Jason's Deli and Winger's

My child with autism and I both have some food sensitivities. We discovered how food can cause autoimmune reactions through our son's biochemical intervention. About a year of our son going gluten and dairy free, I found it necessary to do the same for myself. We have also discovered a need to largely avoid soy and corn as well.

Hubby and I had the rare opportunity of going out on two dates last week. Often we don't have a lot of time when we have a chance to go out alone, so we usually choose to grab a bite to eat. We have grown to really love eating out. Now that we can no longer order pizza on Friday nights or Chinese take out on the weekends, it is almost a necessity to get out and get a meal together once in awhile. I thought I would share about the meals I had while eating out last week.

Last Tuesday my teacher husband had the day off of school, kind of. He still went in to do a small amount of work, leaving time for us to do something while our son was still in school. We decided to go to Jason's Deli. (It is located outside the University Mall in the parking lot, for you locals.) They carry gluten-free bread! Although not completely corn free, corn is not the main ingredient, and I seemed to handle it fine. I ordered a turkey breast build-your-own sandwich with mustard, lettuce, tomato, and avocado. Instead of the chips, I subbed in some fresh fruit. What a great lunch. Hubby ordered one of the specials that looked really yummy. My meal was awesome, but I think next time I go I will try to order a special, too, but with my own brand of 'specialness.' Specialness= subbing bread for gluten free, no cheese, subbing or leaving off sides, etc. It is so nice to have a place close where I can get a sandwich and I don't have to say "no bun please." I happen to like the bun!

On Saturday night we had another opportunity to do something, so we went out to Winger's in Orem. We had a little coupon, and I heard that they had gluten free options, so we decided to give it a try. The tricky part ended up being dairy and corn, plus the "gluten free menu" was simply a list of everything, no descriptions, and it labeled everything "GF" or "Not GF." I took my time ordering so I could sort everything out between the two menus and ask questions so I could get it right. I had a delicious meal there, and this is what I had: Blackened Chicken Tacos, no tortillas, no cheese, no dressing, subbing seasoning-less steak fries for tortilla chips and salsa. I suppose that the rice option would have made more sense as a side, but I had to have the fries for some reason. My tacos ended up being lettuce, black beans, pico de gallo, and seasoned chicken strips on top. The chicken was seasoned so nicely, it really made the meal. The steak fries were good... I had ketchup with it that was loaded with high fructose corn syrup... (a 'no, no' that tastes really weird to me, but I went sparingly on it. I wonder if it is possible to get packets of 'real sugar' ketchup. I would shamelessly keep some of those in my car for such occasions.)

So that is my rambling story of eating out last week. Two good experiences at two different places, all in one week. Who would have thought it possible? :)

Current Obsession: CSA

My current obsession is Community Supported Agriculture, which is a farming business model. Members of the community, individuals and restaurants put money up front in order to be supplied with luscious, sustainable, (and organic, although not always certified,) local fruits and vegetables. More specifically, I am in love with the CSA farm that is local to my area. I just discovered it on the internet. It is called Jacob's Cove.

Let's face it, conventional growing methods are not sustainable. (Irresponsible, at best, although I feel that it is criminal the way that soil is depleted of nutrients, making our food ever less healthy.) The use of tons of chemicals is involved. This all makes us sick. Doctors out there that actually recognize the medical needs of children with autism admonish parents to feed them organic food. There is a reason for that.

I look forward to one day buying shares of this real food from Jacob's Cove.

Positively a Resolution

The thought of having at least one New Years resolution for 2011 did cross my mind at one time, and was promptly dismissed. Later I realized the reason: I have too many current goals/projects/learning to do at present to add to what I am trying to accomplish, so my New Years resolution was to keep previously-made goals. Here are just four of them.

1. Continue quest in healing autism
2. Prevent autism
3. Prepare for baby
4. Continue preparing allergen-free meals for my son and I that help out with our autoimmune hiccups.

