Almost 10 years now!

It's been almost 10 years now since Atty's had any seizures. He's doing really well. We are dealing with a different health crisis in the form of a small tumor growing on his forehead. We believe it is linked to the NF1 we've always felt certain he has (his birthmother has it). It has never been officially diagnosed, as he didn't have quite enough signs at the time that I last took him in about it,  so it has been a struggle getting him any help. We've been on a waiting list to Children's genetics department for over a year now since discovering the tumor and taking him to his regular doctor. We recently got a date set to go in after calling them once again to check on where he was on the waiting list. In February of this year we will hopefully have some more answers. He's not in any pain so that's good. Fairly soon after I realized we were dealing with a tumor we decided to go back onto a grain free diet, something a little closer to GAPS but not quite. The tumor hasn't grown since so that's good. Over all Atty's health has been wonderful! Not a single cavity, no health issues other than the mentioned tumor, fairly active although he tires quicker than my other kiddos, happy, curious, always learning. He is very skinny with poor muscle tone. I'm not sure if the skinny part is just his turning from boy to teenager or if there is more to it but it's not unhealthy and his doctor doesn't seem worried about it. He's starting to go through hormonal changes as he nears 13 and I do worry that seizures might come back or that NF1 tumors might start growing at a rapid rate. I've done lots of research on NF1 and it's hard not to feel really worried and overwhelmed by it all. But as I've learned it's best to try and take it one day at a time and not get to caught up in the what ifs. Overall I'm so thankful for the last 10 seizure free years!!!

Five years seizure free with diet alone!!!

Today is the five year mark. 

Five years Seizure Free!!! 

Yippie!!!

Atty continues to grow and thrive. He turned eight in February. He's wrapping up second grade and looking forward to the summer. We still follow the GAPS protocol, but have loosened up a bit. He now eats some rice and other non-gluten grains. We've added in potatoes, sweet potatoes, and all types of beans with no problems. He occasionally has a treat with sugar in it, but this is still very limited. We generally don't eat refined sugar as a family, sticking mainly to honey or maple syrup as sweeteners, but it's nice to have the freedom to ALL indulge in an occasional treat. For example we recently found a bubble gum at our local co-op that didn't have any soy or food coloring or other nasty things in it, but it was sweetened with sugar. We bought it, and have a wonderful time trying to blow bubbles, something my kids have never done before. I didn't regret it for a moment and plan on going back and buying more because there was no negative reaction from any of the kids and we had a blast chomping away on it. ;)  He also recently tried a bread called Happy Camper, made out of different seeds, all non-gluten, soy and dairy free. So far he hasn't had a bad reaction, so fingers crossed! :)

Just this past weekend he figured out how to ride his bike! Last year we turned his bike into a balance bike by taking off the training wheels and pedals. He struggled with it and wasn't very happy about it but he finally started learning how to balance. This year we put the pedals back on but he wasn't very motivated to learn how to ride. Over the weekend I suggested going on a family bike ride (first one ever!) and off we went. It was bliss. There is this amazing paved trail that goes on for miles and miles and miles, and I can't wait to continue to explore it with the kids. Anyway we told Atty he could push himself along with his feet, or learn how to ride his bike. After some very slow going, where Ryder and I took turns supporting and encouraging him (and practicing a bit of tough love)  he started to ride! At one point when he was getting really frustrated and had a lot of negative talk I told him he was a, "Can Do" kid and if he could overcome seizures he could do anything! I talked about how our words affect us and how he needed to tell himself he could, instead of he couldn't. Then I  traded with Ryder and rode off with the other kids. A little bit later I heard Ryder singing to Atty. He was singing a sweet song about Atty being a bike rider now. I looked over my shoulder and sure enough there was Atty just riding along like nothing. It was the best! Big ol' smile on his face! The whole rest of the time he kept at it and made sure to keep him dialog positive, even when he was struggling. I was really proud of him! This type of coordination is really hard for him and he's come a long way to be able to do it. :)

To see him jumping and running and playing makes my heart so glad.

I'm proud of this whole bunch and all they have done, changed, or given up, to help keep Atty successful and supported and thriving. 

What a team!!!

Here's to another amazing seizure free year!

Cashew nut waffles!

So we have a Christmas Tradition of waffles for breakfast. For the first couple years Atty had his type of grain free pancakes while we had waffles. Last year I stumbled upon a grain free waffle recipe! We loved it and made it again this year. I unfortunately don't know the source of this recipe or I would give credit for it. I just scribbled down the recipe, as I so often do, and now I've since forgotten where it came from. Regardless it must be shared because oh my goodness, yum! And it's really surprisingly easy!

Yield: 6 large belgain waffles
Because we have a large family and usually have a couple guest at Christmas I always triple the recipe, but I make one batch at a time.

