mom-b

Home Free Treats

2011-12-27T11:46:00.000-05:00

Last week we were lucky enough to receive yet another package in the mail!

I was contacted by Home Free a company who specializes in wholesome treats that are also allergy friendly. They asked if we would mind trying out a few of their treats and giving a review about what we thought.

YES!!!

A few days later THIS came in the mail.

The first box we opened were the big Oatmeal cookies. They were super soft, good and had a nice somewhat spicy flavor.

They came in smaller packages of two cookies each which was so nice and convenient to put in my purse or just to be able to go give the boys each one without opening a huge bag.

Next we dug-into the smaller snack sized packaging.

I loved having all these small snack sized cookies for taking to all the holiday parties the family attended.

The last box we opened were the Mini Crunchy Chocolate Chocolate Chip.

Oh my!

yum

Honestly I have to say these cookies are delicious, every single flavor!

They boys loved the Mini Crunchy Vanilla and Mini Crunchy Chocolate Chocolate Chip the most i think.

Santa liked his treat of Chocolate Chocolate Chip cookies, Marshmallows, and some homegrown mini carrots from our garden.

I had never heard of Home Free cookies and products until they contacted me, I will be talking to the manager at my favorite natural food store about picking up this brand.... and will be on the lookout for more.

So, good!

Qunioa Taboulli

2011-12-20T11:53:00.000-05:00

I wanted to start by letting you know that Last week was a wonderful one.

And add to that, this week we are out of school which I have to say is just glorious!

What screams Christmas more that a delicious red and green treat.

Oh yeah.... i am talking about this Quinoa Taboulli I made last week

5 bunches parsley

4 green onions

Juice of 2 lemons

2 tomatoes minced

1/2 cup olive oil

3/4 cup quinoa

salt

pepper

1. Wash and remove stems from parsley. Dry thoroughly and pulse in Cuisinart until desired texture.

2. Rinse and prepare quinoia according to directions.

3. Pulse green onion in Cuisinart.

5. Mix all ingredients in large bowl and refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving.

Sometimes in taboulli you may find added chopped cucumber or chickpeas.

But the above recipe is a tried and true family recipe that comes from my best friend. It is always perfect and a real crowd pleaser.... also a labor of love.

Give yourself 2 hours just for the parsley

In other news i couldnt resist seeing what is going on under the ground in me little garden patch.

BABY CARROTS!

As far as this little guys goes.

The Dr. dosnt think it is broken, so the splint was removed, but nothing has changed. As a matter of fact his limp has become significantly worse over the last week. We have a follow up on Jan 16th (I think) MLK day.

Last night TA said he may not wait that long to have someone else take a look at our little patient.

What a week

2011-12-11T13:51:00.000-05:00

After 3 trips to the pediatrician and half of a day at Wolfsons Children's Hospital we still are a bit in the dark about Roe and his left leg/ foot.

It took all day Wednesday for me to get any answers as to what may possibly be our problem.

They think it may be broken.

We were called in late Wednesday afternoon to get a splint and told that he has a fracture in a very small bone on the top of his foot.

When we got there the Dr. who did the splint told me that he did not think it was broken?

hmmmm

So what next? If it is not broken he still had a pretty noticeable limp.

As strange as it sounds, around here a broken bone sounds pretty great.

The alternative scares me

One huge praise going in,

is that all the lab work came back normal so I think we can rule out a lot with that.

Now we have another (possible full day) of appts.

Tomorrow at 8:45 we are expected at orthopedics for what i am assuming will be another round of X-rays and then who knows what.

I remembered a song that we used to sing that reminds me that i am not alone in this:

He didn't bring us this far to leave us,

he didn't teach us to swim to let us drown,

he didn't build his home in us just to move away,

he didn't lift us up to let us down.

So this week instead of feeling defeated and exhausted,

we will be lifted up and exalted.

I am determined to have a better week this week.

Thank you for lifting us up

xoxox

Leg Pain?

2011-12-07T09:08:00.000-05:00

So, I know that the two probably have nothing to do with each other but ever since Roe's scope a couple of weeks ago he has had a slight limp.

It started very subtle, I thought he may just have a wrinkle in his sock, maybe I needed to trim up his toenails.... but I tried everything (including time) and the limp just seemed to get worse.

Sunday TA and I felt like it needed to be addressed.

The strange thing, he said nothing hurts. I have squeezed it pulled it pushed it

nothing

So first thing Monday morning I had a call in to the pediatrician.

I was thinking we would get there and he would be miraculously fine

no such luck

we were sent immediately to the Children's hospital with orders for lab work and x-rays

as usual like all these amazing kiddos. Roe was a champ. I just can't imagine being 2 and being so accustomed to being poked and prodded

I have read that joint pain is common for EE kids, but he says that nothing hurts.

I also have heard that they usually develop an autoimmune disease

but the Dr. said that this would usually have redness and swelling.

As I write this I am waiting for a call back from the Dr. with our results.

I will keep you updated.

Enjoy Life Crunchy Cookies

2011-12-06T11:51:00.001-05:00

Check out what I got in the mail the other day!

Free samples

YES PLEASE!

I've never been the type to pass up on a free sample so when the very kind people over at Enjoy Life asked if i was interested in sampling their newest line of allergy friendly crunchy cookies I jumped at the chance.

Literally- I was jumping up and down screaming yes, yes, yes!

My family has loved enjoy life cookies for a while now, in fact Enjoy Life was one of the first allergy friendly brands that I came to trust and love.

It started with a love affair with those darn Lively Lemon cookies

cant.eat.just.one

then i tried their chocolate chips

heaven

Chunks

yum

and now drum-roll please

I present you with the crunchy cookie

Enjoy Life Crunchy Cookies come in 4 delicious flavors.

Double Chocolate, Vanilla Honey Graham, Chocolate Chip, and Sugar Crisp

The first one we opened was the Double Chocolate, this was a favorite all around. Both the kids as well as TA and I enjoyed this flavor. Next we tried the Vanilla Honey Graham. I was super excited to try this kind because I have read about it on a few other allergy blogs and have not been able to find it here in Jacksonville. Roe LOVED them, this may be his favorite kind. I felt like it was a little sweet (in a honey sort of way) for me. Next was the Chocolate Chip, if you were to do a side by side comparison of these and a non-allergy friendly store bought cc-cookie it would be hard to tell which was which. These are delicious.... not quite like grandma used to make but for a packaged cookie, these are wonderful. Finally the Sugar Crisps, ahhhh the sugar crisps. These are perfect, just the right sweetness, no strange after-taste and quite possibly might be taking the place of my dear Lively Lemon.

Thank you so much Enjoy Life for letting me and my family be your taste testers once again.

Making Progress

2011-12-01T12:59:00.000-05:00

Lots going on in the next few weeks,

Plenty of things to share with you

I have two, allergy friendly, dinner recipes that work for our family and are super good and easy.

Turkey Chilli

and

Chicken and Lentils

We have some MAJOR progress in the garden!

and also

I have been blessed with more free goodies to sample and review,

be on the lookout in the next week or so for my thoughts on

the new Enjoy Life Crunchy Cookies

and

Pamela's Whenever Bars.

I also received a bag of their Gluten Free baking and pancake mix.

It contains buttermilk, which doesn't work for us... so be expecting a guest post in the near future as well!

But before you get all that,

I need to update you guys on what is happening.

Tuesday we went and saw the allergist.

As we were hoping they agreed to take him of his Flovent.

She wants him to discontinue the steroid and see if we observe any noticeable changes in his appetite or symptoms. If we are doing well in 4 months we will begin re-introducing food,

beginning with gluten.

This will be a long process.

She mentioned doing another gluten sensitivity test on him which can be done by either biopsy or blood work.

He had one done probably a year and a half ago when we were just noticing there was something wrong. His results to the gluten sensitivity test came back negative as did his gluten allergy test (twice).

So she was curious why he was off gluten.

Can anyone out there please come explain this disease to me?

so now

I begin to second guess myself but remember

this and this and this

all leading up to my decision to take him off gluten.

which resulted in Roe finally wanting to actually eat again.

Wish things were a little more black and white, it seems like we are swimming in a sea of gray.

Every day things change just a little

like Roe has REALLY been wanting his neocate lateley.

He beggs for it and would rather have it than any other juice, water, or food.

A little discouraging, but he is healthy and gaining so what can i say... we are in a good place.

The results are in......

2011-11-22T16:12:00.000-05:00

and, it's really a best case scenario.

All of the biopsies that we had done last week during Roe's endoscopy came back showing no abnormalities, meaning 0 eosinophils!

In case you are just tuning in........... this is huge.

Beyond huge, this is an answer to our prayers.

We were originally thinking about taking him off the medical food if the results came back with zero eosinophils, but now we are thinking it may be best to try taking him off the steroid and check again in a few months and see if it may be an option to get him off some of this medicine.

Dr. George wanted us to wait and not do anything until we see the allergist next week.

I think he (Dr. George= GI), the allergist, and our nutritionist

will be trying to speak sometime before then and come up with a plan.

I don't think at this point we care what the plan is,

we are just thrilled to know that he is doing better.

<3 this picture of my guys- Nov 2010

We certainly have come a long way since this time last year.

This Thanksgiving I am thankful for good health

and the love and support I feel from all of you,

all over the place,

friends, family, and kindred spirits.

As usual I am beyond blessed.

xoxo

Oatmeal nests with Enjoy Life Chunks

2011-11-19T14:02:00.001-05:00

As I have told you, I was fortunate enough to receive a goody box from Enjoy Life a few weeks ago.

Like everyone else things are getting hectic, The holidays are here!

I didn't want to post about my new goodies until I had made the perfect treat.

Enter: The Perfect Treat!

Oh yeah

I have been making and remaking this recipe that I found on Chocolate Covered Katie's page.

I am obsessed.

I have made a few changes to the recipe, the first being that I doubled it.

I'm not making dessert for one! That would be trouble ;)

I omitted the white sugar and use only the organic brown Florida cane sugar.

Katie's Recipe (with a mom-b twist)

Oatmeal Nests with Enjoy Life Mega Chunks

dairy free, egg free, soy free, gluten free, vegan

Nests

1.5 cups Bobs Red Mill Certified Gluten Free Oats

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

5 Tbs. Brown sugar

2 Tbs. coconut oil

3 Tbs. coconut milk (I like So Delicious)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375

2. Place dry ingredients in Magic Bullet or food processor and mix until you see a flour like consistency throughout.

3. Pour dry mix into bowl and add oil and coconut milk and mix until it is a doughy like consistency

4. Spray mini muffin tins with vegetable oil, and roll dough into small 1 inch balls.

Press dough into muffin tin to make small cookie "nests"

Bake in pre-heated oven for 12-15 minutes

5. Remove from oven and allow to cool a bit.

Fill with your favorite allergy friendly filling

Fillings

Enjoy Life Mega Chunks

Marshmallows

Organic crunchy Peanut butter

raisins

Ok, I know that Peanut butter isn't allergy friendly but it is here in our house (at least for today)

I made Peanut butter nests for TA

Peanut Butter and Enjoy Life Chocolate Chunks

S'mores for CKA

Marshmallow and Chocolate chunks

(these are the only ones that would not be considered Vegan)

Raisin for Roe-Roe

Plain Chocolate for me

and a couple of just plain oatmeal for whoever.

I was sent the Chocolate Chunks from Enjoy Life to do a product review.

To be honest, if for some reason tomorrow we woke up and were allergy free I would still purchase Enjoy Life brand chocolate chips and Chocolate chunks.

This is what chocolate should taste like!

It's funny, after being introduced to the complicated world of allergy eating i have found that i have become much more discriminating with my tastes.

When it comes to chocolate, a Hershey bar might as well be a skittle in my book. I want the real rich dark flavor, and Enjoy Life has nailed it.

Thank you Enjoy Life for my free goodies..... if you want me to sample those new crispy cookies I will!

Shepherds Pie (Allergy friendly)

2011-11-18T22:28:00.001-05:00

Look at this face,

A-dor-a-ble

I love this face.

Tonight I made a recipe that I thought was share worthy

I saw that we had an extra lb. of ground turkey when i went out to the deep-freeze yesterday

and i think i have been dreaming ever since what i could make that was:

1. different than the reg. tacos, spaghetti, chili

2. something that I thought Roe would eat.

I don't know what made me think of Shepherds Pie but here we are

Allergy Friendly Shepherds Pie

(Dairy free, Egg free, Gluten free, etc. etc.)

Ingredients:

1 lb ground turkey (or beef.... we also have a beef allergy so turkey is our food of choice)

1 can tomato sauce

3 cloves garlic minced

1 tbs sugar

salt

pepper

1/2 onion

1 red pepper

1 green pepper

2 tbs evoo

1/2 cup red wine

4-5 medium sized potatoes

1/2 -3/4 box vegetable broth

garlic salt

1. Heat oven to 350. In a large pan brown meat, drain if needed. Add tomato sauce, red wine, salt, pepper, sugar, and 1/2 minced garlic. Allow to simmer on stove for 25- 30 minutes, stirring occasionally

2. Clean and puncture potatoes, cook in microwave ( or whatever is your preferred method for cooking potatoes) until done. Allow potatoes to cool, then peel.

Mash potatoes, with remaining garlic, adding broth slowly until desired consistency.

I added prob 3/4 of box... very slowly mixing as I went.

3. Transfer meat mixture to Pyrex dish and clean pan. I used the same pan to cook mixture of diced red and green peppers and onion minced. Cook in evoo for 5-10 minutes until cooked well.

4. Layer (1) beef, (2)peppers and onions then (3)potatoes

Bake in pre-heated oven for 35 minutes until bubbly along the edges.

Ok, so i am not such a great food photographer but here's the family consensus on the meal.

I liked it, but I may not be the best judge..... I like almost everything.

TA............ HAD SECONDS (nuff said) haha

CKA..... seconds (yay mom)

and

Drum roll Please

Roe, Liked it!

We even caught him sneaking back to the table to get another bite from his plate after we had gotten up.

