Soccer Girl

This is my "Gatorade Advertisement."

Yes, Feingold Friends, I know there is fake color in that drink! She usually has water.

Martha Stewart Quiz for Thanksgiving

You are undoubtedly
Roasted Root Vegetables

Take Martha Stewart's Quiz and see which Thanksgiving side dish you are. I am definitely NOT Roasted Root Vegetables. I bet she doesn't even have green bean casserole in her choice list! (Add 1/3 cup sliced almonds to that green bean casserole to make it the right way, according to John.)

Hey, Feingold friends: Did you know that French's French Fried Onions are now cleared for use on stage 1?

Homemade Caramel!

Feingold is so much fun. I've learned to make marshmallows, and now here's caramel sauce. Very simple, too! Here's the recipe I used: Caramel Sauce from Simply Recipes.

There are only three ingredients: sugar, butter and cream.

And today, Luci found this. She's convinced it is a dinosaur tooth (but I don't think so). I love her imagination.

Sunday at the Beach

What joy! This is the first time Luci has touched the Atlantic Ocean. She is jumping in this picture. You can see the reflection of her feet beneath her on the wet sand.
Why I should be more diligent with Luci about what she eats. We were playing bingo. Prizes were candy and little toys. This was taken about 10 minutes after she started eating one of those Halloween packets of Skittles. She went from calm to pretty wild in that length of time. Thank goodness her reactions seem to be short--she was calm three hours later. Bryan's reactions used to last three whole days! Check out the Feingold diet for help with ADHD-type behaviors.

Good thing I brought the things for Luci's birthday cake with us. Naturally colored icing, courtesy of India Tree food colors. Not such a neat icing job, but cute and just what she asked for: "banilla cake, banilla frosting and PINK dots!"

Field Trip

We joined a homeschooling Feingold family Thursday at a Veterans' Museum in Athens. We learned a lot and had a great time at the park afterwards. Thanks for planning the trip, Kristi!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

What you eat *does* make a difference...

Did you know that the brand of ice cream, cookie and potato chip you select can have a direct effect on the behavior, health and ability to learn for you or your children?

Numerous studies show that some of the widely-used synthetic food additives can have serious learning, behavior and/or health effects for sensitive people.

The Feingold Program is a test to determining if certain foods or food additives are triggering particular symptoms. Symptoms of sensitivity to these foods and food additives can include behavior problems, asthma, learning disabilities, ADD, ADHD, developmental delays, irritability, hives, autism, PDD, headaches, bedwetting, ODD, dyslexia, chronic ear infections and eczema, among others.

The Feingold Association teaches people how to find the foods they enjoy, but without the unwanted additives.

Free Introductory Workshop

Thursday, June 25th 2009

7pm to 8:30 pm

Marriott SpringHill Suites

899 Elkridge Landing Road

Linthicum, MD (Near BWI Airport)

Sponsored by the Feingold Association of the US

631.369.9340

www.ADHDdiet.org

My family has been helped by the Feingold Association. I don't have migraines much anymore; Bryan is no longer Mr. Hyper; JT is affected greatly by artificial scents (think: fabric softener and candles), and Luci's eczema is controlled by diet.

Easter, the Feingold Way

The Easter Bunny left the kids some all natural treats, perfect for a Feingold family--a Palmer chocolate bunny (from Wal-Mart), some Jelly Belly beans (from amazon.com), and all-natural lollipops in a cute barn container (from Simon Candy Shop). The Simon Candy Shop is going out of business, which is bad news--but everything on their site is on sale, so it's good news for you if you would like to try some all natural hard candies. I ordered some of the Halloween lollipops to give out at our Harvest Festival in October, to go along with our family's Oriental Trading give-aways.Luci spent the day watching Toy Story and surprised me with this--"Mama! I'm Buzz Lightyear!"

