Why nothing is getting done around here...

Song for a Fifth Child



 Mother, oh Mother, come shake out your cloth
empty the dustpan, poison the moth,
hang out the washing and butter the bread,
sew on a button and make up a bed.
Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?
She's up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I've grown shiftless as Little Boy Blue
(lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).
Dishes are waiting and bills are past due
(pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo).
The shopping's not done and there's nothing for stew
and out in the yard there's a hullabaloo
but I'm playing Kanga and this is my Roo.
Look! Aren't her his eyes the most wonderful hue?
(lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).

The cleaning and scrubbing will wait till tomorrow,
for children grow up, as I've learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down, cobwebs. Dust go to sleep.
I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep.


by Ruth Hulburt Hamilton

My little fifth child is just out of the hospital after getting aspiration pneumonia following surgery.  We're just hangin' and I'm good with that.

Yet another Austen Allegory...

My very favorite character in Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen is Colonel Brandon.  He always does the right thing.  He takes care of his niece.  He loves Marianne Dashwood and, while he sees her falling for Mr. Willoughby, he does the right thing and steps back.  When Mr. Willoughby is proven a cad, Marianne falls heartbroken.  She also falls ill and it is Colonel Brandon, who ultimately needs "an occupation lest he go mad..."  He who had carried her in when she fainted.  Finally, he rides off to get her mother when he can do nothing else.

Today one of my very best friends was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.  She will need to remain in the hospital for 6 weeks, followed by 8 months of chemo, then perhaps a bone marrow transplant.

I have been uber busy the last several weeks overseeing Catholic Vacation Bible School.  My dear friend helped to get out our confirmation letters to each student, helped package art kits for craft time and on the very last day of CVBS, gave me a meal.   And while this was all happening, she was moving.  I told her she didn't look like she felt well and she just sighed and said, "Yes, I have been very tired."  Last week, I had three sick children and company coming, so I didn't realize how sick she had gotten and she ended up with having a bone marrow biopsy on Friday, last, one week from when she said she was very tired.

This morning she shared an initial diagnosis of leukemia and lymphoma.  I spent the day crying.  I cried because I was too busy last week to realize she might have needed my help.  I cried because I didn't know the extent of her illness and that she took care of me in my time of need.  I cried because I didn't know how serious it was and felt helpless.  I cried because I love her like a sister, her husband like a brother and her kids like my own.  I paced the house, trying to find things to do to help.  I felt like Colonel Brandon, like I needed an occupation, lest I go mad. 

Her husband called me to tonight to share the full details.  Finally those of us who have been asking how to help, know what they need.  That's no consolation, but at least we have an occupation so we can, at the least, feel like we're helping.

If you have time, can you say a prayer to Blessed Fr. Anibal asking his intercession on my friend's behalf?  He'll know who you are talking about without having to name her because he's hearing many, many prayers from those of us who got her request to pray for his intercession.  Click on the picture for his intercessory prayer.

Regardless of your denomination, please pray for my friend.  We need a miracle.  Her husband and 4 kids need one, too.

 

We interrupt this blog vacation for a major announcement!

This is good news for me, bad news for those with wheat allergies!  My little man has grown out of his wheat allergy!  Praise the Lord!  So, we're still re-introducing wheat slowly so his intestines don't freak out. 

We found this out on November 9th.  So, over the last three weeks, we have been slowly adding wheat, a few crackers and macaronis at a time and voila!  no reaction.

However, he still is positive for dairy (high on skin test, low on RAST).  The other interesting news is that he did not test positive in the RAST test for egg, but the skin test was mildly positive.  That's the next thing to try.  Dairy won't be tried until the new year.  So, after a month of introducing wheat back in, we can try egg.  Then after a month, we MIGHT try dairy.  He had dairy accidentally last week and had hives around his mouth, so I'm dubious that he's safe, but we'll see.

So, that's my good news.  Here's one way we celebrated yesterday.  At Thanksgiving, my 13 year old daughter made pumpkin pie tarts.  To humor me, she made them without eggs.  We made a double batch of egg-free pumpkin pie filling because she was going to make a pumpkin pie for another Thanksgiving celebration, but ended up not, so we had extra.  I ended up using the extras with a 5 star Paula Deen Pumpkin Bar recipe to make these:

Egg free Dairy Free Pumpkin Bars
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
First - combine in a medium sauce pan: (This can be used as an egg-free dairy-free pumpkin pie filling.)
 1 15oz can pumpkin
3/4  cup  brown sugar, firmly packed
1 1/2  cup  water
6 1/2  Tbsp  cornstarch
1  tsp  allspice
1/2  tsp  salt
1/4  tsp  ground cloves
1/2  tsp  ginger
Cook over medium heat until mixture begins to thicken, stirring constantly.
Remove from heat.  Mine was cool.  Allow to cool a little.  Put in mixing bowl and  add:
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
Mix at low speed until thoroughly combined and the batter is smooth. Spread the batter into a greased 13 by 10-inch baking pan. Bake for 30 minutes. Cut into bars.

