Happy Harvest and Stocking up For Winter, perspectives and insights shared by Amanda

Happy fall! Here in Massachusetts we are starting to see trees changing color already as other signs of fall creep in. This time of year is great for a lot of reasons but the one I am currently enjoying most is cheap produce and the ability to flash freeze these seasonal products for tasty treats all winter long.

Today I was able to get some great blackberries, raspberries and strawberries all on sale, and... with very few "duds" in each package. In response to some other parents asking me recently how to flash freeze, I decided to make a little photo tutorial of my afternoon in the kitchen with B's beloved berries.

Flash Freezing:
1. Clean and inspect all of the produce you are planning on using. Cut out bad spots and remove all moldy produce.

2. Once produce has been inspected and cleaned, cut pieces as you would like to freeze them (broccoli into small florets, strawberries into fourths, etc)

3. Spread pieces onto large cutting board covered with paper towels to dry. Set aside and assemble needed equipment for freezing.

4. Assemble cookie sheets and your choice of cookie sheet liner (aluminum foil, plastic wrap, press and seal, wax paper, parchment paper, etc.); be sure that there is a clear spot in the freezer to lay your cookie trays flat. "Freezer tetris" time!

5. Line cookie sheets with preferred liner(s). Today, I used foil (shiny side up) on one, plastic wrap on another, and press and seal on the third (adhesive side facing down on the cookie sheet) to determine which had the best outcome.

6. Gently pat produce dry with paper towels (or clean kitchen towels-- just remember that some produce may stain your towels!) and begin assembling produce pieces on cookie sheets.

7. Produce pieces should not touch one another if at all possible; try your best to keep the smallest area of the produce piece on the surface as possible (in case it sticks, you have less surface area to try and detach it once frozen.)

8. Once all pieces are distributed onto the cookie sheets, slide into the freezer so that they remain flat. Check on the pieces after the first hour or so, but I generally set my timer for four to eight hours and that tends to be enough for small pieces of produce (berry size). They will feel like little rocks but not be "frostbitten" once they are ready. Once frozen, you really shouldn't get much, if any, juice on your hands from briefly touching the produce.

9. Label freezer bags with the type of produce and the date you are freezing them (permanent markers are great for this!)

10. Fill appropriate bags with corresponding produce. Back to the freezer they go! Try not to eat the produce until you can no longer get it in the store (or at least until it is no longer at a decent price in the store!)

Of course, fruits like apples, pears or bananas may not fare as well sliced and flash frozen color-wise. You can sprinkle lemon juice on them to better maintain the fruit's color, if lemons are safe for your child. I personally prefer to make pear sauce (since apples are not safe) and freeze it in the ice cube trays much like how you would prepare homemade baby food. I do the same with beet sauce (boiled and pureed beets-- same consistency as apple sauce. B loves it!)

Enjoy the harvest time and stock up for winter! Your sanity (and your wallet!) will thank you later!

The Protein Intolerant Kitchen: Recipes! perspectives and insights shared by Amanda

You have the equipment. You have the ingredients. Time to put them together and make some well-deserved treats for your little one! I will include some links to helpful recipe sites at the end of this article, but I will mostly be discussing how you can put together your own recipes.

Dealing with PI in the kitchen can be daunting. Even cookbooks labeled “allergy friendly” do not exactly fit our children's needs and require much revamping.

So how do you adapt a recipe? The ingredient information from last week gives some ideas for substitutions, but the list is not exhaustive. Once you have your list of safe ingredients, determine what each ingredient can be used for (Do you have a flour? An oil?). Now that you know what building blocks you have available to you, you can start selecting recipes to fit your list.

Only one ingredient? No problem!!! If you have a flour, water and flour can typically be combined to make a flat bread (millet, corn, wheat, sorghum, rice, barley, oat and quinoa flours work well independently). For many flours (though not all-- you may have to do some playing around here) the ratio for water to flour is typically between 1:1 and 2:3. For a little extra softness, decrease the water to 2/3 cup and add in 1 Tbsp of oil.

If you have only safe fruits or veggies, you can roast or pan sear them for a different flavor/ texture. Brown sugar creates a lovely caramelizing effect for both fruits and veggies. Roasting them in foil packets with a dash of oil can be a great way to prepare those veggies as well.

Another single ingredient recipe is creating a nut or seed butter--- quinoa, hemp, almond, and their “friends” all make excellent butters. Simply roast the nuts/seeds on a cookie sheet, add a little salt and sugar (if freebies are safe), and pulverize in a food processor or blender. Adding oil will give a creamier texture.

Two ingredients? Great! If you have two safe ingredients and some freebies, you can make a muffin, a cookie, and other baked goods. If your two ingredients don't include a flour, you can do variations on the previously described fruit and veggie preparation. Maybe freeze some fruit chunks and make a smoothie with breast milk or formula!