Ingredients

3 eggs
1 cup raw cashews
1/3 cup almond milk (or any milk you prefer)
3 TBS honey or maple syrup
3 TBS coconut oil, melted
1/4 tsp sea salt
3/4 tsp baking soda
3 TBS coconut flour

Instructions

Preheat your waffle iron.
Combine the eggs, cashews, milk, honey, and melted coconut oil in a blender. A high-speed blender isn't necessary, although it will make the process easier. Blend until very smooth and creamy. You may need to stop the blender and push the mixture down the sides a few times to get it all to blend really well.
Add the salt, baking soda, and coconut flour, then blend again for about a minute until the dry ingredients are incorporated into the wet.
If your iron requires oil, spread a little coconut oil on both sides. Pour the batter into the waffle iron so it just covers the bottom portion of the iron. (I pour a scoop into each of the four squares as I have a large waffle iron.) Be careful not to over fill it as these do rise quite a bit and will spill over.
Cook the waffles for about a minute, more or less depending on the heat of your waffle iron. If they release easily with a fork when you open the lid, they are probably done.
Repeat until the batter has been used up. Enjoy!

We like to top them with homemade berry sauce. This year we used frozen blueberries and frozen raspberries that we pick in the summer time. I just add honey to taste and simmer until the juices are a bit thicker and bubbly. You can thicken with tapioca starch, or some other starch is you are using any in your diet. I thickened berry sauce with chia seeds, which is also delicious, but you have to be okay with a tiny bit of crunch. ;) Don't really notice it in a raspberry or strawberry sauce, but it's a little more noticeable in a blueberry sauce. I also make whipped coconut cream using canned organic coconut milk. You put it in the fridge for a couple days, then skim the solid stuff off the top and whip it up with a little sugar free vanilla and honey to taste. We paired this with sausage, but be careful of the ingredients in your sausage if you are on a restricted diet. :)

The whole family enjoys these, special diet or not. It will be the only waffles we make at Christmas time now, and I might even be talked into making non-Christmas waffles. ;)

Way over due update...

Thought I should do a little update on this guy (who is now seven, soon to be eight!), it's about time. He is doing fantastic! Over four and a half years on a special diet and continues to be seizure free. No medicine required. The craziness that we went through is all a distant nightmare now. I occasionally have a fear that his seizures will suddenly start back up again, and all of this will be too good to be true. But I try not to dwell in fears. Instead I focus on the present reality that Atty is healthy and happy and whole. He is thriving, and doing well in school. He loves birds. He's super helpful and loving. He's a joy to be around. He gets to be completely him, without the frustration of seizures interrupting his reality. His seizures were so bad that they were ruining his quality of life, he was unable to function, about to have brain surgery and a g-tube. It's hard to imagine now when I look at his shiny happy face.

We are starting to branch out a bit diet wise. He eats some rice now and rice products as long as the ingredients are simple ones. We don't worry so much about starches and he eats beans and lentils (properly soaked). We've also tried other non-gluten grains like millet, quinoa, and amaranth. I might try buckwheat, sorghum and teff soon. He seems fine with these additions so far, but I make sure to focus on good fats and not too much grains and such still. It seems like when he gets too much he starts to get really whiny and we start seeing more behavior issues. It's my clue to back off. Still no corn, oats, refined sugars, dairy, gluten, and soy. We might try small amounts of non-gmo organic corn next. We probably won't be as strict about small amount of refined sugars as well. Dairy, gluten, and soy will stay out. Oats I'm on the fence about, I know you can get gluten free oats that are suppose to be safe and not cross contaminated, but I'm not sure I want to risk it. We already eat a whole foods diet as a family, with a GAPS focus so we will continue that, but we are not strict GAPS, we have found a balance that is working quite well for our family right now.

His seizures first started in January so this time of year always gets me thinking about it, and the warning signs we missed because we didn't know any better. Then in late spring I start thinking about his amazing diet and his seizures going away. :)

And now at this point the rest of the year I sort of forget there was ever even an issue. Which is nice because for a while there I had some post traumatic stress issues that I didn't think were ever going to go away! But time heals all. 

Well that and his magic diet! :)

Rosemary Chia Bread, Grain free!

This bread is so good I just had to share!

Rosemary Chia Bread

3/4 cup creamy almond butter
2 tbsp olive oil
3 large eggs
1 tbsp raw honey
1/2 cup almond flour
4 tbsp chia seeds with 4 tbsp water, let soak for about 15 minutes
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp aluminum free baking soda
1tbsp rosemary

Preheat the oven to 350 and grease a bread pan with olive oil, dust with almond flour.

Mix the chia seeds and water together before starting anything else.

In a large bowl, mix the almond butter and olive oil together with a handheld mixer until smooth. Then blend in the eggs and honey.

In a medium bowl, combine the almond flour, salt, and baking soda. Add in the rosemary.

Mix the chia seeds into the wet mix. Then add the wet into the dry and mix well.

Pour the batter into the loaf pan and bake for 40-50 minutes on the bottom rack of your oven. You can check if it's done by inserting a knife into the center of the loaf to see if it comes out clean. It is important to let is sit and cool for about an hour {if you can} in order for it to cut properly. Other wise if you rush it the bread will not come out of the pan well and will crumble more. Still taste good though. ;)

We had it last night with a homemade creamy potato leek soup, pot roast, and baby salad greens. So good! {Atty now has potato occasionally, we try to stick to the low starch ones.}

Here's a link on the benefits of Chia seeds.

