I think I already posted about my yummy blueberry/lemon egg-free muffins I made. I made another batch the other day. They were good, but not quite as good as the first batch. Still perfecting my baking skills.
Today I made some homemade granola. 1) Because someone posted the link to the recipe online and I had almost all of the ingredients on hand and 2) it's an egg-free breakfast! We have been eating a lot of yogurt and fruit lately since we can't do the egg thing. But I love granola in yogurt, so I was really excited to pick up some vanilla yogurt and blueberries during my last shopping trip in anticipation of the homemade granola.... and boy was it good!
Here is the link to the granola recipe if you are interested:
And here is the link to the blog I got that link from (because I don't know what's the etiquette on giving credit in the blog-world):
For lunch, I attempted a mayo-free tuna salad. I craved tuna a lot with Little Monster and had my one can a week every week during the end of my pregnancy. This time, I'm not craving it as much, but every once in a while it just sounds good. I scoured the internet in finding ideas, but other than a lot of ideas, I couldn't find "the" recipe. So I just decided to make my own.
I did 2 cans of tuna, drained. Some lemon juice. Some Italian dressing. Some dillweed. Some paprika (very little, I like a little kick). Some chives. Some onion salt. Some avocado, which wasn't very ripe and probably would have tasted better if it had been a little softer. I think I'm going to try this one more and use a really ripe avocado, blended with some honey. I saw that idea online and though, ugh, honey? Too sweet. But my tuna salad ended up being a little too bitter and could really use a hint of sweetness. I added a little honey mustard to the bread, but it wasn't enough sweetness to help.
I liked it enough to have a sandwich and the rest of Tiny Dancer's sandwich. She didn't like it, but that's not surprising and she didn't fight me when I told her she had to take 4 bites. Little Monster loved the teeny bit I gave her (mostly avocado) until I think she got a bitter part and then she was done.
Lately I've been craving eggs for breakfast, so the past 2 weeks I have had fried eggs after Little Monster eats. No issue with her getting a hold of anything. I make sure to clean up very well after cooking with eggs. We don't really know what exactly or how much exactly will set off a reaction. My goal is to have NO reactions for a whole year. Our pedi said that's very uncommon because they usually do get a hold of it.
So far, so good though. I made pasta the other night with Wacky Mac (tri-color rotini) with a homemade garlic mushroom sauce and Little Monster ate it right up. Actually, we all did - it was great! I also found out Pillsbury's crescent rolls are egg-free, so we had a cheeseburger pie a few weeks ago that went over fairly well also. Seems like we're doing good and moving into the right direction. So thankful she isn't allergic to dairy! And so thankful that Chill Out just opened up in Alton! With a baby allergic to eggs (no ice cream) and a husband that's lactose intolerant (no dairy at all), it's nice to have a frozen yogurt place nearby that also serves sorbet so we all can enjoy a tasty frozen treat. Their sorbets are amazing and what I prefer anyway, so everyone loves it!
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Thursday, July 12, 2012
New Treats
I love to cook. I love trying new things. But I'm definitely of the easier and faster is better variety. I will spend time slicing vegetables and thanks to my crockpot I do in fact create my own chicken stock once in a while. I also just buy the canned chicken stock. It's fine.
But I hate baking! I don't have the patience to measure out perfect ingredients (for baking, it has to be just about right) and I don't have to patience to check the over 150 times to make sure my stuff is done without being overdone.
Enter egg allergy. I'd much rather pay $6 for a box of mini muffins than make my own. However, Little Monster can't have muffins. And I'm refusing to let egg-ridden foods just be eaten (and probably dropped) around my house and find their way into my allergy-full child. So, I attempted to make my own egg-free muffins yesterday!
They were SUPER easy. It was zest from 2 lemons, 2 cups of unbleached all purpose flour, 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking soda, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt mixed together in a bowl. In a separate bowl, I combined 3/4 cup of sugar, 1 cup of milk (if you add soy milk, you can make this a vegan muffin), 1/3 cup of oil, and 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar. Once you mix it well enough for the sugar to dissolve, you combine the wet and dry ingredients together, mixing until just combined. I folded in some frozen blueberries and using my pampered chef medium size scoop, I put them in some muffin tins and 22 minutes later at 375 degrees, out of the oven came some awesome egg-free muffins - that Little Monster devoured! Dad said they were just okay, but he's a sweets-loving fool, so the fact that he even ate a part of a muffin was encouraging. Tiny Dancer and I loved them too and my picky sister even liked them!
