$5 Dinners™ » food allergies

How to Make your Own Rice Milk

Erin, The $5 Dinner Mom — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 12:14:56 +0000

I have suspected a dairy allergy in both of my kids for a long time. Since nursing them, really.

Without going into all the gory details, I knew something was just not right with their tummies and how they reacted to milk. I tried soy milk, and that seemed to help. But their the symptoms remained. We did several rounds of allergy and metabolic testing, only to come up short, with no clear diagnosis.

After discovering earlier this summer that my oldest has EE (eosinophilic esophagitis…aka food allegy that was causing swelling in his esophagus), more extensive testing was done. “Patch allergy testing” on his back revealed that he is allergic to dairy, potatoes, ham, lamb, turkey, pears, rye and fish (although the type and variety is still unknown.) “Patch allergy testing” is where they place 30 different foods under a large sticker patch on the patient’s back and leave it there for 48 hours. This will reveal “delayed allergies,” as opposed to immediate allergies picked up by traditional skin prick testing. I had been suspecting “delayed allergies” all along. We were instructed to eliminate all of those from his diet to see how he responds, and return later for follow up testing. After follow up, we will reintroduce each food 1 at a time to see how he reacts to them.

Dairy, oh dairy! That and potatoes would be/have been the hardest to eliminate.

I’m fortunate to have Trader Joes in my town, so while the boys were on the GFCF (gluten free casien/dairy free) diet earlier this year, I would stop in once a month and get about $40 in rice milk alone. But that’s a HUGE chunk of change for this special milk.

So I set out to find an alternative.

Here’s how the story goes…early June. Blender top crahsed onto the floor. Shattered.

“Nobody move. Kids stay in your chairs. Mommy needs to sweep and vacuum this glassy mess.”

Boy, wouldn’t it be nice to get a VitaMix. Plastic container. 7 year warranty. Powerful machine. The Lambourghini of blenders, if you will!

Seriously. That was my first thought. I knew all about them because a friend had one when we lived in the Dominican Republic. And she raved.

But they are so expensive.

I googled. I e-bayed. I craigslisted. I searched high and low. For weeks.

We discussed. We cost analyzed. We said no. Too much. We said yes. Invest. We said no. We said yes.

You get the picture.

After much debating, wavering and analyzing, we decided it would be worth the investment. Factoring in just the cost of rice milk (not thinking of all the other cool things it can do), it would take 10 months for it to pay itself off.

Not only to make the rice milk, but for making homemade sauces, salsas, soups, smoothies, etc. We got it a few weeks ago. And there is not a day that has gone by that I have not used it (except when we were out of town !

So I have been using the new VitaMix to make rice milk. I have yet to experiment with almond milk. Unless I strike an amazing price on bulk almonds, we’ll stick to rice milk for now.

Ingredients
1 cup cooked brown rice
4 cups water
1 Tbsp sweetener (prefer honey or agave nectar)
1/2 tsp vanilla (optional)

Directions
1. Cook 1 cup uncooked brown rice with a dash of salt according to package instructions. This will cook up into about 2 cups of cooked rice. Allowing for 2 batches, or 8 cups of milk.
2. Add 1 cup cooked brown rice with 4 cups water. Add sweetener and vanilla, if desired.
3. Blend on high for up to 3 minutes, or until water turns white.
4. I don’t strain our milk, but others do. I just shake it up well before serving.
5. Store in fridge.

I use this rice milk for cooking, baking, in cereal, in smoothies and for drinking. I typically make an average of 2 8 cup batches per week (1 gallon a week), depending on how much we use! I typically boost the kids smoothies with a powdered calcium supplement, but might try adding it straight into the milk.

I figure the cost of rice and sweetener is about $.45 per half gallon. Much better than $3/half gallon from the store!

An huge investment, yes. Worth every penny. Yes!

