Chocolate Soy Milk

Chocolate soy milk -- that's the ticket!! Loves it! Loves it so much he is sneaking off to his room with boxes of it. Looks like we have successfully transitioned to this NEW FOOD. Hurray!

Oh Soy

A few weeks ago, Jack got the "all clear" to eat soy products. Really good news - perhaps the first we've ever received from an allergist. But a mixed blessing because big sister is still highly soy-allergic. So while before we could flag "the spoon that stirred the chocolate milk" or the "knife that cut the grilled cheese" now we're adding more ammo in the minefield. My kitchen requires great powers of concentration.

And the hurdle is keeping it in his diet on a regular basis -- because although he loved the vanilla soy milk he drank at the doctor's office, that honeymoon was over by the time we got back home. He resists eating or drinking anything with soy. I've baked some treats for him and secretly used soy milk. I have to warn soy-allergic Big Sister in a whisper ("code soy!" I say. It's a really tough code to crack) so that she doesn't accidentally sample something.

Getting pure, uncooked soy into his diet is proving tough. I hate to sneak it in - first, because it's extremely important that he be able to trust us, his parents, about food. If he can't trust us, than who? Second, because I need him to be a reliable reporter if he is reacting after a meal. I worry that he won't identify an early reaction if he thinks he was just drinking his regular rice milk, for example. And third because he simply deserves to know exactly what he is eating. This is the transparency we demand for all food allergic individuals, in restaurants, in the grocery stores, anywhere.

But for now we need to hide soy in his food. And I hate that.

At last, this week he was excited about the idea of soy yogurt. I bought some strawberry, the most common brand, in a small 8 oz cup. Today for lunch he begged for the whole container! I spooned a small amount into a bowl -- just in case he gobbled it up, I didn't want him to "overdose" on straight soy. Going slow, I could see how he was reacting to it and stop if he got itchy or had any odd symptoms.

One taste. Tears. Sobs.

"I'm sorry, buddy. You don't like it?"

Spitting and blech noises. More sobbing.

"You're disappointed, huh? I know you were really hoping it would be yummy."

"Yeah," he sobbed into my shoulder. "I didn't want THAT taste!"

Truth be told, it was really disgusting. His mood brightened when I suggested we could go to the supermarket and look for soy chicken nuggets. I've definitely got to hit the jackpot with a tasty soy item and soon. I won't get many more shots at it.

A small frozen victory (Failed Rice Milk Ice Cream Experiment Part 2)

First thing, still in PJs with bed head, I hear his froggy little voice.

"Ice cream ready yet?"

Poor kid had been waiting for 24 hours.

With nothing to lose, I handed him the small frozen tupperware full of suspicious concoction. He took a small taste. And yelled "I LOVE IT! IT'S JUST LIKE A CUPCAKE! BUT IT'S FROZEN!"

So he had ice cream for breakfast.

Awww, snap!

Made a special trip to Whole Foods for 5 year old to buy Snap Peas. Seems her preschool is doing a "try healthy foods" thing this week and the Snap Peas were a hit. I'm not one to miss an opportunity like this falling right in my lap.

We purchased a good handful. I guess I made the mistake of referring to them as Sugar Snap Peas. Once home 5 year old takes small nibble, declares "they taste nothing like sugar!" and spits them out.

Huh.

She was really digging Whole Foods, though. She couldn't even believe it was a grocery store. She was convinced it was a fancy restaurant. Which it almost is.

The Failed Rice Milk Ice Cream Experiment... part 1

Followed a vegan recipe to the letter with my brand-spanking new ice cream machine. Never thickened. Made a yummy "milkshake" though. Am freezing my failure in small tupperware containers to enjoy tomorrow.

If at first you don't succeed......

Jack has been asking for the "safe ice cream" since this morning. Sigh. One of two things will happen. He'll try the Frozen Failure tomorrow and like it. Or he'll try it, hate it, and never want to eat "safe ice cream" again. Which, in its own warped way, is still a success.

The Great Agave Oat Bread Experiment

I have done it.

I have perfected my already-perfect bread recipe!

I'm always substituting ingredients in my bread machine. The results are usually okay for me and my husband and eyed with suspicion by my daughters.

But today I substituted some oat flour and Blue Agave Syrup into my usual white bread bread-machine loaf. Delish!!!

Here's the recipe and I may continue to try to tweak it to up the health benefits:

2 1/4 cups bread flour

1/2 cup oat flour (made by grinding up Quaker Oats)

1/4 cup high-oleic Safflower Oil

less than 1/4 cup of Blue Agave syrup (somewhere between 1/8 and 1/4.... would that be 1/6?)

1/2 t salt

1 t bread machine yeast

Perfecto.

My Test(y) Kitchen

Today I will begin to write it all down. The crazy and twisted ways I attempt to feed my family.

With two severely allergic children, and all three of my kids picky eaters, we have had our fill of spaghetti and plain sauce, pancakes and chicken nuggets. We've eaten these common denominator meals so often most of us don't even like them any longer. Some of us never liked them.

My family of five consists of:

dad who eats anything

mom who eats mostly anything

11 year old daughter: allergic to soy, legumes, peanuts, tree nuts. Averse to eating almost anything but homemade bread, Tostito chips, cheeseburgers and eggs. She used to eat apples. Usually eats baby carrots. Otherwise, no fruits or vegetables in her repertoire.

5 year old daughter: no allergies and eats fruit, celery, rice pilaf and meat in the form of meatballs. Announced today that she likes snap peas.

3 year old son: allergic to dairy, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts and soy. Averse to eating any form of meat beyond a hot dog. Drinks a prescription high protein formula made up of primarily corn syrup... which we're trying to eliminate.

I have adopted various strategies over the years:

Every Man for Himself, whereby everybody has whatever s/he wants for dinner. It doesn't have to look like "dinner." Just a plate of food for everyone, constructed independently and hopefully including some protein, some fruit or veggie. This is the one method that saves my sanity and works. Sometimes we even manage to sit down together.

Puree-and-hide Method, which works in a few things (yes, cauliflower in mac and cheese!) but ultimately? Exhausting!! And too soon the kids were on to my trickery and suspicious of even their (formerly) favorite foods. Plus, cheese is the key masking ingredient, which we rarely use.

The Simple, Single Ingredient Method, whereby I abandon recipes and stick with the basics: steamed veggies, roast chicken. No one eats much of anything.

The Ultimatum Method. Try One Bite or no (insert fun activity here). Never worked. Everyone has a horrible time at dinner and there's not even any fun afterward.

The Cheerful Mom Method, whereby I ignore the sullen faces and uneaten food. That never works either.

In the meantime, I continue to read about the better choices I should be making for my family meals. Whole foods. Eliminate sugar. Increase green veggies. Hard enough for us easy-to-please omnivores but what about children who won't lick a green vegetable?

So I have set about to find things my children will eat and that my whole family will enjoy. Systematically. With an eye on everybody's health and safety. My pantry is stocked with all sorts of unusual ingredients. Agave nectar! Hemp protein powder (for the vegan 3 yr old) -- will this give him the munchies? Whole flax seeds, ground flax seeds.

Alongside it all.... a large bag of "food pantry" items to donate, such as my former non-organic ketchup, high-sugar cranberry sauce in a can and maple-brown sugar instant oatmeal. But I feel guilty passing it on. If it isn't good for me to eat, why give it to someone else? Any takers??