Why Bother?

Some days, all this dietary stuff is hard.  I just want to get drive through for dinner.  I don't want to spend 20 minutes grinding up pills and spraying weird stuff into my kids mouth.  I don't want to think about all the detox and viral issues and yeast and bacteria in the gut.   I want to have the kid who takes a Flintstone vitamin every morning with his orange juice.  That would definitely be easier. 

But then I get an email like the one below and I remember why we are doing this and suddenly it is not so hard.  This is from Mr. O's teacher.  I have to say, we could not do this without fantastic teachers and therapists, and this year we hit the jackpot again with a teacher that Mr. O loves.  He wakes up in the morning and the first thing out of his mouth is "Zebra today?"  Yep, he calls his teacher Zebra.   For the record, if you are ever special enough to get a nickname from Mr. O, you will know you have a place in his heart.

OK, back to the email, here it is:

"So yesterday O  goes to his lollipops and pulls one out.  He walks up to me and says that’s a pomegranate -  that’s a good one.  He then asks me to open it.  So I do and hand it back to him.  He then hands it back to me and says no that’s for you Mr. D you did a good job. I thought you might like that story."

Yes I did like that story, thank you very much Zebra.   Grinding up those pills will be a little easier today.

Easy box mix cupcakes - fast and GF/CF/SF

Some days there is just no time to bake from scratch.   Here's something yummy and quick and also free of most common allergens - No gluten, casein, soy or corn, yay. 

Cherrybrook Kitchen yellow cake mix. 

Namaste vanilla toffee frosting.

Enjoy Life semi-sweet chocolate chips.

Make the cupcakes according to package directions - we use Earth Balance soy free spread instead of butter.  Then make the toffee frosting according to package directions.  Same deal with the buttery spread.  Finally, I melt about half a cup of chocolate chips and add it to the frosting - kids seem to like it better with a little chocolate in it - isn't everything better with chocolate?  

Finger lickin' good!

Life on the Farm

"Agriculture is our wisest pursuit, because it will in the end contribute most to real wealth, good morals, and happiness."  - Letter from Thomas Jefferson to George Washington (1787)

So last year we joined a farm.  Yes, it was LAST year.  Old news.  I know.  But now that "The Lost Year" is over (that's what we're calling 2011 around here) I want to talk about some things we actually did, to remind myself that my lost year wasn't entirely worthless.  I promise to throw in some current events too, maybe tomorrow.

Calling this post Life on the Farm is a bit of a stretch, since we didn't actually LIVE on the farm.  Some weeks it felt like we did, some weeks I wished that we did, but no, we lived right here in our suburban box of a house instead.  And joined a CSA.  

What is a CSA farm?   CSA stands for "community supported agriculture."  These farms are a way for consumers to buy local, seasonal food directly from a farmer. Here are the basics: a farmer offers a certain number of "shares" to the public. Typically the share consists of a box of vegetables, but other farm products may be included. 

  The farm we joined uses organic farming practices and offered so many great veggies - a LOT more than a box full most weeks - AND they had "pick your own" crops that included strawberries, green beans, herbs and flowers!   It cost us a little over $20 a week and in return we got POUNDS of produce, a day trip to visit the pigs, chickens and butterflies, and gorgeous photo opportunities.  Cucumbers, tomatoes, lettuce, potatoes, kale, collard greens, peppers, delicata squash, cilantro, pumpkins, sweet potatoes, beets, blackberries .... and more!  Different every week, lots of variety and so yummy!  And flowers!  Fresh flowers for the table every week.  Pictures of bees and butterflies.  Not to mention the opportunity to check out all the bugs and frogs we could find.

  Since we are continually trying to live a healthier lifestyle, this was a fairly inexpensive way to try new things and eat more organic produce.  New favorite for me?  Kale.  My girl surprised me with her love of butternut squash.  And the boys ... well, I don't know if they love any of the new veggies, but they are eating them so I can't ask for more.

