Aaaaaah summer is upon us!

I'm sorry to have vanished for so long, I'm now up to 3 kiddos an almost 8 year old, almost 3 year old and an almost 1 year old. They have kept me soo busy this year that blogging was the last thing in my mind. Not to mention that since the birth of my little mr, I've been dealing with intense back pain. Bad to the point of needing to see physical therapists, and extra doctors. Throw that in on top of all my other crazy momma life issues and voila recipe for things falling through the cracks.

We are back with a plan for an awesome summer. My oldest will be joining me this summer on the blog. She is desiring to do her own toy review vlog, so we are going to collaborate this summer. I'll review something from my point of view and she'll do it from hers. So that you, our followers can get a well rounded perspective on how annoying/fun a toy really is. Hehehe.

We'll Be reviewing Legos, especially the friends sets and elves, Barbies, Play doh, and we'll be cooking together. It should be a fun summer!

The blood sugar mystery

This summer while I was nearing the end of my pregnancy, I began to get increasingly frustrated with my almost 7 year old. She would be starving an hour before her meal times, and in that time she was teary and insulting, she would walk away stomping and singing under her breath about how momma hates her and never loved her. It was like she was trying to pick a fight with me. I just dealt with it, and realized if I gave her some food her attitude would instantly be better. I felt like such a push over because I gave in to her cranky. I figured once school started things would be better. What happened was it just became more dramatic. Just a couple weeks ago now, we had her school conference. At her conference we learned that this is happening at school too. All of a sudden things began to fall into place. There was more involved than baby jealousy and school getting harder. We went to the dr. The doctor and I both assumed that we were looking at a case of hypoglycemia where blood sugar drops dramatically before meals. He prescribed a blood sugar monitor and a set of lab tests. We've been charting her blood sugar now for a little over a week. But the mystery lies in what her blood sugar is doing.

In the morning when she wakes up after no food for 8-10 hours her blood sugar is still about 100. This is not typical. Then after she eats it drops down to 90. This is backwards. It should not be like this! In the afternoon after school it jumps to 130 then back down to the 90's after a snack, then before dinner it spikes back up to anywhere between 130-180. About an hour after dinner it will be back down to 100 or so. This pattern is not one I can find any information on. It is making me mental. The fits, Whiney, mean comments, attitude, and just plain nasty are symptoms of the high numbers. She had been especially cranky at me yesterday morning as we readied the house for our church to come over. Finally a lighbulb clicked in my brain and I tested her blood. 180. The highest it had been so far. She always tells me not to yell at her, when in fact I am talking surprisingly calm for someone who is being confronted by such attitude. I asked her if things sounded funny when she was hungry and she said everything seems loud and echos like a tunnel. The dr has asked us to watch what she is eating because her BMI number is high, but now to curb the attitude we have had to start feeding her more often. This is a problem because she always feels starving when she is like this so she over eats. Even if I try to control he portions it's never enough. 

If anyone has any ideas as to what is going on inside this little girl I would love to hear them. We go the results of her blood work today and everything was within the normal range. Dr. Was like it looks fine, lets just feed her more small meals. Then I told him the numbers we've been getting and how it's backwards and now he is referring us to an endocrinologist. I'm hopeing for a quick appointment date, but I'm not holding my breath as there is exactly one pediatric endocrinologist on the island. Oh joy.  That means there is no second opinion either.

Update: follow this linkhttp://allergic2motherhood.blogspot.com/2015/06/blood-sugar-mystery-follow-up.html

Best Hospital food ever!

If you have food allergies like me some of the worst times can be going to the hospital and being admitted. While most times you have no warning or ability to make arrangements when you are going to have a baby you have a bit of warning. When I had my second daughter I contacted the hospital because with my first the only foods they could find that I could eat was water and jello. Not exactly the best diet. So I didn't want that again. They went out shopping just for me ahead of time. The food was amazing and it was like being at a resort and being catered to. I was actually looki forward to the same thing this time around. So I contacted the hospital again and since they still had all of my menus they were able to quickly put together an amazing array of food. 

This was amazing spare ribs. Soo tasty.

This is an amazing Antistresstimine, because food while recuperating is essential. What impressed me most was one morning I got some crackers on my tray that were not safe for me. No big deal they had the ingredients right on them so I made sure to read them. The dietary coordinator I was working with came up to my room the second morning to check in with me, and I just off the cuff mentioned it was on there, because the hospital is a children's hospital too and kids may not read the label and just assume it's safe. She was livid. She switched my tray preparer and made quite a big deal about it. Even sent up her boss to appologize. It wasn't that big of deal to me, but to them it really was. That makes me confident to put myself in their hands when it comes to my food. So good job Kapiolani medical center for women and children! Mahalo Nui Loa for your care!

Texas Brownies

Not sure why they are called Texas Brownies, perhaps because everything is bigger in Texas? The pan you need is a jelly roll pan or a large sheet pan with a minimum of one inch around the edge. In my family these are Nana's Texas Brownies. My Nana lived in Nebraska and Minnesota at different times. When she lived in Minnesota when I was little I remember her teaching my how to make cookies. As I grew up she moved back home to Nebraska. The one thing I will always remember about her Nebraska house in the winter around the Christmas holidays is that the garage was as cold as a refrigerator, and at times as cold as a freezer, and no one used the front door every cousin walked in through the garage. Along the wall leading to the house and over and beside the door were shelves full of ice cream buckets. In those buckets were cookies. Lots and lots of cookies. And if you happened to be walking in the door with Uncle Dale, Brian, Eric, Tim, or Craig you could get the most sought after cookies. They were the ones you had to be tall to reach. I'm pretty sure that they were the ones that put those buckets in that location because my Nana wasn't super tall like they were. We are headed into the holiday season and a bit of me got nostalgic the other day. I didn't have diagnosed food allergies when I was a kid, and so I could indulge in any treat Nana made. These brownies never made it outside to the garage cooler shelves. The pan would sit inside her washer/dryer closet in the kitchen. It had a bifold door. I'm not sure how she did it but I know she never oiled it to fix the noise it made opening. She would scold you for sneaking a brownie, but we all knew she never really meant it. Now that I'm older with annoying food allergies. I decided it's time to make some of the treats edible to me again. So without further ado soy free, dairy free, egg free Texas Brownies.

