Gluten Free Dairy Free Banana Bread Muffins

Banana Bread Muffins

I have been tweaking this recipe and think I finally have it. My kids love the muffins for breakfast or as a snack in their lunch. Hope you enjoy them as much as we do.

3 ripe bananas mashed
4 beaten eggs
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup agave
1/2 tea liquid vanilla stevia
3 Tablespoons Coconut oil or Grape seed oil

Dry ingredients:

1/2 cup coconut flour sifted
1/4 cup tapioca flour
pinch of sea salt
1/2 to 1 tea cinnamon
1/2 tea. baking soda
1/2 tea baking powder

oven temperature 350 degrees

In your mixer mash bananas, then add eggs and mix. Add honey, agave, stevia and oil. Mix thoroughly. In separate bowl mix all dry ingredients together, don't forget to sift the coconut flour first. Add dry ingredients in with the wet ingredients and mix.

Place cupcake liners into your muffin tins and add mixture until its 3/4 full. Bake for 20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
 

Hard for people to understand

I was talking to my good friend who is also our pediatrician's nurse. I was saying that it is so hard for people to understand, because looking at Liam you would never know what his body is going through. Most people think he looks normal. What they don't realize is his little body is attacking itself. They normally don't see the episodes of diarrhea he has, because we both do a good job at hiding it. He will hold it as long as he can so people don't know. People don't realize how skinny he is, because he wears big clothes. If you were to see my little guy naked you would be shocked. He has tiny arms and legs, especially during a flare up. They see a round face and think "oh he is healthy". Little do they know that is called a "moon" face and its from the medication. Liam is able to manage his behavior at school (which amazes me to this day), but when he gets home it can be awful. He will scream, cry, get extremely hyper and not know how to control himself. He will be running to the bathroom 5 or six times after school and will cry because he hurts. He will not let us hold him or touch him. He will refuse food or will act like he isn't getting enough food. Its hard on all of us. I think it can be the hardest on his sister. She has to deal with his annoying behaviors and ups and downs too. She often gets into trouble, because she is so frustrated with him she will just punch him, instead of asking for help. I am trying my best to intervene and help her before it comes to that, but I am not always able to. 

Today, I had a freak out moment, because my friend was taking her daughter to get the nasal flu spray vaccine. Kids who are on long term prednisone, usually have low immune systems. When Liam was two we were told to stay away from people who got the nasal flu spray. I felt so bad, because I panicked and told the child and mom that Liam and her should not play together for a few days. I must seem like a crazy mom. I did not mean to sound crazy or upset anyone. Its just so hard, because we have to think about things that most people don't. I did not handle that situation very well. I feel bad. I hope with time I can learn how to handle things like that, instead of freaking out and scaring someone. 
I just don't want Liam to get the flu on top of dealing with U.C. UGH!!! So in talking with my nurse friend she told me that if I hear of a lot of kids in his class getting it or if lots of kids are getting sick I need to pull him for a while. So now I wait and see what this fall cold and flu season looks like. 
Has anyone had a freak out moment where you looked like a crazy mom?????

6 Months Remission

Well we had a great run for a while. Six months remission, I will take it any day. Liam was able to gain a healthy amount of weight keeping him at 50%.  His height went from 50% to 75% which we were thrilled about. We not only saw those improvements, but we saw him gaining muscle which helped him become more agile, coordinated and strong. Liam got three colds during this time and was able to fight off two of the three. It was amazing. The last cold he got, turned into bronchitis and he was put on Zithromax. His little gut surprised us and handled it great. He did not get a flare up like he normally does from antibiotics which Mike and I were thrilled about. I was so happy his UC was holding its own. 

