what i did

Lazarus seems to be over all his tummy issues, so i am back to an unlimited diet much faster than i had expected! and i have a box of leftover "special" foods stored away for future new baby times. here's what i did with my diets (since many people keep asking).
With Evalana, she got fussy at about five weeks. My friend suggested changing my diet, which i am so thankful for. I started with Dr. Sears's elimination diet. Evalana stopped crying the next day, although it can take a few weeks to get all of that stuff out of your system. Then I got all upset worrying that i wasn't giving her enough nutrition for her rapidly growing brain and that it'd take the rest of my life if i only added in one food at a time. So then I just left out the more common problem foods, and tried those one at a time. It took forever since it seemed like she was always getting teeth, sick, had a vaccination, we were away from home, or some other issue that made testing more difficult. She had problems with milk, soy, wheat, eggs, fish, nuts, and maybe corn. After she was six months old and eating solids, I just gave them directly to her for simpler testing. She was fine with most foods by 12 months and dairy at about 18 months. With Lazarus (baby 2), he started crying and acting like his tummy hurt at 3 weeks. I started with trying to limit my dairy intake. It didn't work. So then I eliminated all milk, soy, wheat, eggs, fish, and nuts. He was all better the next day. I then tried testing foods, and I thought he was okay with eggs and soy, but then a few weeks later i realized that he was crying every time i ate eggs or soy. He did great when I didn't have any of the common allergens--milk, soy, eggs, wheat, nuts, or fish. And, when I eliminated them, that means i didn't have anything that had any little tiny bit of any of those things in it. We hardly ever eat out, and I like cooking, so it wasn't that difficult. I made way more things than i listed recipes on here for, so let me know if you want any ideas. i realized i could make most any type of food, with some changes. At four months, I decided to try out some of the problem foods, and, to my surprise, he's fine with everything! actually, i still need to figure out fish, but that one's pretty easy to avoid. i'd love to help out anyone who wants to try a diet change to help a fussy baby. i'm sooo thankful i did.

rice krispy treats

an easy dessert. all you have to substitute is canola oil or earth balance spread for butter.
and sometimes we add some creamy sunflower seed butter to the rice krispies and melt some enjoy life chocolate chips to spread on top.

chili

The dinner I had most evenings this winter was chili. It was easy and fast enough to put together that I could actually make it (and a huge pot so i didn't have to do more than pull some out of the fridge to heat up for awhile), and everyone in my family likes it.
1 or 2 pounds ground beef (depending on how much you want to make and how meaty you want it. grassfed beef is best, if you have it. i usually make mine more beany than meaty because the meat is the most expensive part of this dish.)
cans of diced tomatoes (walmart brand doesn't have the icky white bpa lining in the can. frozen chopped garden tomatoes work perfectly too)
all different kinds of dried beans that have been soaked and cooked (if you want cheaper and healthier) or cans of various types of beans (if you want faster)
organic or garden sweet peppers (because we love veggies, flavor, and color)
frozen or canned sweet corn if you want. also quinoa if you want.
garlic, onion, cumin, chili powder, and costco organic no salt seasoning
fritos (my husband will not eat chili without Fritos)

brown meat in a big pot. add seasoning while it's cooking. i like the costco seasoning, cumin, some chili powder, a whole chopped sweet onion, and a couple crushed cloves of garlic. sometimes a little salsa is great while it's cooking too.
add chopped sweet peppers if you have them.
dump in tomatoes. add tomato paste if you want it more tomatoey.
dump in beans. drain them first.
simmer until you're ready to eat.
eat it up!

cadbury eggs

Although i'm just thankful to celebrate Eeaster with Jesus, some Easter treats are pretty yummy, too. Here's the recipe I kind of used to make Cadbury eggs: http://www.food.com/recipe/cadbury-cream-eggs-20733.

