No Sugar Added - Nut Free Energy Bars - SunButter Balls and Cherry Garcia Balls

I cannot eat Larabars because I have a tree nut allergy.  At Christmas, I make the most divine Sun Butter Cups (think Reese's without the Peanut Butter because of our SEVERELY allergic kid).  Said child mourned the fact she, too, could not have Larabars, which are a staple for several of my children.  So, I came up with this truly divine concoction.

These are not sugar free.  I just don't add any additional sugar above and beyond what is in the ingredients.

SunButter Balls

10 dates, pitted and soaked in boiling water to soften, then drained
1/4 c. cocoa
1/3 c. SunButter
Optional Add-ins:
2 Tbsp. Chia seed
3 Tbsp. Hemp seed
3 Tbsp. raw sunflower seeds
3 Tbsp. chocolate chips

Place the dates in a food processor or blender like "The Ninja" and process them until they are finely chopped.  Add the cocoa and SunButter.  Puree until combined.  If you don't want them smooth, just process until mixed.  Remove from the processor and add any "Add-ins" by hand.  Shape into balls and store in an air-tight container. 

With the crunch of the seeds and chocolate chips, these taste like peanut butter cups without all the allergens.

Cherry Garcia Balls
(I love Cherry Garcia Ice Cream - I'm sure this is much better for me than ice cream.)

10 dates, pitted and soaked in boiling water to soften, then drained
1/4 c. cocoa
1/3 c. dried cherries, soaked in boiling water to soften, then drained
Optional   Add-ins:
2 Tbsp. Chia seed
3 Tbsp. Hemp seed
3 Tbsp. chocolate chips

Place the dates in a food processor or blender like "The Ninja" and process them until they are finely chopped.  Add the cocoa and cherries.  Puree until combined.  If you don't want them smooth, just process until mixed.  Remove from the processor and add any "Add-ins" by hand.  Shape into balls and store in an air-tight container.  

These are seriously addictive, but totally squelch any chocolate or sugar cravings I might have.

Enjoy!

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.

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!

The new snack of choice

The three year old is making progress on trying new foods...not going on a food jag so much anymore.

His new favorite "snack" and meal is:  Sunbutter and Strawberry Jelly Pizza."  I use the Wheat Free, Egg Free, Dairy Free Brioche I adapted from Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day.  I grab a egg sized portion of dough.  It gets rolled flat between two pieces of parchment paper and tossed, while on the parchment paper into a preheated 450 degree oven for five minutes.  I let it cool for a few minutes and add Sunbutter and Strawberry Jelly.  Yummy snack and it doesn't mess with his (or any of his siblings') allergies. 

Hooray!

By the way, we did try goat's milk last week.  He took one drink, declaring it "Yucky."  Then, he proceeded to break out into hives and wheeze a little.  I think we'll wait to introduce any type of animal milk to him for awhile.

I also have found two new things EVERYONE can snack on here:  Breakfast cookies made with GF All-purpose flour AND no-bake oatmeal cookies.  We have found that oatmeal does not bother him.  We have no issues with eczema, hives or wheezing when he has it and we've moved to eating it 5 days a week for breakfast.  Sometimes he has the Sunbutter and Strawberry Jelly Pizza for breakfast and other times he has something I make to match others' breakfast like GF/EF/DF pancakes, waffles or muffins. 

I fear admitting this, sure that Bearing will have words with me, but I have fallen in love with Gluten Free Bisquick.  I plan to reformulate my own version using brown rice flour since it's marginally better than white rice flour, but the boxed stuff, with a few alterations, makes pancakes, waffles and muffins he will actually eat.  Contrast that to the huge amounts of money I've spent on other mixes producing vile smelling rejects, GF Bisquick is cheaper (comparatively) and highly reliable.  A 3 cup box still runs almost as much as a 3lb box of regular Bisquick, but I wouldn't admit that why I know that ;-).  Through Amazon's Subscribe and Save, I can get the GF Bisquick for much cheaper than at the local Cub.

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!

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.

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 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 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.

Flax Seed - vs - Boys

I'm sure you've hear all the hype about boys-vs-soy. I believe it's true. I had done a great deal of research on phytoestrogens a long time ago because it just seemed interesting to me and I was dealing with unexplained infertility. A good article outlines some of the issues with soy is here. I will now actively be trying to avoid all soy.

