Cookies and Crayons

This weekend, we decided to try gluten free baking. I knew we had to get there but I was more than a little intimidated because all the flours were so different from what I was used to. It happened that we decided to participate in a Breakfast Challenge to “Stop the Boring Breakfasts” as well so we decided to mix the two goals and made banana bread (the fact that we had a bunch of aging bananas help in this decision as well).

I am not quite ready to adjust our existing recipes so Grandma Cajka’s banana bread will have to wait. We found a new banana bread recipe instead: Gluten Free Banana Bread. Admittedly, it wasn’t nearly as good as Grandma Cajka’s but it fit the bill.

Dougie mashes the bananas

Adding more ingredients

More stirring

The batter was VERY liquidy. We also made a small adjustment based on the recipe reviews to add an extra teaspoon of baking powder. It definitely helped the bread not fall too much once it was out of the oven.

Finished bread

All in all, I would call this a success. Our baking powder was a bit old and didn’t get mixed in as well as it should have but otherwise, I’d make this again.

Those who have known me for a while know that I’m not very big into pranks. I’m sure you can work out from that what my feelings on April Fools day are. Don’t get me wrong, I always look forward to see what sort of prank Google is going to pull. They are always clever and down right funny, unlike most pranks.

But, it isn’t every day that I get called “clever” (thanks Sharold!) so I felt inspired to do something special and perhaps start a little family tradition. Enter, the meatloaf cupcakes.

Okay, not my best icing job. I left all the icing bags in Dallas and had to improvise. I think it looks cupcake-like though, right?

These are actually gluten-free meatloaf topped with garlic mashed potatoes. They weren’t too bad.

Dougie was excited about the idea of cupcakes for dinner though quickly worked out that it wasn’t cake and suddenly wasn’t so interested.

He did poke at it a bit and then, something magical happened.

Our boy ate a kernel of corn. Then, he ate another. All in all, he likely ate about 25 kernels. Obviously, this isn’t enough to sustain him, but we are so thrilled that he voluntarily ate some!! I don’t want to call this a trend yet, but we’re keeping our fingers crossed.

With two kids and four dogs, having the immaculate house I dreamed of is, difficult, to say the least. I have tried so many different cleaning plans. All of them have elements that I like but, inevitably, something that makes them impossible to stick to. I love the idea of having the house completely cleaned in a single day but I just don’t have that kind of time anymore. We tried FlyLady and, though she has some great ideas, I just couldn’t get past the constant e-mail and some of the “rules” that I didn’t agree with (we’re Canadian – we don’t wear shoes in the house!).

So, I’ve turned to the only resource I have for help – the kids.

As you’d expect, Connie is of no help cleaning but Dougie is starting to get the hang of it.

He’s actually pretty good at it.

He really enjoys helping around the house as well. We have talked several times about assigning him some chores and based on this, I think he’s really ready.

In the meantime, Connie has settled into a supervisor role.

There is no rest for the weary – unless you collapse on the floor.

We had a long day today. By the end of it, we were all more than ready to be done but, with an hour until bedtime, we had to find one more activity. Dougie suggested play-doh. I agreed. So, out came the play-doh and Dougie went to town making various creations.

Play-doh is serious business.

We actually really encourage Dougie to play with things like play-doh because it helps develop his hand muscles. The occupational therapist that Dougie saw encouraged him to play with therapy putty (funny that is what Scott used to make) and play-doh is a bit more fun and has the same benefits.

Once Dougie got the play-doh soft and ready to mold, he started making “animals.” Now, you need to get your imaginations ready and just trust me that this is what he told me each one of them was.

Turtle

Goldfish

Cat

Alligator (he’s making it go “chop chop” in this picture)

Mummy and Daddy (Daddy is green) – I helped with my head

Dougie – with pieces constructed by Mum

While we played, musical stylings were provided by Connie.

After a lot of research and some discussion with our doctor, we have decided to switch Dougie to a gluten free diet for a test run. There has been quite a bit of research on the benefits of a gluten free diets on children with autism. Though Dougie is not autistic, there have been some early studies that indicate that a similar diet can help children with apraxia. So, yes, we decided to take the pickiest eater in the world and limit his food options.

So far, we’ve been doing pretty well. We’re a week in and have found suitable substitutes for many of the foods that Dougie loves. We are going to have to start baking more though because gluten free foods are going to lead us quickly into financial ruin. Fortunately, several people have been very helpful providing recipes and suggestions.

The jury is still out on the results. We didn’t expect to see an instant improvement so we’re still going to give it time. We have noticed that Dougie is starting to use substantially more complicated sentences. It could be a coincidence but we’re hoping it’s the beginning sign of success. We’re going to give this diet a 2 month run and see what changes, if any, Dougie has and then evaluate

Dougie can, almost.