Tag Archives: Allergies

Menu Plan Monday

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Our family does not eat eggs, dairy, nuts, and mushrooms due to allergies. If you have AWESOME recipes with very basic ingredients that will easily feed a large family, please share links in the comments.

Menu planning is often a source of frustration for me these days. I really would love for our meal times to be much more simple and less stressful. I have a hard time pleasing everyone at meal times and as a consequence, I am not enjoying our meals much anymore.

I didn't mean for this to be all depressing, but I am being honest. Between the various allergies in the house and Elisha not being able to make up his  from day to day what he likes and doesn't like to eat due to his autism and sensory issues, meal time is not what it could be.

I don't always share our menu's because sometimes they just aren't very interesting and other times, I am not prepared enough to plan a whole week in advance. I am excited to be doing a little bit of advanced planning this weekend, so here is a rough idea of what our menu will look like for this week.

Breakfasts

For breakfasts we will rotate through these favorites.

  • Pancakes and Fruit
  • Oatmeal and Fruit
  • Toast and Fruit

Lunches

For yummy lunches we will dish up homemade soup, a variety of sandwiches, and some fresh cut vegetables.

  • Soup and Sandwiches Veggie Platters

Main Dishes

This meals are in no particular order, but they will all be cooked from scratch.

  • BBQ Chicken
  • Spaghetti
  • Beef Stew
  • Hamburger Gravy and Mashed Potatoes
  • Shepherds Pie
  • Honey Garlic Pork

If you have picky eaters or you struggle with a not so perfect menu and meal time I would love to hear how you deal with it (or maybe just to know that I am not alone).

Happy American Thanksgiving this week.

I am linking this post up with Menu Plan Monday. Check out what everyone else is cooking this week.

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Around The Brown House

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Sickness and the Bee Sting

We have climbed the mountains of sickie laundry, disinfected the house from top to bottom and lived to tell about it. I think everyone is finally over the flu and Zion has recovered from his bee sting. We do have a bit more news about the bee sting allergy. When I was on the phone with the nurse this past week, she mentioned that the next time Zion gets a bee sting it could be fatal. We will be making an appointment with the allergist very soon to get official testing done and an another EpiPen prescription.

We ripped up the beautiful purple plant that was attracting bees to our garden and set traps for the bees. Moses and Malachi keep asking us why we have to kill bees (they have seen the Bee Movie one too many times) and I keep telling them that if I have to choose between my son and the bees, my son wins. We are modifying our entire plan for our Sensory Garden to include non-flowering plants and vegetables. I am currently doing research and I am on a mission to still have a great garden (even without bees). Check back to see how we are going to accomplish this.

Refreshed and Renewed

While I have missed all of you, it has been nice to take a complete break from blogging for a week. It is interesting how taking a step back from the blogging world (and into the "real" world) can give you a new perspective and fun, creative ideas. I have lots to share with you all this week as I ease back into blogging. Things will be different around here(on Sunflower Schoolhouse) for the summer and big changes are coming (again, I know).  I will share more about those changes later.

Schooling Year Round

We are on a modified summer break (aka still doing life learning) while we wait for the rest of our learning materials to arrive, so mommy can do some scheduling and planning. We are taking a totally different approach to our schooling this coming year and I look forward to sharing more about it with you soon. I also wanted to let you know that I have been accepted as a member of the TOS Review Crew and I am excited to be reviewing tons of new (to me) homeschooling materials this coming year (I will be writing a post about this soon).

What I Need From You

Yes, you read that right. I need something from you. I want to know what your favorite part of this site is. Why do you come here to read? How did you find your way here? Why do you stay here? What would you like to see more of?

I love having you here, really I do, and I am thankful that you take time out of your day to visit and read. I am planning some changes to the site and I don't want to take away anything that you love or find really useful. Now is your chance to give me some feedback. Leave me your thoughts in the comments.

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Eczema and Allergies

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Eczema and allergies may not be considered special needs in the traditional sense, but if you are a mother of a child with severe eczema or allergies, then you know how much extra work it is. With eczema you often need to try many different products before you find one that works for your child (and even then, it does not always work for very long) and you need to be diligent about applying the products. With allergies you need to adapt your cooking, you can't eat at restaurants without adaptations, and you need to bring your own cake to birthday parties among other things.

We have 5 children (10, 8, 6, 2, and 2). Our youngest child and only daughter (she's also a twin) has eczema and allergies. We spent the first year or so of Hosanna's life carting her to the family doctor, the pediatrician, the allergist, the dermatologist, the lab and back to all of them again.

Hosanna is allergic to eggs, dairy (goat's milk and cow's milk), and peanuts. She has an EpiPen (USA and Canada) for the peanut allergy. We have been adapting our household and our recipes to fit her allergies and still be affordable for our family of seven. This in itself is no small challenge. I hope to post more of our recipes here on Large Family Good Eats.

Hosanna's eczema is itchy and painful (I am sure anyone with eczema knows how this is). Her skin has often been cracked and bleeding. With eczema the story is the more you itch, the more you scratch, the more you itch, the more you scratch is the way it goes. She is only two so it is very hard for her not to itch. She needs to wear long sleeves and leotards even in the summer. For her eczema we have tried just about everything.  I won't list all the creams and lotions (prescription or otherwise) that we have tried that haven't worked because there are too many. We have,  however, found something amazing and we have started to make it ourselves. It is a special combination of Shea Butter, Coconut Oil, and Beeswax.

Do you struggle with the challenges of eczema or allergies with your children?

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