Dairy-Free Key Lime Pie

Every other week we get our fruits and veggies from a local co-op.  This week we happened to get about a dozen limes.  What the heck do you do with that many limes?  We don't have a lot of time to prepare meals.  So I opted to try a key lime pie.  Our oldest son still has some stomach aches if he eats too much dairy, so I decided to try a non-dairy version.  And kinda made it up as I went.

Ingredients

1 cup cashews
1 cup Almond milk
1tsp vanilla
6 limes zested and juiced
1/4 tsp liquid stevia
2 Tbs maple syrup
Approximately 6 graham crackers and 8 vanilla wafers ground up to make 1 1/2 cups
1/4 cup non dairy butter melted
1 1/2 tsp agar flakes dissolved into 1/3 cup boiling water


Step 1.  Boil cashews in water for 45 minutes.

Step 2.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine the graham cracker/vanilla wafer mixture with the butter until moistened.  Spread into a pie pan and up the sides.  Bake 10 minutes.

Step 3.  While those cook, combine zest, lime juice, vanilla, and stevia into a bowl.

Step 4.  When cashews are done, strain the water and place cashews into a blender with almond milk.  Blend for 2 minutes until smooth.  Add maple syrup.  Add the lime juice mixture and blend until well combined.

Step 5.  Once blended and agar flakes have been dissolved, pour agar liquid into blender and blend for 2 minutes.  Pour mixture over crust.  Place in fridge and allow to set up until cold.


Serve and Enjoy!!

Dairy Free "Formula"

Having two kids, you really learn a lot about babies and toddlers, likes and dislikes, things that work, things that don't.  Unfortunately you also learn "on the job." We learned a lot after our first son.  Particularly we learned that the reason he was probably so crabby and not pooping regularly was because he has a sensitivity to dairy, the casein in it.  Unfortunately we didn't really consider this until he was 11 months old, and wouldn't need a formula anymore, so we never had much trial and error with that.  Now that our second is transitioning to formula we have noticed a change in his demeanor, and he is very gassy and may not poop for days at a time (VERY unlike him). So began our quest for a formula that he would like, that would give him the nutrients he needs, and make his belly feel better.  We have lately had him on Similac Alimentum.  He does ok on it.  He isn't as crabby as when he was on the non-hypoallergenic formulas, but he is still quite gassy and still not pooping.

I spent a lot of time the other night on the internet searching for options for homemade formulas.  There were some really interesting options to say the least.  One you make from liver and chicken broth.  I really can't bring myself to try something like that.  It just sounds disgusting!  I finally came across a woman's story where she was trying to find something to help her grandson, and with the help of a friend who gave her a book to read that had some formula recipes, she eventually used that as a guide to develop a formula in conjunction with consulting with many health experts, including nutritionists.

So, i've decided to give it a try. It can't hurt.  And if we can find a way to help him feel better and ultimately sleep better, that means we will get to sleep- What's that??  I modified the recipe to include things I have at home that seem to include what is called for in the original recipe.  I have diluted it for now to get him used to the flavor, as we still have a small supply of breast milk for a couple more weeks.  He took the first bottle of it pretty well, and i tasted it.  Actually doesn't taste too bad.

Here is the recipe I used for homemade formula
(This is my edited version based on the amount my son is currently eating for the day-actaully it is a little more than he eats for 1 day)

Ingredients
2 c. Goats milk
2 c. Almond milk
1 Tbs blackstrap molasses
1/2 tsp powdered children's acidophilus
3 Tbs flax seed oil
2 Tbs liquid coconut oil- not easy to find
2 tsp Dr's Advantage liquid calcium/magnesium+ mineral essentials
3 Tbs nutritional yeast
1/2 tsp infant vitamins

Add all ingredients into a blender.  Blend on high for 30 seconds.  I am filling a 4 oz bottle with 3 oz of formula and storing in the fridge and adding 2 oz warm water when I feed him.  He prefers warm milk, although will drink it cold.  I'm sure the formula is meant to be drunk without diluting it.  So as he gets used to the taste I will wean off the addition of water.  I will be sending a premade batch with him to daycare.  I plan to make a batch in the evenings for use the next day.

