The Really Really Great Outdoors

The outdoors in general are great.
But the outdoors in Yosemite, California are SPECTACULAR.
To the left is a picture of my firstborn, Mini, sitting atop Glacier Point last week.  I'm generally too nervous to post pictures of my kids on this blog (since it's public), but I figure the back of her head should keep her pretty anonymous right?  I'd hate to have the Dairy Council come after her or something... hehehe.

So.
While making food preparations for our week away from home (which involved freezing enough boxes of rice and soy milk to use for the entire week - since I have never ONCE seen a box of alternative milk for sale at any gas station in Nevada), I sent out an email to all my in-laws who would be traveling with us, detailing our little milk-free experiment this summer.  I felt it was vital to keep everyone on the same page, since we would be hours from an emergency room, and an attack w/o an ER nearby could be fatal.  No milk seems like a pretty small price to pay for children staying alive and well, right?

Well, the response I got was awesome.  My brother-in-law was the only one to respond, and he basically said, "Milk?  Have you ever seen anyone in this family drink milk?  Your kids will be drinking Coke all week, duh.  Don't even worry about it."  Yeah, good point.  I don't know what I was so worried about.  I let go of all my sugar standards for this one week, and figured that what happens in Yosemite stays in Yosemite.  And sure, they might get cavities, but a little lemonade/soda never killed anyone, right?  Well, not immediately anyway.  Unlike a dairy-induced asthma attack.

So to make a long story short, Mini, Pickle and Yummy all did very well.  And they all fell in love with Yosemite, just like I did when I first went as a newlywed in the summer of 2002.  I knew it would last when I saw how sweet my husband was with me as I had my first (and only ever) full-blown panic attack halfway up the cables on Half Dome, then proceeded to the top where I found a low spot and sat with my eyes closed until it was time to go back down.  Oh, and my sister-in-law's post-hike foot care will never be forgotten either...  I married into a good family.  I owe them big for introducing me to Yosemite.

Mini's thinking perhaps next time we could stay for a whole summer.  I'm assuming she'll be independently wealthy by that time (perhaps with a back-of-the-head modeling contract?) so I said sure, why not?

Validation. And Complications.

So, as I was finishing up my last post, poor little Yummy was going into respiratory arrest.  Again.  I know this not because he woke up and came to tell me about it but because I could hear his stridor through the door.  The fact that a kid could be blue around the mouth and struggling so much for air that I can hear him over the television and through the closed door and NOT wake up is terrifying to me.

I ran and grabbed him out of bed, called my husband (who was out playing a late hockey game) to ask how far away he was, and set up a breathing treatment.  I gave him two puffs of preventil through the aerochamber, then two albuterol treatments in the nebulizer back to back, which at least got him enough air to where he could cry and talk, and his color returned to normal.

After watching him for a couple more hours and giving him another neb, I put him to bed with a cup of lemonade (all we had on hand besides the treacherous cow's milk) and instead of sleeping, just listened for the stridor to start up again.  Which it didn't.

Wednesday morning he woke up a little rattly, but full of energy and pretty much fine.  This quick improvement baffled me until I realized that ordinarily after said episode I would have given him a cup of milk to drink himself to sleep with, since the neb treatments tend to be pretty traumatic for him, and milk calms him down.  Hmmm....

So Wednesday morning I took him to doctor, to make sure all was well and we wouldn't be having a repeat again that night.  Our amazing pediatrician Dr. Allison Salek (at Univ. of Utah clinic) is out of the office on Wednesdays, so we saw Dr. Henrikson instead.  After describing what happened (and lamely defending myself for not just going to the ER) the night before, I very tentatively explained that we had quit drinking milk a few weeks before, but ended up with a gallon in the fridge, and maybe it's crazy but I think there might be a connection between the milk and his asthma attack, etc.  Well, shock of shocks, Dr. Henrikson agreed with me!  He does not in fact believe that milk does a body good!  He agrees that it's very likely to cause childhood asthma!  I seriously could have cried for joy at how validated I felt.  After explaining what we're doing to lots (and lots) of people, I have gotten a lot (a lot) of skeptical reactions.  To get support from a real live M.D. whom I really respect was hugely rewarding for me.

