When my oldest daughter, now almost 4, was a baby, she screamed constantly. She didn't make eye contact. She was always hungry and never satisfied. As a toddler she had a huge, round belly and threw one temper tantrum after another. Then she began to look a little yellow. At 15 months, she was diagnosed with food sensitivities, most notably gluten intolerance. Thus began a journey!
In my family, between the four of us, we have sensitivies to gluten, dairy, soy, corn, egg and yeast. This begs the question from MANY people..."Um, what do you eat?"
Well, we've learned a thing or two, and we not only eat healthy, but delicious food every day! Our choices are more limited than some, but you don't have to sacrifice flavor for health!
Here's a standard menu for a day at our house:
Breakfast
Homemade Turkey Sausage Patties & Hot Rice Cereal with pure maple syrup
Lunch
Turkey and avocado on toasted gluten free/yeast free bread, apple slices on the side
Dinner
Boneless chicken sauteed in olive oil with herbs, salt and pepper; steamed broccoli; brown rice cooked in chicken broth
Snacks
All natural beef hot dogs, fruit, hummus and veggies (my kids do eat this, happily!), almond butter and rice crackers, gluten free cookies or muffins, fruit leather, nuts, etc.
We buy almost exclusively whole, unprepared foods to cut down on cost, and we buy in bulk when we can afford it/store it. I prefer organic and do buy our produce organic, but because organic meats are so expensive, I lean toward free range or "natural" (without any preservatives, hormones, colorings, or artificial flavorings but not specifically organic) meats and other products if they are available. I'm just scratching the surface of this topic, but I'd be happy to answer questions and also get new ideas - if you have special diatary needs in your house, please share!
A few resources/recipe blogs that I love:
Wow - helpful info,
Wow - helpful info, especially for folks in the autism world who are coping with special diets and so much more. Even a little help in the way of recipes can really mean lot... like the "Power of Small" I've read about recently... Thanks so much!
Lisa