Enjoy!

And now he's SIX!

Happy 6th Birthday to my amazing, jolly, creative, and inspiring boy! 

Three years ago we had just got home from the hospital after a very long stay, just it time to celebrate his birthday at home. It felt so good, but the relief didn't last long. At the time we didn't realize that darker days were still ahead. 

But now with the celebration of your sixth birthday we know that we got to leave all of that behind. For that I am so thankful! 

On your birthday this year we celebrated with some yummy magic diet food. On the menu {Atty made all the choices.} for a special birthday lunch:

Kosher hotdogs {I know, not healthy} with lettuce wraps

a fruit plate  {unlimited, yay!}

a veggie plate {unlimited, yay!}

almond flour herb crackers

avocado dip

Then for some special treats:

coconut macaroons

freezer candies {made with coconut oil, honey, unsweetened cocoa, and shredded coconut}

banana cake {made with almond flour and honey} with peanut butter frosting

He wanted Apple cider to drink, and although I wouldn't normal let him have much of that because of the high sugar content, he did have a glass, and it was thoroughly enjoyed! :)

It's so nice to not have to count carbs anymore, and to be able to have unlimited amounts of the foods allowed on his diet.

Next weekend we are going to the NW Rapture Center for some more birthday fun, for a bird lover it's a dream come true! 

Awesome grain free pancakes

Atty loves these pancakes! I think it might have been a paleo recipe, I'm not sure, I got it from a friend a while ago, so I have nothing to link it to.

Banana pancakes

3 ripe bananas
3 eggs
3 tbsp nut butter
That is the original extent of the ingredients, but I've added the following
1/8 tsp baking soda
1/8 sea salt
a sprinkling of almond or coconut flour {I know that's not very exact, ha ha! Feel free to leave it out}
cinnamon to taste

Makes about 12 little pancakes, I usually double the recipe.

Heat a griddle coated in coconut oil, medium heat. {I don't like non-stick coating but I've yet to find a griddle that doesn't have that, plus these pancakes stick really easily.} Drop by the spoonful onto the preheated griddle. Wait until browned, then flip. Drizzle a melted coconut and honey mixture over top and serve. Or a homemade berry sauce. So yummy!

Enjoy!!

Muffins, muffins and more muffins!

First recipe I found in the Gluten-free almond flour cookbook by Elana Amsterdam. 

Banana Blueberry muffins

3 cups almond flour
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
2 tbsp oil {I use olive oil, she says to use grape seed oil}
3 large eggs
2 cups mashed very ripe bananas
1 cup frozen blueberries {I think it's important to use organic berries}

Preheat the oven to 350 and grease 12 muffin cups until well coated. {She says to use paper liners, but I never do}.

In a large bowl, combine the almond flour, salt, and baking soda. In a medium bowl, whisk together the  oil and eggs. Stir the wet into the dry until thoroughly combined. Stir the bananas into the batter, then fold in the blueberries. Spoon into prepared muffin cups.

Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until the muffin tops are golden brown and a toothpick inserted in to the center of a muffin comes out clean. Let the muffins cool in the pan for 30 minutes {if you can} and then serve.

I have added a little honey to this recipe before to make it a little more of a treat, but if you do add honey remember to lower the oven temp. to 325, baking time is usually the same.

I thought I'd also mention that most people who are strictly following the GAPS diet don't use baking soda, but it doesn't appear to be a problem for my son, and I can make all kinds of yummy stuff for him with it so I have made the choice to use it. As always it's up to you whether or not to do that. You could also lower the amount of baking soda used and still get good results. :)

Okay here's the second recipe...

sweet potato muffins- This is not for someone in the first two years of the GAPS diet or someone who is super sensitive, because sweet potatoes are not allowed on the GAPS diet.  But my son has been on a special diet over 2 1/2 years now, so I've made these a couple times as a special treat and he has had no negative reaction to them. I reduced the amount of sweet potato needed by using apple sauce as well.

3 cups almond flour
1/4 tsp sea salt
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tbsp olive oil
3 large eggs
1/4-1/2 cup honey to taste
1 cup sweet potatoes
1 cup unsweetened apple sauce
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cloves

Preheat the oven to 325 and grease 12 muffin cups until well coated.

In a large bowl, combine the almond flour, salt, and baking soda and spices. In a medium bowl, whisk together the  oil, eggs and honey. Stir the wet into the dry until thoroughly combined. Stir the sweet potato and apple sauce into the batter. Spoon into prepared muffin cups.

Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until the muffin tops are golden brown and a toothpick inserted in to the center of a muffin comes out clean. Let the muffins cool in the pan for 30 minutes {if you can} and then serve.

Sprinkling a little more cinnamon and drizzling a tad bit of honey on top of these really turns them into a special treat.

And last but not least... 

