Welcome To Holland by Emily Perl Kingsley

I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel.  It's like this......

When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy.  You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum.  The Michelangelo David.  The gondolas in Venice.  You may learn some handy phrases in Italian.  It's all very exciting.

After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives.  You pack your bags and off you go.  Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland."

"Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy!  I'm supposed to be in Italy.  All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."

But there's been a change in the flight plan.  They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.

The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease.  It's just a different place.

So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language.  And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.

It’s just a different place.  It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy.  But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips.  Holland even has Rembrandts.

But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there.  And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."

And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever  go away... because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.

But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland.

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©1987 by Emily Perl Kingsley. All rights reserved.  Reprinted by permission of the author.

GF Pork Stir Fry

Wonderful Leftovers...

What to do with left over Pork Chops?

I cleaned out my refrigerator for this one. Took the left over cooked pork chops that were cooked in a pan with a little oil, salt and pepper. I cut it thinly and threw into a pan with some oil and Gluten Free Teriyaki Sauce (can find at Whole Foods).  Found broccoli, mushrooms and green onion in my produce drawer. Threw that in and made a really quick, healthy, Gluten Free Delicious lunch! Serve with naturally Gluten Free White or Brown Rice.

GFCF Pork Chops with Maple Syrup Gravy and GFCF Creamy Mashed Potatoes



GFCF Maple Syrup Pork Chops with Casein Free Creamy Mashed Potatoes

Pork Chops
Season with salt and pepper cook in pan on medium heat with a little oil. Cook 3-4 minutes per side depending on thickness.  Remove from pan.

Maple Syrup Gravy
1T Gluten Free Flour
1/2 cup Maple Syrup
1/4 cup water
1 T Worcestershire
1 T Apple Cider Vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste

Add Gluten Free flour to the pan the pork chops were cooked in, add remaining ingredients. Let simmer for  a few minutes , mixing frequently.

Mashed Potatoes
3 Lbs Yukon Gold Potatoes
1/2 cup Vegan Sour Cream
1/2 cup Vegan Cream Cheese
1 stick Soy or Vegan Butter
Salt and pepper to taste

Peel and boil potatoes in salted water. Do not over cook potatoes as it could make the texture a little gritty. Poke with a knife if the potato falls off they are done or if you see a foam starting in the water they are probably done. Sorry I never time my potatoes! 

Heat all ingredients and add to hot potatoes, my mom told me never to add cold ingredients...seems to work. Combine all, add salt and pepper. Whip until smooth. 

Plate the potatoes, pork chops and let the Maple Syrup Gravy flow!  My boys love this...Got Wes who is not Casein Free to love mashed potatoes with these potatoes. He didn't like the dairy full version.  Enjoy!

Gluten Free Casien Free Pot Roast

After taking away a puzzle piece, a DVD case and a bag of ham from our St. Bernard Gus and then having to tie Weston's shoes four times I finally got around to finishing our Delicious Pot Roast!

Boneless beef roast
3 lbs Yukon Gold Potatoes-quartered
1 bag baby carrots
3-4 Shallots-roughly chopped
1 t chopped Garlic
1 3/4 Progresso Gluten Free Beef Broth
3/4 c red wine or red cooking wine
3/4 cup All Purpose Gluten Free Flour
1 T salt
1 1/2 t pepper
2 T Olive Oil
Pat dry roast with paper towel, cover entire roast with salt and pepper, dredge entire roast in GF all purpose flour. Heat 2 T olive oil in roasting pan and sear roast 4-5 minutes on each side and sear ends.

.Add liquid, garlic and shallots to remaining flour and blend until smooth. Arrange beef and veggies in a roasting pan. Pour liquid over roast. Bake at 325 for 2-3 hours, until tender.

Served with Gluten Free Woodchuck Cider! Perfect for the KU vs. MU Game! Rock Chalk Jayhawk!

