Honey Coconut Granola

This granola is so simple and so delicious!  It's completely grain-free, dairy-free, nut-free, and free of refined sugar, and is safe for the GAPS diet.  

The only tricky thing about this recipe is remembering to keep a close eye on it while it's baking because honey burns very easily.  Do not let it overbake at all.  It will be moist when it comes out of the oven, but will harden as it cools.

Enjoy!

2 cups organic unsweetened coconut flakes (we used the fine flakes from Wilderness Family Naturals)
2 cups raw organic pumpkin seeds
2 cups raw organic sunflower seeds
1 cup local raw honey  (we used our own TPN Local Raw Honey)
2 Tbsp organic Vietnamese ground cinnamon (we used Frontier brand)
1 Tbsp natural vanilla extract (we used our own TPN Vanilla Extract, available at local markets and shows)
1/4 tsp sea salt (we used RealSalt)



Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Oil two baking sheets with sides with TPN Coconut Oil.  We used Pampered Chef Stoneware Large Bar Pans.

In a large bowl, mix together coconut, pumpkin seeds, and sunflower seeds.

In a small saucepan, mix together and gently warm the honey, cinnamon, vanilla extract, and sea salt.

Pour the honey mixture over the coconut and seeds, mixing well until seeds are completely moistened.

Divide mixture between the two prepared pans.

Bake for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes.

Honey burns very easily, so you may want to stir it every five minutes at the end, and be sure to keep a close eye on the granola so that it doesn't get too dark.

Remove from oven promptly, and stir frequently while it's cooling to prevent it from sticking to the pan.

Store in an airtight glass container.

Eat as a snack or serve as a cereal with freshly made Coconut Milk.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Coconut Milk

This coconut milk is so simple to make.  We don't add any flavorings or sweeteners to it.  We use it solely for baking, and it works well and adds a nice subtle coconut flavor to recipes.

2 cups fine flaked coconut
4 cups warm water

Place coconut and water in Vitamix.  Stir and let sit for 30 minutes.

Blend for 3 minutes.

Strain through a fine sieve or a nut bag into a large mason jar.

Cool, cover, and refrigerate.  Shake well before using. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Coconut Whipped Cream

2 cans full-fat coconut milk
1 cup powdered sugar


Place cans of coconut milk in the refrigerator for a minimum of 24 hours. 

Place mixing bowl and whip in the freezer for at least 3 hours.

Open coconut cans at the bottom with a bottle opener, and drain the coconut water into a jar to use for another recipe, such as a smoothie.

Now open the top of the can with a can opener and scoop out the thick cream.

Take your bowl and whip out of the freezer and set up the mixer.  The bowl and whisk need to stay cold, so move quickly.
 
Start mixer on low and move up to medium speed.  As the coconut milk starts to whip and increase in volume, gradually add the powdered sugar.

Mix until fluffy like whipped cream.

NOTE:
If you make this on a regular basis, always keep two cans of coconut milk in the refrigerator so you have them when you need them.

GFCFEF Rice Pudding

5 cups cooked white rice

4 cups rice milk

1 cup Wholesome Sweetners evaporated cane sugar

2 Tbsp Vanilla Extract

3 Tbsp Earth Balance Spread (we used soy-free)

1/2 cup raisins

1 Tbsp cinnamon

Add all ingredients to heavy saucepan, place over medium heat and mix well.

Continue mixing every minute or so as mixture begins to heat and ingredients meld together.

Continue to cook over medium heat for about 20 minutes or until the mixture takes on a thick, pudding like consistency. I think this is best when warm, you will need to allow it to cool for about 20 minutes after cooking before serving. It can also be stored in a sealed container in the fridge and enjoyed cold or reheated.

Adapted from Looks Good in Polka Dots

New School!

As of yesterday, we have four kiddos in four different schools.  Nothing like complicating things!