I'd hate to end this post on such an uncharacteristically positive note, though, so I'll tell you the rest of the story:  To celebrate the Fourth of July in style (we like to get sick on federal holidays when there are no doctors open ANYWHERE), Yummy ruptured an eardrum.  Apparently he had a lot of congestion rattling around after his last attack, and it eventually found its way to his ears.  I feel soooo bad.  We were really not on the lookout for this because he got tubes when he was a baby (after seven infections in four months) and apparently those miraculous tubes are now gone.  A tragic loss.  I'm hoping if we can be better about staying milk-free we can avoid getting him new tubes.

And now..... what you've all been waiting for.....  my first recipe post!
Check out these super tasty [and dairy free] cinnamon rolls that you can actually make in time for breakfast!  They are genius because it's a quick biscuit dough instead of a yeast dough.  This is the cinnamon roll recipe for those of us who do not have in-house bakers who happily rise at 3am to get the dough rising.  For those of you who don't keep coconut oil on hand and couldn't care less about dairy intake (I still love and respect you), substitute an equal amount of cow's milk in place of the almond/soy, and butter in place of the coconut oil.  Don't use shortening!  It's gross!


Quick Cinnamon Buns - Makes 8


Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Grease or spray a 9 inch round cake pan.


For the filling:
In a small bowl, melt 1 Tbs coconut oil.
Then add:
1/2 c brown sugar
2 Tbs white sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp cloves
1/8 tsp salt
Stir to combine.


For the biscuit dough:
In small bowl or glass measuring cup, melt 6 Tbs coconut oil.
Add 1 1/4 c soy or almond milk, plus 1 tbs of lemon juice.  Let stand for five minutes.  


In large bowl whisk together
2 1/2 c unbleached flour
2 Tbs sugar
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt


Combine 'buttermilk' mixture and dry ingredients.  Stir just until combined.  Dough should be shaggy and sticky but workable.  


On floured work surface, pat dough into 12x9 inch rectangle.  Brush dough with 1 Tbs melted coconut oil.  Spread topping evenly on dough.  Starting at the long side, roll the dough, pressing lightly, to form a log.  Pinch seam to seal.  Roll the log seam side down, and cut in half.  Cut each half into four equal pieces.  Place in prepared cake pan.  

Bake until edges are golden brown, about 23-25 minutes. 
Let cool about five minutes before icing or eating.  Your choice. 


For the optional icing:  
Mix in small bowl:
2 Tbs coconut oil (soft but not melted)
2 Tbs coconut milk (or soy, or almond - whatever you have)
1 c powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract


Use rubber spatula to spread icing over warm buns.  Cinnamon buns.  And eat up.

Food, Indeed

Stephen Colbert recently pointed out that something like eight percent of American children have some kind of food allergies.  He followed up the statistic with "Luckily, very little of what they eat is actually food."

So true.

I think 'real food' is what eating clean is really all about.  I subscribe to Michael Pollan's mantra: "Eat food.  Not too much.  Mostly plants."  In his book In Defense of Food, Michael Pollan points out the same thing that Stephen Colbert was getting at: a huge portion of the calories we consume every day shouldn't really be classified as 'food' at all. 

While trying to clean up my kids' diets and get them a bit healthier, I will be mainly following Pollan's directive, and subscribing to the 'moderation in all things, even moderation' school of thought.  

I have had friends ask what I will do about ice cream, butter, cheese, etc.... for the weeks that we are dairy free.  We'll be avoiding them.  

I won't buy milk.  I won't buy ice cream.  But I figure a quesadilla every two weeks or so is not the same thing as 4-5 cups of milk every day, which is what they were used to before.  A week and a half in, they've complained a bit.  Particularly Mini.  She misses the milk, and has not yet developed a taste for rice milk.  The good news is, she doesn't miss it at all on cereal - only when drinking it plain.

And since quesadillas and mac'n'cheese are for the most part off the menu, it's forced me to be a bit more creative with what I serve for lunch.  They've had fried rice, spaghetti, PB&J, chicken nuggets, pita chips w/hummus (yes, my kids - in an odd break with their all-American junk-food tastebuds, love hummus) and discovered that they might not in fact die without a serving or two of cheese every day. 

The good news is that as I mentioned previously, we've all had a cold.  Oh, wait, that's not good news at all.  The real good news is that normally ANY little respiratory infection means Pickle and Yummy have terrible asthma around the clock, requiring breathing treatments every four hours.  Around the clock.  Pickle frequently coughs until he throws up, and is unable to stop coughing even then.  It's a mess.  Literally.  So even though he went to the doctor Sunday and does indeed have an ear infection (grrrr) for which he's taking antibiotics (again.... sigh) I think that the asthma part has been quite under control.  He has only thrown up once, and only had two breathing treatments this week.  Ordinarily, the throw-up count would be in the double digits, and let's see... quick math here (a non-possibility for me) - the breathing treatment count would be up in the thirties by now.  