I know I was so excited the day that I could finally make multiple ingredient recipes, and I really hope that we all can get to that point! Often, as more foods become safe, you can modify previous recipes to go from being one ingredient to multiple ingredient recipes. An example: I make a flat bread for B out of Masa (a type of corn flour), with a touch of oil and water. As she passed more foods, I was able to substitute hemp milk for the water, add in some beet or spinach puree for extra nutrients, and use a combination of flours (I use quinoa flakes and Masa now) instead of just one. As seen here, finding recipes that are easy to modify and easy to accommodate new safe ingredients can make life much easier when baking everything from scratch! Who wants to reinvent the wheel every time a new safe food crosses your kitchen door?!

This is a really brief overview, but I hope it can get the wheels turning. In a sense, I have found baking for B (as opposed to reading labels in search of safe prepared foods) to be extremely liberating. I feel like we are less restricted in the diversity of her diet, despite her small list of safe foods, because we can do more with the safe foods when we take control of the cooking. There is a short list of some helpful recipe links to get everyone started. 100% of the recipe links will not be safe for everyone, but almost all of them should have something for your little one after a few modifications. Good luck and happy baking!

http://www.babybeesfpiestestkitchen.blogspot.com/
http://cindalouskitchenblues.blogspot.com/2008/11/table-of-contents.html
http://www.egglesscooking.com/2008/11/20/egg-replacement-event-flax-seed-meal-round-up/
http://www.kidswithfoodallergies.org/recipes.html
http://www.cookingallergyfree.com/
http://www.spewdfree.com/

The Protein Intolerant Kitchen: Ingredients, perspectives and insights shared by Amanda

Skeptical about being able to create something with only one or two ingredients?

Cooking is just like art--- you can paint a sunset with many colors or you can paint a black and white sunset with shades of one or two colors. It is may look different but it is still a sunset, and it still can be just as unique and just as beautiful. The same thought applies to baking for your child with PI!

There are always variations and substitutions to be found but here is a basic list you may seek to build for your cooking endeavors. Please keep in mind (as you all know!) the most important ingredients are your child's safe foods and foods that are nutritionally helpful to your child's diet. That said, there is a special place for the “goodies”--- with so many PI kids having varying feeding issues, it is important that we give them as many options for texture, taste, and variety to help stimulate normal feeding development.

Oil
Find a safe oil. Nutritionally, oils add fat, sometimes they can be healthy Omega fats. And typically our little ones need some extra fats in their diets! From a baking standpoint, oil helps to bind ingredients and to keep the finished product from being too dry. Aesthetically, oil adds flavor and dimension to a recipe. Safflower oil may add a nuttier flavor (a great substitute for recipes calling for peanut oil!!) whereas canola oil adds a buttery flavor, one of the reasons why canola is so often preferred in baking. And of course, there are oil substitutions, depending on the recipe, such as fruit purees and alternative shortenings (such as palm shortening.)

Flour
A flour does not have to come from a grain!! Repeat with me. . .
There are many types of flours out there-- coconut flour, buckwheat flour, almond flour, garbanzo bean flour, seed based flours . . and that is just the tip of the iceberg. There are grain based flours of course-- wheat, corn and the like-- but for those little ones who cannot tolerate grains or might simply not be ready for them, there are countless alternatives.
When selecting your flour, learn a little bit about it. Read recipes that use the flour-- even if you have no intention of making the recipe-- the ingredient list alone can tell you how that flour reacts and interacts with other baking ingredients. Coconut flour recipes, for instance, when coconut is the only flour, typically require several eggs for leavening purposes as well as for binding purposes. Also, be aware of the taste. Quinoa flour is quite strong for some and using certain spices or different types of sugars can help to balance out the flavor.

Sugar
There are so many out there-- you just may have to do some digging!! “Regular” white sugar isn't the only option-- there is organic cane sugar, beet sugar, maple sugar, coconut sugar, date sugar, honey, agave nectar. . .

A key element in choosing your sugar again lies in how the sugar will react/interact with the other ingredients. For instance, when making a sauce, I discovered that coconut sugar boils and breaks down differently than “typical” brown sugar. Also, coconut sugar adds more sweetness to a recipe than honey or granulated white sugar, so you will use less for the recipe. Maple sugar also requires alterations for best use. Some sugars will make a recipe seemingly more moist whereas others can make it seem a little drier. I personally enjoy using a combination of sugars but whatever is best tolerated by your little one is the best sugar (or combo of sugars!) for you!!!

