Prep Time: 20 minutes
1 red bell pepper, finely diced
3 chives
green onions, finely sliced
1 large red onion, finely diced
2-3 tbsp. seasonings (whatever you desire- oregano, salt and parsley suggested)
3 green onions or chives
6 chicken breasts, thawed, cleaned
3 lemons, havled
1-2 tbsp. salt
After thawing and cleaning (removing the fat) the chicken, place the breasts into an aluminum foil lined baking pan. Squeeze 2-3 lemons over chicken and sprinkle salt onto the chicken, then place the pan into the refrigerator to marinate for ten minutes. While the chicken is marinating, finely dice the bell peppers, onion, and chives. Then mix together in a large bowl and preheat the oven to 375. Remove the baking pan from the refrigerator. Lift each chicken breast individually, layering the vegetable mixture from your bowl beneath it.
Sprinkle the seasonings you desire over the tops of the chicken breasts then layer the remaining contents of the bowl over them. Put into the oven and cook for 40-50 minutes.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
First SUCCESSFUL Allergen-Free Cookie
Thanks to my dear friends, Enjoy Life, I can now officially declare that we have a good home baked cookie! "Sure, it can't be that hard," is what you might say! However, it has been hard. Can't use corn syrup, corn starch, eggs, any dairy (butter included) soy, anything really. You even have to buy a special vanilla extract that doesn't contain corn syrup. But I've acquired many ingredients through many stores and lots of online shopping. After they arrived, I pulled out my new cookbook called Enjoy Life's Cookies for Everyone!
I must admit that every recipe in the book looks delicious. After many unsuccessful attempts using recipes from various sources (online and other books), I am proud to say that the pictures in this book match the description of their recipes. Alright! Enough shout-out to this cookbook! And now for some proud family pictures!
Yes, his eyes are shut! But you can't beat that smile!
I must admit that every recipe in the book looks delicious. After many unsuccessful attempts using recipes from various sources (online and other books), I am proud to say that the pictures in this book match the description of their recipes. Alright! Enough shout-out to this cookbook! And now for some proud family pictures!
Yes, his eyes are shut! But you can't beat that smile!
Happy baby loves pumpkin! We may have a pumpkin junior in the family.
Na! We'll stick to calling him Boo!
Happy Mommy!
What a happy moment for all! This pumpkin recipe is a keeper!
Monday, July 19, 2010
Another Setback...
We found ourselves once again heading to the Urgent Care. At dinner, I gave Jake some peas, avocado and grapes (all things he's tried before). As with anything I've been giving him, he'll kind of put it in his mouth and then spit it out. He almost never swallows it. So we were sitting there and his face started turning red and he was itching. I could see some hives developing.
Being such routine, the kids ran to the car and we all flew down the street to the Urgent Care. One of the good things about being on base is being less than a mile from there! And with our situation, it's becoming such a convenience.
Arriving on scene at the U.C., I walked in and told them that he's had an anaphylactic reaction before, his face was itchy and red and I kind of wanted to be there to wait it out, just in case. They were all so sweet to us and accomodating. Within 10 minutes, they brought us back to check him out. And for the first time ever we actually had a decent ER doc! He was very helpful and looked him over. They all kind of monitored him a little and then sent us home with some oral steroids.
Now we are home and getting to bed. We are feeling frustrated with the whole allergy issue as we can't get him to eat anything and we've waited two weeks for the ped.'s office on base to set us up with a referral to a nutritionist so we can get this figured out. They weighed Jake and he was 21 lbs. 7 oz. He's almost a year old. At his six month checkup, he weighed 21 lbs. 8 oz. so he's not gaining weight. Normally our kids gain a lot the first six months and then end up at about 24 lbs. at the end of the first year. So I'm concerned a little that he hasn't gained anything in six months but that he's lost an ounce. Hopefully soon we'll get him in to a nutritionist so we can map out a plan for him. Meanwhile, please keep us in your prayers.
Being such routine, the kids ran to the car and we all flew down the street to the Urgent Care. One of the good things about being on base is being less than a mile from there! And with our situation, it's becoming such a convenience.
Arriving on scene at the U.C., I walked in and told them that he's had an anaphylactic reaction before, his face was itchy and red and I kind of wanted to be there to wait it out, just in case. They were all so sweet to us and accomodating. Within 10 minutes, they brought us back to check him out. And for the first time ever we actually had a decent ER doc! He was very helpful and looked him over. They all kind of monitored him a little and then sent us home with some oral steroids.
