banana oatmeal breakfast cookies

There is a whole lot of summer fun happening at the Rhodes' house, which is one reason I seem to find less and less time to spend blogging.  But this recipe is worth keeping in a safe place and sharing with others!

Rachel recently returned from a 6 day youth trip to the upper peninsula of Michigan.  It was so good for her to get away with her peers to serve God and deepen relationships, but it was also a good way for her to learn how to work around her food issues.  With a lot of detective work behind us, we've found that there are several foods that trigger IBS symptoms including table and fruit sugars, and corn.  She also seems to do best for now with a gluten and dairy free diet.  So we packed up a cooler and sent her on her way with foods she could easily grab and warm up.

Breakfast was a puzzle for me until we sampled this breakfast cookie recipe at our annual neighborhood Fourth of July party.  While waiting for a friend to send me the banana version, I made some with pumpkin and blueberries to send on her trip.  As you read this recipe, remember it came to me without any substitutions, so would be fine as is for those who don't need to make any.  We substitute coconut sugar for regular sugar because that seems to be much easier on Rachel's tummy, and of course use coconut milk instead of regular milk.  She enjoyed the pumpkin version, but this banana recipe just can't be beat!  We would have sent these, too, but an experiment with adding dark chocolate did not settle well for my daughter.  We're trying again today without the chocolate, and I'm enjoying the aroma of a freshly baked batch right now!!

Banana Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies

• 3 cups quick cooking oats (can use gluten free)
• 1/2 cup brown sugar (or coconut sugar)
• 1/2 cup milk (or milk substitute)
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 3/4 cup mashed banana or about 3 bananas
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips, raisins, or dried cranberries - optional (I think adding any fresh berry would be wonderful, too!)

1. Mix all ingredients together and stir well.
2. Drop by the spoonful onto greased sheet or mini muffin tin.
3. Bake at 350 for 10 - 20 minutes depending on size of cookie.
4. Enjoy!

at the extreme risk of sounding like a commercial

Our family is loving Zipzicles!  There are some great recipes on their website.  We've tried pureed frozen cantaloupe (which my kids won't touch but somehow frozen makes it different), and the Spinach Surprise.  So much better than the dye-filled and artificially flavored alternative! 

candied nuts

A friend served these nuts at a party this week, and they were so delicious I asked her for the recipe.  She makes them in her stir crazy popcorn popper!  Since we only own an air popper, I tried them in a saucepan on the stove top today and they turned out great.  They make a nice GFCF treat with the extra advantage of getting nuts into otherwise picky children--a little protein with the sugar.  If you want to reduce the sugar to 1/3 or even 1/4 cup (along with the water), I think the recipe would still work.

Candied Nuts
1/2 c. sugar
1 t. cinnamon
1 C. nuts (walnuts, pecans, almonds--FG stage 2, etc.)
1/8 c. water

Melt ingredients on stove top or in stir crazy popcorn popper until sticky crystals begin to form.  Spread on waxed paper and let dry.  Store in airtight container.

paw print cupcakes

Yesterday was Rachel's birthday party with friends.  Thanks to Google, we were able to come up with this fun cupcake idea!  The girls loved them.  We used Pearson's mints and chocolate chips.  No one was the wiser that these coconut flour cupcakes were gluten free!

 

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. 

celebrating our unsung heroes

No one gets less time on my blog than Eric does, but it's not because he's an insignificant part of our lives. There is no one in our family who works harder, thinks of himself less often, or is more sacrificial in his daily life.  He's the quiet, sometimes goofy, but no less influential leader of our family.

So today, when it came down to how to spend our afternoon, we asked Eric to choose.  He opted for a hike at Sugar Grove.  It was warm but not overly so, and the time together was so special as we watched the kids each take their turns leading and reading the map, and then play in the creek.  Micah discovered his first fossils and shared his love of rocks with his dad (who has an interest in them, too.)

