THESE MOMS SHARE SPECIAL GIFTS

THESE MOMS SHARE SPECIAL GIFTS
by Erma Bombeck

Most women become mothers by accident, some by choice, a few by social pressures, and a couple by habit. This year, nearly 100,000 women will become mothers of handicapped children. Did you ever wonder how mothers of handicapped children are chosen?

Somehow I visualize God hovering over Earth selecting his instruments for propagation with great care and deliberation. As he observes, he instructs his angels to make notes in a giant ledger. 'Armstrong, Beth, son, patron saint Matthew. Forrest, Marjorie, daughter, patron saint Cecelia. Rudledge, Carrie, twins, patron saint...give her Gerard. He's used to profanity.' Finally he passes a name to an angel and smiles, 'Give her a handicapped child.'

The angel is curious, 'Why this one, God? She's so happy.'

'Exactly,' says God. 'Could I give a handicapped child a mother who does not know laughter? That would be cruel.'

'But has she patience?' asks the angel.

'I don't want her to have too much patience, or she will drown in a sea of self pity and despair. Once the shock and resentment wear off, she'll handle it. She has that feeling of self and independence that is so rare and so necessary in a mother. You see, the child I'm going to give her has his own world. She has to make him live in her world, and that's not going to be easy.'

'But, Lord, I don't think that she even believes in you.'

God smiles, 'No matter. I can fix that. This one is perfect. She has just enough selfishness.'

The angel gasps, 'Selfishness? Is that a virtue?'

God nods, 'If she can't separate herself from the child occasionally, she'll never survive. Yes, here is a woman whom I will bless with a child less than perfect. She doesn't realize it yet, but she is to be envied. She will never take for granted a spoken word. She will never consider a step ordinary. When her child says Momma for the first time, she will be present at a miracle and know it! When she describes a tree or a sunset to her blind child, she will see it as few people ever see my creations.'

'I will permit her to see clearly the things I see...ignorance, cruelty, prejudice...and allow her to rise above them. She will never be alone. I will be at her side every minute of every day of her life, because she is doing my work as surely as she is here by my side.'

'And what about her patron saint?' asks the angel, pen poised in midair.

God smiles, 'A mirror will suffice.'

Preparing For Disney

Every year for the past four years we have taken Connor to Disney World for his birthday. I know this seems a bit extreme but after we went the first time we fell in love with the experience. Connor is a bit of an adrenaline junky. He loves roller coasters. He loves rides in general. He loves rides most adults cringe at going on. Luckily for him though his mama loves those rides too. Also while visiting Disney World the first time, we found out how easy it is to eat in the Disney owned restaurants. They take food allergies seriously and try to have fun kid friendly food that is safe for all kinds of allergies. We kinda feel like a rock star because the chef always comes out to talk to us and walk us through what is safe and what they can make especially for us to fit our allergies. They even have ice cream and brownies for dessert! They have dinner rolls at almost all of their restaurants. Connor NEVER gets to have bread at a restaurant so this is especially cool for him.

Our friends (and blog contributor) Aran and her family live in Florida so it is nice to meet them also and enjoy a few days with them. It is a nice break from the cold Colorado winter.

As most of you probably already know, Disney also has a pass for special needs that allows you to basically skip the lines. This is an amazing thing to have! I would trade standing in the long lines any day of the week to take away Connor's autism, but since that isn't an option right now, I will take the no wait at Disney World. It is like having a "fast pass" for every line, so it doesn't really mean no wait, but a significantly shorter wait.



We have it planned to go not only during Connor's birthday, but also Halloween. Halloween has never been a great "holiday" for us since the entire day revolves around candy. Connor has never been able to eat any of the candy he gets from trick or treating or the party at his school. One year the town we live in gave out apples for Halloween from the grocery store. Connor was thrilled since he knew he could have apples. At Disney World they have an even for Halloween called the "Not So Scary Halloween Party". It is a fun way to experience the dressing up part of Halloween and not worrying as much about the candy part of it. We let the boys get candy at the designated areas just for fun, but we trade them for non candy treats later.

Having said all of that, I will tell you that planning this trip every year is an event for me. You can't just walk into the restaurants at Disney World without a reservation. You have to call sometimes up to six months ahead of time to get into some of the more popular places. If there are characters involved, you need to plan at least six months out for it. Also, every year Connor fixates on the next thing we are going to do. He isn't even off of the ride and he is asking what we are going to do next. This is very frustrating since he can't even enjoy the ride we are on. This year I hope I have solved that dilemma by making a schedule on an index card so he can always know what is next. Having a schedule at school has worked really well, so I thought it made perfect sense to try it at Disney World. For some people this might take away the fun and spontaneity of the experience, but for us it is just another way we can take away Connor's anxiety and give him some reassurances.

