Bird and Little Bird

Thoughts on a Wednesday Afternoon.

Lately the littlest person in our house has been all about very industrious and mostly independent play with a small, but growing, collection of natural objects. He has a little pile of smooth stones, tiny pinecones, and acorns that he keeps on the kid-sized art table in our house. The "play" consists mostly of moving everything around inside the compartments in an empty egg carton. It is really good stuff to watch happening, and as so many things seem to be these days, a reminder of just how quickly very small people grow, change, become less small.

Z.'s allergy testing came back this week, and most of it revealed things that we expected. He is indeed, still allergic to peanuts, for example. Interestingly though, he tested postitive for a wheat allergy for the first time (his celiac panel was negative, but we were expecting that since he is so young and has such limited exposure to gluten). It is a funny thing, having a kid with a lot of allergies. You start to think that they are either allergic to everything, or to nothing at all. A bizarre paranoia takes hold where you start to convince yourself that they are having an allergic reaction to everything that they eat. Which then forces you to consider the fact that this is not actually possible, so they must therefore not be allergic even to all the things that you have been told they certainly are. And so on.

The reality is, I think, somewhere in between. Yes, there are some things that Z. is truly allergic to. And, there are some that he is perhaps sensitive to now, but as the growing and the changing and the now continues on, that may not always be the case. That is how things work. They continue on being the same, until the day that you discover that they are now different.

Applesauce Season.

Friday? Huh. It seems as though the days of this week just sort of disappeared in a puff of laundry, homework, and appointment colored smoke. I took Z. to the pediatric allergy clinic early in the week for some pretty exhaustive testing to see if we can begin to sort through what he is actually allergic to, and what he can actually be eating. It has been feeling more and more like the answers to these two questions are currently: "everything!" and "nothing!"

But apple season is upon us here on the East Coast, and it seems that homemade applesauce is one thing that both of my kids will actually eat. And like. So, I've spent a couple of hours here and there over the last few days making batches of homemade apple and pear sauce. Having a good food mill on hand means that I don't have to peel anything, and really, once you remove that step the whole thing goes pretty quickly.

 

I did peel a bunch of apples for another purpose though: apple crisp. I'm still experimenting with a good gluten-free crisp topping, particularly since oats are contraband around these parts as well. I'm getting close though, and I think that after my next attempt I may well be in a position to share my recipe.

 

Speaking of sharing, I made up a fun little set of labels to adorn your jars of homemade applesauce (or any other sweet treats that might be coming from your kitchen these days). You can download a set by hopping on over to the Sparkle Stories blog here.

Also, because of all the busy (and the lazy too, I suppose), I haven't actually managed to take down the Alphabet Glue Back to School Sale codes. So, if you want to stock up on a few issues at a discount, this weekend is a good time.

Kitchen Talk and Bird Wings.

One of the things that I very much like about our new house is the fact of finally having what my sister refers to as "An actual kitchen. Like for adults." Indeed, it has nice counters and cupboards and pretty hardwood floors. And, as the icing on the proverbial cake? A gas stove. Sigh. I would show you pictures of the kitchen so that you could also see it, but there is actually a plumber in it right now, which kind of ruins the whole aesthetic just a bit. So, another time.

The nice kitchen turns out to be a particularly good thing this week because we have had to do some amount of waiting around for repairmen and the like. The apartment that we are in was empty for a number of months after the current owners bought it and before we moved in, so we are discovering all manner of "quirks" that could use some attention before they become say, floods. So, we've been hanging around the house a little more than usual, and spending time experimenting in the kitchen. Today I made a batch of banana muffins that are both vegan and gluten-free. And honestly, pretty darn good. My best bud Natalie will likely leave a comment on this post reminding me that if you put enough sugar in anything, it will taste great because that is the nature of these things. To this I say: shhhh.

 

We also made what appears to be popularly termed "frozen hot chocolate." I think I am against calling it that. Because it doesn't make any sense. I'm not sure what else to call it, but basically, you just add a few cups of ice to some very chocolatey chocolate milk and run it through the blender until it has the consistency of an icy smoothie. We melted about three ounces of Mexican chocolate into a couple of tablespoons of half and half and added that to about two cups of chocolate milk and three or so cups of ice. We also topped it with homemade whipped cream. Because why would you not do that if you found that you had both a whisk and some cream? Rhetorical question! There is no good reason.