Now we are home and getting to bed. We are feeling frustrated with the whole allergy issue as we can't get him to eat anything and we've waited two weeks for the ped.'s office on base to set us up with a referral to a nutritionist so we can get this figured out. They weighed Jake and he was 21 lbs. 7 oz. He's almost a year old. At his six month checkup, he weighed 21 lbs. 8 oz. so he's not gaining weight. Normally our kids gain a lot the first six months and then end up at about 24 lbs. at the end of the first year. So I'm concerned a little that he hasn't gained anything in six months but that he's lost an ounce. Hopefully soon we'll get him in to a nutritionist so we can map out a plan for him. Meanwhile, please keep us in your prayers.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Pineapple Chicken
Quick Preparation! Simple ingredients! Allergy Friendly!
Preheat Oven to 375 degrees.
2 lbs. organic chicken pieces
1 can (14 oz.) unsweetened pineapple chunks, drained (or use fresh pineapple)
1 tsp. dried rosemary
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
Place the chicken in a baking dish lined with foil. Pour the pineapple chunks over the chicken. In a small bowl, combine the rosemary, paprika, salt, pepper and ginger. Sprinkle this over the chicken. Bake covered for one hour or until the chicken is no longer pink inside.Great served with rice and steamed broccoli.
Preheat Oven to 375 degrees.
2 lbs. organic chicken pieces
1 can (14 oz.) unsweetened pineapple chunks, drained (or use fresh pineapple)
1 tsp. dried rosemary
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
Place the chicken in a baking dish lined with foil. Pour the pineapple chunks over the chicken. In a small bowl, combine the rosemary, paprika, salt, pepper and ginger. Sprinkle this over the chicken. Bake covered for one hour or until the chicken is no longer pink inside.Great served with rice and steamed broccoli.
Where are we at with allergies at this point?
It's been awhile since I've sent any updates. So here's where we are at with the allergy issue. First of all, Jake was tested for more allergies. The results were not so good. He's allergic to the same things as before (dairy, eggs, all nuts-peanuts, cashews, walnuts, etc.), plus soy, wheat, oats, corn, tomatoes, bananas, yeast (a small amount), gelatin, annato (small amount), oranges and pork. So what does this all mean?
Basically, they tested his blood and the results are from 0-100. Some were seriously high such as milk, eggs and peanuts which scored over a 100. Scary!!!! They score them from 0-6. If it was just above 0, it's a small positive. If it's a 6, it's the most positive it can get. So the milk, eggs and peanuts were all at 6. Yikes! Wheat scored at a 5 (77.6), Barley at 5 (52.90), Cashew at a 4 (42.20), Oats at a 4 (30.10), Soybeans at a 4 (22.8) and so on. Anyway, from what we've learned is that 3 and over is a serious threat. Just a quick glance at his chart shows us that he is seriously allergic to a lot of things.
Since cutting those things out of my diet, his eczema is looking so much better. He still has occasional flareups but his skin is nothing near to what it was. Today, as I changed him, I left him in his diaper to crawl around. It was the 1st time he's ever been without being fully covered to where he wasn't scratching continuously. I still can't leave him really in shorts or t-shirts. Most of the time he can only be in 100% cotton sleepers, day and night. But I couldn't believe that five minutes without anything but a diaper and he seemed content.
He's still nursing about 90% of the time. Since he doesn't have a steady diet of food yet, he mainly nurses and yes, still throughout the night. But he's improving. He will eat a little fruit (but not much), an occasional pea or cooked carrot, sometimes green beans or sweet potatoes. That is about the majority of it. Usually he throws it on the ground and I've noticed that you can tell right away if it's going to cause problems because his face will turn red and he itches (such as the case with bananas- followed by lots of coughing and screaming).
However, I am thankful that he's showing signs of improvement. We've had to rid our house of all peanut butter and nuts. No Reeses or anything like that. Since the kids want milk with cereal in the morning, I block off the kitchen area, allow them their cereal and milk (they can drink as much as they want for breakfast and then it's off limits the rest of the day), and I do a major clean of the kitchen before Jake enters. He is now in the get-into-everything stage, mind you!
