Do not feed the animals

It's pretty common that you see this sign in parks and zoos. You take notice and hopefully don't feed the animals anything. Maybe the animals are on a special diet, they don't want them being overfed, fed the wrong food....either way, don't feed the animals. It's clearly stated, you follow the rules.

Now there are some rules that aren't posted but should be common sense. DON'T FEED KIDS YOU DON'T KNOW. Outside of food allergies and special diets, you are teaching the kid to accept candy from strangers!!

As parents, we try and teach our children to be safe. Look both ways before crossing the street, hold my hand, don't leave the park with anyone but Mommy, watch where you're going, don't take food from strangers. I don't care how cute you think my kids is, how my kid is looking at you while you're eating (believe me, they are well fed) or even if my kid asks you for food......DO NOT FEED THE ANIMALS.

Things you should do as a parent; find and ask the kids parent, tell the kid to go get their parent, just say no....be a responsible adult.

Teaching a child that it's ok to accept something from a stranger is wrong. No matter how many times I can tell my kids, don't take food or candy from a stranger....it's CANDY! So as responsible adults, we should teach kids to ask their parent first. So when someone tells them, "you don't have to ask your mommy," their sensors will go off!! I want to empower my kids to make the right decisions but it does take a village of people who respect the rules.

DON'T FEED THE ANIMALS.

You do too much!

"You do too much with those kids!" I hear that a lot. Yes, I'm exhausted and tired but it's all worth it. No, it's not just for the smiles on their faces. Or even just to wear them out. 

Until I had EJ, I worked full-time. I remember sitting in the office wishing I could be the one spending the day with Sophia. When we moved to the Silicon Valley, I got that opportunity. I'm taking full advantage of being able to spend my days with them. We are creating memories. They'll be able to look back at pictures and see all the fun things we did together. One day, I may not be able to stay home. And the last thing I want to be doing is sitting back in an office saying, "Shoulda, woulda, coulda when I wasn't working." 

We made a list of places we wanted to explore and we are crossing them off our list. It's as much for me as it is for them. 

And have you ever stayed in the house with 2 kids all day long? How does the house look at the end of the day??? A DISASTER! Every single toy is thrown across the floor, the house is tee-peed with toilet paper, dishes piled up in the sink and anything you thought you'd get done.....still sitting there. We leave the house in order to keep it IN ORDER. I'd rather kill myself being out of the house doing something rather than have 2 kids bouncing off the walls and cleaning all day! 

The Quiet Dinner

With 2 kids a quiet dinner is rare. Most nights consist of me shoveling the food down my throat in a race to finish eating before the kids. They usually have a 5 minute advantage on me! Basically leaving me 2 minutes and 43 seconds to consume as much food as I can before a plate goes flying to the floor. I've become a winning marathon eating champion with only a few losses under my belt. With quick reflexes, I've been able to add a few saves to my title too! Never knew I could simultaneously shovel food with one hand and quickly grab a flying plate with the other. If this was an olympic sport, I'd be on the team for sure.

On Sunday, I cooked mussels in a white wine sauce. I cooked the kids their own dinner prior to ours, not because the kids wouldn't like it, but because I didn't want to share. AND we got the kids down before we sat down to eat. Just the two of us were sitting there, it was so quiet and calm. I was slowly eating and enjoying my meal. By enjoying I mean being able to actually chew my food rather than swallow it whole. Such a treat!

As much as it was an enjoyable treat to have a quiet dinner, I realized that it was only nice because of the daily chaos. The craziness, crying, screaming, fighting, running and flying plates....with all that drama I am able to appreciate the quiet moments. It made me love my daily chaos a little bit more. Because in that chaos you discover smiles, laughing, dancing, learning and teaching.

No it wasn't a nice, fancy dinner out. We don't get to do that very often. It was just a moment at the table with my hubby enjoying a delicious meal. Some couples without kids have that every evening. It made me think. Sure it was nice but I did pick the right path for me. I wouldn't feel complete without my kids. It's a rough, bumpy path filled with gallons of coffee and wine.....but it's my perfect chaos.

Boxed Dinner for 2

I've always loved finding new recipes, shopping for ingredients and cooking. Now with 2 kids, that's been challenging....to say the least. My recipe rotation has gotten B-O-R-I-N-G due to the lack of newness. And with the added stress of EJ's allergies, finding new recipes for the whole family is nearly impossible. Find me something delicious that doesn't include Wheat, Milk, Eggs, Peanuts or Tree-nuts....and that also doesn't include his other possible allergens; soy, mustard and peas. And while you're trying to find that recipe, imagine 2 screaming children behind you.....yeah. Oh and did I mention, I need meals 7 days a week since we really can't eat out. Good times.

A few people had mentioned the box meal delivery services. They ship you the ingredients, you cook. I honestly wasn't sure how it would work for my family but I gave it a shot. I was able to try Blue Apron for free through a fellow member of a Mom's group!

I only got a picture of 2 of the meals because I ended up doing the steak meal as a lunch on Father's Day. The lemon-pepper sauce that was supposed to accompany the steak did not turn out correctly. The instructions said to add the butter then the lemon and water, the butter sizzled to nothing but oil. So it ended up just being a plate of mashed potatoes with sugar snap peas and radishes. The ingredients were fresh and the meat was of great quality. Just didn't turn out like pictured without the sauce, so I didn't snap it. (I did remake this recipe and nailed the sauce by adding the butter last, not first.)

