Are we in the clear??

I'm happy to report today that we are on day 5 of no blood in Mini's stool. Perhaps we've finally found the magic combination of "what not to eat"! I don't think that fish, nuts or eggs were the culprit, though so I'll try adding those in gradually in the next week or so and see how she does.

On another note... I have an example for you of how you can never be too careful! Since I can't eat beef I've been eating lots of chicken and pork. I recently saw in my local grocery store's sale ad that they had whole frozen turkeys on sale for something like half off. I thought "why not" and bought one. I got a 14 pound turkey for a little over $8.00. I like turkey a lot and so does the hubby so I figured I'd bake it this weekend, hubby could have some turkey sandwiches and then I could make a turkey and rice soup! I was very excited about all of this food! I took the turkey out of the fridge last night to see how big it was and there it was.... what I had failed to notice in the grocery store: "Preseasoned with Real Creamery Butter!" Now, I know most people put butter on turkey before baking it so it gets that nice, golden brown color but have you ever seen a turkey that already comes with butter?

Now I have a 14 pound turkey for my husband so I called my parents and invited them to dinner! 

Lesson learned: ALWAYS read the label even when you think there's no way an item will contain an "off limits" ingredient!

A tip for you...

I've been putting my salad dressing in a baby food jar and taking it with me wherever I go. That way I would always have an option if I got hungry while out and about because, let's face it, eating out with so many dietary restrictions is damn near impossible.

The only problem with this is the baby food jar leaked every time. So, I started putting the baby food jar filled with salad dressing in a zip top bag. This stopped dressing from getting all over everything in the diaper bag but then I was left with a slippery baby food jar and had a hard time getting it opened to actually use the dressing!

The other night, as DH and I were getting ready to go out to dinner (yay for date night!) I was tearing my kitchen apart looking for something to put my salad dressing in that wouldn't leak. Then, all of a sudden, it was like a lightbulb went off in my head and my eyes landed on this:

Yes, that is a Medela breast milk storage bottle! It's small enough to fit in my purse and the best part is that it's designed to carry breast milk... a liquid.... so, essentially, it's designed not to leak!

It worked like a charm! Hooray!! Now that I think about it, I guess you could also use breast milk storage bags too!

Hmmmm

I would love to post some yummy new recipe for you today but I have to say, I've kept it pretty simple lately. Mostly stuff like plain turkey burgers and chicken breasts with fresh veggies and potatoes. I do have some pork chops in the freezer though so maybe I'll come up with some sort of sauce for those soon....I'm ready for some flavor!

An update on Mini, now: She was doing great. We even had a normal poop the other day. That night DH and I went to dinner at Outback Steak House. I had a grilled chicken breast with just salt and pepper, a baked sweet potato with brown sugar and cinnamon and a salad with my "safe" salad dressing that I brought from home. And a glass of Chardonnay as a treat. The next morning Allie had a screaming fit. Something she doesn't normally do. She screamed and nursed for about a half hour before she finally conked out and slept for a while. When she woke up a couple of hours later she was better and nursed happily. She finally pooped about an hour after nursing. She didn't scream or even seem to struggle when she pooped but I wasn't surprised to find blood in her diaper, just based on her behavior earlier. Sure enough, after having a normal diaper the previous day, there was more blood in her stool than I've ever seen. Probably TIM but normally I have to really look and I find tiny little specks. This diaper had threads of blood. And not just one, there were quite a few!

This may be a long shot but perhaps there was some sort of cross-contamination? Like maybe they threw my chicken on the grill right after they took a big, juicy steak off?  I don't know.... I'm really reaching these days! But I plan to discuss it with the doctor next week when we go in for her weight check. I also plan to ask about seeing a pediatric allergist. I've read that they can pinpoint the problem a lot of the times with some simple, non-invasive tests. It's worth checking out....

Bye-bye wheat!

So I've now added wheat to the list of things that I can't eat (dairy, soy, nuts, eggs, fish, beef, wheat). I took Mini to the doctor yesterday for her 2 month shots and the doctor wasn't real pleased with her weight gain. It was on the very low end of acceptable so she has to go back in two weeks for a weight check.

Last time we saw the doctor I asked him about wheat. My husband's sister has a wheat allergy so I thought it might be a possibility. His response at that time was that he didn't know of wheat being a cause for blood in the stool of a breastfed baby. I brought it up again as that is the only one of the top 8 allergens that I was still eating.... and eating a lot of wheat I was! I didn't realize how many bagels with apple butter or jelly that I ate! I just cut wheat yesterday and I already miss my bagels and my Raisin Bran! I will have to go to the store this afternoon and stock up on Rice Chex or some other rice cereal. 

My pediatrician asked what that would leave me eating, to which I responded "turkey, chicken, pork, fresh fruits and veggies, rice and potatoes." I think he realized that I had thought this out and he told me to give it a try. I sure hope the blood in her stool goes away soon so I can start to add a few of these items back into my diet!

Oatmeal Cookies

If you're like me, one of the things you miss the most is cookies. I discovered that Oreo cookies don't contain dairy... but they do contain soy. I was devastated! This is my mom's recipe for oatmeal cookies but I substitute oil for butter and they're fantastic!

2 sticks butter (I use 1 cup oil)
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
3 cups old fashioned oats (not quick oats)
1 cup raisins (optional)

Preheat oven to 350. Combine butter (oil in my case), brown sugar, white sugar, eggs and vanilla (wet ingredients). Mix well. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt (dry ingredients). Mix well. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix well. Stir in oats and raisins. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto a greased cookie sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes.

I can't eat these now that I've cut eggs but thoroughly enjoyed them the last time I had to restrict my diet!

Tomato Sauerkraut Casserole

I know this sounds disgusting but it's delicious, I promise! My mom made this for me yesterday. She got the recipe from one of the ladies in her sewing group and it's the only way my mom will go anywhere near sauerkraut!

1 can sauerkraut, drained
1 can diced tomatoes, undrained
1/2 cup sugar
4 pieces of bacon, chopped

Combine the sauerkraut, tomatoes and sugar in a casserole or baking dish. Stir well. Top with the chopped bacon and cook for 2 hours at 300 degrees.

So easy! However, you might want to skip the bacon if your little one is sensitive to milk derivatives.
I apologize for not having a picture. I didn't take my camera with me to my mom's house yesterday and I can't find a picture online anywhere.