Reese’s pieces saved my sanity

I love me a long weekend!

On Friday I drove to and from Fremont.  It’s the first time I’ve done it all in one day without going to my parents’ place on Thursday for a half way point reprieve.  It was do-able though, because we were only there for one single up-dose (as opposed to the full 5 hours that a bunch of updosing would require).  We left at 6:45 am and arrived at the Fremont Starbucks by 8:30 am.

NO. NO. Notorious.

We passed the time with the usual bag of tricks…and I brought a few new cds for him.  He was all about Phantom of the Opera.  Good to break up the current rotation at our house of Michael Jackson and Nelson Mandela African folktales.

He struuuuugled through the pre-dose I gave him in the waiting area.  And then again through his one and only updose from the RN.

I had already begged them for alternatives to the ground up peanuts (because of how much he detests the peanut crumbles), but he wasn’t yet to a high enough dose for peanut butter or peanuts.  Until now!  Hooray!!  The MD came in a talked with me for a while and he decided we could try Reese’s pieces.  WEE!!!  I always knew Reese’s pieces were an option way down the line (thanks to the facebook group I get glimpses into our future), but because they have dairy (to which he is allergic but in maintenance) we were told we’d have to wait until at least a month after he graduated peanut to eat his allergies in combination.  But because he’s had no issues with dairy – even eating up to double his maintenance dose of 4 g – the doctor thought it would be ok to let him do the Reese’s now.  THANK.  GOODNESS.  I think once they saw him fight the dose so much in person they understood what I was talking about.  He’s normally so compliant and agreeable, this is the first time they witnessed the struggle of force feeding a child something his body wants to reject.

I was so tempted to do another dose then and there with the chocolate peanut butter pieces but knew that I should be patient and give his body the gift of time to adjust to the amount.  He only has two more doses until graduating and obviously it would be nice to just bang it out and not drive back and forth to Fremont each time for a single up-dose.  BUT.  When the amounts get so high…I just fear it’s just too much accumulating.  Slow and steady wins the race right?  Except it’s not a race.  We are in it for the long haul and he’s already gotten farther than I could have dreamed of in one year’s time, so I’m just counting my blessings.

I sold P on the Reese’s pieces by telling him he could try “candy” for his dose later that night.

I had this for breakfast.  P stole some sips too.  He loved it.

Beta boom!

After a 90 minute wait we were cleared to go home.  But first!  A WF shopping trip to get all the goodies I can’t get in Davis.

We made it home by 3 pm, which was great timing considering it was the Friday before a 3 day weekend.  I was quite pleased that P napped for an hour of the trip so I could listen to a podcast.

He was a little needy when we got home, which I wasn’t expecting since he napped, but I always forget how his whole body is affected by oit.  We only ever look for the symptoms that would indicate an anaphylactic reaction, but his mood is sometimes thrown off after such intense mornings.  It’s a lot to ask of such a young person.  I took him for a walk around the neighborhood – just the two of us – to give him a chance to adjust to being home and I think that helped create the transition that he needed.

We had dinner plans with a friend that night, so I quickly cubed and roasted a butternut squash while making quinoa in the instant pot.

This was my first time making quinoa in the IP and it was awesome how fast it was to make such a large amount.

Cheese!

My friend made meatballs and green beans to accompany my quinoa dish.

I made a simple vinaigrette with champagne vinegar that I poured on everything.  The kale wilted a bit because I added it to the quinoa when it was hot, so that it would have a steaming effect.

In addition to that, the dish had roasted butternut squash, dried cranberries, chopped pecans, and chevre.

Beautiful.

On the way home, P ate his dose.  And guess what?!!  He didn’t hate it!  I’m trying not to focus on the fact that he’s now eating total crap as a form of daily dosing and just be happy that he’s excited about it.  Fingers crossed the contentment sticks.  The main issue we have with dosing now is that he likes something fine the first time, but then hates it every time thereafter.  I can’t keep surprising him with a new way of eating peanuts for every day of his life!?  Deep breath.  Maybe the Reese’s candy will help his palate adjust to the flavor and then we can swap in a more nutritious option…down the line.  For now, I will appreciate the fact that I don’t have to fight with him about taking a dose.

Speaking of…

I bought a peanut filled trail mix from the WF bulk bins.  Because I can now.  I feel like Kevin McCallister…”I’m not afraid anymore!  Did you hear me!?  I said, I’m not afraid anymore!”  We officially have a peanut product in the house.

And I had some for dessert that night.  With some of TJs extraordinary bark.

We had a nice little Saturday with nada on the agenda.  I had some carrot cake muffins that I pulled from the freezer.  They have carrots, raisins, and walnuts.  I topped them with cashew butter too.

I thought I’d give this a try instead of buying Califia’s mocha almond milk, but it’s not really as good.  It doesn’t taste sweet at all, which ordinarily would be a good thing, but it still has 10 g of sugar per serving, so if I’m not tasting that sugar then it’s a waste in my eyes.  It actually tastes decent as a drink on it’s own – basically like a chocolate milk made of cocoa (as opposed to a fake sweet chocolate flavor) so that’s good.  But it can’t fill the shoes of Califia, so I’ll probably pass on it next time.

I made a super awesome salad for lunch, thanks to the Tessemae’s Caesar dressing I bought at WF.  I bought two because they were the only two left.  Why are these dressings so hard to track down!?!  They used to sell them at our Nugget but they stopped carrying them there.  And I think I saw them once at Target, but they don’t have them there anymore either.  So now I have to either order them from the website and pay $9 shipping (no) or track them down every time I travel to another WF and then buy every single one the store has.

I massaged the kale with the dressing, added baked chicken and coconut bacon, and dug in.  Heavenly!

The highlight of our Saturday was P eating his first REAL pizza at a friend’s birthday party.

This is why we do oit, guys.  He asked if he could have some and was so excited when I said yes.

Sushi dinner for all (Nugget Market’s weekend ‘secret sale’ was buy one get one free, so I got four rolls for us all to share).  The kids had just eaten pizza, so I figured we didn’t need much more and I was right.  We all had just enough to fill up with no leftovers.  Hooray!  And the entire sushi dinner only cost us $12.

New flavor that I found at WF in Fremont!!  It was SO GOOD!

It has a spicy kick to it that left a warmth in my throat but not too much heat.  I totally loved it and will buy more whenever and wherever I next find them.  Thumbs way up!

Oh, and P ate Reese’s pieces again and liked them.  I think they are growing on him!  He’s never eaten a peanut dose so fast in his life!  Without any nagging or anything!  It’s a miracle!!!

I’ll get to Sunday and Monday in the next post…