2 c. flour
2 c. granulated sugar
1/2 c. Canola oil

(Optional) 2 drips dairy free butter flavoring by Wilton
1/2 c. shortening (spectrum farms)
1 c. strong coffee 
1/2 c. Coconut buttermilk ( to make simply put 1tblsp of vinegar into 1 cup canned coconut milk)

1/4 cup Apple sauce (cheat: I used 1 pouch of go go squeeze Apple apple sauce)
1/4 c. dark cocoa (unsweetened)
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. vanilla

In large mixing bowl, combine flour and sugar. In heavy saucepan, combine conola oil , butter flavoring, shortening, coffee or water, and cocoa. Stir and heat to boiling. Pour boiling mixture over flour and sugar in bowl. Add the coconut buttermilk, applesauce,  baking soda, and vanilla. Mix well, using wooden spoon or high speed on electric mixer. Pour into well buttered 17 1/2 x 11 inch jelly roll pan. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. While brownies bake, prepare frosting.

FROSTING FOR TEXAS BROWNIES:

1/2 c. Spectrum shortening
2 tbsp. dark cocoa
1/4 c. Coconut milk
3 1/2 c. unsifted powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

In saucepan, combine the shortening, cocoa, and coconut milk. Heat to boiling, stirring. Mix in powdered sugar and vanilla until frosting is smooth. Pour warm frosting over brownies as soon as you take them out of the oven. Cool. Cut into 48 bars.

Shortcuts to Amazingness!

When you are allergic to as many things as I am you learn how to make things from scratch. Most days this is not a big deal. But when your daughter is a Girl Scout a d you see the left over thin mints and Samoas in the fridge. So the other day I went to our local vegetarian store and bought these crunchy chocolate cookies from Enjoylife. I ate one and thought thin mints! So I did a quick grab in the cupboard and fridge for the enjoy life chocolate chips and peppermint oil. I melted the chocolate chips with a few drops of peppermint oil in the chocolate until it tasted just right. Then I spread it on the top of the cookies. Let it cool in the fridge.

Perfection! It was soo simple too, no fighting with the cookie batter.

No dealing with baking in the hot summer weather just allergy free cookie goodness.

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Location:Palai St,Village Park,United States

Cinnamon braided Bread

Anybody keeping track would notice that I am a carboholic. Most days it's safer and keeps the hunger at bay. So here is yet another recipe where you begin with my basic bread recipe.

Once the dough has risen remove it from the bowl and cut off about 1/3 of the dough. On a well floured surface roll out a long rectangle approximately 1/4 inch thick. Then place the rectangle on a sheet of parchment paper on a cookie sheet.

Using a pizza cutter cut strips down each long side of the rectangle. Make sure each one has a buddy on the other side. Then cut the corner strips off.

Liberally sprinkle the center with cinnamon sugar. 1 Tbsp to 1 cup. For more cinnamon flavor lightly sprinkle the strips. If you are not allergic to butter and you want even more flavor thickly butter the center before sprinkling with cinnamon sugar.

Fold over one end.

Flip in one side strip at about a 45 degree angle.

Repeat with opposite side.

Repeat alternating sides until you reach the other end.

When you get to the other end and before you do the last 2 strips fold up the end, then do the last two strips and tuck under the end. Allow to rise for 20 minutes.
Place in oven at 400 until golden brown.

While your bread is baking its time to make some frosting. I make this by taste so I'm only guessing at measurements. Use about 2 cups powdered sugar add 4 tbsp canola oil, add 1/4 tsp butter flavoring

Then about 1/2 tsp vanilla. Then slowly add water until it is thick but drizzle able.

Ignore the yellow color, we made duckie sugar cookies the day before. Lol.

Drizzle over the fresh warm bread, let cool a few minutes cut and serve. Amazing breakfast treat.
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Pretzel Dogs

So I said we would do more variations to our amazing bread as I take the photos. Today I made pretzel dogs for my daughters kindergarten graduation party. As I made them I took the few moments to take photos soooo here we go, how to make pretzel dogs.
Use the basic bread recipe, but as you are letting the yeast proof, or foam early on. Put in one teaspoon full of onion powder. Follow the rest of the steps until you turn it out on the counter after rising.


Roll out the dough on a well floured surface until it is about an 1/8 of an inch thick.


Using a pizza cutter cut squares about 3x3.


Cut the package of hot dogs in half. one batch of dough should cover about 5 packages of hot dogs.


Now you are going to wrap up you hot dog.


Tuck all 4 corners around the hot dog.


Once you fill a pan prepare your baking soda and water mixture.


Let your dogs go for a swim.then sprinkle them with salt. Put in the oven to bake. I bake them in large batches until they look about like this then I freeze them nd take them out and put them in the oven to crisp back up.


Otherwise bake them until they are a little darker and share for a party or fun event.
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