Bread Making

There's a first for everything. I mentioned to my mom that I was considering purchasing a bread machine. Since hers was just sitting at the house not being used, she loaned it to me. Thanks mom!  It sat at my house also not being used for a while until the other week when I decided to give it a try. Frankly, I was getting tired of paying $3.99 for a small loaf of organic bread, and the bread machine recipes looked simple enough.

I did it. The bread turned out wonderful.  I Googled and found a recipe on allrecipes.com called "Best Bread Machine Bread" that was given a 4 1/2 star rating by over 1,100 people. That was 3 weeks ago, and I haven't bought bread since.  My first two loafs were basic white.  I've got to get a little more adventurous though and try some other types using the machine.  I purchased a bag of 100% whole wheat flour with a recipe on the bag that I had to try.  It called for molasses and orange juice as ingredients. I treated myself to a beautiful, red glazed, Le Creuset stoneware, bread pan (just $11.99 from Ross) and made my first loaf from scratch. And, it didn't stop there. I made pizza dough the other night.  I've got Abigail interest piqued also. She found a recipe for bagels in a cookbook for kids that she wants us to try.

It's not just a first for making bread.  There have been many firsts for me over the last year...a first for trying to understand what's in the food we eat, for planting a garden, for cooking from scratch, for appreciating good cookware, for planning menus, and now, for baking bread. What's next?  I'm considering canning this summer. Yikes! All this from someone that has never enjoyed being in the kitchen! Who knew?

Yesterday's Visit to Duke

It’s spring break for the kids and we’re spending a couple of days at the beach.  On our way here we stopped by the Duke Clinical Research Unit for our final appointment before our food challenge scheduled for early June.  It was a short appointment consisting of a quick vital check for Abigail, getting a new bottle of drops, discussing the details of the challenge, and most importantly, talking about Abigail’s stomach issues.

I feel good about the food challenge.  I really think that Abigail is getting the real stuff and not the placebo.  I’m going to feel incredible foolish if she’s not.  Her symptoms/complaints after receiving each dose increase are classic side effects of sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT).  I just recently learned this when I started researching the side effects in hopes of finding an answer to her belly issues.

A study by the American Academy of Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery Foundation explored data from selected clinical studies and concluded that “sublingual immunotherapy may be well suited to fill the gap posed by the undertreatment of allergic syndromes in the U.S.”  I’ll touch on some of the details of this study in another post but the biggest take-away for me was that they found that the majority of adverse effects are minor and include mostly itching and oral discomfort.  In one study with 36 children only 2 children experienced adverse effects, Surprisingly for me, it was mild abdominal pain.  In a study with 354 children minor adverse affects occurred in less than 10% of patients.  Oral/throat itching, abdominal pain, urticaria and rhinoconjunctivitis all occurred in less than 1%.  No anaphylactic or other serious reactions occurred.  Similar findings were noted in 9 other trials. So, there is a possibility that Abigail’s stomach could be a result of our participation in the study.  After all, she also experiences the tingling in her mouth, throat and ears.

A side note to parents with kids in the study.  Please don’t assume your child is on the placebo if they’re not experiencing anything.  There’s a 50/50 chance that they aren’t.  My daughter is the exception here not the norm.

Here’s what we’re going to do about Abigail’s stomach.  Her dad and I decided to start her back on Prilosec.  We have to rule out acid reflux.  Also, more disturbingly is Eosinophilic Esophagitis (EE).  There have been 2 instances where children have left the study because they were diagnosed with EE.   In talking with our doctor at Duke they don’t know if taking part in the study was a direct cause or if it just unlocked a dormant condition.  However, until they know more, it’s now something that they discuss with patients at the start of the study.  Like food allergies, EE is a condition with more unknowns than knowns.  In both cases, the child was removed from the study, given oral steroids and symptoms subsided.  It’s a huge concern for me.

If Prilosec works, we can rule out EE and avoid an endoscopy.  It might take up to 8 weeks to see if it will work which puts us right about the time we have our food challenge.  If it doesn’t work, and we unveil to find she’s on the placebo, we have to start looking at other culprits.  If it doesn’t work, and we find that Abigail is on the peanut drops, we’ll have some hard decisions to make.  After the food challenge, there’s still 18 months left in the trial.  I asked our doctor if it was possible that when she builds up complete tolerance to her food allergy her stomach pains will go away.  It’s possible.  I also asked if her stomach could take weeks, even months, to heal after continuous exposure, and found that might also be the case.  There’s just no way of knowing.

So, for now, it’s Prilosec which is not without risks.  Prilosec reduces the levels of acid in the stomach making it easier for bacteria, viruses and fungi to flourish.  Low acid also prevents nutrients from properly assimilating through the body causing nutrient deficiencies.  The article, “Why You Should Never Take Prilosec OTC to Remain Heartburn Free,” identifies the main cause of excess acid is eating foods that your body is intolerant to or allergic to.  We know Abigail’s being exposed to peanuts (or at least very sure she is), and it’s not as easy as just eliminating that food.

