Secondary Glutenization

We have established that there are many foods Bee cannot eat.  For example, Bee can't eat gluten.  But what if Bee ate chicken which had been fed gluten-containing grains.  Will that affect her as well?  Apparently, I'm not the only one wondering about this issue.  However, whether grain fed animal meat does contain gluten or not, we are free-range, grass-fed, organic kind of people. 

Color-Coded

What to do about sippy cups?  They are hard to get fully clean, and if the kids accidentally drink after one another, well, Baby Bee will break out (in the rare instances when the kids eat something that she can't have or if she grabs another kid's sippy cup at church).  So, we are color-coded and use stainless steel canteens.  Easy to clean, no plastic problems (BPA, phthalates), easy to tote around, and they come with different lids-  Sippy for Baby Bee and sport caps for Tiger and Curly.  The kids love them and they do a great job helping Baby Bee drink ONLY from her canteen.  Plus, they are bright, easy to find, and everyone else knows that they are ours, so they don't touch Bee's drink.  Bee has her purple sippy, Tiger has green, and Curly of course has pink.  They even come in different sizes; Mommy has the giant turquoise one!

The Incredible Edible Egg

I no longer have any of these little guys in my fridge.  The egg may be incredible, but at our house, it is definitely NOT edible! 

I don't really miss scrambled eggs, or poached eggs, or omelets, or sunny-side up eggs, or eggs at all--except in my baking!!  Have you ever baked without eggs?  No fun!

You have got to find a substitution, and only certain substitutions are appropriate for certain situations.  Confused yet? 

Keep an egg replacement list handy, but also know what job the egg was doing in that recipe-was it for binding or leavening or adding moisture.  And if you have a recipe that calls for a dozen eggs...well...hide that one for now because I don't know of any replacer that can replace THAT many eggs. 

For meatloaf and meatballs and other recipes that need some "binding" I have been successful with ground flaxseed mixed with water.  (1 T flaxseed to 3 T warm water--replaces one egg).

I have done some baking with applesauce and it sure does help add some moisture to what can be dry and crumbly gluten-free baked goods.  Can't try the banana trick, but let me know if that one works.  You can also add fruit juice or other pureed fruits to baked goods for some added moisture.  It can only help gluten-free goods!

My baking buddy is Ener-G Egg Replacer.  Hello breads and cookies!  This is a great replacer when you need some leavening help.

Other popular egg replacement tricks involve tofu (soy!) and powdered milk or other dairy ingredients. 

So far, so good on the egg free fridge over here.  However, I think I miss French toast...

Clean Up

How many times did the dermatologist, pediatrician, and allergist ask me if I had considered changing detergents?  Wow!  I think I just started to roll my eyes at them when they began that spiel.  I tried all kinds of allergen free and free and clear and even went without fabric softener or dryer sheets.  No improvements!

This was a little more than a dryer sheet.  But all the detergent-changing and all natural detergent began to add up, so I began making my own.  I also began to make my own cleaning supplies out of total paranoia.  Then I realized how much money I was saving, so I haven't looked back.  Here are a few of my favorite recipes:

Counter Spray
1 cup water
1 cup vinegar
several drops of essential oil
I use either lavender or lemon because of their antibacterial properties but tea tree is antibacterial as well, it just doesn't smell as nice. 
Place in spray bottle and shake well before each use.

Disinfecting Cleaner
1/2 cup borax
1 gallon boiling water
Mix together and add essential oil after allowing to cool.
Place in spray bottle and shake well before each use.

Floor Cleaner
1 cup vinegar
1/2 washing soda
1 T vegetable oil based liquid soap
2 gallons hot water
Essential oil-I like orange or lemon
Combine well to dissolve washing soda, and mop away!

Laundry Detergent
1 quart boiling water
2 cups bar soap (grated)  I use Fels Naptha or Ivory.
2 cups borax
2 cups washing soda

Add grated soap to boiling water and stir until dissolved.  Pour soap into large pail and add borax and washing soda and then stir well.  Add two gallons of water and stir until mixed.  Refill all your old detergent containers.  Shake up the container well before each use, as the detergent will gel. 

Dishwasher Detergent
1/2 cup borax
1/2 cup washing soda
1/4 cup citric acid
1/4 cup coarse salt
Mix together and use 1 Tablespoon per load.  Add white vinegar to the rinse aid. 

Glass Cleaner
1/4 cup white vinegar
1 T cornstarch
1 quart warm water
Put in spray bottle and shake well before each use.

Happy cleaning!

Monday Memories

This past spring I had the bright idea to take my children to the dairy classroom at our fairgrounds.  Someone please tell me why I thought that was a good idea.  Why? 

Let me set the stage:  We had just moved to a new state.....Texas.  We were living in a rent house, still half-packed, boxes everywhere.  We were working to buy a house.  Tiger had the brilliant idea to potty train and little Bee had had more allergic reactions in one month than I can count on one hand, and maybe two.  I guess I just wanted a Texas experience-you know farming and cows and such.  And the fairgrounds, what better way to experience "Texas."  Right?

I think there were a hundred school groups there, waiting and waiting and waiting, for the door to open to take you to somewhere beyond that door-to the mobile dairy classroom.  The "dynamic, fun, and educational" dairy classroom, the one that comes complete with a "milking parlor" and REAL cow!  It must be great!  It's dynamic!  It is FUN!  Errrr, ummm........ok.

So, we get to the classroom which is a giant green carpet that is pretending to be grass.  In front of us is the cow, all boxed into the nifty trailer, with the dynamic, exciting, and FUN speaker--a really old, crusty farmer guy.  GREAT for kids!  He spent 30 minutes propagandizing our children about the benefits of milk.  You CANNOT live without it apparently.  Then he put on the milking machine, two seconds later, he had milked one drop, and it was basically over.  He opened the floor for questions and millions of bewildered children started at him, bored out of their minds.  At this point in the lively presentation, Tiger began to dance around on the rug and Curly began to squeal.  I saw a dark puddle seeping from under Tiger.  Curly began to shriek something about pee pee and accident and I made a hasty exit, from the SECOND ROW!  As we ran toward the bathroom, several wonderfully sweet ladies were thrusting a fuchsia-colored drink in my children's faces.  They called it "strawberry milk."  No way!  Even if we could drink milk, that concoction does not even qualify.  In the future, I shall avoid all things dairy, especially when dairy and dynamic are together, because is that even possible?

Shopping Guide

I do not like to shop--for anything.  Never have, never will.  However, shopping for groceries wasn't too bad...........until now!! 

Last week, I had a meltdown in the chip aisle.  I was looking for some plain kettle potato chips to use for breading for Baby Bee's chicken strips.  They were out.  EVERY OTHER BRAND had either sesame, corn, or milk!  Can you make a potato chip without milk?  I bet I could!  But, most companies don't care to try.  I threw some bags of chips back on the shelves.  It did make me feel slightly better. 

I've had coconut yogurt meltdowns.  And rice milk meltdowns.  And tapioca starch meltdowns.  I could keep going....

Why is it that one store carries one thing I need, another store carries two others, and the third store has four things I need.  Can I please just shop at one??  Nope!  That would be too easy!

But I heard this book is supposed to help minimize your shopping nightmares and meltdowns.  Did I mention my birthday is coming soon?  A massage would be nice too..........

Coconut Bliss

Who can argue with dark chocolate?