The Zebra & the Giraffe

November 30, 2007 at 5:50 am (Accomplishments, GFCF Diet)
Tags: ,

Giraffes are awesome!I know I already posted today, but I had to share something new. Zack has these little plastic jungle animals that he carries everywhere in his bucket of the day. He has buckets and zip-up lunchbags to carry his object-attachment belongings because there are so many that he has to have ALL AT ONCE and Heaven help us if any drop. His objects don’t change but the bucket he keeps them in does.

He usually just takes them out of the bag one by one and set them on the table and then puts them back in one by one. But this evening, he did something new. He handed me his giraffe and then grabbed the zebra. He made the zebra walk across the couch and then made the zebra say hi to the giraffe.

I burst into tears. Clear as day, he said “Hi!” of his own free will… not just repeating me. But even better, his imagination had the animals talking to each other! This is huge! It’s a major step in the right direction. He has never initiated this kind of play with me before.

I know he hasn’t been COMPLETELY GFCF because of my little lactic acid slipups here and there, but… Is it possible at all to see any kind of positivity after only 3 days of being 99% GFCF? Or, is this accomplishment coming from another source?

Whatever it is, I absolutely LOVE giraffes now.

Leave a Comment

Christmas is Coming!

November 30, 2007 at 12:05 am (GFCF Diet, Holidays, Recipes)
Tags: , , , ,

Our 2007 Christmas Tree!Day 3. With the advice of one of my best friends, I decided to look at GFCF and autism groups on CafeMom. To my relief, I found a group full of easy recipes and answers to questions that have already been on my mind… including the recipe for the easiest peanut butter cookies. Christmas is coming and Zack and I LOVE to make holiday cookies together. I was worried that it just wouldn’t happen for us this year. The recipe is simple…

Gluten Free *Flourless* Peanut Butter Cookies
(Posted on CafeMom by AutiMama)

  • 1 cup peanut butter
  • 1 cup brown sugar (or white if that’s all you have)
  • 2 eggs

Preheat 350. Combine all ingredients. Drop spoonful on cookie sheet about 2″ apart. Bake for about 8-10 minutes. Let cool.

I will try this very soon and write a review. If it’s something my family loves, I will post it on my recipe page. I also found a great peanut butter and chocolate frosting recipe from the same person that I will try sometime in the future.

Sure, we’re on a healthy diet now and we should opt for healthy, whole foods whenever we can. BUT, we’re also an American family with 2 boys and dangit, we like our sweets!

I found out why Zack has been such a screechy monster this week. He woke up congested this morning and wound up staying home from preschool. I should have realized that this was coming because he’s ALWAYS super difficult when he’s starting to feel yucky. Poor kid. He loved his breakfast this morning though. I gave him a GFCF banana waffle with peanut butter on top and some sliced oranges. He was thrilled with it until he saw his dad with Raisin Bran and milk. I love my husband to death but I could have kicked him this morning. Milk is Zack’s absolute favorite thing in the world and I really don’t want it in the house at all while we’re going through the original transition. But alas, I cannot forbid my husband from what he loves either so we just need to create a stronger system so Zack doesn’t see what he isn’t allowed to have.

When Zack’s not feeling good, I tend to spoil him a little. And, I did today. I gave him some honey BBQ Fritos and that’s all he would eat for lunch. He didn’t want anything else offered to him and okay, that’s not AWFUL when he’s sick. When he’s sick, I’ll let him eat whatever he is willing to put in his mouth because he usually refuses everything! His snack after that was a bowl of grapes and marshmallows. Dinner will be homemade chicken nuggets, a baked potato topped with Better Than Cream Cheese, and some corn. I’m saving the last of his almond milk for breakfast tomorrow so we’ll probably have some homemade hot cocoa made with water, baking cocoa, and this sugar-free raspberry sweetener I found that’s GFCF with our dinner.

It’s not easy, but I’m getting the hang of this. I also picked up some Fruity Pebbles so next time my darling husband needs to fix his cereal craving, I can lure Zack to his own side of the table with Fruity Pebbles and almond milk.

Note: I changed something on my GFCF Grocery List. After reading the back of the Baked Lays today, I discovered that they are NOT GFCF. The Lays Original ones are. I need to email the webmaster of the site I’d found the list on and let them know that they need to change a few things.

