Years ago, when I first moved to the country, a friend sent me information on how to find hormone-free meats. I wasn't as country-rural-savvy as I am now, because now I know that most ranchers you can buy from only sell hormone-free meat. Of course I didn't have an allergic child then whose every sweet breath and unselfconscious smile I wanted to preserve with all my might, and whose condition prompted me to research the whole-foods movement.
It took a while, but we've finally done it. I've already mentioned the 1/2 cow we bought in October from a local rancher. Someone I know personally, in fact. Furthermore, in fact, the cow was raised by a former student on grass I've probably seen driving to school and back.
Now, finally, on Tuesday, we are going to get our first food box from the local...I'm not sure what you'd call it. It's a gas station/convenience store/organic potato outlet and, I've just learned, a distributor of organic produce, bread, and eggs. A gal I work with was chatting about it at lunch one day. You sign up for a plan, and every other week on Tuesday, a huge cooler box full of organic produce shows up on your front porch. You set out the old cooler and they take it and replace it with the new one full of fresh food.
Food that shows up on your doorstep??? That's organic? And fresh? Hello.
A word I used in one of my last posts has stuck with me for a few days, now. Recognizable. I want my food to be recognizable. "Oh," she said, a smile playing at the corners of her mouth, "how delicious this roasted eggplant with basil and sea salt is!" "Yes, and what a lovely beef roast," he replied as the carving knife glinted in his hand. Recognizable, like that.
For a long time, long before Chloe, I've watched in amazement as people loaded up their shopping carts with food that comes in boxes of various shapes and sizes, or crinkly packages. I mean, LOADED--boxes and packages mounded over the top of the cart. The shoppers are usually leaning over the front bent at the hips, strolling along as if they'd had to allot their entire day to meander the grocery store for boxes and packages and their feet hurt; bowed as if crushed under the weight of all that mystery.
The crazy thing is that there are pictures all over the boxes telling you what is inside, food elements broken down, chopped, burnt, stirred, processed and MESSED WITH until they are long past their original form. "This box has oval-shaped brown things inside, I think," she mused--and how many possibilities can you think of that fit that description?? Even with the pictures, you still can't tell what the food is really MADE of. And reading the ingredients doesn't help, either.
I saw, when we got the lists for Chloe's restricted diet, that I was going to have to learn some new words, "code words" that really meant "milk" or "eggs" or "wheat" or "peanuts" which equal life-threatening distress for my child.
I can't imagine the amount of time it would tack on to a shopping trip if you had to read the long lists on each box and package of processed foods of what the stuff is actually made of. Was it Michael Pollan who uses the term "food-like substances" in his new book? Ok, reluctant disclaimer: I admit to eating food-like substances such as Cheez-its occasionally because I'm dumb and human and sometimes stressed, but I would never serve that to my family for supper or pretend to consider it a logical source of nutrition.
I digress, I see that my original topic was "food boxes" so I'd better get back to it. Recognizable. When you go to the produce section of the grocery store, you see oblong orange things and you immediately know they are carrots. Raw, unprocessed, un-messed-with. You see a crinkly purple spherical object and you know it's red cabbage as naked as the day it was born. And so on. No guesswork, no reading ingredients lists. A red pepper is a red pepper is a red pepper.
I love looking at a dish simmering on the stove and be able to pick out each and every ingredient I used: chicken, check. Potatoes, check. Corn, check. Tomatoes, check. In the bowl on the table: baby spinach leaves, check.
It is a Good Thing to know what one is eating, and an Even Better Thing to know that what one is feeding one's small, innocent, trusting child will not damage or kill her.
How Much Better, then, to have a box full of Recognizable Food show up at your doorstep every other Tuesday? And earn airline miles to boot???
If I could make Chloe understand that organic mangoes (and about seventeen other things) will show up on our doorstep tomorrow afternoon, without any effort on my part at all (besides calling with the payment info and directions to the house [a mile east]), I'd be thrilled because I know she'd be thrilled.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Allergen-Free Easter
Prior to Easter--about two months prior--I started getting emails and newsletters about how to have a safe, allergen-free Easter. I've been so busy this spring that I just skimmed over them and tucked away some of the information for later.
That "later" was today. Our low-key, family-oriented Easter kind of came together at the last minute, but it was so lovely.
Our morning started with Chloe-safe pumpkin muffins and bacon. Andrew ate three muffins, Chloe ate two, and I had three, I think, I'm not sure, they were so good. More on baking in a later post.
