Altered Muffun Mix

I am writing this post while getting my 6th chemo treatment. If all goes well this will be my LAST! We are praying and hoping that this last treatment delivers the sucker punch needed to knock this cancer OUT!
I have been trying be really diligent about getting at least some healthy fruits and veggies in my kids every day. Riley discovered he loves blackberries and Connor will eat blueberries - both great antioxidants that will fight cancer. Kelsey will eat them in the form of a smoothie so I need to start making some. I got a little sneaky this weekend. I was making a batch of Gingerbread mini muffins from the Gluten Free Pantry. All my kids love these muffins so I decided to sneak in some ground flax seed and vitamin enriched pomegranate applesauce. (I am all about fruits with antioxidants). I am pleased to report that they all ate them up. Fortunately I made a double batch so I can keep them in the freezer and pull them out when needed.
In fact Connor (my really picky one) ate a really big and healthy dinner. I started my serving him the food I wanted him to eat first. They as he asked for more things I gave them to him one at a time. He ate every bite! He started with 3 mini flax/ginger/apple muffins, handful of blueberries, and 3 grape tomatoes. The he asked for a waffle (Van's wheat free) followed up by a few organic corn chips and a cup of milk. I felt really good about putting him to bed.
Lets see if he eats the meatballs we are planing to serve tonight!

Seriously Picky Eater

Well, I am coming out of the fog from Chemo last week. Treatment number 3 - I am halfway through my 6 treatment and managing fairly well. Anyway my big problem recently is my 3 year old who barely eats anything. Now this is the child who is allergic to wheat, egg, nuts, sesame, pea, banana, and coconut. That is a big list, and at first I thought I would never find anything for him to eat, but I have. There are plenty of options, I have searched for 2 years to find new things for him to eat. I can (and have) make any kid friendly food safe for him. Everything from pizza to mac n cheese and chicken nuggets. I have baked bread, muffins and cookies by the dozen. The problem is 9 times out of 10 he will not even try it! He is even starting to refuse some of the old staples he used to eat, like grilled cheese and organic chicken sausage. Thank goodness for enjoy Life Foods, he does eat their bagels, granola bars, and cookies; along with Van's wheat free waffles and Chex cereal. Forget about vegetables, he will only eat grape tomatoes and a few fruits on a good day. I have gotten him to eat some yogurt and cheese on occasion.
A couple of months ago I started giving him some Pediasure each day just to make sure he was getting is nutrients and some calories. Milk is thankfully not one of our allergies, and he loves it. However, he wants to drink milk all day. You all know how persistent a 3 year old can be when they want something. We are starting to have some serious battles. I would prefer that he eat some food rather than fill up on milk before meals. Tonight he shouted at me "I don't want food! I want milk." Well, he did not get it. My willpower was strong today. I gave him water. He drank it, but refused to eat and fell asleep on the couch without any dinner. (He was exhausted from a play date this afternoon)
I do not want to be fighting with him constantly about eating - the last thing I need is a toddler with an eating disorder. I know they say don't force it, they will eat when they are hungry. But, can you raise a child on breakfast food, fruit and 1 vegetable? The worst part is that I am loosing the incentive to make him any new foods. What is the point when it just ends up in the trash? I have considered seeing a nutritionist, but unless they can get him to actually put the food in his mouth, what is the point? Today I was cutting up fresh pineapple and he would not even lick it. There is just no reasoning.
My other 3 kids were fairly picky, but they did eat at least a small variety of foods and would taste some new things. Nothing like what I am dealing with now. Does anyone else have anything to offer here?

More on Playdough

Well I had to put this on the back burner for a few days. A little case of anemia landed me in the hospital for a blood transfusion. STUPID CANCER. Anyway - thanks to all for your comments. I agree with all of you that I will just supply the class with safe play dough every month. Although I may purchase one of the options that I have found online. It is not cheap - but that is the price we pay to keep our kids safe. If I do choose to make it, I might have a friend whom I trust to make it right take turns. I can even make a double batch to that the other class that shares a room has one too. It was not hard, so I do not know why some of the batches did not come out right.

In the meantime I wanted to share the 2 sources for wheat free- gluten free dough. This first resource was sent to me from kidsfoodallergiesblog.com . It is Colorations® Wheat & Gluten-Free Dough which does not contain the following common allergens: Latex, Dairy & Casein, Egg, Gluten, Peanut & Tree Nut . It looks to be a modeling clay that you can use to mold shapes and leave to harden. I am glad to know about this now. I had looked into purchasing modeling clay for my children from the craft store. However, there are no ingredients listed on the package so I had no way of knowing if it was safe.