Seared cod with an asparagus, potato and radish salad. This was surprisingly better than expected. It called for tarragon, which I'm not a fan of, so I did cut how much I used. Super light dish with interesting flavors. Only complaint, they sent 2 dishes with radishes included. I felt it should have been a bit more mixed up.

Last, the hoisin glazed chicken meatballs with zucchini and brown rice was my least favorite. About halfway through, I couldn't handle the sweetness of the hoisin sauce. I would never attempt to make this again.

After seeing my photos on Instagram, a friend told me about Sunbasket. Same concept as Blue Apron and the same price point. They do offer 2 free meals with your initial order but I did have to pay for this box. And honestly, it was worth every penny! I was able to select the 3 meals from 7 different options. Which is important to not have 2 dishes with the same ingredients on back to back nights. But most importantly, the flavors were superior!

First up was the salmon with mango salsa. Bonus, I learned a new cooking technique for salmon! I had NEVER attempted to pan sear the salmon with the skin on. I may never cook it any other way. HA! The mango salsa was so good but next time I will probably cut the pieces a bit smaller. Not pictured was a coconut cream sauce.....to die for.

Pork belly and kimchee fried rice. My mouth is watering just looking at the photo. I had never attempted a dish like this before. Now I am trying to find out where to find some pork belly so I can recreate this one!!!

Last up, thai turkey lettuce cups that we had for lunch. I wasn't sure these would be filling enough for dinner but I was wrong. We were stuffed! My hubby said it smelled like a restaurant in the house. HA!

I honestly am so excited for this weeks box to arrive. These are going to be our weekend meals and I'll be making the kids a separate easy meal like gluten-free pasta and baked chicken strips. We'll also keep my boring rotation during the week. Or maybe because we've added in these yummy meals, my rotation won't seem so boring. Either way, I'm excited to have some new flavors and cooking techniques in my kitchen!!!

No wheat please!

I had EJ tested for allergies back in February. He tested positive for peanut, milk, wheat, eggs and some tree nuts. I left the office with an Rx for an EpiPen. My mind was racing and I was scared. How do you avoid all of those foods in everyday life? How allergic is he?? I instantly joined allergy Facebook groups for support. Worst thing I could have ever done. Post after post of parents talking about how they had to Epi their child today. It made my anxiety levels go through the roof. I wasn't sleeping, jumping at every cough he made, watching him for scratching, basically I was making myself crazy. I unjoined those groups and read up on the facts and how and when to use the EpiPen. I felt I had gotten to a place where I felt empowered and in control. But I also understood how quickly things can go south.
One thing I didn't do, remove all the allergens from our house with the exception of peanuts. Sophia is 4 and I never wanted to penalize her by removing the snacks from the cabinets.
On Tuesday, the kids were having a snack while I got together Sophia's ballet bag. EJ was having his rice crackers (in a purple bag) and Sophia had a little snack pack of Annie's bunny grahams (in a purple bag). She left her bag on the table and EJ managed to reach for it. When I came back downstairs, he was holding the bag and sharing them with the Grandparents. I could tell he had eaten at least one since he had crumbs on his mouth and a little bit of redness on his chin. I ran him upstairs and wiped his mouth off and gave him a dose of Benadryl. My heart and mind were racing. It was only wheat, no peanuts....we'll be OK. We'll be OK. After 30 minutes, the redness around his mouth was gone. Whew, no other symptoms. I felt relief and honestly some excitement thinking that maybe he wasn't really allergic to wheat!
We headed out to lunch and as we were ordering lunch, EJ starts vomiting. I start cleaning him up and he starts yelling, "OUCHIE, OUCHIE, OUCHIE!" I bring him out to the car to change his clothes and as I removed his pants, his legs are covered in welts. Welts that are spreading fast all over his body. I start wiping off his skin with a baby wipe to get the skin clear from any throw up. He starts vomiting on me and then coughing. My mind is racing, is he coughing from vomiting or is he having trouble breathing. I grab his inhaler and give him a couple of puffs as I run back into the restaurant to grab my in-laws.
At this point, I know I need to use the EpiPen. The EpiPen, I never wanted to use. I have my MIL call 911. They agree I need to use the EpiPen. I pull the blue pin out and hit the side of his thigh and it pops. EJ let out the loudest scream and grabs at my hand. I count out-loud; "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10." I remove it from his leg and quickly grab him, holding my poor little boy on my chest. Within a minute the paramedics arrive. The hives are subsiding and he's breathing normally. They escort us quickly into the ambulance.
We arrive at the ER and suddenly his entire body is swollen, hives start forming and he starts coughing again. It's even worse this time and he's screaming in pain. They administer another Epi, more Benadryl and oral steroids. I'm terrified knowing how quickly things can go south. This is his rebound and it's worse than the initial reaction. After all that he falls asleep on me.

(I took these photos in order to document his reaction so I could show them to his doctors. They actually came in very handy when being transferred to Stanford. They thought he still looked pretty bad until I showed them these photos and then agreed he was improving and didn't need more treatment.)

After an hour, I started seeing the redness and hives disappearing. It was such a relief. A wheat cracker did this. A WHEAT cracker?!?! We ended up having to stay the night at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital. Luckily we didn't have anymore rebounds and no other treatment was needed. 

It's so hard to keep calm around food now. Having to worry about contamination, will he react this way to any other foods?

We are seeing his doctor in the morning and we'll have to put together a new plan of action. Stay tuned......