Discussing Autism

If you love summer you are bound to love summer snacks, treats, and best of all, desserts. But when you are on a special diet finding those special summer treats can be somewhat daunting, especially if you are looking for something quick and fun or that special quick on the go snack.

Gluten Free/Casein Free Summer Treats don’t have to be boring. Take for example, this one I concocted last year when AJ was craving watermelon.

Here are some fabulous cool summer treat ideas that will make the non-gluten/casein free kiddos jealous!

Yogurt Parfait

Ingredients

* 8 ounces vanilla Soy yogurt, divided (or other flavors)
* 1 cup EnviroKidz Organic Koala Crisp Cereal,EnviroKidz Organic Koala Crisp CerealEnviroKidz Organic Koala Crisp CerealWatermelon Sorbet
RECIPE INGREDIENTS:
1 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
4 cups watermelon chunks
1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
1. Combine the water and sugar in a small saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer it gently for 5 minutes. Pour the liquid into an 8-inch square glass baking pan.

2. Puree the watermelon chunks in a blender, then strain the puree into a large bowl. Measure out 2 cups of the watermelon juice and stir it into the sugar syrup along with the lemon juice.

3. Place the pan in the freezer for 1 hour. Then stir the mixture with a wooden spoon and allow it to freeze for another 45 minutes. Repeat this process once, and then allow the mixture to freeze through (another couple hours or so).

4. Thaw the ice slightly so that you can transfer it to a chilled blender. Pulse the machine just until the ice is slushy, periodically scraping down the sides. Spoon the sorbet into chilled bowls and serve at once. Makes 6 servings.

Fruit Kebabs
RECIPE INGREDIENTS:
1 large red apple, cut into 8 wedges
6 marshmallows
1 small jar of creamy peanut butter
1 large banana, cut into 1-inch slices
1. To make a kebob, carefully push a skewer through the ingredients, starting with a piece of apple, then a marshmallow, then banana, then another marshmallow. Spread a dollop of peanut butter on top of the marshmallow. Now, skewer a piece of banana and another marshmallow (with more peanut butter) and finish with a piece of apple. Repeat with a second skewer. Makes 2 kebobs.

Easter is just around the corner and activities are in abundance, even if it is STILL snowing outside in mid-March. Here are a variety of Holiday options whether or not you celebrate the Easter season (some are just fun spring ideas) and don’t forget to check out the Gluten Free Easter Candy options that I posted earlier in the week!

One of my favorite writers and designers, Randa Clay, has 13 Creative Ways to Dye and Decorate Easter Eggs. She also has Two Easter Coloring Pages, an Easter Word Search, and an Easter Egg Maze, all of which can be printed for table activities. (more…)

Easter is right around the corner and society says that your child’s Easter basket should be filled to the brim with candy. There are Gluten Free/Casein Free solutions for our children if you want to include candy. Make sure to check this post for the most comprehensive Gluten and Casein Free Candies that I have seen. Remember to check all the labels before eating anything because manufacturers can change anything at anytime. (more…)

Every kid loves pasta…even gluten free kids.

This fabulous gluten free (yes, even the glue if you use Elmers!) craft can be made with any child, even the most tactilely defensive or the ones who have trouble with fine motor skills.

Materials:
Rice Pasta in all shapes and sizes. You can also use spelt pasta but some kids have issues with spelt…so stick with rice.
Glue
String
Wax Paper (more…)

This week in the news:

1. The University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Excellence in Autism Research received a $9.6 million grant from the National Institutes of Health.

The funding will come over five years and is a result of the school’s program becoming an Autism Center of Excellence.

Researchers will focus on how the brain develops, how the face and face emotion is recognized, how language is understood, and how decisions are made and problems are solved.
(more…)

So you want to know how to make a sock monkey…and the best places to learn how to make gingerbread? OKAY, OKAY! I will tell you! And, I will throw in the GFCF candies for the gingerbread just for kicks, alright?

Happy now? Just teasing. I love sock monkeys and I LOVE the smell of fresh gingerbread. Just please DO NOT give it to AJ.

(more…)

Gluten Free and Casein Free Holiday Cookies.

Big Batch Gluten-Free Christmas/Sugar Cookies

* 3 cups powdered sugar
* 2 cups granulated sugar
* 2 cups shortening
* 6 eggs
* 1 Tbsp salt
* 1/4 cup vanilla (yes, that much)
* 1 cup amaranth flour
* 2 cups potato starch
* 2 cups sweet rice flour
* 4 cups brown rice flour
* 2 Tbsp xanthan gum
* 3 Tbsp baking powder

Preheat oven to 325*. Mix together the flours, starch, xanthan gum and baking powder with a whisk until well-combined. Set aside. Cream together the sugars, shortening, eggs, vanilla and salt. Add flour mixture, about 1/4 at a time, stirring with a wooden spoon. Once the flour mixture is mostly incorporated, knead the dough in the bowl, slowly punching the dough down in the middle and folding the sides of the dough into the middle. Or, put the dough on a non-stick surface (like a silicone mat or a marble slab), and knead it on there. The mixture will have the consistency of Play-Doh, but not too soft. If it is too dry, add a Tbsp of water at a time until it will gather into a ball. Resist adding water if at all possible. The dough works best if it is not very moist.

After the dough is well-mixed, several things can be done with the dough. For all recipes, greasing the pan is not necessary. Unless a crispy cookie is desired, bake (preferably on insulated pans) at 325* until the edges are just golden. (Hint: for your own insulated pans, take two regular jelly roll pans, and between them, add a layer of heavy duty aluminum foil that has been balled up, then mostly-smoothed out, retaining many of its wrinkles, creating an air gap between the two pans.)