The changes I made, though, are using turmeric for yellow coloring, rather than food dye. It doesn't take much, but the older the turmeric is, the less flavor it'll have. I used Enjoy Life chocolate chips since they're milk and soy free. Oh, and I used dairy and soy free Earth Balance rather than butter, and you could use Earth Balance or coconut or palm oil instead of soy shortening. The most challenging part of the process is shaping the eggs. Mine turned out more like fried eggs. Here's what I'll try next time. I'll refrigerate the frosting like the recipe says. I'll also freeze the pan I'm going to put the eggs on. It works best to wash hands between eggs since the eggs stick to me and won't roll well if I have frosting on my hands. Laying parchment paper on the pan would make them easier to peel off. Then freeze the eggs instead of refrigerating them before dipping them in chocolate.

meatloaf

Evalana's current favorite meal is meatloaf. It's healthy and we all like it, so we've been eating a lot of it. Here's how we do it:

2 lbs. grassfed beef
any veggies you have on hand and want to eat. food processor them as small as they go. we usually use spinach, sweet peppers, mushrooms, sweet onion, garlic, and carrots. it's really more of a vegetable loaf with meat, the way we do it.
add whatever you want for flavor. i use a bunch of costco's organic no salt seasoning and a little barbeque sauce.
to hold it together, i add about a 1/2 cup oat flour (oats ground up in food processor). Sometimes I throw in a handful of quinoa just for extra quinoa-ness.
mix everything.
put in 9x13 pan, stick in beef thermometer if you have one.
bake at 375 for about an hour.
mix together tomato paste and barbecue sauce. add a little brown sugar if you want. or just use ketchup if you'd rather.
spread the tomato sauce on the top for the last 10 minutes of baking.
we usually have brussels sprouts and mashed potatoes on the side.

chicken

a very simple dinner we have a lot is roasted chicken.

wash organic carrots and lay them across 9x13 pan. the carrots are my favorite, so i probably use about 12.
wash organic potatoes, cut them into quarters (or more, if they'tr bigger), sprinkle over carrots.
wash and halve or quarter mushrooms. add to pan.
cut half of yellow onion into chunks, sprinkle over potatoes.
zucchini and yellow summer squash are good too if you have them.
sprinkle costco's organic no salt seasoning.
put organic chicken on top. add poultry thermometer to thigh if you have one.
bake 375 for 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

broccoli soup

While the rest of my family got to eat a great meal a wonderful neighbor brought over, I made broccoli "cheese" soup for my dinner. It was good, too! And, for dessert, carrot cake frosted with a powdered sugar and vanilla coconut milk glaze.

hamburger bowl

Here's just a quick creation I came up with, with what we had on hand for lunch today. Not amazing, but not bad.
Cook hamburger with no-salt organic seasoning i get from Costco.
Cook rice noodles (I used macaroni shape, but anything would work).
Add in peas and some Daiya cheddar cheese shreds.  (The "cheese" is a new product since I was last dairy and soy free. It seems really good so far).
That's it. Not fancy, but I ate lunch today, which seems to be quite an accomplishment some days.

another diet

Well Baby #2 is having tummy problems now (at 2 1/2 weeks old), so at least that means more recipe ideas coming. We're starting by eliminating dairy, soy, eggs, nuts, wheat, and fish.

green chip cookies

We wanted to make something a little green, so we came up with pistachio cookies today. They're yummy--like a nutty sugar cookie.

2 sticks (1 c.) butter (or 1 cup vegetable oil or shortening)

1 cup sugar

1/2 t. baking soda

1 egg (or Ener-G egg replacer)

1/2 t. vanilla

2 c. flour (any grain should work)

1 c. crushed pistachios (or any nut or seed)

1/2 t. salt if nuts aren't salted

Mix. Bake at 375 for about 9 minutes.

We also made Sunflower Seed Butter Cookies and are hoping they'll turn nice and green by tomorrow. In trying to come up with other green foods, we came across http://www.cookingwithcolor.com/green_foods/ and these yummies: http://blog.wholefoodsmarket.com/2010/03/are-you-eating-something-green/. And for anyone wanting to make St. Patrick's Day about more than wearing green and pinching people, here's what we're celebrating http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Patrick.

kefir

We love this stuff! I find it at Whole Foods. Kefir is like yogurt but thinner and full of more good bacterias.

http://www.turtlemountain.com/products/Coconut_Kefir_Vanilla.html

Strawberry Cake

Joshua loves strawberry cake, so for Valentine's Day we'll be making a delicious heart-shaped cake.

