Figure friendly?

When we first learned our little one had food allergies, it was an immediate diet. Great way to lose weight is to eliminate most foods you regularly eat. However, over time we learned what she could eat, and gradually incorporated more and more foods that I tried to avoid, such as potato chips and added margarine to cooked vegetables. While she couldn't eat fattening foods such as dairy and carbohydrate loaded wheat breads, we had to find a way to put some weight on her. She could eat meat, was not allergic to most cooking oils and margarine, and I had learned how to bake gluten-free. Suddenly we were eating chicken or beef every night, and I was baking several days a week. And of course, as any parent of a toddler knows, they generally don't eat what or when we want them to, so we finish whatever is left on their plates.

Alas, that amazing weight loss is no more, and the scale has become less of a friend. So now the question is how do I cook to entice my toddler, help her continue to gain weight, without her parents filling in alongside her? The less practical answer is I make separate meals for her and us. The mother who bakes and cooks daily, with the accompanying dirty dishes, pots and pans, is screaming inside "NO" to that idea. So, I'm looking for some inspiration. In the meantime, I just found canned pumpkin is back in the stores, so pumpkin bread will be made sometime this week....with chocolate chips, of course.

Entertaining a Toddler

With a food allergic child, one needs to keep exploring options for things to do to entertain him or her that are in food-free or food-safe locales. Now that we've moved, our former playdate friends are too far away, and we haven't made any new little friends yet. We do have a few cousins within driving distance, but school and the current bout of colds have deterred getting together. However, I am happy to share that we do have options.

We now live near two major metropolitan areas, with museums, zoos, and lakefront vistas. We have already gone to walk along the lake and look at the boats and ducks. We are just getting into going to the library for story-time at our local library, and plan to check out another nearby library for an additional day. We have yet to go to the botanical gardens, the two large zoos that are within 20 minutes of our home, the children's museums, and other area museums, as well as the jump zones, but know that they are out there waiting for our visit. And more wonderful things to do keep popping up, like the pumpkin farms and apple orchards nearby.

And the other benefit of where we currently live and the wonderful company my husband works for is their fitness center. They offer child care three mornings a week for a nominal fee, and have been amazingly accommodating for us- taking all children to a different room that is completely food free when we show up. While I might not have considered working out as something I have time to regularly do, it gives her an opportunity to color and play with other children in a safe place. And she is loving it. So it looks like I will be getting healthy while my child socializes in a wonderfully safe, food-free environment. Yippee!