Managing Birthdays

Managing your child's own gluten free birthday is easy, but going to another's child's birthday party presents some difficulties. My boys were invited to a combined birthday of a 5 year old girl and a 4 year old boy. Thank God for my darling husband who reminded me about two days before the party with the question, "so what are you going to do about cake?"

I started by emailing the mom's and asking for the menu. It was to be snack foods like goldfish and animal crackers at the beginning and then a cookout with burgers and hotdogs.

I panicked a bit at the idea of wheat-filled snacks set out on the table for kids to graze; I envisioned myself as the wheat Nazi, standing guard in front of the table and depriving my children of normal childhood treats. I had to remind myself several times that I was doing the best things for my kids. So, I bought a special treat of fruit snacks (a rare sight in our home) and packed some cashews and crackers. So, what to do about cake? I had no GF cake mix on hand, so I made cookies instead. John pointed out the morning of the party that I should have frosting, but it was too late to get any, so we'll remember that for next time.

I had a distinct feeling that cookies were not going to cut it when the boys saw that cake. So, I spent the whole morning talking about the awesome, super special cookies that they got to have. Zach said he wanted cake, but seemed satisfied with the answer that cake would make his tummy hurt. So I kept talking up the cookies and special snacks and prayed.

The day went over great! The boys were mostly distracted by the giant bouncy castle. Zach and I got into one tussle over goldfish, but I pacified him with the fruit snacks. Burgers and hot dogs are easy, just leave off the bun. I had a surprising task of keeping Gabey away from the cake. He hates cake; never touches the stuff. But he saw everyone else eating it and wanted a bite. So I managed to snag some frosting from the side and he was happy with one bite of that and went back to his cookie.

All in all gluten control was a very successful endeavor for another child's birthday party. I'm glad they're too young for sleepovers just yet...

Notes on Progress

Zach has seen little to no change, except, perhaps, a little easier time going to sleep. Both boys had minor bouts of diarrhea two days after the diet started. Purging?

There have been some noted changes in Gabriel:

1) Improved behavior. He suddenly and dramatically entered the terrible twos a few weeks ago. The child who never cried and never said boo went through emotional roller coasters and pretty big tantrums. He was defiant and unmanageable. His behavior is not the angelic perfection it used to be, but it has improved since the diet began.

2) More energy. Gabriel loves his quiet play time, but ever since the diet he has been eating less and playing harder. He used to stuff his face with anything put in front of him, but that just didn't help his growth. The kid could eat 3 hot dogs, 2 servings of mac and cheese, and a whole apple without batting an eye. Now he eats more appropriate for his age. He still has a healthy appetite, but he seems to be satiated more easily.

3) His belly has gone away. Every time he ate his tummy would swell up. I always attributed this to a full stomach. But now, even after a very large meal, his stomach has stopped doing this. In fact, you can see every line of his perfect abs.

It takes 3 weeks for gluten to exit the body completely and we've gone 1 1/2 weeks. Halfway there! Let's see if improvements continue for Gabey and start for Zach.

Gluten Free Lunches

Who says gluten free has to be tough? Here are three simple lunches that are gluten free, easy, and little boy friendly.

Quesadillas with mangos and broccoli.

Seriously, easy-peasy. Just steam some broccoli and slice up a mango. The quesadillas are nothing but plain corn tortillas, salt, pepper, and cheddar cheese fried on a skillet with sunflower oil. Sometimes I throw in some chicken or lamb to add texture and protein.

It's a huge hit with my little guys every time.

Macaroni and cheese with strawberries.

Always a fan favorite and even easier than the quesadillas. I use Annie's gluten free mac and cheese. It takes all of 20 minutes. Follow the box instructions, slice up some strawberries, and you're good to go.

PBJ and peaches

This one took a little more preparation because I had to make the bread the night before. I used Gluten Free Pantry bread mix, which is extremely easy to use and even comes with a package of yeast. This batch was made with egg, as the recipe calls, but next time I plan to try without eggs since I am allergic. Thank goodness my boys can eat eggs or I would be sunk. This particular PBJ is made with apple jelly. Slice a little thin because this bread is pretty dense, as GF tends to be. The peaches are, unfortunately, canned since peaches are out of season here in India and tough to come by even when in season.

See? GF isn't so tough.