Happy Birthday!

Wanna know what happens when the boy gets invited to a party? Or something else social happens? I panic. There's been a lot of that lately. I might be getting ulcers.

Birthday parties are basically guaranteed to cause Eli to have a reaction. Some helpful suggestions I've gotten: Just scrape the frosting off the cupcake and he can eat it! (Are you aware that to most kids, cake is just a vehicle for frosting? It's amazing, and many adults agree.) He doesn't have to help with the pinata! (Really? You tell him that.)

I'm at a loss as to what to do when we go to parties. Avoiding them would be wonderful, but he's at the age where he's making real friends. He talks about his friends constantly and keeping them apart on special days like birthdays seems cruel. But so does allowing him to watch kids gorge themselves with rainbow colored sugar while he just sits on the sidelines.

This summer, we tried to go with the flow, once. Eli ate a delicious chocolate cupcake piled high with yellow icing. It took about 10-12 hours for the reaction to start, but once it did, he wasn't himself for a couple of days. We were pretty sure this would happen, but since he hadn't had any artificially colored food in quite awhile, we weren't sure what his threshold was. Some kids can tolerate it now and then, others can't.

But things are starting to look up. Now we're able to tell him, "That red and green cupcake is going to make your tummy hurt. Maybe we can have some ice cream instead!" He's trying so hard, and I'm so proud of him.

Dye Free Food, Meal by Meal:

If you're considering making some changes in the way your family eats, let me throw you a bone and give ya' some tips (i.e. very basic info.)

There's usually a dye-free version of anything you want to eat. Just because you're craving jellybeans doesn't mean you have to go without, you just have to look a little harder. This Easter, I found the most delicious jellybeans at Trader Joe's, and they tasted so much better than my usual favorites. They actually had flavor. I didn't feel like I was popping pure sugar in my mouth (and I saw them yesterday- apparently they aren't just seasonal!) I think an added benefit of eliminating artificial dyes is the surge of flavor that inevitably comes with better, higher quality food.

So, I think the best way to grocery shop is to make a list. Go through your week and make a meal plan, including breakfast and lunch, and list each ingredient you'll need. This makes it easier to see where dyes are sneaking up on you.

• Some common breakfast offenders are yogurt and cereal. Oatmeal that comes already flavored and cereal bars often have dyes. In general, you can purchase deceivingly unhealthy yogurt, cereal, and breakfast bars, so buying ones without dyes will probably ensure that you are eating whole grains, fiber, fruits, and generally less processed food. Juice can have hidden additives as well, so be careful. The Boy likes Berry Berry Kix- I was surprised it was dye free. We buy Simply GoGurt, although there are several other dye-free brands. If you like canned cinnamon rolls (and who doesn't!) just a warning that Pillsbury puts red dye #40 in theirs- it makes me so sad, because I believe that cinnamon rolls look beautiful and delicious without the added chemicals.
• Hot dogs can contain red dyes too- and lunch meats have ridiculous amounts of additives, so avoiding those are usually a good idea. Jellies and jams sometimes have extra dyes, so we buy All Fruit brand jelly usually. So many chips and snack foods have dyes- Doritos and Cheetos are common offenders, but oddly enough Fritos have a surprisingly noble list of ingredients (much healthier than Rold Gold Pretzels, for example.) Avoid Jell-O (but we LOVE these SmartGels from Kozy Shack. They're really good and I am a fan of the ingredients list.) Macaroni and cheese can create some major hurdles, but we like Annie's Homegrown products. 
• Dinner food seem to have fewer issues with dyes, since savory foods are often colored with spices instead. Although, one that I forget pretty frequently (because it doesn't make sense!) is Pillsbury brand items- you know, crescent rolls, stuff like that. I bought some garlic bread that comes pre-schmeared with garlic butter, and had my oven pre-heated before I realized it had yellow #5. I gave it to a neighbor but I still felt guilty for giving her chemical-laden food to feed her kids. I know not everyone has a problem with it, but I do, and it weighs heavy on my mind most days. 
• There are obvious snacky offenders, but I feel that I should list a few in case you don't know about them yet- foods like brownies, cake mixes, frosting in a can, sodas, candies, fruit snacks, and chips sometimes have dyes, but do you see a common thread here? They're all fake, crappy foods. Make your own cake and frosting (it's easy!) and in general, make better choices about what you put in your shopping cart. I enjoy lemon curd with gingerbread cake, and can't buy it from the regular supermarket anymore. Lucky for me, I found it at TJ's recently!
• Here's a shocker- I had to throw out my kid's toothpaste because it was full of blue dye! We switched to Burt's Bees toothpaste, and we've been very happy with it- the boy loves to brush!
• Most medications contain harmful colors as well- Benadryl, Advil/ibuprofen, and  Tylenol/acetaminophen all make dye-free versions. One time I looked at the Tylenol website to see if they made chewables that were dye free (they don't), and they seemed to think that parents choose their dye-free products to avoid messes and stains on children's clothing. They're clueless! I've heard that you can get dye-free amoxicillin from a compounding pharmacy but I've not tried that yet. 