If you'd like to find a CSA in your area, check out Local Harvest.  Now is a good time to join since most farms fill up quickly and many have waiting lists.  We had to wait a year to get in at "our" farm, but it was worth it! 

Tea Collection sale!

I am a big fan of comfort.  Also a big fan of  Frida Kahlo.   Yes, this is all going to tie together.  All season I was dreaming about the Tea brand Mexico collection that was inspired by Frida Kahlo ~ but I was just too cheap and couldn't bring myself to pay full price.  

I got an email today that they have an additional 25% off all sale items with the code 25OFFSALE - I got some great deals!  They still have enough available to make outfits, and shipping is automatically  free if you spend $150.  Look at these great sets that are still available in lots of sizes:

Dresses start at $14.50 before the 25% off!

Just thought I'd let you all know about the sale before everything sells out - if you click on my link below, I'll get some credit, but you will also get a 20% coupon to use - not sure if it will work with the 25% off code, but you can save that  for later - and trust me, you'll want to use it because Tea makes the comfiest stuff in the world.

Marshmellows! GF/CF/SF and Corn Free!

Phew.  It has been awhile.  I'm not even going to try to explain.  (OK, I am going to try to explain, but not right this second.)  For now I am just going to post this recipe because I NEVER thought it was going to work and it did.   And I think this is something I need to share with the world. 

It started with a camping trip.  We were invited to join some friends to camp and I knew I had to come up with something for roasting over the fire.  We've done hot dogs before, but we all know that marshmellows (marshmallows?)  are THE thing to have when you are camping.  And S'mores.  So I started looking for something that would work for my crew.  I was looking for GF/CF plus no soy and no corn - and I was kind of hoping to avoid refined sugar.  Go ahead, start laughing now. 

I found this  recipe at the begining of my search and it ended up being my starting point with some tweaks along the way.  Here's a picture of the finished product to start you off, recipe after the photo.

Here's what you need to start with:

2 packets unflavored gelatine

1/2 cup cool water

2 cups Sucanat (a less refined sugar)

3/4 cup water

2 tbsp honey

1/2 tsp real vanilla extract

1/4 tsp kosher salt

1/4 cup tapioca starch

1/4 cup organic powdered sugar

(I used Trader Joe's brand as it does not have corn starch)

In a small bowl, stir together tapioca starch and powdered sugar.  Prepare a pan - Oil a large casserole or rimmed cookie sheet and spoon in some powdered sugar mixture to coat pan evenly.

In a mixing bowl (if you have a stand mixer, perfect), combine 1/2 cup cool water and gelatine.  Set aside.

In a heavy saucepan, combine water, sucanat, honey and salt.  Bring to a rolling boil and cook, stirring occasionally, until candy thermometer registers 238-240, firm ball stage.  (I will admit that I didn't have a thermometer and I just let it hit boiling and waited 15 minutes, but shhhh, don't tell.)

Turn on mixer (where you have the gelatine waiting) at low speed.  Slowly pour hot syrup into the bowl with the gelatine - carefully, it is HOT!  Mix until thoroughly combined, and then turn the mixer to high.  Beat until very thick, fluffy and lukewarm, about 12-15 minutes with a stand mixer.  Add vanilla extract near the end of mixing.  Here's how it looked:

Spread evenly into prepared pan and let cool at least 3-4 hours before slicing.  (I used one of my square stoneware bakers from Pampered Chef, and  let them  sit overnight) - as noted in the original recipe, the tops are VERY sticky so if you have pets or dust or anything floating around, you might want to cover them up.

To slice, remove the entire sheet of marshmellows onto a cutting board.  It will be tacky to the touch but not melted & sticky.  Mine did not pop out of the pan, I had to kind of pull the entire square out - it stretched but didn't break and the kids loved seeing it happen.   Grease a very sharp knife and cut into desired size.

