Kool-Aid and cucumbers

September 21st, 2013

So Monkey has developed kool-aid lip again. I have let her have lots of yogurt b/c Yoplait retooled it to use natural colorings and cut out the sugars and corn syrups.Yay! However, since I have been letting her have it a lot she has begun licking her lips again. This is the fun thing called food sensitivities for which they have no tests for. You just notice, "Hey when I eat X I get Y reaction". Kelly Dorfman in her book What's eating your child? called it being a food detective. Yep, I have got my trench coat and magnifying glass out on this one. We thought it was a soy allergy but turns out she has no food allergies, only food sensitivities...meaning it shows up occasionally but not consistently. My plan is to take Monkey off her beloved yogurt and cheese (read "dairy") for 10 days and see if her lip clears up. If so, I will have to limit her exposure to it. Thankfully, she does love Almond, Coconut, AND, Soy milks so not all is lost (except that they don't really have yogurts). These alternatives are great especially since they have great chocolate flavors! Just wish they would come up with a strawberry one, hint hint Silk and other brands!

So this is my life. Trying to avoid dyes and junk (chemicals) in our foods and then trying to figure out vague food issues when we do come across them. This is why I journaled, to chronicle her exposures and what worked and what hasn't. It keeps me sane. Well, as sane as my genetics allow me to be...I now share my ramblings with you, aren't you so lucky!

The newest thing in my life, besides the lip thing, is that Monkey (my best eater) has suddenly gotten picky and not adventuresome in eating. Yet the Lawyer ( the picky one) has decided she wants to try new things. Today I got her to eat a cucumber slathered in ranch and salt. (Ok, you say that is not very healthy drowning, it but the alternative is her processed chicken flavored stick...I win). The last time we tried the cucumber was after successfully getting her to try lettuce with ranch on it. She saw her sister dive into the dressing with carrots and cukes.  I had a cuke on hand and unfortunately it had gone the way of the snowbirds in winter...south. It was SOUR. Too. Late. She screwed up her face like I gave her cod liver oil. Then I thought I would show her and ate one too. Then promptly spit it out so fast, and hard, it nearly missed my plate! So today, I made sure I had a fresh one and she tried it and...wait for it....SHE LIKED IT. Mountains can move people.

Now back to Monkey. I made enchiladas last night. They are not elaborate at all which may be my first problem. Hubby used to be an electrician in a former life and an older peer gave him the recipe, come to think about it I think it was written on a piece of torn box, fancy eh? Anyway, hubby and I made it last night. Warmed up corn tortillas with oil in skillet, had already fried up some lean ground beef, and had Monkey shred us up some cheese from a block of medium cheddar. (Side note: I stopped buying the pre-shred when sis-in-law [SIL] said they used wax and wood fibers to keep it from sticking together. Wow, never noticed. And that is what I loved about shredded block cheese was that it stuck to itself in wonderful globs!) We had a can of mild enchilada sauce and some onion flakes. She helped us build them so I thought ok she knows I have hid nothing in her food (burrito incident occurred where I tried to sneak in black beans...it did not go well). Sprinkled more cheese on top and then stuck in oven to melt cheese. She took one bite and it was a fight the rest of the time. Not sure if she didn't like the sweet enchilada sauce or what it was b/c she loves taquitos. She ended up choosing to not eat the meal and buy her an early ticket to shower and bed.

These are the type of nights I grew up with that I try to avoid........tears, angry words, huge aversion to dishes that will never be touched again due to a burned in hatred of said food from these fights. People, it isn't' worth it. While I am not going to be a short order cook for my kids, and while I do cook something different for the Lawyer, b/c she would choose nothing every time just to prove a point, I will not starve them nor will I let my non-picky one pitch a fit. I just so love these kinds of nights!
In all honesty, I think she did not feel well, was tired from a hot day at school and having to be "on" mentally all day, plus a sudden growth spurt. She has these occasionally moments where she wont' eat anything new and her usual favorites. They are just far enough apart that I forget we all lived thru it.
Growth spurts: Both girls did this when they were little, you remember they would cry FOR HOURS FOR NO REASON. I read, was told, heard, who knows, that they were experiencing a growth spurt and it would pass in about 2 weeks. Which is martian years that is like 6 months to a sleep deprived milking cow, er I mean mom...And guess what? It did. It went away. So I am chalking this up to a growth spurt. I mean this is a kid that eats sushi for crying out loud. I still won't eat that stuff myself! I want my food dead, very dead. Not roadkill dead, just dead and not still warm from the kill dead like some of you oddballs. Sorry hubby. I do love you though. :)
It is nights/weeks like this that I wonder why I am not hooked on Xanax or Valium! I might make my own kool-aid lip with some of that wine I keep for cooking after weeks like this! Cheers!