This list has built into it a whole lot of learning to do, a whole lot of cooking, and a whole lot of love.

My mind has been weighing heavily on the aspect of preventing autism, and I have gone through a brief period of deep discouragement recently when I realized some of the big things stacked against me. Metal fillings, flame retardant chemicals, pesticides, herbicides, pollution, and any heavy metal deposits left in my own body, (after the few months of chelation I was able to do for myself,) are just the beginning of a list that felt like a big weight.

This is when a resolution idea come about that I felt I could and needed to make. That is to be POSITIVE! Our world is full of contaminants, it is true. Our children with autism are proof. What I have chosen to focus on with prevention is to do those things for my baby that are in my power and that I feel will make a difference. I can now feel much greater peace on this important topic that felt like a daunting weight before. I know that the neurotoxins are still there, hiding. This is the challenge of our time, and this is the world we have inherited. I can choose to do what is in my power to make a difference for my loved ones, to improve their lives, and I feel positive that this will make a difference for the future. :)

Sending POSITIVE thoughts your way! :)

Simple (Allergen Free) Feasting

I hope that everyone is having an awesome holiday season! We had a very merry Christmas at our house. Eli had the most fun, of course! Even though it has been almost a week, I still wanted to share our simple Christmas meal on my blog. It has just been awhile since we had a holiday by ourselves, and so although it may seem silly, it was really fun for me to orchestrate the whole little meal by myself. The whole meal was gluten free, casein free, soy free, and nearly corn free as well.





We had on the menu, turkey of course, which you can see below the cheesy smiles in the first picture. The turkey was Norbest Tender Timed. Although not quite as preservative free as I would wish, it did say GLUTEN FREE. And by the way, the timer did not work, which I found kind of amusing. I put Earth Balance spread under the skin, as well as the juice from half a lemon, and a mix of spices including paprika, salt and pepper, and dried chopped onions. I meant to also use rosemary, but I forgot. The results really were surprisingly great.

Sides included green beans, carrot sticks, and green salad. Jason loves deviled eggs, so I made them as allergen-free as possible, using only Canola Mayo, (to avoid soy,) French's Mustard, salt and pepper. Eli, our son with autism, apparently hates deviled eggs, so I didn't have to worry about them bothering his system after all. The mashed potatoes had Earth Balance, Rice Dream rice milk, salt and pepper. Of course I made gravy from the turkey drippings, adding just alittle potato starch to thicken. Although Eli is sensitive to yeast, he did have 2 little pieces of his favorite "Sandwich Bread" from page 21 of Carol Fenster's "Cooking Free."

Dressings included Annie's All Natural Roasted Red Pepper salad dressing, Old Nauvoo homemade style red raspberry jam, and of course our favorite Earth Balance spread. We washed the whole thing down with Martinelli's Sparkling Apple Cider. Yum.

Eli had lots of fun with making cut out cookies later that evening with another recipe of Carol Fenster's, from page 239 of the same cookbook.

And tomorrow is a whole new year. The holidays pass way too quickly once they get here!!

Pigs in a Blanket

This was an old childhood favorite of mine from when I was very young. My mother would chop hot dogs in half or thirds, wrap each little dog in a layer of biscuit dough, and bake. Often she would make the dough, and other times she would get it from one of those refrigerator popping cans, (those things used to startle me every time!)

Lately one of our favorite family dinners at home have been new and improved "Pigs in a Blanket," thanks to the lovely Linda at www.glutenfreehomemaker.com. Her wonderful blog has made feeding my family easier with her easy gluten free, dairy free recipes with natural ingredients. Here is her recipe for the dough to wrap the dogs. It has an awesome homemade taste, unlike refrigerator biscuits. Totally worth the effort. I wish I had taken a picture of our main entree tonight, but of course they always disappear too fast. (My five-year-old loves these!) Tonight we had our Pigs in a Blanket with Hunt's All Natural Ketchup, French's Mustard, Linda's Roasted Red Potatoes, and some green peas.

