My two year old recently came down with a runny nose, (green and yucky), and a 101 degree temperature. One of my first thoughts was "What will I feed him which will strengthen him?" Of course, pratically everyone has heard of the chicken soup cure. Even my family doctor's office has advertised scientific studies which support this very old and very well known theory. But I couldn't help but think to myself, is there a better cure for A's?

Coicendently, I had planned on serving him black bean soup and had the necessary ingredients ready. I decided to "beef it up" so to speak. Here's what I did:

olive oil

onions

garlic

three great big handfuls of freshly chopped parsley

black beans

carrots

celery

a little salt

corn

I sauteed the onions, garlic, celery and carrots. Next I added a pinch of salt, and then the remaining ingredients. While this tastes good to me, it is a little on the plain side. Normally I would have added some shredded mozzerella cheese and add a few organic corn chips. But since my two year old can't handle cheese, I just served it plain.

He hated it. Hmmmm, what' a mother to do? Aha! Such an easy answer - I fed him some leftover pumpkin bread along with pineapple juice. Off to bed for the sick one and off to the fridgerator for the soup. When dinner time came, I prepared some plain white rice in chicken broth (not the instant kind, but as whole grain white rice as you can find), and then added a big spoonful of cold black bean soup.

He couldn't get enough. Grandma, who just happened to stay for supper, couldn't get over it. He went to bed with a full stomach and slept through the night (hoorah!). I almost medicated him - thinking that I really needed to get 7 hours of sleep last night, but I didn't. There is no fever today.



Was it the pineapple juice filled with vitamin C? Was it the onions and garlic? (Garlic is not normally part of the black bean soup recipe - nor so much parsley). Was it the combination of all the ingredients of the soup? (That's a 90% beneficial soup, by the way.) I don't know. I just know that he ate quite a bit of it and he slept through the night.

Good eats everyone.

LOL. Poor kid, he hated those muffins (too much anise flavoring ) and returned home starving to death. I quickly filled him up with wheatless fig newtons (no avoids), mozzerrela cheese, a leftover oat muffin, and chocolate soy milk. My plan was to present him with beef for dinner, but daddy got to him first. I compensated by serving him beef for breakfast and a swedish pancake with raisins and pears. Nobody said Mom was perfect.

Here's the bright side: it's was easy to whip up a batch of pumpkin raisin bread thanks to my Toastmaster bread machine. School should be much better for him today. Meanwhile I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of Dr Dadamo's A Probiotic supplement. My two year old really does better and has fewer stomach cramps thanks to that supplement. Speaking of stomach cramps, I misread a label and bought the wrong kind of cheese. In fact, we have had two incidences with the "right" kind of cheese lately. I used some soft goat cheese as a spread on a rice cracker and later discovered that it must have been a bit on the old side. The first two times we used it, I noticed zero negative reactions for either myself or my son. The third time upset my stomach 30 minutes after dinner and several hours later upset his stomach (or liver or whatever). I have also bought Percorino Romano cheese which is NOT supposed to be made from cow's milk (sheep, I think). Well, the igredients simply said "milk", etc and he was ill later that night. It makes me so mad when companies do not properly label their food.

I once had someone say to me "There is no such thing as a bad food." I should have replied, "Then why does my 2 year old scream in the middle of the night after ingesting cheese?"

Here's the point: We are all individuals. There is no blanket statement that applies to everyone. I still think Dadamo is farther ahead of the game than most professionals out there. Food for thought

There is nothing like a little success to motivate a person. There is also nothing like satisfying your tastebuds and your inner cravings. I just had to have panfried salmon patties with onion, salt, garlic, egg and spelt bread crumbs. Fry it all up using expressed canola oil, and it is absolutely scrumptious! I also ate a few plain pieces of celery, carrots and mushrooms and drank a little juice. This is the one main dish that I always overeat. I just can't get enough of this combination. It makes me wonder, what is going on at the microscopic level that causes my brain to shout "Eat! Eat!"?

I enjoy many other dishes, but this is the one where I will purposely stuff myself. Right now I am ready for a nap. I just wish I knew the answer. If only my brain could verbally talk to me

On a side note, I accidently lost weight. If I had to take an educated guess, it was all those swedish pancakes I ate Sunday afternoon. I also ate a big salad at the end of the night just to get my veggies in for the day. I think I must have consumed at least 5 eggs. Yuck! Enough eggs, thank you!

Take care...

I have decided to focus a little more on quality and and a little less on quantity. I am so close to being able to cook foods my children love to eat and are BTD compliant. I just need a little more time to practice!

Yesterday, I took the Sweet Potato Cake recipe from this website and made muffins. I used millet flour instead of kamut, and I used applesauce instead of peeled chopped apples. Hindsight would dictate that fewer pesticide residues would have gone into these muffins if I had forgone the applesauce. Oh well, one day at a time.

The good news? My son will be eating sweet potatoes all week! Oh- I also substituted a splash of anise instead of vanilla. It is an interesting licorice - like - pumpkin like taste - and hey, he eats it!

This afternoon I will work on making Swedish Pancakes. Here are two recipes I am playing around with:

2 tb ghee

1/3 cup warmed honey

2 1/2 cups of btd compliant milk (goat, soy, rice?)