These bars received HIGH marks all around from my kids who don't normally like pumpkin bar.  They were almost a little gooey and oh-so-yummy.

Now, back to my blog vacation.

Unexcused Absence

Renamed - Unexcused Absence.
I apologize for my absence.  Life has, I'm afraid, caught up with me.  After my surgery in August, complications that followed, school starting and me, not feeling better, blogging has fallen to the back burner.  I must admit that I really haven't had the gumption.  Want to know something?  I'm behind on everything:  school, reading, writing, teaching.  Everything including email.  Before surgery, I had a few unread emails in my inbox.  Right now there are 789. Yup.  789.  And, since I'm not still not feeling quite up to par, consider this my notice that I will be only blogging over at my other blog only for a while.  I'll try to shoot back here around Advent.

Take care!

Cooking should take my mind off it, right?

Meet Mr. Wonderful, my amazing 4 year old son.

We're back from Mr. Wonderful's colonoscopy and endoscopy.  More on that in a bit.

Are you like me?  Does the act of cooking, the creative act of throwing this and that together to make something delicious, takes you to another place?  This is the time of year I HAVE to bake.  Baking is not only one of my families most important traditions, it has the wonderful side effect providing nutrition (come on, even cookies have SOME nutrition).  I bake when I need to process.  So, that's on my agenda today.

Here's the list of things we're making this Christmas season:
UPDATE:  Those things that are finished have an X by them (12/20/2011)
X Artisan Bread (gifts for my hubby's bosses and co-workers and our neighbors)
x Schoenstatt Sugar Cookie Shrines
X Rice Krispie ornaments
X Sunbutter Cups (think Reese's without the peanut butter...using sunbutter instead)
Krumkake
GF/Dairy Free/Egg Free Pepperment Meltaway cookies
X  Corn Flake wreaths
X Church windows
X Graham Cracker Houses (see pictures here)
X GF Gingerbread Cookies
Date Filled Oatmeal Sandwich Cookies

This is a really ambitious list, but it's the one time of year I'm guaranteed to bake, I need to process and my kids need the time with me.  The girls help and the boys linger, looking for beaters to lick and scraps to taste. So that's not bad, at all.

But mostly I need to process.  During Mr. Wonderful's colonoscopy, I slipped into the bathroom.  When I came out, the Dr. was waiting for me.  I didn't like the look in his eyes.  He HAD found some areas of concern that would explain failure to thrive.  I'm waiting for more lab results and a consultation on Thursday.  He was adamant we come in this week.  In the mean time, Mr. Wonderful was the model patient and he won over the nurses with his charming smile and big blue eyes. He won me over day one with those, so it's no surprise he's won more hearts.

So I'm processing the possibilities of a diagnosis I didn't want to get.  I'm processing the fact he inherited the possible condition from me.  I'm processing life with more changes.  Excuse me while I go cook.

False Alarm, Sort of...

As many of you know, my three year old is tiny.  He was born tiny due to insufficiency of the placenta.  The technical term for it is Small for Gestational Age (SGA).  It's caused by IntraUterine Growth Restriction (IUGR).  It's called IUGR if they catch it before the baby is born (which they didn't in his case.)

Here's some background.  He was only 19.5" when he was born, so he was small, but not too small.  Most of my kids are 21-22".  He hasn't grown much height wise, but we also suspected he had allergies.  At his three year well-child visit, the doctor turned on the lights and sirens because he had stopped growing!  That's when the allergy testing started followed closely by his no egg, no dairy, no wheat diet.

So, I've been measuring the little guy regularly lately.  I finally decided to plot the measurements on a curve along with measurements I've kept in his medical file from appointments past in Excel.  Apparently the growth charts at the doctor's office are only graphed according to well-child visits.  They don't include any other appointments.  He had a pre-operative appointment three and a half months before his three year well-child (the one where they set off the alarms on his growth) and part of that exam included a height check.  Low-and-behold, his height at that visit was .7" TALLER than his three year well-child visit height.  He didn't stop growing, he was measured incorrectly or the number was transcribed incorrectly.  So, while we know he is small, there was really no cause for the amount of alarm that was raised.