But that is not what I'm writing about today. My latest concern is about flax. Flax seed is touted as another "super food". It's full of Omega 3 Fatty Acids. It's got lots of protein, it's an antioxidant, it's a great source of dietary fiber and lignans. It's the lignans about which I'm concerned. Lignans are a group of chemical compounds found in plants. Lignans are one of the major classes of phytoestrogens, which are estrogen-like chemicals. Flax seed contains 126 times the amount of phytoestrogens (as lignans) as the equivalent amount of soy milk. Now, you aren't going to make a 1:1 substitution of flax for soy, but here's my concern. I have been having spectacular success substituting flax seed meal mixed with water as my egg substitute. Tinkerdoodle and I have an egg allergy and this has allowed us to eat many of the same things everyone else is eating.

Here's what the makers of flax seed or flax oil are touting as health benefits. See if you can help me pick out the issue this might have for a boy:

• Cancer Health - Increased phytoestrogens have the potential to lower breast and colon cancer risk. (Normal levels of estrogen = lower risk for breast cancer)
  
• Menopause - Phytoestrogens may offer an efficient and safe alternative to available hormone intervention options. (Enough said. Would you put your boy on HRT?)
  
• Prostate Health - An increasing body of evidence shows that Lignans maintain good prostate health and protect from cancer cell growth. (Prostates can enlarge because of excess free testosterone in the blood stream. Estrogen reduces that.)
  
• Hair Health - Flax lignans can prevent hair loss and thinning hair. (Thinning hair can be caused by an excessive amount of testosterone)
  
• Acne Health - Recent research points to flax lignans as a natural alternative for the treatment of acne. (Boys have more acne because they have more testosterone, which tends to peak in adolescence.)
  
• Bone Health - Lignans may offer protection against the loss of calcium and other minerals. (Lower levels of estrogen can lead to bone loss, therefore, increasing estrogen helps prevent that.)
  
• Heart Health - Antioxidant benefits of lignans protect against damage which contributes to plaque buildup in the arteries. (A study by Women's Health Initiative shows that women on estrogen therapy had less plaque build up in their arteries than those not on estrogen therapy.)
  
• Healthy Skin - Improved skin conditions for psoriasis, eczema, hives and dry skin. ( A 2005 Archive of Dermatology report in JAMA found that women that were pregnant had improved skin conditions because of an increase in estrogen.)
  
• Type I and II Diabetes - Research has demonstrated effectiveness in reducing glucose levels and decreasing the onset of developing diabetes. (Studies have shown estrogen levels affect glucose levels.)
• ADHD - Research has shown reduced need for Ritalin and other medications in affecting behavior in children. (Yup. When boys act like girls, the teachers like that.)
  

Here's the only warning I found about flax seed, which I think gives one pause:

Large amount intake of flax seed may upset hormonal balance. Studies on animals have reported birth defects.

The problem is called "Estrogen Dominance". It can affect how children's organs develop and cause problems for the rest of their lives. So, we'll be laying off the flax seed and soy around here!

Meal Plan for the next 2 weeks...

I thought I would share our meal plan for the next two weeks. Because of our food allergies, we do not usually use ANY canned soups or make casseroles that have allergens. We're pretty straight shooters: Main Dish, Starch, two veggies. I try to make soup one night a week. Very often the starch is Artisan Bread. Very often one veggie is Romaine lettuce, from the big Sam's Club sized bag with miscellaneous other veggies cut up on top and bottled dressing. It's pretty boring and YES, I miss food mixed together, but it just doesn't work well for my family.

I will place an asterisk after each food that might have some alteration for food allergies in our family:

Date - Main Dish, Starch, Veggie, Veggie
Sun., Feb. 7 - Spaghetti Sauce w/Italian Sausage,Angel hair pasta & Artisan Bread, Romaine Salad w/dressing, Green Beans
Mon., Feb. 8 - Chicken Enchiladas, Quinoa w/ Salsa, Corn, Black Beans
Tues., Feb. 9 - Maple Glazed Pork Tenderloin, Artisan Bread, Pea Pods, Baked Potato
Wed., Feb. 10 - Pasta e Fajole Soup, Artisan Bread
Thurs., Feb. 11 - Marinated Flank Steak, Pasta Limone’*,Peas, Romaine Salad w/dressing
Fri., Feb. 12 - Toasted Cheese Sandwiches*, Creamy Tomato Basil Soup*, Romaine Salad w/dressing
Sat., Feb. 13 - Spaghetti Sauce w/Italian Sausage, Angel hair pasta & Artisan Bread, Romaine Salad w/dressing, Green Beans
Sun., Feb. 14 - Porcupine Meatballs w/tomato sauce*, Tater Tots, Oriental Slaw
Mon., Feb. 15 - Pork Chops, Artisan Bread, Broccoli, Romaine Salad w/dressing
Tues., Feb. 16 - Chicken Parmesan*, Angel Hair Pasta, Carrots, Romaine Salad w/dressing
Wed., Feb. 17 - Cheese pizza (with veggies)*, Carrot, Celery and Cucumber Spears
Thurs., Feb. 18 - Baked Potato Soup*, Artisan Bread, 7 layer salad*
Fri., Feb. 19 - Baked Apple French Toast & Scrambled Eggs*, 3 Berry Compote