I have to admit, I have a thing against regular hot dogs. Even if there are those that are gluten free, I have a serious thing against the nitrates that are often in them, and I always, always avoid feeding my family nitrates. At our local health food store called "Good Earth," they carry nitrate-free chicken hot dogs. They are called "Sheldon's Cooked Uncured Chicken Franks." They are all natural, and as such need to be kept frozen until use. They make the best "pigs" we have had so far. I will be on the lookout for other brands of nitrate-free piggies to try out in the future.

30

Today is my 30th birthday, and so I thought I would share just afew things about me. Be warned, I ramble.

I am currently 11 weeks pregnant with our second child. Our son will be six years old when this baby is born. I guess in the area where we live that is totally taboo. Oh well, every family is different.

It's funny how with our first, I was kind of hoping for a girl just because I am an oldest girl. Now I find myself kind of wanting a girl because of the higher chance of having a neuro-typical child. (Although I don't know if I am well suited to handling little girl drama!)I know without a doubt that however our child comes to us, we will be completely thrilled to have him or her. Although we feel we are taking preventative measures where possible, we are not afraid of autism because it is not an uncharted path for us.

My major in college was art. I have an associates from a junior college and a bachelor's from a university. Although I love creating things when I have the energy, (has not happened much this pregnancy,) my culinary skills are always in much higher, and more practical demand. This is because of the cooking I do for my son's and my own food sensitivities. (Our main ones are gluten, dairy, corn, and un-natural additives and such.) Some days I feel like I am cooking all day long. On the bright side, there is so much information and so many products out there that used to not be available. It is truly a blessing that the work I do maintains my family's health.

I am currently the room mom of the autism kindergarten class that my son goes to. I hope that the "Winter" party goes as well as the Halloween party did. I have to admit I am not quite prepared just yet!

Currently reading: HypnoBirthing; The Mongan Method. Next I hope to read Preventing and Healing Autism by Jenny McCarthy, followed by The Age of Autism. (My understanding is that The Age of Autism is a in-depth look at the link between autism and vaccines. I HAVE to read it!)

I am such a Jane Austen junkie. With my first pregnancy I happened upon the Sense and Sensibility movie with Emma Thompson, 1995. I found it so entertaining and so calming when I was feeling tired and ill with my pregnancy, that I just about wore out that VHS copy. Now I have a DVD collection, and I am hoping to add to it this Christmas! My obsession has also led to reading and re-reading of the books. I love watching and collecting the different versions of the movies because it's so fun to see all the different ways they tell the same story. My husband doesn't really get it, but he gets them for me anyway. :)

Independence

The founder of my faith once said that all minds are 'susceptible of enlargement.' We have had substantial proof that this statement is true as we have seen our son change, evolve, and grow as we have followed the programs/therapies that we have been blessed to have for him.

My husband and I have always tried to be aware of teaching our son to be independent. This is much harder to actually do in practice than I ever thought! Especially when your child has special challenges, helping them to reach that goal of independence in those things that are within their reach is so extremely vital.

As a mom of an only child, I am the first to admit that I do too much for him. Because he is the only one, and because he did not have typical development, I have a hard time knowing what is age appropriate for him. His teachers always have to get after me for not letting him do things for himself. They have even explained to me that this even extends to helping him learn to control his emotions.

His teachers have explained that immediately hugging is not the best thing to do when a melt down happens. The issue here is that Eli cannot have more time main streaming in the regular kindergarten until he can stop having these emotional melt downs. They have told me that he needs to learn to control his emotions on his own, and I know that they are right. I am trying to learn to ask him if he needs a break, or to tell him in a neutral voice that he is ok, and letting him start to calm down on his own before I ask him if he needs a hug. What a tall order for me to fill! I am really trying though, because this is an important step for him-- an independence he needs to gain. How wonderful it is that we live in a school district that is so aware of the needs of autistic children and that is so dedicated to helping them meet these important goals.