I will politely point that out to the doctor at his four year well-child visit in two months.  I will continue on with the no wheat, no dairy and no egg diet, but will be a little less worried that his diet was to blame for the blip.  In fact, since removing coconut from his diet entirely, he eczema is almost non-existent except for a small patch on below his buttock on his right thigh.  He's not wheezing nearly as much (he does on occasion.)  He's growing at a slow, but steady pace.

So we can stand down the red alert and remain at yellow alert for another two months.  Whew!

Please offer prayers for my mom!

Hey all you prayer warriors out there!  You've done it before and I know you can do it again.  My mom is dealing with chronic illness and  a recent med change is making her feel pretty crummy.  Can you offer up a prayer or sacrifice for her?  Prayer and great medical treatment brought her back from the brink in 2007.  We would really appreciate it. 

We have the wonderful opportunity to have her here with us for Christmas.  We're very thankful!  I'll offer up a prayer for the intentions of my readers, as well.  Thank you!

My Thyroid is NOT my friend!

Six months after my second child was born, I got sick.  I wasn't sick in the classic sense.  Instead, I felt like I was disappearing.  That may sound strange.  I thought I was suffering from post-partum depression and a little sadness about giving up a very lucrative and rewarding career.  I was raised to be a working woman.  I know now that I did the very best thing for my children and love being their teacher.  But, I was actually sick, not depressed. 

Slowly, I needed more sleep, up to 14 hours a day, endured horrible headaches, lost hair, had dry skin, was constipated (sorry if TMI) and felt depressed.  I also had tingling hands.  If that wasn't enough, I started to feel like I was choking.  I wasn't choking, but I felt like I was.  It became very distressing and my husband insisted I go to the ER.  Something was choking me.  It was a goiter.  My thyroid had grown so large, my neck was swollen (didn't notice myself because I was 70 pounds overweight at the time), but it was also putting pressure on my windpipe, hence the choking sensation.  They tested my thyroid levels. Low and behold my TSH was incredibly high (double digits - 89) when normal is between 0.5 and 3.  I was prescribed a low dose of Synthroid and was given instructions to get to my doctor on the next business day.

The nurse-practitioner I saw was petrified and referred me to a surgeon to have my thyroid removed.  The surgeon read the report and sent me to an endocrinologist.  After a month wait to get in, I finally saw one of the best endocrinologist in town.  He did a blood workup and one of the most thorough exams I had ever had.  He called me a week later to explain my problem.  It was Hypothyroidism secondary to Hashimoto's Thyroiditis.  He increased my Synthroid dose, told me to schedule another appointment in 6 weeks and hung up.  I didn't get anymore information from him.  Thankfully, I felt much better pretty quickly.

However, my system goes through spurts when I feel yucky and figure it is my thyroid.  More often than not, I am right.  One of the sad, sad side effects, which the doctors didn't explain was how the thyroid works in the body.  The thyroid is responsible for metabolism.  Every cell in the body relies on thyroid hormones for regulation of their metabolism.  So, when you are not producing enough of those important hormones, your metabolism suffers.  Fun stuff when you are trying to lose weight!  Or maybe not?

I have been having one of those yucky spurts lately.  I usually start to feel like I am disappearing again.   I haven't had my thyroid levels checked in 9 months, so it was time.  Well, my weight loss of late can be explained by the fact that my levels WERE off, except in the other way.  I was over-corrected and my TSH was at 0.12.  So, my "easy" loss of five pounds was more likely a side-effect of  hyperthyroidism.  My meds are corrected.  Disappointing from a weight loss perspective, because I know it will be harder but at least I am feeling better.  Those five pounds lost just seemed too easy.  Now I know.

The Diet Experiment

I'm about to embark on a diet experiment.  I'll call it the stomach growl diet.  I did it about 10 years ago and lost ten pounds a month.  It's been on my mind for a while and I finally decided to give it a go again after reading this.


The trick is whether I have the self control to wait for my stomach to growl.  I learned this when I was doing the "Weigh Down Work Shop" by Gwen Shamblin.  I hate missing meals with my family, so I need to occasionally have a drink of milk if the tummy growls before dinner is done.  I will also need to get more sleep.

Wish me luck!

I did it! HBI5MAD Eggless, GF, Diary Free Brioche Dough!!

