IPP Meeting

A lady from Alta Regional came out yesterday to discuss Sean's IPP. I can't remember what IPP stands for, but these are the services we set up.

I am signing him up for medi-cal. That way, if my insurance partially covers any extra services like speech therapy, medi-cal will pick up the portion they don't cover.

We are also signing up for respite services. I could have gotten more hours, but I picked two Saturdays twice a month for four hours. My husband is thrilled. I thought that was a good start, as it is eight hours more a month than we get now.

I can't think of anything else we set up service wise. We agreed that the goals for him in a year are:

Feeding self with spoon
Telling me when he has to go potty
Verbal compliance with commands at least eighty percent of the time

Alta also would have covered diapers for him. While the extra fifty bucks a month would be nice, I felt too guilty to take advantage of that.

Well it is already one o'clock and I have to pick him up at 2:30. I'd better finish vacuuming before he gets home. (He insists on stealing the vacuum.)

Del Monte Info

I called Del Monte to make sure that their chili sauce was gfcf and received some excellent news.

I was told that, with the exception of their pre-made green bean casserole and their pasta sauces with meat, all their products are gfcf.

Woo-hoo!

Overdue for a Posting

I have been meaning to post SJ's behavior changes here, since this is the blog for it.

He has not had one of his post-nap tantrums all week. Usually he has a tantrum after he wakes up in the morning AND after his naps. None of that happened this week.

To watch a movie, he doesn't just say "moomie" anymore. He says "Clues, Tubbies, Yellow Deedee, Wiggles and Baby Apple."

Yellow Deedee is a Wiggles DVD with their picture on the front. He knows the difference between it and their other DVD which he calls "Wiggles."

He hugged his sister when she was crying and said, "I love you."

He touched his Dad very seriously and said, "You my Daddy."

He's doing great!

Scalloped Potatoes

I have been neglecting this blog!

I think maybe SJ had something to eat that was suspicious this week. He was agitated and whiny. I am so tired of reading the ingredients on something and seeing the word "flavorings". AAARRRRGGGHHHH! That tells me nothing. Then I have to call or e-mail the manufacturer. I've sent out two e-mails now, one to Raleys and one to Prego, that were never answered. Thanks jerks!

Anyhoo, here is a gfcf scalloped potato recipe. It came out wonderful. I sucked them down. Well, I suck everything down, but they were good.

Scalloped Potatoes

1/2 cup chopped onion
2 TBS gfcf margarine
2 TBS potato starch
1 1/4 cup plain almond milk (because vanilla or chocolate would be nasty. hee hee)
3 medium potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced (3 cups)

For sauce, cook onion in margarine until tender. Stir in flour, 1/2 tsp. salt, and 1/8 tsp pepper. Add milk all at once. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Remove from heat.

Place half the sliced potatoes in a greased one-quart casserole. Cover with half the sauce. Repeat layers.

Bake covered in a 350 degree oven for 35 minutes. Uncover. Bake 30 minutes more or until tender.

(When I make these, I boil the potatoes on top of the stove until they are about half cooked. Then I assemble the casserole. That way, I only have to bake them in the oven for half an hour uncovered.)

Chicken Fingers

I tend to eyeball things so this recipe may need to be adjusted according to your tastes.

4 cups potato chips
1/2 cup cornmeal
2 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1/2 cup gfcf margarine, melted
1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put the potato chips in a large-sized ziploc bag. Smash them with a rolling pin. Put in the cornmeal, paprika, salt, garlic powder and onion powder. Mix well.

Dip the chicken pieces in the melted margarine then into the flour to coat.

Bake on lightly greased cookie sheet for 20 to 30 minutes, until done.

More Milestones

SJ did two new things this week. The cat was meowing outside to be fed. SJ went to get a cup of cat food to feed the kitty. Actually, he grabbed dog food, but it was the fact he showed awareness of the cat being fed that impressed me.

He also looked at his Teletubbies backpack and said, "Tinky-Winky, Dipsy, La-La, Po." He has learned the names from the music at the beginning of the show.

I am convinced that the dietary changes are bringing about the behavior changes.

Eureka

I checked out a Bette Hagman dessert book from the library today. Then I discovered what I had done wrong with my cookie conversion!

The Bette Hagman flour substitute on tacanow.com is only for bread. That's why my coffee cake came out great but my cookies didn't.

I am going to have to buy a Bette Hagman cookbook. She explains the properties of the different flours and why you blend them the way you do.

I am also baking my way through the cookbook I purchased from kurly1@rogers.com off ebay.

Her belgian waffles are BETTER than wheat flour waffles. I made her snickerdoodles today. Yum.

I didn't like her chicken fingers, but that is because they had rice flour. I coat mine with potato chips and corn meal - much better.

SJ did much better this week now that he is on his diet. We still have tantrums but his behavior has improved A LOT from last week.

Making Progress

SJ re-started on his gfcf diet last Monday, ten days ago.

Last week he had tantrums all week long.

This week he has improved immensely. He still has a tantrum a day, but he doesn't cling like he did.

He is also occasionally answering questions with, "okay."

When I usually ask him something, he just echoes it back to me.

Tonight I asked him, "Do you want to watch the Teletubbies?"

Normally he would say, "Tubbies?"

Tonight he said, "okay."

He is singing to his music more to instead of just humming along. There are real words coming out of him.

I am also having better luck baking gfcf treats. Phew.

SJ's Favorite Granola Bars

This is another recipe from my ebay cookbook. It looks like bird poop, but tastes delicious.

Granola Bars

3/4 cup peanut butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup corn syrup
4 cups puffed rice (I used crumbled up rice cakes)
1/2 cup peanuts
1/2 cup chopped dates (I didn't have any - left these out)
1/2 cup raisins (Increased to a cup)
1/2 cup chopped apricots (Didn't have any)
1/4 cup chocolate chips (I increased to 1/2 cup)

Combine peanut butter, sugar and corn syrup in a large bowl. Microwave on high for 2 1/2 minutes. Add remaining ingredients, mixing well. Spread into a 7 x 11 inch lightly oiled baking pan. (I used a 9 x 13) Cut into bars when cooled. Wrap each bar individually with plastic wrap.

The first time I made these, I also added half a cup of marshmallow creme to the first three ingredients, but SJ seems sensitive to marshmallow creme. Left it out this time.

Today he said, "Brrrrr, it's cold outside."