Dips

Now that we've added a few beans back into our diet, we can eat chip and veggie dip.  Here are our current favorites:

Hummus
2 or 3 garlic cloves
1 can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
3 T lemon juice
3 T olive oil
1/4-1/2 t cumin
1 t minced onion
2 or 3 T water
salt and pepper to taste

Mince garlic in food processor.  Add garbanzo beans, lemon juice, olive oil, cumin, and onion.  Slowly add water while mincing ingredients.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

Variations:
Sometimes we add a little cayenne red pepper for some spicy hummus.
For hummus with more texture, fold in some finely diced red onion at the end rather than adding the minced onion.
Or add some finely diced poblano pepper (place pepper under broiler, turning until skin is scorched, place in ziploc for 10 minutes, then remove skin, deseed and finely dice).


White Bean Dip
1 can (15 oz) white beans, drained and rinsed
3 cloves garlic minced fine
2 T olive oil
1 t dried rosemary, crumbled
1/4-1/2 t basil
2 t lemon juice
1/2 t salt (or more to taste)
black pepper
1/8 t cayenne (or more)

Mash beans with fork and stir in all other ingredients.

My kids love to dip carrots in this dip

Food Challenge

Bee's latest lab results showed her IgE levels had dropped significantly.  A few of her foods were barely on the "allergic scale."  I've been questioning her allergies to a few foods for a while now and decided that we might want to try a food challenge.
I called one of my friends who has a severely allergic child and asked for details of the food challenges that she has done with her son.  They sounded LONG and miserable with 4+ hours at the doctor's office a day for each food you test.  She also explained how she had done some at home with her doctor's knowledge.  The at-home test sounded much better for us.
So we made a decision to try a couple of the foods that were her smallest allergens.
We began by rubbing some of the food around her mouth.  Thirty minutes later she got a bit.  Every thirty minutes or so I would give her a few bites and watch her.  At the first sign of hives we would stop and take some Zyrtec.
First up on the list was oatmeal.  Bee passed with flying colors and has been enjoying oatmeal and homemade granola bars ever since.
Next we decided to try some beans.  The first bean we tested was white beans and again Bee passed.  She has enjoyed some spicy bean dip on several occasions now.
We're also going to work toward corn and other types of beans.  After that I might be brave and test avocado again and see if that allergy has disappeared yet.  But for now, we're enjoying a few more foods that used to be contraband in our house.

Smiles

Baby Bee was always a serious little girl.  Prince Charming and I worked so hard to make her smile and those smiles were few and far between.  At the time, we didn't realize why, but we soon started to realize that there was something very wrong with Bee.  When we were out with her, strangers played peek-a-boo and talked to her.  NEVER was anyone able to coax a smile from her.  And of course, those strangers all had to comment on how serious she was and how she "sure didn't smile."  Yes, I know.  Thank you.  I finally got to the point where I would just cut them off before they got started with the ridiculous silly faces and voices.  I was plain tired of watching them fail.  Her own parents could rarely get her to crack a smile.

Tonight I watched Bee running through the kitchen screeching with laughter as Tiger chased her.  "Run!  I'm going to tickle you!!!!!"  The first year was so hard at times, but I can see how far we've come.  Nowadays, Bee is rarely without a smile (and a snack or two).  And she rewards everyone with her smile, especially us!  Well.........when she'll take her thumb out.

Coconut

We love marinades and grilled chicken and I miss soy sauce.  Not only can we not have soy, but many soy sauces contain gluten.  So we have pretend soy sauce-coconut aminos.  It makes for some good marinades!  And if you want a sweet marinade-coconut nectar.  Check out the other coconut products and the sugar alternative.

Bliss

A certain someone came sneaking out of their room during quiet time to find mommy eating an allergy free chocolate cupcake.  Of course, he had to have a bite. 

This is good mommy.......

Why are you taking pictures?

Stop!

Ok, fine...........

One minute later I look over next to me and I see this...........a chocolate mouth and chocolate blankie makes for a good nap.

{Gluten Free} Play Dough Recipe

When we moved several months ago, I took the opportunity to purge our pantry of allergy foods.  During packing I realized that I had missed one crucial item in the purge--the playdough drawer.  We had every color of playdough you can imagine!  I trashed it all and then I called Playdoh to complain that they didn't make GF playdough because it just made me feel better - therapy I guess.  

So, now that we are moved in I decided to make Bee her very own playdough.  We started with green and blue and have now added orange at the request of Tiger.  More colors are coming soon.  And the green playdough is even scented.....mint....Curly calls it Mommy Mint because my favorite color is green.  Bee enjoyed playing with playdough for the very first time this week, and predictably she took a taste test.  No hives here!

GF dough

1 cup rice flour

2 T cream of tartar

1/2 cup salt

1 T olive oil

1 cup water

food coloring

Mix flour, cream of tartar, and salt in sauce pan.  Mix the food coloring with the water and add to pan along with oil.  Cook over medium heat, stirring often, until thick.  Will form into a ball when it's done and your arm will be ready to fall off, but it's so worth it!  Allow the dough to cool completely before storing.