Seven Quick Takes

I

"Not quite there yet," "in a few more weeks," "when we get to that point"... all of my caveats and sidestepping are out the window because all of a sudden, our whole crazy gluten-free, egg-free, dairy-free, soy-free, etc, diet starts now. No more waiting until I feel ready. I went off dairy and soy for Otter's sake starting yesterday, and ohmygoodness last night was so much better than the past week or two. Kind of a hooray!/aw... feeling; it's what he needs, so I'm glad to know and be able to do it, but now I'm off dairy and soy for a long time again. Matt and LB will formally begin the full elimination diet Sunday morning, but we're tumbling rapidly into it because that is close enough that I can't make anything noncompliant which is likely to leave leftovers.

II

And just to make it more exciting, I get to go back to the grocery store and return the almond flour and almond butter that I brought home yesterday, because surprise, I missed the line at the top of the page last time I read their results and Matt and LB are both forbidden almonds as well! Do you know how many gluten-free recipes call for almond flour? So many. And I made a double batch of banana bread yesterday, to start us off: no eggs, gluten-free flour, and... almond milk. Oops. At least Kit and I can eat it.

III

There's a kitchen hack that I tend to think of as common knowledge, but I'm often surprised by people not knowing about it so maybe it isn't actually that common? So in case this is helpful to anyone: in many types of baking, you can substitute bananas for eggs 1:1. I've done it with great success in brownies, cookies, muffins, and quickbreads—I never put any eggs in my banana bread, because it's so much better with the extra bananas. (Granted, this will add banana flavor to whatever you're making, but we like banana so that's not usually an issue in our house.)

IV

Food aside, it's been a lovely week. Today we were enjoying balmy 40-degree weather, and the kids have been spending hours out in the slush and mud. I've kind of reached the point of pretending not to hear when they talk about playing in "the mud waterfall," aka the side of the driveway where all the melting snow is running down... After the long Alaskan winter, they need sunshine more than I need small laundry loads, and as long as the muddy outerwear stays out in the garage, they can get as dirty as they want. LB pulled out his bike the other day, and Kit has been begging for rides in the wagon, but the driveway is still a little too soft... A neighbor just offered us a nice pink trike that her daughter has outgrown, and Kit will be so excited to see it! 

V

Otter is growing so fast. Did I say that last week? It's definitely still true; he is really filling out, and doesn't have that "newborn look" anymore. I can't believe that he will be four weeks old in a couple of days! My phone refuses to talk to Blogger or my computer at all right now, though, so I can't use any photos this week.

VI

The pussy willows are out in full force, and while there's still a lot of snow in the yard, I know that Matt is starting to check the birch trees for signs of green. One good thing about the elimination diet: there's a chance that sticking to it will lessen the severity of his birch allergies this year. We were also encouraged to tap some birch trees and collect the first run of sap for him to drink, which would help, but then I had a baby... No sap-collecting occurred this year. Maybe in the future--it would be fun to make birch syrup someday.

VII
I have strong feelings about peanut butter; it may well be my most-often-consumed protein source, at least for breakfasts and lunches. Typically I'm adamant about it not containing anything other than peanuts and salt, but someone recently introduced me to Dark Chocolate Dreams from Peanut Butter & Co... it is incredible! Also dairy-free and soy-free, which other chocolate-nut butters I've seen have not been. A very fun treat.

LB has to give up peanut butter for the elimination diet, but since it's such an inexpensive protein source, Kit and I will keep eating it and I'm hoping to find a not-ridiculously-expensive alternative for LB. Almond butter isn't allowed either, and that's the only other "-butter" that I've had before... what else is out there that a five year old would find appealing?


Have a great weekend, and don't forget to check out This Ain't The Lyceum for more 7QT.