Down Mulberry Lane

My Life: Friday

Today, I awoke with a start, thought I heard my phone going off, but nooo... just my imagination.  I crawled in bed for a few minutes, reminded Dh to get to his dentist appointment and waited for the shower. 

We had pancakes, eggs and corn beef hash.  Request of Paige.  She likes the square potatoes of the hash, but won't eat the meat.  I don't eat it either.  But the others like it. 

We worked on cleaning the house and I was up on facebook a bit this morning.  I found a few people that I know on there, so it was kinda fun to see that they had sent messages this morning.  I am finding it hard to find "girl" friends on there.  I realize it is likely because they all got married and changed their names, but STILL!  LOL  I got on facebook to "watch" my kids' activities... and who'da thought I'd find friends myself?  Too fun!  It's a great way to encourage the kids coming up as well.  I found many youth in our church that we know and I send them little notes every so often asking how college is, or school, whatever and they all seem to appreciate the interest in their lives.  I also did bills this morning. 

For lunch, the kids had macaroni and cheese.  I couldn't eat.  I was upset and I didn't really know why.  I didn't eat lunch for one, because there was dairy in it, but also just the thought of cooking an entire second meal just sort of hit me wrong today.  It likely was a pity party on my part, but I just am frustrated and overwhelmed with cooking two separate meals each night.  If I cook just the one (non-dairy) part of the family just is making sure I know that it is no longer to their liking.  If I cook just their meal, than I am short changed as well... like for lunch... I could have sat and ate peas and applesauce, but the two together without any mac and cheese didn't look very appealing.  I don't mind making a meal for myself, but the recipes fit a family and then I end up eating the entire meal for a week.  Like the corn chowder.  I have eaten that every day this week and two days I had it for a second meal.  I wonder if that's how it's gonna be.... make myself a meal and plan on eating it for a week straight?  UGH!   If my freezers weren't full, I would consider freezing some of the meals so that I wasn't overwhelming myself with the same meal for the entire week.  At the moment it is not an option. 

I opted for a walk during the meal.  It helped clear my head and gave me time to pray.  I know God knows I am frustrated.  But as I walked, I thought of some blessings.  My oldest has  quit drinking milk for health reasons and also she never really liked it.  She finds the soy milk or almond milk an alternative for her cereal that she likes just as well if not better.  She has bucked up, so to say, in this fight with Paige's food intolerances and has been my backbone.  I have prayed for direction and try to follow that direction, but when I get weary, she picks me up with her support, her strong stand on "no, we aren't going to eat this..."  I thank God for that.  I have another daughter who loves her cheese and such, but is trying very hard to accept new meals.  When others at the table fuss over the food, she will eat without complaining.  She will even purposely make comments... this was very good mom, I could eat this again... making sure that I know she is willing to eat it again.  If a food is something she doesn't like, she eats politely but will say, later that she prefers something different.  She is holding an honest approach, but one where she is trying to be encouraging.  When I look at where we are at with our journey... we've discovered chocolate is a definate NO.  Soy, is a food to avoid as much as possible, but a little affects my daughter more with skin irritations and rashes than with outbursts and potty messes.  So, soy is tolerated a wee bit.... meaning if she reaches out for gluten with soy in them... we allow it, she usually doesn't eat enough to bother her.  But if she reaches for soy sour cream... we find something else... the larger concentration of soy seems to be a problem for her.  And dairy... this is an unending controversy.  We've slipped into allowing small amounts and as long as it is small amounts, it doesn't affect the toilet troubles or make her upset.  But if she has milk on her cereal or more than a sprinkle of cheese on her food, she has trouble with wetting.  I hope to at some point get it/dairy out of the house, but Dh told me that he gave it a month and is tired of feeling like he walks away from the meal unsatisfied.  I can deal with it.  A month is all I asked and the month gave me a few options, a few ideas, and some eye opening experiences. 

At the moment, I am dairy-free...totally and no chocolate.  Paige is largely dairy free, soy free, and chocolate free and limited food colorings.  This totally knocks the candy out the window!  I am allowing her sprinkles of cheese on some things, but the girls have learned how to apply it to her plate... so she thinks she is getting more than she really is.  I make alot of her meals at the counter onto the plate, so she doesn't realize cheese is missing from many of those meals where cheese is just a regular part of it.  The rest are allowed to eat, but have limited access to some of their foods.  I buy milk by the half gallon, so it is used mostly for cereal (which is once a week) or Dad's morning glass of milk.  Even with allowing dairy back in the house, I am able to get through a week with a half gallon to 3/4 gallon a week.  The rice, almond or soy milks are accepted substitutes and allows me to make more "common" foods for all.  I've also decreased the cheese intake tremendously... we are using less than one pound of cheese a week, vs the 3-4 pounds that we used to  consume, for a family of 6).   Basically they try to limit the cheese to 4 oz a meal or less (for the whole family). 