How to Make your Own Rice Milk is a post from: $5 Dinners (c) 2009 $5 Dinners. Use of this feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you see this post anywhere other than your email subscription or RSS reader, then the site might be guilty of copyright infringement. Please How to Make your Own Rice Milk was first posted on August 10, 2009 at 7:14 am.

Gluten Free Casein Free Update

Erin, The $5 Dinner Mom — Wed, 27 May 2009 17:39:58 +0000

What happened to all the GF recipes?

Well, after seeing a GI (gastrointestinal specialist) about a month ago, we stopped the GFCF (gluten free casein free) diet so that biopsies and further testing could be done to investigate the digestive issues that our oldest has had since birth. She ordered an upper GI scope, as well as skin allergy testing. The allergy testing came back negative, but the scope showed that he had an inflammed esophagus. The biopsy revealed that he has eosinophilic esophagitis.

Or a fancy way of saying he has a food allergy. Just as your nasal passages swell and react to foreign pollen or chemicals causing sneezing, runny nose, etc., so his esophagus is swelling when he eats a food that his body does not agree with!

More extensive food allergy testing will be done in the near future, plus he is now taking a series of medications to control the swelling in the esophagus. But obviously, the ultimate goal is to identify and eliminate the food causing the allergy, and get off the meds!!!

So I’m not crazy after all, as some have made me feel! And we will get to the bottom of this and figure out exactly what foods to eliminate! In the mean time, we have to have all foods “in the system” for the next round of testing. So we carry on with a “normal” diet.

Gluten Free Casein Free Update is a post from: $5 Dinners (c) 2009 $5 Dinners. Use of this feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you see this post anywhere other than your email subscription or RSS reader, then the site might be guilty of copyright infringement. Please Gluten Free Casein Free Update was first posted on May 27, 2009 at 12:39 pm.

Travelling with Kids on Special Diets

Erin, The $5 Dinner Mom — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 04:07:00 +0000

Since we are travelling and we are on a special diet, I thought I’d share my 5 cents worth on the topic.

The boys are on a GFCFSF (gluten free, casein free, soy free) diet. This diet is very restrictive, but it is possible to travel and still stick to it!

1. In the airport or while “moving” from place to place. Take food with you. Don’t rely on any restaurant to have food or snacks that will accommodate your diet. We did stop at an airport restaurant and I ordered a fruit cup for the boys. Thinking it would be fresh fruit. Nope. Canned mandarin oranges and canned pineapple. These are OK for them to eat, but I would have preferred fresh fruit. I learned that there is little that they can eat from restaurant menus.

2. Upon arrival at your destination. Before your trip, kindly ask your host/hostess if they would be willing to purchase a few items for you to have on hand upon arriving. Assure them that you will reimburse them (or thank them if they resist!). Send a detailed list with brand names, product names and store names, if the item is obscure and can only be found in specialty stores. (We have to get some things at Whole Foods because my mom’s grocery store doesn’t have some of our favorite snacks.) Make a quick run to the grocery store as soon as you arrive to pick up any other products that you might need.

3. Eating out. Make friends with your waiter/waitress. I found that they were very helpful after I briefly explained the diet and asked about ingredients. One waitress even went to the kitchen to read a label for me. Very kind of her to do. When choosing a restaurant, ask your host/hostess about ones that use fresher ingredients, like a small cafe or deli. These smaller restaurants are more likely to change recipes or leave out ingredients, to suit your dietary needs than those larger chains with “premade” foods and dishes that can’t be altered.

Having children on special diets is a challenge. Travelling with children on special diets is really challenging. With a little planning and help from your host/hostess, your travel experience will be a little easier. Your kids will stay healthy and you will enjoy your time away.

Travelling with Kids on Special Diets is a post from: $5 Dinners (c) 2009 $5 Dinners. Use of this feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you see this post anywhere other than your email subscription or RSS reader, then the site might be guilty of copyright infringement. Please Travelling with Kids on Special Diets was first posted on December 29, 2008 at 11:07 pm.