The (typical) Freebies
Every little one is different and if your little one is particularly sensitive, you may find yourself wanting to trial the “freebies” as well. You know you child better than anyone and should determine what truly can be trusted for your child. That said, many children can tolerate standard baking chemicals such as salt, cream of tartar and baking soda (baking powder can contain corn, although there are corn free versions!).

Some people consider the starches to be freebies because they are not supposed to contain any food protein, therefore, based on this, the child should not react to them. That said, there have been reports of parents on internet boards stating that their child has reacted to one or more of the starches. So same as before, know your child and tread a little more cautiously here than you might with something like salt, for instance. Of the starches, arrowroot has been historically used with people who have GI issues or poor health in general. Because of this, we felt confident trying it with B. Not only is is a helpful baking ingredient (for binding), but it is also helpful in putting weight on these little ones when added to the ingredient list.

Fruits and Veggies-- Beyond Purees!
Fruits and veggies are great additions to recipes! I like adding B's two safe veggies to baked goods because they are easier for her to digest when she eats them this way. Plus, it makes her baked goods even that much healthier. Purees can be used as oil substitutes, egg substitutes, and simply to add flavor to an existing recipe. Generally, when I add a puree to a recipe NOT as a substitute for an ingredient, I simply wait to add in the water/milk required by the recipe after mixing in the puree. The puree adds a little bit of liquid to the recipe, so it may not require as much liquid from the water or milk source.

Liquids
Most recipes specify a type of liquid but that does not necessarily mean it is the only type that will work in a recipe. Milk is commonly called for in recipes. Sometimes you can substitute water or juice in place of milk-- it depends on what purpose the milk serves in the recipe. You can typically use alternative milks interchangeably, with some minor adjustments occasionally needed. Breast milk can be used in recipes in place of dairy milk. Also, in some recipes, formula may be substituted-- the key here is knowing what temperature(s) the formula can tolerate. Can it be frozen and used for ice cream? Can it be baked in a cake? Always contact the manufacturer when in doubt and when you cannot find this information on the label. And like everything else, you will discover the best results through trial and error!


I hope these ideas can get you started in the kitchen. It is so rewarding to create something that your little one (finally!) can eat, especially when it is a special treat for a special occasion. Just remember-- like most everything else in the life of a parent of a PI little one-- trial and error is really the best way to discover safe, tasty treats! Happy baking! Feel free to post any questions for me here and be sure stay tuned for the third and final part of the PI Pantry series!!!

The Protein Intolerant Kitchen: Equipment...perspectives and insights shared by Amanda

Part 1-- The Equipment

Welcome to our FPIES test kitchen! And a note-- though we deal with FPIES in our household, all of this info is applicable to cooking for children with various forms of PI. So your little one is ready to embark on the world of solids, or maybe he or she has already. For parents of little ones with PI, reading the labels and being hypervigilant about hidden ingredients can be exhausting. Why not make it all homemade? Why not create safe foods at home, leaving behind worries of factory cross contamination and questionable ingredients?

But what equipment is needed for this noble endeavor? There are many options out there for baby food specifically (there are actual cookers that do just about everything but pick the fruit off of the vine for you!) However, if you are like me, you will want equipment to be simple but frugal, and items that will hold up with much wear and tear. Here is our list of equipment and uses:

1.Saucepan(s)-- Buy one medium, or one small and one large saucepan (with lids!) I like the ones that are dishwasher safe and are free of non-stick coating. This way, they can be sanitized!

2.Colandar-- Buy at least one medium to medium-large colander. Be sure that it nests into one of your saucepans. You can use this for steaming fruits and veggies before dicing or pureeing them!

3.Utensils-- Have a variety of your favorites and again, I do love the dishwasher safe varieties. I keep a serving spoon, a whisk, a paring knife, a few spatulas, a serving spatula (like a pie server), a pastry blender, a pampered chef masher, and measuring cups/spoons, as well as a few odds and ends.

4.Silicone baking cups-- These are dishwahser safe, you can use as many or as few as you need, and the muffins/cakes typically pop right out without any need for messy greasing or papers (some of which, believe it or not, could contain questionable ingredients!) I got 12 for $4 at Target (and they are heart shaped!)

5.Electric mixer--- I use our Kitchenaid and simply sanitize all mixing parts between uses

6.Mixing bowl(s)-- I keep two dedicated to B, but one is really enough.

7.Food processor or Blender--- I have both. A mini food processor for small jobs and a large glass jar blender for large jobs. Really, you just need one or the other, but I like having both. These are much cheaper than buying those expensive baby food makers and you can find some with lots of settings to create a variety of textures for your little one's foods. My current blender has 14 settings and is very resilient to my incessant cooking. It was under $50.

8.Brownie pan-- Sized at about 9x13, this can be used for cakes, sorbet making, cookies, bars, granola. . . the list goes on. You can also use this to hold your silicone baking cups when making cupcakes or muffins, or for flash freezing veggies and fruits.