While my sister was over, she whipped up some rice krispy treats for us, because Little Monster loves them and can have them. I'll probably have to keep these handy for any birthday parties we go to. She can't have regular cake or ice cream, so we'll have to keep our own treats ready for her so she's not missing entirely out on everything fun.
Now that I just posted about these muffins, I'm taking a break to go enjoy one! :)
But I hate baking! I don't have the patience to measure out perfect ingredients (for baking, it has to be just about right) and I don't have to patience to check the over 150 times to make sure my stuff is done without being overdone.
Enter egg allergy. I'd much rather pay $6 for a box of mini muffins than make my own. However, Little Monster can't have muffins. And I'm refusing to let egg-ridden foods just be eaten (and probably dropped) around my house and find their way into my allergy-full child. So, I attempted to make my own egg-free muffins yesterday!
They were SUPER easy. It was zest from 2 lemons, 2 cups of unbleached all purpose flour, 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking soda, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt mixed together in a bowl. In a separate bowl, I combined 3/4 cup of sugar, 1 cup of milk (if you add soy milk, you can make this a vegan muffin), 1/3 cup of oil, and 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar. Once you mix it well enough for the sugar to dissolve, you combine the wet and dry ingredients together, mixing until just combined. I folded in some frozen blueberries and using my pampered chef medium size scoop, I put them in some muffin tins and 22 minutes later at 375 degrees, out of the oven came some awesome egg-free muffins - that Little Monster devoured! Dad said they were just okay, but he's a sweets-loving fool, so the fact that he even ate a part of a muffin was encouraging. Tiny Dancer and I loved them too and my picky sister even liked them!
While my sister was over, she whipped up some rice krispy treats for us, because Little Monster loves them and can have them. I'll probably have to keep these handy for any birthday parties we go to. She can't have regular cake or ice cream, so we'll have to keep our own treats ready for her so she's not missing entirely out on everything fun.
Now that I just posted about these muffins, I'm taking a break to go enjoy one! :)
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Egg-Free Eating
I've decided that the whole family is going to convert to egg-free living, in general. I still buy a carton of eggs. Tiny Dancer loves scrambled eggs for breakfast, and so does Dad. But I refuse to make things for the family and use a replacer for only Little Monster (example: she can't have mayo. So I don't want to make tuna or chicken salad for the family and then make a separate batch just for her that we have to mark or remember is safe for her.). However, some things I'm okay with, like if we all have salad and some of us use ranch, while others use Italian (this happens a lot anyway).
So, I figured for the most part, we'll just switch to all egg-free products, which typically turns in to vegan products. There aren't a lot of basic egg-free products, but there are a lot of vegan products we can buy. Like vegan mayo, which I plan to find and use for family chicken/tuna salads.
I did a little shopping today and picked up some ingredients to make my own granola bars, egg-free blueberry muffins, and egg-free noodles for chicken and noodles, spaghetti, etc. Most pastas are egg-free, but the issue is that they're processed in the same area as egg containing products, making it off limits to us. The Wacky Mac brand has some spirals and shaped pasta that are completely egg-free. That combined with making my own should give us enough egg-free pasta to enjoy spaghetti and meatballs or whatever we wish! I'm most excited about the muffins and the chicken and noodles. Hopefully, I figure out what I'm doing and everything turns out exactly perfect. :)
So, I figured for the most part, we'll just switch to all egg-free products, which typically turns in to vegan products. There aren't a lot of basic egg-free products, but there are a lot of vegan products we can buy. Like vegan mayo, which I plan to find and use for family chicken/tuna salads.
I did a little shopping today and picked up some ingredients to make my own granola bars, egg-free blueberry muffins, and egg-free noodles for chicken and noodles, spaghetti, etc. Most pastas are egg-free, but the issue is that they're processed in the same area as egg containing products, making it off limits to us. The Wacky Mac brand has some spirals and shaped pasta that are completely egg-free. That combined with making my own should give us enough egg-free pasta to enjoy spaghetti and meatballs or whatever we wish! I'm most excited about the muffins and the chicken and noodles. Hopefully, I figure out what I'm doing and everything turns out exactly perfect. :)
Friday, July 6, 2012
4 year and 1 year check-ups
I was so excited to be able to finally schedule the girls' yearly doctor's appointments together as opposed to a week or two apart... until I realized that I would be going alone and probably dealing with 2 recently vaccinated children on my own. Yikes. Little Monster is usually not a problem - if it's 1 she doesn't mind too much. More and she'll cry but usually only a minute.
