Yesterday, I peeled and sliced a cucumber and then squirted it with a little fresh lemon juice. The leftovers went into the fridge and were then served with grilled chicken, carrots, and mushrooms for dinner. The two year old called the cucumber slices "chips" and proceeded to dip them into his grape juice. He then dipped the rest of his dinner into his grape juice, AND ATE IT. What is so funny to me, is that he rejected cucumber slices just last week.

Personally, I thought the lemon juice really increased the cucumber appeal. And since the grape juice (actually 100 % welch's grape juice mixed with simple carbonated water) seems to hold his attention, I will continue serving veggies "chips" with juice.

Remember that old saying "Think outside the box?" Well, my little guy gets to pick the veggie preparation from now on. Good eats, everyone.

P.S. Thanks Miss R! We are not alone.........

Food for life makes a brown rice tortilla. They are delicate, but they are also fast and easy. I opened up a can of refried black beans (no beef whatsoever, the brand name escapes me) and spread it on a warmed tortilla wrap. I added a romain leaf and rolled it up. It was tasty and ridiculously easy.

I am a little frustrated with the two year old's eating habits. It is normal of course, but disappointing. We are stuck on gluten free bread and peanut butter. It is almost as if he has stopped eating veggies completely. I think I will have to start hiding veggies in the french toast again!

Last week, I baked apricot walnut gluten free muffins. They turned out quite nice.

1 can of whole apricots in juice

2 eggs

1 cup of buckwheat flour

1 cup of brown rice flour

1/4 cup tapioca flour

1 1/2 tsp of baking powder

1 1/2 tsp of baking soda

a pinch of salt

1/2 cup of brown sugar

3 tablespoons of walnut butter

raisins

Mix the eggs and apricots in a food processor. Combine dry ingredients well and then add your liquids. Add raisins last, and taste the mix. If necessary add more brown sugar. Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 20 - 30 minutes.

My six year old is so funny. He smelled the muffins immediately as it came out of the oven and said "Yuck! It smells like poop." We then had a talk about hurting people's feelings and how he could have expressed his opinion differently. Two hours later as we were driving to school, he gobbled down two of the muffins. I guess the smell had vanished?! Anyway, he has continued to munch on them throughout the weekend.

It is interesting how his sense of smell is so particular when he first wakes up. My husband is programmed in the exact same manner, as the smell of spices bowls him over first thing in the morning. Sauteeing onions, garlic and curry powder is a very comforting smell to me (I love it with eggs!), but the hubby has an overwhelming desire to run and hide! His next instinct is to attack. I guess "particular" isn't really an accurate word for their "intense" ability to smell. Must be an "O" thing.

My two year old has a fever. I have some organic Echninacea Elder Tea in the house. I brewed a cup of hot tea, sweetened it with honey, and then poured it over ice (he hates warm tea). He immediately started screaming "no tea! no tea!"

Next, I poured about 1/3 of a cup into a cup full of juice and then gave it to him. He drank it right down. I dislike relying on the juice as it's easy to get too much sugar into him or cause diarehea, but what else can I do? I haven't tried diluting it with rice milk, so that will be next I suppose...

Breakfast consisted of scrambled eggs with onions, garlic, cheese and kale! Yum! I also prepared a rye apricot bread for myself. Both kids hated it, and I absolutely loved it. Oh well. Win some, lose some.

Miss C: I purchased the "cook for your type" book and then wrote down the number of recommended servings for each category. For ex: Beans and legumes 5- 7 times per week. After I had eaten a serving, I checked it off and made certain that once a category was full, I moved on to the others. Many times, I found myself with beans at the end of a week! But that little list posted on my fridge really helped me stick to a healthy meal plan. Good luck.

P.S. - I lost one pound a week on average. So ,yes, it does take a little time.

Ex:

Miss N: Goodness - you really made my morning! Thank you so much! I am in the minority at my house, but my stubborn attitude slowly turns the tide. It is so helpful to hear from other people.

Miss C: Breakfast ideas for A's - Blueberry muffins, Cherry Muffins, Pumpkin Raisin Muffins, Ezekiel Cinnamon Raisin Toast with pure jam, turkey bacon, scrambled eggs with diced veggies (I actually had onions and artichokes in my eggs yesterday!) Scottish Oatmeal with nuts or seeds and dried fruit, creamy rice cereal (Bob's), Bread from my bread machine with every fruit or veggie imagineable - french toast using compliant bread and blackstrap molasses, pure maple syrup for the kids, pancakes, swedish pancakes, etc.

I just discovered Amaranth Cinnamon Flakes from Nu World! Fantastic and easy! 6 grams of protein and and high in certain vitamins. (If memory serves me right, high in Vitamin E and niacin). Throw in some almonds and dried cherries for an extra sweet treat. They are expensive as it can get, which is why I reserve the box for the weekend. It's nice to work hard Monday thru Friday knowing that your kids are getting good food- then Saturdays and Sundays are my "easy" mornings thanks to boxed cereal.

Since my older one is an O - anytime I have leftover muffins or pancakes, I try to grill or pan fry "beef sausage patties" or turkey bacon for the O. I also always serve fruit at breakfast - preferably fresh and sometimes canned.

Staples include: (I have an A who is a celiac) : buckwheat, brown rice flour, white rice flour, tapioca flour, ground flax seed, ghee, rice noodles, different kinds of rice, rice paper, mung bean noodles, lentils, canned beans, favorite spices (pure), etc.

I am running to the store about every 5 days for fresh fruit or veggies. I wish it were less often, but if I stock up too much then my veggies rot before I can get to them. The "veggie run" is a short shopping trip - which is perfect for the two year old's attention span. Once a month I run to my favorite grocery store (Woodman's) and STOCK UP. The kids do not come along during the stock up trip.

I hope to try out apricot blackberry gluten free bread on Sunday. I also want to do something with rye (A secretors and O secretor friendly.) If my plan works, both breads get cut in half and the second halves are frozen for later use. Hope this helps Miss C. Please write back if you need to. Good Luck.

There are just too many things that I could write about today. I had quite a bad afternoon yesterday - it was the kind where I had to pick between "Do I burn the house down" or "Do I let my two year old get hit by a car?"

I had both children running outside in opposite directions at the precise moment I really needed to be paying attention to my stove top. I scooped my two year old out of the driveway ( he was aiming for the street) and ran like a mad woman back into the kitchen. The air was smoky, but nothing had actually burned. The six year old was too far away for me to hail back towards home, but he is a traffic savy kid unlike his younger brother. What I wouldn't give for a fence!

By the time dinner was finally finished, both kids were crying for different reasons. Mama was also losing her cool. A brief thunderstorm visited the neighborhood and then vanished before dinner was completed. Thank Goodness the hubby saved the day by managing both of our children an hour later. I was off for a haircut and a big bottle of wine!

The A's had pan fried salmon patties with tossed asparagus (olive oil, salt and lemon juice.) The O's had pork sandwiches (AAAAhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh ugh!) Dad cooked for the O's. I did smile a little bit though, as my six year old asked me ,"Where are the healthy buns?" (Ezekiel). Take care everyone.