It just wasn't working with E at school.  Their solution to his allergies was to have tables in the classroom with several children at each table...and E at a desk by himself.  Last year, he ate at a desk by himself, but he was allowed to choose a lunch buddy each day, as long as the child hadn't brought nuts or fish for lunch.  He loved it!  Well, they no longer allowed that this year.  The students also move around a lot each day, from table to table, which was one of the things we liked for our active little guy.  This year, they no longer allowed him to do that, either; he had to sit at his desk, alone, all day long.

The result was suppressed anger.  E has had a lot of emotional stuff going on at home over the years, but he has never, ever acted out at school or camp.  Ever.

This year, he started out with 'happy faces' on his weekly report, especially when it came to respecting his teachers and peers.  His teacher even wrote in "Always!" under the 'Respects Teachers' column.  It went from that to E being written up almost every day.  When he was written up, he had to write what he had done, why he did it, why he shouldn't have done it, and what he could do differently.  He was written up for things like breaking the eraser off of his pencil, and when asked why he did it, he said that it was because he was mad.  His teacher told me he had no reason to be mad.  I totally disagree!

Another time, he said that the reason he was being distractive was because he wanted to make his teacher mad!  I knew that his teacher was sometimes frustrated with him, and I asked him how he felt about her.  He lit up and said that he really liked her!  So, he was just angry with being isolated and left out, and he was acting out because of that.

So, we've been communicating with the local public school, where he will be in a peanut-free classroom (because they have a cafeteria, whereas his other school didn't), and will also receive the behavioral and special education support he needs.  He's excited about it, and I'm praying for the best.

E has been home all week with asthma, and next week is vacation.  He was scheduled to have an EEG on Monday to rule out seizures, but they couldn't do it because his asthma was so bad, so we had to reschedule.  It's been a long week at home because he's out of his routine and is struggling emotionally.  I'm trying to make the best of it, but I'm drained.  I've been dreaming about a vacation...

Nick is so angry about the whole school situation.  I understand his anger and frustration.  The directors of the school clearly think that we're over the top, and they've made comments about the fact that no other parents are so strict with how their child's allergies are handled, and how nothing the school does will ever be enough for us.

It's easy to start feeling like we're trouble makers...and then I read the story about yet another child who died from eating peanuts.  I'd heard about it when he passed away last month, after being in a coma for quite awhile, but it wasn't nearly as publicized as some of the other recent allergy deaths.  The article I read today highlighted his parents urging other parents to have an allergy plan and to take their children's allergies seriously. 

It just drove home how serious this really is.  One of the final straws was last week, when E informed me that they were having a 'Snack Shack' and asked if he could take in money to buy a snack.  He knew that they were selling Doritos, which are safe for him.  So I put his money in a bag, along with a note to his teacher, telling her that he was allowed to buy Doritos.

Well, he came home from school with two empty bags, neither of which were Doritos.  I asked E what happened, and he just said that he was trying to look on the labels to see if there were any peanut symbols on them.  He'd decided that he didn't want Doritos so he bought two things that looked like things he'd eaten before.

He never should have done that, and I spoke to him about it, but how on earth did it happen?  Why hadn't his teacher made sure that he bought the Doritos?  I called the school, spoke with the principal, who said that she would look into it.

Apparently, the food was sold by older students to raise money.  E told his teacher about the Doritos and showed her the note, and she told him to put the money in his pocket.  When it was time for Snack Shack, the children who had brought money left the classroom, without an adult, and went to purchase the foods, unsupervised.  E was able to purchase whatever he wanted, and no one checked on him.

True to form, the principal blew it all off as no big deal, which to me was a clear indication that she just does not get it.  Maybe it takes an allergy parent to see that that's the kind of slip up that can quickly go bad and lead to a catastrophe.  All I know is that we couldn't keep taking chance after chance...and there had been quite a few incidents since school started.

I realized that I'm angry, too., but maybe my anger's just buried a little deeper, or clouded by all of the other things that go on in this family each day.  I'm worried for other children with severe food allergies, in that school and other places where people aren't aware or don't understand the seriousness.

