We have our very first garden this year.  It is a modest one at 8x8.  We are growing red, orange, and yellow bell peppers; cherry, heirloom, and big beef tomatoes; and zucchini.  Lots and lots of zucchini.  So far, I have shredded 10 cups worth and have at least that amount waiting for me on the vine.  And it's only the beginning of the season.

Why does this matter?  Expect to see lots and lots of recipes containing zucchini!  I just hope you have some in your garden too.  If you don't have a garden, at least it is cheap at the grocery store.

We recently celebrated our son's third birthday!  I cannot believe he is 3 years old and that I have unintentionally been in the world of food intolerances for just as long.  

When Ryland was just a few weeks old, I complained to my pediatrician that my son was not sleeping and was always fussy and spitting up.  She told me that he is a baby and babies don't sleep much and he will outgrow it.  She gave us some medicine for reflux.  At one month, she suggested I cut out dairy.  At each subsequent visit to the doctor, I said "he still isn't sleeping and he is still fussy."  Maybe she thought I had new mommy syndrome and was overreacting.  Finally, I demanded to see the GI because something was definitely wrong.

At seven months old, I took Ryland in to GI to see what was up.  They then suggested he could have MSPI (milk soy protein intolerance) and that I needed to cut out a whole list of ingredients.  Little did I know, I was not fully avoiding dairy and I certainly was not avoiding soy.  The doctor suggested that most babies outgrow their intolerances by 1 year.  The countdown was on!

It has been two and a half years since that visit and we are still living with food intolerances.  While we are very lucky that MSPI is all that he has, it amazes me that he is still so intolerant.

After an unsuccessful soy trial last summer, we went on Neocate Junior for awhile.  He hated it!  We decided about 6 months ago to try raw cow's milk and it went great!  He was able to handle the raw milk just fine and quickly put on 6 pounds which was huge for us.

In just the last couple of weeks, we have been trialing pasteurized dairy in the form of icecream and cheese and so far so good!  Ryland is tolerating all of the dairy just fine.  It is amazing to be able to feed him some fattening dairy-laden products.  To be honest, I don't know (or care) if he tolerates soy.

I thought I'd put some pictures of his fun birthday cake up to show that birthdays with MSPI can still be fun!  I used my recipes for wacky cake and chocolate buttercream frosting.  Click to see them larger.

If you're dealing with intolerances past 1 year of age, my heart goes out to you...hang in there.  Eventually these little ones do get better and you can enjoy a bowl of icecream with yours as well.

Babies are so confusing!  My daughter is now 15 months old and is teething, not sleeping well, and has mucusy stools, all the while I am trying my best to introduce foods to her diet and my diet.  She cannot be figured out.

We saw an allergist a couple of weeks ago and he tested for milk, soy, eggs, peanuts, almonds, pecans, corn, wheat, and oats.  I thought for sure she was allergic to almonds and eggs so that is what I expected to hear.  They poked her back and we waited in the room to see what she would react to.  Other than the control spot, only one spot was getting really red.  I peeked at the paper that listed the allergen codes and it was a shocker...peanuts!  Of all the things, that I did not really expect.  I had taken peanuts out of my diet when she was about 2 months old due to mucusy stools.  Regardless, her two year old brother ate peanut butter sandwiches all the time and I can't always keep his hands off her and she had never had a reaction.  The doctor came in and told us that she had a "severe peanut allergy" and that we needed to have a nut-free house.  Sure, no problem.  Let's just take out a staple of my low-weight two-year-old's diet.  But of course that is what we did because we love our little girl and don't want to see what a peanut reaction might look like.  The allergist did not have tests for several other things she is at least intolerat to: apricots, prunes, coconut, etc.

We have another appointment with the GI doctor on Monday who will decide if she needs a scope.  I suspect a gluten intolerance but like I said, babies are confusing so who knows?!

We are so excited to announce that we have a new contributor to Intolerant Offspring!  Jenna is a newlywed who loves to experiment in the kitchen making all kinds of new recipes for herself and her husband.  She lives in Florida and will be able to add a fresh spin on the recipes you see on Intolerant Offspring.

Our baby turned 1!

For weeks leading up to Korina's first birthday, I stressed about what to do for a birthday cake.  For the average one year old, you just go to the bakery and pick up a cake and feed it to them.  For the food intolerant kiddo, things just aren't that easy.  

Korina fails many of the solids she eats and we weren't even close to introducing wheat.  She had only passed a few fruits and vegetables and had failed rice, one of the less allergenic grains.  There was no way I was going to stick a wheat cake in front of her.

So while I pondered what to do for a cake, I kind of stumbled upon an idea.  I had made a side dish called Whipped Sweet Potato and Bananas and I realized that with some modifications, this would make the perfect cake.

I mashed some sweet potatoes and roasted banana and put it into a ramekin overnight.  The next day, I popped it out and frosted it with homemade buttercream frosting.  I know most kids only eat the frosting but it felt so much safer knowing that if she did dig into the cake, it would be safe for her to eat.