For our Easter dinner, Daniel pulled out a roast from the freezer, from our 1/2 cow that we bought last October from a rancher in the area where I teach. Then he decided we should use up as many of our potatoes as we could herbing and roasting them. I emptied the vegetable drawer and cut up the veggies to roast--one eggplant, three green peppers, and four zucchini. All were drizzled in olive oil and seasoned with Italian herbs--nothing complicated.
Yesterday, I went to get Easter things. One of the suggestions for how to have an allergen-free Easter was to not get candy but to get eggs filled with small toys, which I did, and safe candy, which I did. Even though Chloe is too little to eat jelly beans because of the fact that she has exactly three molars, two on the bottom, and ones that are just cutting through on the top, I still made sure the jelly beans I got were not processed on shared equipment as milky, peanutty candies, or even in the same facility (Starburst jelly beans fit the bill). I did pick up several packages of peeps, which according to the newsletters are completely safe, being pure sugar. Chloe, who hardly ever gets candy, got a sugar high just from ingesting several bites, a glazed look in her big blue eyes. "Peet! Peet!" she said, pink sugar coating her grinning mouth.
I also played Easter bunny and got little things to put in Easter baskets: sweaters for my husband and nephew, a book for Andrew, and Aveeno lotion for Chloe.
I didn't really miss the chocolate, until now, as a matter of fact, since I brought it up. Darn it.
We did color a few hard-boiled eggs. My husband and Andrew did that while Chloe looked on, the eggs safely at a distance. She is still too little to want to do things others are doing but that are unsafe for her, or have things others are having that are not safe. As long as she's entertained and fed (maybe in reverse order there) she's happy. She played with the cardboard cutouts from the coloring kit box while the dying was going on.
After the egg-dying, I brought out two dishes of jello I'd made earlier, the peeps and the jelly beans, and said, we are going to make little scenes. Andrew was all over that. He covered the red jello with bunny peeps, while I arranged bird peeps with jelly bean eggs in the green jello, and surrounded them with julienned apple nests.
Over dinner and some Pinot Noir, I surveyed the table with satisfaction. I remember many such meals--roasted meat, potatoes, and veggies-- before Chloe was even a twinkle in her daddy's eyes, and here we were, repeating the meal years later, now with an underlying element of necessity. The lack of heavy chocolate, malted and nutted candies somehow made the feast lighter, more elegant. (Peeps are elegant, come on.)
I know I keep going on about completely allergen-free meals, which seem like overkill for a one-and-a-half-year-old. I'm sufficiently aware of Chloe's needs to know what she can and can't have, and I routinely put together three different suppers on nights the kids and I get home from school. But I have an innate sense of fairness, probably too strong, that tells me that everyone around our table is important, and that it is important to make sure the food is safe for everyone. I've blogged previously about the roasted suppers I love so much, and this was no exception, and so it makes me feel great to know we're creating delicious, balanced and safe meals without depriving anyone.
Ok, well, Andrew didn't get his jelly sandwich, and was forced to eat beef roast and herbed potatoes and apple, but he survived.
I know it would be completely possible for us all to be eating lasagna and to give Chloe some nitrate-free ham, peaches, and a muffin. But it really does offend my sense of fairness and equity for one person out of the family to have something different while the rest of us eat the "real" supper. I'd rather everyone be able to eat the same thing, especially at important occasions.
At our pre-supper prayer, with all of us holding hands (a routine when we are together, I might add) I acknowledged how lucky we are to have these blessings, all this lovely food. I hope, no matter what is in store for Chloe, and for all of us, we can always feel blessed with abundant, high-quality and delicious food.
Happy Easter, everyone.
That "later" was today. Our low-key, family-oriented Easter kind of came together at the last minute, but it was so lovely.
Our morning started with Chloe-safe pumpkin muffins and bacon. Andrew ate three muffins, Chloe ate two, and I had three, I think, I'm not sure, they were so good. More on baking in a later post.
For our Easter dinner, Daniel pulled out a roast from the freezer, from our 1/2 cow that we bought last October from a rancher in the area where I teach. Then he decided we should use up as many of our potatoes as we could herbing and roasting them. I emptied the vegetable drawer and cut up the veggies to roast--one eggplant, three green peppers, and four zucchini. All were drizzled in olive oil and seasoned with Italian herbs--nothing complicated.
