3.3 Accountability(ish)

Not really accountability -- just bragging. Max was at my parents, so I cooked.

Seared Scallops with Citrus Beurre Blanc and Microgreens, Haricovert, and Roasted Carrots with Paprika and Cayenne

To Market, To Market, To Buy A Fat Goldfish

So, Saturday was a learning experience.

Max and I headed out to the Leesburg Farmer's Market this morning. Leesburg is my favorite NOVA town -- mostly because it's close and I know my way around. But also because the downtown area is really cute, it's got great restaurants, and it's the gateway to much of NOVA wine country - which I also love.

Anyway, the Leesburg winter market is as good as a small town summer market -- I mean, it's still seasonal, obviously, so we're talking root veggies and green leafy varietals. But there are dairies, wineries, LOTS of meat suppliers (butchers/farmers), coffee roasters, etc. So Max and I picked up a nice loaf of cheddar and black pepper bread from Staff of Life bakers, some fresh Mozzerella from Blue Ridge Dairy, and various greens from Quarter Branch farms. Wondering what they looked like? I was hoping so...

ANYWAY...

Since we were so close to a wine-carrying Wegmans, I figured there would be no harm in swinging by. And, for the most part, there wasn't. It wasn't until we got home that things took a turn for the Crayola.

I should mention that Max, at this point, had eaten a breadstick from the market (whose ingredients I reviewed and cleared), a bag of FG-approved gummies, some homemade soymilk smoothie, and PF Whole Grain Goldfish.

We got home and, within the first ten minutes, Max was running around like a maniac. In general, he was happy, so I wasn't particularly concerned. It wasn't until I was sitting and chatting with my brother in law that I noticed the marker in Max's hand. I thought it was a Matchbox car and that he'd been driving around the room.

No. Not driving. Drawing.

Drawing a road.

With a red marker.

ON MY WHITE CARPET.

Now, to be fair, my reaction sucked. I believe I screamed, "Oh my god, Max, are you crazy???" which, in general, is probably not the best way to address my child. From then on, things just spiralled down. He was upset and yelling and crying and running around. We finally got him upstairs in his room for a while while we worked on the carpet. Then I talked to him, handed him a wash cloth, and made him come down and participate:

So, here's the point -- I'm pretty sure the goldfish are what set him off. I checked my FG Foodlist and, sure enough, no goldfish in the approved section. I could have sworn...

No matter. What's important is:
a. We're replacing that carpet anyway.
b. We saw what reintroducing a trigger really looks like. (i.e. crack.)
c. We got him involved in the cleaning and talked to him about the incident.

What I want to believe is that a four year-old should know better. That a good boy would never draw red marker on carpet. But, when he explained the (Lowes) commercial he'd seen with paint flying out of the bucket and all over the house and instantly transforming the house into a beautiful place, how can I fault him? I mean, really? I have a literal little boy. And this commercial told him drawing on the carpet wasn't what bad boys do -- it's what artists do. Click on the link below to see what commerical I'm talking about.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0aPwhDDi7Y

3.2 Accountability

When I told Max I was taking pictures of his dinner, he insisted I take this one first:

However, we did not eat Mater or Lightning McQueen for dinner. We had:

3.2 DinnerAmish Noodles (Kluski) with soy sauce and butter

and Swiss Chard with Wegmans basting oil.
(Minus the Mater in the Background)

And an addendum to this...Max didn't eat the Chard. He has and does usually eat greens, but they're usually spinach. More tender, more "kid friendly." But the Chard was from the CSA pickup two weeks ago, so it was a little old and wilted. Kind of bitter to me, too. Anyway, we compromised with a can of green beans. :)

And no lunch pic 'cause it's the weekend :)

3.1 Accountability

Max's Lunch for 3.2

Slice of leftover brick oven pizza (take-out), Organic Popcorn, carrots and celery, banana chips, and a handful of Sundrops (M&M-like candy)

And 3.1 Dinner

White Pizza from local Brick Oven pizza joint - Fresh dough with Mozzarella and Fontina, homemade onion rings using farm onions, panko, cornstarch, and an egg wash. (Max didn't eat the onions, but his dad and uncle sure liked them!)

The Love/Hate Relationship With Salicylates

This is, by far, the hardest part of the diet. You'd think it was eliminating additives or preservatives or colors, but no. On the contrary, it's not getting rid of the bad stuff that's hard. It's getting rid of the good stuff.