Home for supper, we threw together a frittata.  It is such a quick, easy, and tasty gluten free meal that almost everyone in our family loves--and this is something even my picky eater now goes for!  Eric and I have recently joined Josiah's gluten free experiment for the time being, although so far I'm the only one reaping any benefit.  My stomach hurts much less, and it helps me find more ways to incorporate safe recipes into our meal rotation.  After supper, we enjoyed ice cream in these cones!!  I picked them up at our recent trip to Whole Foods, and was pleasantly surprised to see them available at our health food store soon after.  This is something that really tastes better gluten free!!  I never really cared for cake cones but these are really tasty for a special summer treat.

It was a fun way to wrap up a great day with a great man. 

Happy Father's Day to everyone!  (And a special greeting to my dad, another unsung hero!!)

Dad and Mom, celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary a year ago.



April is Autism Awareness Month

Long ago, in a galaxy far away (before kids), I was a special education teacher.  My interest in entering the field first came about because of something called autism.  Not much was known about the disorder back then (about 20 years ago) and there is still too little known about it today.  I remember vividly that the incidence of autism at that time was listed as 1 in 10,000 children.  Today it is 1 in 88.

I had the privilege of teaching several children with autism, and working with their families.  That experience taught me a great deal about the intensity of daily living with children who are overloaded with sensory dysfunctions, and who are often unable to relate socially with some awkwardness at best and exhibit complete dysfunction at worst.  I saw the devastation of one mother whose 3 sons were all diagnosed as being on the autism spectrum within 5 years.  In those not-so-long-ago days, that was extremely rare.

My heart goes out to families of children with autism.  There are many brave parents fighting daily for their children, who have hope not for a cure (they are rare) but simply for improvement.  Some are seeing victories, others are ready to give up, most hang on somewhere in between.  There are incredible financial costs.  Parents wonder what the future holds for their children when they grow up and especially when they are no longer there to care for them.  But most of all my heart goes out to the children themselves who are affected, these tremendous bundles of God-given potential trapped inside a body that does not function properly.  They are no less precious to God in their affliction, and they teach us to have a proper perspective on the incredible trust and responsibility we are given to develop and use our abilities to serve God and others when our bodies function as they should.

The odds, 1 in 88, with a rapid increase over only 20 years, are what most disturb me.  I may not personally know or deal with anyone with autism now, but I'm concerned for my grandchildren, as well as for this and the next generation.  I believe there is more going on than an increased diagnosis, that there truly is an increase in incidence. 

Seeing diet used in the treatment of autism is not new (from the early days I read about "cures" from removing milk or adding the right combination of vitamins), but the breakthroughs of the past several years are.  Many children with autism are known for craving carbohydrate foods and dairy to the exclusion of almost everything else.  Is it any wonder that a GFCF diet has helped some of these children?  More recently, GAPS has been used by some brave families willing to put forth the effort.  One of the most remarkable before and after videos I have seen can be viewed here, on this mom's blog.  She will admit things are not perfect.  But a year later, they are better.  Amazingly better.  It gives me hope for the future of autism.  I'm praying for more breakthroughs.

bunnies to the rescue!

Because sometimes it's just nice to have a cracker like everyone else.  Subscribe and save on Amazon is great!!

redefining hard

When I decided to join the Feingold Association to see if it would help Josiah's behavior issues, changing how we ate sounded hard.  Apparently I am not the only mom who feels this way, because I ran across a little article somewhere in materials that redefined hard.  (That article is the basis for the rest of this post.)

Little did I know what else we were in for with dairy and gluten also being a problem for the kids.  Now, it looks like we will have to go back to a gluten-free diet to bring Micah's diarrhea episodes back under control.  Once again, I find myself returning to what hard really is.

Hard is:

-trying to control your preschooler's behavior with every discipline technique you've ever heard of, only to have none of it work and thus feel like an ineffective and terrible parent.

-pulling your son off the dog or siblings every 5 minutes.

-watching your son yell and cover his ears every time he eats and not knowing why.