1/2 c oat flour

1/4 cup rice flour (or 3/4 cup spelt)

5 eggs

Heat a casserole dish that is 9 inches in diameter, then melt ghee and coat the bottom and sides. Mix honey with milk and stir into flour. Beat eggs until very light and stir into flour mixture until well blended.

Pour into casserole dish and bake in a preheated 375 degree oven until puffed and browned. (30 min)



I havent' attempted this one yet but it looks so interesting! Plus, all A and O's could eat it. I would serve it with a little maple syrup (the real stuff) or pure preserves. Butter for my O on the table.

Here's another one:

4 eggs

1 cup btd compliant flour (spelt?)

1 quart of milk

1/2 tsp salt

1 tbsp melted butter (O) or 1/2 tbsp ghee (O/A)

ghee for frying

Whip eggs with half of the milk. A blender will work fine. Add flour and salt and whip until batter is smooth. Mix in the rest of the milk and butter. Let the batter stand for about 10 minutes before starting to fry the pancakes.

Preheat skillet over medium high heat. Cover entire pan with ghee or butter. Mix batter briefly, and pour a very thin layer into the skillet, tilting it so that the bottom is completely covered. Let the pancake fry until it starts getting brown at the edges and the surface is dry. Turn carefully with a spatula and fry the other side until golden brown.

Leftover pancakes can be rolled up , wrapped individually, and frozen.

Anyway, I haven't tried these exact recipes yet - but I am hopeful. I find that I need easy weekend food - and if I don't have it - then I will eat the avoids around the house. Bagged salads full of dark greens are a great "convenience" food for me. As for dressing, I squirt fresh lime juice or lemon juice over the salad, add olive oil, and then add honey. Salted almonds and peanuts in convienent cans are an absolute must. As for my little "I am allergic to almost everything 2 year old", I finally have his base meal figured out. #1) Saute onions and minced garlic in olive oil #2) Make 20 minute rice #3) Add whatever vegie is handy #4) Add soy sauce.

He is so funny. I can put anything in his rice and he will eat it. Sardines, pureed brocolli, fresh vegies (they just have to be very small), beans, etc. I am finally on top of the psychology of mealtime! Take care everyone



P.S. It is now 8:00 pm. Eureka! I have finally done it. Forget the first recipe - it was a total flop. Here's the recipe that finally worked for me:



1/4 cup of brown rice flour

a dash of salt



1/2 cup of vanilla rice milk

ghee

1 egg

Whisk egg and rice milk a little ghee together very well. If you have a blender, that would be better.

Add flour and salt. Mix thoroughly and then let sit.

Preheat a non-stick pancake pan or any type of skillet. When a flick of water evaporates, add a little ghee. Pick skillet up by the handle and spread the ghee around to completely cover the bottom of your skillet. Briefly stir your pancake mixture (this can actually sit for 2 minutes or up to one hour, by the way), and gently and slowly pour it into the center of your skillet. Grab the handle and tilt the skillet until the bottom of the pan is completely covered.

When the edges are brown (and I mean brown) and the top is dry, gently loosen pancake (corners first) and then roll the pancake slowly. If one is truly talented, one could acutally loosen the entire pancake and brown the other side. However, the rest of us should just roll it. Gently scoot the pancake off of the skillet onto your plate and top with ghee, honey, or butter. Add pure maple syrup or your favorite perserves.

It's delicious, it is full of protein- and it's easy to install variety by changing the flavor of your preserves! Serve with fruit and it's a nutritious way to start your day. Thanks for reading.

I thought I was suffering from allergies. My nose had been bothering me oh so slightly for over a week. I thought it was because I had eaten too much cheese or cheated on the BTD over the weekend. I thought wrong.



Everyone around me had been fighting this virus for over two weeks. One of my friends had to call in sick to work and stay in bed for over two days. When it finally hit me full throttle, I understood why. It started out as a type of head cold where you just couldn’t think. Then the floodwaters opened and every Kleenex box in town was raided. I took Sunday evening and went to bed at 5:00 p.m. (Thank you hubby for supervising the children!)

My first thought Monday morning was pretty predictable: Do I work out today or go back to bed? Realizing that my two year old would not let me even attempt to stay in bed, I dutifully drove to the YMCA. Two hours later, I was amazed. It may have been a slow start, but I felt WONDERFUL. I treated myself to hot water with lemon juice for the rest of the day and stayed 100% compliant to the diet. At this point some of my symptoms had returned, but I was still hopeful. I didn’t take any cold medicine and went to bed at the regular time. Luck was with me (actually, good advice was with me), and this morning I was much improved. I worked out this morning again – and here I am feeling like my old self.

It really takes a little mind bending to get away from the “traditional” treatments. I never would have guessed that good old-fashioned sweat and lemon juice would be enough to keep this virus at bay. (By the way, I also popped my D’Adamo vitamins.)

I am also grateful for the Y. Did you know that the YMCA’s mission statement goes something like this: To put Christian principles into practice by implementing programs, which develop the spirit, mind and body. (That’s not exactly 100% accurate, but it’s close.) Thank goodness it supports sick moms! J

Good Health Everyone!