Adventures in Allergies

Today I took Jeffrey (1) and Jane (5) to the allergist. Now, Jane is known to have food allergies. She tested positive to dairy and almond allergies as a baby. Years went by, and she lost the almond allergy and gained egg.

Today she had a SPT - Skin Prick Test. She tested negative to all the nuts (yay!), and positive to dairy, egg and *wheat*!! What is up with that? She has eaten wheat with no apparent problems since infancy. The doctor said that SPT *negatives* are usually accurate, but the *positives* can be false positives. He wouldn't even blood test (RAST) her for wheat, because she is eating it fine, and sent a blood test out for the other positives, to see what level of allergy we are dealing with. Of course, he can attempt to stop me from worrying by not RASTing her for wheat, but a mother's mind is always wondering ... what if that is why she is so small? Would taking wheat out help her absorb her other foods? What about the asthma? Eczema? Hmmm...

I'm not about to start yanking wheat from her diet though. Because I've always said, "If one of us becomes allergic to wheat we'll have nothing left to eat, and I'll completely lose my mind and quit this mom business." Which really came out more like, "Please God, not wheat. Anything but wheat."

Jeffrey tested negative to everything! Which is good, I *guess*, except that I'm positive he reacts to things that I eat. Which kind of leaves me in limbo - limbo that I was hoping this test would answer.

The allergist said that recent research is turning everything they believed about allergies on it's ear - that it's possible that early exposure to allergens will actually help prevent more allergies in the long run. There is research going on right now in England where they are putting peanut in baby formula. This mom of an anaphylactic to peanuts daughter almost gasped out loud in horror when he said that, LOL. I always take research with a grain of salt, but it will be interesting what comes of all this. I was sent away with strict instructions to pump my kids full of potential food allergens. ;-)

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OK, so my Rule of Six practice

just ground to a screeching halt (I sent everyone away so I could have a 5 minute "de-stress").

I had been doing pretty well. Really. Despite some stresses going on here. But just now I found out that Batty brought playdoh upstairs after I specifically, more than once, told her not to. The baby found it, and ate it. I was busy and thought he was just playing contently with a toy. No, he was contently eating PLAYDOH out of the toy. Probably at least a tablespoon. :( UGH. I freaked. I'm sure the baby will be OK, with it being non-toxic and all - but I did NOT respond "with good humor" that the 3yo disobeyed me, and that it's now wrecked my painstakingly controlled allergen testing this week. It just kills me that the baby could be reacting to something I'm eating (I just tested eggs last night), but now I won't know and will have to eat them again to find out. But I'm sooo hungry all the time that gaining eggs back is a big deal. Grrrr...it is so hard to weigh my real needs against the baby's potentially real needs! Who can resist this face??

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New Post Up

At my long ignored food blog From Thy Bounty:

Secret Ingredient No-Egg Brownies

Don't tell you kids. ;-)

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Where science meets dessert

Isn't that the best kind of science?

Today, inspired by an experiment in Exploring Creation with Astronomy, we decided to make S'more Cups, magnifying glass style.

You'll need mini marshmallows, chocolate chips, crushed graham crackers (ours have spent some time in my diaper bag), some kind of bowl or cup, a magnifying glass, and a sunny day.


Please ignore the mess behind the ingredients. Small kitchen plus ant invasion means a cleared cabinet and stuff on the furthest counter from the ant entrance. :)

Go outside and place broken crackers in the cups.


Fill with chocolate chips:


Melt the chocolate by focusing the light from the sun with the magnifying glass:


It was so hot here today the chocolate pretty much melted by itself. ;-)

Place mini marshmallows on top and try to "bake" with the same focused light from the magnifying glass:

Honestly, this didn't really work. We were hoping for "toasted." We got "barely warm." The girls surmised it was due to two things: our impatience and the fact that the white marshmallows reflected too much of the light/heat, unlike the darker chocolate that absorbed so much that it was melting before we even aimed the magnifying glass on it:


Bring it inside (because it's hot and you've been complaining for 5 minutes that the sun is too strong), and devour! But here is the most important rule to remember: NEXT TIME MAKE ONE FOR YOUR MOTHER. :)

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OK this isn't funny

I promise to talk about something other than calorie tracking...next time. But I just put in what I plan on eating for dinner, and I'm still just under one THOUSAND calories short for today. And I *tried* to eat enough today, I really did! I *also* tried to eat allergen free, completely, and that's what gets me.

Guess I need to head to the health food store for some high calorie, bad for me, allergen free snacks or something. This is ridiculous!

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I got a badge!

I logged into My Daily Plate three days in a row and they gave me a "badge" saying so. It's funny how happy that makes me. I'm really liking the site, they make it easy to put in your daily food especially if you tend to eat the same things over time.

