Tag Archives: home cooking

The toughest day yet

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TGIF

I nearly titled this blog “Thank Goodness It’s Friday”, but I don’t think that would really reflect just how testing today has been.  Yes, today was definitely the toughest day of our challenge so far.  Today was the day when Mike and I only ate what M ate, nothing more, nothing less; even down to drinking the dreaded protein shake.  That last was my biggest hurdle.  The Neocate smells revolting when you mix it up and I still remember having some tentative sips when M first started drinking it *shudder*.  But, I promised M I would drink it, so drink it I did.

Ironically, M wasn’t at school today as they had an Inset day leading into half-term.  Nevertheless, I packed Mike’s lunch as if it was M’s and even got permission from the boy himself that Daddy could borrow his lunch-box for the day.  Well, if you’re going to eat like the child, you might as well get the perks of the Star Wars lunch-box as well!  Below are the photos of the treats that were waiting to see Mike through his day:

Star Warspacked lunch

Having M with me for the day has meant that, more or less, I have matched him mouthful for mouthful and at the same times he eats too.  The main difference has been that I managed a sneaky cup of black coffee whilst M had a glass of squash.

M

Me

Mike

Breakfast

            –              –
  • A small handful of raisins

Lunch
  • Crispbreads x2
  • Ham
  • Cucumber (3 slices)
  • Fruit smoothie
  • Bear’s Fruit yoyo
  • Apple (1/2)
  • Crispbreads x2
  • Ham
  • Cucumber (3 slices)
  • Fruit smoothie
  • Bear’s Fruit yoyo
  • Apple (1/2)
  •  Crispbreads x2
  • Ham
  • Crisps
  • Cucumber (3 slices)
  • Olives (3)
  • Fruit smoothie
  • Bear’s Fruit yoyo
  • 2tsp pineapple chunks

Dinner
  • Starter of prawns, salmon & mackarel
  • Marks & Spencer’s Gluten-free breaded cod fillet
  • Chips
  • Peas
  • Corn
  • Carrots
  • Solesse egg-free mayonnaise

 
  • Starter of prawns, salmon & mackarel
  • Marks & Spencer’s Gluten-free breaded cod fillet
  • Sweet potato wedges
  • Peas
  • Corn
  • Carrots
  • Solesse egg-free mayonnaise
  • Starter of prawns, salmon & mackarel
  • Marks & Spencer’s Gluten-free breaded cod fillet
  • Chips
  • Peas
  • Corn
  • Carrots
  • Solesse egg-free mayonnaise

Snacks
  • Nkd Cocoa Delight date bar
  • Fruit Factory Fruit string
  •  Nkd Cocoa Delight date bar
  • Fruit Factory Fruit string
  • Nkd Berry Blast date bar
  • Orgran Gluten-free Outback Animal Chocolate biscuits

As you will no doubt notice, there are a few differences between what Mike ate and what M and I had today.  We had to assume that M would eat as normal and so prepared Mike’s breakfast, lunch and snacks according to an average day in our household.  Who could have predicted that M would decide that he didn’t want breakfast today and had less lunch than usual too.  Nevertheless, despite these minor changes, Mike still had a good idea of how M survives his average day at school.

So, what have I learned from today?  Well, I couldn’t eat the Bear Fruit yoyos regularly nor drink the smoothies, as both were too sweet for my palette.  The Nkd date bar was a revelation as I’m not usually a fan of dates, but enjoyed this far beyond my expectations.  As for the Neocate (protein shake), well, the less said about that the better, though I found it drinkable when flavoured with Chocolate Nesquik.  Mike and M prefer the Crusha Strawberry flavouring, but that was a step too far for me.  Most of all, I have finished the day feeling fairly full which I attribute to the protein shake drunk with dinner.  I wouldn’t want to drink it every day, but I can understand how it leaves M feeling satisfied.

I can’t believe that our week on M’s diet is nearly over and that tomorrow will see the “experiment” come to an end.  It has been lovely to see how excited and proud M has been about us sharing his dietary experiences this week.  He has told all and sundry about Mummy and Daddy eating his food this week and I am so glad that this has been something we could all live through together.  This isn’t the option I would have chosen when we first had M and certainly was never the road I thought we’d be travelling down, but now I really know what a day in M’s life is like.

On the road

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services

What has been most interesting about this week is the way that each day has presented a new and very different challenge.  Today’s was for Mike and, in many ways, it was one he looked forward to tackling.  As part of his job, Mike usually travels to another site at least one day a week.  On that day, he is given an allowance which enables him to buy lunch and, if necessary, dinner too.

