getting busy in the kitchen

Ah, January is here.  The holiday baking rush is over, the kitchen is clean, and my resolution is made.  Time to stop complaining about the difficulties of eating and start digging into cookbooks for new ideas.

Actually, things look much rosier than they did just a few weeks ago.  Rachel's latest digestive issues seem to be directly related to red meat, and she's been feeling much better now that we have closed that case.  A test of dairy today even seems to be going well.  We have also added things like peppermint oil and digestive enzymes to her mealtime fun, and those have calmed her tummy down considerably.

However, for Josiah and I things remain tough.  He has his usual tricky food issues, and I've discovered that eating gluten is truly not something I want to do.  After spending 6 months mostly off, my body has developed a very closed mind to the idea of anything closely resembling wheat.  It is NOT FUN if I indulge.

That's where the cookbooks enter in.

Eric surprised me with Special Diets for Special Kids for Christmas.  The pictures, the kid-friendly food, the extra information on special diets all make for a great source of information.

 

Another tool to added to my toolbox this Christmas is a tortilla press.  I can't wait to try making some GF soft tortillas.  I was hoping to do corn, but that hasn't been working well for me either lately, so rice flour will have to do.  

But tonight, I turned to a cookbook sent to me a few months ago by a friend: Gluten-Free on a Shoestring.  I thumbed through it looking for the ever elusive banana pancake recipe.  My past attempts of recipes off the internet have been flops, so I was eager to try again. 

We have a winner! 

Banana Pancakes (adapted from the Banana Muffin recipe in GF on a Shoestring)

2 c. all purpose GF flour
2 t. xanthan gum
1/2 t. baking soda
1 t. baking powder
1 t. salt (I never use as much as a recipe calls for)
2 T. sugar
1 extra large egg, lightly beaten
1/2 c. milk (rice milk tonight)
1 1/2 t. white wine vinegar (I took out the wine part)
2 T. unsalted butter, melted and cooled (dairy free margarine for us, we like Earth Balance Soy Free)
2 ripe bananas diced (we mashed)

Stir together dry ingredients.  Add wet ingredients, stirring after each one.  Cook pancakes on hot griddle.

This is a recipe for muffins, and I felt it looked too thick for pancakes.  So I added another egg and a bit more milk.  They were still quite thick but believe me, no one complained!!  In fact, my pancake topped with Eric's cherry raspberry Christmas jam was an unbelievable treat.

Resolution kept so far!

Christmas hymn redux

Josiah:
Hark the herald, angels sing,
"Glory to the newborn king,
Pizza on earth and mercy mild..."

Micah: (from The 12 Days of Christmas)
"Five days til Christmas, the wait is killing me..."

in his words...by Micah

8th grader, 13 years and 353 days old, homeschooler, devourer of books and pizza, EWO youth groupie, soccer goalie/defender, basketball player, trumpet & piano player, Tolkien fan, Lego Master, dusty old fossil lover, card gamer, video gamer, one year till driving permit, and Apple warrior against the forces of Android.

Sent from my iPod and iPhone

a moment in time

Josiah: kindergarten, smiles, snuggles for Mom first thing in the morning, all things science, playing stuffed animals with Rachel, heartfelt prayers to God, pumpkin pancakes and spaghetti (no sauce!), read alouds, stubbornly determined to have things his way, soccer and gymnastics, Rush Hour games and Imaginext, the color green, airplanes, figuring out how things work.

Rachel: 6th grade, red and black, avoids dresses, theater, creative mind, diligent, making cookies, everything animals, taking pictures, gymnastics, American Girl, outdoor genes, clarinet to piano and back again, hands-on learning, reading, American history and Abraham Lincoln, making others smile, thoughtful, surprises on our pillow, fiction, friendship, keeping room neat, longing for Yellowstone.

Micah: 8th grade, 13 going on 23, almost as tall as mom, paleontology, texting (but not a lot), trumpet and piano, devours books, Cedine Ministries, music, silver, skin-tight warm up shirts, soccer and basketball, science, algebra, world history, nonfiction, loves kids, childcare at church, Euchre, serving others, youth group, Wii, eating pizza, independence.

Just for fun, here's a link to another glimpse from several years ago.

betcha didn't know!

What do you get when you cross a chihuahua, and pug, and a poodle?

A Chipuggle.

Once Rachel fulfills her dream of becoming a dog breeder, we'll include a picture.

a complicated kitchen

If you were in my kitchen tonight, you would be able to smell the delicious scent of homemade gluten free chocolate chip cookies, fresh from the oven.  This is one of my favorite recipes.  Coconut oil used in place of shortening gives them a special melt-in-your-mouth flavor.  I don't miss the wheat flour and although admittedly some people do not care for the texture of rice flour, I don't think many people would turn their noses up at these. 

So much of the time, I can be content and thankful for the food journey we have been on.  My kids are healthy, overwhelming days of dealing with behavior are mostly behind us, many of my own stomach issues have subsided, and even Eric has benefited from the changes we have made with huge drops in his cholesterol and triglycerides.  Josiah has come so far in the past year, even in the past 4 months since school started as we tweaked a few little things about his diet.  What a difference the right food can make!

But there are a handful of days now and then when trouble comes creeping back.  Sometimes I see reactions in my very food-sensitive Josiah.  It may be just a matter of needing to back off of stage 2 (like the tomatoes we have been too joyfully allowing in the form of chili, although happily pizza once a week is that "just enough" amount of tomato sauce).  Another time it is a new reaction to a food like oatmeal that his body is not handling as well as it used to.  Not only does he become much more impulsive, on an affected school day he writes some of his letters and numbers backwards--unheard of on his good days--and takes at least twice as long to get things done.  He says his brain feels foggy.  My heart goes out to him even though I'm also worn down trying to keep up with what he needs.

For the past month, Rachel has had diarrhea at least once a week, a bit of a return of old symptoms of two years ago.  So far we suspect dairy and tomatoes as her worst offenders.  Why she did fine for two years but is now having a flare is beyond my understanding, but this is often the way with GI issues.  After spending considerable time and effort to make holiday feasting safe for my kids to eat, both she and Micah indulged in foods that caused digestive upset for the first part of the next week.  Josiah simply does not eat off diet, he did just fine.  There may be a lesson there, one that my older children need to internalize for themselves.  They are beginning to do so, and I'm blessed by their willing attitudes.

So, a deep breath, another look around the kitchen for tolerable food, another scouring for new recipes, and we forge ahead.  When I want to throw up my hands, I remember I don't have to go slaughter my own cow and make my own candles and soap.  But maybe, if I didn't know any better, that wouldn't be so bad. 

Magnificat

 

My soul will magnify the Lord.

I rejoice in God my Savior,

in the wonder of His favor.