For the first 6 weeks of the FG (Feingold) diet, you eliminate foods that are high in salicylates. These are a natural pesticide a food makes to protect itself; it's also the active ingredient in aspirin. These products include: almonds, apples/apple juice/apple cider vinegar, raisins, all berries, currents, cucumbers, peppers, paprika, tomatoes, and others.

Now, if you know Max, you know that EVERY DAY he was eating at least 5-6 servings of these foods. He had almonds and raisins in his trail mix. He had berries with lunch and sometimes with dinner. He had cucumber and peppers all day long. Eliminating these foods has been more than challenging -- it's been all-consuming. Reading every label of salad dressing to find the one without apple cider vinegar, picking out the clear organic gummy bears because he can't have the ones with natural black currant juice -- this is my life right now.

The good news? It's temporary. This is literally an elimination diet, getting all the salicylates out of the body and bloodstream. After six weeks, we introduce all these foods back in one by one. We find which ones are behavior triggers and which are okay to eat any time. The other good news is that, for the most part, most of these things are a 1 to 1 swap: almonds for cashews, berries for kiwi or banana or mango or melon, etc.

But I've had a really hard time with this one because SO MUCH of our current pantry and fridge are chock full of these (not-so-inexpensive) items. Also, Max eats them and loves them. Up until now, I haven't really felt like I'm punishing him. But when he asks for an apple or an orange or blueberries, and I have to say no, it's terrible. It's far harder to say no to the good foods than to that food-dye-laden Flavor Ice from yesterday.

2.29 Accountability

I'm going to try to do "Accountability" posts every day. I got this idea from a friend on Facebook who did "365 days of accountability" regarding cooking her family dinner. I think it's a good way to share what we're eating as a family, but also remind me what I served Max on certain days. When I forget, the blog will be here to remind me. So, without further ado...

Max's Lunch for 3.1

Cantaloupe, String Cheese, Dried Pineapple and Banana Chips, Homemade Vanilla pudding, and Homemade Lemonade (not pictured)

And Max's Dinner for 2.29

The only thing missing here are his pork chop nuggets, which were still in the oven. But the rest - oven baked potatoes, asparagus, chicken broth with amish noodles - is all organic. So is the pork.

Doctor, Doctor, Give Me The News...

So, we went to the pediatrician this morning. It was a pretty interesting visit.

First, I should mention that we had a bit of a disaster yesterday when Max was given a Flavor Ice at school that I wouldn't let him eat. I've never, ever felt so bad in my life. The poor thing was absolutely devastated - you'd think I'd told him he could never play cars again. But, we made a beeline to the Common Market and picked out some cookies, crackers, Popsicles, and other treats, like new soap and Glee gum. He was happily munching on his Coconut Popsicle by the time we got home.

Okay, back to the doctor.

We saw a nice, young female doctor, which made me happy. Not to be biased, but I find that when you're doing something considered a little more "earthy/crunchy," it's better to have someone from a younger generation. Dr. Lee was very on-board with a diet modification and believes, like we do, that food is our first line of defense. However, there were still some other clues to Max's behavior that she picked up on -- more specifically, his quantity of sleep. Apparently, kids need 10-12 hours of sleep. Max gets about 9-10, but he may very well be one of those kids that needs 12+ to function at his optimal level. For the last few days, Max has napped at school and had a great day. While we still believe the diet is the right route for us right now, it's nice to know that there is something else that we can do to help Max -- something that's FREE, since I'm spending an absolutely insane amount of money on food right now.

Max is also in the 95% for height, which he always has been, but because he's tall for his age, the doctor suggested that people might have higher expectations of him. Make sense, too.

And we heard some of the same suggestions we already know, but it never hurts to get a reminder -- less TV, more transitional time between activities, don't give choices if there isn't actually a choice (i.e. do you want to get dressed for school? What if the answer is no -- then what?)

So, today is Parent/Teacher conference day, so I'm not home to feed Max and Matt gets to do it on his own. He's ordered him a small white pizza from our local brick-oven pizza place (no tomatoes...) and I made homemade onion rings, ready to be baked in the oven. Plus my delivery from www.naturalcandystore.com came today, so there are bags of lemon lollipops and Sundrops for him to eat, too.

I'm excited to hear about how they do -- it's good for me to let go of the reins a little bit.