I had originally thought that TA and I may want to put a little shred cheese on top but really it was un-necessary. The allergy friendly version was delish!

Haze

2011-11-17T11:00:00.000-05:00

Yesterday Roe got his second scope.

We are lucky in the since that we have only had to do this twice, i don't know if it will ever be easier.

He was a real trooper

He did great, it got a little rocky when he was coming out of the haze, he completely freaked out and was trying to pull the IV out of his hand.

Sometimes more than a mom can handle, Thank God for the amazing nurses that deal with this daily.

We will get the results from the biopsies on Tuesday.

0 eosinophils means we can try and take away the medical food and feed him just his "safe foods"

finding any eosinophils means we need to try and do an elimination diet and will continue to rely on the Splash to keep him healthy.

Roe is doing great, made it out of the anesthesia haze but i feel like i am still trapped inside

I have to admit that i think i would be happy if i could just climb into bed and not come out for a week

maybe it's that i am fighting off a cold

maybe it's seasonal depression,

maybe its just part of being a mama who is not in control of things.

Whatever it is...... i am feeling down

I just love street art.....

TA hates this type of thing. He would say why would you do this, why wouldn't you want the credit for your work. I took him to an Urban art exhibit a few months ago.... he wasn't really feeling it.

Anyways, I am ready for this week to be over.

I am ready to have some energy to run around and play with these kiddos

Thank You

2011-11-13T09:33:00.000-05:00

We have had a whirlwind of a year.

Can you even believe that it was exactly this week last year that I started blogging about food allergies and intolerance's.

Shortly there after I was thrown into this very confusing world of eosinophilic disease.

Nothing has been easy, but also, I have to tell you guys, it hasn't been horrible.

We have been quite fortunate when it comes to how Roe has responded to his meds, and accepted the medical food.

Well..... i guess this week will be the real indicator.

Roe's second scope is planned and we will have a clearer picture of where we are.

I am so thankful for all the friends I have made in this journey.

I have had the opportunity to connect with families all over the globe. Not to mention the friends and family right here in Jacksonville who have been supportive.

In my head I can hear the words:

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Jeremiah 29:11

I have to continuously give it away, the worry, the fear, the anger.

I have to look at this in perspective, true Roe will be on an extremely limited diet for the rest of his life, he may be on the medical food his entire childhood, he will probably be on all of these medicines forever.

But he is FINE.

He is silly, and happy, and so smart, he is kind and well adjusted and brave and I am so blessed to have him.

On my one year blogging anniversary I want to thank you guys for your encouragement,

thank you for the comments and thank you for your fellowship.

I am so blessed to have found this outlet and you my friends my community.

Please leave more comments. I want to know you all, I think we need each other.

On another note: I was blessed this week with a package of freebies!

Ohhhhhhhhhhhh Yeah!

Enjoy Life Chocolate chunks

Now this is what chocolate is supposed to taste like.

I am perfecting a breakfast bar recipe that i will be posting this week, I promise.

Stick around, you are not going to want to miss this one!

What I Love Wednesday

2011-11-09T14:54:00.001-05:00

Today is my mom's birthday and she is as far away as she can be.............China.

So today I am loving my mommy. Happy Birthday.

Come Home!

Also loving this awesome surprise that arrived at my door yesterday!

YES!

Samples............Yes Please! Review to come shortly.

and of course my garden.

Friends

2011-11-07T10:55:00.001-05:00

Yesterday afternoon I was bored and started messing around on facebook. I don't know why it is so interesting to me what all my "friends" are doing at every second of every day. I guess I have such a dull life it's interesting for me to get to ~~spy~~ see what exciting things other people may be doing.

I saw a post on the Allergy Mom's page titled Love for the Non-allergy Mom's.

Generally I am not that much of an emotional person,

but something about this sweet story struck a chord with me.

I feel like I have a few categories of girlfriends.

My neighborhood girls- a group of mama's whose kids are pretty much the same age. We have done play groups, bible studies, birthday parties and our children know each other and will grow up together in that very special way that only neighborhood kids do.

My college girls- These girls didn't necessarily all go to college with me but they have been around since college (a few of them before that). This is the group that my husband and I love as couples. Our kids are all different ages and know each other from assorted get-together's over the course of the year and we travel together as families. These girls, like it or not, are stuck with me.

Forever girlfriends- These girls are the ones, no matter where they are in the world they will always be the first ones I call if I need a friend. They really know me. We have dyed each others hair, had dance parties, gotten in trouble together and suffered loss together. They don't fit into either of the above categories these are the girls I grew up with and the kind of friends that you can go without talking for 6 months and there is no drama... it's just how life goes sometimes. You know who you are.

I read this story on facebook and I just started weeping.

Over the past year and a half, as you can imagine, we have been to many many birthday parties, holiday parties. I have never expected anyone to accommodate Roe and his food allergies.

I usually hope that they will have something he can eat and come over prepared.

Recently we were invited to a friend's birthday party and as usual I had my huge bag complete with separate meal, fun snacks, and birthday surprise for my little guy.

I was the one who got a surprise.

My friend,

a girl who I am lucky if I get to speak with once a week

who works full time

has two small children

whose husband is rarely around to help her because he works as late as 9 or 10 some nights.

This sweet friend had thought about Roe in everything she served at this birthday.

I am crying again as I write this.

I would never expect this, even from family,

and last night when i called her crying to thank her... again.

It was if she would never have imagined having Roe feel left out.

This is an isolated incident, I know.

I love all my girls, but I cannot expect that they will accommodate Roe and his long list of food issues.

Not because they don't want to, because they do.

But because life gets hectic and even though it is ALL i think about i can't expect it to even cross the minds of friends who don't deal with it daily.

But it sure feel good when it does.

Thank you Mini.

xoxox

And Thank You Jesus for putting all these special girlies in my life.

I am truly blessed.

What I love Wednesday

2011-11-02T13:31:00.000-04:00

I have loved to cook for as long as I can remember.

Before food allergies took over our household I had accumulated a lot of favorite recipes that we loved and cooked often.

One of my very favorite non-allergy food blogs is

Annie's Eats

I actually just made an adaptation of the

Black Beans with Roasted Tomatoes and Feta

that she posted today.

So many of her recipes are either allergy friendly or very easily adaptable for your food allergies.

like applesauce (without butter!!!)

pumpkin oatmeal

and my fave

Black bean and salsa soup

yum.

My kids have been going crazy over these Popsicles

I just put fruit in the magic bullet add a little lime juice and a touch of simple syrup

"I LOVE POPSICLES!!!!"

also still loving my garden, the weeds not so much

I don't really know what comes next with the garden.

The plants look like they are really growing,

now what?

my avocado tree

Out to lunch

2011-11-01T23:01:00.001-04:00

The kids had off school today for a teacher planning day so we decided to embark on a little adventure.

One of the exciting announcements that I mentioned last wednesday is that TA is getting me a new Kiln!

I have taught art, in some capacity for the past 11 years.

I am not teaching in the classroom these days, but I do teach home school art classes and have taught ceramics classes at my house.

Well..... that is until my kiln broke last summer. :(

What a bummer.

Beside the point, a ceramics connection i have told me about a great deal on a kiln only about 45 minutes from our house.

Adventure Time!

We wanted to make our day a real family fun day so I packed a couple of things that Roe could eat and we were off.

Around 12:30 everybody was feeling a little hungry, we went to a restaurant that TA and I have gone to quite a few times, right on the intercoastal, beautiful setting.

Thought I would get R a fruit cup to complete his allergy friendly meal.

no fruit

I did see applesauce on the menu,

You won't believe this..... they put BUTTER in the applesauce.

(source)

ewwwwwwwwww, is that normal? butter in applesauce?

We scrapped that idea, and headed down the road, huge bummer.

We figured in we couldn't find anything else we could always do chik-fil-a.

And there ahead we saw it....

(source)

Now, you know i was just researching the menu here and we were ecstatic to find one right on our way home.

The menu was pretty much bar food.

The atmosphere was nice, seating inside and out, and lots of TVs, I can imagine it gets pretty full when there is some sort of sporting event on.

I have to admit there wasn't anything to healthy on the menu.

But this was about a fun family lunch.

I got the fish tacos, which were good, but also fried. TA got the wings and loved them.

Roe got his first ever kids meal and loved every second of eating his real restaurant meal along with his brother.

The server was able to bring me a food allergy menu that was so comprehensive and even mentioned when MSG was used.

Now, I did happen to mention that we have food allergies possibly 10 times

but 9 hours later i have a happily sleeping boy.

Without any sort of allergy or EOE symptoms!

Halloween

2011-10-30T10:34:00.000-04:00

Here we are.

Halloween........ one of those dreaded holidays for food allergy parents.

What to do?

Last year we didn't have to much of an issue with Halloween, but I have a hunch that this year will be a different story.

Roe is TWO now, any you know what that means.

Opinionated and strong tempered.

He's still my little sweet, but he def. knows what he wants these days and he likes him some CANDY.

The only candy I have felt safe giving him up until now are smarties.

(source)

But I am feeling pretty comfortable about giving him some more treats off this candy list that I found on PETAKiDS.

As many other allergy moms will agree it's a little tricky when eliminating both dairy and gluten, to find main stream foods/candy that work.

I feel like when you add beef and pork into the mix it becomes a bit more intimidating.

Until now I have been worried about food dyes like yellow #5 and red #40, because many times they are derived from animal sources.

Of course I am also on the lookout for gelatin which is common in many hard candies, gummies, and marshmallow.

I know that I am not the only one dealing with these kind of weird-o allergies/ or sensitivities, and I find comfort that this is completely normal diet/ way of life for a growing number of people in our society.

With well known public figures like Bill Clinton, Ellen DeGeneres, and Brad Pitt embracing a plant based diet I am confident that more mainstream treats will become easier and easier to find.

Did you know that Coretta Scott King was a vegan in her later life?

Once again Allison St. Sure has compiled an excellent list of allergy safe candies and treats.

What an amazing resource.

(Had to throw in this pic of CKA as a LEGO firefighter last year.)

I have a hard time when thinking about Halloween without remembering this time last year when I took Roe to our neighborhood fire station with labored breathing.

It was before we had the first scope which gave us the diagnosis of Eosinophilic Esophagitis, and looking back I wonder how many of the symptoms we were seeing were EE related.

I was so scared, TA was at a football game and Roe was struggling with every breath he took.

Fortunately he was fine and after a dose of benadryl he had a good night sleep and we only had it happen one more time.

Unfortunately for the fire fighters we arrived during overtime of the FL/GA game..... sorry fellas.

they missed the winning touchdown of the big game dealing with us.

I found this short video again while checking out all the other mom's sites on the Top allergy Mom Bloggers website.

I stumbled upon it a year or two ago when Roe was first diagnosed with food allergies, and parts of it really stuck with me.

Ten things children with food allergies want you to know.

So worth watching.

Also so worth checking out all the amazing mom bloggers that have been nominated.

I am so flattered that you guys are voting for me.

Thank you.

What I love Wednesday

2011-10-27T11:17:00.000-04:00

Did you guys see that you can vote me as a top allergy mom blogger? Feel free to vote once a day if you want. The nominations are a great group of mom's many of which I have been following for a year or two now and all of which I truly admire a ton. I don't actually think I could make it into the top 25, just a fun idea to get my name out there.

On that note, I have a very non-allergy post will prob not win me any allergy votes, but it's nice to get a little variety.

Where did we leave off???? oh yeah, my obsession with books (in particular artists books/ sketchbooks)

Love this post on book-by-its-cover

Full of different pages of sketchbooks

here are a couple..............so beautiful

Book by it's cover: Sketchbook series

Has any one ever heard about the Sketchbook project?

Check it out here...

The sketchbook project

Coming soon to Jacksonville

Natural Life Music Festival

What could be better than an afternoon of live music, Crafters, natural food and diy hula hoop making tutorial! Um, nothing

You know i am REALLY into hula hooping. Wish i could do more hula-tricks
Check this girl out...

http://youtu.be/JMjTmTJsWsA
bet if i could hula hoop like this my belly would be totally flat too :)

Also two super cool art related surprises coming up soon.
Can't wait to share

Another Scope

2011-10-26T08:49:00.000-04:00

The time has come. We have held the doctors at bay long enough and they have decided that its time for another scope.

(source)

The good news is that if he has 0 eosinophils we can try taking him off the splash and feeding him only the foods we have been feeding him.

This will be risky because:

1. He may not be able to continue to gain weight on only the foods that he is able to eat. There is a pretty big chance that this will be the case. I had kinda prepared myself that these juices would be a way of life for us. TA is ready to try and get Roe off of them. So away we go.

2. If we take him off the juice we will have to scope again in probably 3-4 months and see if any damage has happened since we have stopped giving him the juices..... It is a cycle. Trial and check.

If he still has eosinophils in his esophagus we will of course continue with the juice and try and figure out what we may need to eliminate further from his diet. Again.... Trial and check.

The good news is that he is on the chart, we are starting from a great place. It just scares me to think about what's ahead.

I hate this. I feel like some of these moms are so accustomed to this. I have begged and pleaded to keep this next scope away, and here it is. It's inevitable. I hate it.

Our appointment will be either next Wednesday the 2nd or Wednesday the 16th, i will know later today the date. Thank you for your continued prayers for this.

Practical tips for eating out with your food allergic child

2011-10-24T12:11:00.004-04:00

I may be fairly new at the food allergy thing, but there is one thing I do know about, and that would be the food service industry.

As a matter of fact, I have more experience in food service than I have in parenting.

Yikes!

(source)

Many of my friends who have children with food allergies avoid eating out at all costs. This is definitely the safest thing to do when your child could have an allergic reaction just from touching a chair or table that was not properly wiped down.
Lets start with a confession:

I was that server.
No finger pointing please, YES I wiped down my tables (and chairs) between seating's. I actually followed every rule, knew all my "steps of service" perfectly, and always got excellent when a secret shopper would sit in my section.

What do i mean by this? That server?????
I did not understand food allergies, and through all the extensive training that I received in many different food service jobs, I was NEVER told about food allergies. I had no life experience with food allergies.
So, I was pretty much any food allergy mom's worst nightmare.

