I've wondered and questioned about our (my) decision to "go paleo." It is a bit extreme, I understand that. There are lots of reasons I choose this path for our family--Luke's allergies being at the top of the list, but there are other, more private, reasons that I don't want haunting anyone, so I'll keep them private.
Luke has a viral thing called molluscum contagiousum. It's been contained to his elbow and hasn't really bothered him at all. We were encouraged to just let it run its course and it would go away in a few months to a year. I came across some information about using essential oils to help rid him of the virus. So, last week, I started using the oils to treat the spots on his elbow. I was paying particularly close attention to his skin and I noticed that his eczema was flaring up in a major way.
So I began thinking about our diet last week and looking at the labels on the boxes of food I'd brought into the house.
Problem #1: I brought boxes of stuff into the house.
--Gluten-free snack bars (granola style). They're processed.
--I felt guilty so I bought a box of "wholeseom" cereal. It said flax seed on the box. I didn't even look to see if contained wheat. Then I did check. And it does contain wheat. And Luke had eaten it about 3 days in a row.
Problem #2: I was lazy with our diet last week and allowed some wheat/grain products in my meal planning.
Problem #3: Despite specific meal planning, we still ate out a few times.
--Hello, Chick-fil-A. 'Nuff said.
So, now I have proof that I need to be hyper-diligent about Luke's diet. His poor body just can't tolerate processed foods or wheat/grain products. We're now on square negative 3 because his eczema looks worse than it did when we started this. His molluscum has spread all over his body, too, which I hope is the virus expelling itself from his system as I'm using the oils.
I know I made the right choice for our family. As I've shared some of our story recently, I've had lots of "suggestions" about different grain products we can eat. I'd rather avoid them all and know I'm keeping foods as pure as possible for my kids. I'm not saying that all grain products are bad or nutritionally void--I would just rather keep my kids' systems clean and clear so I can continue to identify allergens for them and keep them healthy.
Monday, June 24, 2013
Sunday, June 16, 2013
Less Fluff, More Crunch
We are finishing up our third week of Paleo-ish living. How are we doing?
Dwayne: He's still on board. I sent him to the grocery store and told him not to come home with regular milk. Organic only, please. I think he got caught up in the health food section and didn't venture anywhere else. He got lots of non-paleo snack foods, but, bless his heart, they were more "wholesome" than what I'd been feeding my kiddos before this change. Gotta give him some credit. He wanted a salad last night and came home with all kinds of crap (fake bacon bits, nasty salad dressing, etc.), but he'll eat it. I'll avoid it.
Me: I've lost 5 lbs and my stomach doesn't hurt like it did. I'm still not in the normal category of stomach issues, but I'm so much better than I was. Meal planning has been hard, but I haven't put much thought into it, either. I spent about 30 minutes today planning for the week and feel good about what I've planned. I'm eager to see what this week brings as far as weight loss and healthy feeling.
Meryt and Luke: Meryt's coming around. She begged for something other than larabars for breakfast, so I'm trying to venture out a little and find other things to offer the kids for breakfast. They've quit asking for cereal (YES!!!) and didn't ask for a bun for their hamburgers at dinner last night. We ate at our friends' farm yesterday (hot dogs and chips) and they ate their hot dogs, but left the buns and didn't finish the chips. Meryt still has a major sweet tooth and barely eats her meals before she's asking for a snack or a dessert. We're working on cutting back on that. She has been asking for water to drink, another major win. Luke stomach eczema is looking better. He still has a few splotches of eczema and the open sore on the back of his knee, but overall he looks a lot better. The EO's are working for his allergies. We got them under control with the prescription meds and seem to be able to maintain with the oils. Both kids ask for a little lavender at bed time. It's sweet to rub them down and send them off to the land of nod smelling scrumptious.
One of the changes we made this week was to begin "no poo." That's not something I'll discuss much on here, because, honestly, it's a bit of a stretch for me and I don't want to seem "too out there." We're definitely in the transition phase, but I'm eager to see how our hair adjusts and if it seems healthier. (Dwayne is not doing this...that's going too far for him.)
Another thing I noticed is what you see when you open our fridge. It's almost entirely produce. We are snacking on fruit and crunching veggies with our dinner. I'm a little more confident in the kitchen and have taught myself to roast a chicken in the oven. This week I'm going to try it in the crock pot and make my own chicken broth.
