Valentine's Day

Days 2-5

I’m not sure if it’s the stress of constant worry and research or if I’m just not getting enough sleep, but I feel like a slight breeze could knock me over right now. I know the sleep is at least partially to blame, because I’ve had some very odd dreams the last few nights. 

Friday morning started off well though. Willow was more than happy to eat the cereal, and the lunch I packed for her was the same as the day before except that I switched the rice crispy bar to chocolate flavor.

Early in the day, Tina called me to ask about some Frigo string cheese she was giving to the kids. It turned out that it’s safe. You have to watch cheeses and dairy products I’ve found. Some of them have dyes or preservatives in them that aren’t gluten free. Just tonight I had to run out and buy a different brand of sour cream because the kind I had on hand contained modified food starch. It’s possible it was still safe, but I couldn’t verify it for certain. I purchased Daisy Sour Cream instead since the only ingredient listed is grade A cultured cream. 

When I picked Willow up from daycare, she had eaten everything I’d packed for her. Tina and I discussed a few more items, like the yogurt she gives to the kids. She had given Willow some salad earlier but no salad dressing. She told me which kinds she had on hand: Hidden Valley Ranch and Heinz Salad Vinegar. I couldn’t find anything conclusive online for the Hidden Valley so I’ve nixed it for now, and the Heinz contained malt vinegar, so that also had to go. However, Trix Yoplait yogurt cups are safe!

For dinner, we went with the Harmon’s bratwursts and sauerkraut cooked in Redbridge beer. Willow will get a baked potato on the side while the rest of us will have pirogies. (Hence the grocery run for some new sour cream.) 

I don’t want to make this a blow-by-blow listing of every meal , so I’ll just hit the highlights of the weekend. Saturday night I had to run to the store to find some Teriyaki sauce that I’d read was gluten free. I found it and glanced over the ingredients and didn’t notice anything wrong. I took it home and it was after my husband had poured it over our chicken and veggie stir-fry that he noticed what I had missed. “Natural Flavors (including malted barley extract)”. I’d completely missed it. Luckily we still had some of the GF chicken nuggets in the freezer, so Willow had that instead.

Sunday morning, we had Bob’s Red Mill pancakes. I’d heard mixed reviews on these but was very pleasantly surprised. They were wonderful and all of the kids, even baby Erik (aka Monster Babby, misspelling intentional) gobbled them up. I’d definitely recommend them though you’ll probably need to add a bit extra milk. 

Sunday was a bad day for me though. The stress of the kids, work, the poor sleep and the constant worrying over what Willow was eating had finally worn on me too much and I ended up snapping at Willow pretty severely because she insisted on asking me to do something for her even though I’d repeatedly asked her to go to her sisters for help. Apparently my wonderful husband realized how bad off I was and took Monster Babby and Willow downstairs so I could sleep a couple more hours. 

I spent a great deal of time Sunday planning out a menu for the entire week. It was very stressful, partially because I was doing it at my Mother-in-Law’s house and all four of our children and their 5 cousins (all boys) were there, wreaking havoc. I was amazed I made it through the visit without snapping. 

We went shopping for all the items we needed that evening and found some Udi’s GF bread in the freezer section. $5.19 for a very small loaf. I was shocked. I don’t think bread will be making a very big appearance in our meals for a while, at least, not until I learn to make my own. 

For her daycare Valentine’s Day party today, I decided to get M&M’s. This was her first party and she was very excited about it. We went through the holiday section at the store and she ooh’ed and aah’ed at all of the plush toys, roses and balloons. When we got home tonight, I went through the bag and took out all of the unsafe candies and replaced them with little packs of M&M’s. There were only 5 that needed replacing, including some no-brand lip gloss that she’d really wanted to wear.

And that’s the thing that’s been killing me over the past several days: You have to watch EVERYTHING. Foods, drinks, lip glosses, lotions, medicines, vitamins…it’s daunting when you’re first starting out. The incident with the teriyaki sauce upset me more than I’d have expected. It truly helps to have a spouse or other family member watching out for you. My mother is also on the look-out, sometimes calling me from the grocery store to tell me about an item she just found, or emailing me information she found online. 

Also, I decided to put down the book I was reading, Lies My Teacher Told Me by James W. Loewen. It’s a fantastic book and I want to read it very badly, but not right now. There’s nothing relaxing about it. I usually read to get away from life and that book actually makes things far more real. I’ll pick it up again later, once I’ve got some experience with this new diet under my belt. Until then, my escape will be a trashy, urban-fantasy/romance novel. In other words, my usual vice. I’m also watching the cartoon series of Avatar: The Last Airbender. If you’ve seen the movie, don’t judge the cartoon by it. The cartoon is far better; the characters are more developed, the story line is more coherent, and the special effects don’t bore you to death. I’m on the third season and will be watching some more tonight before bed.