We have a new 11 year old here.  My eldest daughter turned 11 today.  We started the day with Mass (her choice).  Then, we came home for our very weird family tradition - Ice Cream and Donuts for breakfast.  Last night at midnight, I was mixing up the regular dough.  My friend Julie lent me the Healthy Bread in 5 Minutes a Day book.  I have only tried one other recipe, and of course, I punted on that one, too.  We didn't want the three year old left out, so I modified a recipe for donuts for him, too.

I'm happy to report my daughter (the birthday girl) and husband said the GF, EF, DF, CF donuts were great!  I couldn't try them because of the rice flour (I'm allergic).  They said the donuts were chewier (more like a bagel) than our Egg free Challah based donuts, but good none-the-less.  The good news is that I have lots of dough left.  I will be making him cinnamon rolls tomorrow, as a treat.   I will make the rest into a small loaf suitable for little pieces of toast or I will make it into cinnamon swirl raisin bread.  Haven't decided on that one, though.

So, here's the recipe.

Egg Free, Diary Free, Wheat/Gluten Free Brioche the Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day Method

based on the GF Brioche recipe from Healthy Breads in 5 Minutes a Day.
Makes 3 1-1/2 lb loaves (I only made enough for 1 loaf)

1 c. brown rice flour
1 c. tapioca starch
3 3/4 c. corn starch
2 Tbsp. granulated yeast
1 Tbsp. kosher salt
2 Tbsp. xanthan gum (I used 1.5x as much Guar Gum since I'm out of xanthan gum at the time)
2 1/2 c. milk substitute (I used Vance's Dari-free, made according to package directions)
1 c. honey
1/4 c. flax seed meal mixed into 3/4 c. warm water (as an egg substitute)
1 c. neutral flavored oil
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract

1.  Combine dry ingredients and whisk together until thoroughly combined.  I used my stand mixer because this a difficult bread to mix well by hand.  I used the paddle attachment.  If you use an ice cream bucket for your dough, it will fit under your stand mixer and you don't have to dirty an extra mixing bowl.
2.  Combine liquid ingredients and mix until well combined.  Gradually pour the liquid ingredients into the dry and mix until no dry spots are left.
3.  Loosely cover and allow to rise until doubled at room temperature. 
4.  Refrigerate lightly (not tightly) covered.
5.  For donuts, sprinkle a little rice flour on a board or counter.  Sprinkle top or cover with wax paper or plastic wrap.  Roll to about 1/4" thickness and cut with a donut or circle cutter.  Place on a sheet pan or bread board covered with wax paper, sprinkled with rice flour to prevent sticking. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to sit for 30 minutes.  Heat oil to 360-370 degrees.  Add donuts and holes carefully to hot oil.  Do not over crowd.  Cook for 1-2 minutes until golden brown and flip carefully.  Cook until other side is done.  Drain on paper towel covered plate.  Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar or powdered sugar.
6.  For bread, grab a 1 1/2lb wad of dough and gently shape into a loaf, using wet hands.  Put into a greased 8x4" pan.  Allow to rise for 90 minutes (covered with plastic wrap).  Bake at 350 degrees for 40 - 45 minutes.  Allow to cool completely before slicing.

Just one more note...I don't usually use flax seed as an egg replacer, but I have found that it is the best replacement in bread.  I just don't use it as much.  I'm going to get some chia next to try as an egg replacer!

Now what?

I'm proud to say we have made it 8 weeks gluten free with very few slip ups (only in the first two weeks)
Despite that, my three year old's eczema is worse than ever.  It's now on his neck, arms,  face, stomach and sides.  He'd never had it anywhere but his legs (and diaper area - ouch!). It's still there and worse than ever.

He's no longer getting any dairy, eggs or wheat.  Now, he eats MOSTLY rice (which I'm allergic to), gar-fava bean flour, coconut milk, corn (tortillas), soy based cheeses, Earth Balance Buttery Spread (thank, realmom!) instead of the obvious alternatives.   One thing I've noticed is he has started to only eat a few things.  If I bake anything, he won't eat it.  I tried to make cinnamon rolls for him - nope.  I have baked GF/CF/EF brownies with a Bob's Red Mill mix and he wouldn't eat those either.   GF Biscuits?  Nope.  He will eat pancakes made with the new Gluten-free Bisquick, but not the Bob's Red Mill GF Pancake mix (any body want what's left?)  I've also made a wide variety of things like muffins, coffee cakes, etc and he's turned them all down cold.  He likes it when I make oven baked chicken with a Gluten Free Bisquick as a coating.  The last 8 weeks I have tried to make his food as much like ours as possible so that he doesn't feel denied.  I don't think he does.  Now he's being selective either because of picky-ness or because something is not agreeing with him.  He's not terribly verbal, so it's hard to figure out.  It's very frustrating when he REALLY needs to eat to gain weight.