(I was also that teacher, but that's another post.)

God has a funny way of opening our eyes doesn't he?

With my combined experience as an x-food service employee, an allergy mom, and being your worst nightmare ;-}
I feel I may be qualified to offer a few practical tips for eating out.

There will always be a time when you have to eat out, whether it is while traveling, Celebrating with family and friends, or you just have an empty refrigerator.

While the fear of going out may be overwhelming, here are a few tricks that i believe may help your dining experience.

(source)

1. Select a Chain

Although neighborhood restaurants usually offer better quality, better tasting food, there is something to be said about having to answer to corporate. In a chain type restaurant your satisfaction as a diner is not just the responsibility of the server, the host(ess)/greeter, and the manager but the restaurant chain as a whole. They know that if you have a bad experience at one of their restaurants, chances are, you won't go back to any of the locations. And a bad review and word of mouth can wreck a restaurant.

2.Go Online

Another perk to larger restaurant chains like Applebee's, Chili's, Longhorn, etc, is that many times you are able to go online and read the allergy information for their menu selections. One great resource I have found is the iCanEat app on our Ipad. This is a wonderful resource, although i feel it is still very important to follow the steps below when visiting any restaurant.
I recently was looking online at the menu of a smaller chain here in the south called The Loop. I was so happy to see that they are now giving allergen information online.

So don't be afraid to research smaller, local favorites.

(source)

3.Call ahead

Ask to speak to a manager, try and call during off-hours so they will have the time to really give you their honest opinions about you dining at their establishment.
This is their job..... you don't make it to restaurant management without knowing how to handle these type of situations. Mention that you have been looking at the menu online. Have a few options that you think may work from the menu. If you don't have a copy of the menu, ask that they fax you one or stop by and grab one to look at before you go.

4.Make your presence known

When you arrive and are seated ask your server if the manager can come by the table (call the manager by name). Knowing the manager's name will keep your server on his/her toes. If they think you know their boss, they are going to do their best to accommodate you. Reintroduce yourself to the manager and be very specific again about your particular allergies.

Use the words "life threatening" if your child is anaphalactic. Nobody wants to do anything careless when someones life may be in danger.

Repeat yourself even if you feel like everyone knows that you are the crazy allergy lady, tell them again. Not in an annoying way but say.

"When i was looking online saw that the children's chicken entree is free of dairy, soy and wheat. When you put our order in would you mind reminding the guys back in the kitchen that this meal is for a severely allergic child"

5. Always have a back-up plan

I always have crackers in my purse, but if we are going to a restaurant I may throw in a applesauce cup, and a few cookies. At most restaurants you should be able to get a plain baked potato, sweet potato, or a cup of fruit. If you feel at all uneasy, you will need backup!

(source)

6. Call the next day

In food service a compliment goes a long way and it also motivates corporate to get on the bandwagon when it comes to food allergies. Calling, emailing or dropping by a little note to say you were pleased with your service is huge. *** remember your server's name*** It may get them a little something, which they deserve after going out of their way to make your experience safe and enjoyable.

If you did not have a great experience, CALL THE NEXT DAY. Let them know how special a night out for your family is and that you chose their establishment. Chances are they will try in some way to redeem themselves. It may be to late for you but a couple of gift cards can always make a good teacher gift, or a little something for the babysitter.

7. Don't get discouraged

Food allergies are terrible. :( grrrrr. I hate them, but I feel hope in the fact that there are new restaurants everyday changing their menu's to accommodate food allergies. I don't think that the food allergy community will be the minority for long. The more people finding that they have sensitivities to foods, the more that is going to have to be done!

Good luck guys & Happy dining.

what I love wednesday

2011-10-19T09:16:00.001-04:00

I'm a dork, I know.

I have become such a blog follower, I love to keep up with my "friends".

So, all the trend in food blogging is

WIAW

What I Ate Wednesday

I think I ate pretty good today.... ~~except i forgot to eat breakfast and then ate a HUGE salad for lunch~~

(that was yesterday, but beside the point)

nothing worthy of reporting, except these

(source)

These are addictive............really addictive.

which takes me to

WILoveW

Instead of documenting what i am eating, why not give you an update of what I'm lovin' these days???

here goes

are you on Pinterest? If Yes, follow me!

If no, join...It's fun.

Before being a mom, before food allergies, and before this life that i had no idea that I would be living.

I had different passions.

Now my days are filled with cooking (which i love), cleaning (not so much), reading, researching,

drop-off's, pick-up's, remembering vitamins, prescriptions, my garden (love), being room mom, etc. etc.

It's all normal mom stuff.

But before I loved all these boys so much.

There were things like these

and books

(source)

lots, and lots of books

I could whip up a hand bound journal, or in this case telephone book in a few hours.

Printmaking, bookmaking, fibers, Oh My!

I discovered this amazing girl this week.

That was her old blog her newer one is here

send more mail

There is something so beautiful about the simplicity of her pages, but also i am able to appreciate the time she spends on each one. Def. worth browsing.

That's all for today. You guys kow me a little better now.

Do you have passions that you feel have been neglected?

RANTS FROM MOMMYLAND: Domestic Enemies of the Allergy Mom

2011-10-15T22:02:00.001-04:00

This is a great post on being a mom of a food allergy kid.

Are you a helicopter mom? Do your friends and family accuse you of hovering to much? Is your life filled with doubting Thomas'?

Very funny, and very easy to relate. Thank you for this post!

RANTS FROM MOMMYLAND: Domestic Enemies of the Allergy Mom

Doesn't it look delicious?

Well, you can't have any because it's poison.

(source)

Garden update

2011-10-12T17:21:00.000-04:00

My little garden patch is going even better than expected.

Round 1

I successfully planted:

Squash, cucumbers, carrots and broccoli

The spinach did not really take off like the others, so I pitched that.

Today i added to my little patch what you see here

These big guys are peas, to the right tomatoes

and what you can't see

watermelon?!?!

Doesn't seem to me like watermelon is much of a fall crop but it sure went crazy in my little starter inside, anyways CKA has his heart set on growing watermelon, so I thought we would give it a go.

This is what has been in the ground for a few weeks now

look at these babies

squash

cucumbers

carrots

and broccoli.

We have had a lot of rain over the past 2 weeks and these little fellas have been pelted non stop. They seem to be doing well though. especially the squash.

I will keep you updated.

Apple Rejection?

2011-10-06T09:34:00.003-04:00

Could it be true?

Over the past week, ever since Roe got sick last weekend, he has not wanted apple juice.

Ever since reading all the hype form Dr. Oz a while back, I have to admit I have been horrified that this is all I can get my little guy to drink.

We have tried all natural fruit punch, white grape, even Roe approved juice boxes. He usually will act interested enough for me to not worry, and then an hour or so later I will find his full juicy cup, barley touched.

I know that good old H20 is the best thing that I can give him, but with the shift to two Splash drinks a day instead of three, I figure we need all the calories we can get.

When I went to the allergy food store probably a year ago I remember the woman telling me about apples being in a family of foods that these kiddos can develop allergies to.

Now I can find nothing on this subject.

She called it something like "saccharides" But I looked that up and this is not it.

Does anyone out there know what i am talking about?

Roe was such a huge fan of apples and apple juice up until now.

I had thought about writing this today, I made Roe his breakfast and sat down begining to write my letter to you.

I fixed him a typical Roe breakfast. Van's GF waffle with Earth Balance soy free butter, maple syrup and a few apple slices.

Well Duh

I have been thinking about this all morning and guess what happens. He totally threw up everywhere.

Thanks God,

I guess sometimes you have to hit me over the head until i realize that this is actually happening

guess we will lay off the apple for a bit, see if that helps.

Gosh what a bummer

All he wants is "Roey juice" (splash)

One step forward- two steps back.

He managed to gain 9 ounces over the past month that he only drank 2 splashes a day..... but of course lost 5 during the week he was sick. Making our grand total weight gain 4 oz.

Looking for a list of allergy safe Halloween candies?

Allison St. Sure comes through once again with an amazing comprehensive list of safe foods for your own individual allergy.

Smarties are the only mainstream candy that we have found to be safe for our little guy. I am going to go on the Peta website and do some research to see if i can find any more GF Vegan candies.

Does anyone out there know about this apple allergy (food group)?
Any suggestions on a healthy juice that I could try?

What i'm loving wednesday

2011-10-01T09:20:00.002-04:00

It seems that fall has officially made it's way down to North Florida, It could be a trick but the weather today is feeling a bit crisp and just in time, if you ask me.

I can do without all these killer mosquito's and muggy afternoons.

I have made a few recent discoveries the past week or so which i believe are worthy of passing along to you guys.

Wondering aimlessly around Publix on Monday waiting for our prescription to be filled I found this Go Picnic. It is similar to a lunchable but completely vegan. They have a few different varieties (not all are vegan) but what they are is a healthier alternative to processed meat, cheese, crackers and candy. All products are natural and nutritionally balanced. They have ready made meals for many special diets including: vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free, and kosher. And there are some real great allergy friendly options (depending on your allergy) like:

Sunbutter + Crackers: All-Natural Meal

A balanced meal featuring Sunbutter Creamy Sunflowerseed Spread, Crunchmaster Multi-Grain Crackers, Enjoy Life Seed & Fruit Trail Mix, Niagara Naturals Tropical Fruit Bites and an Enjoy Life Double Chocolate Cookie. All-Natural, Gluten Free, Vegan & Free of 7 Common Allergens including wheat, dairy, fish, shellfish, peanuts, tree nuts and egg.

This was pasted from the gopicnic website.

I think I would be able to find something for everyone.

for TA

CKA

My next big discovery is this adorable blog.

This Lunch Rox

I have been interested in Bento lunches ever since CKA has been eating lunch at school this year and this site got me not only motivated but hooked!

No more plastic baggies for us (if i can help it).

Lastly I can not say how helpful the ICanEat app on out IPad has been.

Unfortunately that is not a link because i am on my PC and couldn't figure that out. Anyways If you have an IPad or IPhone and food sensitivities or allergies, i would highly suggest paying the .99 (i think) it costs to download this app.

When we first downloaded it I was not so impressed but they have updated multiple times since then and have proven to be extremely helpful when eating out with food allergies.

Last night I was looking at the Buffalo Wild Wings menu on the ICanEat app and discovered that Roe can actually order a Traditional Wings KIDS MEAL!!!!

Whoop Whoop! A Kids meal!

You've got to be kidding me!

Of course i will be giving the manager the 20 questions if we do go and try it but WOW!

Making Progress

2011-09-28T14:33:00.001-04:00

Ok, I will start with the progress of the garden.

Since, I have had a few people mention they want to know exactly how it is going, here we are.

I planted the seeds in this tray i got from Walmart it is made by a company called Jiffy.

There were 5 smaller trays inside the bigger box so i decided to start out with:

cucumbers, squash, broccoli, spinach, and carrots.

Within 24 hours we had some action!

And, within 48 hours my trays looked like this!

Cucumbers and squash are definitely taking off, the carrots and broccoli look like little "chia-grass" and don't look quite as impressive.

The spinach still hasn't done anything?!?!

I have successfully planted the 4 crops that actually worked in neat little rows in my little patch. They all looked so HUGE in the plastic box and out in the yard it is not quite as exciting to see. But they are growing!

And now on to our little friend.

Two weeks into the new modified diet. Roe has been drinking two Neocate Splash drinks daily for two weeks now. He was drinking three but we were so impressed with the weight gain over the past couple months the Dr. agreed that we could try it for one month.

He has been doing great, eating well, happy, healthy.... well until last Saturday.

He picked up a little funk.

Runny nose, fever, ear infection :(

Poor fella. We are on day 3 now of antibiotics and he is starting to feel a lot better, but as you may have guessed,

The Hunger Strike has begun :(

Grrrrrr I hate this.

As of 2:30 today he hasn't eaten a single blueberry.

For breakfast I gave him blueberries and banana.... nope

Lunch, GF bread with Earth Balance butter and honey cut into little triangles, banana, blueberries and R-chex mix.

Last night i made him fish sticks, grapes, chocolate chip cookie...nothing.

Please pray that this is not to big of a setback that we have to go back to 3 drinks a day.

How does your garden grow?

2011-09-19T18:14:00.002-04:00

Ok, so here she is!

Hours and hours of labor and it dosn't even look like much, but I am so excited!

here is another view.... a bit embarassed about the condition of our yard,

just focus on my little garden patch

Ted is starting to put a little gate around it with some scrap wood that has been laying around, thank goodness he found a place to use it. This will look much better than laying on the ground!

Also, inside the high gate on the right (where you see the ac unit) this is where we keep the garbage cans right now but it is where I plan to locate a composter.

I found this earlier.

The following was taken from www.sustainableenterprises.com (note highlighted bullets) What an excelent way to re-use the pound+ of coffee grounds i have every few weeks from my toddy pot.

Coffee and gardening

Every day across America, Asia and Europe, millions of pots of coffee and tea are brewed, and the millions of pounds of wet grounds, filters and bags thrown in the trash. This is both wasteful and foolish.

Coffee by-products can be used in the garden and farm as follows:

Sprinkle used grounds around plants before rain or watering, for a slow-release nitrogen.
Add to compost piles to increase nitrogen balance. Coffee filters and tea bags break down rapidly during composting.
Dilute with water for a gentle, fast-acting liquid fertilizer. Use about a half-pound can of wet grounds in a five-gallon bucket of water; let sit outdoors to achieve ambient temperature.
Mix into soil for houseplants or new vegetable beds.
Encircle the base of the plant with a coffee and eggshell barrier to repel pests.
If you are into vermi-posting, feed a little bit to your worms

Alexander family garden:

Day 1

Starting a garden

2011-09-18T18:44:00.000-04:00

For the past year or so i have been going down to the Riverside market on Saturday mornings to get fresh, local organic produce for CHEAP. You can get 5 baskets for $10.

