A Dairy Free Reminder....

Today Doodle came home from the neighbor's house just screaming in pain, complaining her stomach was upset. She had accidentally eaten popcorn at the neighbor's house with butter on it - a big NO - and now she was paying the price. At our house, I am so diligent about not allowing dairy to sneak into her diet because I know the consequences - but it's hard to control what happens at other people's house and popcorn is one of her favorite treats. At our house, I purchase Kettle Corn that is dairy free and Doodle is free to pop it herself and enjoy. Lesson learned, for her!

After a long nap, Doodle's stomach troubles were cured and we decided to make Peanut Butter Rice Krispy Treats for a snack this week. The recipe is so simple and I love that it adds a little bit of protein to an otherwise sweet treat.

Peanut Butter Rice Krispy Treats

2 Tbsp Earth Balance Dairy Free Butter
1/2 cup Creamy Peanut Butter
40 to 50 marshmallows
1 box Gluten Free Rice Krispies

1. In a large pot, melt dairy free butter and creamy peanut butter over medium heat.
2. Stir in marshmallows. Continue stirring until completely melted.
3. Pour in Rice Krispies and stir until marshmallow mixture completely mixed in.
4. Pour into a greased 9" x 13" pan and spread evenly. Cut into even squares and serve.

Turning 7

We've had a busy summer and it's hard to believe that there are less than 4 weeks until school starts. Our Doodle is going into first grade and I'm trying to prep for this by stocking up meals in the freezer and adjusting her diet to exclude corn in the hopes she will have better luck paying attention this year. A summer filled with playing in the pool will soon turn to a busy fall filled with new teachers, new classmates, and homework. I'm confident this year that Doodle will keep up with her class better and make new friends. I've noticed over the summer that she has had an easier time making friends at the playground. She used to shy away from talking to other kids and sometimes wouldn't even play on the equipment if other kids were there. Now, she strikes up conversations with other children and forms friendships. It's so awesome to see her blossom!

Happy Birthday Doodle!

Doodle turned 7 years old and to celebrate we had a great lunch together (at her favorite joint - Hardee's) and then went to see Cars 2 in the theater. She has ordered up some vegan pumpkin waffles for dinner tonight and a vegan vanilla cake for dessert. Since we've gone egg free, I have considerably cut back on my baking for Doodle - it's not as easy as it used to be. Fortunately, there are some great recipes on the Internet and I found just what she needs for her menu.

The Gluten Free Goddess has a wonderful vegan Vanilla Cupcake recipe that I whipped up to bake a heart shaped cake for Doodle. You can find it here:

 http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/2009/08/vanilla-cupcakes-with-mocha-icing.html

 I skipped the mocha icing and bought some dairy free frosting at the store. Hopefully Doodle enjoys here cake this year.

For the waffles - I have found a wonderful recipe that we all enjoy - they taste phenomenal! You can find the recipe here:

http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2008/09/gluten-free-pumpkin-waffles.html

We may top it all off with a trip to Cold Stone this weekend with Grandpa & Grandma where Doodle can enjoy a cup of Sorbet.

Enjoy!

Simple Pizza

Summer is here and I am in need of simple recipes for my girls to eat at lunch time. They would be perfectly happy consuming spaghetti every single day throughout the summer - but some variety is needed before they burn completely out. So, Doodle and I invented a super simple way to make 'pizza' for her.

Simple Pizza:

1 Gluten free Tortilla
1-2 Tbsp Pizza Quick Pizza Sauce
10 slices pepperoni
Handful of Daiya Mozzarella & Cheddar cheese each

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Place Tortilla on a Pizza cooking sheet and top with Pizza Quick sauce, pepperoni, and Daiya cheese.
3. Place in oven and cook until cheese is melted - 5 to 8 minutes. Remove from oven and slice into 4 pieces. A perfect simple pizza is born!

Apparently Dad tried to make this recipe while I was traveling and ended up using regular tortilla's rather than the gluten free variety. The good news is that Doodle didn't have a reaction! She's not as sensitive to gluten as she is to dairy and eggs - but we keep it out of her diet just to be on the safe side.

Doodle informed me today that she would rather be in school because summer is boring! How refreshing since she was begging for school to end just one month ago. Glad to know she will be happy to start early mornings, homework, and long days of learning all over again in the first grade.

I've been very impressed with how Doodle has learned to read and write. She has written her kindergarten teacher several letters now, all by herself. She diligently sounds out the words and writes them in the letter - it's so adorable. Her wonderful teacher is great about responding and sending a note back. Wish she was coming with us to first grade!

A long break

I've been re-miss in posting on my blog - mostly because I haven't been inspired to create new recipes and Doodle is doing so well. First of all, let me start with a progress updated. Doodle completed her 7 year old assessment at school and the results were what I had hoped to achieve by the time she left 2nd grade - so a whole 2 years early she tested out of the special ed program! She is by no means a genius, but she does test equivalent to her peers. Main concern, of course, is her ability to pay attention. We're still working on that - but she will no longer need any adaptive services next year - all of our hard work, consistency, and dedication has paid off!