And also, moving boxes are getting turned into bird wings. Mariam taped the edges of two pieces of cardboard stacked on top of one another, essentially making cardboard pockets to put her arms inside. Next up: they get colored pencil feathers.

And the Survey Says...

After last week's eventful beginning, we were scheduled for our follow-up allergy testing yesterday afternoon. Baby Z. handled the whole situation with relative flexibility and good humor, with the notable exception of really not wanting the doctor to take his pulse or look in his ears. But the scratch test bit went swimmingly. Well, the actual procedural bit anyway. The results? Not as favorable. Indeed, the small fry is officially allergic to eggs and peanuts (which we knew going in), but we are adding tree nuts to the list now as well.

 

Admittedly, this news doesn't change a whole lot for us. Dan has a lifelong tree nut allergy as well, so we have lived as a nut-free household pretty much always. So, the shift brought about by yesterday's news won't be so much related to the function of day to day living, grocery shopping, or eating. It will be more about mindset. And I'll be the first to admit that the knowledge that your resident small people have potentially life threatening reactions to foods commonly found in the world outside your front door is tricky to integrate into one's mental landscape without some amount of anxiety. So there is that.

But, hey, how much better to find out all of these things now, on our own terms, than at a preschool potluck on some future afternoon when the situation is far less controlled and far more scary? I keep reminding myself that knowing exactly what we are up against is pretty useful, actually. Even if it doesn't make a whole lot of sense at this precise moment.

I was joking yesterday that my cheerful resolve is in pretty good shape due to years of constant use and and regular excercise.

Except I wasn't really kidding at all.

Don't forget about the big Alphabet Glue May moving sale!  Any and all issues of Alphabet Glue are on sale until May 15th! Enter "may25" at checkout for 25% off. There are lots and lots of great book recommendations, printable pages and fun science and craft projects in there; perfect for getting busy with the small folk this summer!

Soba Noodle Salad for Kids Who Like Cabbage.

For better or weird, a cabbage and noodle salad is one of the things that my super picky eater will always approach with enthusiasm. She is a particular fan of purple cabbage, especially if it is made available in really small, still crunchy bits. As a result, I've tinkered with somewhere around one billion variations of the esteemed Asian noodle salad over the last couple of years. This one is my current favorite.

Cabbage, Sesame and Soba Noodle Salad

1 package soba noodles (I used gluten-free black rice soba for the salad pictured here)

2 or 3 cups shredded cabbage

3 carrots, grated

1/8 cup sesame seeds, toasted (you can toss them around an ungreased pan for a few minutes to do this- medium heat works well)

1 small bunch scallions, diced (I generally use the white, and about inches of green)

1/2 lb. snow peas, cut into 1 inch pieces and parboiled

Dressing

1/4 cup tamari or soy sauce

3 Tablespoons fish sauce

2  Tablespoons toasted sesame oil

2 Tablespoons rice vinegar

3 Tablespoons brown sugar or honey

Cook the soba noodles according to the package instructions, drain them, and rinse them in cool water. Put into a large mixing bowl, and add in the veggies. Mix up the dressing ingredients, using a wisk to make sure that everything is well combined. Taste, and adjust the seasoning as needed by adding more vinegar, more sugar etc. Toss the noodles and veggies with the dressing. Serve cold or at room temperature.

 

On Snacking.

I mentioned a bit yesterday about our recent need to get our family's metaphorical food ducks in a nice, serviceable row. There have been various challenges lately, the biggest one probably being the fact that Mariam seems to really require regularly scheduled programming in the snacks and meals department and in the event that she doesn't get the food that her body needs exactly when it is needed, bad mood related things are sure to follow. Even after being gluten-free for over a year (her celiac diagnosis was in November of 2011), she still doesn't do a great job of recognizing when she is getting hungry, and unless I'm nearby to make sure that she eats, she simply doesn't.