Carrot spice muffins

2 cups almond flour
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
3 tbsp flax meal
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup honey
2 large eggs
1 tbsp organic sugar free vanilla extract
2 cups grated carrots, more or less ;)

Preheat oven to 325 and grease 12 muffin cups until well coated.

In a large bowl, combine the almond flour, salt, baking soda, flax meal and cinnamon. In a medium bowl, whisk together the oil, honey, eggs, and vanilla extract. Stir the wet into the dry until thoroughly combined, then fold in the carrots. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups.

Bake for 30-35 minutes, until the muffin tops are golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Let the muffins cool in the pans for 30 minutes {if you dare, ha ha!} and then serve.

My son never wants to wait the whole 30 minutes, and besides them being a tiny bit more crumbly, there really isn't a whole lot of reasons to wait. We hardly ever do. :)

You can also turn these into Cinnamon Apple muffins by replacing the grated carrots with 2 medium apples, peeled, cored, and diced into little tiny pieces.

Remember my recipes are just suggestions that work for our family, you have to make the choice on whether or not they are right for yours! We love these recipes around here, so I just thought I'd share. :)

Enjoy!

Looking back, looking forward.

Rereading this, as well as the other posts from that time period, makes my heart race. So glad we have come so far. Looking at the pictures, when all of that was going on, makes me sad. But also feel so very thankful for where we are at and how healthy he is now! I've been known to smile with tears.

snags are no fun

So we hit a little snag switching over to the GAPS diet. I started with introducing some honey, then properly soaked white beans, and then properly soaked lentils and all was going well it seemed. So then I introduced just a little bit of cheddar cheese as well. I didn't test it first, which I should have I guess. There is a way to test foods before introducing them on the GAPS diet, but I was hoping after being on such a strict diet already for two years {the Modified Atkins for Seizures diet} that we could just switch over slowly to the GAPS with out doing the intro and testing and all that stuff. I originally wanted to start with the intro, but our schedules have been so overwhelmingly busy and I didn't want to put of starting the diet any longer so I've just jumped in with out for now. Anyways I didn't notice any thing right away and then behavioral stuff started sneaking it's way back in. And he started wetting himself again. Just little dark spots on the front of his pants like he use to. It's like he starts leaking or something. He was very embarrassed about it, and would get really upset when I would ask him if he had an accident or tell him to change his clothes. It took me a moment to put two and two together I'm afraid, I mean it was nagging at me but I was hoping, once again, that it had nothing to do with diet. Then the sensory things started again, the panicked, overwhelmed, crying stuff started all over again in large groups of noisy people. We went to a place called Jungle Playland, that has all sorts of climbing equipment, slides, etc... it's like a giant indoor awesome playground. He fell apart {in the end he did start to play, but for the first half he clung to me and cried and looked absolutely panicked}. And that's when it hit me. It's starting all over again. I almost had a panic attack myself while we were there. Just thinking, Oh my Goodness, we can not go back to that! So I took everything but the honey back out of his diet again. And you guessed it... back on the right track. It will never cease to amazing me how much diet affects us in so many more ways then we realize! I am glad that we caught it when it was mostly behavioral this time. But this really hits home that his gut is still damaged and highly reactive. I have reintroduced the white beans a bit with no reaction and I really don't feel that it was the lentils. I feel very certain that it was the dairy. He was very sensitive to dairy before his seizures even started, so I knew there was a possibility that he wouldn't tolerate it. He just really wanted to try and I let him, and now we know. Not ready for that yet, possibly not ever.  Over all the GAPS switch over has been nice. To allow him unlimited veggies and fruit has been wonderful. Not having to count carbs, beautiful! Especially now that it's summer. He is able to eat out of the garden with out my having to count out 5 blueberries, or measure 1/2 cup of strawberries and then tell him he's done. That was really hard to do before, I just hated it! But no more of that, thankfully! I still want him to eat protein/healthy fats with his fruits and veggies because I feel like it helps balance things. But I've even relaxed about that when we are just eating out of the yard and I haven't noticed a problem with it, so I think it might be mostly a left over fear from when we were on the MAS diet. On that diet I had to pair all the carbs {his were from fruit and veggies sources} with a fat.  I'd have to say the honey is by far the best change. Oh the yummy treats I can make with honey! So much better then stevia. I still use a little stevia, mostly to sweeten cold drinks, like his lemon water or ice tea, but I have been able to expand his recipes and make the most delicious things! One of them being a trail mix made with honey that when processed a bit in a food processor doubles as a breakfast cereal. Will be adding that recipe soon! :)

Sweet summer treat

Made some really yummy popsicles for Atty the other day.  They taste sort of like fudgesicles.  This recipe is not exact, it's a bit  of a guess and test thing. :) Here are the ingredients.