I also found a place I could change from "maintain my weight" to "gain X amount per week." I weighed myself yesterday and feel that I'm too low (113). I feel much better a few pounds heavier (anything from 115-120). I'm now having weakness and sugar lows every single day and I can't function like this. I do remember this happening with the other children on the same diet, but I have more to do and more to take care of now. Two of my children I weaned at 8/9 months due to medical issues (mine and theirs) so that solved that problem, one self weaned at 13 months but she was my first so I had less to do, and the other two are still nursing! LOL I'm not sure how I got through this time with #4. As time went by I do know that she was eating more and nursing less, and also reacting less to my milk. But by then I was pregnant! :)

Changing my weight gain needs added calories to my daily requirements, however -- now it's going to take 2540 calories per day instead of 2200 and change. Hmmmmm, seeing as I was not hitting that goal any day makes me think this 2540 is just wishful thinking! If I have time later I'm going to search around the site for high calorie, allergen free, easy to make food suggestions. Right now I'm wishing we lived at my parents old house in Florida - they had an avacado tree right out front. They hated avacado so they never ate them!

Well, "wishing ain't getting", and planning ain't getting either, so I'm going to go DO something and EAT. ;-)

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Now I realize why I'm losing weight!

Day two of tracking my eating with TheDailyPlate.com. I added in everything I have eaten so far today, plus my plans for dinner (pasta with bacon, corn, black beans, and olive oil) and dessert (watermelon and strawberries). I'm still 500+ calories short. And today was pretty typical as far as what/how much I eat - especially after Mr. Safeway came and delivered our groceries.

Yesterday St. DH actually DID come home with a Big Mac for me (he had to return a Redbox video at McD's anyway so treated me to some calories). :) But one Big Mac still left me 600 calories short yesterday too.

I think two things need to change, or I'll have to wean the baby because I am getting too weak to keep up with this family: first, I need to take the time to make more "real food" from scratch with several ingredients (like tuna salad and a baked potato for lunch instead of grabbing whatever is available), and time to sit down and eat it. Secondly, I need to get over certain foods being for certain times and just start off with something really filling for breakfast like a turkey burger! I *do* do this to some extent, but lately it just seems to be more planning/work than I can figure out how to accomplish.

It's funny, everyone who sees me tells me how great I look for just having had a baby. If they express dismay that they aren't losing as fast, I share my secret: "You too could have the weigh peel off of you if you gave up everything containing any trace of dairy, eggs, soy, peanuts, treenuts, sunflower, tomato, citrus, vinegar, chocolate..."

And yes, I do cheat these days (i.e. the Big Mac when I'm desperate), but I think I'm paying for it in other ways - i.e. a cranky baby who must stay latched on all night. Or maybe that's from his current diet - crumbs of all sorts of things off the floor! LOL

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No wonder I binge at night

I just joined TheDailyPlate.com to track what I've eaten today in terms of calories, because I was feeling a little light headed (and ravenous, even though I was eating!). Especially on days when the pantry is low and we are due for a supermarket run, I have trouble figuring out what to feed myself due to all the food allergies in the family, including the baby's sensitivities. You'd think I'd have this down pat by now, but no. Jeffrey threw some curve balls in there, being sensitive through breastmilk to the *substitutes we use* for the usual allergens we avoid. That and my life long pickiness keep me on a constant search for good food. Seriously though, I have gotten MUCH better than when I was a child.

At The Daily Plate, you can calculate your calorie needs by activity level. Because there was no choice for "active homeschooling mom of 5 under 11 who is tandem nursing" ;-) I chose "very active" on a scale of "sedentary" to "extremely active." It calculated that I needed 2,290 calories a day to maintain my weight (which I am happy with, although I would LOVE to take some off my flabby belly and attach it to my stick thin wrists, LOL).

Today being the aforementioned day before a supermarket run, we have run out of fresh fruits/veggies, lunch meat, a bunch of snacky things, etc. So I'm kind of cobbling together my food intake today. It is probably embarressingly UNhealthy so I'm not going to even say what I've eaten other than a yummy but calorie low banana/raspberry/ricemilk smoothie for breakfast. It's now 4PM, so with dinner and a nighttime snack yet to be consumed, I still have 1,213 calories left to go.

Anyone want to join me for a Big Mac? Or two? :-P



ETA: LOL, I just searched for Big Mac and they contain only 560 calories, so I would need MORE than 2. Not that I should eat them with the whole allergy/avoidance thing. And the whole "wanting to live past 50" thing. ;-)

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How you can tell he's child #5

His first food was carefully prepared Earth's Best Baby Cereal.

His second taste of food was some mashed up grilled potatoes from my plate.

His third food?

Oreos.