For example:

This week for $10 I came home with;

2 summer squash

3 zucchini

a BIG bag of green beans

4 tomatoes

4 green tomatoes

and

2 of the biggest red peppers I have ever laid my eyes on!

I used to the peppers to make a Roasted Red pepper soup.

I changed the recipe by using a home-made vegetable broth instead of H2o, and I left the consistency a little chunky and it did the trick!

A few weeks ago I finally convinced TA to let us make a garden in the back yard.

He is laughing to himself because he is convinced that i will neglect my garden and it will become a weed patch. I have hopefully avoided this type of scenario by making him promise that this is our garden, meaning we will all work on it together.

So far..... I spent 3 days clearing the patch, which is a rectangle about 10x14 feet.

Um, I need to exercise more! It was like doing squats and i was tight in my hamstrings for a total of 2 weeks following this.

Next we went out and got some organic seeds for spinach, peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, broccoli and carrots.

I have talked to some people and i believe the next step is to cover the cleared patch with something like a tarp or newspaper which will kill the remaining weeds and their root systems. And to begin to start my seeds indoors until they begin to sprout.

Wish me luck.

School has been good for Roe. No episodes since the epi-pen incident ( meaning the teacher jabbing herself). I am afraid he may be rejecting corn now, he has slowly began leaving things like KIX cereal and Fritos on his plate.

I am going to continue to offer it to him.

We have added a couple fun things to our menu

turkey bacon

GF waffles

GF bread

Last weight check he was 27.15.5!

We decided to try one month with 2 splashes a day instead of the 3.

Prayers that we won't loose!

So Important! Food Allergy Emergency Action Plan

2011-08-30T11:56:00.001-04:00

In the past I have put posts up with links to other sites..... usually i am the only person who actually goes to the site to read the important information.

If you have or even know a child who has life threatening food allergies this may be one of the most inportant things you ever read. Please take the time to read this very short post by Alison St.Sure.

She is one of the first mom's that I found blogging about food allergies and i really admire her and her knowledge when it comes to food allergies, intolerence and nutrition.

LINK HERE

Avocado Plants and adventures with an Epi-Pen

2011-08-29T16:02:00.000-04:00

When I was little I always remember my mom doing this with avocado seeds. She would place them in the window sill in our kitchen and usually within a week or so we had roots and a stem.

I don't know if she ever successfully grew anything (like and actual avocado) but, as a kid it was fun to watch our avocado plants growing in the window.

Since a lot of avocados have been eaten around here over the past month or so I figured what is it going to hurt to give this a try.

More than anything, it has been so fun watching it grow with the boys. They run in and say "look at how big our avocado is getting!"

This weekend i am going to actually attempt to put the bigger of the two plants in the ground. I will keep you updated!

So............ Back to school!

We had a fun and uneventful first week of school, well uneventful until Friday when the teacher's aid in Roe's class jabbed herself in the thumb with the epi-pen and had to rush to the emergency room.

Yes, you read that right, she accidentally administered herself the epi pen.

so here's what happened

I gave the teachers in Roe's class two expired epi-pens a couple of weeks ago so they could practice on an orange. I heard that this was a good idea so that they would feel more confident if the moment arose.

I actually have never had to administer the epi-pen, and am embarrassed now to say I have not even practiced.

My thought was that I would do it if i had to.... no hesitation, and we only had 4 expired ones to use to practice. So, I gave them to the teachers.

Well, on Friday (during snack) she decided was a good quiet time to try it out.

She jabbed that baby into the orange................. nothing happened.

She decided to give it another try but did not realize that she had turned it around.

With her thumb on the other end she jabbed with all her strength, sending a needle with a dose of epinephrine right through her thumb and nail (and out the other side).

YIKES!!!

Could I get in trouble for this????

Luckily she has a good sense of humor about the whole thing, especially since she had to call poison control, and go to the emergency room.

I'm thinking I may need to practice too....

but now i am a little scared!

Emergency Action Plan and Book

2011-08-19T12:01:00.001-04:00

School starts Tuesday.

This week has been crazy getting everything in order. I met with Roe's teacher Wednesday morning to discuss his allergies and try and figure out exactly how this year is going to go. I have to admit that, as much as I love his teacher ( I have known her for 4 years, since CKA had her) I didn't leave our meeting feeling like we had really figured out much of anything.

Don't get me wrong, it was great catching up, but leaving with a plan......................not so confident that there was so much of a plan.

One hour and 45 minutes later I got home feeling a little discouraged about how this year was going go.

That's when I pulled out the reinforcements.

A while back i found (and printed) something about being an advocate for your child on the APFED site, I cannot find it now.

(This is not the exact same document, but helpful)

It included what i thought was a good idea for beginning a new school year.

"Put together a folder for the school and provide school personnel with as much information about your child's disease and special health care needs as possible"

It suggests including articles, online resources, letter from the physician, symptoms, medications, etc.

I think it's a good idea.

My book

Page 1

Roe's emergency action plan

Page 2

Important information

Page 3

medications

Page 4

Roe's specific sensitivities

Page 5

Anaphalactic/ Eosinophilic Triggers

Page 6-8

Information on Anaphalaxis and Eosinophilic Esophagitis

and online resources

I have to say i am pretty proud of myself, and especially knowing that everything is right there in print.

Last year i felt like the teachers got a little "lazy" when it came to the diet that we had requested for Roe.

ie: When he did not have any visible reaction the felt like they had cured-him or something........ like " we gave him a graham cracker and nothing happened, so it looks like he's getting better"

WHAT!!!!

I hope this will help.

We're home!

2011-08-14T15:23:00.001-04:00

We made it!

Survived over a week away from my own kitchen.

It got a little hairy at times, I have to admit, and when we got the official weight when we got home, we had lost two ounces. That was a disappointment but not a surprise.

Roe did not have that much of a appetite but he still drank his juices so I knew we weren't that far off.

And anyways, it's hard to concentrate on something like eating, when there is so much fun stuff going on.

We really did have a blast, the boys played hard, i read two wonderful books this one and this one , and went to bed (almost) every night at a decent hour.

Holla

We have one week until school starts, my list is growing and growing

order updated medic-alert bracelet

schedule conference with teacher about safety in classroom

come up with a list of roe approved snacks

health forms

epi-pens

re-work Roe's emergency action plan for teachers, office, etc.

One good thing is they asked me to be the "room mom" for Roe's classroom so at least I will be aware of when they will be having parties ahead of time.

I think the best plan for me this year is going to be to just send in his snack each day instead of trusting the teachers to stay aware of what we are currently eating or not.

What do you (other allergy mom's) do at the beginning of the year to be prepared to send your kids back to school?

Having faith

2011-07-28T12:16:00.002-04:00

So, we're off.

Our plans have changed a bit, we have decided to make the trip in one day instead of two. Which has turned out to be a relief and a bummer all in one, our plans just seemed to be getting way to complicated driving to Atlanta to visit both my best friend and my brother, neither of which get off work until kinda late. Sorry folks, maybe next time.

We are pretty much packed and are leaving before the sun wakes up tomorrow morning.

My anxiety has gone up and down over the course of the last week or so. But I did get a nice response

e-mail from "Chef Sean" assuring me that he would be happy to make anything according to whatever dietary restrictions we have.

Ha ha.... I don't know if he knows what he's in for with this one! Well, let the challenge begin :) don't worry I am coming prepared, God didn't put me in a house of boy scouts for nothing!

Aside from two cases of neocate "splash" drinks (which is enough for 18 days),

I have made a triple batch of granola which I shrank wrapped into individual portions so I can refill our mason jar as we go along. I also did a "chex mix" of sorts... Ok really it's just rice chex that i baked with some evoo and garlic salt. It's delicious!

Must remember... Chex mix for Roe, very fattening!

Then i did shrink wrap a few individual portions of quinoa pasta with veggies and prepared turkey taco meat.

Cause this boy will eat some turkey tacos!

I am figuring with the ingles up there and what I have brought, plus the ever-so-helpful Chef Sean. We should be ok.

I know we will be ok, no anxiety here! Having faith!

Do you get anxiety when traveling with a special diet? How do you manage being away from your kitchen?

Caffeine!?!?

2011-07-17T15:08:00.001-04:00

Ok, I will admit it, I am probably a little addicted to caffeine. Maybe not so much addicted but definitely dependent. When I was in middle school I drink gallons of "the good stuff". Good old-fashioned Coca-Cola Classic. I never got fat either, well I am well past middle school and the good stuff, I've discovered is not so good for me. Don't get me wrong I still enjoy a fountain Coke every now and then. But the sugar gets to me and honestly it's not what it used to be. Things are different these days, I get up anywhere between 5-7:30 and sometimes that little wake-up call is way earlier than I would have hoped. Luckily I have two things that help me get through my day.

Coffee

Green tea

Neither of which I think I would be able to live without. I do hope that there is a time that I may be able to try and ween myself off the caffeine but.... Sorry to say I'm not quite there yet.

Recently I have decided to link up with amazon through my blog. This is my first EVER product review and i think i should use this opportunity to let you guys in on something that will change your life, if there is one product that I feel the world needs to know about it is the Toddy Pot.

I have been a fan of Toddy Coffee for at least 12 years now and can't imagine the idea of ever going back to the traditional coffee pot.

Now, there are definitely times when i don't care where my coffee came from......... just give it to me!

But every day i am happy to get up to my already brewed Toddy coffee.

So, what makes this coffee any different or more special than yours? you may be asking yourself.

The toddy method of brewing requires letting the coffee grounds sit in room temperature water for 12+ hours and then filtering into a large glass decanter.

Your end result is one gallon of HIGHLY concentrated coffee that you keep in your refrigerator.

The coffee is then usually diluted with ice, milk or water and can be served hot or cold.

Since the coffee is not heated up when brewed it is much less acidic and bitter than your regular cup of Joe.

I was first introduced to Toddy coffee when i worked in a coffee shop in Boone NC and we used the coffee concentrate to make ice-cubes to put in iced coffee drinks.

A few years later when traveling with my grandma we were staying with one of her friends who served us the most delicious coffee drink i have ever tasted.... guess what it was Toddy coffee.

And i've never looked back...
So now you all know a little more about me,
What part of your daily routine do you think you probably couldn't live without?

getting big

2011-07-13T08:36:00.003-04:00

First, I have to tell you guys that I got a "shout-out" on the radio this morning. OK well I didn't actually hear it but, I heard about it!

You see, me and my girl Jessica had a play date last week and we got to talking about all the challenges of cooking for someone who has a very sensitive diet.

Roe eating Dinosaur Dip

I mentioned that Roe would eat guacamole or Dinosaur dip (as we like to call it).

Ever since getting together last week, Jessica has been working hard to try and come up with more recipes that we could make using only our small list of ingredients.
She has decided to dedicate a few blog posts coming up to different recipes all using avocados.
I would have to say that yesterday's was nothing short of genius and we will def. be trying this sometime soon.
Vegan Chocolate Ice Cream
Yum!
Anyways Jessica was sharing her recipe, our story and some other ideas yesterday on
http://www.ilovethepromise.com/
Around here we are gearing up to head up to the mountains in a week or so. I am trying to get organized and hoping that things go well, i know they will be fine.
Thank you for all your advice about traveling.

couldn't you just eat this little stud

Roe's appetite has slowed down a bit over the past week. Not enough that i think he may have lost weight, but enough to think at some point I may need to up his dose of the periactin.

I know everyone probably makes Guacamole the same way but if you are new to the world of

"Dinosaur Dip" this is the recipe that made me a huge fan of the green stuff

Dinosaur Dip

4 ripe avocados

juice from 2 large lemons

1.5 Tbsp minced garlic

1 medium tomato diced

1/4 cup purple onion sliced thin

salt and pepper

1. Mix first three ingredients in large bowl until it is the consistency you like. You can mix less for a more chunky texture or more for a smoother texture like the stuff you buy at the store.

2. Cut up tomato and onion and add last so not to crush tomato pieces. I like the onion to be almost a shaved consistency so you don't get any bites that are to "onion-y". If you are a home chef and you don't already own a mandoline it is a tool that i really couldn't live without. There are a variety of different ones out there but check out that link to see the one i use.

Guacamole doesn't keep to long in the fridge, the avocado tends to turn color after even a few hours. More lemon helps to keep it green longer, or it is your first time eating guacamole you could try it at first with only one avocado.

In our house it doesn't last long anyways! Yum!

Avocado is on the list of the ten healthiest foods.

Full of good healthy fats and anti-inflammatory benefits

What's your favorite healthy food?

Traveling

2011-07-01T11:01:00.000-04:00

Ok ladies, help me out with this one.

I am going to need some team work.

Every year we go on a family vacation to a beautiful old hotel/ mountain cabin type place in North Carolina. There is a small college sized fridge in the room and I can ask for a microwave. There is a buffet for breakfast lunch and dinner (not allergy friendly).

what's my game plan here?

Did I mention 12 days?

We don't leave until the end of the month and i am already anxious about how we are going to do this.

I know we have some "old pro's" out there who have been traveling for years and then i know there are a hand full of us who are more new to this. I think we should work together on what may be the best plan of action.

Here's what i am thinking:

Call ahead and tell them about our situation and when we are coming

(they were less than helpful last year)

for the next month whenever i have leftovers i and thinking i will shrink wrap individual portions and freeze them

then present my cooler full of prepackaged meals to the dining room to feed Roe for the week.

He will be able to eat the fruit from the buffet but that is about all.

There is an Ingles nearby so I can buy safe lunch meat, applesauce and stuff like that up there but prob travel with the majority of our snacks.

What do you guys do when you travel?

ps. Went in for our weight check today Roe weighs 26.05 and is now in the 25 % I can't believe it.

Our Dr. had goosebumps. The Periactin seems to be working!

Gluten Free Baking

2011-06-24T11:04:00.003-04:00

Is it just me or is gluten free baking totally intimidating?

I don't even know where to begin, it is totally beyond my comprehension that if you take something like wheat FLOUR out of a recipe that it couldn't just be replaced with another flour.

There are hundreds of different types of flours out there, it should be simple right?

What on earth?