 

So, it has become increasingly important that I have well thought out and foolproof to execute meal plans in place for breakfast and dinner, seven days a week. And that I pack school lunches that she approves of ahead of time and swears that she will eat. And, quite honestly, that I pick her up from school in the afternoon already under the assumption that she will not have eaten the lunch that I packed and that I will need a snack at the ready.

 

This week, popcorn is proving a popular snack choice for the car ride home. I decided to forgo the air popper and do my popping via stovetop pot, just for fun. I don't really recommend it, but if you take the lid off the pot at all while said popping is taking place, kernels will fly out all over the kitchen and babies think that this is amazing.

I tossed the popcorn with butter, sea salt and grated parmesan, and then packed it into half-gallon canning jars. When Mariam gets into the car in the afternoon, it is easy to turn on an audiobook and hand her a jar and a cloth napkin. She can unwind for a few minutes while she snacks and listens, and then by the time that we get home, she is much better able to think about an additional healthy snack choice to get us through until dinner time.

Whatever the reason might be, it sometimes feels like our food learning curve has been a bit steep. Maybe because we've been wading through the waters of going gluten free while also being nut free, and having the baby be allergic to eggs. There's a lot to think about, really. So, I am. I'm thinking, and planning, and spending a lot of time with my Cuisinart.

And eating a lot of popcorn, too.

Eleven Below.

Perhaps you fellow East Coasters are already aware of this, but I do feel the need to state, on the official record, that it is very, very cold here. I think that today's low is something like negative eighteen and because I am neither an Arctic explorer or a native of Siberia (or northern Minnesota for that matter), I find this turn of events ever so slightly shocking.

The windows of the house are covered in this feathery, thin ice that is pretty to look at, but obviously indicates outdoor conditions that might be best avoided. It is sparkly though, and it makes us house-dwellers feel awfully grateful for our cozy indoor environs.

The baby is taking advantage of the extra time spent housing-about by working on his incredible case of bedhead. Mariam's hair used to look like this in the morning when she was a peanut as well. Actually, it still kind of does a lot of the time. I love it.

It turns out that everybody enjoys a good pomegranate when it is made available to them. The baby especially. He sat at the table and ate seed after seed with his little fingers this morning, affording me enough peace and quiet to drink a cup of coffee undisturbed. Amazing.

And, it being the last week of January means that I am all but living in Glueland. Designing, printing, cutting, pasting, digging through stacks of library books and compiling lists of favorites. Volume Eleven is coming together quite nicely, and should land in your virtual laps sometime very soon, although I'm still in the midst of determining exactly which day this will be.

Stay warm out there!

 

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Yarn Along (35).

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Warm Wishes on a Long Weekend.

On Snow Days and Settling Back In.

That Time of Year.

Zero Degrees at the Backyard Buffet.

The Non-Existent To-Do List.

This is one of those weeks where I look back and think that somehow, it seems to have gone by so very quickly and that both a lot got done and nothing got done at all.  Or, I guess we could say that a lot got done, but not necessarily the stuff that I had planned to get done. Right. I guess no surprises there.

On the list of things accomplished that were somewhat unintentional: making rice milk.  Not to offend any vegan sensibilities, but I do consider being dairy-free a hardship (albeit a minor one) in that it limits my ability to do exceedingly pleasurable things like say, eating a pile of delicious cheese.  Indeed, one of the great tragedies of dairy-free living has been the absence of cream in my morning coffee.  To some, this would be a small inconvenience. Yet, in the very early morning after a relatively sleepless night with a teething baby, it is sort of a big deal. I've been using coconut milk as a substitute, which has been mostly satisfactory, but I wanted to try something new. 

I've been using rice milk in smoothies lately and I thought that if it were just slightly less watery, it might make a good coffee addition for days when a coconut hiatus becomes appealing.  So, I tried my hand at making up a batch of homemade rice milk.  It was really easy to make and the general household consensus is that it is really good for something not procured from a cow, although because it is slightly thicker than something like Rice Dream, it is probably better suited to smoothies than cereal. I used this recipe and will likely make this again soon.

In other news, there is a fun Alphabet Glue post up on the Rhythm of the Home blog today. Pop on over to check out some great photos of Alphabet Glue in action (shared by some fellow bloggers and favorite internet neighbors). There's a giveaway too.  Also, if you'd like to take a peek at the comic book project from Volume Eight, you can download a free excerpt of the issue at The Crafty Crow and it includes the comic book templates and instructions!