Creamy chocolate popsicles

coconut milk
coconut oil
nut butter {choose your favorite}
raisins
unsweetened cocoa powder
honey

I was making six popsicles, and I just eye balled all the ingredients. I wish sometimes that I was more of an exact cook, it would make sharing recipes so much easier. :) But I actually like the freedom of throwing stuff together in the kitchen. The raisins will sweeten it up a lot so you don't need very much honey. Use mostly raisins, but taste test, you do want these sweet, the cocoa powder can make is sort of bitter if you are not careful. Start with mostly coconut milk and add to that, use only a little coconut oil, mostly nut butter to thicken. Blend it all up in a blender, including the raisins. I had a little of the mixture left over after filling the molds, and Atty had no problem finishing it off as it was. :) Pop these bad boys in the freezer until set, and enjoy!

So Good!

Almond flour pizza crust

So in my last post I mentioned the GAPS friendly pizza... so here is the recipe! :)

I unfortunately don't know the source for this recipe, someone wrote it down for me on paper awhile back and it didn't work for Atty at the time on his MAS diet, but wow am I glad I kept it!

Almond flour pizza crust

makes two med thin pizzas {12" pans}

Dry
2 cups almond flour
1/2 tsp of salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp basil

Wet
3/4 cup mashed white beans {that were soaked the right way and cooked prior}
3 eggs
3 tbsp olive oil

Preheat the oven to 350 and line the pans with parchment paper. Mix all the dry together in a bowl and then make a well in the center. Mix the wet quickly in a blender and then add to the  dry and mix thoroughly. Will be wet, spread evenly onto the parchment using a spatula, wet if sticking {it didn't need to do this} Bake for 10-12 minutes. Then drizzle some more olive oil over the crust and spread a layer of tomato paste over the whole thing. Add a sprinkle of sea salt and what ever toppings you like. We used some veggies/black olives/pineapple/chicken and cheddar cheese. Any GAPS approved cheese would work. Bake for another 10-15 minutes.

The only thing I will do different next time is I will bake the crust for a little longer, but I like crunchy thin crust pizza so it's a personal taste thing. :)

Remember that these recipes are just suggestion, I am in no way an expert on the GAPS diet and you should always research for yourself the foods that you eat. That being said, my whole family loved this pizza, well worth making!

Switching over to the GAPS diet

April 24th 2012 Atty was release from care at Children's hospital and no longer needs to be on the Modified Atkins for Seizures diet!!! Next month on the 26th he will be seizure free for two years! Amazing!!! The doctor and dietitian at Children's are really impressed with him, and someone is going to be writing paper on his case which is really awesome! Also we might be able to help in the future with a case study his neurological doctor wants to see happen, some sort of gene testing. Because apparently he has notice that kids who have the drop seizures that Atty had respond best to the diet for seizure control and he wants to know if there is a gene connection with these kids. If they found a link that would open the door to genetic testing for kids who are having no luck with medicines for seizure control. I would hope they would do genetic testing from the beginning and start with the diet, but that probably won't be the case. It would eliminate some of the wasted time trying different meds that don't work... hopefully. It was such a mixture of emotions driving home from that appointment. I cried thinking back on how far we have come. It's truly wild how fast these two years flew by! So we are now switching over the the GAPS diet full time and will do this for probably two more years and then take it from there. When I told the dietitian this she was excited and said that a different family had mentioned that diet to here and wanted to know if she could put them in contact with me. I said absolutely yes! She also wants to keep in contact so she can get more recipes from me... :) I've had the Gut and Psychology Syndrome book for some time but I recently got the GAPS Guide and the Internal Bliss cookbook and I've been experimenting with more recipes. It's like starting all over again. I have been debating starting from the introductory diet for him so he can have optimal healing but so far it hasn't worked out. It's very restrictive and intense and I wanted my husband around to help out but the weekends are always full and it's hard to make it work during the week. So I'm starting with the full GAPS diet and then I will do the introductory if needed and where ever it fits best.  We have been gradually adding in GAPS foods for the last 6 months or so. I felt more comfortable with a gradual introduction to new foods and unlimited amounts of fruits/veggies. I started with unlimited amounts of veggies and he was fine with that, then slowly started in with larger servings of fruit and just recently unlimited amounts. We also recently switched over to local honey as the sweetener. Makes everything yummier! :) We have come to find out {it seems} that our oldest boy might be sensitive to food in the rag weed family. He had been complaining of headaches for a while, close to two years. We tried chiropractic care which helped for other things but didn't seem to make the headaches go away and we also took him to get his eyes checked {they are perfectly fine}. To make a long story shorter  we made a connection to the stevia that we have been using for Atty for the last TWO years {his headaches had been going on for about the same amount of time}. It was the only sweetener Atty could have and I'd gotten in the habit of using it for the other kids as well. Especially in the lemon water that my kids have daily. So anyways I took the stevia out of his diet {as well as some other food that I found connected to the ragweed family} and his headaches pretty much went away! Wow did I feel awful for taking so long to figure that out. But no one mentioned the ragweed connection to me when they told us to use that for Atty's sweetener, in fact they didn't mention any of the side effects at all. I think because I was already so overwhelmed I started using the stevia with out researching it well {very unusual for me} and now I feel frustrated that I did that. Not everyone has reactions to it, but the people that do really suffer! So all that to say that we are now cutting stevia out of our diet and going to local raw honey. :) I was the most scared when introducing honey to him. I felt like I was holding my breath for weeks before I relaxed! I no longer keep track of the amount of honey and he's had no reaction what so ever! I really want to introduce homemade yogurt the GAPS way but I've yet to figure out how to keep it at the right temp for 24 hours. I will be posting more GAPS friendly recipes now on this blog as that is what we are focused on now.  Starting with a GAPS friendly pizza recipe that I made the other night, wow is it good! The whole family scarfed it and Atty was so excited, he hasn't had pizza in over two years after all! So far I am really loving the GAPS diet for him and I feel strongly that this diet would have been the right one for him from the very beginning, but I guess we will never know for sure... what I do know is that it's the perfect one for him now! :)