Liam started transitional kindergarten this August at H.O. He is so happy to be at school with sissy. They love seeing each other in between recesses. He is thriving and loving Nikki his teacher. About three weeks into school Liam did start to have loose stools. I kept an eye on him, making sure we did not deviate from healthy eating. I thought maybe I could get him through with the diet, but no such luck. After two weeks I realized he was getting worse. I started him on 5 mg of prednisone, because usually a tiny dose can get him cleared up. Unfortunately it did not work and he got even worse. After talking with his doctor we bumped him up to 10 mg hoping that would do the trick and again he got worse. We bumped him up to 20 mg and did stool samples, blood work to see what was going on. Liam was such a trooper. He cried when they put the band around his arm and was very nervous. I asked him if he wanted me to cover his eyes. He said "yes". As soon as I did that I started talking in his ear telling him to take slow deep breaths. I did not know if it would work, but he went for it. Slowly he started to calm down and breathe through the whole blood test. We were so proud of him. Even the nurse taking his blood could not stop telling him how brave he was. She said "Liam I wish all kids were as brave as you". I think he was proud of himself. 
A week went by and the doctor called to tell me everything came back fine. I told her we had a new symptom that morning. Liam woke up at 5 am screaming in pain. He cried for about 45 minutes until he threw up about a cup of mucus. We did not know what to make of it. Liam looked at me and said I all better mom and curled up in my arms and fell back to sleep.  She suggested we start him on Flagyl and see if we can get him over the hump. She could not explain to me why Flagyl would work, nor why he threw up,which upset me a little. I hate giving my kids medicines without knowing why. 
We started Flagyl and within 24 hours Liam started having completely normal bowel movements. I am so happy for him, but worry we might be back to square one once he is off of it. By that time though we will be seeing his doctor for a check up, so we will go from there. She said he would have to be scoped for that visit. Not sure how that is going to go. When he got scoped last time he was put to sleep. This time she is doing it in her clinic. I hope he stays calm and we don't have to pin down a screaming child. I don't handle him screaming very well. 

I don't know how other parents give their kids medicine that is in pill form but here is how we do it:
I crushed the prednisone and now Flagyl with a Pestle and mortar. I then pour the medicine on a spoon. Then I pour a few drops of Orange Juice or Pineapple Juice and have him take the spoon full. He then chases it with a shot of juice. We try to make a game of it and see how fast he can do it. He is so brave and never gives me any grief. If you only knew what these medicines taste like, they are awful. I would love to know how others get their kids to take it, just in case he decides one day to refuse taking it. 

Some side effects he is having from prednisone are:
Moody
Emotional
Moon face
Extremely hungry
Angry
At times does not want to be touched
Hyper
Joint Pain in knees
Hairy back

Happy 4th Birthday Liam

Today is Liam's 4th Birthday. I cannot believe a whole year has gone by. My husband and I for the past few months have been saying we cannot wait for 2011 to be over. This year has been so hard, and we just kept thinking to ourselves it was one of the worst years thus far. Then my mom said something that changed my husband and I forever. She said "Katie this is the year you got Liam healthy". "It is one of the best years we all have had". I cried when she said this and later that day I told Mike what she said. He looked at me with tears in his eyes and said "Please tell your mom thank you. It is exactly what I needed to hear".

When Liam turned three he had just been diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis. It was a day both Mike and I will never forget. We both felt like the wind was just knocked out of us. Then I saw a pale, malnourished, little boy who was losing weight and not eating much. He was in the 5% for weight and 50% for height. Compared to his sister who has always been off the charts for height and 75-90% for weight it concerned us greatly. At first we made small changes in our diet. Little by little I saw improvement in him. Little by little I saw improvement in all of us. A year later we are all on a gluten free, dairy free, refined sugar free, nitrate free diet. We eat whole foods or "real" food as I call it. Liam who was 26 pounds is now 36 pounds and has grown 3 inches this year. He is also fighting colds better than he ever has since birth. Mike and I have so much to be grateful for. I hope this next year is even better for our Liam bug and family.

Happy Birthday Buddy, we love you so much!

Gluten and Dairy Free Cake Pops

Gluten Free Cupcake Pops

1 Chocolate Cake, from The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook, page 84 (view the PDF)

1 Bag Wilton Chocolate

1/4 - 1/2 cup Coconut oil

Sprinkles

*Dairy Free frosting like Pillsbury is optional to help bind and give a creamer taste to the cake

Special Equipment:

30 paper lollipop sticks

2-4 Styrofoam blocks

Bake Chocolate Cake as directed from the The Gluten Free Almond Flour Cookbook. Cool cake so that you can crumble into a big bowl. If choosing to bind cake with frosting add just enough to bind it together. If your opting to roll without the frosting take a clump of cake and knead together like you would play dough. Next roll into 1 inch ball. After rolling, put on parchment paper on a cookie sheet. Once all the balls are on your cookie sheet freeze for at least an hour.

Melt the chocolate in a small bowl over a boiling pot of water on medium heat. If you have a double broiler than heat it up with that. To make the chocolate thinner add 1/4 cup coconut oil. If you don't have coconut oil you can use Crisco. Take your cake balls out and let sit for 5 minutes. One at a time, dip about ½ inch of the tip of a lollipop stick into melted chocolate. Next, Insert the lollipop stick straight into a cake ball, no more than halfway. Holding stick with cake ball attached, dip entire cake ball into melted chocolate, until covered. Twirl  any excess chocolate coating off the cake pop so it is evenly coated, then apply sprinkles. Place cake pop in Styrofoam block. Complete with remaining cake pops and store in refrigerator. 

