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!!