I'm more frustrated about the eczema, though.  While he's not lying in a pile on the couch saying he's tired anymore, he's scratching all the time now.  He can't sleep.  We're down to one bath a week with cool water and moisturizer two times a day.  I can't seem to pin point what the culprit might be that is causing the eczema.  So, next trip to the doctor we'll have to do yet another blood draw to see if he's allergic to rice, coconut, sunflower seeds or perhaps some fruits?? I don't know.  He already takes Zyrtec, which is a histamine blocker for his allergies.  I wonder what his eczema would look like if we took him off that!  I can't see putting a kid that is already short and small on steroids.  For now, we're relying on Aquaphor and tricimnalone for the eczema.

I wish we had a normal here.  He also hasn't gained any weight or grown taller.  It is hard enough to try to get him to gain weight on the short list of foods he's allowed to have.  He comes down in the morning, literally shaking because he's so hungry. Then, he turns down the food he asks for and requests something else.  It's hard to know when to give in and when to give up.

One more month and we'll have had our three month run of Gluten Free eating.  I'm not sure what will happen when we switch back.  I'm a little scared - scared that what I am doing now IS the new normal.  All prayers are gratefully accepted.

No, I'm not pregnant...

I had serious concerns that I was pregnant on Sunday.  We were at a picnic and boy, did I have nausea.  The kind that usually only comes from one source.  I was tired.  I had a massive headache...and my monthly bill had not yet arrived.  What was it?  I knew I couldn't be pregnant, given what I know about my cycle (unless God had other plans).  What caused it?

Stress caused the delay in the cycle.  But the other stuff?  Duh!  I started a very mild liver cleanse two weeks ago because I'd dropped several medications that I really no longer needed and I wanted the remains OUT of my body.  I'd also given up aspartame seven months ago and figured that some of the garbage may still have been in my system.

What caused the illness that looked like pregnancy?  A healing crisis, I think...My body finally flushed all the yuck out of my systems and temporarily sent it into my blood stream only to be flushed away (if you get my drift).   However, in the process, my system went EEKKK!  POISON!!!

While I was nauseous, headache-y and tired on Sunday, Monday was 10 times worse.  School was modified to a 2/3 day schedule (we'll make up the balance on Friday afternoon).  I took two naps.  I took an epsom salt/baking soda bath.  I used a caster oil pack on my tummy.  I drank peppermint tea.  I drank about a gallon of water.  This morning only the headache remained.  Strangely, it is still going in and out.  I have already downed 64 oz. of water because I just can't get enough and my skin is amazingly soft (must have been the baking soda bath).  But the nausea is gone, praise the Lord!

Now, I am working toward eating better and getting more sleep.  I will work on the food part first as the sleep thing is harder for me.

So, to all those friends at the picnic on Sunday night that were praying for me, thank you!

HI. My name is Cathie and I am addicted...

to coconut milk.  I love to use it in everything I bake as a non-dairy substitute for milk and sometimes eggs.  It is so, so good for you as is coconut oil. It's one of the few foods that has lauric acid, which is fabulous for healing a bad gut (which Celiac's would cause.)   Heck, some people have claimed to cure diseases with it.  Sadly, here's the problem.

A week or so ago, we took the three year old to the doctor to get tested for the wheat allergy (again), a Celiac panel and oat allergy.  He only scored .5 on a scale from 0-6 for wheat and .3 on a scale of 0-6 for oats.  The doctor's not convinced wheat's his problem, but he's asked me to keep him on the wheat free diet for 3 months.  We've got one month practically under our belt.  He did ask me to watch for other allergies.

Here's what I've come up with...coconut and sunflower.  Last time I gave him a spoon full of sun-butter, the poor kid's nose ran like a faucet and he broke out in hives.  His eczema flares seriously if I give him coconut.  Yes, the coconut yogurt he loves may be making his skin worse.  That along with everything I've been baking for him (because I keep adding coconut milk.)  What a bummer.  You see when you have a kid allergic to eggs and dairy AND is failure to thrive, you try to find ANYWAY to get fat into them.  Little kids really need it.  All the non-dairy milks are pretty much fat free.  So, I can't add cheese, cream, ice cream, etc to fatten the kid up.  I'm practically down to potato chips and french fries ;-).  Okay, I'm only kind of kidding.  He doesn't eat much meat.  He will eat baked beans.  We've cut him off from his 2-bowl-a-day oatmeal habit because of the fear of cross contamination with wheat.  He'll eat some veggies and lots of fruit.  He would live on boxed cereal if I let him, but that's not going to happen.  Against my will, I've been giving in to giving him soy based cheese.  I haven't tried tahini yet.  That might be next.  We stay away from nuts and peanuts because of other allergies in our house.  He's eating quinoa about once every two days for variety, although he doesn't like it.  If you have any suggestions on other good-fat foods I could feed him, please hit the combox.

