It's her birthday...what do we do?!

A few years back...birthday parties used to throw us for a loop. Hers, her brother's, her sister's...her father's. Thankfully there is now an ever-growing selection of quality and, yes, tasty all-natural and/or organic options!

Of course, the first option is to make everything from scratch. As much as I'd love love love to do this, being a working mother of a family of 5 is just not conducive to being a Ms Sally-From-Scratch chef.

So off to Stop and Shop's Organic aisle I go. Here's what we got (in order of importance of course ;)

1. THE CAKE!!

Thank you 1-2-3 Gluten Free for your delectible cake mixes. While Jessica is NOT celiac and does NOT have to be gluten free, a lot of gluten free products are all-natural and/or organic, and this one just happens to be the best of cake mix options. Heavy on the sugar, eggs and butter like all tasty cakes should be...this one is fabulous and no one would know that it's gluten free or all-natural.

2. THE FROSTING!!

This one is actually easy and all-natural by nature. Follow the recipe on the Domino's Confectioners Sugar for Buttercream Frosting and just be sure to use 100% Vanilla Extract versus Imitation Vanilla (otherwise known as Vanillin) and you are good to go!. If you are looking for chocolate frosting...follow the same recipe, but add 2 squares of unsweetened chocolate melted and cooled. I recommend using Ghirardelli 100% Cacao Unsweetened Baking Bar since it is pure and natural.

3. TASTY SNACKS!!

Our "stock" staple snack foods work for anyone: Lay's Potato Chips (be sure to read the label depending on the flavor you choose), Simply Natural Cheetos, Pirate's Booty, Mott's Medley Fruit Snacks, All Natural Tostitos & any kind of Paul Newman's Own Salsas do the trick here!

4. PIZZA!!

We are extremely lucky to have Rhode Island's own Pier Pizza Company in our town. A family run operation who only uses the best, was wonderful enough to send me their ingredient lists for any of their menu items we are looking to get. Since Cheese Pizza is the most popular and fortunately our favorite, we were grateful to read that their dough, their sauce and their cheese are all-natural ingredients. And bonus: they offer online ordering!! SCORE :o) If you live somewhere that you can't get your hands on a pizza place's ingredients, Paul Newman's Own has a fantastic frozen pizza line to choose from!

All that's left is the fun and games! The party is ON! :)

Success on the road!

Taking a road trip or vacation is made 'that much' more stressful for anyone with food "issues". It's bad enough that you have to make sure you've remembered all your "stuff":

Did we pack enough underwear? socks? shampoo? Do I have my hair straightener? razor? confirmation numbers? Do we have enough gas? Deodorant?

But then...half-way to your destination: "I'm hungry" rings in your ears. AAAGGGHHHH!! What can I feed her?! D'Angelo's? Nope. Subway? Nope. There's a deli? Nope. Shit.Shit.Shit.

But this time was different. This time we were prepared. This time I packed bread :o) 100% All Natural Nature's Pride Honey Wheat Bread (sadly no longer exists since Hostess Brands closed...but we can replace this with Nature's Promise!) "Each soft and delicious slice is 100% natural with no artificial colors, flavors or preservatives. And of course, no high fructose corn syrup." - YAY TEAM!!

It's amazing what 2-4 little slices of bread can do. Now we can buy everyone else sandwiches from the deli that uses Boar's Head deli meat & cheese...and then I can buy 1/4 lb of ham and 1/4 lb of cheese...buy some French's Mustard and voilà: SUCCESS!

Success because we brought our own bread. Who would have thought that a few slices of bread could make or break a vacation. If we would not have gotten our hands on this bread, we would have been faced with either a hungry and whiny 10 year old girl or else a defiant, hive-ridden, anxiety-riddled, whiny 10 year old girl.

For us, this weekend...bread equals happiness equals solid, family time...

...equals good memories equals SUCCESS :o)

Benzoates and my girl's ADHD-like behavior

Around January of this year, I was hoping to get more water into my kids diet. They aren't big fans of just drinking glassfuls of water, so I decided to see if I could get more in them by giving them Fruit2O in their lunchboxes. Jessica's favorite was "Natural Grape". Bonus: "Natural" was right in the name of the flavor and just below it on the label it reads: "flavored with other natural flavors..." RIGHT ON!! right?!

WRONG!! Jessica started coming home from school with red-rimmed eyelids with dark circles under eyes. She was fidgety and unfocused...could not sit still to even watch her favorite Disney Channel show. She was constantly bouncing from room to room, literally getting up in everyone's face with her favorite target being her brother Joe.

"Jessica stop!"

"Jessica sit still!"

"Jessica get out of your brother's GRILL!"

"Jessica...WHAT THE HECK IS.....?!"

