A 3 Week Diet???

The 1st week of being WF/GF was going well. Zakkery was enjoying his new expensive snacks and I was busy filling my pantry to have on hand. I was also making up batches of WF/GF brownies as "special treats" for during these dog days of summer. While working on getting the essentials for filling the pantry, I spend approx. $14 on 2 very small loaves of bread. They left much to be desired, that is for sure. Zak didn't like it and I couldn't blame him because you couldn't pay me to choke down a morsel of it. So onward we marched and I could not throw those loaves of bread out and chalk it up as a flop. So I googled (I am the google queen) WF/GF french toast. I didn't know a recipe would be different and I wanted to be safe. I had $14 dollars on the line and couldn't afford to trash it. I found a great recipe on recipezarr.com. In addition to the normal ingredients for french toast it used rice milk (or soy or almond milk). I had rice milk on hand. I do a lot of baking with that since going WF/GF. It also included orange juice, honey, nutmeg and vanilla. It was a huge hit for the boys! After it was approved by the tasting board, I made the rest into french toast and then froze it all. Pop it in the toaster when ready to eat!

On Father's Day, we were visiting Rich's parents and I was telling them a bit about what we had found out. I was telling them about the WF/GF diet and Zakkery chimed in and said that it was only for 3 weeks. Instead of addressing the issue there, I decided I would discuss it at home with him. I knew the subject of "Never being able to eat pizza, donut and bagels etc." wasn't going to be a huge hit with him and may involve emotions, so I saved it. I really had to prepare myself anyway for discussing this with him in a positive way.

Heading into the 2nd week was tough because he was realizing that a lot of his favorite things were forever gone, or thus it seemed to a 9 year old. He had a couple of break downs at breakfast during this week. He would holler, "I can't believe I can't eat wheat anymore!" How many kids do you hear hollering that! I had to stay calm as I frantically looked for some more options. By this time, he had tried the bagels, which were a huge flop! You couldn't put enough cream cheese on the sucker to save your life! He had also tried another brand of waffles and they didn't taste like the Trader Joe waffles. That's when I started using the waffle mixes that I had bought to fill the pantry. Score! He was happy and they tasted great! We survived breakfast.

After he calmed down and had a full belly, I started talking to him about this being a change that will last a long time. I explained all the positive things that I have seen change in him since being off the wheat. I also had him tell me how he felt too. I also explained that I am learning about this right now and that if something taste very repulsive, we will find something new. I have found donuts! Score! When my child's health and well being and LD are all at the forefront and I CAN find results through diet change, I will fight to make it work. I literally take one meal at a time right now. I get too overwhelmed if I think too far ahead. I am the one responsible for making this work and I have to stay calm and not panic. I will not give up on him because it involves A LOT of reading and because it's just plain hard to change your child's diet. He will survive if I stay calm and have a positive attitude. Dr. B. has given me several tools to use to help him. It's my job to put those tools to use!

During the 2nd week is when I got the books, "Gluten Free for Dummies" and "Gluten Free Shopping Guide". I made a small trip to Meijers that weekend. I used my book and found normal foods that are WF/GF. Here are some samples. Taco shells and taco mix for the beef. Certains brands are WF/GF, others are not! Syrup, was another product. The kind I was using was not WF/GF so I had to change brands. To Zak, those are "normal" foods and I point that out to him. When we are having tacos. I tell him, these are WF/GF and you can eat them. And that is satisfying for him to know that his favorite meals are still available for him to eat!