I LOVE my homemade cleaner. It smells divine and cleans like a charm. We fostered a puppy this week and he had accidents in the kitchen. I'd soak it up, spray the area with cleaner and feel good knowing that the kitchen floor was clean without using any chemicals at all...plus it smelled great!
I am eager to make a batch of laundry detergent. I loved the recipe I used before and plan on making a batch when I finish up the detergent I bought in the moving process.
The kids and I eagerly wait for Wednesdays to arrive so we can visit the market. We love meeting the farmers (and plan on visiting them very soon) and knowing where our food comes from. We've had grass fed beef a few times and it was delicious. We love our sweet little milk man and the ladies who make homemade cat/dog treats. Meryt and I even won something from them for filling out a card.
I don't feel too granola yet, but when I think about some of the changes we're making, I know there is less fluff and more crunch in our lifestyle. What I love is that I know I can maintain the changes we've made. Nothing has been so drastic that we can't continue to live this way.
Dwayne: He's still on board. I sent him to the grocery store and told him not to come home with regular milk. Organic only, please. I think he got caught up in the health food section and didn't venture anywhere else. He got lots of non-paleo snack foods, but, bless his heart, they were more "wholesome" than what I'd been feeding my kiddos before this change. Gotta give him some credit. He wanted a salad last night and came home with all kinds of crap (fake bacon bits, nasty salad dressing, etc.), but he'll eat it. I'll avoid it.
Me: I've lost 5 lbs and my stomach doesn't hurt like it did. I'm still not in the normal category of stomach issues, but I'm so much better than I was. Meal planning has been hard, but I haven't put much thought into it, either. I spent about 30 minutes today planning for the week and feel good about what I've planned. I'm eager to see what this week brings as far as weight loss and healthy feeling.
Meryt and Luke: Meryt's coming around. She begged for something other than larabars for breakfast, so I'm trying to venture out a little and find other things to offer the kids for breakfast. They've quit asking for cereal (YES!!!) and didn't ask for a bun for their hamburgers at dinner last night. We ate at our friends' farm yesterday (hot dogs and chips) and they ate their hot dogs, but left the buns and didn't finish the chips. Meryt still has a major sweet tooth and barely eats her meals before she's asking for a snack or a dessert. We're working on cutting back on that. She has been asking for water to drink, another major win. Luke stomach eczema is looking better. He still has a few splotches of eczema and the open sore on the back of his knee, but overall he looks a lot better. The EO's are working for his allergies. We got them under control with the prescription meds and seem to be able to maintain with the oils. Both kids ask for a little lavender at bed time. It's sweet to rub them down and send them off to the land of nod smelling scrumptious.
One of the changes we made this week was to begin "no poo." That's not something I'll discuss much on here, because, honestly, it's a bit of a stretch for me and I don't want to seem "too out there." We're definitely in the transition phase, but I'm eager to see how our hair adjusts and if it seems healthier. (Dwayne is not doing this...that's going too far for him.)
Another thing I noticed is what you see when you open our fridge. It's almost entirely produce. We are snacking on fruit and crunching veggies with our dinner. I'm a little more confident in the kitchen and have taught myself to roast a chicken in the oven. This week I'm going to try it in the crock pot and make my own chicken broth.
I LOVE my homemade cleaner. It smells divine and cleans like a charm. We fostered a puppy this week and he had accidents in the kitchen. I'd soak it up, spray the area with cleaner and feel good knowing that the kitchen floor was clean without using any chemicals at all...plus it smelled great!
I am eager to make a batch of laundry detergent. I loved the recipe I used before and plan on making a batch when I finish up the detergent I bought in the moving process.
The kids and I eagerly wait for Wednesdays to arrive so we can visit the market. We love meeting the farmers (and plan on visiting them very soon) and knowing where our food comes from. We've had grass fed beef a few times and it was delicious. We love our sweet little milk man and the ladies who make homemade cat/dog treats. Meryt and I even won something from them for filling out a card.
I don't feel too granola yet, but when I think about some of the changes we're making, I know there is less fluff and more crunch in our lifestyle. What I love is that I know I can maintain the changes we've made. Nothing has been so drastic that we can't continue to live this way.
Saturday, June 8, 2013
Semi-fluffy
You've got to know when to hold 'em...know when to fold 'em.