9.Freezer bags-- I get the quart and the gallon size. Once you make baby food cubes or packets, several can be stored in the freezer bags, freeing up your trays for more cooking.

10.Ice cube trays-- You can also get actual baby food freezer trays but really, you can just pick up a few ice cube trays at the dollar store. For the plain ice cube trays, I cover them with a solid layer of press and seal before freezing food in them. Silicone trays work really well too--- just cover them with the press and seal too.

11.Press and Seal wrap--- Cover ice cube trays of premade food with them, make little packets of diced frozen food, etc. Many many uses!

12.Variety of small storage containers (Freezer and microwave safe)-- These are great for pre-made meals if you don't always have time to cook everything right at the meal time. Also, many recipes make much more than our little ones will eat in a serving, so these are great for preserving leftovers.

Some children will not be sensitive enough to their trigger foods in order to need to use separate kitchen equipement from the rest of the family. Not only is B sensitive to some things to the degree of needing separate cookware, but I also find it easier to have her own set of things. This way, when I need something for her food, it is readily available. Also, I don't have to question the cross contamination, which is a huge relief. She does share some of our cookware, but only equipment that I can adequately sanitize in the dishwasher. In accordance to using separate cookware, I also make sure that I buy separate sponges for washing the few pieces of equipment that are not dishawasher safe. I keep them a different color from the sponges I buy for handwashing the rest of the household's dishes, and I never allow her dishes and our dishes to share the sink.

Another significant detail about your PI kitchen equipment to remember: you are cooking for a child, so make it fun! I search out utensils that have bright colors or patterns, silicone cups and pans in fun shapes, and any fun looking equipment that I might not buy for the rest of the household (I just bought a tiny skillet that makes pig shaped pancakes). Most of us will have to encounter food aversions or simple toddler pickiness at some point and keeping things fun and fresh can help make the same old foods still look appealing.

I hope this helps to get everyone started! Keep posted for the next installment of the PI Pantry-- Part 2: Ingredients!

Feeding our Protein Intolerant Toddlers Perspectives by Amanda

Toddlers are such a wild and crazy bunch. Everything with them seems to be a never ending adventure, and eating is no exception! But what do you do when your little adventurer is food protein intolerant? Many PI toddlers are still in the midst of weekly or biweekly food trials. Some do not even begin the majority of food trials until their first birthdays because of frequent and dramatic reactions to food as infants. So in a way, we parents of these little ones need to start at the beginning, introducing low allergen foods gradually and working on building a tiny menu. Potentially this is done with the help of a dietitian or nutritionist who is informed about PI. All of these precautions aside, however, we must remember-- PI toddlers are still toddlers.

My B started foods at  6 months old. Due to several reactions to a variety of foods, and needing to take a few breaks from solids for her gut to heal, we had only 4 safe foods on her 1st birthday. Six months later, we now have 10 safe foods and we are now doing weekly food trials as opposed to every third week, as we were doing when she was younger than 15 months. She has had some recent fails, but since many of her severe reactions are the "build-up" kind (we see red flags leading up to the reaction as the food trial continues), we have been able to stop the food when the reaction was still considered minor. This helps her to rebound more quickly and to be more accepting of new foods-- therefore, we are able to push on much sooner than before!

It is a constant struggle for us trying to create food that looks and "feels" like toddler food within B's limited menu. Creating alternative recipes has been a lifesaver when it comes to not only combating pickiness, but helping to deal with texture issues and food aversions. As a parent, I want my toddler's eating experience to be a sensory experience, incorporating a variety of textures and flavors into her little diet. Instead of serving the pearsauce again, for instance, trying baked pears with brown sugar or dried pear chips can offer some variation. Instead of creamed or kernel corn, we experiment with corn flour or Masa Harina (a type of corn flour that is much milder in taste and more similar to "regular" flour in texture). By simply adding water and maybe throwing in some oil, salt, and/or sugar, a simple flat bread or pseudo pancake can be created! I am hoping, once we pass some more foods, to spend a little time trialling spices or extracts, just to jazz things up. We will simply follow the same protocol as a food trial! In my opinion, when baking, the keys to remember are creativity, safety (of course!), nutritional value, and keeping it simple. I want to not only create something that B will enjoy eating but also something that I will enjoy making. No one wants to be slaving in a hot kitchen every day, only to turn out one little muffin. Really-- we ARE raising toddlers!

I could talk forever about feeding little ones with food protein intolerance--- keeping a degree of "normal" in B's very abnormal diet is very near and dear to me. I want other little ones dealing with protein intolerance to beincluded in the normalcy, exploration and fun that food can offer for them. Hopefully, some of these tips will help accomplish this goal. Until next time, eat on!