Yesterday, I went to get Easter things. One of the suggestions for how to have an allergen-free Easter was to not get candy but to get eggs filled with small toys, which I did, and safe candy, which I did. Even though Chloe is too little to eat jelly beans because of the fact that she has exactly three molars, two on the bottom, and ones that are just cutting through on the top, I still made sure the jelly beans I got were not processed on shared equipment as milky, peanutty candies, or even in the same facility (Starburst jelly beans fit the bill). I did pick up several packages of peeps, which according to the newsletters are completely safe, being pure sugar. Chloe, who hardly ever gets candy, got a sugar high just from ingesting several bites, a glazed look in her big blue eyes. "Peet! Peet!" she said, pink sugar coating her grinning mouth.
I also played Easter bunny and got little things to put in Easter baskets: sweaters for my husband and nephew, a book for Andrew, and Aveeno lotion for Chloe.
I didn't really miss the chocolate, until now, as a matter of fact, since I brought it up. Darn it.
We did color a few hard-boiled eggs. My husband and Andrew did that while Chloe looked on, the eggs safely at a distance. She is still too little to want to do things others are doing but that are unsafe for her, or have things others are having that are not safe. As long as she's entertained and fed (maybe in reverse order there) she's happy. She played with the cardboard cutouts from the coloring kit box while the dying was going on.
After the egg-dying, I brought out two dishes of jello I'd made earlier, the peeps and the jelly beans, and said, we are going to make little scenes. Andrew was all over that. He covered the red jello with bunny peeps, while I arranged bird peeps with jelly bean eggs in the green jello, and surrounded them with julienned apple nests.
Over dinner and some Pinot Noir, I surveyed the table with satisfaction. I remember many such meals--roasted meat, potatoes, and veggies-- before Chloe was even a twinkle in her daddy's eyes, and here we were, repeating the meal years later, now with an underlying element of necessity. The lack of heavy chocolate, malted and nutted candies somehow made the feast lighter, more elegant. (Peeps are elegant, come on.)
I know I keep going on about completely allergen-free meals, which seem like overkill for a one-and-a-half-year-old. I'm sufficiently aware of Chloe's needs to know what she can and can't have, and I routinely put together three different suppers on nights the kids and I get home from school. But I have an innate sense of fairness, probably too strong, that tells me that everyone around our table is important, and that it is important to make sure the food is safe for everyone. I've blogged previously about the roasted suppers I love so much, and this was no exception, and so it makes me feel great to know we're creating delicious, balanced and safe meals without depriving anyone.
Ok, well, Andrew didn't get his jelly sandwich, and was forced to eat beef roast and herbed potatoes and apple, but he survived.
I know it would be completely possible for us all to be eating lasagna and to give Chloe some nitrate-free ham, peaches, and a muffin. But it really does offend my sense of fairness and equity for one person out of the family to have something different while the rest of us eat the "real" supper. I'd rather everyone be able to eat the same thing, especially at important occasions.
At our pre-supper prayer, with all of us holding hands (a routine when we are together, I might add) I acknowledged how lucky we are to have these blessings, all this lovely food. I hope, no matter what is in store for Chloe, and for all of us, we can always feel blessed with abundant, high-quality and delicious food.
Happy Easter, everyone.
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Tagines
I was going through the pantry and noticed that we were out of a lot of different kinds of beans, but we had several cans of chick peas. I thought, what could I make with chick peas? (or garbanzo beans, whatever your nomenclature preference)
I thought about the chicken pieces in the freezer and thought, aha, a tagine! I was first introduced to tagines at a restaurant in Portland. I was on a very bad date, but that's another story. The food was good, and that's what I remember, and I specifically remember chicken and garbanzoes and some other stuff, and interesting spices.
The combination of foods I remember did not involve any of the ingredients Chloe can't eat, so it sounded perfect.
I skinned the chicken legs and browned them in vegetable oil. I added about 3 cups of water, 3 yams cubed to about 1 inch, two cans of drained and rinsed chick peas, and two handfuls of raisins. I seasoned lightly with pepper, sea salt, and allspice.
While we were at supper Daniel said to me that this reminded him of the kind of meals he ate in Tanzania--a bowl of brothy rice and beans with some chicken pieces. It started me thinking about all the possible variations.
The main elements of the theme: smallish meat pieces, and a variety of additional and complementary ingredients.