*You can store these gluten free cake pops in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.

*You can also freeze just the balls for up to two weeks, then make the pops the day you want to serve them

Chicken Piccata and Dairy Free Risotto

Our family loves Chicken Piccata. The lemon sauce drizzled over chicken makes the dish. When we started this journey of going gluten free and dairy free, I thought Risotto was not gluten free and if it was how, would I make with without Parmesan cheese and creamy marscapone cheese. I have been craving it for weeks and finally started to do a bit of research. To my surprise Arborio rice is Gluten Free. Wahoo, I was so excited. Next I was on a mission to create it without dairy. Last night I tried it and my family did not notice it was missing dairy. I hope you enjoy it, like we did. 

Chicken Piccata


4 Organic Boneless Chicken Breast or 20 Chicken tenders
1/2 Cup to 1 Cup Gluten Free all purpose flour
Olive oil for frying
1/2 tea sea salt
1/2 tea pepper
1/2 cup Organic Chicken broth
1/4 cup white wine
1-2 Lemons juiced depending on how much lemon flavor you want
1-2 Tbl Capers depending if you like them or how salty you want it


First pound the chicken breast so they are like a cutlet. If you are using chicken tenders just leave them as they are. Next put GF flour in pie dish or plate along with the salt and pepper. Get a skillet pan that will fit all the chicken and put the olive oil in it and heat on medium. Once the oil is hot, dredge the chicken in the flour mixture and place in hot pan. Fry on both sides until the chicken is cooked through and you have a nice crispy texture. Set Chicken on paper towel to rest, while your cook all the meat. Once the meat is cooked and resting pour your wine in the pan and scrap the bottom of the pan and get all the crunchy bits mixed into the wine. Once the wine is cooked off add the lemon juice, chicken broth and capers. Let it come to a lite boil and add the chicken back in. Put a lid on the pan and put the temperature to low so it stays warm while you make the risotto. 


Dairy Free Risotto:


1/2 cup chopped yellow onion
1 cup Arborio rice
1/2 tea sea salt 
3 Tbl olive oil plus 2 Tbl olive oil for after
1/2 cup white wine
2 1/2 cups Organic Chicken Broth heated, I do this in the microwave. 


Take a sauce pan and heat up with the 3 Tbl olive oil on medium/low heat. Add onion and cook for 2-3 minutes. Next add the rice and sea salt and cook for another 2 minutes continuously stirring.  Next add the wine until its cooked off. The trick to Risotto is to never stop stirring it. Now add about 1/4-1/3 cup of the hot broth and stir it until the liquid absorbs into the rice. Keep adding the same amount of liquid when the rice has absorbed the previous liquid. After about 20-30 minutes the rice will be soft and have a creamy texture to it and your hot broth should be gone. If the rice is still a little under cooked add more broth, but only a 1/2 cup, because you don't want it to turn mushy. Next, mix the remaining 2 Tbl of olive oil into the risotto and serve.


I poured some of the Chicken Piccata sauce over the rice and chicken and served it with saute green beans. The kids ate it up and asked for seconds. If your kids don't like the lemon sauce you can keep their chicken out of the sauce and serve it up like chicken fingers. Give them some ketchup or honey mustard sauce and they will love it.

Probiotics

Liam is currently on a probiotic called VSL#3. His GI doctor wrote a prescription for it and I have found that Costco is the cheapest so far. I pay $73.00 for a month supply. Seems like a lot, but I fell its worth it, if it keeps him off the nasty drugs like prednisone.  The VSL#3 comes sachet, which contains 450 billion live probiotic bacteria. Every morning I dump one sachet into a cup of fresh squeeze juice and Liam drinks it up. He loves the stuff and always asks "is it time to take my tummy medicine mama?" According to my doctor and the research on this product VSL#3 works by lining the GI tract with optimal quantities and types of probiotic bacteria. These bacteria adhere to the walls of the GI tract and form a barrier which protects the inner layer of the gut from bad bacteria and other toxic substances that can cause inflammation. In my sons case this helps when he has to take an antibiotic.  VSL#3 produces a variety of good bacteria, delivering relief from symptoms and enhancing the health of the GI tract. If your interested in VSL#3 check out their website here:http://www.vsl3.com/


Today I read an article by Dr. Mercola about probiotics and the reasons for taking them. Check out the link: http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/10/11/probiotics-healing-power-impresses-researchers.aspx?np=true


I strongly believe in this product and recommend it for all people living with UC or any other stomach problems.