I will be posting the recipes I don't already have on this blog later this week.

Changing My Plan of Attack...

On starting solids.

I'm a funny one. I get it in my head that things NEED to be a certain way and you need a tank to move me. I have been that way on when to begin feed infants solid food, among many other things.

Pretty benign topic, right? WRONG! Well, if you would have started the debate with me on when to begin solids when I only had Little Man (11 years ago), I would have told you 4-6 months. That is when he started.

Along came Little Woman who, at 5 months was introduced to rice cereal, vomited profusely (really - 20 times in one hour). We spent the next 3 hours in the emergency room hoping nothing serious was wrong. They couldn't find anything. The next day at the pediatrician's office (not my pediatrician, but the one who had room to see me), I was advise not to rush solids. Breastfeeding was the best food for a baby until baby is 6 months. They suggested she might just have an immature digestive system. When she hit 6 months, I tried again. Same thing happened. I was scared. Not only did I not give her the same cereal (I gave her oatmeal instead), but I was sure she was ready at 6 months but she was not. Again, the pediatrician advised "waiting a little longer."

The advice didn't stop there. I had joined up with the local La Leche League in my town. I had recently moved there and had little support. They became my support. They were proponents of not starting solids until the child could sit upright, reached for food and could chew. Hey - sounded great. The other benefits would be extended amenorrhea, less allergies, virgin gut which would mean no leaky gut. I was sold. I was so scared by my daughter's reaction to even the simplest of solids, that I became an advocate.

I also had doctors starting to tell me to wait on the introduction of solids after we found that Little Woman had an anaphylactic allergy to peanuts. I had myself convinced that had I waited to introduce foods, she might not have had this problem. But was it really the other way around? The more I read, I am convinced I was wrong - for my family. I'm not saying you are wrong if you delay the introduction of solids. With six kids, I'm convinced I can make a somewhat scientific statement or two on the introduction of solids for my family.

1) The one kid that had solids at 4 months spoke clearly at 12 months and followed all the normal speech development milestones. That one kid has one allergy.
2) The four that did not start solids at 6 months or beyond have either had significant speech delays and/or significant food allergies or asthma and eczema or both.

Again, please let me state, this is in regard to my family. Your mileage may vary and I am not saying you are bad if you make different choices.

Tangent coming on - hold on...I'm so tired of moms being judgmental toward other moms. Why can't we just be okay with letting parents take care of the children God gave them according to their own wisdom and understanding (and that of their support network around them) instead of bashing them either to their face or behind their backs? Don't think it happens? Have a child and see what happens! I'm stubborn and listened to the health care providers I had at the time for introduction of solids. But, heavens, this can be fodder for losing friendships apparently. Some people are vehemently opposed to "baby led weaning" and there are those that are opposed to putting rice cereal in a baby's bottle to get them to sleep through the night. Face it folks. You are not in that parent's situation. You are not there with that baby every minute of the day to know how they sleep, if they are crabby, what is going on in the parent's lives. We need to cut each other a little bit of slack and if we give advice, give it charitably and understand that it may not be accepted. Off my soapbox...

So I did some research. Wee One started solids right at 6 months and now I wish I had done it sooner. I was told by an allergist to delay solids because at the time I received that advice, it was thought that delayed solids introduction would help prevent the development of allergies. My new pediatrician (that I really like) suggested there is a tie to late introduction to food and speech delay. He also suggested that genetics play a bigger part to food allergies than the time at which the food is introduced.

According to my research, thoughts have changed again (sigh). But, my decision was not based on the articles below, although they are the current thinking. Some are articles with references to good medical studies and others are medical studies. It is based more on my findings above, which seem to be in line with the articles below.

