Allergy Update

I have had several questions regarding my previous post containing our menu for the week. I didn't mean to post the menu on this blog. I intended for that post to be published on my other blog. Anyway, most of the questions have been regarding Katie and her allergy to chicken. When Katie was diagnosed, the doctor gave us some information regarding food allergies in children. One thing he said was that many children will test as allergic to a food and will later grow out of it. He stressed that at her age (2 1/2 at the time of the test) growing out of the allergy was a very real possiblity. He also told us that many individuals can recover from an allergy if (a) first you totally eliminate the food from the diet for 3-6 months to give the body time to heal and (b) reintroduce the food in small amounts. Once the individual can eat the food again, it should only be eaten every few days. Constant eating of an allergic food leads to more severe reactions. We totally eliminated chicken for 6 months and we now allow Katie to eat chicken every 5-7 days. She could probably have it a little more often but this plan is working for our family. I find that having a written meal plan is very important so that I do not misplan our meals. I also write in on my meal plan what we actually ate. Sometimes I need to change the plan to avoid having chicken too often. For example, I planned to serve breakfast for dinner Saturday night. Some friends of ours gave us a gift card to a restaurant and some other friends offered to watch our children (thanks!). What if Katie eats chicken with the babysitter? I obviously need to have a backup plan for Sunday lunch that does not include chicken.

All in all, Katie seems to be doing a lot better. We still avoid eggs. From what I can tell, Katie's more severe reactions were to the eggs. I will let her eat one muffin or two homemade cookies but I try to limit her consumption of eggs as much as a I can without letting these allergies rule our lives.

Meal Plan Monday

I have been planning a weekly menu for some time now and I really enjoy it. My family is blessed when I am not stressed out about dinner! My husband recently found out he is allergic to wheat so meal planning has become more vital than ever. Here is our meal plan for Jan. 19-Jan. 25.

Monday: Build a Mountain
Tuesday: Rotisserie style chicken in the crockpot, brown rice, veggies
Wednesday: Tuna melts (omelet for husband)
Thursday: Salisbury steak, mashed potatoes, green peas
Friday: Appetizers at Bible study
Saturday: Pancakes, bacon, omelets
Sunday: Crockpot baked chicken, rice, green beans

For more meal planning inspiration, visit OrgJunkie.

A Much Overdue Update

Well, it's 10:45 and my entire family is sleeping. In the past few weeks all the kids have had the stomach bug. It's the same bug that all the kids at church have had in the past month or two. If your kids haven't had it, brace yourself. It's coming. I had it yesterday and Jesse is coming down with it. It's really not that bad: just a 24 hour bug with occational vomiting. Thankfully Hannah and I are not vomiting kind of girls. Hannah used to throw up daily. Yes, I said daily. But, the great state of South Carolina cured her of that. Seriously, since we have moved here, she has stopped throwing up. I, of course, do not puke. It is aganist my code. I think my throat flapper is broken. I'm on my fourth pregnancy and no puking. Not once. I've had countless stomach bugs and even a severe case of food poisioning during college (fie on MickeyD's) and I had not puked.

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So, instead of puking, I have simply been painfully tired. My house is feeling the effects. I was caught up on laundry but after two days of non-stop sleeping, I'm a little behind. How does this happen? My girls run around naked or in panties all day and still I have mounds of laundry everyday. I'll tell you how this happens. Every time they bathe, they pour gallons of water upon the bathroom floor. This creates the need to wash towels. A lot of towels. I also wash the bathrooms rugs. Daily. The spin cycle gets all the bath water out of the rugs and keeps them from mildewing. Bedding is also a constant issue. It's like a contest to see who can have clean sheets most frequently. Hannah is in the lead but Katie is holding a close second.

So, that is the update for today. We are all fine. Tired and sicky but fine. Soon I'll post about Christmas. It was awesome and certainly deserves it's own post, with no mention of puking.