-trying to have a conversation with others, only to have your son interrupt every two seconds on purpose.

-not being able to find anything to keep your son busy for more than 2 minutes at a time.

-listening to someone explain the ADHD diagnosis that your 3-year-old just received, and finding out that aside from medication, the interventions offered are really not that much more helpful that what has already been tried.

Hard is:

-taking your child to dr. after dr. and being told time and again there is nothing wrong with them, even though they are experiencing diarrhea every other week.

-being told by a specialist that the dietary interventions you are trying are a waste of time.

-watching  your preteen son miss cross-country meets, field trips, end of year festivals, and scores of days of school, and then being docked a half a grade for excessive absences.

-calling the school attendance line again and wonder how many more times before they alert the truant officer.

-having a constantly disrupted routine because you never know when someone is going to be sick.

So with all those things considered, hard really is not:

having to shop from a foodlist, monitoring every bite, spending more on groceries and supplements, avoiding favorite fruits and vegetables, keeping everyone's very different food allergies in mind while cooking dinner, snacks, and desserts; going gluten and dairy free, sending your own food with your child on a trip or to camp, having less than a handful of restaurants to eat at, or wondering how your child is going to manage once they are away from home and have to do all this themselves, let alone finding a spouse who will understand.

Well, at least that's not quite as hard...maybe it's all relative.

let them eat gluten...

Micah and Rachel are back on gluten, and doing fine.  Some things in life are a mystery!!  Yet our journey to gluten-free was not without benefits...if they or anyone they know ever have to eat this way, they know it's possible and even delicious.

Here's a special salute to my gluten-free friends!

progress and updates

We recently had Josiah's iron retested, and it was still low.  I was finally able to find some hypoallergenic iron tabs he could take, and even located some children's multivitamins with no additives that he could handle.  It's a good thing this little boy can swallow pills!

I'm not sure if it's the vitamins, but once again I see progress.  There is less anxiety (that could be the iron), he's more open to new foods, and he's maturing before my very eyes (that could be normal!) 

Micah has missed 39 days of school this year, confirming our decision to homeschool for the coming year.  We think we've finally found his trigger: dairy.  During this 4-day weekend we're trying gluten again and so far, he's doing well.

Rachel has been healthy for months now, and her shoulder pain has been gone for several weeks.  This weekend she's trying some cheese with lactaid and so far, she's doing well.

Perhaps we're on the road to healing.

got food allergies?

The challenge at my house: find food and prepare healthy meals that do not contain garlic, onion, artificial ingredients, molasses, chocolate, tomatoes, several fruits, certain corn derivatives including corn syrup, not to mention the biggies: gluten or dairy.  And of course, make sure to stick to a budget while doing this.  Finally, the food has to taste good or no one will eat it.  If that happens, we're really in trouble because it's pretty difficult to find an allergy friendly restaurant to run to if my cooking efforts fail.

Thankfully, one recipe at a time, I've learned to cook for a family of food reactors.  And what we eat is usually good!  Still, we miss some of the good, less healthy versions of the American diet.  Like...doughnuts.  We have a Krispy Kreme in town and their doughnuts seem to show up as birthday treats at school as well as a morning snack at church quite often.  I'm proud of my kids for refraining because I know how much they like them.  Yet they seem to know how much they like feeling well.

Someone shared a website with me: www.allergygrocer.com.  It's pretty nifty: you simply place a check in a box of allergens to avoid, and they display products you may actually be able to eat.  We found biscuits, pretzels, pastry puffs (no idea why the 12-year-old insisted on these!), bread, bagels,...and doughnuts!!  The mixes aren't badly priced, and my rational was that having a mix was one step closer to the finished product.  If it's a hit, I'll try and find a recipe and do it all from scratch.

The doughnut mix sat in my cupboard several weeks while I gathered courage to use my deep fryer for the first time...ever!  But one hot April evening I didn't want to turn on the oven, so the fryer and mix came out.

