A Feast of Apples

Jona and Raymond

Before I get to the Feast of Apples, the verdict on my sons is they have NO food allergies. I was like, “Are you sure?” My lovely doc said if I felt their behavior changed when they ate certain foods, then by all means, don’t feed it to them. Their being gluten-free will continue then. She also said they both are in the 90th percentile for their height, and 95th percentile for their weight. That was great news.

But what struck me most was the dramatic change in Jona since I began the gluten-free experiment. Before November, Jona showed no interest in ABCs, counting, nor reading. He was into his trains, trucks, and airplanes. And we couldn't understand a word he said. He, and Raymond, both have receptive/expressive disorder, which looks a lot like Autism. Receptive/Expressive is a speech disorder, rather than a language or behavioral disorder. Basically, a child has trouble expressing himself, but can understand what is being said to him. For the past two years, I have been using a Naturalistic Speech Therapy based on the work of Stephen and Mary Camarata of Vanderbilt University. Their website is www.latetalkers.org. If you join the Natural Late Talkers Yahoo group, you can access even more information. I received a wealth of techniques that truly helped Jona. I do recommend it.

But taking him off gluten unleashed the intelligence within. If he wasn’t my son, I wouldn’t believe what I’ve witnessed. Since November, Jona, who turns 4-years-old on January 20th, has done the following:
-learned his ABCs
-learned basic phonics
-learned how to spell words, correctly
-counts to ten
-comprehends the books I read to him
-speaks in sentences

I’ve read so much about children with Autism, speech or behavioral issues responding to a gluten-free and/or raw vegan diet, that I had to give it a try on my kids. Jona, far more than Raymond, responded in dramatic fashion. I have to add him to the growing list of children who has been helped by a gluten-free diet. And for that, I am grateful.

Now on to the Feast O’ Apples!

Apple Pie

Apple Pie –adapted from Incredibly Delicious

Crust
¼ cup of date soak water
8 dates, pitted and soaked
½ cup almonds, soaked
1 ½ cup walnuts, soaked
1 cup raisins, soaked
1 ½ cup oats
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon nutmeg

Soak all nuts, dates, and raisins for 20-30 minutes.
Using the “S” blade, blend the oats and spices, in a food processor (FP) until it becomes a flour. Remove from the processor. Put in a mixing bowl.
Add all other crust ingredients to the food processor. Blend. Add the oat flour as the mixture blends. It should be fairly dry. If it’s too wet, add more oats.
Press into the bottom and sides of a pie pan. It’s really thick, so press hard with your hands.

Filling
3 ripe bananas
1 Tablespoon maple syrup
6 cups of apples, peeled and sliced in FP, using “S” blade
½ cup raisins (optional)
1/8 cup lemon juice (optional, but I used it) with additional maple syrup
6 dates, pitted and chopped
Garnish: pecans, strawberries, or raisins

Slice 2 bananas into ¼ inch rounds. Cover the bottom of the pie with them.
In FP, blend remaining banana, maple syrup, and one cup of apples until creamy.
Add that mixture to remaining 5 cups of apples. I added the lemon juice and 2 more tablespoons of maple syrup. That is optional.
Pour the mixture into the pie pan. Garnish, if you like.
Chill for several hours, then serve.

Apple Pie Slice

This has been the hit of my apple feast. My husband ate three slices the first day, asked for a second slice on day two. After it was all gone, he asked me when I would make it again. Today he said that my raw apple crisp cannot compare to the apple pie. He said it was good enough to sell. Well! Surprised me! It was good.

Hebrew Fruit Salad

Hebrew Fruit Salad with Sauce from The Joy of Living Live by Zakhah
2 apples, peeled and chopped
2 bananas, peeled and chopped
¼ cup raisins, soaked for 30 minutes and drained
cashews, soaked overnight and drained

Sauce:
1 cup of apple, banana, and raisins
¼ cup nut milk or water
2 tablespoons agave nectar

In a bowl, mix the apple, bananas, and raisins. Scoop out 1 cup of the fruit and blend with liquid and agave nectar in a blender. Pour sauce over remaining fruit. This is tasty. Zakhah doesn’t specify how many cashews to use, so I used about 10. I also had sauce leftover to use again. It’s sweet and delicious. And easy!