Almond flour sweet crackers

Here's a sweet cracker recipe, makes a great substitute for the good ol' Graham cracker.

3 1/2 cups blanched almond flour

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1/2 tsp ginger

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp cinnamon

3 eggs

2 tbsp oil

3 tbsp flax meal

40 drops stevia

Preheat the oven to 325 F. Set aside 2 large baking sheets. Cut 3 pieces of parchment paper to the size of the baking sheets.

In a large bowl combine the almond flour, salt, and spices. In a medium bowl whisk the eggs and oil then add in the flax meal and stevia. Stir the wet ingredients into the almond flour mixture until thoroughly combined.

Divide the dough into 2 pieces. Place 1 piece of dough between 2 sheets of pre-cut parchment paper and roll out to the edges evenly. Remove the top piece of parchment paper, cut the dough with a pizza cutter into two inch squares {or what ever size you want} and transfer the bottom piece of parchment paper with the rolled out dough onto the baking sheet. Repeat with the other piece of dough.

Bake for about 16 minutes. I cook them at the same time {separate racks one above the other in the middle of the oven} so about half way through baking I switch the baking sheets on the racks so that they both cook evenly. Let the crackers cool on the baking sheet about 30 minutes.

Valentine's day treat idea.

Holidays can be hard on a special diet. Especially when you have three kids that are not on a special diet and one that is. It's a fine balance. On the one hand I want the kids that are not on a special diet to just have fun on the holidays, splurge a little, maybe even go a little crazy. It's a holiday after all and we are so careful about what we eat for the most part. Healthy whole foods diet, very little junk food {and there is a lot of food that makes our junk list that others wouldn't consider junk} and my kids are great about it. Everyone likes to have special treats now and again though. So on holidays I like to let my kids have treats we normally don't eat. I'm fine with it. But now I have a kid that can't have anything sweetened with anything except stevia so that doesn't leave a lot of options come holiday time. I don't want him to feel left out. We've made lots of changes in the last two years, and once again my kids have been wonderful about it. No candy in bright shiny wrappers is our rule now. Because I just can't duplicate that one for Atty. So I buy bulk chocolates for the kids and dried fruit, things like that. Then Atty's freezer candy doesn't look so different and he doesn't really care about the dried fruits. It is fun to get treats in shiny wrappers though. That's why candy comes so colorfully wrapped after all, people like it. And my kids, like so many others, stare longingly at it in the store. So right before Valentine's day, while I was shopping, I saw red tin heart containers with chocolates in them and a light bulb went off for me. I quickly bought up four of them and went home and emptied one of them out. Then I made a batch of Atty's freezer candies and sprinkled some shredded coconut on top that I dyed red with food coloring. Once they had set in the freezer I put them in the heart container and stored it back in the freezer. Then on Valentine's day I was able to give all the kids a fun bright container of chocolates to celebrate. They were all very excited. So now I know to keep my eyes open for reusable holiday containers that I can empty out and put Atty's type of treats into. Helps to make him feel included.

I use a heart shaped ice cube tray for Atty's candies. I use a mixture of cashew butter, a little coconut oil, a small amount of unsweetened cocoa powder, and liquid stevia to taste. I sprinkled unsweetened shredded coconut on top that was dyed red for a little holiday fun. You can also add coconut to the mixture it's really yummy that way. I have also added finely chopped pecan to the mix as well, very yummy. Put them in the freezer until solid. They melt easy so you have to eat them up right away when you take them out of the freezer, but Atty never has a problem with that, he loves these!

Here they are all nestled into the heart shaped container. :)

Now Atty has treats just like his siblings. Such an important thing when you're a kid.

No one feels left out, made this mommy so happy!

And there you have it. Atty loved his treats {as always} although I think he was even more excited about having a tin just like everyone else. He carried it around for the rest of the day and told his dad about it when he got home. :) Some times it's the little things that matter most.

Almond flour biscuits

Biscuits!

Okay here's another one...

2 1/2 cups blanched almond flour
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup oil of your choice
2 eggs
1/2 cup *coconut milk unsweetened
8 drops stevia
8 drops lemon stevia
{or just 15 drops stevia}

*Depending on where you are in the diet, you could also add 1 tsp freshly squeezed *lemon juice. If you do that it would be 15 drops stevia and 1 tsp lemon juice.