I hope that for those of you with food intolerant babies, you can rest assured that your baby will still get to eat a special birthday cake...it just may not look like what you're used to.

So yesterday I had a new experience!  I thought I'd try out a new baby food on Korina so I chose apricots.  Not too long later, she had broken out in hives!  There were red patches all over the back of her neck and some on her legs.  Previously to this, neither of my kids had ever had a systemic reaction to any food.  I thought all we were dealing with was intolerances.

Now that I have seen the whole hives breakout, it makes me a little more cautious of what to feed her next.  Since apricots are related to tree nuts and other pitted fruits, I feel like I have to be extra careful with her.  It also explains why whenever I ate almond butter months ago, she reacted to it.  I am also wondering if we are now more in the realm of food allergies than intolerances.

I don't know much about food allergies other than just pure experience.  I haven't done as much research as many other moms have about food allergies or intolerances and I have been mostly going on a trial and error basis.  Sometimes I worry that the more research I do, the more complicated things will become and the more confused I will be.  So for now, I am just going to keep moving slowly with solids. So far, I know that she does okay with sweet potatoes, pears, and blueberries.  She does not do well with prunes or rice.  Everything else is kind of up in the air.

I am currently off of milk, soy, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, corn (I have only eliminated corn, corn starch, corn syrup, and caramel color), and seeds (sunflower, flax, pumpkin).

So about three weeks ago, I started a raw milk trial for both myself (and 9 month old) and my son.  A friend from a listserve I am on told me about raw milk and directed me where to go to get it.  We drove about 30 minutes to a farm outside of Omaha and got a gallon of this raw milk.  I started with just 4 ounces for each of us on day one.  No throw up...so we went to 8 ounces on day two.  No throw up again.  I had my fingers crossed because Korina should have started reacting if she was going to, I thought.  Back last summer when I tried a soy trial on Ryland it took a full six days of drinking soy milk for him to react, but when he did it was full-force tummy issues.  After a week of no reactions on Ryland I was hopeful.

After about a week and a half, both Ryland and I were drinking about 18 ounces of raw milk each day.  Korina then began to not sleep too well...waking every two hours or so at night and not napping during the day.  It was a fail.  She cannot yet tolerate milk...at least in that large of quantities.  I was very excited that she did so well though!

As far as Ryland goes, about two weeks into the trial, he got a rash on his bottom and hands.  It seemed not to bother him at all and he was otherwise doing fine.  I have trouble thinking outside of the food box, so I was only attributing the rash to the milk.  It could be the dry weather or the fabric softener I used on his underwear accidentally.  Regardless, he gained two pounds last month...which I attribute mostly to the milk.  So far, I am considering this a pass.  As long as he is gaining weight, not vomitting, and has a non-irritating rash, we are going to continue giving him the milk.  I'll keep you posted!

Now that I have experimented some going Wheat-Free, I have learned that a lot of recipes can be made wheat-free with just minor modifications.  Most baking recipes can be made wheat-free by using oat flour or a gluten-free substitute.

How to make Oat Flour:  In a coffee grinder, grind old fashioned oats until the consistency of flour.


Gluten-Free Flour Recipe:

3 cups white rice flour
3 cups tapioca starch
2 cups arrowroot starch
1 cup potato starch
3 Tbsp potato flour (optional)

Stir all ingredients together in large bowl. Store in airtight container. Use for cakes and muffins. Stir or sift before use.  This flour mix can be substituted 1:1 for wheat flour in recipes. It works well for things like cakes and cookies. Add a 1/2 tsp of xanthan gum per cup to each recipe.  (From Kids With Food Allergies)

Since Korina is still having sleep issues, I have decided it is time to go Top 8 Free.  I have dreaded giving up wheat since that is a major staple in my diet but have decided it is time!  I am now avoiding milk, soy, egg, peanut, tree nut, wheat, fish, shellfish, and corn.

On that note, you will notice that some food items that call for flour will show up as wheat-free.  That is because I am using a wheat flour substitute.  I have been experimenting with oat flour (traditional oats ground in my coffee grinder) with some success.  Hopefully as I get more used to this wheat-free thing I will have some new options for those of you also avoiding wheat.

Hey loyal readers - I decided I needed a "News" section of the website so that I could keep you in the loop as my diet changes, new diagnoses come about, etc.

Ryland is now 29 months old and is a whopping 21 pounds.  We are in frequent contact with the GI to try to figure out what to do to get his weight up.  Back in July, they had done on upper endoscopy and found some eosinophils.  They put him on Prevacid and Neocate Junior to try to help with the eosinophilic esophagitis.  Recently, we put him on Periactin to stimulate his appetite.  He is still not gaining weight and we are kind of in limbo in deciding the next step.

Korina is almost 9 months old and is still battling food intolerances.  She has fallen on the charts to the tenth percentile, despite her birth weight of 8 pounds 6 ounces.  She is not tolerating any solids and is still waking up 3-4 times per night.  We are going to be seeing a GI next week to figure out what is up with her.

Hopefully as I keep the News section updated I will be able to share my journey of two kids with food intolerances.