Berry-lisciou Dessert that brought HUGE smiles

A few days ago, my mom and girls went to Publix.  My youngest was looking at their recipe cards, and found one called Berry Cheesecake Parfait.  And she showed her sister and my mom, deciding that its something that I can make for sis.  Sis showed me and when I finally had the chance to really look at the ingredients later that night, I agreed.  With some modifications, I could make this and get pretty close.  Sis was SO excited!  When I say excited, I mean EXCITED!!!!!!  She is quite limited on her foods due to her food-induced eczema, and if I don't make it, basically she can't have it.  I'm sure desserts get pretty boring for her, and I think that is her favorite meal.  She has quite the sweet tooth.  Publix's recipe can be found here.  I will also give you the substitutions that I did so Sis can eat it.  I call it Berry-liscious parfait.

Ingredients

2 cups mixed berries (blueberries, blackberries, raspberries)
2-3 TBS honey
1 (8 oz) kefir, strained
1 – 1 ½ cups fresh whipped cream
½ cup graham cracker crumbs



Rinse and drain berries. I put them in separate bowls, but you don't have too.  The raspberries were fresh, and the blackberries and blueberries were frozen. 

 Place graham crackers in food processor and pulse until crumbs of desired size.  These are homemade using a variation of this recipe.  (I used chickpea flour (it's the only flour Sis can have) in place of almond flour and honey in place of yacon syrup.  I did have to add a few ounces of apple juice until it came together in a workable dough.)  If you don't have graham crackers, or prefer not to take the time to make them, you could also make a "strudel"-type topping, by mixing flour and butter with a pastry blender to course crumbs and then lightly toasting them in the oven.  Gluten free flours work great for this.   

  Strain kefir through coffee filter to drain as much whey as possible. Should be atleast the consistency of yogurt, or a little thicker. Or you can use cream cheese or plain yogurt.   Mix honey and strained kefir in a bowl. 

 

Using electric mixer, whip the cream.  You can use store bought heavy whipping cream for this, if you don't have non-homogenized milk on hand.  (Since the milk-fat isn't dispersed throughout the milk, the cream will naturally rise to the top.  And, in my opinion, makes a much better tasting whipped cream.)  Since Sis is only allowed raw milk, I used the cream that separated from the milk.   It's a little heavier than whipped cream made from store bought heavy whipping cream, but the results are the same.  :)

                                                                                                                                                            In parfait glasses, layer in this order: kefir mixture, graham cracker crumbs, berries, whipped cream. Repeat layers, ending with whipped cream and a few berries for garnish. 

I think this picture says it all!!  Sis has so much fun making this, and enjoyed eating it even more.  Matter of fact, she had seconds!  Ya know, the best part was, I didn't mind her having more because of what it was made out of. 

 

 

And, Li'l Sis got to assemble her parfait as well.

A place to start

      I do apologize for the length of this post.  There are so many things to tell and its hard to condense my story of our journey.  At this point, I feel so much like a walking encyclopedia. 
      We are close to 2 years into this journey, and I often forget there may be some of you that are unfamiliar with eczema. Everyone's journey is a little different, as with their allergies and other triggers. First, for those who are unfamiliar with eczema, it is also known as atopic dermatitis. It's characterized by itchy, dry skin. The skin becomes irritated, inflamed, and very rough. The skin often looks like alligator skin or has a leathery look to it. Many websites state the cause is unknown, while others talk about it being linked to food allergies or environmental allergies.  Suggested remedies range from topical steroids (most common) and wet wraps to elimination diets and treating this from a holistic standpoint. Eczema and asthma or hay fever are typically seen together, but thankfully not in our case.  But our daughter (both of them actually) does have seasonal allergies.  My great grandmother had asthma, but not anyone else in my family that I know of. 
     Eczema and psoriasis are also related and psoriasis is hereditary. Plus, they are both autoimmune diseases.  (As is asthma, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, thyroid, and (in my opinion) the majority of the diseases that ail our country.)  Autoimmune diseases run in mine and my husband's family.  Psoriasis runs in my family on my dad's side.  His dad suffered from a mild case.  My dad's started out mild - his fingers would crack and bleed in the winter - and then became severe over several years and covered his entire body.  He tried treating it topically - which only suppressed it, temporarily.  As his psoriasis worsened, it spread all over his body.  His medical doctor said the next step would be a chemo pill.  Mom decided there had to be a better option and she found someone in the field of natural medicine with a wealth of knowledge.  At his consultation, they learned dad's psoriasis was systemic - it was in his blood.  And, as we found out, was food-allergy related.  He had to go through a radical diet change and took many supplements.  Over the course of several months, he was on a liquid fast, juiced, sunbathed daily, ate only fresh fruits and vegetables, and then gradually added healthy, fresh foods back to his diet.  He lost undesirable weight and his psoriasis cleared.  He could tell pretty quickly if he ate a food he was allergic to as he would break out again.  As long as he ate good foods and took his supplements, he did great.  When he deviated, his psoriasis flared.  I knew proper nutrition worked.  Junk in, junk out.  Good in, good out.
     A few months later, I started with psoriasis on my hands - in the winter - like my dad.  Old fashioned Bag Balm helped for a while.  Every winter, my hands dried, cracked, and bled.  Washing hands in cold water dried them out worse.  Washing dishes in hot water did the same thing.  Didn't matter how much lotion I put on my hands, they still cracked and bled every winter.  Many years later, when I changed from Dawn dish soap to Greenworks dish soap, washing dishes in the winter wasn't a problem anymore.  My hands weren't cracking and bleeding anymore. 