We're obviously not 100% yet, but I'm hopeful that I may be seeing real improvement and not just imagining that they're getting well...  

I have a friend who doesn't restrict dairy unless her kids get sick - then they stay off it until the contagion passes and take it up again.  I may end up on that track.  We'll see.  If I don't see any benefit/improvement over the next couple of months I think we'll be back on the cow so to speak, but maybe more selective about only buying organic (not just on the weeks when I'm not feeling broke, as I've been doing for this past year or so).

If I just outed myself for not being an actual animal-lover and using shameless propaganda to brainwash my 7 yr old Mini, then so be it.  Don't get me wrong.  I do love animals. As long as I don't have to touch them.  I want them to have happy lives full of fresh air and food and dignity.  Far far away from me.

I'm not virtuous enough to eliminate animal products from my diet at this point.  Maybe someday.  But for now, I'm focusing on eating Food.  With a capital F.  As opposed to Pollan's 'food-like substances'.  And for now, sorry to all the chickens, cows, and all manner of sea creatures:  that includes you.

Step 1: Eliminate Dairy

So I think I once heard Ben Stiller say that you can milk pretty much anything.  
Not that I would know.  I did not, in fact, milk any soybeans or coconuts this week, but I did decide to cut the dairy first.  My kids (referred to henceforth as Mini (she's 7), Pickle (he's 5) and Yummy (he's 2) LOVE milk.  (FYI, Yummy is at this moment climbing up one side of my face in an attempt to kiss the other side of my face.  I apologize if you're having trouble picturing that.  Or maybe you're lucky.) They drink a big cup every morning (sometimes with chocolate, sometimes without) first thing after getting out of bed.  They drink it after lunch.  They drink it before bed, then they usually have another cup IN bed if they're having trouble falling asleep.  All this milk is not only packed with sugar but is difficult for most humans who are no longer infants to digest.  It is a common allergen and can trigger respiratory symptoms, eczema, digestive problems and asthma.
SO.
I sat Mini, Pickle, and Yummy down over the weekend and explained that I thought we should try to stop drinking milk.  Pickle was fine with this.  He loves chocolate milk, but doesn't usually drink milk plain.  Yummy is 2 yrs old, and was oblivious.  Mini, on the other hand, entered what I like to call Meltdown Mode.  She sat on the kitchen stool crying.  Actual tears.  Explaining how much she loves milk, and how she could never learn to love anything new as much as she loves cow's milk.
Well, Tuesday morning, we ran out of that precious cow's milk.  She sat at the kitchen counter, and tearfully sipped the last drops.  I could see that she was less than enthusiastic about this little experiment.  So I just asked her a question.
I asked her:  Where does milk come from?
Mini:  Cows.
Me:  Who is that milk for?
Pause.
Mini:  Baby cows?
Me:  Exactly.  [At this point I gave her a VERY mild G-rated version of a day-in-the-life of the average American dairy cow, including such tragic details as cows that are hooked up to machines continuously, and don't get to go outside or walk around.  Ever.  If you think you're ready for the grown-up version, go watch Food, Inc.  Now.  No, seriously...]

***

After a quick trip to the health-food aisle of our local Smith's Marketplace, I got out a newly purchased package of tiny dixie cups, and four kinds of 'milk'.  I labeled each of the cups, and gave them each a sample of soy, rice, almond and coconut milk.  I told them I wanted to hear lots of adjectives to describe what they were tasting, but they couldn't say the word "yucky".  If they needed to, they could tell me which one was "not their favorite".  

Success!  Mini and Pickle both tasted all the options, and each picked one they wanted to finish drinking.  

Taste test results:  Mini preferred coconut milk, and Pickle preferred soy. 

***

Today was Day 2 of being dairy-free.  And apart from a minor skirmish today with Mini who wanted a quesadilla for lunch today, it's all going pretty smoothly.  Yummy thinks all the milks are pretty, well, yummy.  And both Mini and Pickle have discovered that (shockingly) ALL the milks taste pretty darn good with a big scoop of Nesquik.  

Hmmm.... not looking forward to tackling sugar later this summer...