I fried the doughnut holes until they floated and were brown, hoping for the best.  A small melon ball scoop was perfect for the job of forming doughnut holes.

The mix made a huge amount: almost 50!!

I considered making glaze, but rolling 50 doughnuts in powdered sugar easily won the "less fuss" idea. 

Verdict: these were absolutely delicious, especially while still hot.  I'm not sure I could make this recipe any better from scratch, but we'll see if I can work up the courage to try!

good food and good company

Today was sunny and almost warm with a slight breeze.  We went to visit a friend and found to the 4-year-old's delight, she had a morning of kite-flying planned for us.  Josiah ran off his energy all around the yard, dragging a kite behind him that usually stayed up in the air and out of the trees.

Then we headed inside, where the warmth still felt good after being out in the spring breeze.  Our friend turned on her waffle iron and shared these cookies with me.  Since Josiah couldn't have them, I asked for the recipe, brought it home, and revamped the ingredients so all three kids could enjoy.  (Josiah gets his with carob chips.)  Not needing gluten free?  Use regular flour and oatmeal, leave out the xanthan gum, and you can make it just like our friend did!

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Waffle Cookies

1/2 c. butter or margarine

1/2 c. + 2 T. brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 t. vanilla

3/4 c. GF all purpose flour

3/4 t. xanthan gum

1/2 t. baking soda

1 1/2 c. GF rolled oats

1 c. chocolate chips

1. Heat waffle iron.

2. Whisk butter and brown sugar.  Whisk in eggs and vanilla.  Stir in flour, baking soda, and salt.  Stir in oats and chocolate chips.

3. Coat griddle with nonstick spray.  Use a tablespoon or small scoop to portion out a cookie on to each waffle square.  Brown 1 1/2-3 min.

*Variations: add coconut, walnuts, use 1/2 white chocolate chips and chocolate chips, or try blueberries!

article about diet as treatment for autism/ADHD

http://www.nourishinghope.com/page.php?f=u

GF granola bars

Today I received my first ever shipment of gluten free rolled oats.  It's been months since Rachel has had a granola bar, and our favorite recipe has peanut butter which Micah most certainly will not eat.  So I searched the web and found this recipe, and adapted it to our GF needs.  While I would have preferred to add chocolate chips, we were out, so golden raisins took their place.  Delicious!!!

Ingredients:

4 1/2 cups GF rolled oats

1 cup all purpose GF flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp GF vanilla

1 cup butter or margarine, softened*

1 cup honey

Add-ins: 1 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips, 1 cup chopped walnuts, 1-2 c. dried fruit such as raisins, cherries, etc.  

Lightly butter a 9×13-inch pan.  In a large mixing bowl combine butter and honey first.  Then add all ingredients except add-ins.  Beat hard until combined.  Stir in add-ins.  Press mixture into pan — really jam it in there so your bars don’t fall apart.  (You can use your hands!)  Bake at 325 degrees for 15-20 minutes until golden brown.  Let cool for at least 10 minutes before cutting into bars.  Let bars cool completely in pan before removing and serving.

GF restaurants

This is a great website if you are looking for a GF restaurant!

http://www.theceliacscene.com/North_American_Chains.html

GF snacks that won't break the budget

I was able to shave quite a bit off our last grocery bill...hooray!!  Now we'll see if that continues.  It always helps when I have a week I don't have to buy meat.

Specialty snacks for a gluten free diet are not cheap, but there are a quite a few naturally gluten free foods or homemade snacks that help keep us within budget.  Here are a few ideas:

Fresh fruits and vegetables, especially those that are in season.  I just discovered my youngest will eat carrots if I cut them in circles--we call them carrot coins.  He even tried peanut butter and celery when I chopped the celery into smallish pieces.  My daughter loves to make a baked potato for herself in the microwave.  And of course, pears, bananas, and other fruit are always a hit.

Homemade treats like granola bars, cereal bars, cookies, etc.  Gluten free flours and oats are more expensive, but making my own snacks with these is still less than buying something premade.