If I've learned ANYTHING in the past two weeks (concerning food), it's that my poor kids are in absolute shock and I need to S.L.O.W. down for them. Some things haven't bothered them at all.
The switch from regular 2% milk to organic whole milk to raw milk didn't phase them one bit. They haven't mentioned a difference in taste, texture, color, anything. Whew...snuck that one by them.
They are really missing their traditional breakfast of sugary cereal or toaster struedels or microwave pancakes. Yeah, I know, I know....mom of the year award for that one. But hey...I'm a working mom that has to get the kids out of the door in a reasonable amount of time. Luke transitioned more quickly to our new go-to breakfast food: larabars. Meryt is slowly following along. More like dragging her heels, but she's not kicking and screaming, so I'm proclaiming victory over breakfast.
Another major change has been how often I'm cooking at home. Granted, it's the summer and I'm out of school, which gives me immeasureable more time to be domestic. (Hello, empty laundry baskets!!) We aren't running to our favorite restaurants (yes, plural) for lunch or dinner. This is nice...and stressful. I'm having to figure out how to prepare meals that offer some variety, but includes things the kids will eat.
Herein lies the problem. My kids love processed foods. That's all they've eaten for their entire short little lives and I'm scaring the appetite out of them with all of these new foods that I insist they are going to love. I realize that I'm in this for the long haul and while I'm enjoying the new foods, they are young and they didn't ask to jump on this crazy train with me. I might need to use what they love to introduce something new.
Enter Semi-fluffy dinner tonight. I wanted to try out some grass fed beef that I bought last week at the Market. The cattle rancher told me that I might find the taste a little different from traditional ground beef. Hint #1 that I'd better either smother this with ketchup or bribe the children to eat it. I opted for the bribe approach and decided to make tacos for them. I bought the usual shredded cheese and taco shells. I even ran by our favorite mexican restaurant and picked up some of their cheese dip.
HELLO SUCCESS! The beef was AWESOME. I loved it, the kids loved it. I bought a pound of ground beef and it didn't cook away to a greasy mess. We have enough meat left over for tacos after church tomorrow. The kids didn't have a clue that they were eating different meat than usual. Next time, I can switch up some cheese or add some veggies (gasp) to the meat mixture.
There will be other semi-fluffy meals to come as we learn how to navigate this new life style...as we learn how to budget for it and how to enjoy new foods.
If I've learned ANYTHING in the past two weeks (concerning food), it's that my poor kids are in absolute shock and I need to S.L.O.W. down for them. Some things haven't bothered them at all.
The switch from regular 2% milk to organic whole milk to raw milk didn't phase them one bit. They haven't mentioned a difference in taste, texture, color, anything. Whew...snuck that one by them.
They are really missing their traditional breakfast of sugary cereal or toaster struedels or microwave pancakes. Yeah, I know, I know....mom of the year award for that one. But hey...I'm a working mom that has to get the kids out of the door in a reasonable amount of time. Luke transitioned more quickly to our new go-to breakfast food: larabars. Meryt is slowly following along. More like dragging her heels, but she's not kicking and screaming, so I'm proclaiming victory over breakfast.
Another major change has been how often I'm cooking at home. Granted, it's the summer and I'm out of school, which gives me immeasureable more time to be domestic. (Hello, empty laundry baskets!!) We aren't running to our favorite restaurants (yes, plural) for lunch or dinner. This is nice...and stressful. I'm having to figure out how to prepare meals that offer some variety, but includes things the kids will eat.
Herein lies the problem. My kids love processed foods. That's all they've eaten for their entire short little lives and I'm scaring the appetite out of them with all of these new foods that I insist they are going to love. I realize that I'm in this for the long haul and while I'm enjoying the new foods, they are young and they didn't ask to jump on this crazy train with me. I might need to use what they love to introduce something new.
Enter Semi-fluffy dinner tonight. I wanted to try out some grass fed beef that I bought last week at the Market. The cattle rancher told me that I might find the taste a little different from traditional ground beef. Hint #1 that I'd better either smother this with ketchup or bribe the children to eat it. I opted for the bribe approach and decided to make tacos for them. I bought the usual shredded cheese and taco shells. I even ran by our favorite mexican restaurant and picked up some of their cheese dip.
