Bullets of Accomplishments and Non-Accomplishments
- Baby E was asleep tonight shortly after 8:30. My guess is that she's going to think this was her second nap of the day, but maybe she'll actually be asleep for the night before midnight for once. That would be very, very nice. Hey, it's not too much to hope for, is it?
- DH has been doing so much work around the house, taking up a lot of the slack from my work doing research, taking care of the kids, doing extra cooking, and trying to figure out how to help Baby E. That's so wonderful of him. Thank you, DH.
- This morning I washed my hair and brushed my teeth with baking soda. It worked pretty well, actually. My head was significantly less itchy after using the baking soda/lemon juice mixture. Just the simple act of taking a shower and washing my hair made me feel so much better.
- Tonight I went shopping and found a Thanksgiving gift for Sis, so I'll be able to mail it to her in time for the holiday. It will strange having her gone for Thanksgiving.
- Speaking of the holiday, we're having a large group of DH's family over for dinner the day after Thanksgiving. DH's mom sweetly volunteered to bring the food. She's such a great mother-in-law.
But as hard as it is even for me to cook reliably safe food for our dietary needs, it seemed safer for me to do the cooking, or at least the bulk of it. With a group that size it would be nearly impossible to keep crumbs from being scattered around.
The idea of contaminating our home with allergens (when Baby E still picks up things off the floor to put in her mouth) is something I don't want to deal with right now. It would be stressful beyond belief trying to keep "unsafe" food from contaminating "safe" foods and areas of our home in that type of situation.
Last time we had a group of people eating here (back when E had only two known allergens) we tried to have separate safe and unsafe elements of the meal. Baby E ended up with a pretty severe reaction just from the inevitable cross-contamination that takes place when serving two drippy/crumbly dishes near each other.
I think MIL is still going to help with some of the food--perhaps something like a fruit and vegetable tray that won't carry too much danger of ending up with traces in Baby E's food. I'll just feel so much better if the bulk of the meal is cooked here with our verified safe ingredients. - I'll enjoy cooking for the event, but I haven't even started planning the menu yet. Turkey noodle soup, perhaps? Or just a big turkey cooked in an oven bag with some root vegetables? Or maybe everyone will be tired of turkey by then, and I should just do a big beef roast? I think I'll make the gluten-free chocolate cake that's always a big hit for dessert.
- I'm making a pie and a side dish, to take to my grandma's house for Thanksgiving, along with some safe cranberry sauce and a few other things. Grandma went out of her way to find a free-range organic turkey and will be cooking it with only seasonings I've okayed, and providing carrots and potatoes from her garden prepared with nothing but water and safe salt. She's stressing about it, but I think it will be fine. I'll be bringing most of the other food Baby E, Little Sister Sparrow and I will be eating.
- I just bought a vegetable called kohlrabi, and some fennel root. They looked like interesting vegetables to try, but I'll have to look up instructions for preparing them. Has anyone cooked these before?
- Best of all, I found some bar soap made from olive oil! Hooray!
- In the process of reading soap labels I discovered that, yes, getting coconut-containing soap on my hands does make them itch. Skin contact with coconut did not, however, give me an anaphylactic reaction. This is a very good thing.
- There is now an epi-pen with my name on it in the house.
- Baby E's nose itches. She's scratching it until it bleeds the way she used to do with her ears before we discovered the corn allergy.
- I made grainless crackers today with tapioca flour and palm kernel oil. The low-grade allergic reaction I've had for the last few days got worse again (though not severe) after I ate them. I thought it was really strange that they seemed to bother me after my going out of the way to make sure there was no coconut in them.
Baby E got excited at the way they looked, grabbed a cracker, eagerly took a bite, and then suddenly threw it as far as possible the moment it touched her mouth. Then she started making "ack" noises and trying to spit out the tiny crumb that had actually contacted her tongue, raking at her mouth with her hand.
I was starting to wonder if the tapioca was a problem now, on top of everything else. Then I found out that the oil palm, although not the same exact plant as the coconut palm, is in the same biological family as coconut and date palms. So now I'm wondering if I should be avoiding palm oil and dates as well. - Thankfully, Cacao (chocolate) is not in the same family even though the name is very similar. I'm inordinately thankful for that.
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Posted by purple_kangaroo at 8:57 PM[Permanent link]
10 Comments:
As soon as I read that you were using palm oil and had had a reaction, my first thought was, "Oh, no, coconuts grow on palm trees!"
Have you considered setting up a greenhouse and growing olive trees?
I'm kidding.
Mostly.
We are still thinking about you guys a lot and praying for you often. If there is anything more tangible we can do from here, please let me know!!
I'm not kidding about that.
Amy
Hooray for finding safe soap.
Our family always has a brisket for the day after Thanksgiving.
