Update on Pumpkin Powder

Liam has been on the Seed Oil Company's pumpkin powder since October and is doing FANTASTIC!!!! I started with a teaspoon in his smoothies every other morning. I watched and waited for something to happen. The good news was nothing did. He did not get a tummy ache or have a loose bowel movement. His little body accepted the pumpkin powder with no problem.

Because he was doing so well I decided to add a tablespoon to his smoothie. Again all was okay. I am so relieved that I can give him a protein powder that is dairy and soy free. I notice on the days I don't put the powder in his smoothie he gets hungrier faster which is amazing. This was by far the best find I found for him. What I love most is that it does not change the taste, color or consistency of the smoothie.
Now that I know he can handle the Pumpkin Powder I throw it into cookies, muffins, and sauces. The kids have no idea and I feel good knowing I am giving them extra  Magnesium, Zinc, Iron and Phosphorus and vitamin K.

Here is his favorite recipe:

1/2 cup coconut water
1/2 cup pineapple juice
Frozen pineapple
Frozen mango
1 banana
1 Tbl Chia seeds
1 Tbl Pumpkin Powder
Little bit of ice
Blend up and serve!

Typical Dinners for us!

A lot of friends ask me what I fix for dinner all the time? Do I follow one Paleo book over another? Honestly I have adapted lots of my recipes to fit a Paleo lifestyle. I will have to do more post on individual recipes, but for now here is an idea of what we eat on a weekly basis. The key to dinners I always say is plan your week out. On busy days try to make a meal in the crock pot so its ready for you. Or prep ahead of time so you can just throw it together and eat right away. I am going to give you two ideas of meals on a given day. That way essentially you will see that there are two weeks of meals in this post. You could arrange them on any day or in any order.

Monday:  

1. BLT's without the bread and Sweet Potato Fries: Bacon wrapped in lettuce with tomato, possibly avocado. For Liam because he can't digest lettuce I just give him bacon with cherry tomatoes with some other veggie like bell pepper or cucumber. He also has a generous portion of Sweet Potato Fries. For the fries I leave the skins on so they some of it is crunchy.

2. Turkey and Beef Burgers with Sweet Potato Fries. I will have to post the recipe I came up with for my Turkey Burgers soon. They are amazing. Even my husband prefers them to beef.

Tuesday:

1. Crock pot Marinara with Sausage or Meatballs served on Spaghetti Squash, Zucchini or Rice Noodles. Rice Noodles are not Paleo, but my kids really prefer them. Its a balancing act and since they don't upset Liam's tummy I tend to be a little lenient with them. With the Main course we will have a mixed Salad and sauted Green Beans or roasted Asparagus.

2. Crock Pot: BBQ Chicken ( Put Chicken in Crock Pot and put Barbecue sauce on top, let cook all day) side note make your own sauce or in a pinch I use one from Trader Joes that does not have a bunch of nasty ingredients in it. Side dishes with this meal are coleslaw and cut up pineapple along with green beans or another veggie

Wednesday:

1. Herb Roasted Whole Chicken baked with roasted Sweet Potatoes. We usually have roasted cauliflower, roasted Brussels Sprouts or a salad with it. After we eat the whole Chicken I then put it in the crock pot over night and make broth.

Thursday:

1. Taco's: Taco meat (turkey and beef) with sauted bell pepper and onions. We cut up avocado, cherry tomatoes, limes, and cilantro. I use lettuce leaves in place of taco shells. Usually serve with fruit

2. Carnitas (click on it for the best recipe) and shredded salsa Chicken (throw chicken in crock pot and dump favorite jar salsa on top and let cook all day)  have the same ingredients as taco night.

Friday:

1. Lemon Chicken (Barefoot Contessa recipe is amazing) serve with favorite vegetable and Salad.

2. Dairy Free Chicken Piccata served with steamed Artichokes and Lemon Kale Salad

Saturday:

1. Cobb Salad: I put everything in separate bowls and let my kids make it themselves. Liam eats everything but the lettuce. Our Salad consist of Mixed greens, hard boiled eggs, bacon, onion, cucumber, tomatoes, carrots, grilled chicken, mushrooms, bell pepper, almonds and cranberries. I make my own balsamic dressing for all my salads.

2. Asian Salad: Chicken fingers, butter lettuce and romaine lettuce, carrots, green onion, cucumber, red bell pepper, almonds and Asian dressing.

Sunday:

1. Leftover night

2. Breakfast: Eggs, Bacon, Canadian bacon or Sausage, Fruit, and Grain Free pancakes

Hope this helps give you some ideas!

Liam's Progress with Vision Therapy Week 12

Liam just completed week 12 of Vision Therapy. He is improving everyday, which is so exciting. Little by little something will become easier to him. This week we had to continue an exercise called Michigan Tracking. This exercise is timed and Liam has to circle letters in alphabetical order within a paragraph of words that make no sense. In the beginning he had to do this with pretty big font and one eye patched. It would take him anywhere from 5 minutes to 3 minutes depending on which eye and how tired his eyes were. It was hard for him, especially with his letter reversal. This week he was able to do the exercise with both eyes at the same time as well as the font size was two sizes smaller.  I am happy to say he completed them in 2 1/2 minutes. At the beginning he would not have been able to complete the taste with such small font. Here are some examples:

Biggest font and he was patched

One font size smaller not patched

Smaller font not patched

This was pretty exciting results for us. He also started reading BOB books to me this week. He still has trouble but instead of guessing what the word is he is trying to sound out each letter. This is because he can finally start to see each letter clearly. AMAZING!!!!