For “plain” sugar cookies:

* As suggested in the cookbook, roll dough into very small balls and flatten to a wafer with the bottom of a sugar-dipped glass or cookie stamp. Bake until golden brown. This will produce a light, crispy cookie.
* Roll into larger balls and flatten to about 1/4″ thick. Bake until edges are just golden. This will produce a soft, chewy cookie.
* Divide the dough into about 4 parts, wrap each ball in plastic wrap, and refrigerate until fairly firm. Place chilled dough on a pastry mat or on wax paper, top with plastic wrap, and pat and roll out until dough is about 1/8″ to 1/4″ thick. Use cookie cutters for your desired shape(s). The thinner the dough, the more crispy the cookie.

More Holiday Cookies:
Christmas Sugar Cookies from Celiac.com *requires substitution for margarine or use of Fleishman’s unsalted margarine. I use Spectrum Shortening.
Cranberry Shortbread and Maple Nut Date Bars
Cinnamon Stars
Ginger Cookies

Word Press, Technorati, Gluten free, casein free, christmas cookies, spectrum, Tags

What have your favorite posts been? It looks like you all want practical solutions to problems in the daily life. Here is a recap from the last 6 months.

How to Avoid Holiday Meltdowns: We have already entered our holiday meltdown mode… and the giggles and wiggles are in full force. The only saving grace we have found this year is plain ole’ quiet time. We have altered our holiday plans this year to include less family time, less busy on the go time, and a lot less lights and glitter.

I Want Candy, GFCF Solutions:…This is not just for Halloween! This came in handy just today when we were making our Gingerbread Train, a new holiday favorite of AJ’s. I chose all candies that were GFCF…gumdrops, wreaths, reindeer corn, peppermints, and even marshmallow santas (which were a big hit).

Aspergers and Top Model: Heather, from America’s Top Model, was certainly intriguing…and she made it a long way. But, was Top Model using her for her disability or did she really deserve to be there?

Jenny, Enough: Despite the fact that I like what Jenny had to say in the beginning the entire McCarthism Autism Vaccination Era needs to come to an end…Vaccinations do not cause autism.

A Successful Halloween: You all loved this post and I am assuming it is because it had advice on how to deal with the biggest kid holiday in the fall…how to allow your child to have fun without darkening his/her night. And, the good thing is that it is possible. Did it work?

Billing Codes May Prevent Autism Screening: Well, because we can’t let this happen, can we?

Fisher Price Lead Disaster: The post that started it all…well, after Thomas the Train collapsed the market. Make sure to check out my Lead Free Toys List over at My Two Boys and I still have two toy giveaways going on over there!

Word Press, Technorati, Autism, Screening, Billing Codes, Halloween, Candy, GFCF, Holiday, Meltdowns, Jenny, McCarthy, Vaccines, Calming, Americas Next Top Model, Heather, Lead Free Toys, Fisher Price, Tags

One of our most treasured (and tortured) holiday traditions in our family is to make Christmas cookies. My mother has been doing this with us since we were so young that I can’t remember when it started but she still insists on doing it every year, no matter how busy we are.

Last year was the first year that AJ was really able to participate in the activity, as the first year he was only two and was running around and playing with toys. Last year he had a blast. He mostly just coated his GFCF cookies with his GFCF frosting and ate but he LOVED it.

This year he is not only on the GFCF diet but also on a soy limited and corn free diet…He is also on a sugar free diet because of his yeast issues. So this year we have decided to only do a few cookies and then make this fabulous Gingerbread Train that I found in my Family Fun Magazine. What I did was order GFCF Gingerbread Mix from Miss Roben’s (allergy grocer) and will prepare it ahead of time. The mix is also Stage One on the Feingold Diet.

The frosting I will be preparing will be GCFC but will certainly NOT be sugar free…but he won’t be eating it, just playing with it and decorating. The candy we can add are certainly GFCF and if he inadvertently pops one in his mouth it won’t hurt the diet, just the sugar issues.

To counteract the sugar? No Phenol enzyme supplement, Grapefruitseed extract, and Biocidin.

Word Press, Technorati, Friday Freebies, Gingerbread train, miss robens, Tags

Last week when I was making AJ’s pancakes I made him an A and a J. Wow, was he fascinated. He asked for more…and even wanted to spell out our last name, which is way too long to spell out in pancakes.

But, when I opened up my Family Fun Magazine yesterday I found pancakes telling me it was now going to be 2008! Can you believe that? 2008? Gosh, I am old…but that is not the point, is it?
(more…)

Now that you have gotten the handle of casein free eating (or at least started to try it out) its time to get started on the gluten free shopping, cooking, and eating. (For the record, I don’t do the cooking part unless it is from a package but I will provide you with some great sites to get some recipes.)

Our gluten free cooking main consists of mixes from the Namaste brand because they carry the best sugar free products out there. AJ loves waffles, muffins, cookies, pancakes, and pizza, but they are hard to come by in the sugar free and yeast free varieties. Even breads are difficult to find unless one has time to cook/bake shortbreads from scratch that are yeast free.

Our main issue with finding products is that AJ’s diet is very limited, as many of you may find down the road. As we started to eliminate foods we started to see more issues arise, like peeling the layers of the onion. When we removed all milk products we finally noticed the gluten. When we removed gluten we noticed the corn. When we removed corn we noticed the salicylates. It was never ending. But, the more we solved, the better he got.
(more…)