Liebster Award

From Life in Joyful Chaos:

I was very surprised and very happy to receive
the Liebster Award from Anu at
Allergy Foodie -
thrive with the top 8 food allergies!

Honestly, on the day she told me, I'd been kind of down, overwhelmed, and toying with the idea of not blogging anymore, thinking that I could focus on other things if I wasn't blogging. Well, I can't even say how this award brightened my day! It just changed my whole outlook on everything! Thank you so much, Anu! :)

I love Anu's blog because she is so upbeat! Her son has sooooo many more allergies than my kiddos do, and still, her recipes look delicious, many full of the wonderful aromatic spices that I love. She explains ingredients that may be new to people who are just starting out on the allergy adventure, and she does great product reviews. She makes food fun for her son, and for anyone else who tries her recipes. Check out her blog; you won't be disappointed!

Oh, and if you want to find some other great allergy blogs,
be sure to check out Anu's other recipients of the award!

There are rules to receiving and accepting this award.

1. Thank the giver and link back to the blogger who gave it to you.

2. Reveal your top 5 picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.

3. Copy and Paste the Award to your blog.

4. Have faith that your followers will spread the word and love to other bloggers.

5. Have fun.

I like #5 the best, since I don't do well with rules!
As a matter of fact, I don't normally
follow the rules at all,
but I'm going to make an exception this time. :)

So, here are my picks.
They aren't specifically allergy blogs,
but they are all blogs by women whose
familes deal with allergies and food restrictions:

1. Andy, Kiara & Family: Kiara's son, Keandre not only deals with many food allergies, he also has Eosinophilic Gastrointestinal Disease. Kiara writes about Keandre's struggles with that disease, and life as a busy mom to her four beautiful children!

2. My 4 Sweetums: Dawn has a child with a very restricted diet and writes about homeschooling and parenting children with special needs. Dawn is a wealth of information when it comes to homeschooling ideas; she's the homeschool mom I would love to be!

3. The Chaos and the Clutter: Sharla has a large family, including a child with allergies, and she writes about homeschooling, special needs parenting, and, of course, chaos and clutter! She also has a great site called Adoption Magazine, where she and guest bloggers share all aspects of adoption. Sharla just published her first book, That These Two Will Live, which I will be reading very soon! It's the story of their fight to bring two of her children home from Ethiopia under very trying circumstances.

4. GFCF Allows Coffee: Kari feeds her children a gluten-free, casein-free diet to help alleviate some of the symptoms of FASD (Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder). Kari has a great sense of humor and some great recipes! That's a great combination, in my opinion!

5. Life With Food Allergies - I only started reading this blog fairly recently but it's by a mom who has children with life-threatening food allergies, asthma, eczema, environmental allergies, and more. She has some delicious-sounding recipes and lots of great information on food allergies.

Living with allergies and food restrictions
is sometimes daunting,
but I can't even imagine doing it without these ladies.
Even if they don't blog specifically about food,
I know that they understand, and that, when frustrated,
I can always shoot them an email
saying:

"I just want to be able to go to a drive-through
instead of always having to
plan every last detail of our food!"

That way, I've gotten it off my chest,
I feel better, and I can go about my day again!

So, a big thank you to all of you!

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Another (Gluten-Free) Birthday Party!

Yesterday, in the final day of celebration
for GracieGirl's birthday,
we had a family party at our house.

GracieGirl loved this dress from her aunt,
especially because it came with a
matching dress for her baby doll.



GracieGirl was actually tired of cupcakes
after having them several times this week,
so we opted for gluten-free brownies.
We cheated and used Betty Crocker Gluten-Free
Brownie Mix. Everyone thought that they were
really good and couldn't tell that they were gluten-free.





I don't have a picture, but we also had
Food by George's Brownies, which are a
longstanding favorite. They're premade,
so we try to keep them in the freezer
for emergencies. They are also soy and
corn-free, unlike the Betty Crocker's.
They are, however, processed with products
containing tree nuts, so they're not safe for E.

We tried Let's Do Gluten-Free
Ice Cream Cones for the first time,
and even the picky eaters ate them!
They are also soy-free.



One of GracieGirl's newest loves
is Lego Friends. She got several
sets for her birthday, and I was amazed
at how she built every one without
any help at all. This was the largest set,
almost 200 tiny pieces. She was very
proud of her accomplishment!



She loved her new dress so much that she
wore it to church today with a sweater.