So sorry about the palm oil. Your lives are truly getting complicated! But I think that you're doing the right thing to cook stuff yourself so as not to have to worry.
When Baby E is older and can tell you in words what her reactions are to different things, you can be less vigilent.
Just some thoughts...
Laundry: Vinegar can be used as a fabric softener and will remove all soap residue/oils from your coconut based laundry soap. After you use it up, you can use the option of making your own laundry soap. I've done it many times myself. It is very easy and less soap is necessary than commercially bought products. I'll send you the link.
Cooking Oil: I'm thrilled to hear you can use olive oil. I mostly use that, as well as coconut oil and lard. I would suggest you get some lard. You can probably get it at the same place you get your beef. People generally cringe when you say lard, but it's not that bad for you as the govt makes it out to be and people have been using it for centuries. It's fabulous to cook crackers, biscuits, etc. with.
Milk: Unfortunely I've come up with nothing in this department. I only cook with milk, we don't drink it. My kids don't either. Cow, goat, rice, soy, and coconut are all out. Are tree nut milks also allergens? As some one else mentioned, maybe sheep, but I haven't the faintest idea where you would get it. Maybe try some cheese and see how you react? Not having milk to cook with does pose a problem.
Sorry this is so long... I guess I should have just written you an email!
A in PA
PS. My grandparent love kolarabi, although I've never had it. I think they cook it like turnips. Roasted or boiled and mashed?
Thanks, Amy. I think next year we are going to have a garden, at least, and possibly some chickens or ducks (we'll see if I can convince DH about that). :)
Liz, it will make things much easier when Baby E is able to say "my mouth itches." More convincing for the allergists, too.
A in PA, thanks for the notes. Unfortunately almost all vinegar seems to be made from either corn or apples. Plain white vinegar is invariably corn-derived. Maybe some white wine vinegar would be okay?
Lard is a good idea. I was wondering what I was going to do when I really need an oil that's solid, and lard is a great idea. I don't know why I didn't think of that--thanks.
Milk isn't too hard to substitute, actually. Generally I can substitute water. We're mostly avoiding tree nuts, but I do sometimes use cashews or almonds. They make a great milk substitute for cream-based soups, etc.
We have tried sheep's milk cheese, and the kids liked it but it seemed to affect me about the same as cow's milk. We have some friends who keep goats. I'd like to see if unenriched goat milk is something we can manage. If so, well, our neighbors have a large unused area under the power lines that I wonder if they'd be willing to rent out to pasture a goat. :)
Really, though, I've been mostly without milk for so long I hardly even miss it. It's just ice cream that I miss. I have an ice-cream maker, so maybe I could try making gelato or something. :)
We get kohlrabi in our farm share every year, and I have to say that I have never found a way to prepare it that works for us.
I have become a fan of fennel, though; I've got a great recipe for a tuna salad with canned tuna, red onions, fennel, lemon juice and cannoli beans. It's a little summery for this time of year, and I'm not sure if all those ingredients work for you, but if so email me and I'll send you the recipe.
We've had kolrabi in a farm share too and we've used it to make cole slaw type salads. Interestingly neither my boyfriend or I really like cabbage cole slaws but we like the kolrabi slaw.
I just re-read my comment, and of course I meant "cannelini" beans. Although a cannoli bean sounds interesting...
Oh!! I have a solution for the ice cream if you can eat bananas! We have a Champion juicer and if you freeze the bananas and put them through the juicer it comes out all whipped and creamy. It has the same texture and consistency as ice cream. I have even put it through alternating with other frozen fruits such as blueberries, strawberries and mangoes. Given your allergic reaction to blackberries, that probably wouldn't be a good idea :) Of course that wouldn't be the best reason to go out and buy an expensive juicer either :)
I thought about the vinegar after I posted. That's a bummer because vinegar is amazing stuff.
I forgot to mention in my last comment, that my parents have been using plain baking soda to brush their teeth for years and won't use anything else. The dentist just said to make sure you don't brush to hard and damage the gum line. An excellent solution.
A in PA
MC, we are not eating fish right now because it's such a common allergen, but I wonder if canned chicken would work in your recipe? I'd have to leave out the beans, as we're avoiding all legumes since Baby E is allergic to at least two things in the legume family.
A, Baby E is allergic to bananas.
I am allergic to blackberry leaves but not the berries. :)
I guess I should post the list somewhere:
Purple_Kangaroo, allergic to coconut, avocado, milk, blackberry leaves, latex, many environmentals (mold, dust mites, pollen, etc.) and most antibiotics
. . . Mom to 3 girls, including Baby E who is allergic to corn, soy, oats, kidney beans, apples, banana, mushrooms, mold and ???
I left a long comment on the last post about shampoo, but I came back to say that some people on the Curly Girl site just add lemon juice to conditioner instead of using shampoo. If you had a coconut-free conditioner, maybe that'd be worth a try?
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