• 2 eggs
• 2 cups white ultragrain flour (or just unbleached white wheat flour)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup non-hydrogenated shortening
• 1 3/4 cups fair-trade sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup coconut milk with 1 teaspoon vinegar
• 3/4 cup organic strawberries chopped
• Frosting for after the cake bakes
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup strawberry coconut milk keifer
• Mix the cake. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

raspberry chocolate chip cookies

The Valentine's cooking has begun. I love Valentine's Day! I took a favorite cookie recipe from my stepmom and altered it a bit.

original recipe

1 C. butter softened

1 C. powdered sugar

1/8 t. salt

2 t. maraschino cherry liquid

1/4 t almond extract

2 1/4 c flour

1/2 c. chopped maraschino cherries

sugar for rolling

48 milk chocolate stars

Heat oven to 325. Beat butter for 30 seconds on high. Add powdered sugar and salt. Beat. Add cherry liquid and almond extract. Add flour. Stir in cherries with a spoon. Roll into 1 in. balls. Put them on an ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten with glass dipped in sugar. Bake for 14 minutes. Add chocolate.

My recipe

(of course i didn't actually measure, so these are my estimates)

1/2 c. non-hydrogenated shortening

1/4 c. vegetable oil

1/4 c. non-dairy margarine

1 1/4 C. powdered sugar

1/2 t vanilla extract

2 c flour

1 C. raspberries (or cherries for purple cookies with cherry flavor)

1 C. 365 dark chocolate mini chunks or Giradelli semisweet chips

food-dye-free raspberry sugar sprinkles

Heat oven to 325.

Beat shortening, margarine, and oil.

Add powdered sugar and vanilla extract and beat.

Mix in flour.

Mix in raspberries.

Stir in chocolate chips.

Spoon onto baking sheet. Bake 15 minutes or until they just barely start to brown.

I suppose if you don't like the seeds, you could use raspberry seedless smashed fruit (like jelly). You could also shape the cookies into hearts, but I'm too lazy to spend that much time on something that's going into my mouth.

Curry Chicken

Mmmmm, i love indian food. Here's what we make at our house.

Start a pot of brown rice.

Cook chicken pieces.

Add curry powder (we like yellow curry). Put in maybe a few tablespoons, depending on how spicy/curried you want.

Add maybe about a cup of coconut milk.

Add chunks of potatoes, sliced carrots, chopped onion, red bell peppers, cauliflower, peas, and shredded unsweetened coconut. You can either boil the potatoes and carrots some before to soften them, or start them in first until their softened, and then add the rest.

Add raisins.

Dish up with the rice.

carrot soup

This is a re-creation of a soup I had at La Quinta Grill restaurant in California. I was so sad when that restaurant closed.

Wash about 12 organic carrots, and put them in a pot.

Cover them with organic chicken broth (maybe a few cups).

Add some diced fresh ginger or powdered dried ginger. Maybe a couple teaspoons.

Add half chopped onion, if you want.

Boil on medium high until the carrots are soft.

Wash butternut squash. Cut squash in half, and scoop out seeds.

Put face-down in dish with about a couple inches of water.

Microwave about 12 minutes, or until soft enough to scoop out.

Scoop squash into pan with carrots.

Scoop soup into blender, a little at a time so it doesn't splatter hot soup on you.

Pour into serving pan.

Eat it up. Great with homemade wheat bread and maybe some chicken and salad.

Coconut Banana Pancakes

I may need to make these every Saturday. We loved these!

I've only made these once, so i may need to tweak the recipe a little, but here's what i think we did.

1 c. unsweetened shredded coconut

Toast coconut in oven at 350 for about 10 minutes, or until it starts to brown.