As crazy as it's been with all of the celebrations, it was so worth it because GracieGirl is so sweet and appreciative. Every little thing made her happy, and I loved seeing her face light up at each show of attention. Birthdays haven't always been easy in our house, so we didn't take any of this for granted!

Now I'm ready for a quiet week...except that tomorrow is the 100th Day of School party, and Tuesday is the Valentine's Party and GracieGirl's Gotcha Day!

I should know better than to expect a quiet week! :)

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Candies and Parties and Fears

I've lost count of the number of emails that have gone back and forth between E's and GracieGirl's teachers and myself this past week.

Why?

In our case, it's complicated by the fact that both children are in multiple classrooms, so there are several Valentine's Day parties and lots of teachers involved.

Once again, I'm wishing I could be one of those moms who just send their kids off to school without a second thought about parties and Valentine's candy. On that note, I read a really good article today:

10 Things to Know about Food Allergies in the Classroom
by Gina Clowes of Allergy Moms

One of the things that really resounded with me was the Balancing Act, where she talks about how we, as parents, have to do everything we can to keep our children safe, while also letting them have as much of a normal childhood as possible, adding that, with kids with severe allergies, there are no do-overs.

With GracieGirl, if she eats wheat, she'll be itchy and uncomfortable and may have a stomach ache. With E, if he eats tree nuts or peanuts, he can die. So yes, I am a pain in the butt when it comes to checking and rechecking what he eats at school. It may look different for you and your child, if your child has mild allergies, but it's a whole different ballgame with a kiddo with life-threatening allergies.

The article also talks about people feeling that we're overly anxious when we won't let our kids eat baked goods. I remember, shortly after E was diagnosed, being at a party and someone offering him a rice crispy treat. I said that I didn't know what was in it and that he was allergic to nuts. She gave me a "you are being way too over-protective" look, saying that no one ever puts nuts in rice crispy treats. I felt bad because, like I said, E had just been diagnosed and this was all new to me. Now I don't bat an eye if someone makes a comment like that. He doesn't eat baked goods; end of story. Oh, and people certainly do put peanut butter in rice crispy treats! ;)

I just stopped to reply to another email from a teacher about Valentine's candy. I love that my kids' teachers go the extra mile, but that doesn't mean that my kids are safe. I'd mentioned the story of the boy who survived an allergic reaction to peanut butter at school by being put on a heart-lung bypass machine; here is another story with more details, including how he came to eat the peanut butter. In both his case, and in the tragic case of the little girl who died in Virginia, the foods were brought in by another student.

On Valentine's Day, I have to worry about the candy that E's classmates may give him. His school is peanut-free, but tree nuts are allowed. I don't even want him touching anything that has tree nuts in it. In addition, we also have to take away most, if not all, of the candy that his classmates give him, which leaves us with one sad little boy.

The article ends by saying, "If you are one of those parents who goes the extra mile to bring the “safe” brand of chips or chocolate, or who tapes trinkets to your child’s Valentine cards instead of candy, then you are my hero too."

I couldn't agree more!

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Strawberry Applesauce Muffins

1 c GF Rice Flour Blend
¾ c sorghum flour
¾ tsp xanthan gum
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp sea salt
½ c sucanat
1 ½ tsp Darifree powder
1/2c warm water
1/3 c expeller-pressed coconut oil
½ c strawberry applesauce
2 Tbsp warm water
1 Tbsp expeller-pressed coconut oil
1 tsp baking soda
Powdered sugar, opt.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a small bowl, mix 2 Tbsp warm water, and 1 Tbsp coconut oil. Stir until coconut oil melts, then stir in baking soda. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl, mix flour blend, sorghum flour, xanthan gum, baking powder, cinnamon, sea salt, and sucanat together.

Mix Darifree powder with warm water. Set aside.

Gently melt coconut oil over low heat. Remove from head and add mixed Darifree, applesauce, and baking soda mixture. Mix well.

Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients.

Using a cookie scoop, fill mini-muffin cups. Bake in preheated oven for 12-14 minutes, until done. Roll in powdered sugar, if desired, for a taste similar to donut holes.

Bribery Week

We've learned that the key to successful parenting is bribery.

Some people may judge, but for us, it's all about survival. :)

Monday was the allergist for Jay and GracieGirl. Jay's dust mite allergy is off the charts. I haven't found a free housekeeper yet and allergy meds aren't cutting it, so the good doctor (he's one of the few that I actually like, even if we don't always agree) once again suggested allergy shots. I'd told him before that we will never again attempt anything involving a needle unless general anesthesia is involved. However, with the use of bribery, Jay actually had a "test run" shot in the office, and agreed to weekly allergy shots. Unbelievable.