So, I'm back to not knowing how to keep this kid on the growth curve.  He keeps sliding off...

So Delicious

Did you know there is coconut milk yogurt out there now?? Yes there is!!! It's aptly named "So Delicious".  And, the three year old loved it! I have to take his word for it since it has rice in it.  Now, it's $1.89 a container.  He won't be getting it often, but whoo-hoo!  If I could just figure out how to make my own.  I've seen lots of yogurt recipes with regular milk...

Time for a google search!

Day 7 - One Week Wheat Free (almost)

First, I apologize for not posting last night.  We have some kind of virus going around our house.  I was first, now my oldest daughter has it...yucky 101+ degree temp, headache, sore joints and malaise.

Even though I haven't felt well, I was able to keep the three year old on a diet free of wheat yesterday and today.  I was really bummed last night, though, when I hosed him off in the tub to see his eczema worse than it has been in a long time.  I was really, really hoping it would go away, not get worse.  What I worry about with allergies is that once you are off the offending food  totally, when you have a "incident", it's much worse than when you were having that food all the time.  Maybe it was the wheat in the rotisserie chicken on Sunday night.  I don't know.  I also know I have not triple verified that EVERYTHING is gluten free by contacting the manufacturers.

I can't honestly remember what he had yesterday, so, sorry about that.  I can tell you what he had today, though:
Breakfast:
3 very small pieces cinnamon toast on BRM Wonderful bread (mini-loaves)
2 bowls of Berry Berry Kix with Rice Dream
1/2 a banana
1/2 a glass of apple juice
1 slice of soy based cheese

Lunch:
Rice noodles with Prego spaghetti sauce
1 Coleman's GF/EF/DF chicken nugget
Apple slices

Afternoon Snack:
Rice Crackers
Rice Dream

Dinner:
Quinoa/Corn pasta with tomatoes and sausage
1 slice of tofutti soy cheese
peaches

BIG TREAT - An Icee

He and I went to a healing Mass tonight.  The priest is a member of the Charismatic Renewal here and I can only say it was nothing short of AMAZING.   We started with a rosary.  The Mass was an hour long because the priest, Fr. Jim Livingstone, prays over whatever needs he feels need to be pray for and he takes as much time as it takes.  We got there at 7pm for rosary, followed by Mass, followed by the priest praying over each person individually and got to the car at 9:35.  The three year old was prayed over.  I was too, and it was indescribable.  It was like I was at one of the TV shows where people are being healed and they fall over.  That was the way it was here.  I was, well, a bit skeptical.  However, when he laid his hands on me and started praying, I got so dizzy I could not stand up.  They thankfully have someone there to catch you.  And, a nice lady walked the three year old around the stain glass windows while I was prayed over.  If you have the chance, I highly recommend seeing this priest, whether it is physical or spiritual healing that you need.  I'll stop gushing now.  Thank you, Fr. Livingstone!

Day 5 - Wheat Free - almost...

We went to the Minnesota Irish Fair today.  Archbishop Nienstedt said Mass (WOW!) and then we spent the whole morning and afternoon enjoying a FREE day.  The fair is free.  We brought our own lunch to avoid any allergens.  It was lovely.

Unfortunately, we ended up blowing it tonight.  We got rotisserie chicken and I didn't think to check the label.  The seasoning had wheat.  So, we'll have to see how he fares tomorrow.

Here's what he ate:
Cinnamon Chex with Rice Milk
Banana

Ham and Soy Cheese sandwich on BRM Wonderful Bread
Fritos
French fries (had some from a vendor - may have had some wheat...)
Peach
Cotton Candy (a little bit)

Chocolate Rice Dream
Carrot Sticks
Rice noodles with spaghetti sauce
Chicken Drum Stick

Pearson Mint patty

Bowl of Mother's Cereal with rice milk

Like I mentioned before, he's a big cereal eater.  I just found a website that costs $4.95 a month that has 30,000 different items with allergen indicators.  I'm considering the expense.  I can do my research before heading to the grocery store.  Trust me.  The last thing I want to do is spend my time reading more labels in the store than I already do.  The big gotcha's with Gluten Free (we're really just trying wheat free) are:
modified food starch
natural flavorings
natural color
caramel color

Those things can contain wheat. I've not been perfect at avoiding those items.  So, perhaps my test isn't really a good test at all.