1 c. vanilla coconut milk (could use soy, cow, rice, hemp, or other milk)
1 T. cider vinegar or lemon juice

mix together in bowl and set aside.

1 c. whole wheat flour (you could use a non-wheat flour in these)

1 c. white or ultragrain flour
2 tsp. milled flax seed
2 T. brown sugar (or honey or agave nectar)
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda

toasted coconut

mix together in separate bowl.

4 eggs (or Ener-G egg replacer or flax goo. omit flax in dry mix if using here.)
1 tsp. vanilla
2 T. vegetable oil

add to milk bowl and whisk.

Add liquid to dry, mix.

Add 2 sliced bananas. Stir.
Cook on griddle. Flip when bubbles pop, then cook a few more minutes.

Top with pure maple syrup, agave nectar, or coconut yogurt with honey on top.

pumpkin pancakes

I love pumpkin anything. Last night for dinner we had pumpkin pancakes along with some breakfast sausage from our CSA. It was a great fall dinner! This recipe makes a ton of pancakes since I think it's easier to use a whole can of pumpkin, and I love having leftovers, but just know that you'll still be cooking those pancakes after dinner's over if you make a whole recipe. We keep the pancakes in a bag in the freezer and then stick them in the toaster for a quick breakfast.

4 cups white whole wheat flour (other types of flour, such as oat, rice, or millet should work fine, too, just may give a grainer texture)
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
2 tablespoons milled flax seed
3 cups soymilk (could also use rice milk, dairifree, cow's milk, nutmilk)
1 15 oz. can pumpkin (about a whole 2-pound prepared pie pumpkin. make about 2 cups cooked and pureed and then reduce the milk by about half a cup)
6 eggs (could use egg replacer or if you use flax goo, don't put in the other flax seeds)
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons cooking oil

Pour about 1/2 cup onto griddle heated to about 275. Flip when bubbles pop, about 4 minutes, then cook the other side until a little brown, about another 4 minutes or so.

I like them with this orange syrup and vanilla yogurt or with a little Earth Balance margarine spread and some agave nectar. My husband likes them with peanut butter and maple syrup.

no-milk buttermilk pancakes

1 c. soy/rice milk
1 T. cider vinegar or lemon juice

mix together in bowl and set aside.

1 c. whole wheat flour (you could use a non-wheat flour in these)

1 tsp. milled flax seed
1 T. sugar (or honey or agave nectar)
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda

mix together in separate bowl.

2 eggs (or Ener-G egg replacer or flax goo. omit flax in dry mix if using here.)
1 tsp. vanilla or use vanilla flavored milk in milk step.
1 T. vegetable oil
1 T. applesauce

add to milk bowl and whisk.

Add liquid to dry, mix until lumpy.
Cook on griddle. Flip when bubbles pop, then cook a few more minutes.

Really good with vegan (for milk-free) or enjoy life (for soy and milk-free) chocolate chips mixed in before cooking. and yummy with pure maple syrup, agave nectar, or yogurt with honey on top.

substitutions

look at this great list of substitutions at http://www.foodallergykitchen.com/pages/fa-management/substitutions.php! helpful for allergy cooking substitutions and also maybe if you're just missing something in your kitchen when you want it.

pumpkin bars

I just made these pumpkin pie bars, and they're yummy! http://thewilsondiner.blogspot.com/2009/09/pumpkin-pie-bars.html
I just subbed out the dairy, but i think it'd work fairly well to change any of the ingredients. here are some ideas:
wheat flour - most any type of non-wheat (oat, millit...) flour should work for this
oats - could use more flour instead
butter - any type of oil or margarine
pumpkin - any type of cooked squash
evaporated milk - 4 1/2 tsp. dairifree mixed with 1 c. warm water and soy or rice milk to make 1 1/2 cups
eggs - Ener-G egg replacer or flax goo (ground flax seed mixed with warm water)
pecans - oats or maybe cereal or seeds, maybe chopped pumpkin seeds