Monday

Today we met up with Kristi and her family--Kristi is a Feingold mom and is homeschooling. We took the kids to Constitution Village for their Alabama History workshop for homeschoolers. It was a lot of fun and I think the kids even learned something. Here are all of the kids together...Bryan, Luci, JT, Sam, and Nick. (See, Kristi, I remembered which one is Sam!) I put all the photos together because each one seems to show the personality of the kids. They were all hilarious! Kristi, you have two smart boys!

Here are (mostly) my kids...waiting in line at the "Necessary House"...doing sums on a slate...Bryan posing behind the girl's cut-out...JT participating in a duel, and doing surveying work.

Afterwards I took Bryan, JT and Luci to the Space and Rocket Center. Luci was relieved she wasn't tall enough for Space Shot...JT and Bryan challenged themselves on the Mars Wall Climb...Luci was relieved that Mickey Mouse does not live there...and we all melted in the 83* heat!

A Fun Morning

JT is so happy with his gift from Bryan.

Thank you, Bryan!

My Army KidTraditional breakfast--pancakes (used to be cinnamon rolls), an "impossible quiche", oranges, tomato, and hot chocolate. This year we are gluten free for Luci's sake, to help her eczema (gluten and dairy mess her up; the quiche has some cheese in it but everything else for her is dairy free). The funny white squares are homemade marshmallows! No corn syrup in the homemade ones (no blue dye, either). The quiche and pancakes were made with Pamela's Ultimate Baking and Pancake Mix, and they tasted incredibly good. You never would have guessed they were gluten free if you weren't told so.


Posted this one so I can share it with my Feingold friends.

Halloween Treats

Here are two items I found at our Walmart store that have no artificials in them--they are perfect for Feingold Families, who want to give treats to little spooks. I also have a bunch of non-food items from Oriental Trading.com to hand out.

*~*~*~*SNOW*~*~*~*

My Feingold friend's front yard in the winter. She's in Ontario, Canada, at about the same latitude as Boise. Amazing! I am so jealous--especially today, when the heat+humidity index hit 104*. ~~H.O.T.~~

Thank you, Suzanne, for letting me use your photo of your kids and snow!

Homemade Chocolate Syrup

As I was making more chocolate syrup last night (recipe follows), I was reminded that I forgot to mention that I met another Feingold mom and her family at Chuck E Cheese's on Friday! It was so nice to meet Carrie, her husband Terry, and their two daughters (pretty!) and two sons (adorable!). Like us, they homeschool, so another thing we have in common. It was so nice to visit with a mom who has the same dietary concerns for her children. I brought cupcakes to share (Denna's idea--she brought a bunch, too). Carrie was able to tell her children that mine were "Feingold cupcakes" and didn't have to worry about reactions. I used Duncan Hines' Dark Chocolate Fudge cake mix and the frosting was made from butter, vanilla, powdered sugar and water.

(In all honesty, though I need to tell you that I did order one of the pizzas for the kids. They don't seem to react. Luci's running around and general mayhem she caused was done on an empty stomach and was not fueled by Chuck E Cheese's artificial preservatives.)

Yes, you can make your own chocolate syrup, and it is easy, cheaper than what you find at the store, and JT says this is "way better than that other stuff." You can't get a more-qualified statement of yumminess from anyone--JT is my chocolate fiend. (You can also make your own marshmallows but that will have to wait for a less humid day for me to do that and take a picture.)

My recipe is a remake of a recipe which came in our Feingold materials. I tweaked it until I got the consistency we liked. It is so easy. I make this once a week.

Better than Hershey's Syrup

2 cups sugar
1 cup cocoa
dash salt
1 1/2 cups water (sometimes I use 1 3/4 cups)
(optional: 1 TBS corn syrup)

1 tsp vanilla

Combine sugar, cocoa, salt, and water (and corn syrup, if using) into a 2 qt. sauce pan. Heat over medium heat, whisking the whole time, until a light boil begins--the mixture will be dissolved and small bubbles will form. Remove from heat and add vanilla. Let cool and store in refrigerator. I keep our syrup in a Hershey's syrup bottle that's been cleaned out well.