We had been planning to make Mike a packed lunch for the day to make it relatively easy for him to stick to M’s diet, but when faced last night with what was in the fridge, he proposed something different.  He decided to try and buy M-friendly food whilst he was out on the road, using nothing more than the Motorway services that most of us would have access to when we’re travelling by car, so no sneaky trips to a local supermarket where we know the options would be far greater.

I know that to many this may not sound that hard, until you begin to think about the options you have at a service station:

  • Sandwiches?  No wheat or gluten allowed, or the dairy from the butter, or egg from the mayonnaise.  
  • Pasties? No wheat or gluten again.
  • Chocolate? No dairy or soya
  • Crisps? These are potatoes, so must be okay, right?  No, it depends on the flavour, but avoiding wheat, gluten, dairy and soya is actually harder than you’d think when it comes to crisps.
  • Chips? A lot of the fast food chains coat their chips in flour to make them crispy, so again it’s a no.
  • Burgers? Well, no to the burger roll because of the wheat and gluten, and probably no to the burger as that’s unlikely to be 100% beef and is likely to contain wheat rusk.
  • Gluten-free cakes or biscuits from coffee shops? These usually contain dairy or soya or egg, so are all a no.  I’ve yet to find anything that M can eat, even with the allergy-friendly alternatives offered.

It’s been an interesting experiment and explains why we usually pack up our own lunches and snacks to ensure there’s something M and G can eat.  Take a look below to see what Mike ended up with today:

M

Me

Mike

Breakfast
  • A handful of raisins
  •  Toast (1) with peanut butter
 Bowl of

  • Cornflakes
  • Raisins
  • Rice milk

Lunch
  • Crispbreads x2
  • Ham
  • Cucumber (3 slices)
  • Olives (3)
  • Fruit smoothie
  • Bear’s Fruit yoyo
  • 2 tsp pineapple chunks
  • Crispbreads x4
  • Ham
  • Cucumber
  • Carrot
  • Mushrooms
  • Pimiento stuffed olives
  •  1 large pack of sushi without the soy sauce
  • Nkd date bars (2)

Dinner
  • Gluten free pasta with tuna, carrots, peas, corn & Solesse egg-free mayonnaise* (2 small bowls)

*available from Asda
  • Gluten free pasta with courgettes, corn, asparagus, mushrooms, onion, garlic, tomatoes & coconut cream (1 pasta bowl)
  •  Gluten free pasta with courgettes, corn, asparagus, mushrooms, onion, garlic, tomatoes & coconut cream (1 pasta bowl)

Snacks
  • Nkd Cocoa Orange date bar
  • Nkd Berry Blast date bar
  • Banana
  • Grapes
  •  Fruit tea
  • Apple juice

Mike’s one comment has been that today he has felt the most full since we started on M’s diet.  The date bars are, apparently, extremely filling and even his lighter lunch today left him feeling more satisfied.

Before I forget, a couple of people have asked whether following M’s diet this week has seen any weight loss as I was anticipating it might.  I can confirm that, having weighed myself before the diet started and again this morning, I have lost just over 3lbs in 4 days.  I need to convince Mike to weigh himself to see if he’s seen a similar loss, though I’m not as confident that he knows where he started!

Half-way there

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That’s right, today sees us reaching the magical half-way point in our week-long attempt to keep to M’s diet.  So far the journey hasn’t been too bad.  Both Mike and I have had to deal with unexpected hunger pangs, but overall, the challenge is working well and really is showing me what M has to deal with on a daily basis.

Today’s challenge has been a different one yet again.  G is baking at school today as part of her Enrichment morning and so I had to provide alternative ingredients to enable her to fully take part.  The choice was to make either Chocolate Chip muffins or Rocky Road.  I made the decision that Rocky Road was the more G-friendly recipe and, what’s more, both children have been begging me to make it with them at home and this ticked that box for G at very least.

As we are following the M-diet this week, I decided to try and replace the relevant ingredients with M-friendly alternatives.  The 2 key ingredients were Rich tea biscuits and butter.  The butter was easy as I just packed up the Dairy and soya free spread that was lurking in our fridge and crossed that off the list.  The Rich Tea biscuits, however, proved to be more problematic.  There are Rich Tea alternatives out there, but they either contain soya or egg, neither of which M can eat.  I found, in the end, 2 possible alternatives: Doves Farm Fig and Quinoa cookies or Against the Grain Ginger crunchies.  Unable to make a decision, I did the rational thing, I bought both and let G decide.

