Comments on: Kids, Fat & Vitamin C

By: The Nourisher

The Nourisher — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 00:48:39 +0000

Great idea Suzanne. The buttermilk, whey, yoghurt, orange or lemon juice in the soaking water is just to provide the slightly acidic and wet environment you need to disassemble the enzyme inhibitors and other toxins. So by all means, drain the liquid and cook in new water. I also cook grains in bone broth for the kids who prefer savoury in the morning - the boys have more digestion related health issues and bone broth is very attractive to them. My daughter prefers bircher muesli soaked in orange juice as long as the dried fruit is added after, she hates soggy sultanas. It’s a slog making options for everyone but not long until they can do it for themselves, so worth it in my mind.

By: Suzanne

Suzanne — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 02:27:41 +0000

Hi everyone
I made soaked oats for the first time this morning for Bella. I soaked the oats in water and buttermilk. I also made soaked brown rice in water and buttermilk. I was wondering if you are allowed to rinse off the water you have soaked the grains in instead of skimming. Does the buttermilk have to be in the mixture whilst cooking it? I’m a bit worried that Bella and her dad will taste the sour buttermilk in the oats and rice ands not like it. It’s just easier if I rinse the water off with fresh water and then cook. is this o.k?
thanks
suzanne

By: Suzanne

Suzanne — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 12:04:50 +0000

Hi
I just wanted to thank everyone for all your wonderful suggestions as to helping Bella with her food issues and introducing NT breakfast foods. I have a copy of Sally Fallon’s NT book now and have almost finished reading it. I am going to try the soaking oats recipe as some of you have suggested with 1/2 wheatbix until Bella gets used to the new texture. I usually add Flax seed oil to her breaky mush and will keep doing this to avoid the oats getting gluggy as it cools. the oats need to stay soft and mushy/runny but thick. Sarah I think you may be right in some ways about Bella. The good thing is that she keeps trying to eat finger foods like pieces of bread. I have been taking bites of bread and exaggerating the chewing motion. To my surprise she has started to copy me. So maybe one day she will teach herself to chew by sheer will. Bella seems to have such a will to try and eat properly, I feel proud of her attempts.
Regards
Suzanne

By: Sarah

Sarah — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 04:02:04 +0000

Hi Suzanne

It sounds like you’re doing a fantastic job with Bella.

My hat goes off to you for expressing breast milk for so long!

From my experience in working with children the aversion to food probably has more to do with her choking on it at such a young age and not genetics. Being able to breathe is essential to life - death occurrs in minutes if we stop breathing as opposed to days without water and weeks without food. Choking triggers a massive survival response in the body and nervous system and I would guess that her nervous system still equates food as a threat to survival. A little bit like us not touching a glowing hot element or a fire - our nervous system and brain know that this would equate pain and injury and we are wired (usually after an experience that involves touching somthing which burns us) to avoid situations or things that threaten our immediate survival. Maybe homoeopathic medicine would be helpful (plus they have no taste and can be dispensed in water)

Keep up all the good work.

Warm regards
Sarah

By: Rebecca

Rebecca — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 13:10:08 +0000

yep I think it is key to keep relaxed about it all and sounds like you are doing just that. No point getting stressed and annoyed during meal times. As many of us know, children will do things when they are ready and it pretty much sounds like this does run in your family. I wish you and Bella all the best as you continue to explore food.

By: Suzanne

Suzanne — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 02:56:21 +0000

Hi Rebecca
Bella sees a speech pathologist for her verbal Dyspraxia and aversion to chewing and eating anything other than mashed meals. I do a food activity each day where I do a tea party with her soft toys and the challenge is for her to touch the food and feed eat it to her bears. It’s hard enough just getting her to do that. She will feed her toy rabbit a carrot if oit isn’t peeled or chopped in any way. A banana has to have the skin on it for her to eat it, so that she doesn’t have to touch the actual banana. However, she is perfectly fine with playing with worms in the garden or snails, or dirt so she doesn’t have a sensory touch issue. I feed her her meals in front of the T.V so that she will eat it, otherwise she runs off. The speech therapists has said to just take it slow and not make a fuss or Bella could go off her food. She will walk around me if I have a plate of food, so as to not get too close to the food and pulls a face which suggests that I’m crazy for eating it. Bella did food exploration as a baby, but stopped when she realised she couldn’t chew the food and choked on it. Now she has adapted her meal times to keep her feeling safe and in control. My dad never liked touching food. He ate everything with a knife and fork or spoon!!! Maybe it’s all genetic?
Regards
Suzanne