Today he swiped a large chunk of Oreo that had fallen on the floor. I *did* at least wipe off his hands and face afterwards. I'm just happy they're dairy and nut free! :-)

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New Recipe up

At my very neglected food blog From Thy Bounty:

Ground Turkey Stir Fry

This was a hit in our "simple cooking/eating" family, and can be modified for what's on hand (a big plus here).

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Q and A: Food Allergies

While I'm snacking I have a quiet moment to answer some of your great questions. It was so interesting to know what my readers ponder about. :)

Angela asked:

Hmmm... Okay, Amy, I would love to hear how you cope with so many food allergies in the house! How do you all do snacks and breakfasts, in particular?

How do I cope with food allergies? Oh, I whine and cry alot, especially when I'm trying to cook dinner, LOL! Seriously, I think having 4 out of 5 kids with differing dietary needs and some with multiple anaphylactic food allergies has been the HARDEST thing I've had to endure in my life. I know that sounds overly dramatic, but it's true. Did you know that there was a study done that said parents with food allergic children feel more stressed than an adult with a cancer diagnosis? I think the hardest part is that I feel like I'm flying blind - I can't rely on most recipe books, shows, websites...I can't make many of the things I grew up on or came to love. Food represents a lot to me, and I have to grow up and away from that comfort, and it's hard.

Before I go into how we deal (which really is getting easier and easier despite what I said - especially when MY extremely strict diet is over - either when I wean or the baby gets older and can tolerate more) I'll give you the rundown of who avoids what:

Rose (10): anaphylactic to peanuts, allergic to eggs, intolerant (gives her nasty eczema) to tomatoes

Skye (8): the only one who can apparently eat anything. I *love* taking this child out to eat all by herself and pretending it's always that free and easy.

Jane (almost 5): allergic (probably anaphylactic) to dairy, allergic to almonds, molases, egg. Not food related but she used to be allergic to every single lotion and soap we tried. She seems to be outgrowing that a bit.

Batty (2): mild allergy to egg. I'm confident she'll outgrow this.

Baby Jeffrey: now of course he's never had food directly, but he has reacted to the following in my diet, so I avoid: dairy, soy, chocolate, tomato, citrus, vinegar, sunflower...we already avoid nuts and eggs so I don't know if he would react. I don't think I've figured everything out either - like tonight he has a nasty diaper rash all of a sudden, typical of a reaction...

Anyway, what has helped us is to list all the things we know we CAN have. It enables us to think positively and see that there really is a wide variety of foods that we can all eat. Now whether we all LIKE them or not is a different story, LOL. I for one grew up pretty picky, and it can rear it's ugly head when I'm deprived of many major food groups. Making that list of approved foods, and then developing a two week menu plan based on that has been extremely helpful.

Angela specifically asked about breakfast and snacks. You caught me, Angela, because snacks and especially breakfasts is where my menu plan breaks down. Breakfasts have always been terribly carb loaded here, which is why we wind up eating lunch at 10:30. We do cereal, oatmeal, muffins, and pancakes. Occasionally there is bacon or sausage, but we don't have an easy way to get "natural" bacon or sausage so I don't want to load this kids up with nitrates every day. I personally love turkey burgers for breakfast (not sure why! LOL) and so when I'm on the ball and have those things available, I'll eat that - but the kids just can't seem to stomach that.

Snacks are a little better - we eat one good snack around 2:30-3PM, and I have a list of "approved" snacks. Things like pretzels, tortilla chips and salsa, any fruit (there is always something in the house), more oatmeal or cereal, leftovers, homemade trail mix, popcorn, tortilla roll ups, yogurt for those that can eat it, sunbutter on crackers (only I can't eat that), etc. Pretty carb loaded, again, but as long as we are eating frequently, we're surviving.

It has been easier to feed dh/kids than it is to feed me. I wind up grabbing a handful of trail mix instead of eating a full meal, because I can't eat what everyone else is having, or my only Jeffrey free moment is spent running around cooking/cleaning/doing laundry, etc. I need to work on that, but it often takes more planning than I can muster.

Let me know if this didn't answer your question, Angela! I hope I wasn't terribly disappointing, since we just kind of "make do" instead of having found some great system to get 100% of everyone's RDA of everything. I wish.

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Crock pot chicken

Angela has asked how I make my chicken in a crock pot from my menu plan.

It is a long, secret, complicated recipe, but I will share it with all of my wonderful readers.

Take chicken out of it's plastic wrapper. Remove giblets (I have forgotten in the past! LOL).

Rinse off chicken. Place in crock pot. Turn on crock pot. Wait 8 hours. Curse as you try to lift it out of the crockpot because it all comes off the bone and half of it falls on the floor.

Done.

LOL! Seriously, this is all I do sometimes (well not usually the cursing part, I rarely try to take it out all at once like I used to). Usually I shake on some spices - salt, pepper, garlic powder, paprika. Sometimes I make Sticky Chicken (except I do mine in the crock pot).