Experiment: Failed!

What was I thinking?

The premise was cute. A lesson on fractions and percentages, using two dozen donuts. And a coupon for a free dozen glazed donuts from Krispy Kreme.

Aaargh!

So, where's Luci's picture? Just imagine you have x-ray vision and can see under the table--after half a donut, she hid out under there acting hyper.

I should know better. After all this time on the Feingold Diet, and I introduce artificial flavorings, colors and preservatives. At first, the only reaction we could see was the drool (slobber, slobber). Quickly, that escalated into short tempers and inability to multiply simple things (100 x 7 =??). Before it was over, Luci was under the table, kicking her feet. Bryan was telling JT some not-nice things about JT's brain power. JT was nearly in tears because he couldn't remember math facts. And I won't say what my reaction was, but it involved a lot of yelling.

~~~~~~~~~

Three things I learned: 1) Now we know, and I will never go to Krispy Kreme again. So much for "free" donuts. 2) I was able to put all of our that nervous energy to use, cleaning up the living room. (Boys! Get in here! Clean up! I had vacuum duty.) 3) Next time, we'll use homemade donuts.

~~~~~~~~~

The remaining donuts went into the garbage can.

~~~~~~~~~

If you think you have a hyper child, you might want to check out the Feingold Diet. It is much easier to deal with finding clean foods than it is dealing with out-of-control children.

~~~~~~~~~

PS--yes, JT is officially done with his schooling this year. But he gladly got out his pencil because donuts were involved. (and I did the ~~~ because the dopey blogger is not spacing correctly--again.)

Wow! A Blog Post Dedicated to Us!

Are we getting famous, or what? My Feingold friend, Mary K, saw our post about our snowfall, or lack thereof. She and her kiddos have set about trying to fix that...see her post on Mair's Momilies here! Be sure to read Mary's introduction to her family on the right side of her blog. She and her husband are amazing people.

Guess what they are doing....

Why Preservatives in Bread Are a Bad Idea

That baker needs to check out Feingold--the adhd diet! (It's a diet free from artificial colors, flavors and preservatives.)

JT, Luci, and Why I Love Greenhill

First of all, JT got a basket!! during one of his games today. We all cheered! He said I was the loudest of all the parents. Of course. His team tied one game, which was considered a win by the parents. Remember, these other teams are like giants.



Here is Luci sitting? and listening? to 'Twas the Night Before Christmas during our party today. I am going to have to get strict with her diet--the Feingold diet worked wonders with Mr. Energizer Bunny, aka Bryan. If you have a child whom you think might be afflicted with adhd, do yourself a favor and check out the website. It is a non-medical adhd intervention. Just a change of diet. And you can eat junk food.

Why I love living in Greenhill: Tonight at 8:44, I discovered Luci had no more Huggies sleeping diapers. I made the executive decision to run to Foodland and get some more (John is in Cullman visiting lots of relatives). The store closes at 9 pm, and I was back home with the diapers by 8:55. Wow, I love living close to a grocery store!

Our LadyBug Group--Families with Children from China

We had a very good time at our Families with Children from China Christmas party today. Many thanks to Lisa Rhodes, Susan Stafford and Kristy VanRennsaler (sorry, I am pretty sure I spelled that wrong) for the crafts, drinks and main entree, plus all the hard work you did putting it together.

I think I have another "target child" for the Feingold Diet--Luci. She got into cupcakes that had lots of green and some red coloring, and who knows what else. Oh, and don't forget those bright orange Cheetos. She was the only one who was not able to sit during the 'Twas the Night Before Christmas reading. I had taken about 15 pictures during that time (in hopes that I'd have a couple turn out nicely) and in every one, she is in a different position and in one, she is running from the group.