Happy Birthday to The Pure Baby's brother!

The Pure Baby (PB)'s older brother celebrated another Happy Birthday!  With that came another GFCF and Feingold Diet birthday cake.  PB's brother wanted a beagle cake, in honor of our 14-year-old beagle :)

I used another Wilton cake pan, along with (again) King Arthur Flour gluten-free chocolate cake mix and quite a lot of cocoa powder (for the frosting colors).

The dog cake pan was used for the groom's cake at our wedding, back in the beagle's tiny puppy days :)  I did not make the cake then, though, and it definitely was not GFCF or Feingold!

Happy Birthday to The Pure Baby!

The Pure Baby (PB) celebrated another super birthday and enjoyed his GFCF/ Feingold Diet Elmo cake :)

Inspired by my expert-cake-decorating mother, I made the Elmo cake using the Elmo Wilton cake pan, King Arthur Flour gluten-free chocolate cake mix, and India Tree natural decorating colors.

I completely adore King Arthur Flour gluten-free mixes - and buy them online by the case. Its much cheaper than in the stores, and I love having a good supply in my pantry.

I've been using India Tree natural decorating colors for my oldest son's past eight years on The Feingold Diet. While the colors may be a little more challenging to work with, they are safe and healthy - containing no petroleum or other nasty chemicals.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!  Have a wonderful holiday with your family and friends :)


Our family will be having a gluten free / casein free (GFCF) plus Feingold Diet Thanksgiving!  This is our first GFCF holiday in a few years, and I am overjoyed at the great improvement in GFCF foods and recipes :)  GFCF food actually tastes yummy! 


Here is our pumpkin pie recipe, for the delicious GFCF (and Feingold Diet) pumpkin pie we will be enjoying tomorrow on Thanksgiving.  Our sample pie was amazingly *just like the real thing*!  So, tomorrow we will proudly share our pie with our extended family.

Pumpkin Pie
2 eggs
1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin  (I used organic canned pumpkin from Whole Foods).
1 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup coconut milk  (I used organic canned coconut milk from Whole Foods, but the refrigerated So Delicious coconut milk is a likely excellent choice as well).
1 pie crust  (See below).

Preheat oven to 425.  Beat eggs.  Add all ingredients, except  for coconut milk.  When fully blended, add coconut milk and mix.  Pour into unbaked deep dish pie crust.  Bake 50-60 minutes, or until set.


Pie Crust
1/2 cup garfava flour
1/2 cup tapioca flour
1/2 cup potato starch
2 tablespoons sugar
3 teaspoons egg replacer powder
2 teaspoons xanthan gum
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/3-1/2 cup water

Preheat oven to 450.  Mix dry ingredients.  Mix in oil.  Mix in 1/3 cup water.  If too crumbly, add 1 tablespoon water at a time, until less crumbly.  Press dough into a greased pie dish.  Bake 1 minute.    

Barbecued Ribs, Part 2

For the Fourth of July, my husband cooked another dinner of barbecued ribs!  Another messy, yet fun, meal :)  Here is a recipe for another Feingold Diet-acceptable barbecue sauce:

Maple Syrup BBQ Sauce

Ingredients:

• 1 cup  beef stock
• 1 Tablespoon flour
• 1 cup onion, finely chopped
• 3/4 cup maple syrup
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 Tablespoons garlic, finely chopped
• 2 Tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons grated lemon rind
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon coriander (optional)

Preparation:

In a saucepan, bring stock to a boil.  Slowly add flour, stirring constantly until blended.  Add all additional ingredients and stir.  Reduce heat.  Simmer for 15-20 minutes, uncovered.  Cool.  Store, covered in refrigerator, for up to one month.  Makes about 4 cups.

Barbecued Ribs - Feingold-Style

My husband grilled some yummy ribs for our family, using a Feingold Diet-acceptable recipe :) Our messy rib-eating child (above) clearly loved his delicious rib dinner!

  

A lot of parents seem to be afraid to try The Feingold Diet, fearing that it will be too difficult and will be meanly depriving children of their favorite foods. Through our seven years on The Feingold Diet, we have found that to be untrue. Actually,we have discovered that there is usually a healthy, Feingold-acceptable substitute for most anything. It might require a little extra cooking, but the rewards of having a happy & healthy child far outweigh the additional effort. Our barbecue sauce recipe follows:

Honey-Mustard BBQ Sauce

Ingredients:

• 1 Tablespoon butter
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 Tablespoon molasses
• 1/2 cup prepared mustard
• 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 cup prepared horseradish

Preparation:

In a small skillet or saucepan, melt butter. Add onion and cook until soft (about 5 minutes). Mix all ingredients and simmer 5 minutes. When meat is almost fully cooked, brush sauce onto meat.

(Makes 3/4 cup sauce).

 

A Super Comment from Another Feingold Mom!

<<< Our oldest son, after being on The Feingold Diet for two months.  No more splotchy red cheeks!


I previously wrote that our oldest son has been on The Feingold Diet  (http://www.feingold.org/)  since age 4.  A reader wrote that her son has also been on The Feingold Diet since age 4.  And guess how old he is now?  He is 38 years old!

I was so happy to hear about her 38-year-old Feingold son :)  I've heard SO many people tell me that our oldest son will quit The Feingold Diet when he grows up.  Our early therapists said that while The Feingold Diet may work *now*, our son will rebel from his Diet as a teen.  Often, this has been said while implying that what our son really needs is the almighty psychiatric medications, rather than some "unproven" diet.