Graham flour

coconut flour

brown rice flour

white rice flour

soy

potato starch

sorghum

tapioca

corn

almond

etc

But apparently none of these alone will make bread, or anything else for that matter.

So, the next step is mixing these flours in such a way that they will make something???? then there is the other stuff you have to add xantham gum (????!!!) sounds gross,

forgot to mention that GUM is on my list of yuck.

I think somewhere i read that you should add club soda, or i may have dreamed that.

I don't have the $$$ or the time to be doing chemistry experiments in my kitchen trying to find the right flour combo. I got a bag of Bob's Red Mill GF All Purpose Baking Flour it's a little expensive
WHAT???!?!? This stuff must be gold or something. Apparentley, after buying the million dollar bag of "golden flour"you still need to buy the xantham gum to actually make anything.

And now i am scared to make anything, what if i mess it up and have to start all over and God forbid waste any of this stuff.

Speaking of wasting $$$.

Do you guys use coconut oil? If yes does any one have a favorite brand that doesn't taste too strong?

I got some called Navitas Naturals, which came highly recommended and the taste is way to strong for me. Their other products look amazing. And i am sure other people may not think it is strong. Has anyone found that some are kinda stronger/ harsher tasting than others?

Granola

2011-06-23T15:55:00.001-04:00

I'm kind-of a snob when it comes to granola, well maybe I'm not so much of a snob as that I'm quite picky. This is something I don't think most of you know about me..... I am a picky eater!

There, I said it...

I AM a picky eater.

It feels great to get that out in the open.

And probably not like you're thinking picky, not a "no processed foods" kinda picky but an,

"I've never tasted that" kind of picky. I will admit it.

so what DON'T I like, you may ask...

well i really don't like fruit for the most part

i like green grapes, LOVE apples, will eat watermelon, and also like citrus fruits but besides that not so much

oatmeal (in it's gooey form)

yogurt

pancake syrup

cottage cheese

Dr.pepper ( i don't really drink soda, but even think about trying to trick me with Dr. pepper... or root beer)

fruit snacks or gummy anything

pepper jack cheese

and the list goes on

So, back to GRANOLA.... i am kind of picky, don't give me any granola with those little dried fruit pieces. i know they are healthy and probably great in granola but i just can't bring myself to do it.

We love granola at my house, but for the past 10 years i have made it myself... closely following a secret recipe passed down from a family friend.

Ok it's not really a secret, and as the years have gone on i have changed it a few times trying to tweak what is already a GREAT thing.

The original recipe had almonds and when Roe was first diagnosed with food allergies we were told to avoid nuts, so I exchanged the almonds for shredded coconut.

Delicious

Then we stopped gluten and were able to add nuts back, so once again i had to make a few changes.

I just finished what i think may be my best batch yet.

Mom-mom's Granola

with a couple of mom-b changes

2 cups gluten free oats

1 cup raw nuts

(I used a mixture of walnuts and almonds)

1/2 cup shredded coconut

1/4 cup 100% pure Maple syrup

1/3 cup oil

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 tsp sea salt

Pre heat oven to 325.

Mix all ingredients in large mixing bowl, and spread evenly on baking sheet.

Bake 15 minutes, take out and mix. Return oat mixture to oven for an additional 8 minutes.

Let cool completely before storing in an airtight container.

You could easily add seeds, nuts and dried fruit of your choice as long as your wet/dry measurements are close. My only wish is that it would come out a little clumpier. I'll let you know when I reach true perfection!

Roe LOVED it and even ate his first walnut without any sort of trauma! Praise God.

Oh and i have to say, now that we have been sucessful getting him to actually take the periactin... it's working.

He's a hungry hungry boy.

A new day

2011-06-21T16:23:00.002-04:00

I started this blog with the greatest intentions for posting and updating ~~daily~~ well at least weekly and here we are and i have not given you any clue as to whether we are even still here.

We are!

Ok, so what all has happened since last time we spoke?

1. Roe got another ear infection which caused him to go on yet another hunger strike, which resulted in a small set back in weight.

2. We spent a glorious week and a half at the beach with family.... well glorious until CKA got an ear infection and had to stay out of the water the remainder of our trip.

3. We had an appointment with Dr. George, our GI Doctor, and a follow-up with Kristen our Nutritionist.

Those went well, he is back up on the curve, and despite a few setbacks, he is growing well.

We were given a prescription for another medicine called periactin, and appetite stimulant. My hope for this is that we will be able to slowly ween him off so much of the Neocate and substitute maybe one of his juices a day with more real food.

High Hopes, I'm sure.

We will see.

Over the past week two of our little EE ~~friends~~ family got G-tubes.

Nathan and Tyler

I have to say these moms are amazing, and these little boys are real troopers. I have been following both their stories for months now and feel like i know them and their families.

I have been crazy over the past few weeks reading all this information about kids with food allergies and how much we have to blame ourselves and our environment.

This article i thought was especially interesting and informative as to what we can do to not only help save our kids but also make a positive impact on the environment.

These statistics are unbelievable.

So I have maybe gone a little batty but I have decided to try and monitor what we all eat. I am following the "dirty dozen/ clean fifteen" and buying organic produce to avoid pesticides. I try and buy produce at the saturday market when I can, from what i have read all the produce there is organic (and well priced). Publix on the other hand is EXPENSIVE if you want organic. But i'm doing it! I will not let my babies get even sicker because of poisions that I know are there. I took CKA off food dyes and I do think it is helping him be able to focus better.

I hope to be posting more in the future and not only passing on some of the interesting things i am learning about our food but also to share recipes with you that I feel like are healthy and safe to feed our families.

I am hoping to move my entire family (the hubby too) to an all organic, non processed diet.

He will be a tough one.

we'll see....

What's up?

2011-06-02T13:30:00.001-04:00

I guess it is time for me to update we have had a couple of good Dr.'s appointments, some success with new foods and a VERY BUSY MONTH.

I read a recent article in The Birmingham News about a family struggling with Eosinophilic Esophagitis, it left me defeated and heart broken, what's to come of us? I feel like right now things may not be so bad but how will we handle things in a year, 5 years, or when he leaves for college?

I know i can't sit here and dwell on the future.

It's in God's hands and i can't do anything more than i am doing now,

working hard

praying

and praising God that he happily drinks the Neocate.

This is what my fridge looks like

School ended and we were there for CKA's end of the year "Splash into Summer" party.

Roe got pretty exhausted trying to keep up with all the big kids.

I introduced Roe to a new food this week

Dinosaur Dip!

He loved it.

YAY for healthy, safe fats!

Dad was in a professional BBQ contest and I took the boys out for a couple of hours to cheer on the team.

Last year they placed first in ribs..... this year they didn't place but had lots of fun.

We completed the environmental panel of allergens yesterday and the only thing that Roe tested positive to was Cat! That is a huge praise.

Not like we are heading out to get a Dog or anything but it gives me peace of mind for him to be around dogs and also that he did not test positive to any grasses, weeds, trees, pollen, or molds.

National Eosinophil Awareness Week....

2011-05-18T15:16:00.001-04:00

and what not to do

I had this great idea that I was going to be the self appointed liaison for educating ~~the entire world~~ OK just my face book friends about EE and our life, and the lives of others.

Really create awareness, you know

Well i have to tell you that the only thing i have accomplished is completely bumming myself out.

All you mom's out there

Do Not,

I repeat DO NOT go on You Tube and start watching videos about EE

my week has been ruined.

Plus, I don't think anyone out there (except you guys of course) even care.

I hate to say that but it's true.

Look who's two!

2011-05-17T14:40:00.001-04:00

We are recovering from a HUGE 7 days of family and fun.

Monday May 9th, Roe turned 2! I can't even believe that it is true.

Sunday night we had a family birthday at my parents house and Roe's Godmother was in town.

Monday we all went to play some mini-golf

Big boy Roe and his "hole in 5"

haha

I don't think I have mentioned it but about two weeks ago I decided to try and take Roe off gluten.

It really wasn't any big deal, seeing as that he never ate anything anyways.

Well, he's eating now!

It has taken a while. I believe that even though he did not test positive to gluten, it still is an EE trigger for him. And with the elimination of gluten from his diet, his appetite has DRASTICALLY improved!

Praise God!

So that is one huge praise this week!

The second is that finally.....FINALLY i have found a Doctor that I like.

Yes it has only taken a year of going to the doctors sometimes twice a week to find someone who I think can be our doctor.

Maybe I am being a little picky with this, I mean how hard could it be to find someone who will take your child's health seriously?

Well let me remind you

1. first I had two Doctors tell me he was just fine

2. one of which told me THREE times that we didn't need to see an allergist because he was to young to have food allergies

3. we had the fella who somehow convinced me that milk protein would be fine for him which resulted in 4 months of diarrhea.... fun

4. then we had the girl who I was so excited to see, the girl who was "reviewing" our charts so she would be prepared to talk to us, then promptly told me that maybe he would gain weight if i added more butter to his diet...... grrrrrrr

Ok so you agree this may be a reason to celebrate!

She is no nonsense, which i have to admit doesn't really mesh with my more laid back personality... but you mom's know that with this kind of stuff you need a "no-nonsense" on your side.

Lastly I am sure you are all aware that this week is National Eosinophil Awareness Week.

I have been putting info on my FACEBOOK all week.

Haha, i bet some of those old friends from High School are about to un-friend me!

Whatever, anyways this is a sweet video that I shared today.

I think this will def. put this yucky disease into perspective for people that don't really get it.

Happy Mothers Day

2011-05-08T15:50:00.003-04:00

what you're doing matters

Changes

2011-05-05T17:40:00.002-04:00

Life changes so quick.

At some points it seems like everything is just standing still, nothing is changing, everything is moving so slow.

Then you blink your eye and think when did all this happen to me.

I mean, i JUST graduated from High School, right???

It seems like just yesterday that I was living in a dorm

working at Harry's

going on dates

well i do have to say it seems like an eternity since i went on a date :}

I guess it's all coming back into perspective, I have two kids! Yikes I guess we're growing up.

This week Roe-Man (as his teacher calls him) turns 2!!!!!

This week also marks the one year anniversary that our lives changed.

Last year when we took Roe in for his one year appointment, and they weighed him,

we were told that there was something really wrong.

He had not gained weight in 3 months.

My mom was with me and I remember my head was spinning with the mention of blood work, stool cultures, GI doctors, and a dietitian.

SO much has happened in the past year

and i don't think there has been a point in the past 365 that i have felt like life is standing still.....

we are riding a roller-coaster these days.

Sometimes laughing, sometimes scared but still on track.

No idea if the next turn will take us up or down,

it's cool though we have our seat belts on!

We're good

and having fun.

We will have to see how our 2 year appointment goes, hoping there won't be any surprises!

There are so many blessings over the past year

like:

1. I have made friends all over the country who are dealing with the same thing that we are, and have found so much comfort in these other mom's honesty and advice.

Thank you ladies and Happy Mothers Day to you all.

xoxoxo

2. I have completely changed the way I look at food, prepare food, and what I buy.

YAY

3. I am so much more thankful now for all the relationships I have, with my family, and my friends... life changes and it's always nice when you have someone who's willing sit next to you on the roller coaster and hold your hand.

A very special mothers day to all the mama's in my life.

Gigi

my fairy God mother Biba

and my sweet mom-b.

I love you

Video

2011-04-28T13:28:00.000-04:00

I thought this was a very interesting video describing EE from the point of view of 8 year old Nathan and his family. 4 minutes long

http://youtu.be/9U7zR9egeYg

Doing Great?

2011-04-27T16:31:00.002-04:00

Just as I have shared with you guys over the past few months,

it has slowly gotten harder and harder to get Roe to eat real food.

It kinda started out slow,

a hunger strike here and there.

A few days without an appetite, then back on track.

Sometimes the hunger strike includes the medical food,

but for the most part it is just "Real Food" that Roe is rejecting.

I make him meals.... Lord knows, I make him meals.

I offer him his favorite foods,

bake cookies, muffins,

chicken

lunch meat

chik-fil-a fries

apples, bananas, grapes

Popsicles

And on most days i feel like i have accomplished something if Roe eats a couple grapes and a graham cracker.

He is still gaining, (at least I think) thanks to the medical food.

He happily drinks the three a day that he is supposed to be drinking,

but (according to our dietitian) he is also supposed to be eating three meals and snacks.

So here lies the problem,

everyone i talk to about this seems to think this is just fine.

"He's gaining weight"

"He looks great"

"As long as he is drinking the Neocate, don't worry about the other food right now"

even my husband thinks i am over reacting about all of this.

Honestly... am i over reacting?

He is on the charts, 10% right now, happy, active, normal kid... ( except the medical food)

Am I crazy?

Survey Says......

2011-04-14T15:19:00.000-04:00

XXX

Well, we went at 8:30 this morning for the big " weigh-in", I thought our last weight was 23.4 but they had him at 23.11. Today when Roe was weighed he was 24.2, an AWESOME gain of 7 oz in one month.

I am not sure exactly how much they are supposed to gain in a month, but in my opinion as long as we are going up we are good.

However, not enough of a gain for me to feel comfortable switching the amount of Neocate he drinks each day. I think i will just take it day by day. If he is eating a lot of food, and only has two.... no biggie, but if he is not so hungry ( like usual) i will continue to offer him 3 a day.

So......... now, check this out.
Last week I made a commitment to help out with the "Cool Food" club at school, a program where once a month a healthy treat is brought in and the kids are asked to try it.
If they try it, they are part of the cool food club.
whatever
Honestly I kinda had a bad attitude about the whole thing but tried to be as enthusiastic about it as possible. The snack we made was crispy kale chips, and now i know why so many of the vegan bloggers call kale chips CRACK. They were so so so so good.
Today i went to the store dreaming about the hummus wrap that I wanted to make for lunch. I bought a ton of veggies, and even looked for kale (must be kinda hard to find).
When i got home i thought i wonder if i can make
"Crispy Spinach Chips"

away we go!

I tossed a handful or two of spinach leaves in some EVOO sprinkled salt and baked at 350 for 10 minutes

They came out crispy, and honestly melt in your mouth delicious.