It's that 4 year old that always worries me. She's so dramatic and everything is so over the top with her. I prepared her a week ago by telling her we were going to visit the doctor... and lil sis would for sure be getting shots and Tiny Dancer may get shots. She's fussed at me a bit all the way up until today, when she started crying in the bathtub because I told her to get out and she realized why she had to get out.
Always dramatic that one. Never a dull moment.
But we went and Little Monster had to get 4 shots and we got the option on Tiny Dancer's shots: 3 this year, 3 next year or dividing them up. She is so excited about starting kindergarten next year I decided to postpone all 3 of them so that we could really hype it up with "well, you have to get your shots to start kindergarten." I'm thinking that could work.
Poor Little Monster almost broke my heart, but she only cried for a minute and was back to her normal self.
Stats on the girls:
Tiny Dancer is 32 pounds and 39 1/2 inches. She's in the 15-25th percentile for weight and the 25-50th percentile for height. She's petite for weight, but average for height. Just a skinny little thing. :)
Little Monster is 18 pounds and 9 ounces and 29 1/2 inches. She's in the 10-25th percentile for weight and the 25-50th percentile for height, which is where she's been for her past 3 visits. We also discussed her egg allergy. Her pediatrician said her levels were so high that she would anticipate if she ever gets a large dose of egg, it would result in anaphylactic shock. :( In fact, if she weren't too young for jewelry (which causes its own set of hazards), she'd like her to wear a medical bracelet. So, if her levels don't start to decrease by next year, that may be something we deal with. They're pretty high, which is scary! We have to be really careful at restaurants. At home, I'm extra-cautious. Eggs are prepared and everything is washed and scrubbed down immediately. Leftover egg goes in the garbage disposal, to keep it from falling out of the trash. Her pedi also said most kids will accidentally ingest egg (or whatever their allergen is), so to be prepared. We're already carrying her epi-pen, benadryl and food allergy plan around with us wherever we go, so we are prepared in that way. Not sure how I feel about my child not being able to breathe, or having to administer the epi pen.
Other than that pesky egg situation, my girls are very healthy, albeit small. Doctor said, "see Little Monster again in 3 months and The Baby in 4!" Can't believe that will get here so soon! :)
It's that 4 year old that always worries me. She's so dramatic and everything is so over the top with her. I prepared her a week ago by telling her we were going to visit the doctor... and lil sis would for sure be getting shots and Tiny Dancer may get shots. She's fussed at me a bit all the way up until today, when she started crying in the bathtub because I told her to get out and she realized why she had to get out.
Always dramatic that one. Never a dull moment.
But we went and Little Monster had to get 4 shots and we got the option on Tiny Dancer's shots: 3 this year, 3 next year or dividing them up. She is so excited about starting kindergarten next year I decided to postpone all 3 of them so that we could really hype it up with "well, you have to get your shots to start kindergarten." I'm thinking that could work.
Poor Little Monster almost broke my heart, but she only cried for a minute and was back to her normal self.
Stats on the girls:
Tiny Dancer is 32 pounds and 39 1/2 inches. She's in the 15-25th percentile for weight and the 25-50th percentile for height. She's petite for weight, but average for height. Just a skinny little thing. :)
Little Monster is 18 pounds and 9 ounces and 29 1/2 inches. She's in the 10-25th percentile for weight and the 25-50th percentile for height, which is where she's been for her past 3 visits. We also discussed her egg allergy. Her pediatrician said her levels were so high that she would anticipate if she ever gets a large dose of egg, it would result in anaphylactic shock. :( In fact, if she weren't too young for jewelry (which causes its own set of hazards), she'd like her to wear a medical bracelet. So, if her levels don't start to decrease by next year, that may be something we deal with. They're pretty high, which is scary! We have to be really careful at restaurants. At home, I'm extra-cautious. Eggs are prepared and everything is washed and scrubbed down immediately. Leftover egg goes in the garbage disposal, to keep it from falling out of the trash. Her pedi also said most kids will accidentally ingest egg (or whatever their allergen is), so to be prepared. We're already carrying her epi-pen, benadryl and food allergy plan around with us wherever we go, so we are prepared in that way. Not sure how I feel about my child not being able to breathe, or having to administer the epi pen.
Other than that pesky egg situation, my girls are very healthy, albeit small. Doctor said, "see Little Monster again in 3 months and The Baby in 4!" Can't believe that will get here so soon! :)
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