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line a large baking sheet with wax paper.
In a large bowl combine the almond flour, salt, and baking soda. In a medium bowl whisk together the oil, eggs, coconut milk, stevia {and optional lemon juice}. Stir the wet ingredients into the almond flour mixture until combined.
Drop the batter in large spoonfuls about 2 inches apart onto the baking sheet.
Bake for 15-20 minutes. Let cool briefly on baking sheet and then serve.

*Don't forget to count the carbs! If you want this to be a carb free biscuit just use water in place of the coconut milk and leave out the lemon. :) Less yummy... but less stress. And a limitless food, which is always good on this diet! At this point in Atty's diet I don't stress over the carbs in his biscuits any more, he doesn't have any reaction and I always pile on coconut oil or cashew butter on top for added fats. If I was adding say chopped fruit I would carefully count the carbs... but that has more to do with the sugar content. I don't worry about sour fruits anymore.

Almond flour bread!

Best Almond flour bread ever! :)
{I've actually already posted a bread recipe before, but this one is even better... haha!}
3/4 cup creamy cashew butter {or any nut butter you like}
4 large eggs
1/2 cup blanched almond flour
3 *tbsp of flax seed meal w/ 3 tbsp of water, let sit for a couple minutes to thicken

Update: I use to do the flax mix separately but now I just add it into the wet ingredients and let it sit in there for a couple minutes and it works just fine. You can also reduce the flax to two tablespoon if you want to with out messing up the bread, less carbs that way.
1/2 sea salt
1/2 baking soda

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease a 7 by 3 inch loaf pan with oil {like grape seed, olive, or coconut} and dust with almond flour.
In a large bowl mix the nut butter with a handheld mixer until smooth, then blend in the eggs. In a medium bowl combine the almond flour, flax/water mix, salt, and baking soda. Blend the almond flour mixture into the wet ingredients. Pour the batter into the bread pan.
Bake for 40-45 minutes on the bottom rack of the oven. Let the bread cool in the pan for 1 hour.

*Don't forget to count the carbs in the flax meal! I don't do this for Atty anymore because he doesn't have any reaction and hasn't for about a year now of eating this bread... but if you are being careful of counting everything still then preslice the bread and split the carbs per slice to figure it out.

Makes a super yummy sandwich with some cashew butter in between two slices... one of Atty's favorites.

Sirens

When I am driving if an ambulance goes by with lights and sirens flashing it still chokes me up! My heart starts to race and I get a lump in my throat, my eyes moisten, I start to breath faster and my mind begins to race. I instantly flash back to the {multiple} ambulance rides Atty and I {and baby sister} went on during his seizure episodes. The feelings that I felt then come crashing over me again. Fear, confusion, frustration, that broken inside sensation. The non-stop begging and praying that was going on in my head, and frankly out loud at times as well. I can remember him clearly laying on that big gurney, showing how little he truly was. Looking so vulnerable. The eerie lighting, the sires sounding as we speed down the freeway. The paramedic attending to his needs. Talking to me to try and distract me from my obvious impending nervous break down. {Although I never did break down in front of any of them, I know I was teetering at moments, especially in the dark of the ambulance when I couldn't stop the tears from coming.} I would sit there and tell him over and over again that mommy was right there, don't be afraid, we will fix this, I love you, it's going to be okay. I just wanted him to hear my voice and know that I was right there. The fear that I felt in those moments of uncertainty still overwhelms me. Our lives when from normal {what ever that is} to absolute turmoil in the blink of an eye. It was so fast it was hard for my brain to catch up. I felt like I was having a horrid night mare so many times through that whole process.

So now we are on the other side, I know this when those feelings wash over me, and it still doesn't make them any less raw. They still hurt. But only for a moment. Then I glace into the rear view mirror and see the smiling face of a healthy happy boy and I remind myself of how far we have come. And I'm so glad that in the end I could keep those desperate promises.

bye bye curls... hope to see you again soon.

When Atty was on all of his medicine for seizures his hair started falling out. It started to look like he had a comb over. So we shaved it. For me it was a sad moment to shave off all his beautiful red hair, and I shed a tear or two. First it had been covered with the helmet when he was having all the drop attacks and then shaved. It was hard to get use to, not seeing all that red hair all the time.Then as he got healthier and healthier and got off all the medicine his hair grew back. Boy oh Boy did it grow back, beautiful, curly red hair. It became a sign of health for me, all that beautiful red hair. I let it grow, and grow, and grow.
The other night I gave my husband a really short hair cut {I've the official hair cutter in our family} and the boys decided they all wanted their hair cut like daddy. Including Atticus. My heart sank. I'm not one to care normally whether my kids have long or short hair, or even what clothes they wear, etc... I like to let them make those choices for the most part. But I'll admit Atty's long hair had so many meanings to me... I was definitely more attached to his hair then he was. It was sort of funny because my husband was trying to talk Bubu out of cutting his hair, he likes it longer, and I was trying to talk Atty out of cutting his. But in the end Bubu had some words of wisdom for us. He said "it's just hair, it will grow back". He's right of course... my wise son. My daughter also wanted a hair cut, but it's taken almost two years to get the tiny bit she has so I'll admit I gave her a fake hair cut... which made her happy, so all is well. Funny thing is Atty went last, because I tried to avoid it to the very end, and when he sat down he said "mom I don't want my hair cut like baby sister, I want it cut like Bubu". Smart little kid. :) And you know what I probably would have tried that if he hadn't called me out on it. That's what I did on the last round of hair cuts. It worked that time, but he let me know in no uncertain terms that it wasn't going to work this time. So I took a deep breath, cut his hair, shed a tear and saved some curls. And we move on, it's hair... it will grow back.