CKA and Roe were fighting over these babies

Weight Check

2011-04-13T11:15:00.001-04:00

I decided to take Roe-Roe in for a weight check tomorrow.

What I am thinking is if he is doing well..... like maybe he has gained!?!?

It may be possible, he does seem like he may be bigger, and like i said he is drinking the Medical Food.

So What i am thinking is if he has gained, I may move him down to two of the Neocate's a day and try and get him to eat some more real food.

Until then, I have decided to treat him to his favorite food for lunch today

Chik-fil-a Fries!

What do you guys think? Do you think if he has gained this may be a good idea?

Maybe depending on how much he has gained (if any).

Last weigh in, I believe he was 23# 4 oz.

Or maybe I will just ask them when I go in depending on where he is on the chart.

2011-04-11T16:19:00.001-04:00

I don't really have any news.

The swimming has been temporarily put on hold, possibly indefinitely.

We chose to postpone the lessons until the end of May and put him in the last slot of the day. That way he would wake up from his nap and have his lesson, avoiding any mealtime issues. Then I got a letter from the "Swim headquarters" saying because of his allergies he HAD to be the first lesson of the day to avoid any possible reactions if another child had eaten or touched anything that Roe would be allergic to.

So I guess we will just have to see.

Roe's appetite has been slim to none for the past week or so. We have been able to get him to drink the three Neocate's each day but usually not much more. He is doing well on his medicines and taking his vitamins happily, just not really in the mood to eat.

Yesterday I got him a huge variety of fruits, graham crackers with cinnamon and some of his favorite chicken nuggets.... not so much.

Then I tried to make him some candied popcorn, which he really liked for a bit. Maybe he will like it again tomorrow.

I know that if this goes on for to long that we may have to see a speech or occupational therapist in order to help him learn how to re-introduce actual eating into his day.

We don't have another Dr's appointment until May 11th. And that appt. is just with the pediatrician. I am ready to see if he has gained any weight since he seems bigger to me. Everyone says he looks good and like he is bigger, but sometimes i look at pictures like that one and think he looks real skinny.

Swim lessons

2011-04-05T09:07:00.001-04:00

I kinda need some opinions here....

North Florida... summer is upon us, and it's time to start thinking about swimming lessons. CKA took swim lessons starting his second summer (so like one year old).

We tried swim lessons with Roe last year, but so much was going on, he was loosing weight, we knew something was not right but we didn't know what. This was around the time we were sent to the "nutritionist" who gave us lots of non-nutritious food to eat. Which led to three major food reactions, one which should have required the epi-pen. Sorry...... A little off the subject.... Swim lessons.

So, the swim lessons are those ones that are more like survival lessons, like if your kid falls in the river, pool, etc, they can flip over and float.

So, I love the idea of the swim lessons but there are major rules when it comes to this particular kind of instruction. Like no eating or drinking for two hours before the lessons, some certain foods are definitely out on this plan line apple, honey, peaches and pineapple. I am quite anxious about the whole thing. He NEEDS to know how to swim, there is to much water around here to not take water survival serious at this age. But, as much as I feel like we need these lessons, I don't know if it is wise to limit a child who is already on a very limited diet in this way.

This is a 6+ week commitment every day.

Also on day one he cried so much he threw-up in the pool :(

I just don't know what to think.

Chef Jessica

2011-03-28T10:29:00.002-04:00

So, a while back I know I mentioned I have been "stalking" a chef. Stalking, she told me, is not the right word, since as a local celebrity she has had her fair share of creepy fans. So I would like to clarify that I am a fan (not the creepy type), and after getting together last week at the playground with the kids, I am a BIG fan.

Jessica and I met in high school, she was one grade above me and one of the sweetest, most enthusiastic people I think I have ever met. We had art class together, possibly for multiple years ( high school is kinda a blur these days). The one thing that stood out about Miss. Jessica is that I KNEW she loved Jesus. Those friends aren't always easy to find in public school, and the art room may be your least likely place to meet a Christian friend. She wasn't shouting it from the roof-tops..... sometimes you just know.

Being goofy art kids, we were always having a blast in the art room doing fun experiments and when I was reunited with Jessica a year or two back she told me that, to this day, she has a piece of art that is framed in her living room that was a creation of me and another friend.

My point in telling you that I knew that Jessica was a Christian is this, God wasn't going to let Jessica forget who Bebe Brent was, oh no, he knew that I would need her many years later, so he put a framed reminder right there in her living room for her to see everyday.

Isn't he amazing!

Chef Jessica has become a local celebrity here in Jacksonville, appearing on the morning news, radio, and making appearances at events all over town.

As soon as I knew about Roe's allergies she was one of the first people I contacted. She gave me tons of advice, cookbooks, and most of all encouragement.
Last week Jessica and I met at the playground, with kiddos, for a picnic. Imagine my surprise when I had made myself a dull turkey sandwich and here comes Jessica; picnic basket, plates, a thermos of "Arnold Palmer" and Thai Spring Rolls with peanut sauce for both of us!

Yay!

I think I'll keep her!

ha ha

Besides our delicious lunch she also had snacks for the kids, and had made some very special cookies just for Roe. I believe she will be posting the recipe for the cookies on her blog sometime this week, so stay tuned.

I am giving Jessica and her cookies all the credit for ending a week long hunger strike!

Praise God!

And Thank You Jessica.

xoxoxo

Check out her blog and follow her on facebook, I think some more allergy friendly recipies are in the works!

Here's a good happy thing that happened to me this morning.

Roe and I dropped CKA off at school, we have a play date planned this morning, and I wanted to make the kids a little treat which required a stop by Publix.

TA asked if I would get him a soda on the way home, I hopped into the drive through at Chik-fil-a, totally not thinking that this could cause a major melt down.

You see, the ONLY fast food that Roe can eat are Chik-fil-a fries.

We have tried others, with bad results.

So there I am sandwiched in the line with Roe in the back screaming "Fries, Please... Please, Fries"

I asked the lady, "Is there any weird possibility that you guys have some fries made?"

Knowing that at 8am they would say the usual, sorry mam lunch isn't served until 11.

" We could have some for you in 2 minutes if you are willing to wait" was the answer i got.

Um.... YES PLEASE!

When i got to the window i thanked them like crazy, and explained he has bad allergies and CFA fries are his only fast food treat, the woman then quickly walked to the kitchen, and returned 1 minute later...

" I'm sorry it may be another minute would you mind pulling up"

I think when I mentioned the food allergies they decided to Re-make the fries just to be safe.

The manager walked them out to the car 2 minutes later, and assured me with a smile on her face that it was no trouble.

I Love Chik-fil-a!!!!

What's next?

2011-03-24T10:56:00.000-04:00

So, what could be worse than a hunger strike, you may ask?

Picking up a stomach bug on day 5 of your hunger strike. Nice

Yesterday Roe drank 2 juice boxes, some progress... but not much else.

We could live off of 2 juice boxes if we are eating three meals and some high calorie snacks. But he just had the juices.

And so of course, as if according to plan I stayed up extra late last night (11:30) and promptly at 2am CKA began puking, 2:00, 3:00, 5:30

And I am thinking, well I am going to have to figure out how to keep these two separated today.

7am Roe wakes up, and guess what?!? He has it too :)

Sweet

Actually as I write this (10:15) it seems that both our little guys seem better.

I feel like sometimes it is one step forward- three steps back.

I can't imagine what weight we are tipping the scales at today, I feel so discouraged sometimes.

Then I have to put this all into perspective, This is yucky, terrible, and sad, but i am so beyond blessed.

A family in my neighborhood has a child that had a horrible seizure on New Years eve and has never been the same.

www.prayforluke.com

And I feel silly thinking that I have any problems.

Jeremiah 29:11 says

For I know the plans I have for you says the Lord, plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

I have seen the Lord answer so many prayers, and he is daily answering our prayers for Roe.

Roe is dancing and laughing now.

What a silly little trooper I have.

Hunger Strike

2011-03-22T23:00:00.002-04:00

I don't know what to think about the last two days. Roe has been happy, we have played, rode bikes, he is sleeping fine, no fever, not really even more fussy than usual. Here's the problem, Roe hasn't hardly eaten a thing since Sunday. I don't know what the problem could be. I have gone over and over in my head what he HAS eaten, and what could have upset him to put him on this hunger strike. Right now we are supposed to be giving him 3 servings of the neocate a day. (3 splash juices) Yesterday he would not finish one, today he finally did drink one but no more. I made him breakfast, lunch and dinner, offered snacks, even normal juice.

No, No, No. He wouldn't have anything. CKA sat at the dinner table ate his fish sticks told Roe his favorite flavor of the necoate is "orange pineapple" (sweet brother) Roe did a lot of dipping the fish sticks in the dips but no actual eating. He took one sip of his juice and said mmmmmmm but then said "all done".

Ok so opinions please, could it be his teeth? He does have a few coming in, i don't remember CKA doing this type of thing, but i do have a super sweet friend who said.... Don't worry he's probably just getting teeth. I want to believe it may just be teeth, but I am in the back of my mind kinda knowing it may be something else.
And I don't even want to think about the consequences if this goes on much longer. I would love to hear what you all think but I guess i am here to ask you to lift Roe up in your prayers. I have faith that this will work out, thank you for reading and thank you for your prayers.

Party Eats

2011-03-20T11:15:00.003-04:00

It has been a while since I posted a recipe, this is one i found a while back and (once again) tweaked it a little for our little allergy friend. It turned out Real good, and although he didn't eat any of it, at least i was able to offer him a cupcake at his cousin's first birthday yesterday.

This image is before i frosted it.

I don't remember where i got this recipe from, which is terrible, i am sorry i will try to do a better job at writing these things down.

Please let me know if this is your recipe so i can give credit where credit is due.

PS... Excelent Cupcakes!

Snicker doodle Cupcakes with Vanilla Glaze

1 cup Rice Milk

1 tsp. vinegar

1/3 cup + 2 tsp. veg oil

1 1/4 cup flour

2 Tbsp. corn starch

3/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 c. sugar

2 1/2 tsp vanilla

2 tsp. cinnamon

2 Tbsp Brown Sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350

2. Mix milk and vinegar in small bowl and set aside for 1-5 minutes

3. In large mixing bowl combine flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, salt and white sugar

4. In a small bowl combine cinnamon, brown sugar and 2 tsp of veg oil. Set aside

5. To mixing bowl with dry ingredients add oil, vanilla, and soured milk. Mix until no lumps appear. Mine turned out real wet and i was concerned about how the cupcakes would set, Great!

6. I used my large Pyrex measuring cup to pour into lined cupcake tins, Spoon cinnamon sugar mixture on to each cupcake and bake 19 minutes.

Vanilla Glaze

1 cup powered sugar

1/4 c sugar

1/8 cup water

1/2 tsp vanilla

1. Place powdered sugar in small bowl and set aside.

2. In small saucepan bring remaining ingredients to a quick boil stirring constantly. Lower temp and simmer about 30 seconds.

3. Add wet ingredients to powdered sugar and continue whisking until all sugar is incorporated into mixture.

4. Spoon glaze onto cupcakes and let set.

These turned out real good, i took a couple to the party and froze the remainder of them (without glaze) for an easy breakfast or a quick treat.

The recipe made 12 cupcakes.

Judgement

2011-03-16T10:56:00.001-04:00

I guess I just need to vent a little.

Picture this scenario I am talking with another mom and mention a neighborhood friend who is going through the same thing we are.

She kinda gets quiet and asks.... What's going on is that little boy? Is he OK?

I let her know that I feel like he is doing well, not knowing how much she knows about our situation and not wanting to be in a awkward position I told her... Roe Roe has the same thing as that little boy.

You guys know how hard I have been trying... I don't think there has ever been a time that I have not tried my hardest to be the best mom I can be, and over the past year I would say even more so.

Ok so when this mom started asking.... what I felt to be very judgmental, very pointed questions I honestly felt like I might loose my s*?# (sorry mom).

She asked me what kind of medications I might have been on during my pregnancy (because apparently she is the only mom that got the memo not to TAKE DRUGS WHILE YOUR PREGNANT) where did I give birth, have I looked at homeopathic options, did I know that raw milk doesn't affect children with milk allergies, do I give my children processed foods, and breast-feeding.....really?????

Oh and "what exactly is that medical food made of?"

Ok... First if you guys all want to know

I don't recall any drugs I was on during pregnancy... I did have the longest pregnancy known to man... 11 days after due date and 9#9 oz.

Hospital.... I really hope that doesn't matter. I did have an epidural do you think that could cause a disease?

Raw milk... I'm not even going there.

Homeopathic- i would say i have looked into everything that makes sense at this point....

P.S. I prefer prayer

processed food- well as of lately not so much, guess i missed the memo on this one

and yes i nursed him for 15 months, i had no other option.

I honestly feel like my friend "mother earth" was just trying to help but it felt to me like a jab at my parenting decisions.

I guess we are all guilty of thinking we may know a better way of doing things. I cringe now when i see moms giving their children mounds of junk food. And i was guilty of this as well, feeding CKA McDonalds because it was convenient.

Now nothing is convenient.

And as easy as it is i don't think i will ever be just picking up a happy meal again.

Or getting the free cookie from the bakery at publix or grabbing a Stoffers lasagna to throw in the oven for dinner.

Every single thing has to be made, every ingredient checked and double checked.

And because the medical food is probably 100% synthetic, am i a terrible person for feeding it to my child?

um, NO....

I hope your child doesn't start loosing weight at 9 months old and this is the only safe food that you can give your baby.

But if that does happen please come to me and i will lift you up because i know how hard it is to be a mom where your #1 instinct is to feed your baby, and food has turned into Public Enemy #1.

Please bring only encouragement my way, I don't have time for the drama

We are back

2011-03-13T13:39:00.001-04:00

We just returned after a week of sun therapy, which turned out to be just what the Dr. ordered! Roe is doing better, we are going Wednesday to be weighed again and follow- up after the huge fiasco last week.

