(Written by Susan)
Day 2
This morning I decided to have my usual breakfast, which happens to be gluten free. General Mills now make gluten free Rice Chex and they are great when accompanied by Craisins. When Ryan was ready for breakfast he wanted to have a piece of toast so I decided to try a slice of toasted freshly baked bread. As I expected, it was very good. Next I searched for an oatmeal bake recipe so I could attempt a gluten free version. I substituted applesauce for oil and raisins for the cranberries. You can check out the recipe here: Oatmeal Bake.

For lunch I had leftover meatloaf, potatoes, veggies and a slice of the homemade gluten free bread. Yum! I am a huge fan of leftovers. Next, Ryan and I tried the oatmeal bake which turned out okay. I bet it would be delicious warmed up with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top. While Ryan enjoyed his ice cream and oatmeal snack, I chose to not do dessert. For an afternoon snack I went back to trail mix, because it is filling and very satisfying.

Time for dinner. I opted for a simple meal since we had been playing outside right up until dinner time. I fixed grilled ham and cheese sandwiches using the same loaf of bread I baked yesterday. Greg, Ryan, Dominic and I all had sandwiches with the gluten free bread and everyone was pleased. The ham came from Heavenly Ham and I found that my local store has a gluten free ham. Hooray! If you check out the website or call your local store you will find that some locations are still be using the old spice recipe which is not gluten free. As a side to our sandwiches we had carrot and celery sticks and sliced broccoli. We used Marzetti’s Sweet Italian dressing for dipping our vegetables. If you have not tried it shame on you. It is my family’s favorite salad dressing and it is also gluten free! You can check out all the gluten free salad dressings Marzetti’s makes at their website. Shortly after dinner, I always find myself craving something sweet. Lately, I have been having a hot cup of tea with sugar and a touch of milk. Tonight, it really hit the spot.

(Written by Susan)
When my son Ryan was 6 weeks old, he was given a lollipop to taste. No harm in that, right? Within minutes he started developing hives on his cute, little face. Not sure what to do, since I was three and half hours from home, I went to the nearest pharmacy. The pharmacist recommended giving Ryan Benadryl and helped me figure out the correct dose to give him for his weight. Thankfully, this cleared up Ryan’s face and my husband and I could breathe calmly again. After speaking with the pharmacist and later Ryan’s Pediatrician, we learned that Ryan most likely reacted to the red food dye in the lollipop. Several months later I began to feed Ryan bread and noticed that he sometimes developed hives after digesting the bread. When Ryan was 9 months old I was out with a friend and I fed him a baby snack puff. Shortly after, Ryan started to get hives on his face. Within an hour they started to spread to his arms. I called Ryan’s pediatrician and brought Ryan directly to his office. The pediatrician had me pick up some medicine to give Ryan to stop the hives and recommended that we see an allergist. It has been three and a half years now since my son Ryan was diagnosed with a wheat allergy, peanut allergy and red food dye allergy.

I received a bunch of literature from the allergist and began to adjust Ryan’s diet to try to eliminate wheat, peanuts, and food dyes. In the beginning it was a challenge making sure that each food item was free from Ryan’s allergens. I had a list of ingredients commonly found in foods that the allergist said were not to be trusted as safe for Ryan. These ingredients could possibly contain wheat even though wheat was no where to be found on the food label. From time to time Ryan would have a reaction to something that he would eat and I would feel frustrated that I fed something to him that he was allergic to. Then Ryan began having skin problems and his eczema got worse. After speaking with the allergist we thought that Ryan might be sensitive to dairy. So Ryan went on a dairy free diet as well. For about two years Ryan avoided dairy until I decided to gradually start introducing it again. Thankfully Ryan seemed to do fine with dairy products which allows him to eat more foods and have a more balanced diet.

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