Second, an egg update. Back in April, I wrote that we had taken Doodle off of eggs and tomatoes to see if it would help her pay better attention. It didn't. So, we added eggs and tomatoes back into her diet, one at a time. Funny thing happened, she started complaining about stomach aches. Then one morning I fed her eggs before school and I received a call from the nurse that she was in her office puking and had diarrhea - exactly the same thing that happens when she has milk. Guess eggs are an issue after all - so we are now egg free permanently. Tomatoes don't seem to cause the same issue. We will try corn next - it may also be a culprit to her lack of ability to pay attention.

Finally, to our delight today at the grocery store, we found Gluten Free Rice Krispies from Kellogg's! We've been waiting for Kellogg's to get on the Gluten Free band wagon and today was the day our store stocked their shelves! I purchased 2 boxes and rushed home to make one box into Gluten Free Dairy Free Rice Krispy treats - they were delicious! Doodle was so happy, I think she gobbled up 3 bars right away. So happy she can experience these simple joys once again -- and they taste exactly like the regular Rice Krispies. Thank you Kellogg's! You've made on little girl very happy.

One Week Without Eggs

It's probably completely coincidental, but two amazing things happened this week, the first week Doodle has been egg free.

1.  Doodle's teacher sent home a note on Friday stating that Doodle was initiating conversation at school and had asked several kids to play with her. During her conferences, her teacher expressed concern that Doodle would play near other kids, but she hadn't ever seen her initiate conversation. 
2. Usually getting Doodle to clean up anything takes a herculean effort with lots of reminders to finish her task. Last night, I asked Doodle to pick up her room before bed, then left for a few minutes. Upon my return, her entire room was spotless! Who was this child?

Is this due to the removal of eggs? Time will tell. We're trying it out for the next 5 weeks to see if any positive behavior changes result - specifically her ability to focus at school. Stay tuned to find out the results.

By the way, I made my first batch of egg-free brownies last night - they were fabulous! I found the recipe from the Gluten Free Goddess here. I'll have to try them as cookies next time around.

Residual Autism

We had conferences for Doodle this week with her Kindergarten teacher. Doodle is in the midst of being tested through the school to see if she continues to qualify for special education. We will have that update in another month, but I wanted to see how she was doing in the classroom, prior to getting the test results back. Doodle has just the nicest, kindest, sweetest Kindergarten teacher you can imagine. She is very loving and patient - at least as far as I can see. I was very impressed with how far Doodle has come, as was her teacher. Doodle keeps up with her class academically and has made terrific progress in both reading and math. We just need to work on forming numbers correctly and in the right order all of the time.

One area of concern continues to be her ability to pay attention. Her teacher expressed concern again about being easily distracted. She can stay on task during an assignment at her table, but has difficulty focusing when doing other things like tying her shoes or getting ready to go outside for recess. She also mentioned that Doodle has a hard time making eye contact. She will initially look you in the eye, but turns away quickly. She also has difficulty approaching someone to play with her. She will play near other kids and wait for them to address her. I'm calling this residual autism. Once the kids notice her, they will invite her to play, but she rarely asks other children at school to play with her. It's hard for me to see this, as she constantly is asking other children in the neighborhood to play with her. She's best friends with our neighbor's daughter and they are constantly running between the two houses. I'm thinking she takes a long time to warm up to kids, but once she does, she is comfortable asking kids to play with her. Hopefully she will learn to overcome this trait.

As a result of the conferences, my husband and I have decided to try to eliminate more from her diet. Seems daunting to eliminate even more than dairy and gluten. I recently read an article where the researchers found that diet is equally effective in treating ADHD as medication.  The researches had children follow the Restricted Elimination Diet where they eliminated milk, gluten, eggs, and tomatoes from the children's diet. Since we are already gluten and dairy free, we've decided to eliminate eggs and tomatoes. Just like when we eliminated milk and gluten, I didn't really realize how often we use eggs and tomatoes. Eggs, in fact, are a staple in our house and it won't be easy finding a substitute for our morning breakfast routine. If you have any tips, let me know - I'm sure I will be fumbling around with this diet change for the next few weeks until we get it right.

Pizza Quesadilla's

A few weeks ago we were given some gluten free products to sample. I'm normally skeptical, as most commercial gluten free products don't compare to our own homemade versions. However, this time we were given some gluten free tortilla's from French Meadow Bakery in Minneapolis to try from a friend. Doodle was so excited to try them as Quesadilla's with her Daiya dairy free cheese. She has been hooked ever since!  The other day she took it upon herself to make her Quesadilla's while her dad was in another room. She pulled the tortilla's out of the freezer, added her dairy free cheese, and topped the whole thing with pepperoni. Then she hunted down her dad to cook the whole thing on the stove top. Their super easy to make and Doodle LOVES them.  The tortilla's are soft and taste just like the regular gluten filled version. I'm going to have to pick some up next time I'm in the Minneapolis area.

Pizza Quesadilla's

2 Gluten Free Tortilla's
1/4 Cup Daiya Dairy Free Cheese
6-10 slices pepperoni
Dairy free butter or Olive Oil

1. On one of the tortilla's spread the dairy free cheese and pepperoni. Top with the second tortilla.
2. Heat frying pan and butter or olive oil over medium high heat. Place tortilla's in pan and let fry for 1-2 minutes or until slightly brown.
3. With a spatula, flip the tortilla's and brown the other side. Remove and enjoy!

If you haven't tried French Meadow Bakery gluten free products - I encourage you to do so. They are delicious! Become a fan on Facebook, too...It's wonderful to have great gluten free food, so nearby. A rare find!