GFCF White Chicken Chili with GFCF Cornbread

 

 

GFCF  White Chicken Chili

1 onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

3T Gluten Free all purpose flour

2 t cumin

2 T Earth Balance vegan butter

½ t white pepper

4 cans Navy beans

2 cans Progresso Gluten Free chicken broth

4 cups cooked diced chicken

1 can chopped green chilies

 

1 stalk green onions chopped-for garnish

Vegan sour cream

 

Sauté onions and garlic in butter, add flour, white pepper and cumin until mixed thoroughly. Add remaining ingredients and simmer for 3-4 hours. Top with vegan sour cream and chopped green onions.

 

GFCF Cornbread

 

1/2 cup Earth Balance vegan butter

2/3 cup Agave syrup

2 eggs

1 cup canned Coconut Milk

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup cornmeal -fine grind

1 cup Gluten Free all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

 

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease an 8 inch square pan.

Melt butter in large skillet. Remove from heat and stir in agave syrup. Quickly add eggs and beat until well blended. Combine coconut milk with baking soda and stir into mixture in pan. Stir in cornmeal, flour, and salt until well blended and few lumps remain. Pour batter into the prepared pan.

Bake in the preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Not One, Not Two, Not Three but Eight!

It was a snow day and the boys stayed home with Dad. Mac and Wes had some fun playing pirates, X-box and destroying every room in the house. I came home from work, said hello to the family and sat down with Mac to start his usually very stressful homework.  My husband Marc tries to do homework with Mac but Mac will normally only do this with me. 

Marc and I both noticed he was a little wired and just played if off as cabin fever and was ready to get back to his school schedule the next day.  Mac could not sit still and was refusing to do his spelling. I asked him if he would like to start with math or reading first. I was giving him a choice but still no reasoning with him.

After several attempts of offering rewards for doing his homework Mac started hitting his head on on the back door, licking the kitchen table and I am not sure what else at the moment. He then said 'Mommy I ate something I shouldn't'.  Mac ran out of the kitchen to find the empty hidden bag of regular-gluten, yeast filled HOT DOG BUNS!  He ate all EIGHT hot dog buns some time that day.  I couldn't believe it! After the discussion of why he had done this his behavior started to go down hill even more. As punishment for eating food he knows very well he can't have and not for doing homework we decided to send him to his room.

Mac began running around the house.  We would send him to his room and he would run out again and again, the whole time laughing nervously. Mac does this when he gets in trouble. Like many other kids on the spectrum he doesn't know how to react or can't really tell that is father and mother are very angry with him.  I tried hugging Mac to calm him down but nothing was working at the moment.

Finally he stayed in his room and started sobbing. He hadn't had dinner and was probably feeling really out there from eating the hot dog buns. So Marc and I made a joint decision that Mac was 'too far gone' for the night. The hot dog buns had taken over his mind and body. I went up and made a deal with him. He could come down and eat dinner at the kitchen table and if he finished his spelling he could watch Wipe Out, our favorite family show! 

Mac lived up to our deal and we all enjoyed Wipe Out before bedtime. 

I wanted to share this evening on my blog because it is so hard to know what to do in some of these situations. I am glad Marc was home from work that night. To have a support there was very helpful. 

Also, it is so hard not to eat those foods you love! I know I want to cheat and sneak sometimes too so I know how Mac feels.

Mac has started sneaking food more and more that he knows he can not have! He may be in a growth spurt so I am trying to feed him as much and as often as possible. We may even go to the extreme of locking up all shelf stable foods he can not eat.  Any suggestions let me know.

Spelling Test Update! The next day Mac got 100% on his test!

Mac's 'Mac and Cheese' GFCF

I had thought of this recipe but hadn't tried it yet.  Kris Kohler, a friend from Autism Speaks, said she made her kids Mac and Cheese with Daiya cheese and it was really good so I went ahead and tried it for lunch today! Yay! Cheesy, gooey and good flavor!

Gluten Free Pasta (I used half a package of fusilli)
1/2 cup Vegan Daiya cheese (give or take)
1/2 cup canned Coconut Milk (give or take)
1 T Earth Balance Soy Butter
1/2 cup cooked hamburger (salt and pepper to taste)

Cook pasta as directed. Drain and put back on low heat. Add casein free butter, Daiya cheese and coconut milk stir until melted. Add hamburger! I would usually add peas but thought we would just try this first!

Mac ate three bowls! Enjoy!