Monday, November 15, 2010
My little Rutabeggie
"Makin' rutabeggies!!!" she exclaimed as I chopped them up. . . So far, so good. She wasn't super crazy about them (mashed and mixed with pears), but she ate one tablespoon. And tomorrow we go to 2 Tbsp baked in a pancake. No weirdness so far, a little residual reflux (I think from the omeprazole), but nothing to write home about. Wish us luck for tomorrow!!!!!
Take it away, take it away. . . take away this ball and chain. . . .
A little Social D to get us started!! Well our "ball and chain" omeprazole has been taken away and we don't have to retry it again! Hooray! We were on a teeny tiny dose for this time around and it was still increasing her reflux a little and causing some issues with malabsorption. So now we can jump back in to the food trials, happily, and hopefully get some veggies under our belt. I am a vegetarian after all-- my kid has GOT to eat a veggie or two!!!
So this AM we started rutabagas, also known as "wax turnips" and "swedes." For rutabaga preparation, here is what you do. In selecting the rutabaga, you want to select one that is heavy for its size. I found other rutabagas similar in size and weighed them in my hands to find the one most dense. These are veggies that are really waxed up at the grocery store so it is super important that you remove the skin. You want to wash them of course before cutting. If you are really freaked out about the wax, I found that you can wash them in a bowl of water with a couple spoonfuls of baking soda mixed in. This is helpful in removing pesticides as well as wax. I used a sharp knife and cut off thick pieces of skin, leaving the somewhat peppery smelling, whitish-golden flesh exposed. I then cubed it and boiled the cubes, just as you would with potatoes. I let them boil until they were literally starting to fall apart in the water, drained them and mashed them. I scooped out 1 Tbsp and mixed it in with B's beloved pears. The rest I set aside for tomorrow's trial-- rutabaga pancakes! (Think potato pancakes!) I had a pretty big rutabaga, so I only used half of it for B (and I know there will be a ton leftover!).
With the remaining half, I cubed it as well and then decided to roast it. I love roasted potatoes so I thought-- why not this? After searching around online, I combined a few cooking suggestions and decided to add a few tablespoons of oil (I had 3 cups of cubes and used 1 Tbsp oil for each cup) and some spices, my current fav being Herbs de Provence (There was a spice sale at Big Y!!!) I threw in a little salt and pepper and tossed the mixture together in a stoneware baking dish. I covered it and baked at 375 degrees for a little over an hour-- until pieces were a nice golden brown and very soft. Also, since there was a lot of rutabaga in the dish, I stirred the mixture up every 20 minutes or so. My husband and I will have these tonight with dinner! Maybe one day B will get some spices under her belt and we can use this recipe for her!!!! Anyways, I of course taste tested this concoction and it was quite good. The rutabagas are pretty sweet so I added a little more salt than I normally would to tone down the flavor. They were delicious!
So this AM we started rutabagas, also known as "wax turnips" and "swedes." For rutabaga preparation, here is what you do. In selecting the rutabaga, you want to select one that is heavy for its size. I found other rutabagas similar in size and weighed them in my hands to find the one most dense. These are veggies that are really waxed up at the grocery store so it is super important that you remove the skin. You want to wash them of course before cutting. If you are really freaked out about the wax, I found that you can wash them in a bowl of water with a couple spoonfuls of baking soda mixed in. This is helpful in removing pesticides as well as wax. I used a sharp knife and cut off thick pieces of skin, leaving the somewhat peppery smelling, whitish-golden flesh exposed. I then cubed it and boiled the cubes, just as you would with potatoes. I let them boil until they were literally starting to fall apart in the water, drained them and mashed them. I scooped out 1 Tbsp and mixed it in with B's beloved pears. The rest I set aside for tomorrow's trial-- rutabaga pancakes! (Think potato pancakes!) I had a pretty big rutabaga, so I only used half of it for B (and I know there will be a ton leftover!).