Popcorn and Nuts--really, what's cheaper than popcorn?  Nuts are more expensive...grr!!

Canned fruit, applesauce, we even buy baby pear sauce for FG stage 1.

Potato chips:  We can do Lays, Kettle Chips, Fritos, Tostitos, and there are many others as well.

If you do have to buy something pre-made, Envirokidz and Enjoy Life have a nice line of products that are a little more reasonable than most.

Finally, these aren't exactly inexpensive, but the snacks on this website are a special treat: www.allergygrocer.com.   You do have to mix these up and make them yourself.  I spent our savings last week at this website, so we'll see if it was a worthwhile splurge.  We are so hungry for things like pretzels, donuts, bagels, graham crackers, and biscuits!  Hopefully in time I will even learn how to make these on my own.

my favorite gluten free flour mix

6 c. rice flour (I use 3 c. white rice and 3 c. brown rice)

2 c. potato starch flour

1 c. tapioca flour

Mix in tall container and store in freezer.  (Gluten free flours have a shorter shelf life than regular flour.)  Add 1 t. xanthan gum or guar gum for every cup of flour used.  I wait and add the xanthan gum when I'm mixing a recipe.  You can use this flour to replace regular flour in any recipe, and it tastes great!

Check websites like Amazon and Vitacost for some good prices on gluten-free flours.

now for my oldest

Micah was supposed to be the easy one.  He doesn't react to artificials.  He thinks they are kind of a yucky idea, and after he studied the ingredients of Cool Ranch Doritoes with me online one night, he stopped wanting to eat them.  But really, he wasn't supposed to have any restrictions.

Yet this fall and winter, he's been sick with diarrhea at least 5 times, and it generally lasts 5-10 days.  Do the math, and you can guess how much school he's missed this year.  And now, he's been sick three times in the past 5 weeks alone.

My pediatrician and I are getting to know each other very well...and she knows about our diet changes and the things we've discovered about Rachel and gluten.  So when we went to see her today, she ordered bloodwork to check Micah for celiac and told me to go ahead and put him on a diary free, gluten free diet for now.

We're starting to think Josiah and I have issues with gluten, too, so maybe it's time to become a gluten free family!

I'm going to buy a new waffle maker tomorrow to celebrate.

GF and Feingold on a budget

Josiah is like a different child eating a natural diet, and we have seen Rachel's joint pain and other symptoms are directly linked to consuming gluten and casein.  A new way of eating is here to stay.

But our grocery bills have been absurd lately!  Now that we are well-established in eating gluten free and avoiding food additives, it's time to ponder what I could do to help save some money.   Here are a few ideas I have come up with:

1. Budget a set amount to use on food. 

When it's gone, we're done (but hopefully not hungry!)  It helps me to really evaluate how badly we really need a pre-made, processed treat versus making something from scratch.

2. Make a list of favorite, low budget meals. 

For those meals that cost more, what could I do to bring costs down and within budget?  Several recipes for low budget meals (including some that are allergy friendly), can be found if you check out this link: http://www.5dollardinners.com/.

3. Make a list of favorite, low budget snacks.

Most specialty-made gluten free foods and snacks are fairly expensive.  But there are some natural alternatives like fresh fruits, vegetables, soups, and chips that are more budget-friendly.  I do buy Envirokidz bars for Rachel from time to time because they are the cheapest of the gluten free snacks I can find.  I've also splurged for gluten free oreo-type cookies, but I've found I could make these myself, too: http://truebluexf.blogspot.com/2011/02/oreosgluten-free.html!

4. Get creative. 

There are a few places where I can find coupons for the foods we use, and Amazon is a great place to order GF flours.  Kroger and Meijer both have great sales and coupons online, so when I find a good buy, I can stock up.

As I make these changes, I'll share some tips and recipes.  Some of them may help any budget whether gluten-free or not.  Not only that, cooking from scratch is healthier than most things that are pre-made!

If anyone else has tips to share, please leave a comment!!