If you're wondering where I've been lately, I can tell you. Mostly I have been at the grocery store. And when I haven't been there, I've been at the baseball field. Or speech therapy. Or school. It's been a busy few weeks, and with the end of school quickly approaching, it will only get busier.
And in my spare time, I've been diving deeper into the gluten-free-casein-free diet for the twins. That means quite a bit of online research, and of course, even more time at the grocery store. There are no more simple trips, because now I have to read labels with a fine tooth comb. I have to research before I even leave, make lists of brands and potential items that make the cut, and also lists of brands and potential items that have hidden gluten and casein. It's involved, to say the least.
I feel like I live at the grocery store these days. We have always shopped at several different ones for several different things. It used to be just Wal-Mart or Kroger every few weeks and Sam's once a month. Now it's Kroger every week, Wal-Mart every few weeks, Sam's every few weeks, and we've added one more. Whole Foods. Because while the larger Kroger does have quite a few items, it doesn't have all of them. And certain things are less expensive at Kroger, but other things are less expensive at Whole Foods (which came as a little bit of a shock, I must tell you).
So we are a few weeks into our experiment. The boys still have "cheat" days, and probably will until school is out in a few weeks. Just today Sawyer came home with cupcake icing all over his face (a classmate had a birthday). And that's okay. It's one reason I wanted to test the boys on the new diet over the summer. I don't want to have to further exclude them from activities at school if I don't have to. So we're going to take the summer to try the diet 100 percent. If we see improvements, we will continue. If we don't, then we will go back to adding some of the gluten and casein back in. Though we might still limit the amounts. It all depends on how the summer goes.
Right now, I can tell you it's been a little bit of a tough sell. Both boys reach right for the things they're not supposed to have (bread, milk, yogurt) on a regular basis. Sawyer is trying the new items (and liking most of them) pretty well. Xander, as usual, is kicking and screaming his way through the transition. Or perhaps gagging is a better description. He will place new items up to his mouth, take the tiniest of pieces into his mouth, and then proceed to gag on everything he tries. And then wipe his mouth and tongue with a napkin for good measure.
Have I mentioned Xander is the opinionated one?
There are some bright spots. Almond milk is passable to Xander (though not so much to Sawyer). You cannot put it in a plastic sippy cup (perhaps the smell or the look), but in an open glass, he will gladly drink it. Rice or corn based spaghetti is working for both boys, though Sawyer is more enthusiastic than Xander. Cinnamon Chex are good for both, though Xander leaves the uncoated pieces in the bottom of his bowl. Last night Sawyer ate nearly all of a semi-homemade GFCF pizza (gluten free frozen crust, pizza sauce, casein free cheese, and pepperoni). Xander gagged, of course.
Both boys were hesitant about the gluten-free pretzels, but Sawyer eventually came around. I think Xander eventually will, too, as they taste pretty much the same and sooner or later he's going to have to get tired of eating the same exact thing EVERY SINGLE DAY. Surely. Sawyer liked a GFCF granola bar that I found. Xander gagged and said "No thanks!" very emphatically. Soy-based yogurt was very slowly approved by both, though it took some prompting and several small bites to be convinced.
Do you see the pattern? Sawyer tries, and for the most part, will eat. Xander tries, but in dramatic fashion, rejects almost everything. This might explain why Sawyer now outweighs Xander by nearly five pounds. One is determined to eat, even if he's not always happy with the choices. The other one is determined to have only what he wants, which means he eats a lot of the same exact thing or he simply doesn't eat.
It's still very much a trial and effort on our part. I am doing some online research (mostly blogs, as I like to hear what has worked for other people and what to avoid). This week I did the first major GFCF grocery run, with a stop into the organic section at our big Kroger and a stop at Whole Foods. $150 later, I had a few things to try, though not nearly enough for that amount of money, I assure you. Most items are about twice the price of regular food. Perhaps we should thank Xander for refusing most of it.
The boys still have their staples. Fruit and applesauce. They can have a few chips they have always liked, namely Wavy Lays (Sawyer) and Tostitos (both). Trix are okay, though some would argue the artificial colors and sugar may do as much harm as the gluten in other cereals. Sawyer eats most types of meat, just not breaded (though I have a mix to try sometime soon, probably on some chicken tenders).
I have always felt like a short-order cook with our meals. Now I feel even more so. Not only do I often fix two meals, I sometimes fix three or four. Connor eats a lot of what Josh and I eat, but the twins rarely do. What Connor likes, the twins don't always like. And what Sawyer likes, Xander doesn't always like. Finding common ground is nearly impossible. Adding GFCF into the mix for the twins guarantees that we have multiple meals. It's either that, or our grocery bills become more than our mortgage payments.
So we do two meals, like the one you see above. One is regular spaghetti with frozen meatballs and sauce (for Connor). One is corn-based spaghetti with sauce (for the twins). I think Josh was working that night, and I ended up eating a bagel with Nutella for my dinner. So, we ended up with three meals for four people. And we won't even talk about how frequently the boys have their meals. Because they eat so few things, we do the things they will eat pretty often.
So in between school and therapy and baseball, that's what I've been doing. Making lots of different meals, researching and grocery shopping, and trying to figure out what I'm going to feed the kids all summer long. Because if I think it's hard to feed them now, what am I going to do this summer when they try to eat all day long at the house.