But before i go on i MUST share this completely disturbing, disgusting and ridiculous story I read over at The Allergic Kid.......... I would have shared this earlier if i could figure out how to post using TA's computer.. Please read!

We were lucky to be invited on a very fun family trip in the keys last week. After what our week looked like the week before we were begining to think we may not be able to make it. Here is a re-cap of that dreaded week.
Monady- appt with our nutritionist with happy news that we had gained 11 oz.
Tuesday- Roe woke up feverish, fussy... called dr at 7:30 got appt for 4pm. Ears red and bulging, 101 fever and over-all icky attitude. Given omnicef perscription.
Wednesday- seems even worse barely eats anything then when i give him the med he throws-up med and med-food he has eaten. This is the last time i could get him to eat.
Thursday- wont eat anything... no med food, no crackers nothing and will barely drink. Finally get back into pediatricianat 5pm after he screamed his head off when i tried to give him meds and then threw-up
again. Re-check of ears shows a little fluid but infection gone- i would have to say this is a huge PRAISE. But with that good news came some sad.... Roe lost 7 oz. in 2 days, and was still refusing to eat. He wouldn't or maybe couldn't bring himself to swallow any food. he would put it in his mouth, sometimes try and swallow but it would always come back out.
Friday- We all got in the car for the first leg of our journey to the keys. Roe cried the entire car ride.
We decided to keep offering the Medical food but not to force anything on him. Personally i think
the Omincef totally burned his esophagus to the point that he just couldn't swallow anything.

But Roe recovered with a little salt air and sunshine he was good as new.

We are going to have to double up those juices then next month to get back to where we were, but as long as we are feeling good, we are doing good.

I know so many of you were lifting up our trip and Roe's health in your prayers, thank you!

Sick

2011-03-03T10:02:00.001-05:00

Roe has been sick..... real sick.
Monday we went to get our next weigh-in, and although he is still gaining it's not as quickly as we thought or hoped.
His official weight on Monday was 23# 1oz, a gain of 11 oz good, but not great.

We had a fun play date Monday and all seemed good.

Tuesday, however, Roe woke up with a fever.

I had a call in to the pediatrician before they even opened, and they still couldn't see us until 4!

Turns out he has an ear infection.... a whopping 2 weeks after his last one, we JUST finished the antibiotic!

He feels so awful :( poor baby

Although i know he feels terrible from the ear ache, for the fist time i am seeing real EE symptoms.

It may or may not be related but, i am heart broken over what has happened over the last few days.

Roe is refusing to eat

he may get excited about a certain food when i offer it to him and he may put it in his mouth

but then he spits it out, this is very characteristic of EE patients.

We have had a terrible time keeping any of the meds down, and when he throws up the med...

he usually throws up anything else we have managed to get inside of him.

Yesterday he ate a total of 1 serving (8oz) of the medical food.

then threw-up

He was tired and crabby and hungry... i'm sure

We had to miss big brother's birthday party at Dave and Busters.... which was ok with me since the manager never called me back about the foods that Roe may be able to eat.

grrrrr

Today he seems a little better, still a bit crabby, but better.

Please pray that this is all just him being sick, and he will get his appetite for food back in the next day or two.

White Bean Chicken Chili

2011-02-25T08:57:00.004-05:00

I made a very yummy allergy friendly dinner last night.......... and let me tell you it was quite a process.

I wanted to use all "real" ingredients and involve no processed foods

Here was my day.

9am begin soaking dry beans (I used baby Lima beans)

2:00 start stock pot with chicken, carrots, celery, onions, garlic, salt and pepper

2:30 remove chicken and set aside, continue cooking stock an additional 30 minutes

4:00 drain and rinse beans cook for 1 hour and 30 minutes

5:30 begin White bean chicken chili recipe

White Bean Chicken Chili

adapted from Betty Crocker's White Chili recipe

2 Tbs.olive oil

1 large onion chopped

2 cloves garlic finely chopped

3 cups (homemade) chicken broth

2 Tbs. fresh chopped cilantro

2 Tbs. Lime Juice

1 tsp. ground cumin

1/2 tsp dried oregano

1/4 tsp hot sauce

1/4 tsp salt

1 can corn

4 cups cooked baby lima beans

(the recipe called for 1 can great northern, 1 can butter beans)

2 cups chopped cooked chicken

1. In large soup pot cook onions and garlic in oil until onions are tender.

2. Stir in remaining ingredients except chicken heat to boiling. Lower heat and simmer 20 minutes.

3. Add chicken and heat until warm.

I gave the boys theirs on a plate without the liquid. CKA tried every thing and said he liked it. We also had asked him to say he liked it for Roe, who refused to eat a single taste.

TA and I enjoyed it with salsa, hot sauce, and shred cheese. I had plenty left over to freeze and eat another night..... even after we both had seconds.

If you know my husband that must mean it was good.

Cooking with Kirby Challenge

2011-02-23T08:56:00.000-05:00

I am daily counting my blessings.

I am so lucky in so many ways, example #1

Family

Last year my youngest brother got married to one of the most amazing, sweet, adorable girls that I have had the honor to know. I am so blessed to now be able to call her my sister.

She is a second grade teacher in ATL and she is a "foodie"

or according to her a wanna-be-foodie :)

Check out her blog

Adventures of an Atlanta Wanna be Foodie

adorable right,

Anyways, we are going on a family vacation in a couple weeks and my brother and sis-in law decided they wanted the challenge of trying to make something for Roe.

The Cooking with Kirby Challenge!

Yay

I gave them a few ideas and can't wait to see what they come up with.

Big brother is up for the challenge too...... actually he may be able to teach them a thing or two.

He is an old pro when it comes to Vegan Baking, and what his brother can and can't eat.

Best buds.

SO EXCITED!!!!

2011-02-16T15:45:00.001-05:00

This has been the best day, i am so excited i could scream!!!

And you guys are the luckiest people in the history of the world!!!!!!!

Oh my gosh, are you on the edge of your seat or WHAT?!?!?!

Is the suspense just killing you?

No, not a cure for EE.

No, I didn't get tickets to Oprah like my girl Kelly. (lucky duck)

Better, well better for us :)

This is something just for you!

I know you are going to love it!

So, Baby Roe is napping and I am doing my regular "nap-time activities" like picking up toys, folding clothes, making grub, and researching food allergies.

You know, the norm.

You guys are going to LOVE this.

I found a site called

FoodFacts

Whatever your diet restrictions may be, or maybe you just want to get healthier?

This is AWESOME!

They know all the information on all foods (including hidden allergens)

This should be very helpful when menu planning or creating a grocery list.

So, I registered, gave them a user name and password, they asked what foods we are trying to avoid.

They had the regulars: milk, soy, peanuts, gluten, etc

Then there was a spot for other foods, I typed in beef and there was a list a mile long of beef products and then the same for pork!

I looked up breads, crackers, skittles.... just wanted to see if all the hype was true.

It's Great!

So i am sure you have lost interest in whatever i have to say and are ready to go and check this site out for yourselves,

First you have to check out my cutie :)

CLICK HERE!

Don't drink the kool-aid!

2011-02-13T15:14:00.001-05:00

I think we all have some what of a blind faith that the government, and the food companies are trustworthy as far as what we find on our grocery store shelves. I mean they wouldn't be trying to poison us... would they?

Researching meat allergies has been more than i could have ever imagined.

I feel like we are a pretty intimate group here..... (if not, bear with me... I think we've all been there).

Ok, remember in middle school. I was like "save the cows".... My brother is totally cracking up reading this bc he totally teased me and my hippy loving ways. I think Kelsey and i did a joint science project in the 7th grade on some horrifying book about slaughter houses, I can't even remember the details but it was def an A+.... Anyways it's all coming back to me the terrible details that I somehow lost somewhere along the way.

When Roe was given the diagnosis of having allergies to beef and pork, I was like.

Yay!

Awesome, I can do this.

Then I started looking for ingredient listings like........ How do I know if meat is in my food?

holy COW!

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but some of you peeps, that think your are vegetarian....

( i won't say any names, because I was at one time, one of these "vegetarians")

um, there are animal by-products EVERYWHERE!!!!! I have to say that I am shocked!

List of foods that i was shocked to hear have animal by-products:

Jello (ok, not shocked)
marshmallows ( rice krispy treats)
red #40 and yellow #5 (lemon heads, Doritos's, strawberry nutra-grain bars, and on and on and on)
pudding
frosting (and sprinkles)

white sugar

skittles and starburst

bubble yum

gummi's

SweetHearts

slow melting Popsicles

frozen pie crusts

Kellogg's mini-wheat's

frozen hash browns

DHA enhanced products like OJ and bread

and don't forget about the apple juice.

****DISCLAIMER****

This list was made by me, from various sources I found on the Internet. I am not a scientist, a doctor, or animal rights fanatic. I am just a mom trying to figure out what to feed my baby so please don't quote me on any of the information you find here.

Then there is the "natural flavoring"

Title 21, Chapter I, Part 101, Section 101.22 of the Code of Federal Regulations’ FDA requirements on food labeling states: “The term natural flavor or natural flavoring means the essential oil, oleoresin, essence or extractive, protein hydrolysate, distillate, or any product of roasting, heating or enzymolysis, which contains the flavoring constituents derived from a spice, fruit or fruit juice, vegetable or vegetable juice, edible yeast, herb, bark, bud, root, leaf or similar plant material, meat, seafood, poultry, eggs, dairy products, or fermentation products thereof, whose significant function in food is flavoring rather than nutritional” (emphasis added).

Oh how delicious, I think i am becoming a hippy.

Eosinophil

2011-02-12T22:46:00.002-05:00

EOSINOPHIL-
is the least common of the white blood cells. They make up 2-4% of the white blood count. Children with eosinophilic disease have increased numbers of eosinophils in their blood, GI tract, and/or organs. Produced in the bone marrow, eosinophils then migrate to tissues throughout the body. When a foreign substance such as an infection or parasite enters the body, eosinophils release toxins, killing the invader. However, food and air-borne allergens act as "toxins" to eosinophilic children.

Nothing better to do?

2011-02-06T09:13:00.001-05:00

hahaha.... but really, if you are sitting at your computer with nothing better to do. (right now?) HELP
I am having the hardest time finding a list of ingredients containing beef and pork products.
I just read somewhere that cloudiness in apple juice may indicate they used beef pork or fish products in THE APPLE JUICE! WHAT!?!?!?!
Once again the Jewish people have come to the rescue with these amazing little kosher symbols but i am not finding as many with the "M" indicating meat, and for pork.... we are just completely in the dark.
What i have found out so far is that if a label reads: natural ingredients or natural flavors = there is a good chance there is beef or pork tallow which is used as a binder in all sorts of foods
gelatin= pretty much knew that one, but didn't think about gelatin being in all sorts of candies, gum etc.
Monoglycerides could mean beef or pork also.
If you are bored see if you can find out more!
I'm thinking i should have paid more attention in chemistry, biology, i don't know somewhere!
YIKES

A good appointment

2011-02-02T13:03:00.000-05:00

We actually had a good appointment this morning, not that i wasn't expecting (or at least hoping for) the best. We got the best we could have hoped for.
What a Praise!
His back wasn't big enough to test the entire EE panel, so they decided to only do the foods this time and we will go back in June and they will test for environmental allergens. Last July Roe tested positive to having anaphalactic allergies to Milk, Soy, and Eggs. We were also asked to avoid peanuts, tree nuts, and shellfish.
We have been hopeful that he may grow out of these allergies but recently became skeptical whether or not he could with our newest diagnosis of EE.
When tested today Roe tested negative to Soy, Eggs, and Nuts!
The results he had to the milk were worse than before and the reaction was worse than the positive histamine that they used as the control. So milk is still on our list of foods to definitely avoid, we have also added beef and pork.
But we can now try and give him peanut butter, and i can start making things that use eggs!
From what i have heard, the allergy tests with EE children rarely make sense. He may test positive to something one time and it never show up the next time. Or vice-versa we could be putting eggs back on our list at some point. I think the best part is knowing that milk is the only allergen that is "life threatening" for him.
We still have a lot of unanswered questions like why he is not gaining weight on normal food, and why eating upsets his tummy so much, and we still don't know why his Eosinaphils are so high. I asked if it was possible that the diagnosis of EE may not be true but she said that the # were to high to indicate anything other than EE.
When they finish the test on him in June, it may give us some more answers as to why his numbers were so high. But right now we are just praising God that we don't have to cut down his diet and we are actually able to add stuff.

Rosemary Pork Chops with Balsalmic Garlic Sauce

2011-01-30T09:19:00.001-05:00

YAY farmers market!

Look at what i got and all for $10

I already made a tomato, garlic spinach topping for some grits that i made last night.

This time i HAD grits and it was SO yummy, and i would have to guess healthier than fried polenta. Plus we happened to have a "drop-in" dinner guest which is quite common around here and he loved my dinner of grits and veggies.

This is a recipe that i made by combining an old Weight Watchers recipe and another that i had picked up from a Better Homes and Gardens.

We have had both recipes multiple times and were never fully satisfied with the finished product.

The ww recipe was way to bland, it smelled so good and we were always disappointed when we ate it, the bhg had this real thick rich gooey sauce that had to much Worcestershire or something.

This is my allergy friendly recipe

Dairy free, egg free, gluten free, nut free.

Ingredients:

6 Pork Chops

1Tbs Dried Rosemary

1/2 c gluten free bread crumbs

lemon pepper seasoning

3 Tbs minced Garlic

2 Tbs. Worcestershire

2Tbs. water

2Tbs. Balsamic Vinegar

2 tsp. lemon juice

2 tsp. Dijon Mustard

2 Tbs. EVOO

1. Sprinkle Chops with lemon pepper and rosemary and press into both sides of meat. Lightly coat chops with bread crumbs.

2. Mix remaining ingredients (except olive oil) in small bowl and set aside.

3. Heat olive oil in pan over med-high. Add chops and reduce heat to medium. Cook 5 minutes on each side, remove and cover to keep warm.

4. Pour sauce into skillet and allow to warm, pour over chops and serve.

I served it with french green beans. As far as the flavor goes they all mix very well. And besides the pork itself the recipe is relatively low in fat.