We've been making lots of changes, learning everything about reading labels (nothing with corn starch, soy, etc.). We've learned a lot along the way and I'm sure there will be more updates as we go along.
As far as what we eat these days consists of lots of chicken and fish, most veggies and fruits and rice. I'm still searching for some good millet recipes. Tried one with tomatoes before we found out it's off limits so I've got to find a new one. Quinoa is supposed to help those with allergies. It's a very whole foods diet. I'm thankful that I've been finding things along the way. Some recipes are terrible but others work out. Once I get a steady handful of recipes, I'll just rotate them and we'll be good.
And although we don't know why he's so allergic to everything and why it is this way, we realize that questioning it is to question God. He is all-powerful and He created Jake this way! He also heals and we continue to pray for healing with this situation. We are so blessed that God has given us each of our beautiful children and we'll continue to pray for their salvation! Thank you to all who have supported us along the way so far!
Basically, they tested his blood and the results are from 0-100. Some were seriously high such as milk, eggs and peanuts which scored over a 100. Scary!!!! They score them from 0-6. If it was just above 0, it's a small positive. If it's a 6, it's the most positive it can get. So the milk, eggs and peanuts were all at 6. Yikes! Wheat scored at a 5 (77.6), Barley at 5 (52.90), Cashew at a 4 (42.20), Oats at a 4 (30.10), Soybeans at a 4 (22.8) and so on. Anyway, from what we've learned is that 3 and over is a serious threat. Just a quick glance at his chart shows us that he is seriously allergic to a lot of things.
Since cutting those things out of my diet, his eczema is looking so much better. He still has occasional flareups but his skin is nothing near to what it was. Today, as I changed him, I left him in his diaper to crawl around. It was the 1st time he's ever been without being fully covered to where he wasn't scratching continuously. I still can't leave him really in shorts or t-shirts. Most of the time he can only be in 100% cotton sleepers, day and night. But I couldn't believe that five minutes without anything but a diaper and he seemed content.
He's still nursing about 90% of the time. Since he doesn't have a steady diet of food yet, he mainly nurses and yes, still throughout the night. But he's improving. He will eat a little fruit (but not much), an occasional pea or cooked carrot, sometimes green beans or sweet potatoes. That is about the majority of it. Usually he throws it on the ground and I've noticed that you can tell right away if it's going to cause problems because his face will turn red and he itches (such as the case with bananas- followed by lots of coughing and screaming).
However, I am thankful that he's showing signs of improvement. We've had to rid our house of all peanut butter and nuts. No Reeses or anything like that. Since the kids want milk with cereal in the morning, I block off the kitchen area, allow them their cereal and milk (they can drink as much as they want for breakfast and then it's off limits the rest of the day), and I do a major clean of the kitchen before Jake enters. He is now in the get-into-everything stage, mind you!
We've been making lots of changes, learning everything about reading labels (nothing with corn starch, soy, etc.). We've learned a lot along the way and I'm sure there will be more updates as we go along.
As far as what we eat these days consists of lots of chicken and fish, most veggies and fruits and rice. I'm still searching for some good millet recipes. Tried one with tomatoes before we found out it's off limits so I've got to find a new one. Quinoa is supposed to help those with allergies. It's a very whole foods diet. I'm thankful that I've been finding things along the way. Some recipes are terrible but others work out. Once I get a steady handful of recipes, I'll just rotate them and we'll be good.
And although we don't know why he's so allergic to everything and why it is this way, we realize that questioning it is to question God. He is all-powerful and He created Jake this way! He also heals and we continue to pray for healing with this situation. We are so blessed that God has given us each of our beautiful children and we'll continue to pray for their salvation! Thank you to all who have supported us along the way so far!
So What Desserts are Safe?
I'd like to give a BIG shout-out to my new favorite company, Enjoy Life! They have come up with products that don't include the top 8 allergens. Some do contain corn, such as the regular chocolate bars (dark chocolate bars are okay). But here's what is safe:
 |
| I devour these chocolate chips like they are going out of style! |
I pretty much eat the entire box in one sitting!
I actually gave one of these to Jake to try and he devoured it! He's only been able to eat a handful of things! You have no idea the joy I felt when I saw him smile as he ate one. I'm thinking that a cake made of these for his birthday would be his best bet!!!
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