I am looking forward to our trip and will post pictures and a few stories about how everyone liked the trip in a few weeks. I recommend going to anyone looking for a fun, kid friendly, allergy free vacation, with minimal waiting in line too!

I can have yogurt?!!

Yes, it is true, they have come out with a dairy free, soy free, gluten free yogurt. I was picking up a couple of things with the baby today at Safeway and saw a new yogurt in the organic food section. When I read the ingredients I couldn't believe what I was reading. The milk that was used was coconut milk. It clearly states on the label that it is soy and dairy free. Gluten free was missing on the label so I figured it was too good to be true. Once I looked it up on-line, it explains why they don't include the verbiage "gluten free". It is in fact gluten free though.

Connor was skeptical that he wasn't allergic. He said he was afraid that it had gluten. He didn't want to taste it yet. I am not a big fan of yogurt myself, but I tasted it and it was pretty darn good. It doesn't have any coconut taste. I would be surprised if anyone could tell the difference between this and cow milk yogurt.


So Delicious® Coconut Milk Yogurt
Dairy Free Lactose Free
Soy Free
Rich in Medium Chain Fatty Acids
Excellent source of Vitamin B12 (vegetarian friendly)
Formulated for maximum calcium absorption
Contains Pre- and Probiotics for enhanced intestinal health
Cholesterol Free
No Trans Fats
Certified Vegan




INGREDIENTS: WATER, COCONUT MILK, BLUEBERRIES, ORGANIC EVAPORATED CANE JUICE, PECTIN, CHICORY ROOT EXTRACT, DEXTROSE, NATURAL FLAVORS, ALGIN (KELP EXTRACT), MAGNESIUM PHOSPHATE, TRICALCIUM PHOSPHATE, RICE STARCH, LOCUST BEAN GUM, AGAR, CULTURE, CARRAGEENAN, GUAR GUM, DIPOTASSIUM PHOSPHATE, VITAMIN B12.
Live Active Cultures include: L. Bulgaricus, S. Thermophilus, L. Plantarum, L. Rhamnosus, L. Paracasei and Bif. Lactus

"On a journey to get my autism out"

I just wanted to post about a cute thing that happened today.

My parents have been staying at their house in Mexico for the last couple of weeks and while they were gone both of my boys lost a tooth. I was telling my mom how excited they were about losing teeth and having a visit from the tooth fairy so she said she would call later to talk to the boys. When she called she asked Connor how he was doing and what he had been up to while she was gone. Connor started telling her about his journey. She asked what journey he was talking about and Connor responded, "my journey to get my autism out".

He saw the name on my blog one day and figured it was something fun. He started asking about journeys and what they mean. I didn't think much of it at the time since I didn't know he had seen the blog name. He started saying he was on an adventure, or a voyage, an odysey or an excursion. I still didn't catch on to the connection with the blog name. I have told him in the past that a doctor accidentaly gave him bad medicine and that we are trying to fix it. I want him to know that there is a reason he has to take all those pills and why he sometimes gets overwhelmed.

When I asked what his journey to get his autism out meant, he replied, "I'm going to get the bad medicine out and then my autism with be gone". Somehow hearing him say it, I knew he could.

Gluten Free Cinnamon Crackers with Pear, Fig and Vanilla Bean Jelly and Baked Pear Flan

Although I am no expert in gluten free baking, I have managed many times to bake gluten free cakes and cookies, but this was my first attempt at baking yeast breads using gluten free flours. I have to admit it was a challenge and it took three trials to get to these crackers that you see in the photos. It is a very simple recipe but I couldn't get the consistency right the first two times.

The trick to getting a thin cracker is to roll it as thin as possible, almost like paper. The first two doughs were tough so rolling them became a challenge. The baked crackers were rather thick and hard. Finally, for the third batch, I added a bit more water to see if a softer dough would be easier to roll. And there it was, worked like a charm.

To accompany the crackers, I made a pear, fig and vanilla bean jelly and also a baked pear custard. For the custard in these photos, I used cow's milk (I am not of an dairy free diet), but it works the same with rice, hemp or coconut milk.