The results from googling "tagine" yielded information that the traditional Moroccan tagines are made with lamb, olives, and lemon, and that traditionally the dishes include citrus fruits and almonds. Many of the dishes are served with flatbread and olives, and of course, we couldn't serve flatbread to Chloe (or almonds), but we could serve the tagines with rice to soak up the broth, and fruit such as grapes to accompany it.
So we thought of all the Chloe-safe chicken variations we could:
potatoes, celery, carrots, Italian herbs
corn on the cob pieces, black beans, red pepper, southwest spices
lemon, rice, olives
potatoes, tomatoes, garbanzo beans, onion
peas, carrots, potatoes
white beans & sausage (kind of like a jambalaya without the shrimp)
There would probably be quite a few variations using lamb or other meats. I'm excited because the possibilities seem endless. This particular concoction, with the yams, chick peas and raisins, even pleased my husband's palate. He confessed to being "pleasantly surprised" by the taste and had two helpings.
What I like about cooking these is that for one, they're easy, just a little bit of prep and tossing everything in one pan to simmer. Secondly, the ingredients are natural and close to their original form--recognizable. Third, the finished dish is very pretty to look at with all the various colorful foods mixed together. If you had a traditional tagine dish with the cone-shaped lid, they would be lovely indeed.
Most importantly, it's all safe for Chloe.
I thought about the chicken pieces in the freezer and thought, aha, a tagine! I was first introduced to tagines at a restaurant in Portland. I was on a very bad date, but that's another story. The food was good, and that's what I remember, and I specifically remember chicken and garbanzoes and some other stuff, and interesting spices.
The combination of foods I remember did not involve any of the ingredients Chloe can't eat, so it sounded perfect.
I skinned the chicken legs and browned them in vegetable oil. I added about 3 cups of water, 3 yams cubed to about 1 inch, two cans of drained and rinsed chick peas, and two handfuls of raisins. I seasoned lightly with pepper, sea salt, and allspice.
While we were at supper Daniel said to me that this reminded him of the kind of meals he ate in Tanzania--a bowl of brothy rice and beans with some chicken pieces. It started me thinking about all the possible variations.
The main elements of the theme: smallish meat pieces, and a variety of additional and complementary ingredients.
The results from googling "tagine" yielded information that the traditional Moroccan tagines are made with lamb, olives, and lemon, and that traditionally the dishes include citrus fruits and almonds. Many of the dishes are served with flatbread and olives, and of course, we couldn't serve flatbread to Chloe (or almonds), but we could serve the tagines with rice to soak up the broth, and fruit such as grapes to accompany it.
So we thought of all the Chloe-safe chicken variations we could:
potatoes, celery, carrots, Italian herbs
corn on the cob pieces, black beans, red pepper, southwest spices
lemon, rice, olives
potatoes, tomatoes, garbanzo beans, onion
peas, carrots, potatoes
white beans & sausage (kind of like a jambalaya without the shrimp)
There would probably be quite a few variations using lamb or other meats. I'm excited because the possibilities seem endless. This particular concoction, with the yams, chick peas and raisins, even pleased my husband's palate. He confessed to being "pleasantly surprised" by the taste and had two helpings.
What I like about cooking these is that for one, they're easy, just a little bit of prep and tossing everything in one pan to simmer. Secondly, the ingredients are natural and close to their original form--recognizable. Third, the finished dish is very pretty to look at with all the various colorful foods mixed together. If you had a traditional tagine dish with the cone-shaped lid, they would be lovely indeed.
Most importantly, it's all safe for Chloe.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Three-day trip
This week was the first time I was away from Chloe for more than one night, with a care-giver other than my husband.
It was nerve-wracking, stressful, and hectic preparing for the trip. My husband and I were going to leave the kids with their Grandma and Grandpa for 3 1/2 days while we went to a conference.
I love the kids' Grandma and Grandpa dearly. Andrew was, is, and will always be fine at their house, he is a hoss and can eat anything. But poor Chloe, with her multiple food allergies--I worried so much about her safety. Preparing for her to have extended time at a care-giver's house is very different than preparing for Andrew. Toss a few clothes and his toothbrush in a bag, Andrew's good to go.
For Chloe, I put together the lists of foods and strategies for avoiding a reaction in the earlier posts. I agonized over that list, going over and over it, and talking it over with my husband as to whether I had forgotten anything. I photocopied her allergy plan, as well as the sheets listing her forbidden ingredients. I answered "can she have..." questions.
I worried especially because my mother-in-law cooks very differently than I do, and at the very least, was not used to the way Chloe has to eat.