...wait just one second Mom...stop...think...what's different about Jessica's diet?! the Fruit2O!! Grab the bottle, flip it around and there it is: "Sodium Benzoate to protect flavor"...NOOOO!! Let's add insult to injury...this "Natural Grape" also had Potassium Sorbate which is also on our No List!

Way to go Mom {{hanging head in shame}}: "Sorry babe...Fruit2O has benzoate AND sorbate in it" *insert frowny face for both mom and daughter here*

...24 hours later: my sweet, kind and calm Jessica returns to us! Come on Mom...take your own advice "READ THE $#@&ING LABEL!!"

Potassium Benzoate and Sodium Benzoate:

"Benzoates are salts of benzoic acid, a weak acid that was at one time derived from benzoin resin, a gum obtained from the bark of trees native to Thailand and Indonesia. Potassium Benzoate and Sodium Benzoate are used as food preservatives to inhibit the growth of molds, yeasts, and bacteria in acidic drinks and liquids, including fruit juice, vinegar, sparkling drinks, and soft drinks" according to the website Diet.com.
(reminder: READ ALL LABELS :)

There are mixed "reviews" as to whether or not the Benzoates can be linked to ADHD. "A clinical research trial published in "The Lancet" was conducted to examine the effects of a drink containing sodium benzoate preservatives, artificial food color and additives on hyperactive behavior, comparing two different compounds with a placebo. Three-year-old children who completed the study showed increased hyperactive behavior with only one of the drink compounds compared to placebo. In contrast, children who were between 8 and 9 years of age demonstrated increased hyperactive behavior with both drink compounds when compared to placebo." Read more @ Livestrong.com  The Summary of the actual trial states:

"Artificial colours or a sodium benzoate preservative (or both) in the diet result in increased hyperactivity in 3-year-old and 8/9-year-old children in the general population." The Lancet

Not enough studies have been done, so no "professional" can conclusively say that Benzoates definitively cause ADHD, however, my own personal "study" with Jessica demonstrates conclusively enough for us to say: they cause ADHD-like symptoms in HER.

How could I forget: HOT DOGS!

So on my list of what Miss Jessica CAN eat..I totally forgot HOT DOGS!! Yup that's right...thank you Oscar Mayer for creating a line of products called "Selects":

 

Oscar Mayer Selects Lunch Deli Meats, Hot Dogs and Bacon

Now how could I forget that?!!! The only catch to this is it's hard to find All Natural or Organic hot dog buns. Stop & Shop used to carry Barowsky's Organic Wheat Hot Dog Buns, but they haven't had them on their shelves in a couple of weeks...("ooooh Customer Service man...." ;)

....AND...as grateful as I am for this...it does make me wonder "Why?!"...hmmmm?!

So what CAN she eat?!

Another "I'll be honest" moment: buying All Natural tends to mean you are buying Organic...and both are definitely more pricey than buying "regular old" food.

Stop & Shop is my go to place to shop in the area we live. It's the cheapest nearby and they have a great Organic aisle. Depending on what kinds of food your family or child prefers, if you can find an organic food store, or you live near a Whole Foods they are even better selection wise but their prices are HIGH. I've gotten word that Trader Joe's has great prices...but it's a trek for me and taking the drive is a wash for the savings...I like to stick with what's nearby me.

So here's what I typically buy for her at the store and as you will see, she doesn't go without much:

• any of the Nature's Promise brand food (it's Stop & Shops organic line...price is WAY better than the brand names)
• Nature's Own 100% All Natural Bread products (sliced bread and hamburger rolls) Sad to report that this is a case of false labeling. The front says All Natural...but the label sings a different tune. It took us a week to figure it out...and what a week it was :( So we are sticking with Nature's Promise for now!!
  
• Cascadian Farm cereals
• EnviroKids cereals
• Cliff bars
• Boar's Head deli meats & cheese
• Sargento cheeses
• Haagen Daz sorbets or ice creams (double check the ingredients depending on if they have added cookie dough or choco chips)
• Heinz ketchup We'll be dropping Heinz from the list due to their continued use of  High Fructose Corn Syrup. We'll be switching to Hunt's that just this month announced: "Hunt's 100% Natural Ketchup brings forth the naturally rich tomato flavor of Hunt's tomatoes and contains only five simple ingredients: tomatoes, sugar, vinegar, salt and other seasonings, with no high fructose corn syrup, artificial ingredients or preservatives."
• French's Mustard
• Cain's Mayo
• Amy's frozen Mac & Cheese
• Annie's Mac & Cheese
• Finagle-A-Bagel frozen bagels
• Lays plain potato chips
• Baked Lays potato chips
• Lays Sour Cream & Onion chips
• Mott's Medley fruit snacks
• Skippy or Jif Natural Peanut Butter
• Sierra Mist Natural soda
• Polar brand Ginger Ale
• Pepperidge Farm Goldfish and most cookies
• Polanar Fruit spread
• CapriSun 100% fruit juice bags or the Special V ones (almost all the others have sodium benozate)
• Late July brand cookies
• Country Choice Organics sandwich cookies (better than Oreos...no lie!)
• Aunt Jemima frozen pancakes and waffles (plain)
• Bubba Burgers
• Jenny O Turkey products
• Shady Brook Farms ground turkey
• store ground beef
• Perdue chicken breast
• Tyson 100% Natural Chicken Nugget
• added late: Oscar Mayer Select Lunch Deli Meats, Hot Dogs & Bacon...see post How Could I forget: HOT DOGS! :)