We'll see how the next week goes.

Day 4: Wheat Free

Sorry for the continuation of what is probably a boring topic for most.  I'm really using my blog as a place holder so I can keep track of my three year old's progress off of wheat.

I made Cherry Garcia Scones as a treat for breakfast this morning.  I found a GF scone recipe that I added chocolate chips to for the little guy.  He didn't like them, but the twelve year old boy loved them!

Here was his day:
Breakfast
part of a GF scone
Tea with rice milk
Cinnamon Rice Chex with rice milk
Banana

Snack -
Kosher dill pickles
popcorn

Lunch-
baked beans
some hot dog (no bun)
kettle chips
carrots

Dinner- (We couldn't pass up KIDS EAT FREE at Ikea)
hot dog (again)
mandarin oranges
apple sauce
juice

Bed time snack
more Cinnamon Rice Chex
cream of rice

This kid loves cereal.  I don't think it's terribly good, but I'm in a place where I need to have both convenience and something he will eat that doesn't have wheat.  My oldest daughter realized that I'm now having to make two sets of meals from scratch and then said, "I'm so sorry, Mom."  She had no reason to apologize.  She just felt bad.  I'm glad I LIKE to cook, or this would be very tedious!

I might try oatmeal again.  I know it is controversial as to whether it has wheat in it.  He loves it, though.  And, I keep reading it is okay/ it is not okay.  Not sure if we'll see a difference.

Observations for today:

1. Didn't eat as much and was clingy much of the day
2. Turned down fruit and veggies several times

 I'm also curious if any of my readers have experience with DH Dermatitis Herpetiformis.  It's a skin condition caused by gluten.  Celiac disease is a gluten reaction in the gut.  DH is a gluten reaction on the skin (caused from eating gluten, not touching it).  My three year old isn't verbal enough to tell me if what he has for a rash on his skin burns.  I do know his rash itches.  I've always assumed it is eczema.  I get it cleared up usually just before we go to the doctor, so it's never been bad enough for the doctor to say much.  It is scaly looking, symmetrical, located behind his knees, but mostly on the backs of his thighs.  He also gets it in his elbow creases on occasion.  I usually have to treat it with triamcinalone.  I also have been putting aquafor on it as well.  The doctor told me that it is most likely allergy induced, what ever it is.  Sometimes it is bright red, bloody if he's scratched it too much.  Other times, when it is not bothering him so much, it is just pink and raised.  I'm a little worried he'll have scarring on his legs from it because it doesn't seem to go away completely.

Tomorrow we'll be gone all day, so eating might be an adventure.  I will probably pack him a sandwich and hope for the best!

Day 3: Wheat Free

Everyone wanted waffles for breakfast this morning.  I opted to get some Van's frozen Gluten Free waffles because not only are they gluten free, but they are also free of eggs and dairy!  Hooray!  One less thing I need to figure out how to make on my own.  I would also worry about cross contamination on the waffle iron.  I will venture into GF waffles, home made, but not right now.

We went to see the replicas of the Nina and Pinta in Hudson, Wisconsin today.  WOW!  That was a day well spent with family.  To boot, we navigated McDonald's gluten free.  The three year old usually eats the bun, pickles and one or two bites of the hamburger, fries and apple juice.  I thought ahead enough to bring two slices of the BRM Wonderful Bread that I had made on Wednesday to replace the bun.  He did his usual.  He at the two slices of bread, the pickles and two bites of hamburger.  He didn't eat many fries, but that's okay.

I made Tandoori Chicken, naan, salad and assorted veggies for dinner.  I opted to make him Coleman's GF chicken nuggets,  GF, DF, EF naan.  The consistency was more like pancake batter, so I just fried it like pancakes.  He loved it, but didn't eat much.  My seven year old daughter, who somehow wishes she got "special food", tasted them for me (they had rice flour).  She said they were great!  They tasted more like "bread" than our naan, which I made from Olive Oil Light Wheat made from the ABI5MAD dough.  I made too much for him, so I will freeze the rest and save it for the next time we have tandoori chicken.

He's been snacking on a leftover Van's waffle all day, too.  He asked me not to throw it away.  He has been back to eat it several times through out the day.