She opted for the ginger biscuits for the Rocky road and the fig and quinoa cookies for a snack after school.  It was a real delight that she brought some home for us all to sample as I had to refuse the delicious-looking Banoffee Pie on offer in the office at lunch-time.  I was very good as I sat around the lunch table with 5 colleagues all enjoying their slices. Tempted?  Yes.  Did I succumb?  No.  The Rocky road was sweet and ginger-y, but delicious and certainly we’ll be making it again.

Wednesday is swimming night, so the children usually eat a lighter meal in the evening.  I had a tough decision as to whether to share the Chicken and sweetcorn soup with them, or make baked potatoes as I normally would.  Guess what?  I let them decide and they both opted for the soup.  The chicken soup was fabulous, the gluten-free toast less so.  It contains pear and so tasted sweet to me, but both children love it and it’s one of the few things I am able to get on prescription for M.  I don’t think I’ll be rushing to share it with him on a regular basis though.

Our meals today looked like this:

M

Me

Mike

Breakfast
  • A handful of raisins
  •  Melon & pineapple chunks
 Bowl of

  • Cornflakes
  • Raisins
  • Rice milk

Lunch
  • Crispbreads x2
  • Ham
  • Cucumber (3 slices)
  • Olives (3)
  • Fruit smoothie
  • Bear’s Fruit yoyo
  • “Wot no dairy” Peach & Apricot yoghurt
  • Crispbreads x4
  • Ham
  • Cucumber
  • Carrot
  • Mushrooms
  • Pimiento stuffed olives
  •  Leftover French Onion soup (Home-made & 100% M-friendly)
  • Apple

Dinner
  • 1 ladle Chicken & sweetcorn soup
  • Toast (2 slices)
  • Cucumber (3 slices)
  • Ecomil Vanilla almond milk dessert
  • Rocky Road
  • 1 bowl Chicken, sweetcorn & mushroom soup
  • Toast (3) – Ener-G brown rice flour bread
  •  1 bowl Chicken, sweetcorn & mushroom soup
  • Crispbreads (2)

Snacks
  • Nkd Cocoa Orange Date bar
  • Lo-profin vanilla wafers (2)
  • Fruit Factory fruit string
  • Fig & Quinoa cookie (1)
  •  Fruit tea
  • Rocky road
  •  Banana
  • Rocky road

Another day..

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…and another challenge.

scrabble

Today has been a different kind of challenge for us.  We have long been aware that as well as his dietary difficulties, M has also struggled in the classroom.  He’s a bright lad, articulate and with an imagination that many would envy, but he has struggled to learn to read and write.  He loves to be creative, to perform and can sometimes answer mental arithmetic faster than G, but he struggles to spell and put his creativity down on paper as the written word.

Having finally found the diagnosis for his health issues, Mike and I decided we needed to seek an answer to the academic ones.  M completed 12 weeks of fairly intensive speech therapy at Easter which enabled him to say his “s” sounds clearly and we have seen his confidence grow.  Now it’s time to see if we can give him a pair of metaphorical wings and watch him soar.

So, this morning, instead of heading off to school and work with our packed lunches in tow, M and I made our trek to the Dyslexia Centre for an assessment.  M met with a lovely Educational Psychologist for just over 2 hours, where she put him through his paces.  The answer came back with a resounding “yes”; they could identify the problem and there is something we can do to help.  M has dyspraxia and possibly also visual dyslexia.  This is going to be a steep learning curve for us, but in a nutshell, he is going to struggle with processing the messages his brain sends as they are not properly or fully transmitted.

We came away with 2 coloured acetates, one yellow and the other “celery” (I kid you not), which will help him track lines when reading text or numbers – this is the visual dyslexia part.  We now need to research the options for an occupational therapist to help with the dyspraxia, an optician who specialises in the diagnosis of visual dyslexia and the processes we can put in place and can ask school to do to help him.  Whilst this seems, and feels, like yet another set of labels for M, I am relieved to have an answer to his academic struggles and a resource to be able to find some fixes for it.

On the dietary front, both Mike and I have managed okay and, as I type this blog, Mike is putting the final touches to tonight’s dinner.  My biggest struggle today has been hunger pangs, I have found that I don’t feel as full on M’s diet as I usually do, but I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing.  Mike’s is the continued avoidance of the cakes and cookies at work, which is definitely not a bad thing. The hardest thing for tonight’s dinner?  No mayonnaise, which I love to eat with Corn fritters and sausages normally.