     When our oldest daughter's eczema flared up, I honestly didn't know what to do. Prior to that month, it kept getting worse. The weekend it blew up and her body said enough, was the first weekend in November 2012.  We weren't doing anything special at that point to control her eczema. Seems like we were using a hydro cortisone cream for the itch. A week or so before all this, she had a boil on her knee. Her pediatrician said it wasn't staph & told us how to treat it. It finally popped and went away.  We still don't know why she got it.  Seasonal allergies have always been an issue for her. And where we live, it seems something is blooming most of the year. She had typical county fair food that Saturday (corn dog, cotton candy, and can't remember what else), and French toast Sunday morning. Later we ate at our local Japanese restaurant followed by ice cream. Then eggs and bacon for supper that night. That night was the beginning of our nightmare. She clawed all night. We hardly got any sleep. Her worst spots were the crooks of her elbows, backs of her knees, and inside of her thighs. In the morning, her legs looked like a war-zone. She went to school that day. By the afternoon she was limping because she couldn't straighten her leg out all the way.  The back of her knee was scratched open. That night was even worse than the night before. We had to do something. I remembered about the guy that helped my dad yrs before with his psoriasis. My husband had witnessed my dad's psoriasis and what nutrition did for him, so he was ok with going this route.  Normally he is quite skeptical in alternative medicine.  My mom finally remembered the name of the place she took my dad and I looked up the number and called.  I thought I had found him, but it was a chiropractor who had bought part of this guy's business. We went to see this chiropractor anyway. Soon as he saw our daughter, he told me it was her liver & that it doesn't filter out toxins like a healthy liver does. It confirmed what I was told several years earlier. The toxins were coming through her skin. He told me about an allergy elimination method called NAET. Through this method, allergens are found through a muscle test & then eliminated. In theory, your supposed to stay away from that allergen for 24 hours to allow your body a chance to "reset". So from November to April, we made weekly trips to the next town to see this chiropractor. At first, it was twice a week, then 1 time a week. He had her on whole food supplements from a company that used only organic ingredients. And introduced us to kefir, a probiotic packed drink that we made at home so she could drink it daily (the store bought kefir is loaded with sugar).  Each time we went, her list of allergens grew. This child is so allergic to so many things - and we had no idea!  The only food we suspected was eggs. (She broke out in red spots as a toddler when she ate store bought eggs, but a year later when she ate homegrown eggs, she didn't seem to react.  But after that weekend in November, with the amount of eggs she ate in various dishes all weekend, I wasn't so sure anymore.)  And we knew she had seasonal allergies. Through NAET, we discovered she is sensitive or allergic to food additives (sodium nitrate, sodium phosphate, calcium sulfates, & calcium phosphates), nuts (NAET breaks this down into 2 groups. The nut mix she allergic to is peanuts, black walnuts and English walnuts), sugar, starch, nightshade vegetables (tomato, tomatillo, all peppers except black pepper, eggplant, white potatoes), grains (wheat, corn, rice, oats, rye, millet, barley), eggs, chicken, MSG, yeast, mold, tree pollen, grass pollen, animal dander.  I know what you are probably thinking at this point - "what CAN she eat?"  Believe it or not, a lot...but I had to get very creative!  And thank God, she's not very picky.  In NAET theory, we were to avoid this list of things for 24 hours, and her body is supposed to reset itself and not be allergic anymore.  I have come to realize, looking back, that her allergies must have been SO severe that 24 hrs were simply not enough. 
      The first 2 weeks were awful!  So stressful for all of us. I just wanted to cry. I wanted to take this burden from her. All I could do was pray. Pray for her healing. Pray for wisdom and guidance. The Lord answered those prayers. And He is still answering them today. Through this valley I learned to trust The Lord even more. She was out of school for 2 weeks. She couldn't straighten her legs at all. She had pimples all over both legs that were incredibly sore. I totally believe these were toxins coming out of her body. Even on the coldest days, she wore shorts. I had to carry her to & from the car when we went anywhere.  Baths were so stressful - all she could do was scream & cry with pain as we bathed her. Although she was in the tub, she didn't soak at all. Water ran long enough to get her wet and then rinse her after a quick bath. Come to think of it, that went on for a little while in October before everything blew up. Our youngest was suddenly more independent than her older sis. And we had to help the oldest do almost everything. That's hard to adjust to for everyone.