Next there is another product from Aroma Dough. As their web site states "ALL products are Gluten Free made with 100% organic, wheat-free rice flour, sodium, water, moisturizing oils, natural aromas (no perfumes). This formula is perfect for children who have special needs such as Autism, Celiac’s Disease, ADD/ADHD, or other allergy related issues. It DOES NOT contain nuts, nut oils, perfumes, soy, dairy products or wheat."

I have purchased this and my kids love it. It like your traditional Play dough, but it is gluten free. It is also scented - each color is a different scent. It has also last us quite a long time. They also sell large buckets of dough for $19.95 that would be an appropriate size for a preschool class. Based on our experience with this dough, I would recommend it.

As I am finishing this post I am leaning toward buying a couple of batches of the Aroma Dough. That will probably be easier and give me better peace of mind.

Playdough Issue

We are having our first allergy issue with school. C's teacher pulled me aside and said that the play dough recipe we were using was not working. I had previously shared a list of recipes for the moms to make safe play dough for the class. I made the first batch and all seemed well until today. I guess some of the dough that they have gotten has been wither too oily or too dry etc. She asked if I could make special dough for Connor and the rest of the class can have regular dough.

I am torn - I do not mind making C's dough at all. I am a bit worried that C will accidentally play with the wheat containing play dough and have a reaction. I am trying to figure out how to handle this. I guess I might need to make the class play dough every month? Or by a big batch of wheat free Aromadough for the class.

Thoughts?

Gluten Free Meatball

Hi all - just wanted to let you know I found a gluten free meatball at Costco the other day. It is made by Coleman Natural Foods and is all natural - no nitrates, growth hormones, or MSG etc. It does contain soy and milk, but NOT egg. We are going to try them this week and I will let you know how they are. Hopefully C. will eat them! If you want to find out more about their products here is the link. http://www.colemannatural.com/

There is no warning about cross contamination due to shared equiptment, but I have not called the company to enquire about their processing practices.

I am here - still managing allergies

Hi There everyone. I know it has been a few weeks. I am here - doing well. I have had chemo treatment and it went very well. I have a few side effects - nausea and fatigue that lasted about 4 days. After that, each day got a little better. I am a little dissapointed that today - exactly 2 weeks after my first treatment, my hair started to fall out. It is a little freaky. It is kind of like when your dog is sheeing and the hair falls out when you pet her. Ick.

Other than that we are gearing up for Halloween. I have volunteered to bring the Halloween treat for both my son's preschool classes. Honestly it is easier than worrying about what someone else may bring. However, since I have become a bit of an allergy maven I felt it necessary to inquire if there were any other allergies in the class so I could make sure it was safe for everyone. There is a milk allergy in the class. Yikes - the ONE allergy we do NOT have. I will figure it out. If I need help - I will be bugging you guys.

I also think I have averted future unsafe cupcake debacles at school for R. It seems that most of the moms bring store bought cupcakes that at labeled processed in a facility that also processes nuts. Who can blame them - we all have enough going on without having to bake cupcakes! To avoid any more situations where R. can not eat the cupcake, I purchased Entenmann's Brownie Bites. (They seem to be safe for peanut allergies) They come prepackaged in the little bags. This way they can be kept in the classroom and not in the freezer. R. is very excited - he can not wait until the next birthday so he can have his special brownies. Problem Solved!

Later

A

Wheat Free Play Dough

It is the custom in our preschool for the mom's to take turns making playdough for the class each month. Since C can not play with traditional playdough made from flour I worked up a plan to keep him safe. Before school started I met with his teachers to review all of his allergy information. At this meeting I brought up the issue and had printed up some wheat free playdough recipies I had found online. I figured that we would pass them out at BTS night. I also decided to volunteer to make playdough for September so I could make sure we got on the right track.




This is the playdough I made - it came out really great. The texture is really nice. I chose a recipie that called for shortening a a little vegetable oil. I thought it would make it more pliable and keep it from drying out. And it did! I ended up emailing all the recipies to the moms and got some really positive replies. I think overall they are really understanding and willing to try and help. It is nice to know that there are still some compassionate people out there. The teacher also asked me to share the recipie with the moms of the 2 day class that shares the room!

Here is the recipie:
2 c. cornstarch
1 c. salt
1 tbsp. shortening
1 1/2 c. water
1/2 tbsp of vegetable oil

Mix and cook over low heat until mixture leaves edge of pan. Knead until smooth. Store in plastic bag or container at room temperature. I added food coloring and kneaded it in while the dough was still warm. I did wear gloves so I did not dye my hands green. Next time I am going to try adding it to the water fiirst.