When Rules Backfire...

I have never been a parent who caters to her children at meal times. What I cook is what you get. Period. You might be surprised to hear that, considering I have a child w/ Asperger's Syndrome. I've read that many children who are on the Autism Spectrum are very particular about what they eat; often it is regarding the texture. My Aspie, on the other hand, eats anything, when he remembers that he is hungry! (Of course he's limited now by our GF/CF eating style.) To be quite honest, it's my two neuro-typical children that give me the biggest problem w/ meals. B is my texture freak, w/ an extreme dislike for beans, and M just won't sit still & hush long enough to eat!

So, w/ all of this in mind, what happens when you, the parent, cooks a meal that you don't particularly care for? That's what happened at our house tonight. 

One of the things that I promised myself when we began this journey in to GF/CF was that I wouldn't spend a fortune trying to replace gluten filled items w/ the gluten free counterparts. However, there is one exception - pasta. And I have been in a maddening search for a gluten free pasta that actually tastes & feels almost like the real thing. (See! I'm willing to compromise. I said "almost".) Finding a decent replacement is important for our family, b/c one of the kids' favorite meals is spaghetti! I've tried quinoa pasta, rice pasta, & corn pasta. The quinoa was AWFUL - a big pile of mush! Then I tried rice pasta, but I think I undercooked it b/c of my fear of it turning out like the quinoa pasta!! Lastly, I tried the corn pasta, which looks the most like regular semolina pasta, and it turned out okay - last time. Tonight was a different story! I don't know what in the heck I did wrong,... but YUCK! The children were not at all phased by the starchy pile of stuff resembling spaghetti! They devoured it & asked for more!!

What did I do? Blow my cover? NEVER! I took little tiny bites while they busied themselves w/ dinner conversation, and the moment JG asked for more I gave him my plate, stating that I just wasn't very hungry! Then I had almonds & grapes for dinner while no one was looking!

Today's menu:

Breakfast: pancakes (Namaste pancake mix), sausage (Jones Farm), & oj
Lunchbox: pork t-loin, apple slices, & Jello w/ water
Snack: Enjoy Life Cocoa Loco Chewy Bar & Juicy Juice
Dinner: Spaghetti - organic ground beef, Newman's Own Sauce, & corn pasta 

A long day...

So, JG got sick w/ his first cold of the school year & stayed home Thursday & half of Friday, and we continued to lay low through the long weekend. He never ran much of a fever, and I never gave him any medication - just ran the humidifier a couple of nights. He still sounds a little nasally today, but he went to school all day. What I find disheartening, though, is that a nice long weekend that most of us would love actually wreaks havoc on JG. The lack of routine is just so hard on children on the spectrum!

The last few days have included some major meltdowns - the kind that wear me down to a puddle! In fact, as I sit here blogging, I'm having a beer & trying to come down from the day. It's hard, especially when you know that you'll probably have to face the same thing the next day. I know that all of you Aspie parents know what I'm talking about, for sure, and probably some of you other parents, too!! I need to look back at my own blog & read about the day that we had the "awakening" - when JG apologized to his little sister & wrote a letter to God! I need to read it & be reminded that there will be more of those kinds of days to come. We're just at the  beginning of this path to healing!! "Awakened" days will multiply & meltdown days will diminish!! That's my prayer for JG today.

All of the whining being said, I warned ya'll that I wouldn't have much shopping this week - so what should I tell you about? Recipes? Menu? Maybe a little of both!

Breakfast: Rice Chex, Rice Dream milk replacement, & orange juice

Lunchbox: Thinly sliced pork tenderloin (grilled on Sunday), leftover          sauteed red potatoes, whole green beans

Snack: Mareblu nut clusters, a plum, and Juicy Juice

Afterschool Snack: Luigi's Italian Ice Philly Swirl Stix NEW DISCOVERY!

Dinner: Homemade White Bean & Ham Soup - In the crock pot combine 1lb. dry white northern beans (previously soaked); 1 whole onion, chopped; 2 stalks of celery, diced; 1 carrot, diced; 2 cloves of garlic, minced; 2 bay leaves; salt & pepper to taste; and some leftover ham, diced. Cover w/ plenty of water & cook until the beans reach your desired texture. 

*This is the kind of recipe that makes it clear that I threw things together & left it, but it turned out soooo yummy! Even my bean hating, non-Aspie loved it & ate 2 bowls!!

Tomorrow's Friday!!

This week has been so crazy that I'm actually excited about not having a vehicle to go anywhere tomorrow. Tribe Dad has orientation at his new job tomorrow, and we are a one vehicle family - so NO VAN! I have so much to get caught up on in the house, but I'm also pooped from running so much this week. Meetings, appointments, & shopping, oh my! And none of the shopping was for me! (It rarely is these days!!)


Speaking of shopping,... I had a very productive shopping trip to our local Sam's Club today! The purpose of my mission was to bring back some new GF/CF foods to add to the monotonous menu of this week. I'm happy to report that I got some interesting new products (new to us), and I did not spend a fortune. I got a large box of Multi-Seeded crackers, some hummus, organic baby carrots, salsa (the yummy fresh kind), corn tortilla chips, & some yummy little trail mix chunks that were both gluten free & peanut free (not an issue for us but at the school), and a few other things. I'll be happy to add the information re. the brands & such if anyone is interested, but I'm rather comfy in my chair at the moment.


With the busyness of the day, I hardly got to speak to the boys. They came home from school w/ Dad waiting & Mom running around doing errands. When I came home for a brief reprieve the boys were down the street playing w/ some new friends. (Did you hear that?! THEY were BOTH down the street playing w/ FRIENDS!!) Tribe Dad said that JG came home in a good mood & did all of his homework lickety split, b/c he wanted to go play w/ his FRIEND! (Although he doesn't know his name, but I'm sure his big brother does.) Not long after that, I had to head out again to go to JG's school for our "Get the Facts Night," and I have to say that I really think this is going to be a great school year for him. His class is small, he has some sweet, compassionate kids in his class, and some of the boys he has considered friends for a while. JG's teacher even said that she had one of the boys help to keep JG on task today and that he was wonderful w/ him. So, it looks like JG's team will include some peers this year, which will be so fantastic for his self esteem. (Oh, and the most exciting part is that we have a sensory room at our new school!!)


Now that everything seems to be falling in to place at JG's school, it's time for me to make some decisions about his extra curricular activities. Up until yesterday I thought he was going to play soccer, b/c he & his big bro had worked so much on his goalie skills. JG on the other hand has a different has a different plan, or lack of plan. We're tossing around the ideas of either gymnastics or horseback riding. JG's chiropractor thinks that gymnastics would be great for him, and I've also heard that riding can be very therapeutic for children on the autism spectrum. I guess it's going to come down to cost & availability. I'll let you know what we decide!