As for produce...I do try to buy the Organic selections...especially if they have the Nature's Promise options, but sometimes it's just not possible...and frankly "non-organic" fruit doesn't effect Jessica emotionally or physically. Like I said, I try to buy the Organic selections because no one should be ingesting pesticides and what-have-you...but they don't have Organic Fuji Apples one week and she eats a regular old Fuji apple, she's fine. Weird right?! I can only suppose it because its really the preservatives in other food that are her main issue...and there aren't any in produce even if it's not Organic.

So as you can see...there is A LOT she can eat...the lesson here is READ THE LABELS...and refer to the No List before you put anything in your shopping cart!! :)

the NO list

After about 7 years of researching and trial-by-fire diet tweaking...here is our No List:

Aspartame (Sweetener)
MSG Monosodium Glutamate, Glutamic Acid, all Glutamates
TBHQ
BHA
BHT
Latol Rubine
Sulphur Dioxide
any Propionates
any Nitrate or Nitrite
any Benzoate or Hydroxybenzonate
any Sorbates
Any colorings that are not listed as a natural food color (like beet or carrot)

Here's the kicker. They are in EVERYTHING. A lot of brands are getting "tricky" and saying "Natural Flavored" or "Natural Colors"...but they still have artificial preservatives. So no matter what the front label says...you'll want to scour the ingredients to look for any of the ingredients above. For Jess the WORST are Sodium or Potassium Benzoate (which is a preservative found in drinks) and Calcium or Sodium Propionate (the one in bread products).

As I have more time I will drill into most of these "ingredients"...explain what they are and the different reactions Jessica has to them and why they are not to be messed with and there are NO EXCEPTIONS for her.

It's not easy...

Removing artificial ingredient from your child or your family's diet...not gonna lie...is H-A-R-D HARD. But...as we've personally experienced with Jess...it is beyond worth it if you determine that they are the cause of certain physical or behavioral issues.

You need to develop yourself and your family into becoming hard-core label readers and allow for no exceptions. The moment you miss something, you and your child (and ultimately your family) pay for it. It may be a small payment such as gas, or it may be a large payment such as we experienced this past week of 3 days worth of living with an aggressive, irritable, nudgey and uncontrollable MOUTH!

*don't let her bright eyes fool you...she can be the devil with just a touch of sodium benzoate! ;)

If it's the preservatives, you'll notice a difference pretty quickly. Jess is so sensitive, we can tell within 15 minutes...she starts getting antsy, uncomfortable in her own skin, super fresh and depending on how much or what she has ingested...she can get down-right mean & nasty. Then after about 4 hours, she gets really bad stomach discomfort, gas, "yucky poops" as she calls it and if she's had something with bread preservatives (Calcium or Sodium Propionates) she actually breaks out in hives and her eyes swell up anytime up to 24 hours later. We are actually on the path to getting her an "EpiPen" since the next stage could possibly be Anaphylaxis*.

* Anaphylaxis is a serious allergic reaction that is rapid in onset and may cause death. It typically results in a number of symptoms including an itchy rash, throat swelling, and low blood pressure.

Preservatives, Colorings, Flavorings...OH MY!

My daughter Jessica will be 10 in less than 1 week. She is living proof that you are what you eat. It has taken us about 7 years to refine Jessica's diet so that we have her as close to 100% natural as possible. The alternative is riddled with defiance, irritability, aggression on top of physical issues such as hives, IBS, swollen and/or sunken eyes and just plain old discomfort in her own skin.

* She looks sweet as pie doesn't she? Well she is...when she's 100% all natural inside :o)

This blog will be two-fold. Firstly, it will be used to help others who may feel their kids or family will benefit from an all natural diet. Secondly, the blog will be used for me to discuss, demonstrate or simply vent about the trials and tribulations of raising a little girl who is overly sensitive to or out-right allergic to any sort of artificial additive which includes: artificial preservatives, artificial colorings, artificial flavorings and artificial sweeteners.

Sounds like good times ey?! Come along and join in our fun ;o)