With the remaining half, I cubed it as well and then decided to roast it. I love roasted potatoes so I thought-- why not this? After searching around online, I combined a few cooking suggestions and decided to add a few tablespoons of oil (I had 3 cups of cubes and used 1 Tbsp oil for each cup) and some spices, my current fav being Herbs de Provence (There was a spice sale at Big Y!!!) I threw in a little salt and pepper and tossed the mixture together in a stoneware baking dish. I covered it and baked at 375 degrees for a little over an hour-- until pieces were a nice golden brown and very soft. Also, since there was a lot of rutabaga in the dish, I stirred the mixture up every 20 minutes or so. My husband and I will have these tonight with dinner! Maybe one day B will get some spices under her belt and we can use this recipe for her!!!! Anyways, I of course taste tested this concoction and it was quite good. The rutabagas are pretty sweet so I added a little more salt than I normally would to tone down the flavor. They were delicious!
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Check out the New Page!
Check out Baby B's Top Ten--- lists of our favorite new FPIES friendly finds. We can tell you what, where and how to use them! Let us hear your feedback and post any FPIES friendly finds that you and your little "cooks" have found!
http://babybeesfpiestestkitchen.blogspot.com/p/baby-bs-top-ten.html
http://babybeesfpiestestkitchen.blogspot.com/p/baby-bs-top-ten.html
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Holidays, here we come!
Today I picked up some pears for our Thanksgiving Pear Pie and I have a batch of hemp seed butter in the fridge to make into mock-peanut butter cookies. I also bought a box of candy canes that are just corn starch and peppermint extract and corn syrup (oh so healthy! hahaha) and I plan on trialling those and turn them into peppermint fudge (by melting them with homemade sweetened condensed hemp or coconut milk).
We will be busy baking for the holidays and making feeble attempts at cleaning ;). I can't wait to decorate! But the holidays bring on a little pressure for new food trials and since we are still in food limbo, I am antsy. We have candy canes, marshmallows (made with tilapia gelatin rather than beef or pork gelatin!!), and chocolate (allergen free) to trial in addition to our "real" foods-- rutabagas, papaya, beets, millet, and maybe, just maybe, tangerines! (I really want to put a Christmas "orange" in her stocking--- it is a family tradition!!!) We are also looking at trialling raspberries, strawberries and/or blackberries. And in order to make this stinkin' yogurt thicken, I think I may have to start a trial of tapioca, as I have heard of others having success with this. And if you've done the math, there is NO WAY this will all be trialled before Christmas or the new year, but we have big aspirations. I really want her diet to be nutritionally sound enough for her to be able to eat without needing breast milk or formula as her primary nutrient source by her second birthday, only 4 months away! I know it wouldn't be the end of the world if she had to go on formula, but I am so happy that she has been able to nurse for so long and so successfully, and I really don't want her to have to rely on formula when I have doubts that she will even like it, let alone drink it (She still only drinks coconut milk and water from a sippy-- nothing else, not even breast milk!)
The plan is still to begin weaning at 2 but I may chicken out. . . how can I take away the one thing that has really helped her to SURVIVE through all of this and has been such a huge comfort, if she isn't able to have a "just foods" diet?
We will be busy baking for the holidays and making feeble attempts at cleaning ;). I can't wait to decorate! But the holidays bring on a little pressure for new food trials and since we are still in food limbo, I am antsy. We have candy canes, marshmallows (made with tilapia gelatin rather than beef or pork gelatin!!), and chocolate (allergen free) to trial in addition to our "real" foods-- rutabagas, papaya, beets, millet, and maybe, just maybe, tangerines! (I really want to put a Christmas "orange" in her stocking--- it is a family tradition!!!) We are also looking at trialling raspberries, strawberries and/or blackberries. And in order to make this stinkin' yogurt thicken, I think I may have to start a trial of tapioca, as I have heard of others having success with this. And if you've done the math, there is NO WAY this will all be trialled before Christmas or the new year, but we have big aspirations. I really want her diet to be nutritionally sound enough for her to be able to eat without needing breast milk or formula as her primary nutrient source by her second birthday, only 4 months away! I know it wouldn't be the end of the world if she had to go on formula, but I am so happy that she has been able to nurse for so long and so successfully, and I really don't want her to have to rely on formula when I have doubts that she will even like it, let alone drink it (She still only drinks coconut milk and water from a sippy-- nothing else, not even breast milk!)