By: Rebecca

Rebecca — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 11:03:49 +0000

Hi Suzanne,
In regards to the porridge, the oats will have soaked up the majority of the water by the next morning so it is a matter of just pouring it in to the saucepan and heating it with milk until you reach your desired consistency. I agree with Joanne J in regards to trying to slip in raw eggs in her food.
White bread and pikelets…you could make the pikelets out of Spelt flour. The flour is soaked overnight in the water and the next day you add the remaining ingredients. The mixture is runnier than normal pikelet mixture but cooked the same in a frypan. You could even add mashed banana into it before cooking.
I once heard a professional say “It takes the introduction of a particular food 17-21 times before a child is willing to try it.” From my experience with children in food, like anything I think, it just comes down to what they are used to. All the foods she is currently eating, were once new foods but she at some stage began to eat them.
Touching foods…make it fun. If you could add fun into it, it could help remove any anxiety she has in relation to touching the food. Firstly you could start with what she is familiar with i.e. mushy pureed food. Imagine smearing a whole lot of the food on a place mat infront of both of you and play finger drawings in the food. Children are curious creatures and are often tempted to put things in their mouths. You could show her by doing your own picture in the food and then lick your finger and show immense pleasure by making mmm! noises. The curiosity may get the better of her and she may want to follow suit. This idea may sound crazy but it has worked for me in the past. If she enjoys this game you could add different tastes into the ‘finger painting’ i.e. have different coloured foods for her to mix herself and then you could say…”OH! I wonder what this colour tastes like?”
One other idea is involving her in the process of making food which often makes children more curious about their food. Bella may be able to sit at the table and help you cut soft fruit etc.

Suzanne, I was just wondering…does Bella feed herself the foods that she likes and does she show curiosity to the food you eat in front of her?

By: Suzanne

Suzanne — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 02:38:10 +0000

Hi Joanne
What a great idea. I would have to tell her it’s yogurt as she rejects new foods. I tried giving her homemade custard and she wouldn’t try it because it wasn’t yogurt and that is what she’s used to. Bella won’t even try smoothies as it isn’t plain milk! She makes it very hard for me. Her father is fussy to. His mother breastfed him for 5 years as he wouldn’t eat much food and she was worried he would starve. Nobody would take him for childcare as they couldn’t feed him. It wasn’t until he was 5 that he began to eat and only limited things. So, I’m just trying my best to nourisher her. I did exclusively pump breastmilk for her until she self weaned at 19 months. Bella wouldn’t breastfeed so I used a pump to express. She hasn’t ever had any formula. I tell you what, I have great respect for dairy cows!!!

By: Joanne J

Joanne J — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 11:38:54 +0000

Hi Suzanne,
I was wondering if you could try including raw egg yolks with the mash as the protein should help to sustain that little tummy for longer and if mixed through well she shouldn’t even notice. I do agree with Rebecca though that wheat bix should be completely avoided if possible as the grains have been heat treated which destroys enzymes and the grains haven’t been soaked. I’d even try omiting the wheat bix and use egg yolks and cream with the banana. A favourite breakfast food in our family is banana smoothies. The protein and fat lasts us all morning (I often add a little coconut oil too)
I have tried the recipe for breakfast cereal in Nourishing Traditions but the texture was kind of like soggy cake after mixing it with the milk.
I hope this helps.

By: Suzanne

Suzanne — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 11:42:29 +0000

Hi Rebecca
Bella likes mushy food which is not too lumpy or gluggy. The porridge idea might work if I can make sure it is not too gluggy. So should I soak the oats in water overnight and then drain off the water and cook it in milk? I would have to cool it enough so that it is just warm but not beginning to thicken into a gluggy substance. I then have to get the mashed banana into it to and see how the texture goes. I can’t give her poached eggs as they are too different for her. She is sensitive to touching foods and trying different foods that she hasn’t had before. Unfortunately, because she is fussy, it’s hard to then introduce anything new. It’s a very strange experience having a toddler who can’t chew and is sooo fussy. I am actually just happy that she ended up being able to tolerate anything other than superfine puree!! To my horror, I have to give her white bread and piklets to practice chewing on as she won’t touch brown bread. She doen’t really eat it, the point is to challenge her. Part of her feeding issues is touching foods. She is actually very bright and the paediatrician said that she had above average intelligence. Bella is just an odd little muffin when it comes to food. I’m glad I can sneak in what i like into her mashed mush meals. She really likes wheatbix so at the end of the day, if she prefers it than i have to give it to her as I’m sensitive about her having foods to eat which actually give her pleasure. She opens her mouth up wide for her banana wheatbix mash. When she is older she can negotiate the nutritional properties of the foods she is able to eat i guess. Thanks for the suggestion about the porridge, I’ll give it a go.