And all that matters this time is that he is healthy, short hair and all.

Pinata, pinata, pinata...

We went to a family birthday party last weekend. I was told ahead of time that there was going to be a pinata, and his auntie said that she would buy Atty some special little toys to make up for the candy he can't have. Which was very sweet... I am thankful to have such supporting family members through this whole thing. The only problem left was how to deal with  piñata time. Should we take Atty somewhere else during that part? Should he just stand and watch? Should he participate and then give the candy to auntie for a trade? Everything else I had covered, I made him his special cupcakes for cake time, and I made him his type of bread and crackers, I packed his bag full of his type of food. But I just wasn't sure what to do at pinata time... I don't want him to feel left out, the magic diet already draws attention to him and has the potential to make him feel like he's on the outside of the group. So in the end I decided that if he wanted to participate he could. It's so hard to know what the best choice is. Last year {same kids party} my husband just distracted Atty, which was easier because he was littler. At yet another pinata party last year I just didn't call him over and there was so much going on he didn't seem to notice at first or care. I don't think he really understood. Plus there were toys in that pinata with the candy and he got some of those. This year everything seems a little harder in some ways. He's just so much more aware. I talked with him about the pinata. We went over what would happen and that he could choose to participate or not. That if he did participate he could collect the candy if he wanted to and then trade it with his auntie for special toys. He let it be know that he wanted to and that he understood. I also made him his freezer candies so that he would have his own treats as well. He was pretty excited about that. Pinata time rolled around and a pit grew in my stomach. Did I make the right choice? Would this blow up in my face, would he clutch the candy screaming and crying at the top of his lungs in front of everyone? I called him over like I said I would and he stood by my side, in the end he said he didn't want to swing at the pinata and clung to my side instead. When the pinata finally broke open, everything got pretty loud and scattered as kids scrambled for falling candy... and that is when Atty fell apart. A cry from deep down inside burst forth and he was lost. It was such a heart broken cry. He was completely overwhelmed. I quickly picked him up and walked away. We found a quiet corner to hid. I will admit I also became completely overwhelmed by his sadness and tears started streaming down my face, I had to swallow hard against the sobbing that threatened to escape. I feel so frustrated and helpless some times by all of this. Not that I really want any of my kids to have candy. I wasn't upset about the candy in particular, I don't feel like any of my kids really need to eat candy. It was just that he couldn't do what everyone else was doing, it's not a choice, he simply can't. I just don't want one to feel left out while the other ones have fun. I also don't want to make all my kids feel like the odd ones out, sitting on the sidelines watching all the fun. I sat with Atty while we calmed down and then we talked about it a little. I think it just all hit him at once and became all too real for him before he had a chance to process it. One minute the kids were taking turns swinging and the next candy was everywhere and the kids were going crazy picking it up. Atty doesn't do well in commotion like that and then the added context of candy just threw it over the top. Anyways after we had calmed down and talked {I had hid my tears fairly well from Atty, didn't want to add to the situation or make him feel like I was feeling sorry of him. Feeling sorry for ourselves won't do us any good. It is what it is. Sad at times, but over all good. } I asked him if he was ready for his treats. That brightened him right up. We went and got them and then he lead me back to the quiet spot to eat them. I really liked that he knew he needed more quiet time and found it on his own. He sure is growing up. All and all I'm not sure that I would have done it any different. Except that in retrospect I probably shouldn't have talked about so many times with him before hand. I felt like I wanted him well prepared, but I think it just made it a bigger deal for him, and I know by now that that doesn't actually work well with him. It works really well for one of his brothers, but it doesn't seem to work for him. Makes it into too big of a deal or something. He is sometimes very hard to figure out. I think I'm going to have to claim the pinata back for kids who can't have candy and get one for his birthday next year... and fill it full of toys. I've also decided from now on that when ever I know there is a pinata at a party I will get little toys and trinkets for all my children and then after the party any candy they bring home I will trade them the candy for the "special prize of toys and trinkets". Because I can't really have the candy sitting around the house anyways and they can't eat it in front of Atty. Plus they really liked Atty's toys and I have a feeling all in all they feel like they are the ones that ended up on the short end of the stick. Candy... who cares. Toys last longer and are way more awesome. :)