UPDATE: I am pouring the mixed batch of formula into 8 oz glass bottles and storing in the fridge.  For a 4 oz bottle, I add 3 oz of formula and 1 oz hot water to warm it up a little.  My son drinks this formula very well! He hasn't has any issues with a hurting belly and is very happy.  It was an immediate difference in his personality after he had been drinking this "formula" and not the store bought formulas.

There are a lot of ingredients, but I keep all his formula ingredients in 1 area in the kitchen and fridge and fridge to make the process quick. I make 1 batch at a time and last a day and maybe 1 bottle the next, depending on how hungry he is!  There is definitely a variation in quality of ingredients, so unfortuneately, the more expensive the ingredients (i.e. flax seed oil), the better for your child.  But I'm sure (and I have used) the cheaper versions will give similar benefits.  You need to find blackstrap molasses rather than traditional molasses.  The iron and calcium levels are much higher.  I found this is a nutrition store.

Raspberry Banana Bread

I was trying to come up with something a little different for a fall bread.  I've been making banana bread and zucchini bread the last couple weeks.  Then I got to thinking this morning that Raspberry banana bread sounded yummy.  So here is how I made it!

Ingredients

2 ripe bananas, mashed
1 c. frozen raspberries
1/2 c. applesauce
2 eggs
1/3 c. almond milk
3/4 c. sugar
1 1/2 c. wheat flour
1 1/4 c white flour
1 tsp baking soda

Step 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease loaf pan.

Step 2. Combine eggs, applesauce, milk, and mashed bananas.  Stir well

Step 3. Add flours, sugar, and baking soda until moistened.  Fold in raspberries

Step 4. Pour batter into loaf pan and bake for 55-60 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean

Serve and ENJOY!!!

The quest for milk

Cason, our youngest, is fast approaching 6 months old.  I was a very good mama and breastfed about 5 months (well, breast and bottle-fed him breastmilk).  I had already intended on stopping with the fresh milk at the end of August prior to my going back to work.  I started working for a different school district, which made that decision even easier due to the lack of space and challenges it would pose for me to be able to pump during the day. 

We had saved a freezer-full of breastmilk.  But it's amazing how quickly we seemed to be going through it now that the stock was not being replenished.  In order to extend the supply as long as we can, and in anticipation of the need to eventually resort to using formula, we began the quest to find a milk that Cason would like and his belly could tolerate.

First we tried Similac Advanced.  He seemed to like it, but we quickly noticed a change in his demeanor- extra crabby- and not sleeping as well. 

So then we tried the Similac Alimentum, the hypoallergenic formula.  He really didn't seem to like that one.  We had a difficult time getting him to eat more than a couple ounces at a time. 

I asked the doctor for suggestions at his 4 month check-up.  She said to try other brands.  But I protested that they don't offer a hypoallergenic formula.  Her reply was that "you don't need to go hyperallergenic, just try the stuff that is easier to digest."  Well, OK I thought, but this could get expensive.  Luckily she gave us samples of 2 Gerber versions- Soothe and Protect.  The ingredient list looked fairly similar to the Alimentum, so I opted to use that one.  He liked it!!  We used it for a couple weeks, but he began waking every hour or so (almost as bad as his older brother when he was little) and he seemed to be getting crabbier and crabbier during the day.  He also hadn't pooped in about a week.  If you know our kid, he regularly pooped 3-4 times a day and blew-out at least once or twice a week.  So I knew something was off (also I knew we experienced the same issue with our oldest).

So we stopped that formula and switched to only breastmilk for 2 days- low and behold he finally pooped (sorry for the poop sharing, but it's very important in the world of having babies) and had a much better nights sleep. After the 2 days, I decided we'd better go back to the Alimentum.  He seemed to eat it better this go around.  He definitely eats it better when it's warm rather than room temperature.  However, I'm still not sure his belly feels 100%, and he still isn't sleeping the best, but he isn't crabby during the day.

We know we need to be vigilant in finding him a formula that doesn't make him uncomfortable.  When his older brother was almost 1 we decided he probably has a milk intolerance, something I wish we would have figured out, or knew to consider when he was much younger- he may have been a much happier baby.  So here's to hoping the quest to finding a milk that works for him is quick and painless, because we are on a time crunch as the breastmilk supply quickly dwindles.