Graduation day

There’s been a pancake drought thus far in 2018, but it’s been remedied.

The hiatus was purposeful because I was nervous P was in need of a break after I put his dose in them for a couple of weeks in a row.  I don’t want to ruin foods for him by stuffing them with peanuts but I think the time off technique worked. At least this time.  He made need a year off apple sauce.  🙁

New milk alert!  This So Delicious organic almond and cashew milk was on sale at Target with an extra $1 off coupon (and I was in the section looking for milk) so I went for it.  It’s hard to find organic nut milks for such a good deal!  Score!!  It only has seven ingredients and gellan gum is the only thickener (so it’s otherwise just water, almonds, cashews, vanilla, sugar and salt).  I am not sure how it doesn’t separate but it’s still got the same smooth texture as other store bought alt milks, and yet, I’m not sure I love it.  It’s hard to put my finger on, but it’s almost plastic-y?  That sounds worse than it is though.  It gives coffee a nice creamy mouth feel which is definitely important and I like that it’s barely sweetened (and did I mention organic!), so it’s still a win for So Delicious.

I made myself a big latte when I got home, which was exactly what I wanted after a morning workout at stroller strides with my girly girl.

Tofu tower!

For my lunch I made a delicious peanutty salad with every odd and end I could find to use…sautéed broccoli slaw, kale, butter lettuce, radicchio, cucumbers, roasted cashews aaaaand avocado.

The lettuce combo was admittedly r a n d o m, but I was seriously pulling out all the bits and pieces in the crisper drawer just to make anything happen.  Also, I was relying on TJs Asian style spicy peanut dressing to work some magic (which it did).

I’d been waiting to try this dressing and it was every bit as good as I was building it up to be in my mind.  Sweet but not too much, with hints of spice that didn’t overpower or burn out your taste buds, and a nice creamy peanut butter flavor that I’ve missed for the past five years of my life.

NOM NOM NOM.

I could have topped it with peanuts, but in the name of diversifying my diet, I went with cashews.

After naps and a park date with friends, we packed up the car to head to the Bay Area for pacman’s LAST DAY OF OIT!  Weee!

I brought their leftovers with us to my parents’ house so they had round two of pizza while I had cream of tomato soup and beef kofta meatballs that I got at Whole Foods.  Yes, we stopped at WF even though I could have brought leftovers for myself too.  What can I say, I wanted to treat myself.  Now that I’m basically off chocolate and late night desserts this is all I have!  Ok, that’s dramatic, but my parents were gone anyway and Kyle wasn’t with us either, so I may as well get a special meal for myself.  It makes me happy and that makes me a better mom (slash human) so that is all the justification necessary.  [I’m writing this for myself, not you guys.  I’m sure you’d support me buying prepared food.  My own guilt of not making every single meal from scratch is therapist material for another day]  Plus, Kyle keeps telling me “life is short, buy the darn food if it makes you happy!”

Their cream of tomato soup is my favorite. I need to ask for the recipe.  I don’t know why it’s so good, but it’s perfect.

And I totally overdid it with SIX meatballs (they’re ginorm), but c’est la vie.

Mr. P in the zone during his quiet time.

My parents and Kyle got home after the kids were bathed and in bed, so I had some time to myself so I flipped through my mom’s copy of Ayesha Curry’s cookbook.  Nothing popped out at me, but I was also kinda watching lip sync battle.  Have you ever seen this show?  I only watched an episode because my favorite Housewife Erika Jaye / Girardi was on it.  I liked the episode with her (they did Christina Aguilera songs so that was awesome) but then we ended up watching a few more episodes once my family was home and they weren’t as good.   ANYWAY.  Moving on from such important topics…

The next morning the kids were up bright and early (I always set an alarm to work out at my parents’ house and I never need to).  I did a Nike Plus workout that mostly involved boxing because I’m still trying to stay off my foot / arch injury and HOLY ARM WORKOUT.  My upper body was JELLO for the rest of the day.  JELLO.  As the day went on I just got more and more and MORE sore. It was insane.  I thought my arms were in pretty good shape but wow did this workout kill me.  Destroyed.  I won’t be able to do anything arm related for a few days now, I’m sure.

Off to Fremont!

