like a lead weight. Well maybe I shouldn't say that. C doesn't throw a fit about it, she just doesn't drink it. I think I will try some coconut milk and see if she likes that any better. I'll let ya know how that goes. 

Two days have passed and I still haven't managed to make gummies. I swear they are easy to make, I just found more important things to do, like finally unpack our bags from vacation (we've been home for 5 days now). And tonight after the kids went to bed, my hubby and I sat on the couch and watched Netflix...it was glorious!! 

I'm not working tomorrow, so I'm really hoping I can finally make those much anticipated gummies. 

I did take a few pics today if C's plates. Which makes her feel so special, as she is used to seeing me take pictures of my own plate :) it's obvious by the order of the two pictures below I don't fully know how to do this blog thing yet, but I'll figure it out eventually. 

Day 2

We've completed another day.  Today was not so smooth....for dinner I got a request for a quesadilla, which breaks the rules in more than one way.  Trying to explain to a 3 year old that she can't eat dairy and grains is a bit of a struggle, but we made it without another request for that quesadilla. 

Here's what C ate today:
Breakfast was the same as yesterday: banana, paleo granola and almond milk.
Lunch was uncured ham, organic pickles, tomatoes, and I think some sort of fruit--I just can't remember right now ;-)
For snacks (morning and afternoon because she was at daycare today) she had a Cliff kids organic fruit rope, applesauce, more paleo granola, and a hard boiled egg.  This was a little heavy on the carbs, but in my defense, I hadn't been to the grocery store since we got home from vacation, so it was slim pickin' today. 
Supper was Asian lettuce wraps, roasted broccoli, coconut yogurt, clementine, and an apple. 

I totally didn't get around to making the gummies today and I didn't take pictures of C's food either.  I was running all over town trying to get everything I need to enroll the kids in school and check things off our checklist as we are in the middle of an adoption homestudy update.  Plus I went to crossfit and work.  I guess all that really matters is we stuck with the plan.  Tomorrow is a new day, and I'll do better!  That's our motto around here. 

Please don't hesitate to ask questions....I'd love to answer them.