Barrett's Unusual Ice Cream Party

Having children with food intolerances has its challenges for both mom and children. I have watched my children go through some heart-wrenching experiences. There were times where they had to sit apart from the other kids in the church nursery and eat their own little snack so they would not take any from the other children. They have gone to birthday parties where the mother had said they would have something for my kids but then forgot and I took my kids home in tears. In preschool Barrett had to always be the odd one out who got a few Starbursts while everyone else had cookies or cupcakes on the other kids' birthdays. When it was his birthday I was determined that he could be like anyone else and so I made allergen-free cupcakes with little monster trucks on top--only to be told that homemade snacks were not allowed for safety reasons. (Ironically, Barrett cannot eat most store bought snacks for safety reasons). We have gone to wedding receptions where well-meaning people have handed my children cookies which I then had to take away, breaking their little hearts.

One of the worst times was when I had made one of Barrett's favorite meals for the family, and made him his own dairy-free version. We all had a fine dinner and Barrett ate all of his. The disappointment came when I was eating leftovers for lunch the next day and Barrett wanted some too. When I told him his was gone he just burst into tears. I don't know what it was--maybe just the final straw. But we have had so many experiences like that, I wanted to find a book or something to help my children feel better about their situation.

I looked around on the internet for such a book, but could not find anything. I decided to take matters into my own hands and write a book myself, using experiences from my own childrens' lives as well as some children who live near me. This is the result:

BUY IT NOW!

'That will make you sick.'

This is one of the first phrases six-year-old Barrett learns because he has celiac sprue, which means he can't eat cake and bread or even drink milk.

Barrett is embarrassed of how different he is from the other kids in his class...until a new kid who also has unusual allergies comes to school.

At Barrett's Unusual Ice Cream Party, Barrett and his classmates learn that what makes them different makes them special.

It is available from the publisher now, and will be available through Amazon and other large chain stores in mid-April.

For more stories and information visit my author's website and my Facebook page.

Book Review: Special Needs Kids Eat Right

This is not a book review I wrote. This is one a friend of mine wrote but I needed to share it. Please read it: http://freelifeglutenfree.blogspot.com/2011/08/special-needs-kids-eat-right-book.html

I took her recommendation and got a copy of this book. It is helpful for any child with bowel problems, not just kids with disabilities. Although I found it even more helpful because I do see some elements of Asperger's in my son, I just have not found it necessary to seek a diagnosis.

The book talks about how nutrition significantly affects the functioning of children and their ability to focus, learn, and grow. She addresses specific issues children with Autism and ADHD face nutritionally and gives steps for restoring nutritional health in children. Proper nutrition can make medications work more effectively, or eliminate the need for medications at all. I highly recommend it.

Tips for Testing the Diet Change

If you suspect you or your child has gluten-intolerance here are a few tips:

• The gluten protein is very similar to casein in milk and soy protein. It is often wise to avoid those as well too--at least at first.
• You can try a few approaches, depending on what sounds most overwhelming to you:
• 1. Eliminate just gluten, and if there is still a problem eliminate other potential irritants one at a time. This can take a long time and patience, but for some people gradual is easier.
• 2. Eliminate one or more of the main potential irritants and gradually reintroduce them, watching for reactions. (i.e., milk and gluten; milk, soy and gluten; etc). Don't introduce new foods for at least a month--three months is better. It can be overwhelming to try to figure out how to feed you or your child like this, but it is a more certain approach than #1.
• 3. Go to a very basic diet of rice, rice milk, fruits and vegetables, and basic meats with no add-ins (like avoid sausage and watch out for tuna because it sometimes has soybean oil). Introduce foods one at a time and watch for reactions. Don't introduce new foods for at least a month--three months is better. This can also be overwhelming for the same reasons as #2. But then there is no question as to what caused the reaction.
• Be very careful of cross-contamination. Gluten is sticky and even the smallest trace can cause a reaction in some people.
• It might get better before it gets worse. There may be withdrawal symptoms, similar to that of a drug. The body will not be used to it. (That never happened to us but I have seen it happen to others).
• Don't give up! Once you get a system down and get your house stocked with "strange" ingredients it will be relatively easy to make substitutions and get by.
• Keep a food/symptom journal to make sure you get accurate information. It can help a doctor with diagnosis as well.
• Just because medical tests come up negative doesn't mean there isn't a gluten problem. If you feel better--that's a pretty good indication that the diet is working, regardless of the diagnosis. Gluten-intolerance is hard to pick up by tests.

Tips for Moms of GF Children

Today a friend told me that her son has been having digestive problems and she was going to try a gluten-free diet to see if that helped him. She asked me for any tips or help I could give her. I figured I'd post it here because I'm sure she isn't the only one who could benefit from the information.