Apple Mango Soup

Apple Mango Soup from The Joy of Living Live by Zakhah
2 mangoes
4 apples, peeled and chopped
Bananas

Blend mangoes and apples. Pour into a bowl. Decorate with banana chunks.
I didn’t use the bananas. It was great without them. It’s a smoothie in a bowl. I would make it again.

Apple Sauce

Apple Sauce from The Joy of Living Live by Zakhah
3 apples, peeled and chopped
water or apple juice
1 tablespoon of maple syrup
Cinnamon, a sprinkle

Put apples in a blender. Turn it on “puree” and add liquid until desired consistency is achieved. This is easy and fabulous.

Harmony Spinach

There’s not an apple in here, but I thought I’d throw it in anyway :-).
Harmony Spinach from The Joy of Living Live by Zakhah
1 bunch spinach
¼ cup sesame oil
1 tablespoon ginger, peeled and chopped fine
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 tablespoons maple syrup
2 tablespoons liquid aminos

Wash the spinach, remove the stems, and chop. Put into a big mixing bowl. Mix in the other ingredients and serve. This rocks. Subtle flavor and goes well with any Asian-inspired dish.

That’s it for today. More apple recipes coming and a giveaway surprise!

Love,

Althea

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A Feast of Apples

Banana Choco Bites and More

Banana Choco Bites

This is an original kid-friendly creation. During our gluten-free time (which I will get into in a moment), I created this dish. It's bananas, raw vegan chocolate pudding, and buckwheat sprouts.

To make the chocolate pudding, put into a food processor:
-3 ripe avocados
-chocolate powder or carob powder or raw cacao (to taste)
-raw honey or agave syrup or maple syrup
Blend together until super smooth.
And you have chocolate pudding!

I topped the chocolate on top of sliced bananas and sprinkled the buckwheat sprouts on them. Those are dried buckwheat sprouts. I got the idea from Juliano's RAW. Dehydrate them for 3 hours. They store in the refrigerator indefinitely.

The boys watched me and suddenly they were creating their own banana choco bites. They both really got into it.

Raymond adding chocolate pudding to his bananas

Jona trying to feed me

Raymond liked them without the sprouts. Jona didn't eat them at all. I wasn't surprised because the only fruit he likes are apples and raisins.

In short, with the gluten-free experiment, I have written down everything they have eaten or drank since December First. One thing became clear: I believe my sons are allergic to gluten, corn, and soy. With Raymond, when he was gluten-free had a BM seven out of nine days. That is the most regular he has been since he was about two years old. That sealed the deal for me.

With Jona, things were more intense. I made cookies for the Yabba Pot on Friday, December 5. I gave him two cookies. He threw up Saturday morning at 5:30am, followed by a foul smelling BM. Case closed, right? I got online looking up gluten allergies, and found a lot of information about Celiac Disease.

From the National Foundation of Celiac Awareness:
Celiac disease is an autoimmune digestive disease that damages the villi of the small intestine and interferes with absorption of nutrients from food. What does this mean? Celiac disease is triggered by consumption of the protein called gluten, which is found in wheat, barley, and rye.

The more I read, I realized that I had to add gluten BACK into their diet. Then I made an appointment with their physician, who agreed that I had to add the gluten back in order to test for it.

To gain a proper diagnosis of celiac disease, a physician will order the following blood tests:
-Total IgA
-IgA antitissue transglutaminase (tTG)
-IgA antiendomysial antibody immunofluorescence (EMA)
-If IgA is deficient, IgG tTG test should also be ordered. At the discretion of the doctor, antigliaden IgG can also be ordered.

In other words, they are looking for antibodies. If the markers are not in the bloodstream, the tests may come back negative. So, literally, with tears in my eyes (I'm really not being melodramatic here), I started giving them bread and soy products again. My sons were showing sign of a gluten allergy with the following symptoms:
-discolored teeth (Jona)
-constipation (Raymond) (a symptom more common in children than adults)
-bloating/gas/abominal pain (both)
-foul-smelling stools (Jona)
-irritability and behavior changes (both)

My husband noticed a change in their behavior off the gluten. That was a big deal because he was all for the experiment, but he didn't think their behavior would change. This is more than “boys being boys.” They are FAR more hyperactive than usual.

