Eating Healthy with Your Little Ones

Never mind about food allergies, it doesn't matter if they are 2 or 20 we all want to know are kids are eating healthy and getting what they need.

 

I have been luck to have a daughter who eats a great many things. But why is that really?  Because we started giving them to her young, but it wasn't that simple.

 

I must admit that when we first found out about her food allergy,  we were so scared about what was safe to feed her that we only let her have baby food. After we took some time and learn about food allergies we tried to reintroduce foods. This did not get a good response, she had become used to the soft nature of the jar food and began chocking and gagging on real food. Where she would try solids before, now she would not touch it unless it came out of one of those jars.

 

My husband had become so frustrated that he announced their will be no more jar food in this house. Her only option was to eat what we were having.  She was fine for breakfast and lunch,  but it took several times of refusing dinners before she realized that there was no longer another option.  In less than a week she was eating every meal along with us. In fact she really enjoyed eating just what we were eating.

 

I have family with children in their pre-teens who still demand a separate meal because they will not eat what is being served. When I suggested ways to fix that problem.  Her response was, " That's great, but she'll just not eat anything till she gets back to school, and I'll be the one in trouble. " She was afraid that she would tell the school that she didn't eat and have the department of children and family services called on her.

 

And that is precisely why having that fight as a toddler is so very important. The longer that you let them get away with that bad behavior,(be it eating, TV, behavior, other) the longer and more difficult it becomes to fix. I'm not saying that you can't find a way to correct the issue,  it's just going to take that much more effort on your part.

 

Now we enjoy the fact that she eats and enjoys turkey meatloaf with baked sweet potato chips and steamed broccoli.  Steamed rice and beans,  salmon with brown rice and even home made whole wheat pizza.

 

I'm even happy to say that she doesn't like vegetables out of a can, she loves them fresh and crisp. We grow a garden ever summer and she loves eating it all. I have even caught her eating my sugar snap peas right off the vine.

 

Not every day is a picnic. As toddlers often do we have days or meals where we just don't want to go along with the program. I remind my Husband she will be back at the next meal. And when you pull out the lunch that they didn't eat for dinner, they learn its better to just get it over with. I don't make a big deal when she picks up the broccoli with her hands and eats all the tops. Just be happy they are eating it.


Remember that our children look up to us for everything, even an example of how to eat. Try to make your plate match theirs. They are not going to want to try something if you wont even put it on your plate.

 

 I will be posting how to make Baked Sweet Potato Chips on our recipe page.

Where We Predestined to Have a Food Allergic Child?

I have been given a lot of information lately on risk factors for having a food allergic child. If these risk factors are to be believed, my husband and I hit nearly everyone.

Let me start by saying that no one can predict if your child will have a food allergy and what it might be. We are simply discussing what people have considered to be risks for the possibility of having a child with a food allergy.

Immediate Parent with Allergy

This is not limited to food allergies. Lets say both parents have seasonal allergies, this increases your risk. To have a parent with a food allergy increases your risk. To have a history of food allergies in the family further increases your risk.

My Husband and I both suffer for environmental allergies, his mother has a food allergy to fish, I have a food allergy and intolerance, my mother and grandmother both have food allergies.

Urban Areas

Higher concentrations of food allergic children are found in more urban areas, such as larger cities. If you choose to believe because of water and air quality, or it could simply be that there are more people.

My Husband and I were both born and raised just out side of Chicago, IL, we drank the water and breathed the air for the majority of our lives.

Medications

The overuse of antibiotics has been blamed for contributing to the increase of food allergies, as well as the use of other medications. It has been suggested that the manipulation of hormones for IVF or other infertility treatments can lead to in increase in the risk of food allergies.

Our daughter was conserved only after sever attempts of IVF. I required on going medications and antibiotics while I was pregnant.

Breastfeeding

Most doctors agree that breastfeeding is beneficial to infants, but they disagree on the length of time. Some say a year while others say that 4 months is just fine. Some recommend changing the mothers diet to not include common food allergens such as nuts and fish. Others say that changing the diet does not matter because food allergens crossing over is very rare.