       The day she returned to school was the day of her Thanksgiving Feast. And the day before break. Her friends had been so concerned about her the 2 weeks she was out and were so happy to see her that day. I had to send her lunch that day since she couldn't eat anything that was served. My heart was sad. But, she was (and is) such a trooper. 
      During my countless hours of research, I learned that our skin, our largest organ, is the last to heal from things like psoriasis and eczema.  Our body repairs itself from the inside out.  Through the supplements she was on, her liver and other organs were being helped, and her liver was working better.  But there was still something that she was getting that her body didn't like.  Occasionally, she ran out of a supplement (or several) before I was able to get more.  That turned out to be another answered prayer.  Sometimes, after she ran out of a supplement, her skin got a little better.  So I became "Sherlock Holmes" - again.  I read the ingredients of everything she took, and if it listed something that I didn't know what it was from, I googled it.  One culprit was the probiotics she was taking.  Probiotics...one thing she (we all) needed to help her immune system.  I had to pay attention to the "other ingredients" closer than the blend that was in there.  I have had a hard time over the years keeping her on a probiotic that doesn't have "extra junk" that she is allergic too.  Its very frustrating and the amount of hours put in to researching ingredients is mind boggling.  As she ran out of her other supplements, her skin improved.  She had been taking things that were supposed to help her, but instead were keeping her body inflamed.  As a mom, I felt horrible about that. 
      We switched to whole wheat pasta at one point.  She seemed to do ok, until one night we noticed her neck getting a red rash while she was eating the pasta.  So, we cut wheat and went to brown rice pasta.  That did good for a while.  When corn was coming in, we thought we would check to see if she was in fact allergic to corn.  THAT WAS HORRIBLE!  She itched like crazy and her skin was flared up for a week!  So, I checked everything she was taking for corn.  I googled to find out what corn is in. I was SHOCKED!  Having a corn allergy was as bad as wheat is for a person with Celiac!  Remember her supplements she was taking?  Well, the reason her skin seemed to get better when she ran out of them was they had organic corn and organic wheat.  So, I felt we were back to square one.  We began eliminating things from her diet that we discovered through NAET.  Over a few weeks, we saw another improvement in her skin.  But there was still something not right.  Over the next year, we discovered even  more things that she was allergic to by eliminating suspected allergens from her diet.  Her list grew even more: coconut, olives, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, palm (anything that is from a palm tree - glad I never gave her dates - they are from the date palm!), sea salt, cantaloupe, chlorine...  I could not even find a vitamin that she could safely take.  I was afraid to give her anything that I was in doubt of.  That summer, my best friend sound out she has celiac (extreme wheat allergy).  I was traveling out to Tx for Mary Kay Seminar, so she made an appointment for me to talk with her doctor - a chiropractor/naturaopath.  We talked in great length about her, and he helped in another area - what else to remove from her diet based on the list of allergens I told him.  Plus, I got a liquid vitamin to try.  I was a little hesitant to try it based on previous experience with all her other supplements, but did and held my breath.  A year later, she is still on that same vitamin. :)  This chiropractor also does NAET, but a more advanced version.  He tells his patients to avoid allergens for a year.  This made more sense to me, especially in our daughter's case.
    Remember the guy that helped my dad with his psoriasis through nutrition?  Well, we finally found him just before I went to Tx.  Since we were getting help through the chiropractor in Tx, I didn't want to consult with the guy here just yet.  I did find out that he was able to get the vitamin our daughter was on.  That August (2013), her eczema flared again - and it was pollen season which I'm sure added to it.  Something had to give.  She had missed a few days of school again shortly after school started and she had a hard time straightening out her legs - again.  We felt like she was going backwards.  It was time to find out for sure what she was allergic to.  Her pediatrician ordered a blood test and depending on those results, we would be sent to an allergist.  We did the blood test.  The results confirmed ALOT and gave us a few more answers.  She reacted to EVERYTHING!  So her list grew AGAIN.  Egg whites, milk, wheat, corn, mold (including the mold that causes leaf spot), pecan trees, walnut trees, Bermuda grass, Johnson grass (also known as sorghum), peanuts, soybean, cod fish, clams, scallops, shrimp, walnuts, pecan, hickory, cat & dog dander, cockroach, common pigweed, common ragweed, elm, dust mites, Kentucky blue grass, fungus, oak.  Great!  We live in the country and have a hay field.  Bermuda grass grows all around us.  We have oak trees all around us.  What was surprising was her corn allergy was lower than a lot of the others.  Her pediatrician said this was the WORST she has ever seen and recommended an epi-pen and singular.  Knowing how my daughter reacts, I researched ingredients before agreeing to the Singular.  Thankfully, she doesn't have anaphalaxic reactions to things - never has.  It ALL comes through her skin.  Dander will give her itchy, watery eyes (from cats), pollen gives her an itchy nose, and dogs and rabbits gives her a rash along with a mild case of itchy eyes and nose.  I did not feel at all comfortable with giving her an asthma medicine when she didn't have asthma.  I felt that was only asking for trouble.  I called the guy that helped my dad, to see what he had that may help.  He told me about this super powerful enzyme made in Germany as a cancer treatment - it ate anything foreign in the bloodstream.  After talking it over with my husband and praying about the right thing to do for her, we opted to try the enzyme.  Plus, we started her on a liver supplement.  She was showing signs of anemia at this point and this would help.  She had been off a liver supplement about a year since I couldn't find one without extra ingredients.  This one didn't have anything extra.  (YAY!)  She has been on this enzyme (Wobenzyme N) since September.  I can honestly say it has been another answered prayer. 