We saw our beautiful lady doc yesterday (lovely woman. Johns Hopkins-trained, and HOLISTIC!). They got their blood tests today, and we'll know something definitive in a few weeks. I'll let you all know. And either soy or corn makes Jona constipated, miserable, and feverish. And the day we added back in the gluten, Jona spit up and had two foul-smelling BMs. All three food stuffs are gone, regardless of what the tests say.

Bananas holding popsicle sticks

On a lighter note, we made popsicles from smoothies. I used bananas to hold the sticks in. I made an apple and banana smoothie. (1 apple, 2 bananas, and 1 cup of water. Awesome). I poured a little bit into cups and froze for 6 hours.

About to go into the freezer

Raymond ate them both while I was at work, so I don't have pictures. But he said they were great!

Buckwheaties

And finally, Buckwheaties! I threw some buckwheat sprouts on top of an apple and banana bowl. They gave it great crunch. They taste better than they look, trust me. Those buckwheat sprouts gave me a great recipe idea that I plan to make within the next few weeks.

Thanks for reading, and send me any kid-friendly raw recipes that you have. We are making some positive, healthy changes in my household.

Love,
Althea

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Banana Choco Bites and More

Operation Gluten-Free and Chemical-Free

Raymond, the Chef

I've started a 2-week gluten-free experiment with my sons. I am also getting the chemicals out of our home and personal products as well. I haven't talked about my children much. If you've read this blog for a while, you know that my in-laws bring in the noise, bring in the funk. :-( I've focused on healing my feelings toward them.

But my sons have required help as well. Both of them are speech-delayed. They don't have Autism, but they fall under the category of Late Talkers. A good website, although still under construction, is http://www.latetalkers.org/. If anyone is interested in the work I've done with them, please email me at mochaangels@aol.com. In terms of food, they have been vegan since birth. But them more I change my diet, the more I've wanted to change theirs to a more whole-food diet, even if it is cooked, for now.

Jona, the Ham , on Day 3

I've read so much about either raw vegan diets and gluten-free diets helping children with speech and/or behavioral issues. A lot of these same children have gastrointestinal (GI) problems. Both of my sons do. Whenever they get sick, it's ALWAYS a stomach virus. They puke and poop at the same time. It's never pretty. Raymond suffers from constipation. And Jona is allergic to soymilk.

Ironically, the afternoon I started this, December 1st, I realized Jona had a stomach virus! No fooling. He fell asleep around 4:00pm. Raymond and I left the house. When I came back, Jona was still sleeping. Rom said he'd slept the entire time I was gone. On Day 2, Jona slept most of the day. By Day 3, with help from lots of juice and fruit bars, he was back to his usual energetic self. The irony was not lost on me. I took it as a sign that cleaning out the gluten is a good idea.

The Big Baddies

And the chemicals...we realized about three years ago that Raymond was allergic to “regular” laundry detergent. He was breaking out in bumps all over his back. We switched to chemical-free and dye-free detergent, and haven't had an issue since. The skin is the largest organ of the body. It's absorbs everything put on it. I've changed our dishwashing liquid, soaps, and lotions to all-natural; no chemicals, preservatives, nothing. I'm using olive oil and shea butter as moisturizers. Black soap and Nature's Gentle Power as soap, shampoo, and toothpaste.

The Good Stuff

I'm writing down everything they eat. I'm focused on clear liquids, fruit bars, and applesauce for Jona until his tummy is back to normal. But Raymond is eating normally. Since December 1st, he's had:
-apple/kale juice
-grapes
-pears
-bananas
-fruit bars (had to share :-)
-tahini mylkshake
-kale salad
-spinach salad
-baked sweet potatoes
-rice milk
-stir-fried veggies and tofu
-veggie sausage
-raisins
-water

Raymond had BM's two days in a row. For him, that is wonderful. The goal is one per day.
Jona woke up at 5:30 this morning and is jumping all over me, so I think it's time to go. I'll keep you all posted.

Love,
Althea

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Operation Gluten-Free and Chemical-Free