One last thing we’re doing is giving Abigail her drops in the morning rather than before dinner.  Her stomach hurts most around bedtime which is about 2 to 3 hours after getting the drops.  Maybe we’ll see a difference if we don’t add something that has the potential to hurt her stomach around the same time she eats the heaviest meal of the day.

All this, and I never got to discuss the food challenge details.  I’ll have to save that for another day.

Easter Eggs

I just finished boiling eggs so that the kids can dye them tomorrow.  I purchased the PAAS kit just like last year and the year before.  This year though, I didn't really want to.  Now that I read all food ingredients and am avoiding artificial colors, I at least, hesitated before throwing the box in my cart.  I rationalized my purchase with the thought that we peel the eggs before we eat them.

Let's see, Yellow #5, maltodextrin, Red #3, cellulose gum, Yellow #6, Blue #1, Blue #2, Red #40, magnesium stearate, silicon dioxide, etc.  Good stuff right?  Try buying Easter candy without all those colors too!

In my search for a recipe for the perfect hard-boiled egg (yes, I need a recipe..I only make them once a year), I came across an article on how to make natural egg dyes.  Too late for this year, and I may not even try it next year (after all, we do peel the eggs), but I thought it was pretty cool.  If we used the dyeing as well as shopping for the foods that produce the colors as a learning experience, it might be fun.

According to the site, you simply bring the food stuff with water to a boil and then let simmer for anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour depending on the food and desired color. This process does take some time. For deep colors, the eggs should remain in the color overnight.  Not something that my 2 and 7 year old would wait around for.  And the foods to use?  The article gives a reference to foods and the colors they produce.  Some of them include coffee, blueberries, red grape juice, red wine, spinach leaves, carrots.  See where this could be fun with older kids?  I think they'd enjoy picking out the food and then seeing what colors they can produce.  Even sounds like a good science experiment.

To all of you that are going to be dyeing eggs this weekend...have fun!  My kids usually come away with really stained fingers.  Perfect match for those new Easter outfits for church! At least, I've learned to move the whole process outside on the deck.

Easter Blessings from my family to yours!

Follow-up to Post:

Here's a few pictures of our Easter egg dyeing adventures.  Abigail's fingers aren't too bad this year, and we tried something new using rubber bands to make stripes on our eggs.  The effect was pretty neat.

SafetyTat Giveaway Winners

Hope everyone has enjoyed their week.  We're busy getting ready for Easter, family visits and a quick trip to the beach.

Abigail had a good time writing and cutting drawing slips (we're high tech around here).  I had over 50 entries for this giveaway!  Thanks to everyone that entered the drawing and a special thanks to SafetyTat for creating the wonderful safety alert temporary tattoos, for offering 2 sample packs to my readers and for the discount.  Hope some of you guys took advantage of it.

I'll be contacting Paula and Renee today to get their mailing address.  Congratulations, you guys won!

Happy Easter!

Food Revolution

I missed the premier episode of Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution, but thanks to the internet did catch a small segment. It was pretty disturbing.

In this clip, Jamie brings in a group of kids to do an experiment. He takes a raw chicken and proceeds to cut off all of the good parts, breast, wings and legs, explaining that this is the best and most valuable part.  Asking the kids if they want the remaining chicken carcass, he elicits lots of appropriate statements of yuck and gross. He proceeds to hack at the chicken, throwing pieces of bone, skin and connective tissue in the blender and makes this nasty pink goo. Again, the kids are all grossed out. Jamie then throws in a handful of "stabilizers" and "artificial flavors", makes small circle patties, dips them in breadcrumbs and drops them in a fry pan. When they're ready, he puts them on a plate and asks the kids who wants to eat them.  He is absolutely dumb-founded when all the kids raise their hand and say "ME!"

We're fooling ourselves if we don't think that kids are "programmed" to want certain foods based on what they see on TV, how the food is packaged or what shape it is.  The square organic cheese crackers don't meet with as much enthusiasm as the cheese crackers shaped like fish.  The cereal in the white "boring" box can't possibly be as good as the kind printed with rabbits, Leprechauns or other annoying characters.  And in Jamie's experiment, the kids were willing to eat the nasty pink goo because it was put into a shape of a nugget.

My kids love chicken nuggets, and they're perfect for those evenings when they need something quick.  Right now, I'm buying the Yummy brand, 100% All Natural Chicken Breast Nuggets.  There's no hormones or preservatives in the white meat, but they do have 23 other ingredients, i.e., "minimally processed."  I've found an organic brand, but Abigail doesn't like them meaning she's not going to eat them.  So, why spend the money?  After all, they're not cheap!  Does this mean I'm going to have to now start making chicken nuggets?  I don't want my kids eating pink goo.  I found this video clip on how to make chicken nuggets. Doesn't look too bad.  I could make a bunch and then freeze them...in my spare time!