Thanks, bearing, for the comments.  He doesn't like quinoa, but I did buy some quinoa noodles.  He seems to be reacting to sun butter, but I haven't done tahini yet.  He didn't like hummus the last time I made it, but I can keep trying that.  We'll be working through baked beans, Coleman's chicken nuggets and pasta sauce with meat.  I think I will buy quinoa flour, too, so I can add it to the stuff I bake to beef up the protein content.

He also has a new found love for Rice Dream milk.  He's been drinking 2 cups a day.  That is wonderful because it has LESS sugar in it than regular milk.

Observations for today:

1. The Wonderful Bread is truly that - wonderful for him.
2. Van's and Coleman both have a big thumbs up since they also don't contain dairy or egg.
3. He's full of energy, again.  In fact, he's acting very DIFFERENT!  He's full of P&V (I won't spell it out...)
4. Again, going to the bathroom did not cause crying, needing to be held and reassurance that it would all be over soon...He just went and informed me he needed to be wiped.  Very different than the past few months.

Day 2: Wheat free

I'm trying serve my three year old the same food (not from the same source) that everyone else is having. 
Here was his intake today:
Breakfast:
Cream of Rice cereal and a banana (other kids had choice of bagel and cream cheese or hot cereal)
Tea with Rice Dream and Agave Nectar
Lunch:
2 BRM Gluten Free Pancakes w/ strawberries and syrup
1/2 a glass of Apple Juice
Dinner:
GF Pizza with Veggie Slice of Mozzarella on top
Water
Snack:
Rice Dream with Nesquick
Raisins

My biggest challenge is getting enough protein into this kid.  What do you do with a kid who can't eat dairy or eggs, doesn't like most meat and we have a significant enough peanut/tree nut allergy that we can't do nut butters?  Help?  Anyone?

So, it's only day 2, but here are some observations:
1) He didn't act lethargic all day
2) He was cheerful most of the day
3) His BM was solid and he didn't cry about having to go potty
4) His eczema looks exactly the same

A new chapter in cooking with allergies...

We made the decision this weekend to take our 3 year old off wheat.  The pediatrician has been gently nudging me to give wheat-free a 6 week trial to see how he feels.  He had been "failure to thrive" and we have addressed two other allergies, eggs and dairy, and are now trying this out to see if he feels better.  I've seen a cycle with his eczema.  When he has large doses of wheat, he breaks out badly.  The more wheat, the more eczema.

The big challenge here is the different combination of allergies.  I have a long list of allergies as do 4 of my kids and my husband.  The biggest one is the egg allergy.  I have made most baked goods without eggs since 2009, when I had my first bad reaction to eggs.  I still make scrambled, fried and hard boiled eggs.  I will, occasionally, make other dishes with eggs when I know the 3 year old and I can have something else.  However, because of my rice allergy, cooking gluten free has really intimidated me.  Most recipes that are wheat free use rice flour in combination with some other flour...then Bob's Red Mill saves the day.  I was at the grocery store on Saturday looking through all the gluten free/wheat free items and realized most of the BRM mixes did NOT use rice flour.  Only the brownie mix had rice flour.  The rest were a combination of sorghum, tapioca, potato, garbanzo and fava bean flours.  Those are totally doable for me.  So, today is day one of our new life.  We are now cooking, in some way shape or form, without:
wheat
eggs
dairy
peanuts
treenuts
soy protein
fish
shellfish
pomegranite
rice
We're also adding sunflower seeds to the list of can't haves for the three year old for a few days.  Unlike wheat, we should see results pretty quickly.  The good news is that this leaves about a million other foods we can have.

One other very interesting thing I came across in reading up on other allergy problems was a problem we've had, but hadn't been able to identify until Sunday.  There is something called Oral Allergy Syndrome.   I've been struggling with my 12 year old's face lately. He's broken out in hives around his mouth on and off the last three weeks.  It happens every summer.  Come to find out his horrible Ragweed allergy is to blame and is causing his body to react to watermelon, cantaloupe, zucchini and cucumbers (okay, not zucchini-he won't touch that).  He lives on watermelon and cantaloupe in the summer.  Funny, the three year old is reacting similarly, too.  I knew he had allergies, but now I know he's allergic to ragweed, too.

So, I made BRM Gluten Free Wonder Bread today for the 3 year old.  He liked it.  We all tried a little and found it to be pretty good.  I'll still only be serving it to the 3 year old because it's something like $5 a mix.  I divided up the dough into mini loaf pans.  My little guy doesn't eat a very big sandwich.  So, it's just the right size for a small 3 year old.  I"ll keep you posted on the new recipes as we try them.