As with my reader, my mom actually learned of The Feingold Diet about 35 years ago.  At that time, my family lived in Northern California and belonged to Kaiser Permanente's health plan.  Dr. Ben Feingold was a practitioner with Northern California's Kaiser Permanente, and it seems that Kaiser Permanente members had the great opportunity of being the first to learn about The Feingold Diet.  My mom even has her notes from Dr. Feingold's seminar :)

The Feingold Diet: What is Eliminated?

The Feingold Diet removes the following from one's diet:

• Food Dyes (also known as food colors, synthetic colors, artificial colors, coal tar dyes, FD&C colors, etc.),
• Artificial Flavorings (including vanillin - synthetic vanilla),
• Four preservatives:  BHA, BHT, TBHQ, and Sodium Benzoate,
• Aspartame (an artificial sweeter),
• Aspirin (and medications which contain aspirin), and
• Foods which contain Natural Salicylates (removed in Stage One only).

Here is a list of foods which contain Natural Salicylates (removed in Stage One only):

• Almonds,
• Apples,
• Apricots,
• All berries,
• Cherries,
• Cloves,
• Coffee,
• Cucumbers and pickles,
• Currants,
• Grapes and raisins,
• Nectarines,
• Oranges,
• Peaches,
• Peppers (bell and chili),
• Plums and prunes,
• Tangerines,
• Tea,
• Tomatoes, and
• Oil of wintergreen.

The list may look a little scary, but it is actually much easier than it appears.

When you buy The Feingold Association membership materials, you will receive all that you need to make The Feingold Diet easy and simple.  The Foodlist and Shopping Guide allows The Feingold Association to hold your hand while you shop at your supermarket :)

You will find a great many of the Feingold-acceptable foods at your neighborhood supermarket, though you will probably want to shop at a natural foods market (such as Whole Foods Market) on occasion - to obtain some of the natural products such as Wellshire Farms hot dogs.

Above, you may notice that I made a reference to the Natural Salicylate being removed only in Stage One.  Many children/people are able to add back to their diet, some or all of the Natural Salicylate.  Sometimes, it is possible to add back in a limited quantity - such as one orange a month, etc.

The Pure Baby's oldest brother has been on The Feingold Diet for seven years - and with tremendous positive results.  He is still on Stage One - meaning that he avoids all Natural Salicylates.  In the beginning, we tried to add back some Natural Salicylates, but we were never successful.  Due to the unhappiness brought to all of us (due to behaviors) by our oldest son consuming Natural Salicylates, he has not trialed any Natural Salicylates for the latter years of his Diet.

Symptoms Commonly Helped by THE FEINGOLD DIET

The Pure Baby is sweetly napping in my arms, so I will take a moment to share with you the symptoms that are commonly helped by The Feingold Diet.

Symptoms:

• Attention Deficits, Hyperactivity (ADD / ADHD)
• Asthma
• Autism, PDD, Aspergers
• Bedwetting
• Depression
• Dyslexia, Dysgraphia, Learning Disabilities
• Ear Infections
• Eczema, Hives (Urticaria)
• Eye Muscle Disorders, Strabismus, Nystagmus
• Headaches, Migraines
• Irritable Bowel Syndrome
• Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
• Seizures
• Sleep Disorders, Nightmares, Night Terrors
• Speech Difficulties
• Tourette Syndrome
• Violence, aggression

Our oldest son has benefitted tremendously from The Feingold Diet, especially in the area of aggression.  At age four, he became a much happier little boy, who was able to have positive play time with his younger brother. Now, years later, he continues to benefit from The Feingold Diet, which is very evident when he has aggressive episodes due to Diet infractions.

A Diet to End AD(H)D and More!

Pictured below:  Our oldest son, at
age two, before The Feingold Diet -
with a salicylate-caused rash on his face.

Wow, there is actually a diet that ends AD(H)D? A diet that ends many other conditions as well - including behavior issues, learning issues, and overall health issues?  A diet that even helps dramatically with conditions on the autism spectrum?

We have first-hand experience with this impressive diet - The Feingold Diet.  Our oldest son has been on The Feingold Diet for seven years - and we have happily seen tremendous benefits for him, especially relating to behavior.

I first read about The Feingold Diet in Mothering Magazine, about eight years ago.  At that time, I asked both our son's pediatrician and our son's psychologist (yes, he had a psychologist at age three!) for their opinions of The Feingold Diet.  They both said the same things:  doesn't work, a waste of time, and unhealthy.

The psychologist instead said that "One-Two-Three Magic" was what our son needed - not a silly diet.  Additionally, she referred our son to a psychiatrist - to talk about psychiatric medication for a three-year-old.  Soon after this, my husband got a job in another state, allowing us to find new doctors.  Our son's psychologist kindly referred him to a developmental pediatrician at a major children's hospital in our new city.  Thankully for us, our son's new developmental pediatrician prescribed The Feingold Diet for our son!  (Probably not quite what our son's psychologist was anticipating!)

The Feingold Diet was originally known for treating AD(H)D, but now it has been shown to treat so much more!  For our son, his big gains with The Feingold Diet have been behavioral.  Most of all, The Feingold Diet greatly diminished his aggression.

There is much more to say about The Feingold Diet.  In upcoming posts, I will talk about The Feingold Diet in great detail, including: 
(1) Symptoms that may be helped by The Feingold Diet,
(2) What The Feingold Diet eliminates and why, and
(3) Why The Feingold Diet is effective.
Plus More!