Next was GracieGirl. The doctor is now thinking wheat allergy rather than celiac disease. He ordered another blood test, and then wants to do skin tests again. Bribery will be involved because GracieGirl has had both tests before and knows what she's in for!

E didn't have an appointment but he went along for the ride, and the allergist was very happy that he was in such good shape, just a week after being so sick.

Tuesday morning was E's fasting blood draw morning. He remembered the lab and wanted no part of it. There were tears but no screaming, so it could have (and has been) worse. Thank you, bribery.

Tuesday afternoon was Jay's appointment with his autism doctor. There have been many issues recently, but the doctor didn't get to witness any of them. Why? Because Jay knew that, after this appointment, he was getting his reward for surviving the allergy shot the day before!

One of the behavior therapists is here every Tuesday evening for Jay and E, and last week, she pushed Jay a little bit too hard for his liking. So he was not at all cooperative with her this week (understatement). She appreciates bribery and my guess is that she'll need to start using it again with him!

Wednesday was reading support and then the chiropractor for Jay, but he actually tolerates those two, so it was all good. He also had reading support on Monday and again yesterday. He's doing amazingly well, and even though he doesn't love going there (his teacher stopped giving him chocolate after each lesson!), I know that he's proud of his accomplishments.

Right now, Nate and Jay are seeing the orthodontist. Nate's appointment won't be fun, but this will be a particularly tough appointment for Jay. I had to figure out that fine line between telling him enough so that he's prepared without telling him so much that he's riddled with anxiety. He took two doses of a sedative prior to the appointment, so I'm just praying that it works.

Nick gets Father of the Year Award for taking the kids to every single one of these appointments (I was conference called in for a few of them), in addition to social skills classes, a school board meeting, two homeschool classes, youth groups, kids' groups, and soccer!

Finally, I have the quote of the week. I'm going to keep it anonymous, although most people who know my kids could easily guess who said it. It was said at an appointment to one of the doctors who loves to inquire about bowel issues. Every single time, the response has been that there are no problems. This response: "Well, yesterday I had a poop that was the size of a wedding cake!"

All I can say is that if we ever lose our sense of humor, we're in trouble!

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Vanilla!

I love using vanilla beans and am always on the lookout for recipes with vanilla that suit our allergies.

I got this one for vanilla pudding from Kari's blog, and adapted it.


GFCF Vanilla Pudding

2 2/3 cups coconut milk, divided
1/2 cup vanilla sugar*
1/4 cup organic cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
2 vanilla beans, seeds removed
1 large organic free-range egg

Slice down the sides of the vanilla beans and scrape out the seeds. Save the beans.

Combine vanilla sugar, cornstarch, sea salt, and vanilla seeds in the bottom of a medium-sized, heatproof bowl. Gradually whisk in 2/3 cup of the coconut milk, a little at a time; then whisk in the egg. Set aside.

Bring the remaining 2 cups coconut milk and the vanilla beans to a boil in a medium saucepan. Once it is boiling, remove vanilla pods, and very gradually add the coconut milk to the mixture in the bowl, whisking constantly.

Return the mixture to the saucepan, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. Once it comes to a simmer, cook one minute longer.

Pour into a bowl. Place a piece of waxed paper on top of pudding to prevent a film from forming. Cover and chill in refrigerator until set, about 2 hours.

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Another vanilla treat we had recently is Hot Vanilla. So good on a cold day...

GFCF Hot Vanilla

1 c coconut milk
2 tsp vanilla sugar*
½ tsp cinnamon
2 tsp vanilla extract

Mix vanilla sugar and cinnamon in a small saucepan.
Add vanilla extract, stirring until dissolved.
Add coconut milk; stir. Heat gently until warm, stirring occasionally.
Pour into a large mug and enjoy!

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*Vanilla Sugar

2 vanilla beans
2 cups organic sugar

Place sugar in a large mason jar.

Slice down the sides of the vanilla beans and scrape out the seeds. Add to the sugar. Add the beans to the sugar. Cover the jar and shake well. Let sit for a couple of weeks, shaking the jar occasionally to mix.

If you don't want to wait for weeks, Kari also shared in this post how to make instant vanilla sugar. I made it and it's wonderful, but I didn't use it in the pudding because I already had vanilla sugar made up. I don't see why it wouldn't work in the pudding recipe, though.

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