I'm back!

Sorry for the lack of posts the last 6 weeks or so. The baby had many more bad nights that lead us to eating an extreme elimination diet so I didn't have anything new to report. After a couple trips to both the pediatric allergist and the pediatric GI doctors - I think we're finally getting somewhere. Emily had another RAST blood test that came back positive for milk, egg, and peanut. She also had low positives for wheat and oat, but the allergist thought they were too low to worry about. He asked me to try to reintroduce them back into her diet and see what happened. The baker that I am (and the fact that her 1st birthday was approaching), I started with wheat. Not only was I to use the 4 day rule, I was also to wait a week inbetween any new introductions. She got sick right away on wheat - so we were back to the doctor again. This time they did a skin prick test which was positive for wheat. If there was any good news in all of this, it was that she seems to have outgrown the soy allergy. She passed both the RAST and skin tests for it. I haven't reintroduced it yet, but I hope it will go well. Last week we reintroduced rice and this week corn. Next week will be turkey! I timed this because of thanksgiving of course as I couldn't imagine going without (but would have if I had to). Since I have to have it one day anyway as a tester, I'm waiting until Thanksgiving day so that I can have it guilt free. The other advantage is that if she does get sick through the night, both my husband and I are off work the following day!

We've been trying lots of items lately - both some successes and some failures. I'm hoping to try to get caught up on my reviews this weekend, so there will be many more posts. I've also visited some new stores that carry allergen free items so I'm thinking about doing reviews on local places I've found as well as some online grocers.

Enjoy Life Snack Bars

When I bought these snack bars, I was hoping they would be something like a nutri-grain bar. No such luck. They have the potential, there just wasn't much fruit in them which I thought was strange since they are called Very Berry.

http://www.enjoylifefoods.com/our_foods/snack_bars/very_berry.html

They also have the Sorghum flour, but I don't think it's quite as noticeable as in the cookies. Also again disappointed with the small number actually inside the box.

Household rating:
Very Berry: 5/10

Enjoy Life Cookes

Sounds good doesn't it? After having Enjoy Life's chocolate chips and chocolate bars, I just had to try their cookies. First up was their Gingerbread Spice.

http://www.enjoylifefoods.com/our_foods/cookies/gingerbread_spice.html

For the first time ever, I had to throw out cookies. I just couldn't stand these. I even tried their recommended warming them up in the microwave suggestions. It didn't make any difference. Enjoy Life is known for everything they make being allergen free. This is fantastic, but when you don't have to worry about gluten, you would like to have regular flour in your cookies rather than the sorghum flour used in their cookies. I didn't like the texture of this flour and I didn't like the way my stomach felt afterwards. Maybe the sorghum flour takes a little getting used to. I was also disappointed that there we so few cookies in such a large box.

Next up was their Double Chocolate Brownies.

http://www.enjoylifefoods.com/our_foods/cookies/double_chocolate_brownie.html

They aren't bad, but I think I would rather try to come up with a chocolate cookie recipe myself (again the flour was an issue, but I was able to eat more of these cookies than the gingerbread ones).

I still have a box of the Snickerdoodle ones is the pantry. I just haven't wanted to try them yet.

Household ratings:
Gingerbread Spice: 1/10
Double Chocolate Brownie: 5/10

Chocolate Bars!!!

And no I'm not kidding! Enjoy life came out with a line of chocolate bars so I just had to try them. They come in 3 flavors - Crispy Rice, Dark Chocolate, and Rice Milk.

http://www.enjoylifefoods.com/our_foods/chocolate_bars.html

I tried the Crispy Rice first, and it was by far my favorite. I was hoping it would be like a Crunch bar, but there wasn't much rice in it (to my disappointment). I wasn't crazy on the dark chocolate one, but to be fair, I'm not a fan of dark chocolate anyway. If you like dark chocolate, than you will probably like this one best. The rice milk one was ok, it just tastes like melted chocolate chips. I really think it could use something else in it (like lost of puffed rice)! The dark chocolate and rice milk ones I couldn't eat the whole bar at once (even though they are less than 2 oz). I don't know if it was because it had been so long since I had had chocolate or if it was just too rich (not usually something that bothers me).

Household ratings:

Crispy Rice: 8/10 (would have gotten a 10 if it had more rice in it)

Dark Chocolate: 5/10

Rice Milk: 6/10

Rice Puffs

Emily's stomach is really bothered by oats. When it was time to give her finger foods, we weren't sure what to give her. We first tried Rice Krispies (because we already had them in the house). She really liked them, but they got soggy very fast, so we were hoping to find something a little bigger for her. That's where we came across the Rice Puffs by Nature's Path.

http://www.naturespath.com/products/cold_cereals/puffed_cereals/rice_puffs

Their one ingredient is Organic Brown Rice and their size is perfect for mastering that pincer grasp. They get a little soggy (as everything does when a baby is eating it), but they hold up quite nicely.

Emily rating: 10/10
Household rating: 10/10

Amazon Frosted Flakes

Since I enjoyed the Gorilla Munch cereal so much, I thought I would see if there were any other brands that I could have and came across Amazon Frosted Flakes.

http://www.naturespath.com/products/cold_cereals/flaked_cereals/amazon_frosted_flakes

Another great find! I love them! These are also corn based, but the taste is really great!

Household rating: 10/10

No-Buttercream Here Frosting

Here's a frosting recipe I changed to make it milk and soy free.

1 cup spectrum shortening
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 cups sifted confectioner's sugar
4 tbsp rice milk

In a large bowl, cream together the shortening and vanilla. Add sugar gradually, one cup at a time, while beating on medium speed. Add milk and continue beating on medium speed until light and fluffy. Keep covered with a damp cloth until ready to use. You can refrigerate any unused frosting for up to 2 weeks in an airtight container.

Makes about 3 cups.