Gluten Free Cinnamon Graham Crackers

1 1/2 cups gluten free baking mix (used Bob's Red Mill all purpose mix)
1 tsp xanthan gum
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp instant yeast
1 Tbs agave nectar
1 Tbs vegetable oil
3 to 4 oz water, at room temperature
Ground cinnamon
Sugar

In a mixing bowl, stir together the baking mix, salt, instant yeast, agave nectar, oil and 3 oz of water. Mix well and slowly add the remaining 1 oz of water, if needed. Shape into a ball and place it in a greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let the dough ferment for 90 minutes. It can also be placed in the refrigerator overnight retarding the fermentation (I chose to retard the dough this way).

Lay out two sheets of parchment paper or silicon mats. Divide the dough in half and place the dough between the sheets of parchment. Roll out the dough until it is paper thin and about 15" x 12". Peel away the parchment on top and place the dough on a sheetpan. Spray the surface with cooking spray and sprinkle cinnamon sugar and top.

Bake at 350F for about 15 minutes or until brown. Let them cool before serving.

Pear Flan

250 ml rice milk, hemp milk or coconut milk
3 eggs
60 grams sugar
Half a pear, thinly sliced

Whisk together the eggs and the sugar. Slowly add in the milk and whisk until thoroughly combined. Strain through a fine sieve and pour the custard in your ramekins. Place ramekins in a baking sheet or deep baking dish and add some hot water to go up about an inch high. Bake at 300F for about 25 minutes, but it will depend on the size of the ramekins. The center should still jiggle a little but the rest should be set. Let them cool for a bit and store in the refrigerator.

Pear, Fig and Vanilla Bean Jam

2 pints of green figs, quartered
2 medium sized Bartlett pears, medium diced
1 lb sugar
Juice of half a lemon
1 vanilla bean split

Wash the figs, pat them dry and cut the stems off. Cut them into quarters and place them in a ceramic bowl. Dice the pears and add them to the bowl. Add the lemon juice, sugar and vanilla bean. Stir the fruit gently and cover the bowl with parchment paper. Let the fruit macerate at room temperature for an hour.

Transfer the fruit to a saucepan and bring to a boil. Remove from heat. Transfer the fruit to another bowl, cover with parchment paper and refrigerate overnight.

The following day, transfer the fruit to a saucepan, bring it to a boil, skim impurities from the surface and cook for about 7 minutes. Laddle the jam into jars and seal.

Connor's Lunch Box

While at Whole Foods getting all the fun new food to go into Connor's lunch box for school, I discovered this new and "clean" lunch box. I hated putting all of his organic food into a grody 'ol plastic (probably full of lead) junky old lunch box. I hate to sound so dramatic, but it did make me feel like the food that was going in was getting contaminated by the grodiness of it. This new lunch box is safe and has a ton of room. I do tend to over stuff Connor's lunch box anyway, so now it doesn't get all smooshed in the process. He has a fascination with other countries so this lunch box was perfect for him.

While talking about his new lunch box I figured I should at least mention what I put into it. Connor is on a low protein diet because of his genetics. Because of this, and because he is sooo darn skinny, I insist the school give him access to food every two hours.

Connor's lunch box:
1 huge organic grapefruit (he loves these things!)
1 organic nectarine
1 organic blueberry dried fruit
1 bag of gfcf barbq chips (whole foods brand)
1 bag of pizza flavored gfcf bread sticks (glutino brand)
1 baggie of raw organic pistachios
1 baggie of organic baby carrots
1 raw food bar (spirulina)
1 juice box (R.W. Knudsen Lemonade)

I know, I know, where's the pb and j?

I would love some suggestions...


Crocodile Creek Countries Lunchbox
Description
School lunches can now be more fun than ever with this beautifully-designed, high-quality lunch box. Lunch box is 10"w x 7.5"h x 3"d. We have given special attention to make certain that the lunchboxes currently offered by Crocodile Creek do conform to the current U.S. & European Consumer Product Safety Standards as well as FDA recommendations. Our lunchboxes are child safe, with lead-free linings and are Phthalate and PVC free. Ages 3 and up. Handwash in warm water with mild soap and soft cloth. No abrasives or heat.

Helpful Magazine

I just found my favorite magazine on the rack at Whole Foods again after months of it being gone. I know they were doing something to it and it was gone for a while, but it is back.

I read it last night and found some great articles and recipes. My mom use to make my sister and brother and me a special breakfast on holidays and special weekends called baby dutch pancakes. When Connor started the gluten free, casein free diet we were sad that we couldn't make those special pancakes any more. This issue of Living Without has a recipe for these baby dutch pancakes. I was so excited I called my mom right away to tell her. They call them dutch pancakes. I will update you when we make them...stay tuned!!