HELLO SUCCESS! The beef was AWESOME. I loved it, the kids loved it. I bought a pound of ground beef and it didn't cook away to a greasy mess. We have enough meat left over for tacos after church tomorrow. The kids didn't have a clue that they were eating different meat than usual. Next time, I can switch up some cheese or add some veggies (gasp) to the meat mixture.
There will be other semi-fluffy meals to come as we learn how to navigate this new life style...as we learn how to budget for it and how to enjoy new foods.
Friday, June 7, 2013
Part of the Club
So, there is apparently this entire subculture of "crunchy" living out there. You never REALLY know who belongs until you quietly mumble something like "I make my own laundry detergent." People you've known for years begin quietly admitting similar non-mainstream lifestyle habits: I don't use shampoo. I make my own deoderant. We only eat grass fed beef. We drink r*w milk. We don't use antibiotics.
There is a club...and the only requirement is to do SOMETHING non-mainstream and you're suddenly part of it, even if you don't know the other members or other "crunchy" habits. Those outside of the club are doubters, eye-rollers, skeptics.
Oh, how I used to be one of those people. Now I'm one of "THOSE" people. Well, I'm not officially one of "THOSE" people yet, but I'm slipping and sliding down the slope so quickly that I will, quite honestly, find myself fully entrenched before I realize what has happened.
It all started with a visit to Luke's doctor in March. He had strep throat and infected ezcema. I casually asked for a referral to an allergist because there is SOMETHING wrong with my sweet boy. If I could pinpoint the moment of change, it was that visit to his pediatrician that started the conversations of alternative treatments and diets for Luke. (Not with his ped...with friends, etc.) We saw the allergist at the beginning of May (diagnosis: food allergies to peanut butter, fish, and wheat; environmental allergies to all trees; asthma; and ezcema) and he suggested slathering Luke up with Crisco to clear up his ezcema. Um...okay. I bought crisco. We moved. I started a 20 minute medicine regiment every night before bed. Something didn't feel right.
Back to the $300 cream on the infected ezcema. Pumping my 2 year old full of steroids and allergy meds didn't feel right. Something has to give...we've got to make some changes.
(Are you sliding and slipping with me?) This is where I went over the cliff from fluffy to crunchy.
On May 27, I cut out most processed foods from our diet. All wheat. All grain. All potatoes. My poor kids are still asking for cereal for breakfast. We went paleo. I do still include raw and organic dairy.
We are using essential oils to treat Luke's environmental allergies.
We are shopping at the local farmer's market.
This is our journey from fluffy living to crunchy living. What are we eating? What are we doing? How is it working? What is the result? How is it going?
There is a club...and the only requirement is to do SOMETHING non-mainstream and you're suddenly part of it, even if you don't know the other members or other "crunchy" habits. Those outside of the club are doubters, eye-rollers, skeptics.
Oh, how I used to be one of those people. Now I'm one of "THOSE" people. Well, I'm not officially one of "THOSE" people yet, but I'm slipping and sliding down the slope so quickly that I will, quite honestly, find myself fully entrenched before I realize what has happened.
It all started with a visit to Luke's doctor in March. He had strep throat and infected ezcema. I casually asked for a referral to an allergist because there is SOMETHING wrong with my sweet boy. If I could pinpoint the moment of change, it was that visit to his pediatrician that started the conversations of alternative treatments and diets for Luke. (Not with his ped...with friends, etc.) We saw the allergist at the beginning of May (diagnosis: food allergies to peanut butter, fish, and wheat; environmental allergies to all trees; asthma; and ezcema) and he suggested slathering Luke up with Crisco to clear up his ezcema. Um...okay. I bought crisco. We moved. I started a 20 minute medicine regiment every night before bed. Something didn't feel right.
Back to the $300 cream on the infected ezcema. Pumping my 2 year old full of steroids and allergy meds didn't feel right. Something has to give...we've got to make some changes.
(Are you sliding and slipping with me?) This is where I went over the cliff from fluffy to crunchy.
On May 27, I cut out most processed foods from our diet. All wheat. All grain. All potatoes. My poor kids are still asking for cereal for breakfast. We went paleo. I do still include raw and organic dairy.
We are using essential oils to treat Luke's environmental allergies.
We are shopping at the local farmer's market.
This is our journey from fluffy living to crunchy living. What are we eating? What are we doing? How is it working? What is the result? How is it going?
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