Three Meal Chicken

I bought some boneless skinless chicken breasts this week wondering how long they would last.
They were big.
I think there were eight in the package.

We have been traveling a lot. Traveling with Food Allergies. Yikes! As you might imagine that means packing every single meal, snack, and treat, plus more in case we might need more food. I've found I've grown very close to our Thermos containers recently. The kids each have a Funtainer that I have a strict "Only Water" policy in action. I also have a small soup container I've found can keep a nice amount of rice milk cold for cereal or Pro-biotic laced Rice Milk.
 
                              

Turns out the chicken breasts lasted longer than I imagined!
I baked them all with salt, pepper, and maybe some smoked paprika.
The first meal was simple, it was whole chicken breasts with steamed broccoli and gluten free garlic noodles.

I set one large breast aside and threw it in the fridge for when we would get back from our trip.

I cut the rest into bit sized pieces,. I mixed up the broccoli and the noodles with the chicken to create a noodle dish that was very tasty eaten cold in the car.

We ate this noodle dish for two lunches. (My husband, my 4 year old, and my 1 year old, and myself).

When we returned home I used the remaining breast for lunch. I made salad and gathered everything I could find from the fridge. Peas, Carrots (for everyone except Scoot our 1 year old with a suspected carrot allergy), jalapenos, lettuce, Annie Red Pepper Salad Dressing (read your label!), and warmed, slices of chicken!

Count them! That makes:
1 dinner and 3 lunches for the four of us!

Wanna see?

I made a picture.

I thought you might like a visual.

Ready?

Wa-la!


                

So what DO you eat?

It never fails.
Every time we see a new doctor, delve into "the conversation" with a new friend, or someone, somehow finds out what it is we avoid in the name of food allergies they always ask the same question.

"So what DO you eat?"

We have Boomba's re-test and Lo's first draw on Oct 14th. Two years ago we had Boomba's first allergy draw and test. It changed our lives. For the better. It was overwhelming. It was a gift. It had a learning curve. It turned his livelihood around.

Two years later we now have a whole slew of additional allergens we avoid added to our list. Partly due to some adult-onset food intolerance that have effected me, and partly because of this little party girl who was born to us, Lo. She thankfully isn't showing any signs of anaphylaxis. Her symptoms are bloody stools, constipation, and mostly eczema.

Needless to say we've completely changed how we eat these last four years.

No more Milk.
No more Gluten.
No more Corn.
No more Eggs.
No more Green Beans, Coconut, Soy, Carrots, or Sweet Potatoes.

And me? No more Alcohol. We do use extracts with alcohol but I'd love to get away from those.

I thought it would be nice to keep track of what we DO eat.

We eat well.

We eat simple.

We eat tasty.

We eat safe.

Curious about these delish pancakes at the top of your screen?
Check out Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, Egg-Free Pancakes
Remember Baking Powder contains Corn so if that's a concern "use 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar and 1/4 teaspoon baking soda for 1 teaspoon baking powder." For this tip and more check out www.cornallergens.com

When Things are Good

Things have been good.

Better than I could imagine one year ago.

This year Boomba plays outside, has play dates weekly or more, and he even goes grocery shopping with me.

This is last year's future.

My heart is less laden with the immediate pressure of keeping Boomba safe (read: alive), and now more consumed with wonder, worry, and fear for the future.

I've suddenly realized recently that this day-by-day living we've been doing. The redirecting, controlling the circumstances, all the things I and Husband do, will some day be Boomba's responsibility. He will have to make the decisions. He will have to make the phone calls. He will have to resist kissing the date who can't for sure say what she just ate. He will have to teach his friends how to use the Epi. He will have to stand up for his own quality of life. I pray we can teach him to do this with poise and grace, but also strength and confidence.

We're doing a lot of sitting and waiting. I think that breeds worry.

Husband will be, God willing, getting his first call as a pastor of a congregation. We find out where we will be spending a good part of the rest of our life in 5 months. After moving nearly every year of knowing each other for the last 8 yrs, staying in one place for a while sounds divine. One home. No moving boxes. Friends. Honestly, I think I'm most excited for having the same doctor for a stretch. Someone who knows us and doesn't speculate that my son has been mom-diagnosed because he has a tummy ache. I wish that's all this allergy was. But that is not what God has given to us. I do know God has given us, thus far, the tools and support to take care of and love Boomba.

The point though, is that this year has been good. Kinda eerie good. The good that makes you wonder if it's real. The kind that makes you fear for what lay ahead.

Last night I lay in bed and tell Husband in a question "God says don't worry". As the wonderful husband Husband is, he jumped on this and said "YES! Of course."

Of course.

Yes.

Last year was a trial of God's providence. It was such a difficult time that I even broke my no-new-year's-resolutions resolution and resolved to focus on God's providence.

I must say, even though this whole lengthy post is about worry, this year, I usually remember God's providence and find strength and calm there. What a gift to know that nothing in the world can change our future with Him.

That's a future to look forward to.

All of us parents are caring for God's children for however long He lends them to us.

That is a future to look forward to.

No matter the heartbreak this world hands us, we will be healed in perfection and joy in our Father's arms, in Heaven.

That is a future to look forward to.

Thank you, God, for the beautiful future that lay ahead.