 

While We're on the Subject...

Of food, that is. Because I think that all last week, I pretty much only wrote about food here.  Which is fitting if we decide to think of this blog as a digital extension of my brain (which is basically what's going on here- this is why you end up with the random posts about my laundry and how much I like cupcakes).  But this recent obsession with my kitchen and what comes out of it should be considered a positive turn of events for certain.  For so many months I have been semi-wallowing in my disappointment at our descent into the impossibilities of allergen-free living that I have been pretty much wholly uninspired in the culinary department.  It was getting pretty sad there for awhile.  And, honestly, I'm probably not quite done with it. There are still days when I am a total loss for what to make, and if I haven't thrown something together to put into the crockpot by about 1 p.m., we are very likely going to have a pretty strange dinner. 

Part of the gradual rebound of my love affair with the kitchen that I'm currently undergoing is the result, I think, of looking for new inspiration in places that offer more realisitic options for us.  My days of ogling fancy Martha Stewart recipes are over.  At least for now.  And that's okay; I think I'm finally coming around to using this situation as an opportunity to make some nice changes, rather than seeing it as something to accomodate short term while complaining loudly. 

One thing that I've been doing lately is making green smoothies.  I think that this is something I used to do long ago, but it has been a good while, and I hadn't really thought about green smoothies until I recently came across this post from Stephinie's blog. She had linked to this recipe.  It looked good, but it had a number of things in it that are on the list of problematic foods around these parts.  So, I modified it to fit our particular needs, and I must say, I'm pretty happy with the results. 

Allergen-Free Green Smoothie

1 cup rice milk

1 1/2 cups assorted frozen or fresh fruits (we've been doing peaches and mangos)

2 bananas

2 Tablespoons ground flax seed

2 large leaves kale, torn into small pieces

Put the kale and rice milk into the blender and blend on high speed until smooth.  Add in the bananas, other fruit and flax.  Blend on high speed until smooth.  This has been making enough smoothie for a large glass for me, a small one for Mariam and a half sippy cup full for Zak.

 

Amaranth in the a.m.

For many years, we were unencumbered oatmeal enthusiasts.  Oatmeal wasn't just a breakfast food in this house; it was an institution.  So, when Mariam was diagnosed with celiac and oats had to go out the door (along with so many other things), there was a bit of trauma.  I know that the oat question is a controversial one in gluten-free land, and that many families choose to continue incorporating oats into their diet provided that they are certified gluten-free.  I don't want to ruffle feathers per se, so I'll just say that we don't take this approach, primarily because of emerging research that suggests that oats themselves create an immune response in people with celiac disease that is similar to the one triggered by gluten, and that this is true even when the oats are "gluten-free."  Also, our gastroenterologist said not to touch them.  So there it is.

Eliminating oats has left an odd hole in our family breakfast routine.  Oatmeal used to be an easy and popular option for all of us; one of the few breakfasts that we would generally all like to eat together.  Mariam and Dan have found solace in eggs and corn tortillas, but since baby Z is allergic to eggs, I can't go that direction myself.  In the last couple of weeks, I've happened upon a new solution to the breakfast foods conundrum.  Amaranth.  I'm not sure why I didn't think of it earlier, but it is pretty much perfect.  A warm bowl of amaranth porridge with a bit of coconut milk and some maple syrup.  Not a bad breakfast at all, actually. 

Move over, oatmeal. 

Amaranth Breakfast Porridge

1 cup amaranth

4 cups water

a pinch of salt

maple syrup and coconut milk to taste

Begin by combining the amaranth, salt, and water in a small saucepan with a lid.  Allow it to come to a boil, and then lower the heat to medium-low.  Let simmer, stirring occasionally, until the mixture thickens and the water is absorbed.  It will be a consistency similar to oatmeal or porridge.  Add more water if needed to get the desired texture.  Spoon into bowls and top with coconut milk and a bit of maple syrup. 

This will keep well in the refrigerator for the better part of a week and can be easily reheated on the stovetop with a bit of extra water to get it back to a smooth consistency.