Allergy Mystery Solved

Having a Tea Party with the Bear Family

Over a month ago, we took Ava for her first chiropractic appointment to a doctor that specializes in pediatrics and very trusted here in our area. In the first few minutes of the exam she told us that Ava has swollen lymph nodes, which is likely due to food sensitivity or allergy. The chiropractor suggested that we remove cows milk from her diet since that's usually the culprit. One of the reasons we took her to the chiropractor was because of snoring and irregular breathing. I told her we hadn't introduced it to her until she was 2-years old because of Aaron's sensitivity to cows milk. Since cows milk tends to increase mucus we thought it would help that symptom as well.

I bought goat's milk cheese and yogurt and started to use coconut milk products too. Ava enjoys a fruit and yogurt smoothie, but I replaced cows milk yogurt with either goat's or coconut milk yogurt. That month, I packed many lunches since there's so much cheese and dairy on the menu at her school. On our family pizza night, I had to make her a personal size pizza with goat's milk and vegan cheese, but she didn't like it as much. I even made a dairy free lasagna with a mix of tofu and garlic as a replacement for ricotta cheese. It was fabulous by the way!

After about a month of not eating cows milk, including her beloved Brown Cow Vanilla Yogurt, Ava still had swollen lymph nodes. The good news is that the combination of chiropractic treatment and elimination of cows milk have significantly improved her snoring and her breathing was regular when she slept at night. Ava's pediatrician ordered a blood test for food and environmental allergies because of the allergies on both sides of our families.

We got the blood test results last week and it turns out she has a moderate allergy to eggs. We were thrilled to learn that she's not allergic to anything else, including cows milk. It is disappointing because Ava loves scrambled eggs and egg breakfast burritos. I went through the school menu with the cook at her school and our new game plan targets replacements for the breakfast items. I made egg-free pancakes, french toast, pancakes, and muffins for her to take to school and it worked out great! The pancakes were delicious! I pureed cooked millet and made them with almond milk and Egg Replacer. I stocked the leftovers in our freezer and plan to make ahead and restock as needed for Ava's school breakfasts.

School lunch: hummus, pita chips, orange slices and smoke almonds.

I packed lunch for her yesterday because they had breakfast for lunch. She loved her packed lunch. It's very interesting that even at her age the 3 and 4-year old children ask me why she's eating something different. But Ava proudly brings her food in a new Princess lunch box! I got some ideas from Lisa of the blog 100 Days of Real Food and got some school lunch supplies from her recommendation list.

We decided to not go overboard on Ava's dairy in take since we saw an improvement and it can't hurt to do less of dairy, given Aaron's sensitivity. She was so happy at Whole Foods last weekend when I told her we could buy her favorite yogurt! We also bought the local, low-temp pasteurization and grass fed cows milk from our Green Bean Delivery, which is supposed to be better for sensitivities.

I think we're in a good place. And I'm thankful that we discovered this early in life and the transition is going well! I'll post some recipes on the blog when we find some that become our favorites!

Grain and Dairy Free Banana Nut Waffles

The waffles smell fantastic!

We served the waffles with butter and maple syrup along side pears.

Last Sunday, I tried a new waffle recipe. Ava and I loved them! Aaron wasn't a fan, but he's picky. We're doing fine with whole grains and dairy, but the recipe sounded really tasty! I saw the waffle recipe on the Joyful Abode blog and Emily raved about the recipe so I had to try it.

The waffles are made with ripe bananas, almond meal (flour), eggs, and pumpkin spice. It smelled like a pumpkin pie was baking! I can see why Emily's daughter called them cookies. They're sweet and have fall spices. Ava and I love anything with cinnamon. Aaron loves the homestyle buttermilk waffles that we usually make when we're in the mood for waffles. You might want to give it a try if you want a traditional waffle.

I buy almond meal at Trader Joe's, but you can find it at Whole Foods or other health food store. Another idea is to make the waffles with half almond meal and half whole wheat flour to make the texture spongier like a grain consistency.

I instantly thought of my sister-in-law, Jessica, who battles wheat and dairy sensitivities when I made the waffles. She uses Earth Balance instead of butter, but this recipe calls for coconut oil to grease the waffle iron. It reminded me of using coconut oil in place of butter. I tried the Earth Balance on a slice of fresh bread when we were visiting Jessica in Portland and I couldn't eat it. Since she hasn't eaten butter in so long, she likes it.

Paleo Banana Nut Waffles from Joyful Abode Recipe (makes 3 full size waffles).

Do you think Ava liked the waffles? :)

Although, the downside to eating waffles is that I need to eat them with more protein. It's not just this waffle recipe, but any time that I eat just waffles or pancakes for breakfast. I was very hungry after a couple hours of eating my waffle. I thought it may fill me up because there are 4 eggs in the batter and almonds have protein. Next time, I'll eat them with additional protein.