Looking back...and cinnamon

A few months ago, I was on a facebook page for parents with kids with eczema - a support group.  I clicked on the link for another support group and the banner pic popped up for that page.  It was the back of a child's leg that were all scratched up and red from being inflamed and bleeding.  Memories came flooding back.  Painful memories.  My oldest looked over my shoulder and asked if that was her...it wasn't, but it was exactly what her legs did look like.  I asked her if she remembered her legs looking like that, and she did.  Guess that is an image that will forever be burned in our minds.  I am so grateful she doesn't look like that anymore.  God has healed her so much.  With that picture and the last several posts, I have been reminded of what we have been through.  And it has been a lot.  More than I realized.  I wish I had taken pics along the way, especially now that I started this blog.  I tried, but the pics just didn't show the true pic of what her legs and arms looked like. 

One thing this journey has done for us...It's made us eat healthier.  My husband says he's gonna live to be 200 years old because of how we eat now.  I have learned that I can be a vegetarian, but I REALLY don't like it.  Don't get me wrong, I have always LOVED good vegetables, especially homegrown.  But from January to June of this year that is all we ate - at home anyway.  I like my meat way TOO much for that.  We did it for our daughter.  From Thanksgiving to New Year's, her eczema flared a little.  The only thing different was the amount of meat she ate - and it was mostly lamb.  So, mid January, my hubby and I were talking things over, trying to figure out what contributed to her flare up (besides the excitement that the holidays bring).  We decided to cut out meat for a while.  Sure enough, with in a few weeks we saw a major difference in her skin.  Only thing I can figure is that her body cannot tolerate an excess of meat.  You know what they say - "too much of a good thing is bad."  This is SO true in her case. This was also about the time I realized she might be allergic to cinnamon.  By the way, did you know there is a difference in cinnamon?  I didn't until a few months ago.  Where I can't find the websites I researched then, here is one that explains the difference.  There is Ceylon and cassia.  Cassia is what is predominately sold in the U.S.  I had no idea... Here is another bit of information about cassia cinnamon. 

Simple pleasures

     Did you go camping as kid?  What is your favorite memory?  One thing I enjoyed anytime we had a fire, was cooking hot dogs on a palm frawn. Our girls too. Especially when their cousins come up at Thanksgiving. Well, hot dogs have been out of the questions since our daughter's eczema flared. One meat she can eat without any probs is lamb. And, she LOVES it.  Last Thanksgiving, her grandfather was determined she wouldn't miss out and suggested heating a cooked lamb chop on a stick like a hot dog over the fire. It was close enough for her!