Alright, those were just a few... I have lots more to tell you but I don't want your brain to explode just yet. Have you ever been shocked by the ingredients of something you frequently buy?

I'm becoming 'that mom'

Before I became a parent, I was horrified by people who controlled their child's every move. I knew I'd never be 'that' mom- I would let my kids do as they pleased, be free thinkers, teach them to love life. But then, this dye thing happened and I've become a helicopter mom. For example, recently we were at the doctor's office. This is what went down:

Nurse: Look at those cute kids! I bet they'd like a sticker!
Me: (distracted and busy, because I'm the idiot who brought two children with her to an appointment) Oh, nice!
Nurse: (comes back with her hands full of suckers) Which flavor would you like?
Me: (Oh crap. She said *sucker* not *sticker.* I wave my arms in distress and beg her not to let the boy see them)
Nurse: (Shooting me a look of confusion and bewilderment) Um, ok??

Yes, I'm now the mom who won't let her kids have suckers. No one gives out dye-free lollipops, because they cost eight times as much. I panic at the sight of candy. Halloween might give me an aneurysm. And why do doctors give out candy anyway? Surely there are more families like mine? Or diabetics? Or good old fashioned health nuts?

When the boy sees brightly colored candy, I tell him he can't have it because it makes him sick. He's starting to understand, but no one can resist a bag of Skittles. I try to keep a Trader Joe's sucker in my purse but they don't last long in there (hey, Mama needs a sugar fix now and then!)

At restaurants, a well meaning server will offer mac 'n cheese or orange soda like it's no big deal. My friends and family haven't quite realized how one slip up will have an effect on my life for days. I feel like I'm trying my best to keep my kid healthy and happy; I'm sensing that those close to me and my family think I'm micromanaging.

So, the next time you see a mom get a twitch in her eye when her kid is offered a 'harmless' sucker, don't judge her, *please.*

the beginning

Alright folks, first things first. My name is Ali, and I'm a mom. My kids are 3 and just-shy-of 1, and we're a pretty regular family. My parenting style is probably what you'd call slightly crunchy, but I think in the big picture, we're just like you. I want my kids to be happy and healthy, and love them more than I could ever have imagined. This blog is basically about how I changed my family's eating habits for the better. The catalyst for this 180 was when my son, Eli, had a major (dramatic, scary, emotional, torturous) breakdown after a family wedding, where the colors of honor were orange and blue. This could be a kid's dream come true: blue punch, orange cake, lollipops, M&Ms; all free for the taking! For several days, my sweet boy couldn't sleep, walk, talk, eat, play- we realized right away that there was a problem. I knew of a couple kids who didn't tolerate food dyes, but had never imagined a life without using M&Ms and gummi bears as bribery distraction.

I had a hunch that the food dyes had something to do with Eli's breakdown. He was not a sickly kid- occasional ear infections, but I nursed him until he was 25 months old, and I've considered him ahead of the curve verbally and cognitively. I felt guilty that his discomfort was because I let him run amok through a smorgasbord of dietary poison! These foods were as far from their natural states as possible and he was loving every minute of it.

I was seriously worried that this child was showing signs of ADHD at the age of 2 1/2, and after the blue and orange disaster, my husband and I decided to pull all artificial dyes and colors from his diet. At first, I didn't know where to turn... it seemed like everything in our cupboards was full of red, yellow, and blue.

Are you interested in specifics? I live about 20 miles from Trader Joe's so most of my shopping is done at Meijer (they have a good, affordable Meijer Naturals line.) Anyway, things changed quickly: no more regular microwave popcorn, garlic bread, or hot dogs... No more frozen waffles or cheap syrup, no popcicles or ice cream or brownies or candy! All of these things require forethought and planning and extra energy (and who has that?)

I started buying Simply GoGurt instead of the cheap store brand of yogurt, which contained Red #40 and High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS.) We had those all over for awhile, until we'd adjusted more of our eating habits. They were a decent substitute for Popsicles and convenient. I started to notice other chemicals in our foods too- Rold Gold pretzels had a scary list of ingredients compared to a bag of Frito s.

I stopped using cake mixes and baked more bread at home. Cake mix can be convenient but it is full of ridiculous additives that stray from the usual flour, sugar, eggs, and butter. I haven't even tried the organic mixes because I've found such wonderful cake recipes, I'll never go back! (psst: here's an amazing chocolate cupcake recipe...)

So far, we've gotten through Easter, summer, 4th of July, and Eli's 3rd birthday dye free. Halloween and Christmas are coming up- those will be our next challenges (and I have posts planned to tell you about each one of these special days!)