A well referenced article about whether introduction of foods affects the risk of food allergies: Blame it on genes

From the AAP talking about introduction of solids not affecting weight gain:
No difference in weight gain

From the UK discussing introduction of solids on development of asthma and eczema:
No affect on development of asthma or eczema

Article debunking the dogma of delayed solids among the AP/NP crowd:
Is there an advantage to delaying solids?

So, if we were ever blessed with another child, I know now which direction I will go.

Questions about wheat and mills...

A friend emailed me about what kind of mill I use and types of wheat to buy when making 100 % Whole Wheat Bread. Here is what I had to say on the matter:

With regard to mills and wheat berries? I have a Nutrimill. It’s loud (they all are) and dusty. I got my last batch of wheat berries from my local whole food co-op. Unless you want to buy LOTS or go in on a group buy, it can be expensive to buy it mail order (because it is so heavy to ship or you have to go help unload the semi truck).

Wheat comes in a couple of varieties:
White and red
Hard and Soft
White is milder
Spring and Winter

White is milder tasting wheat
Red is stronger tasting wheat
Hard has more protein and is suitable for breads
Soft has less protein and is better for baking pastries, cookies, pies, etc
Winter wheat is harvested as a second crop and has slightly less protein than Spring wheat

My favorite for bread is:
Winter Hard White Wheat

Healthy Artisan Bread, Oh My!

Healthy Breads in 5 Minutes a Day, the healthier, younger sister to Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day is now available. Check out their website here and feast your eyes on the whole grain and healthy options! I can't wait to try the whole wheat brioche (egg free, of course).

Also, Erin is making sourdough bagels over at bearing blog that looked so good I could have eaten the screen! (I'm craving carbs, can you tell?)

I'll be reorganizing the blog later this week so you can find the recipes more easily (ht to my dad).

Until then, bon appetit!

Erin's Soaking Wheat in the Breadmaker Experiment

Erin's experiment ended with a lovely looking wheat loaf that should be very digestible for those with difficulty eating whole grains. She did a fabulous job of experimenting where I couldn't go as I do not have a bread machine. Kudos go out to her! She's one of the folks that tipped me off on soaking the grains. She's done it for a long time with her pancakes, waffles and muffins, but not with bread.

As for me, with a new baby in the house, we're eating ABI5MAD (light wheat or European peasant loaf - which has rye and whole wheat) regularly and my honey oatmeal bread which I made ahead of the baby and froze in the new deep freeze. I also milled about 10 lbs of berries while Mom was here and that is in the deep freeze as well. I'm waiting because my dad is coming from Montana in a couple of weeks. He just started making bread (Wonder Bread) and has been pretty pleased with his results. I'm proud of him for trying as he had never had success with bread in the past. I hope to enlighten him to the ABI5MAD method while he's here visiting.

The Egg Allergy and all it's woes...

The egg allergy belongs to me. Luckily for my kids, I'm not the kind of person that says, "That's it! No more eggs in the house! No more cooking with eggs!"
Now, I would love to switch everyone over to some alternative, but frankly it's just not worth it.

I figure this is God's plan for weight loss for me (although I don't think he intends for me to lose weight while I'm still pregnant.) It's funny. I'm such a snitcher that I.JUST.DON'T.THINK before I put food in my mouth. I need to do that now. Yesterday, I snitched 1/2 of a chocolate chip cookie brought home from a restaurant the night before that a kid didn't finish (as part of their kid's meal.) After nibbling away that 1/2 a cookie, I was itchy and my chest got tight. This morning, I was scrounging the freezer for something to serve with scrambled eggs and bacon for breakfast (we're out of bread, can you believe it? Just too busy the last couple of days.) I found banana bread I had frozen a couple of months back. I defrosted it. Then I thought...wait a minute. I can't have that. It's still defrosted on the counter, but I opted for turning a tube of crescent rolls into mini-cinnamon rolls instead. They were good ;-) and they had no eggs. It makes 8 mini rolls...just right with breakfast. Not too sweet and not too big...just right for me!

So, I won't disclude recipes with egg here, but I will have more without. AND, I can still make bread. Toast for breakfast with cottage cheese or sun butter (sunflower seed butter) will probably have to be my new breakfast. I miss eggs already, but I'm offering up this sacrifice for another cause. I will live...now I just have to hit the priest up for ideas on what to do on Non-Lent Fridays when we normally give up meat. In Lent, it's a given. I WILL GO WITHOUT MEAT ON FRIDAYS. The rest of the year? All I have left for protein on my list of okay foods is beans and dairy. Thank God for protein shakes!