I made ours fairly big because I knew we would be roasting them on the fire.  And yes, they are kind of a tan color because of the sucanat - if that really bothers you and you don't care about refined sugar, you can use regular white sugar instead.

Toss with remaining powdered sugar mixture until all sides are evenly coated and no longer sticky.  These will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for about 2-3 weeks.

They came out very much like "real" marshmellows, but with a slightly maple kind of flavor.  If you tell everyone they are special gourmet marshmellows, they will never know the difference.  I tested these out on a lot of people and I was surprised that everyone liked them.  I got comments about the color, but not one "this tastes kinda weird" or "...interesting ..."  and as you can see, my kids liked them too.  They even worked in S'mores. 

 Oh, and p.s.  I hurt my back last spring and it has taken me this long to catch up and feel normal again.  So hopefully that means more blogging.  Maybe I'll post about that whole mess another day.

Tacos!

I think most parents can understand having a picky eater.  We've all heard the stories (and told the stories) of the kid who only would eat chicken nuggets or cheez-its or pizza.  Or whatever.  Most kids go through phases like this and we get past them and move on.  A little advice from friends, a chat with the pediatrician, introducing new things, trying new recipes, sooner or later most kids outgrow these issues.

Kids with autism are a little different.  Usually when a kid with autism will only eat 5 things, it literally means 5 things.  Before we started the gluten free (casein free, soy free and yellow corn free), Mr. O literally would only eat pizza (from a pizza place), chicken nuggets (only 2 brands were acceptable), plain chicken and rice and meatballs with plain pasta.  Oh, and occasionally shrimp and crab legs.  That was it for lunch/dinner options.  Breakfast had to be waffles or pancakes.  Not as bad as the girl in his class who would only eat yogurt, but still pretty limited.  Packing lunch for school was a treat - we used to buy a pizza from the place down the street and freeze the slices for him to take to school each day, and they would have to heat it for him.  Super convenient, huh?

I never thought we could do "THE DIET."  My doctor did not encourage it.  I was overwhelmed at the idea of feeding this kid without pasta and pizza.  But we started it and I have been amazed at the changes in him.  For one thing, he has expanded his food options.  Still limited, but he is opening up all the time.  He now eats chicken and rice, shrimp, crabs, meatballs (with rice pasta) - and has added in chili (with beans!), kosher turkey hot dogs on gluten free rolls, rice and beans and most recently tacos!   I'm blogging about this because the tacos made me feel so normal.   I just saw them at Whole Foods one day last week and thought I would try them - I made them, served them and he just sat down and ate them like it was no big deal.  No slow introduction of a new food.  No screams, no tears, no begging.  He just sat down like a normal 10 year old - I said "TACOS" and he said, "Ooooh ... tacos."  And he ate four of them.  FOUR.

Feeling normal is not something that comes easily around here.  I'm kind of basking in the taco afterglow.  If you happen to see these Garden of Eatin taco shells at Whole Foods (and if your allergy kid can tolerate blue corn) - give them a try.  My other kids liked them too. 

Check out Monika's Contest!

I have been gone for too long. I know. My time has been filled with doctors appointments, dance lessons, gymnastics, tennis team and soccer. Not for me of course, for those pesky kids of mine. OK, well some of the doctors appointments have been mine lately but lets not talk about that. Oh, and we got a DOG. Do you believe it?? A DOG.

Popping on to post that my wonderful photographer friend, Monika, is having a giveaway on her blog today - be sure to check it out and enter for a chance to win a fun Coca-Cola shirt. I need one because we have that skirt to match, see, right here:

You know how I am with the matching, I think that Coca-Cola shirt would be way cuter, don't you? So click HERE to check it out and enter to win one!

I have really big plans to come back on here tomorrow and talk about tacos. And cupcakes - or should I say, children dressed as cupcakes? Yes, that is what I should say. In the meantime, here are a few pictures from the past few non-bloggy months.