It can be really challenging to have little kids with gluten-intolerance, especially if you have to send them to school, daycare, birthday parties, and even just planning a picnic in a park or a trip to a restaurant. Things are getting better as more food producers become aware of the problem, but when I started there was really no help so here is what I learned to do:

• Make muffins in large batches and freeze them. They are great to send to school and for taking them to picnics and restaurants. Those that have worked best for me are banana bread, applesauce bread, pumpkin bread, and zucchini bread--anything moist. (My recipes are without eggs but you can use egg instead of my replacer and take out 1/4 c of some other liquid item to make up the difference). If you are worried about sugar it is okay to reduce the amount of sugar you use in them.
• Make things like chicken nuggets and chicken tenders and freeze them. It is easy to make them gluten-free and I've never seen anywhere you can buy them. You can substitute any flour you like in the breading mix and it doesn't really affect how it turns out. If the flour taste is too strong just make sure to put a lot of flavorings in your breading.
• Depending on your child, baby food can be a godsend. They typically make baby foods with rice flour unless it is a pasta dish. I keep on hand Gerber turkey and rice, chicken and vegetables, and vegetable beef. I bring the jars to the park or when I travel and know there won't be anywhere handy to prepare food. Even my 4-year old still eats it. And my kids will eat it cold so it works really well for me.
• You can now buy several types of GF crackers. My favorites are Glutino (their pretzels are good too), Kinnikinnik animal cookies, and Kinikinnik Smorables.
• You can also make and freeze various types of cookies. One of my favorites are peanut butter cookies.
• Corn tortillas are a great substitute for many things. I get a little tired of them sometimes, but I have found that the Banderita brand are the softest and easiest to use.
• For birthday parties you can bring your own cupcakes for your child to eat. Betty Crocker makes some pretty good cake mixes. King Arthur makes the best one I have tasted (their bread mix is pretty decent too). I also like the Blue Chip brand because it comes in a resealable package. You can divide the recipe and make just a few cupcakes so one bag can last you for several birthday parties.
• If you take your child to a daycare or nursery, talk to the providers and make sure they will accommodate your child. I take my kids to a church nursery every Sunday. I gave the nursery leaders a large bag of GF snacks to keep in their closet. They have my daughter sit in the same place every time so they can make sure she doesn't try and eat the other kids' snacks. It's hard for the kids at first--but typically not for yours. The other kids in the nursery get jealous of your kid's "special" snack. After awhile my daughter caught on to the routine and has quit trying to sneak the other kids' snacks as well.
• It can be easy to worry about your child feeling left out because they can't have what everyone else has. Trust me, it's worse for you than it is for your child. You will have some sad moments with your child, but the kids really are quite resilient. Especially if they get used to it while they are young. My kids have learned to regulate themselves very well and even at age 3 they would refuse food unless it was given the okay by Mom. There have been very few times where they actually felt left out and when they did they got over it very quickly.
• Be wary of strangers who try to feed your children. They think they are just being nice, but it can be disastrous. Be vigilant at parties, wedding receptions, family reunions, church parties, and even grocery stores. Other kids will try to share with yours too so it is important to teach your child to politely refuse.
• For Halloween, pinata parties, and other holidays, I keep a stash of substitute items to replace any items my kids get that they cannot eat so they don't feel bad. (I mostly have to do this because of the soy/milk intolerance but it applies to gluten too). Sometimes I trade them their Kit-Kats and other such items for safe candy, other times I get small dollar store toys like dinosaurs, pencils or army men and trade for those. Honestly my kids like the toys better than the candy anyway.
• If you go to a restaurant and order french fries, make sure to ask if the fries are cooked separately, or if they are cooked with fried chicken and other breaded items. The gluten WILL stick to the fries if they are cooked in the same oil.
• Oats have gluten. Unless you find specially marked gluten-free oats, they will very likely contain gluten. Oats are nearly always grown near, stored with, transported with, and processed with wheat and the gluten sticks right to them. (But gluten-free oat flour is one of my favorites, just FYI).
• If you are just testing the waters with a GF diet, buy things in small quantities or go in on it with someone and share mixes. Try the instant mixes and see which ones you like. But if you decide to stick with the diet long term, it's good to plan to make more from scratch and buy in bulk. I can buy oats and rice in bulk and store them as whole grains. I grind them every once-in awhile and use them for flour, but they store much better whole. You can also buy things like tapioca starch (a must-have for GF cooking) in bulk.
• You can pre-make your own flour blends and store them ready-to go. The typical recipe for 3 cups flour is 2 cups flour of your choice, 2/3 cup potato starch, 1/3 cup tapioca starch. I use about 1 tsp xanthan gum for moist breads, and 1/2 tsp xanthan gum per cup of flour for things like pizza dough, biscuits, and breads.
• Conventional cereals that are gluten free (some won't guarantee it because they don't test, but they don't use or cross-contaminate and we've never had a problem): Fruity Pebbles, Cocoa Pebbles, Cupcake pebbles, most generic versions of both of those, Trix, Kix, Chex cereals, Cookie Crisp with Sprinkles (not the chocolate chip ones--those have wheat). I usually buy organic rice crispies and organic corn flakes because they don't put the barley malt in most of those. BUT ALWAYS READ THE LABEL BECAUSE THEY MIGHT CHANGE THEIR RECIPE. WATCH OUT FOR BARLEY MALT.

I'm sure I'll think of more later, but this should be enough to digest for awhile.