Our potty messes are decreased quite a bit.  And if I can eliminate dairy for a day, we have a great "next" day.  If she gets a sprinkle of cheese on a plate, we may have one or two messes during the day.  If we have cereal with cows milk for breakfast, mac and cheese, and something with cheese for supper... I'm up to 5-8 messes a day.  But this is greatly reduced from chocolate which caused up to 20 messes a day, from bladder spasms.  Seeing the cause and effect has surely increased my awareness in my menu planning.  However, that still needs work to keep Dh satisfied and yet keep Paige limited on the dairy. 

My next project for dairy free is to find a cheese alternative I can shred.  If I can find one I like, I may conquer pizza, tacos, burritos, haystacks, and a few other cheese topped meals.  Soy cheeses on the market still contain dairy, so we don't use them.  I am making my own cashew cheese sauce, which works fine for baked potatoes and some other dishes, but for my 3yo, if I had a shredded cheese for her... I would really have her dairy free completely and it wouldn't be a fight at the table watching some use cheese and her NOT... she'd have her own cheese.   I think next week, I will be trying several new recipes for nut cheeses that you can make that will gel up so you can shred them. 

Well, after my sad walk time, I felt better.  I came home to begin supper and I immediately was upset again... working in the kitchen... knowing I was again going to make two sauces and OH it is so easy to grumble!  But I took a deep breath and just began the bread for supper.  I then made some cookies to cheer myself up... that worked.  In fact, everyone loved the new "soft ginger cookies".  Megan ate 3 cookies... and they were large cookies!  Paige took a bite, but didn't want anymore and I was a bit frustrated as I am trying to find a "treat" that is chocolate free that she will be happy with.  She came back later and tried it again and finished the cookie.  I think because they were brown, she thought they should taste like chocolate and they didn't.  But she did like the cookies and after supper asked for her second cookie.  (She hasn't asked for seconds on oatmeal or sugar cookies or snicker doodles or sandies... nothing)... so for her to ask for a second cookie... I think we found a treat we can occasionally have that "everyone" likes.  update:  Paige stole a third cookie from the box and brought me another one so I wouldn't take hers away!  LOL.  I guess they are a hit!

Supper was Spaghetti with salad and french bread.  I also had as a "try" a cashew alfredo sauce and it was good.  I had some basil in it and it was quite tasty, however once put on pasta, it needed more salt.  Which we can do that next time.  Two of the girls said it was good, and tasted just like a dairy alfredo sauce we had tried before.  A third said it was ok.  Dh just shrugged... said it wasn't bad... but he was in the mood for red sauce tonight, which was fine and why I made two sauces. 

Tomorrow is potluck at church.  I have one last chocolate item left in the cupboards and it will get made up for that.  Then... no more chocolate other than some milk chocolate chips that I have... which I may give away cuz no one eats them.  I used to make candy with them and it was quite tasty mixed with other chocolates, but alone, the family isn't a milk chocolate fanned family. 

That was my day and my thoughts today.  Hoping for better tomorrow! 

Warmly, ~Melissa

Your House

10:26 PM, October 31, 2008 .. Posted by OklahomaJamie

Is that your house at the top of the page? What a pretty picture. I just love it.

Country Blessings,
Jamie

Melissa says: Yes, it is. The picture is actually 4 pictures that my daughter took in a row standing at one spot.

Edited by mulberrylane on October 31, 2008 at 10:36 PM

Some recipes for you

12:24 AM, November 1, 2008 .. Posted by elliepea

Low-Fat Alfredo Sauce
3/4 cup raw cashews
2 cups water
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons flour (may use whole wheat)
2 tablespoons tahini
1 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon McKay’s Chicken Seasoning
2 tablespoon nutritional yeast flakes
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon basil
2 cups water

Blend cashews with first two cups water. Add flour and seasonings and blend for about two minutes until very smooth. Stir blended mixture into two more cups of water and bring to a boil while stirring. This sauce is especially good served over whole grain pasta and cooked Fiesta Blend vegetables.

Olive Scramble
1 lb. pkg. firm water-packed tofu
1 can olives, sliced
1 bunch green onions, sliced
1/4 cup veggie bacon bits
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon chicken style seasoning
3 tablespoon oil, olive or coconut

Mash tofu. Add olives, onions, bacos and seasonings. Heat oil in skillet. Pour tofu mixture into hot skillet and cook, stirring occasionally, until well cooked and a little browned. Serves 4 to 6.

And for an awesome haystack cheese sauce just use your usual cashew cheese and add cumin and chili powder to it to your taste. My recipe makes just under two cups of sauce and I add 1 teaspoon of each seasoning. This also makes a very yummy cheese sauce to dip your chips into for chips and dips - along with salsa. Okay, I'm hungry now!
I am sitting in the night looking at the blogs of people who are in Africa. I don't know them personally, but it is exciting. I always wanted to be a missionary but hubby did not and that was that. Have a wonderful Sabbath!
Margie