Nutritious, delicious, intolerance-friendly recipes and advice
I talk to lots of mums whose sensitive kids struggle with behavioural and sensory problems. Defiance, poor focus, and hyperactivity, go with sensitivity to smells, textures and tastes. And they really want to know how they can help their kids, and themselves, have a calmer, happier home.
And this troubled behaviour and sensitivity seems to get worse at Christmas and birthday parties and the like. Anywhere where there is different food and an excitable atmosphere.
I know, I know, it’s still a chocolate brownie, right? How can it be good for us? Well, it’s all in the substitutions and additions!
Do you love a simple recipe? Is 4 or 5 ingredients and a quick stir together your ideal way of cooking? Then these beautifully simple buckwheat pancakes will be just right. They are equally delicious for the non-sensitive members of the family. And are light but also filling, to keep everyone satisfied. Serve with bacon for the absolute win!
I’m a sucker for biccies, as anyone who knows me, knows. These healthy, little biccies have so many variations, you can really just use whatever is in the pantry – so long as you have some GF flour, yoghurt and sultanas, you’ll be set!
Do you sometimes baulk at the price of healthy, activated cereals and granolas which are made from wholeseome ingredients like nuts, seeds, and buckwheat? I definitely do.
What about when your favourite, intolerance-friendly cereal isn’t on the shelf? Very annoying! Do you go to the other shop, wasting your precious time, just to get one thing?
Or do you buy something else, knowing it’s not as good for you or might make you just a little bit sick?
…For birthday cakes, I use sugar. My cakes are already gluten free, dairy free, grain free, soy free and egg free. So I figure, if I want kids who are used to “normal” cakes to eat my kids’ birthday cakes, I better put at least one familiar ingredient in there. And it usually works. Kids who are used to some home baking or gluten free, love this cake. It is moist and doesn’t crumble too much, so it slices really well for birthdays.
Since I fractured my back, I’ve been careful to include essential bone building nutrients in my diet. While calcium is essential for bone health, it can’t get into our bones without a healthy dose of vitamin D from the sun, and a well-functioning gut….
Well, here we are at the end of the year, and hasn’t it been a busy one! (Well, isn’t it always!?)
This year, I have completed 27 assignments, 273 student clinic hours, graduated with a distinction average from my nutritional medicine degree…
Foods can often be the trigger for chronic conditions
So it’s begun. The Elimination Diet. But I must admit, I’ve gone for the simple approach this time. Less foods to cut out, which makes it easier to keep a balanced approach the whole family can enjoy.
You see the elimination diet is based on a set of charts, with foods listed as having low, medium, high or very high levels of natural chemicals. The higher the levels, the more likely you are to react (or the less you need before you do). So by cutting out just the foods that are very high in chemicals, Sofia can have a balanced diet while still avoiding likely triggers for her eczema and maybe even asthma….
My baby takes a trip to hospital, lucky they have lemonade ice blocks!
Have you ever taken your little one to hospital? That smell of disinfectant, yet still you’re scared to touch anything… your child so sick and you so worried, but immediately you feel relieved once you’re there, knowing you’ll be helped soon. Well that was us a few days ago, with little 2 year old Sofia. Sick again with croup and asthma, something she’s had regular bouts of since the beginning of the year (and the start of daycare). Not to mention chronic eczema, which also flared up when she started daycare. She’s ok now, but on a lot more medication than is good or right for such a young person (and isn’t that so common these days!?).
So here’s me, once again, knowing that there must be a cause for my baby to be so sick (other than my faulty genes I passed on), and desperate to work out what it is, so we can get rid of it! …