Keebler's Allergen Labeling Policy

There's not many Keebler brand products that I purchase these days since eliminating processed foods from our pantry.  However, it doesn't mean that Abigail won't have the opportunity to indulge at a friend's house or at a class party.  I recently contacted them regarding their allergen labeling policy.  Here's what they had to say:

Our production lines are thoroughly cleaned between allergen containing products and we follow good manufacturing practices. We have validated (through testing) our allergen cleaning processes in all of our facilities. We are very concerned about food allergies and want to ensure that our products are safe for food allergic consumers to eat. Scientific evidence has shown that consumers with peanut and tree nut allergies can have a severe reaction to amounts that are below the current detectable limits based on existing technology. For this reason, we have chosen to warn consumers allergic to peanuts and tree nuts of the potential for extremely low levels by using a may contain statement.

So, hat's off to the makers of the elf for properly using a "May Contain" statement for products made on the same equipment!  Just a side note though, they didn't address making products in the same facility.  Do we assume that because they are so diligent about products on the same equipment that they equally diligent with products made on separate lines?  This is where labeling standardization would be very welcome!

By the way, they've got a cute website.  My 2 1/2 year old asked repeatedly to see it again. Also, I'm not endorsing Keebler product with this post.  I'm just sharing information.

Anxiety - A Symptom of Food Allergies?

Abigail's stomach started hurting 3 weeks or so after starting the Peanut Clinical Trial at Duke University.  Almost a year later, it still hurts.  Is it coincidence or a result?  I'm having a hard time answering that question.

When her belly first started hurting, it was usually dinner time or soon after at bedtime.  In the beginning, Abigail couldn't really tell me much.  Not having had a lot of stomach issues as a child, she really couldn't explain what she was experiencing.  Now she can tell me that it doesn't burn like acid indigestion nor does she feel nauseous.  It just hurts in her belly right around her belly button area.  The ache comes and goes.  She also occasionally regurgitates.

After a visit to the pediatrician and trying childrens' Pepto, Miralax and then Prilosec for a short period of time, I began to consider that her bedtime belly aches were a result of being anxious about school the next day or even not wanting to go to sleep (she's always had a good deal of bad dreams).  When she'd complain, I'd tell her to go to sleep and that it'd quit hurting.  Sounds pretty callous, but I didn't want to feed the anxiety.  I was a little concerned when one evening she started going into a full scale panic attack.  Fortunately, that's only happened once, and I learned I could distract her by talking about something fun to take her mind off of whatever she was anxious about.  At that point, my husband and I considered counseling.  After all, she's was only 6 and way too young to start having panic attacks.  However, with her belly just hurting at night, and with her somewhat being able to "manage" it by thinking of other things, I never scheduled an appointment. Well, now her belly hurts during the day as well as continuing to hurt off and on at night.

Early on, I asked our doctor at Duke, but he knew of no one else in the program that was experiencing anything similar. So, for a year I chalked it up to coincidence.  Coincidence also that she takes her drops late in the afternoon, and if her stomach hurt, it would always be dinner or bedtime, 2 to 3 hours later.  Then, I started doing research on the impact of food on Attention Deficit Disorder, something else she's showing tendencies towards, and began finding articles showing anxiety as a symptom of food allergies and/or food intolerance.  After hours of internet searching though, I'm no closer to an answer.  I can't find any link between the two on any site that I feel has high enough credentials.  I found one study done in 2001 that found a link between allergies and panic disorder but no other anxiety disorders. 

So, what now?  There is a possibility that the peanut protein drops Abigail takes on a daily basis is causing a mild allergic reaction, and as one particular article suggests, symptoms are manifesting in her weakest organ system, the nervous system, causing anxiety which in turn is causing her stomach to hurt.  It could be that subconsciously, she is more anxious about her allergy than she realizes and her stomach hurts as a result.  What if she's developed an additional food intolerance?  It's also possible that her belly is inflamed from the continuous exposure to the peanut protein and that's why it hurts.  In those cases, the anxiety is the coincidence.

Right now, I'm operating on the assumption that the last option is what is occurring.  After consultation with her pediatrician, we've started Abigail back on Prilosec.  According to her doctor, it could take 6 to 8 weeks for it to work. I didn't give it to her for that long last year when her belly first started hurting.  If it doesn't help, then our next step could be a visit to a GI doctor and an in depth conversation with our doctor at Duke. 

Please leave a comment if any of this is sounding familiar.  I'm stumped and frustrated.  There's nothing like the feeling of not being able to help your child!