The plan is still to begin weaning at 2 but I may chicken out. . . how can I take away the one thing that has really helped her to SURVIVE through all of this and has been such a huge comfort, if she isn't able to have a "just foods" diet?
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Day One of Omeprazole Retrial
Today B got a half dose of the meds in the AM and in the PM. Some reflux symptoms popped up, but all very manageable. The biggest changes were mood-- I had a very fussy, clingy girl on my hands!-- and this weird rash. It wasn't there right after I gave her the PM dose but a couple of hours later, this scaly, bumpy rash appeared all over her legs. No new lotions, fabric soaps, etc.--- we haven't changed any of this in months or more. It looked exactly like the rash she got when we were using soaps or lotions with soy in them (several separate occasions, same rash). The bumps are like the little bumps we saw in the patch test reaction areas-- very close together and scaly and red. The night is already off to a rough start but I am hoping that she pulls through. I think we will be emailing the allergist in the AM and saying that the med is a no go. We even had diapers this afternoon with undigested food again. . . Haven't had any since we cut out the med.
I am hoping that we can stop tinkering with non-food items and get back to food trials. The holidays are coming and I really wanted to add a few more things to B's list of safe foods. I hope we can be venturing into the land of rutabagas very very soon and them on to papayas!! Here's hoping for a night of sleep!
I am hoping that we can stop tinkering with non-food items and get back to food trials. The holidays are coming and I really wanted to add a few more things to B's list of safe foods. I hope we can be venturing into the land of rutabagas very very soon and them on to papayas!! Here's hoping for a night of sleep!
Monday, November 8, 2010
And back again
It's been a few days since the last post and we are just pluggin' along. Still no new food trials as we are trying to get this reflux med thing sorted out. The allergist wants us to give it a go once more at a half dose and then if her symptoms return for a couple of days, we can cut it out again. A little background--- omeprazole is our current nemesis, as it immediately caused my B's previously controlled reflux to become uncontrolled and continued to worsen it over the course of a week. By the end of those few days, NO ONE was sleeping much at all. She was up 5, 6, 7 times a night, barely napping or no naps at all, crying out in her sleep during the little bits of sleep she did have. . . The reflux was getting rough-- gagging and excessive swallowing, lots of wet burps and wet, painful hiccups. . . She also had some lower GI issues that we attributed to the probiotic, which we started at the same time (bad mama!), but interestingly enough, those cleared as well within 24-48 hours of stopping the meds. There are no known allergens in the med and we had it compounded without flavoring so nothing there either. . . sigh. Let's hope round two doesn't escalate too much. We really need to get on with these food trials!
The coconut yogurt has not been setting up for me, even with the addition of the arrowroot. It does smell like yogurt and tastes like yogurt (it tastes quite good in fact) but still is the consistency of milk. Instead of tossing this last batch, I think I will make little smoothies for B instead. Cook the fruit, freeze it, then puree it with the yogurt. It will be a thin smoothie, but she still balks at thick foods and drinks so it should be perfect consistency for her. With a little mango and banana, it will be a true tropical treat!!!
Some new recipes will hopefully be coming this way soon-- I have several updates to add, just need to find the time!! I promise to post soon! Until then, good luck and happy food trials to all! May they be productive and uneventful!!!!
The coconut yogurt has not been setting up for me, even with the addition of the arrowroot. It does smell like yogurt and tastes like yogurt (it tastes quite good in fact) but still is the consistency of milk. Instead of tossing this last batch, I think I will make little smoothies for B instead. Cook the fruit, freeze it, then puree it with the yogurt. It will be a thin smoothie, but she still balks at thick foods and drinks so it should be perfect consistency for her. With a little mango and banana, it will be a true tropical treat!!!
Some new recipes will hopefully be coming this way soon-- I have several updates to add, just need to find the time!! I promise to post soon! Until then, good luck and happy food trials to all! May they be productive and uneventful!!!!
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