M

Me

Mike
Breakfast
  • A handful of raisins
  •  Sliced apple
 Bowl of:

  • Cornflakes
  • Raisins
  • Rice milk
Lunch
  • Crispbreads x2
  • Ham
  • Cucumber (3 slices)
  • Fruit smoothie
  • Crisps (Plain)
  • Bear’s Fruit yo-yo
  • Crispbreads x4
  • Ham
  • Salt & Vinegar Mini rice-cakes
  • Leftover cooked rice and Chicken Korma
  • Apple
Dinner
  • 2 Tesco Free-from sausages
  • 3/4 Corn fritter (home-made using my pancake recipe)
  • Carrot (1 stick)
  • Cucumber (3 slices)

 
  • 2 Tesco Free-from sausages
  • Tomato
  • Mushrooms
  • Asparagus
  • Corn Fritters with added chilli flakes
  • 2 Tesco Free-from sausages
  • Tomato
  • Mushrooms
  • Asparagus
  • Corn Fritters with added chilli flakes
Snacks
  • Nkd Cocoa Mint date bar
  • Fruit Factory Fruit stars
  • Doves Farm Fig and Quinoa cookies (2)
  • Banana

 
  • Peppermint tea
  •  Banana
  • Apple

What, no tea?!

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no tea

Today has had a  tricky start.  I hadn’t thought of the impact of being in the office and not being able to have a cup of tea.  I thought I was well prepared and had packed my lunch last night whilst I made those for M and G; and had even thought ahead to the matter of breakfast as I wouldn’t be able to have my toast in the office, but I completely forgot about my love for a cuppa.

My morning routine sees me catching the train into work, walking across to the office and putting the kettle on for that first cup almost as soon as I’ve walked through the door and switched on my computer.  Today I did the same and then realised that I couldn’t have my usual cup as I can’t add any milk and I’m definitely not a fan of tea without the white stuff.  Fortunately, I do have a small number of fruit teas in my desk drawer, but I have to confess that a morning brew of Cranberry, Raspberry and Elderflower does not hit the spot in quite the same way.

Added to that, today saw a small selection of chocolates on offer as there was an office birthday to celebrate.  I stayed strong and avoided the temptation and was intrigued to find out whether Mike avoided his office temptations as well.  Working in a local council office, Mike has found that there are regular and ready supplies of cakes, biscuits, chocolates and sweets on hand, sometimes to celebrate special occasions, but frequently there “just because”.  He’d already confessed that this would be the hardest part of his week on M’s diet, so we will have to monitor closely to see how we manage these potential pitfalls.  A text arrived from Mike around lunchtime, “It’s someone’s birthday at work, so I can’t have any of the lovely choc cake or cookies brought in.  She did, however, bring some bananas, so I’ve had one of those.” – I’m so glad to learn that I’m not the only one who’s had to refuse birthday delights today.

We haven’t fared too badly today, though my lunchbox felt as if it didn’t contain much more than fresh air.  Both Mike and I had drinks arranged for after work, albeit separately.  I checked with Google to make sure I knew what was okay for me to drink and found that no hardship as all wines and most spirits are gluten free.  I settled for the safe bet of vodka and cranberry juice and that saw me through the afternoon.  I did, however, learn just how hard it was to abstain from the other temptations at the pub.  Around 5pm, an attack of the munchies hit my colleagues, who promptly ordered plates of chips, onion rings and nachos to share.  Unfortunately, I couldn’t have any of them.  My colleagues questioned why I wasn’t eating anything and this gave me a great opportunity to share a little about M and what he has to live with day to day, which was part of the raison d’etre behind this Awareness week.  They tried to persuade me that I could cheat a little as M would never know, but that defeats my purpose.  I would know and it’s not what I’ve set out to do this week.  It’s about educating others and I feel that I’ve managed that at very least.

Mike will have to avoid beer on his night out, but I’m sure that he will be able to manage that one too.

Here’s our menu for today:

M

Me

Mike
Breakfast
  • A handful of raisins
  •  Sliced apple
 Bowl of:

  • Cornflakes
  • Raisins
  • Rice milk
Lunch
  • Crispbreads x2
  • Salami & Ham
  • Cucumber (3 slices)
  • Olives (3)
  • Fruit smoothie
  • Crisps (Plain)
  • Bear’s Fruit yo-yo
  • Crispbreads x4
  • Salami & Ham
  • Cucumber
  • Carrots
  • Olives
  •  Cold chicken
  • Mashed potato
  • Corn
  • Peas
  • Carrots
  • Courgettes
  • Gravy
Dinner
  • 3 tbsp cooked rice
  • 2 tbsp Chicken Korma (onions, chicken, corn, garlic, coconut cream, carrots, courgettes & Sainsburys Free-from Korma sauce)
  • 1.5 Poppadoms