     Well, this yr on vacation, we went camping...yep, you guessed it...hot dogs over the fire on a palm frawn. A few weeks before we left, we tried a different brand of ground lamb. The meat was very sticky & burgers held up well. So, I decided to try some in the shape of a hot dog. I partially cooked it so she could heat it up over the fire on a palm frawn - hoping it would hold together. She was grins the whole time. :) And, yes, it held together perfect!  Watching her brought a smile to my face.

     Another simple pleasure that warmed my heart...watching her ride her bike and really enjoy playing outside.  Temps on vacation were in the 80s and perfect weather for being outside. Where we live summer temps are 90 - 100+ with horrible humidity & lots of gnats.  Not very good for kids with eczema. For the last few summers, she has mostly stayed indoors. So it's very nice to watch her enjoy the outdoors without scratching. :) 

Who is My Audacious Rainbow?

       What comes to mind when you think of an audacious rainbow?  For me, it creates the image of the most beautifully brilliant rainbow.  So bright and vibrant. So breath taking...that you become mesmerized as you stare at the Lord's creation; at His promise.  I love rainbows.  They remind of God's promise to Noah (and us) that He will never flood the earth again...God ALWAYS keeps HIs promises.  Every time I see a rainbow, I am reminded that God also promises to care for His children. He promised to take care of me, my family, my daughters.  All I have to do is trust Him.  Trust...that's a hard thing to do sometimes.  Life throws us curves and unexpected events...but my Lord and Savior knows about it way before I do.  He's there waiting for us to TRUST Him in that circumstance as well.  He knows our journey before we do.  There are things in life that happen that make us question how, why, what will we do now.  Its bad enough when trials happen to us, but when it involves our kids - its so much worse to go through.  God understands that too.  His Son died on the Cross.  Thankfully, it didn't end there - His Son also rose again the 3rd day and is in Heaven...We too will triumph over every trial, every tribulation - but only with the help of our Lord and Savior. 
      My audacious rainbow is actually our daughters.  They are my heroes in so many ways.  They are both so strong which has only made me stronger.  Their faith in the Lord has strengthened my faith. Their understanding is far beyond their young years...
      Our journey began when our oldest daughter was born with very dry skin.  Nothing seemed to help it, and as she got older, her pediatrician said it was eczema.  I never thought to learn more about eczema - just took it at face value and tried to treat it topically with creams and hydrocortizone.  It was manageable for many years.  About age 4, I was told her liver didn't filter things out like it should so her toxins were coming out through her skin. We rocked on for a few more years.  When she was 7, it began getting worse and right after her 8th birthday, her body had enough.  Her eczema was the worst I had ever seen it.  She itched so bad, baths were so painful because of all the open sores on her legs and arms.  She couldn't straighten out her legs and had a hard time walking.  Even on the coldest days she had to wear shorts because she couldn't handle anything touching her legs.  Nights were long and no one got much sleep - for what seemed like months.  Topical treatments weren't working much at this point and we began using Benadryl and Zyrtec or Claritin - which helped in the short run.  Even they seemed to stop working. Knowing that eczema and psoriasis (which runs in my family) are related and that my dad's psoriasis was the result of food allergies, that's where we started.  Her food allergies are not the typical anaphalactic reaction that require a trip to the hospital and an epi-pen - thank God!  Instead, her SKIN reacts that way.  We chose to treat the cause of her eczema vs simply masking the symptoms.  That in itself has been a LONG journey.  A very educational one.  With its own twists and turns and hiccups with more lessons learned. 
      And our youngest daughter...she has so much compassion and is such a shining light.  She has become like a mother hen to her sis - telling her to not scratch, making sure she doesn't eat anything she can't have and making sure I know of things going on at school that may involve food for her sis.  I'm sure thru all this, she has felt a little ignored...Imagine the baby of the family suddenly not getting the attention she once got.  Any family with any kind of "special needs" child knows what I am talking about.  She's such a trooper and we try to be so aware of this.  Her faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is so amazing.  And watching the two of them together is definitely heart warming.     
      I know God will use our rough journey and our child's eczema to His good and glory will come to Him for it.  I know I have gained knowledge which is to be shared.  I pray others benefit from our story and our experiences.  I pray this blog, which is an outlet for me, is a blessing to you.  I want to share our journey and what has and hasn't worked for us.  I want to share recipes that I have collected and modified to fit our allergic kid.  I thank you for indulging me as I share.