Leave a Comment

Still Learning the GFCF Way…

November 29, 2007 at 3:25 am (Eating Out, GFCF Diet)
Tags: , , ,

My Beautiful Autie - July 2007Day 2. Zack had a few bad screeching fits today, which I can’t really blame on anything diet-wise since it takes a lot longer than 24 hours for evil proteins to escape his body. But still, I’m finding out more and more that some of the items that I THOUGHT were GFCF have ugly, hidden forms of the not allowed. To my dismay, I shelved some more of the food items and searched online for the perfect “staples” grocery list. Removing items we don’t use in my house and adding more produce since that’s what Zack and I like best, I created my own GFCF grocery list of items that I want stocked here always. I also wrote out the list I was given of ingredients that hide gluten and casein. These lists will always be available (and updated if needbe) as a resource for you. Please familiarize yourself with the ingredients list if you’re planning on shopping for your little autie! I wish I had had a printed out copy with me during our grocery trip this week.

Owell. Any new lifestyle change is about trial and error, right? My goal for us is to have only GFCF products in the house by 2008 so I have a month of “live and learn” mistakes to make. Hopefully, I won’t need the whole month!

Zack’s breakfast today was a bigger success than yesterday and yesterday wasn’t bad. I scrambled an egg (using a little water since I found out the rice milk I have isn’t CF and the only almond milk I have is chocolate). I melted a little GFCF American cheese in it and served it with a handful of grapes and a glass of almond milk. Zack enjoyed it a lot, thank goodness! He’s starting to get frustrated that he can’t just open the fridge and grab a gallon of skim milk and bring it to me anymore but he’s 3 and that’s something he can forget as he adjusts. His snack at school was a bag of grapes again.

Lunchtime was a little harder. My husband wanted to eat out and I didn’t argue! I get restless staying at home with 2 little ones and a puppy so when my husband is all for getting out of the house, I am too. But, I really didn’t plan it like I should have. We went to Taco Bell, where I figured we’d be fine. Taco shells are made from corn and the Taco Bell shells I have in my pantry have no bad ingredients. If we order him a taco without cheese, what is it? Corn tortilla, meat, and lettuce! And, nachos without the dipping sauce are still yummy. Well, Zack was really frustrated about not having any dipping sauce. And when we got home and I went through websites upon websites of eating out GFCF information, I discovered that Taco Bell announced that the seasoning they use in their taco meat has gluten. Ugh!! So, lunch wasn’t as safe as I thought it was.

His afternoon snack was an OKAY hit. I gave him some banana chips and raisins. He didn’t hate them but he wasn’t really big on the banana chips either. That’s okay… he can have fresh ones, which are better for him anyway… and I personally LOVE them so I’ll keep them in the pantry for me instead.

Dinner was rice crackers topped with peanut butter and raisins, baby carrots, a fresh banana, and some chocolate almond milk. All of it was a success, except Zack ate most of the peanut butter off the crackers without really touching the crackers. I think I need to find a GFCF bread afterall.

I know he’ll adjust to this as we continue, but I still feel so bad for him. He had favorites and unfortunately, all of them except the produce are now off limits. No more PB&J sandwiches until I can find a safe bread. No more Yoplaits. No more Kraft cheese. I’m finding safe alternatives, sure but I still feel bad that I’m taking things away. We didn’t eat badly before GFCF… or so I’d thought.

1 Comment

So Far, So Good.

November 28, 2007 at 4:05 am (GFCF Diet)
Tags: , , ,

Zack's 1st GFCF Breakfast! 11/27/07Day 1. Today went really well. Zack seemed to enjoy most of his food and we didn’t have any of our usual problems. No screeching, meltdowns, throwing things, or hitting his brother today. I know it’s way too early to thank GFCF for that so I’m just chalking it up to a really great day.

Zack started his morning with a waffle sundae. I toasted a GFCF banana waffle and topped it with sliced bananas and soy whipped topping. He also had a cup of almond milk, which he and I both love! He ate all of his waffle, most of his bananas, and some of the soy whip. Next time, I will either sprinkle a little cinnamon and sugar on top or look for some honey when we go shopping. Either way, he didn’t hate his breakfast so I’m calling it a success! His school snack was a cup of grapes, which were obviously a success.

At lunchtime, he had a cup of brown rice and some grilled chicken. He topped his rice with a little squeeze of teriyaki, which I read later this evening that some brands have wheat protein and some don’t so I can’t say with absolute certainty that his lunch was COMPLETELY gluten-free… but close! He enjoyed his meal anyway and finished everything.

I made a homemade chicken and veggie soup for dinner tonight. It was simply chicken broth with fresh veggies and chicken chunks simmered in it for an hour. It was so delicious! Zack had sesame rice crackers and rice milk with his. The rice milk? Not so much of a success. It’s vanilla flavored so I thought he’d like it… but most of it went down the drain. Almond milk, it is then! It’s a tiny bit more expensive but we’ll get what he likes.

Now, dessert was the biggest success! He had a chocolate soy pudding and loved it. But. After reading it more thoroughly, I can’t help but wonder if “calcium carbonate” is another hidden word for casein. Hmmmm. Did I mess up?

Regardless, today was a great day!

2 Comments