Unfortunately, the Worcestershire has soy in it so Roe would not be able to eat this, but it is a yummy dinner for someone who had other food allergies besides soy.

Waffles anyone?

2011-01-27T13:41:00.002-05:00

As everybody knows i can't seem to make a pancake to save my life, which is quite discouraging seeing as that when ever i tell someone that i have this particular issue with the dreaded pancake, they look at me like i have just fallen off the turnip truck...... Really who can't make pancakes?

Humor me, are they really THAT easy? What am i doing wrong? Pan to hot, to cold, spray the pan or not spray the pan. It couldn't be just because i am using weird ingredients. I didn't even have luck with Bisquick.

So i decided to ask for a waffle iron for Christmas. I immediately went to work, recipe, after recipe and not much luck.

Then i saw it right there on the breakfast aisle.

(insert heavenly music)

aaaaaaahhhhhhh
A Bisquick that seems to be somewhat allergy friendly, the ingredients checked out.

and away we go...

Had to make a few of the regular substitutions. Pears as an egg replacer, and rice milk.

would you look at these beauties.

AND they tasted good

the recipe called for 3 tablespoons of oil

it seemed like lot to me but it gave the waffles a sort of- Pizza Hut "pan pizza crust" kind of deliciousness.

OK, so my job in the kitchen may be over but now i have the job of trying to get these bad boys into the bellies of two sweet boys

sweet in this picture, but looking a little unsure of mom's waffle's

No thanks lady!

And we ate every bite!

success!

Oster 3883 Belgian Wafflemaker, Chrome

This waffle iron is very similar to the one i have.

Happy and Sad

2011-01-26T20:10:00.000-05:00

Blogging or maybe the internet itself is always a mixed blessing.

It's possible to completley scare yourself to death reading this and that.

But it's also here, in this new age, that we are able to find fellowship, friendship, kindred spirits, information.... sometimes to much, and also reunite with people who otherwise would have just been a page from the past.

TA and I were just talking last night about the world we live in, and that somehow, although we hate to admit it, we would be probably lost without our cell phones, the internet, and dvr.... ok jk about the dvr.

(only kinda)

But really , if you didn't have your phone, or the internet, you would be lost in the shuffle, things move WAY to fast these days and i dont think it would take much to be completley out of the loop without modern technology.

That being said, i don't believe that this is a good thing.

So as you all know i am researching and reading, i feel like this is ALL i do these days, i want to learn all i can and i always am happy to find a new site, a new friend, and new information on EE.

Happy first:

I have a new friend. YAY!

I know what you are thinking, didn't i just read this..... NO another friend!

I am very popular! She is a fellow blogger and has a son with EE as well.

Internet=blessing

i love that here i can find a community of people that are dealing with the same thing as we are.

here is her site

So here is the curse of the internet, through her site i found another, and another... you know "surfin' the web"

and i read that

i was to get preggo again, and

it was another boy,

he would have an 80% chance of having EE.

:*(

ICK.

what a bummer, i guess i may have to re-assess my plans for more kids.

But, like i have always said.... not my plan but HIS.

And i'm talking about JC not TA.

Continue to give me the peace that passes all understaning.

don't i look cute with a girl?

That's my plan anyways.... well not until today :P

Big time!

2011-01-24T22:24:00.019-05:00

So, today went great, all things considered, first I have a confession to make.

Here goes...... I messed up the day that I have been totally looking forward to for the past MONTH! What on earth?
So it's been chilly(ish) around here, and Saturday was no exception. I took the boys on a walk around the hood.
CKA is totally excited that he can ride a two wheeler and it's a little heartbreaking to watch him ride in circles on the mini patch of concrete we have outside the side door. So when we got home and I was giving them a bath, I noticed that roe had a little runny nose. Without thinking I went into the kitchen and gave him 1/4 tsp. Of zyrtec.

Oh (insert word of choice)!

I mean, REALLY!!! The second I squeezed it into his mouth I realized what I had done.
Now this is after I have given all family members and friends the riot act, not to give him any allergy meds.

Nice huh.
So, allergy testing has been postponed until next Wednesday.

Here's the happy news. We have a Weight gain of 2 lbs 5 oz.... In one month!
He is on the chart for the first time in I don't know how long. We are so excited!

He has been prescribed the oral steroids which we are trying for four months and then we will reassess depending on how he responds. We have also been put on a proton pump inhibitor, which is a step in the right direction toward healing.
Now healing may be easier if WE KNEW WHAT HE COULD EAT.... Bad mom!
Thank you for your continued prayer, I know that we wouldn't be where we are if it went for the continued pray from our friends.
Thank you.
Please don't forget to pray for Dianne... Still no news :(. I do know that they have had her working with a physical therapist.
Xoxoxoxoxo

Where have I been?

2011-01-23T14:13:00.000-05:00

Ray.... Do you know about this?
Looks like it is a Charlotte girl... Anyways, a link from a link from a link... (sometimes I get bored)
This is the coolest site and here I am finding it on day 98 of 100. Here's the thing. $125 budget a week, family of four, and no processed foods. She makes everything from scratch... And I mean EVERYTHING. With real ingredients, no white flour, organics, etc.
http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/

Check it!

Questions and Answers

2011-01-22T17:43:00.002-05:00

We have so many questions and it's hard sometimes to be patient.

but

be anxious for nothing.

I had a strange thing that happened when i gave birth to Roe. It didn't seem like a big deal to me at the time. When they gave me the epidural, the entire bag drained into me almost immediately. The Doctors and Nurses were completely shocked. Not a concerned kind of shock but more of a, we've never seen this happen- kind of thing.

I was happy as could be, smiling, watching TV, not a twinge of pain, seriously.... not your typical birthing story, and a FAR CRY from my first childbirth experience which lasted 40+ hours.

Well the next day, well past 24 hours of giving birth to him, i told my nurse that i REALLY ~~wanted~~ needed to take a shower. She called another nurse in and they had to unhook this and that.

Well, my legs didn't work, i mean i had feeling in them, i guess but as far as them holding me up...... they completely buckled.

Nothing

the nurses took me into the bathroom in a wheel chair and i was able to do my best at cleaning up.

That day i had some visits from many doctors, assuring me that everything would probably be fine.

Honestly, i was less than concerned, and as time went on i WAS fine.

Yesterday i got a call from my best friend and she was like listen to this story.

She began telling me the exact same story, her cousin's wife, same thing.

We exchanged stories, Dianne, this girl's story is a little different, it's been three days, and the doctors are showing REAL concern.

My heart has been broken for this girl, i have been praying for her constantly. Then today i get a call

"do you think you could call Dianne, and talk to her about what happened to you"

uh, i don't feel like it is the same, oh my gosh what should i do

PRAY

What do you say to someone who is in fear that they may never walk again, and who am I to be calling her with encouragement.

I called her, and now i think that what happened to me was able to ease her fears a bit. Sometimes it's nice to find a kindred spirit.

I think it's hard when something scary like this happens in your life because your friends, who you count on for encouragement, don't really know what to say.

Sometimes they are scared they will say the wrong thing, so in fears that they may say the wrong thing they opt not to say anything at all. And you end up feeling, scared, sad, overwhelmed, and lonely. No one should feel lonely when they are going through hard times. We need to lift these people up.

I feel glad that i called her.

I never made a new years resolution, i kinda hate them, but i think this will be my resolution. I am going to try my hardest to reach out to my friends, and be there for them when they are going through tough times.

It stinks when things are tough and you feel like you have the plague on top of everything else you are going through.

On a similar note... i have a new friend! Not Dianne, although i hope she will be a new friend.

You won't believe this a girl from my neighborhood who has a son who also has EE.

And he is ONE DAY older than Roe.

Isn't God good.

She has been going through all of this for a bit longer than we have. It's so nice to have someone to talk to, and it's a neat thought that Roe and this little boy can be friends and have sleepovers as they get older and we won't have to worry about anything.

Even birthday parties together.

Like i said God is Good!

be anxious for nothing

Monday we have the next set of appointments. Roe will be weighed, and we will have the big allergy tests done. I am so excited to see what we can eat safely.

These days i feel like i am constantly researching EE and trying to find out as much as i can. I don't know where this site has been but today i found it.

Children's Digestive Health and Nutritional Foundation

It is very informative.

Also there is an interesting video that Kimmy posted on her site.

It's a little hard for me to watch but it is very true for a lot of these children living with EE.

Visit her site ------>
called "it's a hard job"

I am so thankful for all of you and your continued prayers.
Please lift up Dianne in your prayers, i can't imagine the fear she must be going through.

Yum

2011-01-18T14:16:00.001-05:00

I have to share the most delicious lunch i made today, I was a little weary about making this soup from Annies Eats blog. Don't get me wrong, i LOVE black beans.

But her recipe sounded a little to good to be true (know what i mean).

There were 4 ingredients and it took me all of 4 minutes to mix them up in my blender.

I actually made home-made vegetable broth earlier this week which was a cinch and made my house smell absolutely wonderful almost immediately.

It seems like this is the week of soups and many bloggers were posting instructions on making broth, it was easy, good, and now, GONE!

I thought the soup may be a little thin and maybe i may need to cook some rice to float in in to thicken it up....... i was wrong. It was thick, hearty, filling and delicious.

OK, so i know that it doesn't look all that appealing in my picture. A prettier bowl may have helped. But i give you my word that this soup is delicious.

Beans are one food that are thought to be "hypoallergenic" so i am excited to try different ways to prepare the good ole' black bean.

And i am always looking for anything that i can add this most amazing hot sauce i have ever had in my entire life.

So i am guessing that the soup made 4 generous servings. Completely vegetarian, vegan, soy free, gluten free(?I'm guessing on that one).

And the cost um.... probably $3.00 at the most for the entire pot.

extra if you want to add toppings like Key Lime hot sauce, sour cream, or cheese.

I squeezed a bit of lime into a bite and that was good.

Beans have cholesterol lowering fiber and Black beans in particular are high in antioxidants, more so than the rest of the beans.

Black beans will lower your risk of a heart attack and are high in iron and protein.

For more information on the health benefits of Black beans follow this link to the worlds healthiest foods.

Summertime...

2011-01-17T12:24:00.002-05:00

.....and the livin' is easy

It's days like today that a girl begins to dream about summertime. What an ugly day, i am on my second cup of coffee and still in need of some warmth.

Check out this adorable picture of mom-b and her friends

She had written in her album

"A Schlitzy time"

haha

We have been making so much progress since out diagnosis the Tuesday before Christmas and now the diarrhea is back and i am feeling discouraged.

I am thankful that yesterday was a beautiful day... all around. I took my boys to Sunday school and left feeling real great. When Dad asked CKA what he talked about in Sunday School he answered

"Jesus parents lost him, but they searched, and finally found him in the Shirley Temple"

out of the mouths of babes :)

The weather outside was beautiful and we had a fire in the back yard while the boys ran around for the first time in a week. We were also blessed with DINNER!!!! YAY.

Thanks mom.

I'm sayin' it was a ~~good~~ great day!

I have been reading about EE this morning and once again my head is spinning. I guess i can't sit here and dwell on things that i don't know the answers to. This is so beyond me and i must give it to God.

I am beginning to connect with some other mothers through blogging, whose children are also diagnosed with EE. I guess this is a mixed blessing since really I am still hoping beyond hope that we may have a false diagnosis. So right now i just can't go there. next Monday, maybe, today NO!

So what's next?

Today i am making spaghetti sauce from scratch to take to a family down the street.

I also have some left over broccoli slaw from our dinner last night and i think i am going to make some sort of salad with black beans, lettuce, tomato, broccoli slaw and maybe some fish.

See, today is already looking a little brighter.

Have you ever eaten polenta???

2011-01-13T09:21:00.002-05:00

I had never eaten polenta until i decided to try and make it this week, Ok the truth is it was a little of a recipe disaster.

I had the great idea that i would make some grits with spinach and tomatoes for dinner.

I has some sausage and i thought it would be a delicious dinner for everyone.

So i talked it up all day, this wonderful meal that i was going to make, and then at 5:00 as i go to get out the grits i find an empty box.... i hate it when i do that.

So i am scrambling trying to figure out how i can make my delicious dinner delicious without the main ingredient.

Polenta?

huh, so i google vegan polenta and there it is, sounds simple enough.

Corn meal, water, spices, a few minutes in the fridge.

So away we go.

Fresh local organic spinach from the farmers market.

lasted a total of 18 hours in my house YUM

Polenta before cooking on the stove

tomatoes, tons of garlic (that's how we roll), onions, oregano, olive oil and a touch of white wine

why not?

I have to admit the finished product was pretty good. I am not a huge sausage person, but i did have a little.

oh and Roe loves polenta. next time i am going to use chicken broth instead of water to add some calories.

a slight delay

2011-01-08T09:17:00.001-05:00

....in soup production. But the holidays have come and gone and i need some much needed healing in the waist line as well as in my heart. I believe i have gone back and fourth thinking that i must have made all this up/ it couldn't be true, to i must be over-reacting this is really no big deal, to probably MEGA over-reacting.
I have researched the Allergy Avoidance diet and am questioning whether if it came down to it, i would be able to think up creative ways to cook a relatively small amount of food. Right now i have to just let go and let GOD. This is really more than i can comprehend right now.
So back to soup production. I have two that i would like to try and make soon, one is a sun dried tomato minestrone from the healing foods cookbook, the other is a black bean and salsa soup from Annie Eats blog. Monday i am making dinner for a dear family who welcomed a new little Bambino to the flock and i signed up to bring my husbands and my favorite soup. Tomato Corn and Sausage soup that is so delicious, hearty and pretty healthy ( especially if you use turkey sausage).
I am back and we are working hard around here trying to sort through life.

Ohhhhh i found a recipe that sounds disgustingly delicious for Candied Bacon Popcorn. Since it sounds mega fattening and that's exactly what my little one needs also it is safe for him to eat as far as we know i will be making a batch this afternoon.
Pictures, recipe and food critique to follow.