For now, I'm looking ahead.  We toured E's school, and it seems really nice.  It's bigger than his current school, which is very small, but is still a reasonable size.  I was so impressed with the staff we met and how they connected with E right away.  E was excited because there were a lot of pictures of students outside their classrooms, and he recognized quite a few of them from church, summer camp, and the Boys & Girls Club.

I'm sure it will be challenging at times, dealing with the schedules and activities of four different schools.  I'm also sure that it won't be as stressful as what we've been dealing with so far this school year!

E's Allergy Testing

E had allergy testing done recently, just to see if there were any changes.

His peanut allergy remains at the highest level (Level VI), and cashews, also a Level VI, are off the chart!  Pistachios are a Level VI, too.  The other tree nuts came way down, so we've scheduled an almond challenge for the end of the month.  I'm not going to get my hopes up, but I will be happy if he passes it.  When he was first diagnosed, I told Nick that if there was just one nut that he wasn't allergic to, I hoped it was almonds.  No such luck.  But that may change!

The lab didn't do the fish/shellfish testing, so we don't know where that stands.  We're just going to wait, rather than putting him through another test.  Anyone living within a hundred mile radius of the lab may have heard him while he was being tested.  It wasn't pretty...

Unfortunately, we're still trying to get a 504 Plan in effect at school.  We had a meeting at the beginning of last month, but the plan they sent us to sign was so far from what we had in mind, that I actually did the research and wrote a 504 Plan myself!  What they sent us was basically the minutes from our meeting, with a brief accommodations section at the end.

I think that the school personnel find us to be over the top, but we take this very seriously, as we should.  They eat peanuts and tree nuts in E's classroom, and we have to make sure that every precaution is in place so that he doesn't get exposed to it.

I'm all for peanut-free classrooms, although his school won't even entertain that.  What concerns me is that they can remove peanuts, but E could still die from a cashew!  There are so many kids who have life-threatening allergies to dairy, eggs, and other foods, that it's next to impossible to remove all allergenic foods from the schools.

So, we just do what we can to keep our little guy safe...and pray for a cure!

*******************

E's Allergies and School

E is back at the same school but in a new class with new teachers.  We got off to a bit of a rocky start with school.  First of all, the transportation department said that they wouldn't transport him.  We went through this last year because we live 1.5 miles from the school, and in order to ride the bus, we have to live 1.51 miles from school!  We got a letter from his allergist stating that he has serious asthma and would be better off riding a bus than walking a total of three miles each day.  Surprisingly, as soon as transportation received the letter, the assigned a bus to both E and GracieGirl.

Then we had the allergy situation.  The school is small and doesn't have a cafeteria, so the kids eat in their classroom.  E always had a special table and he could invite a friend who wasn't eating peanuts for lunch to sit with him.  After lunch, the kids were responsible for wiping down the tables.  What I hadn't realized was that the kids then moved from table to table, meaning that E could be sitting at a table where someone had just eaten peanut butter and then entrusted a kindergartner to adequately clean the table!

So, their solution this year was to have all of the kids at their tables...and then have E at his own desk, all alone, apart from the others.  Let's just say that I wasn't happy with that solution!

We decided to create a 504 Plan for him, just to make sure that the school is doing everything they can to keep him safe.  He was bullied once last year by a kid who lunged at him with peanut butter on his hands.  He was also told by his reading partner (the younger kids partner with older students in the school to practice reading) that no one could get sick or die from peanuts and that he was making it up.  She didn't mean anything, of course, but it really upset him.  The 504 Plan will ensure that anyone working with him in any classroom will be aware of his allergies, know where his EpiPen is kept, and there will always be a designated teacher to administer the EpiPen and call 911.

It's obvious that they think that we're over the top about the allergies (we were pulled aside and spoken to by the directors of the school for upsetting E's teacher by telling her how serious his allergies are), but I don't really care what they think of me.  My job is to keep my son safe.  I want to have a good relationship with his teachers and staff, but he is my number one priority!