 
  • Cooked rice
  • Chicken Korma (onions, chicken, corn, garlic, coconut cream, carrots, courgettes & Sainsburys Free-from Korma sauce)
  • Poppadoms

 
  • Cooked rice
  • Chicken Korma (onions, chicken, corn, garlic, coconut cream, carrots, courgettes & Sainsburys Free-from Korma sauce)
  • Poppadoms

 
Snacks
  • Nkd Cocoa date bar

 
  • Numerous cups of fruit tea
  •  Banana
  • Apple

Day One – Sunday May 19th

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Day 1

Today was the first day of our week on a M-friendly diet.  Mike and I were both quite looking forward to the challenge of eating as our youngest does, not least to see what health benefits we gain as the week progresses.  I don’t think it will come as any great surprise to anyone that Mike and I would both like to loose a little weight and this seems like the perfect opportunity to kick-start that whilst supporting M in his daily struggle too.

I’ve spent some time explaining to M what Mike and I were doing this week and think it only fair that I do the same for you. From today to Thursday, we will be eating food that M could eat if he wanted to, but will not be eating necessarily exactly the same meals. For example, Mike and I will be adding vegetables such as mushrooms, courgettes and tomatoes to our meals, knowing full well that M won’t eat them, but that they currently are part of his “safe” foods. Friday will be different. We will eat exactly the same things that M eats, nothing more, nothing less and, at M’s request, we have both agreed to drink his protein shake (Neocate Active) on that day too.

Breakfast was, perhaps, the easiest meal to cope with as, for the most part, it wasn’t going to see any major changes to our usual fare.  Mike usually starts his day with a bowl of cereal, raisins and either coconut or rice milk and as M can eat all of that too, he didn’t need to change that meal at all.  My breakfasts will need a little more adapting as I typically eat fresh fruit and yoghurt or some toast, neither of which fits into the wheat, gluten, dairy, soya and egg free regime.

Lunch was a little more challenging and saw our first pitfall of the week. We headed to Tesco to pick up a couple of their Free-from frozen pizza bases as well as a couple of other free-from ingredients to see us through the week. I was disappointed to discover that our local Tesco appears to have stopped stocking these pizza bases, which are the only ones I’ve found that M can eat as they are egg-free too. I had to make a quick decision and decided to pick up a pack of their fresh bases instead as they contain a little egg, but are safe for G to eat.

Getting home, I made my 1 remaining M-friendly pizza base into a pizza for Mike and him to share and used the smaller, individual bases to make a pizza each for G and me. The ingredients were as follows:

  • Heinz tomato ketchup and Barbecue sauce on the base (though mine had a home-made salsa of chopped tomatoes, onion, garlic, chilli flakes, balsamic vinegar and sugar)
  • Marks and Spencer’s salami slices and gluten-free breaded ham
  • Pimiento stuffed olives
  • Corn
  • Tinned pineapple (though I forego this as I’m not a fan of fruit and savoury together)

G had the same, except without the pineapple or olives and with some goats’ cheese grated on the top.

The pizzas were delicious, but I was soon to suffer the consequences of a very silly mistake.  In my rush to check the ingredients to make sure that we weren’t inadvertently adding anything that M couldn’t eat, I forgot to check for my arch nemesis: potato. Within minutes of finishing my pizza, I started experiencing stomach cramps and quickly realised my mistake. Thank goodness that the mistake was mine and didn’t cause problems for my boy!

An afternoon bike ride and play in the park for Mike and the children followed, whilst I got started on tonight’s dinner. I decided to ease us in gently and opted for something I knew we could all eat and would enjoy – a Roast Chicken dinner. This consisted of:

  • Roast chicken (with enough left-overs for Mike’s lunch tomorrow, dinner tomorrow night for us all and even some chicken soup for later in the week)
  • Sweet potato mash made with Dairy and soya free spread for M and me
  • Mashed potato for G and Mike
  • Peas and corn
  • Carrots
  • Courgettes topped with mustard (just for Mike and me, though M did give this one a go)
  • Gravy made from Knorr chicken stock cubes (wheat and yeast free), onion and a little balsamic vinegar

I even managed pudding tonight and adapted a recipe for Treacle sponge pudding made with rice milk, rice flour, xantham gum, dairy/soya free spread and egg replacement powder and all cooked in the microwave in 5 minutes.  Some custard made from Birds’ custard powder, sugar and rice milk topped it off perfectly.

Today was an easy day for us food wise. I chose to cook things that I knew were easy to ensure as being M-friendly as well as things that the whole family enjoy to eat.  The rest of the week will most definitely be more challenging, but it’s a challenge that I feel I’m up to, after all I’ve been cooking this way for the last 2 years.