When we can all eat more, I'll get more creative. Sorry I couldn't be the bearer of some great recipe, Angela! :)

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In honor of Menu Plan Monday...

I'm sharing our new two week rotation of meals. Breakfast and lunch are not set in stone - this is more of a guide. For the most part, the plan is free of dairy, eggs, nuts, peanuts, citrus, tomato, chocolate...maybe something else, I can't remember! LOL

Here is the link to it:

Two week winter meal plan

The column farthest to the right is the shopping list of ingredients I'll typically need to shop for for that day's meals. I left out some staples, and if I need it again later in the week I didn't list it twice. I'm thinking about adding paper products/cleaners to this list and then printing it out as a permanent checklist. Well, permanent until I change this meal plan in a few months, LOL.


I've only just started it, but I can't tell you how wonderfully mentally freeing having this all set up is. We used to shop sales (actually dh would shop for the most part) and then bring home all this food with no idea what to make from it. Granted, I became an expert at making dinner every night from a mish mosh of ingredients, but it's a sressful way to live!

We can still shop sales, we just need to stock up when things we USE are on sale, instead of buying something edible only *because* it's on sale.

It was so nice to wake up this morning, check the chart (not have to think at 7 AM) and know I needed to get out the crock pot and put in the chicken. I'm sure over time it will all become second nature. This is good. Simple.

Wondering how I can do it with all the other areas of my life!

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I know this isn't a requirement, but...

...I think it behooves anyone who works at and/or owns a health food store to at least understand the basics of food allergies and ingredients/properties of their food.

A new health food store opened up near here a few months ago. I was excited because it would save me the 20 minute trip to Trader Joe's or the 35 minute trip to Whole Foods if I needed something. I finally made it in there today.

Their prices are not surprisingly high, but they are typical "small health food store prices" at least for around here. We picked up a quart of rice milk, sunbutter, and some egg free/dairy free mayo (I wish they made a soy free one too!). $14 and change.

Then at the counter, I asked the nice ladies there if I could order bulk wheat berries from them. I used to do this from another store, but that store is an inconvenient distance away and this would be so much easier!

So like I said, I'm there asking them about wheat berries.

"Wheat berries? What are those?"

Oh, you know, the whole wheat "seed" thingy before it's ground up.

"Wheat berries? Who makes them?"

Umm..well, God, I guess (I didn't say this, but I thought it, LOL). I couldn't think of a particular distributor.

"Are they a frozen food?"

I deserved this one, because at some point I said I had some at home in my freezer to keep them fresh...

"Are they gluten free?"

WHEAT berries, ladies, WHEAT berries. Do they sound gluten free? At this point I'm seriously considering offering my services as some kind of "food allergy info" consultant...but I didn't want to seem rude.

Finally one of the ladies starts scanning through their supplier book; she at least figured out they must be some kind of bulk grain and is looking in that section. Probably because I told her they were a bulk grain. ;-)


Boy, am I spoiled by the workers at the Whole Foods who know their merchandise inside and out, and if they don't they know someone else in the store who does...

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Because writing is better than crying...

...when you've had surgery on your nose, LOL!

I'm coming here not to complain, really, but to....I don't know, just share? I'm having difficulty with something today and if I had someone I thought would understand, I would call them. But no one really understands...so I'm just going to throw this out to the blogosphere, because I know there are people out there that really DO understand. They may not be one of the 10 people who read my blog, LOL, but one never knows.

Soooo...some of you know many of my children have food allergies. Even the ones that do not, spent their first 6-12 months reacting to foods in my breast milk...many foods. My guess is that I have "leaky gut" and so things I eat get into my bloodstream in huge molecules, which then get into my milk and irritate the babies. My current baby reacts to dairy and soy in all forms, citrus, tomato, chocolate, any "hot" spices, vinegar (even in little bits like dressings), and possibly sunflower and carrots ...we are already egg/nut free in the house so those are out (I don't know if he would react).

I find all of this very stressful. It isn't so much that I have to give up foods...while that does bother me, it is not the worst of it. I have done it many times and am pretty used to it by now, although I find it difficult to find things to eat and even more difficult to make meals for my family. What is truly getting to me today, however, is that I am HURTING my child. The mere fact that I need sustinance HURTS my poor innocent baby. Because I can't figure out everything that is bothering him. Here he is almost three months old and I am still doing trial and error. I thought my diet was very clear yesterday, that he should be fine. But no, today he is very cranky and his diapers are "yucky" (I'll spare the poop details, LOL, you can thank me later).

I don't know if anyone can understand, but it breaks my heart in a very real way that I basically have to chose between eating, and my baby feeling good.

That's all I have to say.

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