So I spent much of this past Sunday (recovering from an overnight trip to Longmont Friday and Saturday) making Chloe-safe pancakes, rice noodles, and putting together a box of fruits and other things she could eat at Grandma and Grandpa's house.
Around dinner time that day, I took the box over to their house and sat with them for an hour going over everything.
As we talked I was reassured...Grandma is the most practical person I know, and when she understands the need for something, she's right on board. Grandpa wrestles, wiggles, and plays with the kids, and when it comes down to the practical stuff--he does what he's told.
I am so proud to say that Chloe was just fine!!! Grandma gave her rice noodles, beans, baked potatoes, the peach pancakes I made for her, and fruit. She tried apples, bananas, and even pickles, and Chloe refused to eat those, picky child that she is. Grandma carried the epi-pens with her and both Grandma and Grandpa got them safely to school and back every day.
I had a trial run with the kids' babysitters during that trip to Longmont, on which day my husband had a track meet and could not be home. I did the same thing for the babysitter--preparing food, going over the lists, showing how to use the epi-pens.
I'm happy to say that that day went well, too.
The only glitch of my three-day trip was true to form, similar to going on a ten-day skiing trip with no mishaps then stubbing your toe as you arrive home. I was just getting back into town when Chloe's preschool director called, saying another child had given her a dorito and she had hives on her mouth, should she have Benadryl (she had not ingested the dorito). Yes, 1/2 teaspoon please, according to plan, and then please watch her.
My three-day trip away was very successful, in terms of Chloe's care--and all else as well! I can't wait to see the kids when my school day is done. I can't wait to give them their stuffed three-stage rockets! I am looking forward to feeding them, bathing them, and tucking them into bed with stories--for the next many months.
Thank you, Grandma and Grandpa!
It was nerve-wracking, stressful, and hectic preparing for the trip. My husband and I were going to leave the kids with their Grandma and Grandpa for 3 1/2 days while we went to a conference.
I love the kids' Grandma and Grandpa dearly. Andrew was, is, and will always be fine at their house, he is a hoss and can eat anything. But poor Chloe, with her multiple food allergies--I worried so much about her safety. Preparing for her to have extended time at a care-giver's house is very different than preparing for Andrew. Toss a few clothes and his toothbrush in a bag, Andrew's good to go.
For Chloe, I put together the lists of foods and strategies for avoiding a reaction in the earlier posts. I agonized over that list, going over and over it, and talking it over with my husband as to whether I had forgotten anything. I photocopied her allergy plan, as well as the sheets listing her forbidden ingredients. I answered "can she have..." questions.
I worried especially because my mother-in-law cooks very differently than I do, and at the very least, was not used to the way Chloe has to eat.
So I spent much of this past Sunday (recovering from an overnight trip to Longmont Friday and Saturday) making Chloe-safe pancakes, rice noodles, and putting together a box of fruits and other things she could eat at Grandma and Grandpa's house.
Around dinner time that day, I took the box over to their house and sat with them for an hour going over everything.
As we talked I was reassured...Grandma is the most practical person I know, and when she understands the need for something, she's right on board. Grandpa wrestles, wiggles, and plays with the kids, and when it comes down to the practical stuff--he does what he's told.
I am so proud to say that Chloe was just fine!!! Grandma gave her rice noodles, beans, baked potatoes, the peach pancakes I made for her, and fruit. She tried apples, bananas, and even pickles, and Chloe refused to eat those, picky child that she is. Grandma carried the epi-pens with her and both Grandma and Grandpa got them safely to school and back every day.
I had a trial run with the kids' babysitters during that trip to Longmont, on which day my husband had a track meet and could not be home. I did the same thing for the babysitter--preparing food, going over the lists, showing how to use the epi-pens.
I'm happy to say that that day went well, too.
The only glitch of my three-day trip was true to form, similar to going on a ten-day skiing trip with no mishaps then stubbing your toe as you arrive home. I was just getting back into town when Chloe's preschool director called, saying another child had given her a dorito and she had hives on her mouth, should she have Benadryl (she had not ingested the dorito). Yes, 1/2 teaspoon please, according to plan, and then please watch her.
My three-day trip away was very successful, in terms of Chloe's care--and all else as well! I can't wait to see the kids when my school day is done. I can't wait to give them their stuffed three-stage rockets! I am looking forward to feeding them, bathing them, and tucking them into bed with stories--for the next many months.
Thank you, Grandma and Grandpa!
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