I breastfeed for three months and she very obviously responded to allergens present in my breast milk.

So is the message here that food allergies can be inherited, due to environment, or just random chance? Doctors and scientist can not agree and they will tell you that some data shows these correlations are very clear while other say its all over the place.

Grandparents Day?

I joined the PTA in order to see how our local school operates. And having a child with a Peanut Allergy has made me worry about her attending that school, especially when I found out that they do not have an allergy policy.

 

At our latest meeting we began discussing plans for the upcoming Grandparents Day. Now being called VIP Day.

 

Standard practice has been to have cookies for the Grandparents. And because of the nature of Grandparents, they tend to give the cookies to the children.  This act has caused a lot of conflict in the past and the proposed solution was to provide more cookies so all of the children can have them as well.

Apparently last year lead to Grandparents running their children down the halls to get cookies to take back to their class rooms.

 

When I suggest trying to do something other than cookies, one of the other moms said well they already eat snacks in the class rooms. Why not give them all cookies and let them walk around with them. Apparently there is a tour of the school and class rooms for the grandparents.

 

I so wish I could have put a thought together at that moment to suggest something non food related. We could have the students make a card or something else.

 

When she asked the principal if there had been food allergy issues in the past. His response was, "Yes we have kids attending with food allergies. We tell the kids to know their food allergy and avoid it."

I was so dumbfounded, I wanted to leave right then and there.  Our moderator seeing my face turning colors, ended the discussion and moved the group along.

 

At the end of the meeting I packed myself up and walked out without a word.  I collected my daughter and  left. I called my Husband from the car. I need to talk with someone who got it.

 

I have never wanted to deprive my daughter the opportunity to have a normal childhood,  including going to school,  but that meeting made me really start to consider if I should just home school. I know it's drastic, and I will probably get over it, but I could have never predicted that I would have such an up hill climb.

 

The entire school and community is very food focused. Pancake breakfasts, dinners at the fire house, a cake auction at the local fair, and bake sales everywhere. 

 

In a small town (population 800), where most people know everyone,  and we are the outsiders.  Most people do not want to make a fuss,  because they don't want to make waves. I guess I need to become the thunderstorms.  Wash away all the old out of date ideas and make positive changes for the future.

 

I called the bakery they plan on using and I was Informed that, "Even if the cookies are peanut free, they are still made in a bakery that uses nuts. Therefor they are not safe."

 

Making Cookies

I love making holiday cookies.  I was so afraid that with a Peanut Allergy we would no longer have that same holiday experience. I am so happy to say that thought was dead wrong.
 

When I started making cookies years ago I would spend the better part of a week making cookies.  I made Greek cookies with almonds and powdered sugar, peanut butter blossoms,  sugar cookies,  spritz cookies, oatmeal with raisins, chocolate chip cookies, and monster cookies that have a little bit of everything in them.
 

I never gave a second thought to food allergies.  I gave them away as gifts, wrapped in beautiful boxes with big bows. People came to know them and expect to see them every year. 

I have skipped making cookies for the last couple years,  mostly because who has the time with a very small child in the house.
 

This year I was asked to make my sugar cookies for Christmas with my husband's family. I had just picked up a new snow flake cookie cutter and couldn't wait to make these special cookies with my daughter.
 

It has always been my hope to pass on my love of cooking and baking to my daughter,  and the best time to start is when they are young.
 

I had all of my ingredients and supplies laid out and ready to go. My little helper had her foot stool, special apron and she enjoyed getting flour all over the place. We had a lot of fun and made some beautiful cookies.
 

The point is to enjoy the experience with your child and have some quality time that you can both cherish. Don't worry about the mess on the counters or the floor, it will get cleaned up later.

 

The recipe for these amazing cookies will be posted on out recipe page.

 

To make tie-dye effect. Frost the edges with a ribbing of dark blue icing, puddle ice blue in the center of the cookie, fill white icing in the center. Spread with small spatula and allow to dry completely.