I had a starbucks (decaf soy misto per usual), and banana with Justin’s chocolate hazelnut butter for breakfast while this guy ate 4 grams worth of peanut!

I have too many words to describe what this means to me – to have created a way for my son to safely navigate the world with his allergies without the fear of anaphylaxis looming over him – it’s a life changing treatment and we couldn’t have dreamed of a more successful outcome.  The journey has been relatively short, and isn’t over yet, but for now we are thrilled with this HUGE milestone.  In a few years we can re-test his IgE values and see if his body is making progress in turning his desensitization into a permanent thing, but for now we will continue to dose him every day to maintain his “bite proof” status.

Naturally, we went to WF to celebrate!  What else is new???

After a WF shopping party, we went back to my parents’ place to pick up V.  She had already eaten lunch so Kyle and P ate while I packed the car and then we set off.  Every minute is precious on Friday afternoons because the entire world drives to Lake Tahoe to ski and that plugs up our commute home in a major way.  The earlier you can get on the road, the better.

We were also really hoping that both kids would snooze the whole drive back, but that dream was shattered pretty quickly when V told us point blank it wasn’t happening.  Awesome.  P zonked out for about 45 minutes at least.  One out of two is still better than zero out of two.

Kyle took the last leg of the trip (back to Davis) so I could eat lunch on the road.

My lunch on the go included a few new items – Kite Hill cream cheese (thumbs up), Jilz crackerz (LOVE), peppered hot smoked salmon (always), and baby carrots.  Unpictured: superfruit kombucha.

The crackers were AWESOME.  I love that they have nothing but real ingredients and no garlic or onion flavor.  It’s SO HARD to find a basic gluten free/grain free cracker that doesn’t have onion or garlic and isn’t bland.  These were seedy and amazing.  And totally fodmaps friendly!  The perfect vehicle for cream cheese and salmon.  They contributed to each bite in a not too bold, but not pointless way.  I ate half of the box, but don’t have to worry about the rest going stale because they are packaged in two separate sealed halves.  The cream cheese was also really great!  I have never met a Kite Hill product I dislike, but they definitely haven’t all been huge hits.  This was probably my favorite so far, to be honest.  It takes the best characteristics of their “soft cheese” and turns it into a creamy, slightly tangy, spreadable delight.

V took a mini nap when we got home, but I woke her up before it got to be too too late so we could get out and enjoy the 70 degree (!!!) weather before it got dark.  La niña did NOT enjoy being woken up and even the promise of scootering with one of her besties as the carrot I dangled in front of her face wasn’t getting us out the door.  But eventually we made it to the park where they played for just long enough for me to catch up quickly with my girlfriend before the mosquitoes drove us off.

Funny story about these walnuts.  My friend mentioned they knew the farmer one time and I inquired about how to get some walnuts…she sent me the link and I balked at the price and decided that when I win the lottery that would be my first purchase.

That was a few weeks ago.  Last Saturday she texted saying she had been to the orchard and got me a box.  Uhhhh….come again now?

So now I have 5 pounds of walnuts.  Which is a lot.

I froze most of them, and then made a batch of candied walnuts for this week’s lunches.  Might as well start food prep now?!  I was really excited to try them since she swore they’d ruin me from store bought walnuts forever more, but at the same time I’m not Gwyneth Paltrow, so buying every single thing from the farmer’s market isn’t always in the budget.  MAN DO I WISH IT WAS THOUGH.

Anyway, after we got back from the park I got dinner together.

Kyle was gone so it was just me and the kids and they really wanted their pizza leftovers, so I just made a salad for myself.

Thank to our WF trip I was able to replenish my stash of butternut squash, kale, and dried cranberries which allowed me to make this same salad AGAIN.  I know you’re probably sick of seeing it.  Sorry?

I had pecorino romano on the side, but wasn’t feeling as into it as I thought, so I just had a few bites.

This dude is soooo close to reading.  He sounds out everything and wants to practice as much as possible and I can’t wait til it all comes together.  The library will be his oyster.

 

**FOR MORE OIT INFO CHECK OUT THIS SITE**

It will allow you to learn more and search for board certified OIT allergists in your area.  I can’t recommend oral immunotherapy enough, but be sure to do research and consult with your doctor to make sure it’s a good fit for you or your child beforehand because it’s not for the faint of heart.