Janny'tizers recipe

DuckyBoy loves to eat chicken nuggets. His absolute favorites are Tyson Any'tizers, which are bite-sized so every bite has a solid coating around it.

In the past we've had trouble eating out because the diners' version of nuggets are usually much larger than even standard kid nuggets -- "fingers" -- so each bite has much less coating, and also they are often made with real chicken breast, not processed, homogenized meat. (we can't do fast-food nuggets at all since they all have whey in the coating. He'll eat fast-food burgers but not at the diners. Yet.)

However, he has branched out in the past few months to willingly eat the breast fingers at the diners, so I thought it was time to try again at home, particularly since his appetite has increased to the point where he can eat half a $4 box of Any'tizers for dinner, which is not only getting expensive but also just can't be good for him to eat so much processed food all.the.time.

And then I saw this recipe on the Bisquick box:


I modified it to be non-dairy. And I upped the protein portion as well, mostly just to replace the 1/2 cup Parmesan, but also because Husband tries to eat low-carb.

And guess what? For one of the first times ever, we all had the same main dish for dinner! Thank you, Bisquick!!

My Holiday Cooking

The haute cuisine at my house. These are Holiday Crabby Patties: Tofutti cream cheese on oyster crackers (drat you, Bobbie, for that idea!) with added holiday sprinkles.

Flopsicle

I'm tired of writing posts like this!

I tried, I really did. Tuesday is Ice Cream Day at DB's school and since he can't have dairy he can't sign up for ice cream. The PTA moms who run it soo nicely said I should bring something in he can have, stick it in the freezer for him, labeled, and they'd give it to him each week.

Well. Yesterday was the first chance to do so, and as it turned out I was helping with ice cream. Which I hate. I don't know the kids and it's just a scramble to get it to them before it melts but after they've eaten their lunch. Riiight.

Anyway. I took Popsicles. Turns out they meeeeeeeeeeeelt really quickly. I didn't know that and basically handed my already-anxiety-prone kid a bag of colored water.

Not a great day. I'm not that surprised he didn't want to go to school this morning! But it makes me want to cry when he says things like "I hate first grade, I want to go back to kindergarten" before he's out of bed.

Hopefully today will be better. Parents get to sit in the classroom for something this morning -- I think the kids will read their own writing, but DB claims to have no idea what's happening. He is interested in the fact that there will be bagels involved. Though even there, he seemed only to know when I told him.

Was I so wrong to mention that perhaps the other children's parents will not be cutting up bagels into bite-sized pieces for their offspring to consume? That made him go off on a tangent about how weird he is. ("No, you're not," I replied. "I've met the kids in your class. Z thinks he's Batman.")

Dairy-Free Muffin Mom

So here's the breakfast issue around here. DB's school-day breakfast needs to meet all of the following criteria:

* No dairy ingredients.
* High protein. It has to fortify his brain for math, among other things, from 8 AM until snack time at 10:30.
* No peanut butter. (and I feel the need to minimize other nuts, according to what I read about nut allergy; DB does not have a nut allergy but some kids in his school does; nuts are allowed in the lunchroom but not in the classrooms.)
* Dry, not messy, not crumbly.
* Must be able to be eaten by hand, no utensils.
* Larger pieces (like mini muffins) keep DB more on-task about eating than, say, small pieces of dry cereal or bite-size bagel pieces, which DB tends to dawdle at eating). But...
* Can't be too chewy, like a hunk of bagel or ciabbatta roll; DB's mouth gets too tired.
* Preferably can be transported in a disposable container.
* Needs to be variable from week to week (or thereabouts), to keep DB from getting bored.

So. In my book, cereal bars and muffins are the answer. We got through almost 2 batches of rice-krispie bars before he got tired of them, so now we're on a muffin kick (nice for cold-weather, too).

To add more protein, I've started adding rice protein powder. The one I found has 12 grams of protein per tablespoon, so a quarter-cup goes a long way!

We also found recipes in an unlikely place: Nick Jr.'s Holly Hobbie area. Somehow Db navigated to that part of the site one day and really enoyed the muffion-making game, and we've had 2 recipes printed for, oh, FOREVER and I've just got around to trying them out.

Thank goodness for vegetarian sites on the Internet to tell me how to substitute rice milk for buttermilk (answer: add 1 TB lemon juice per cup), and to give me an idea of how to add the rice protein powder, plus a bit of luck and awaaaay we go!

He liked them enough to ask for more without my offering them -- the best test! I think the sprinkling of colored-sugar sprinkles on the top helped, too.

Another muffin source I didn't expect: Trader Joe's Pumpkin Bread mix. It's quite spicy, which appeals to DB's tastebuds. I added 1/2 cup of cinnamon-flavored applesauce, which added even more cinnamon flavor. By accident the first time, I still used the full amount of oil, and the muffins were really moist and chewy. The second time, I halved the oil to allow for the applesauce, but the muffins were drier. Third time, back to the full amount!

Another Internet trick: How to thaw muffins from the freezer. Answer: 20 minutes in a 300 degree oven (which can include the warm-up time) and they taste fresh-baked. Amazing!

This is good for me because making 30-odd muffins means 1 of 2 things happen around here:

1. Husband eats the last 3 that both DB and I were expecting to have for DB's breakfast.
or
2. Halfway through the batch DB gets sick of that for breakfast and wants something else.

Voila, the freezer saves the day!

One more trick I found today: Measure out the dry ingredients twice, and put the 2nd batch ina jar so it's premeasured for next time. (Now, it's possible that I've just TOTALLY jinxed myself and DB will never want corn muffins again.)

I like the premeasure option not because I'm so busy but because, well, this is soo petty but...

The Holly Hobbie corn muffin recipes uses ALL 4 of the measuring cups 0-- 1/4, 1/3, 1/2 and one cup. Usually I use 2, sometimes 3. But for all 4, I like to feel I'm getting extra value for my dishwashing dime.

Edited to add: I thought of another parameter for breakfast:
* Must be within a certain mouthfeel range. not too much grainy texture (so whole-wheat flour, oats, etc. -- nice, high-protein sources -- are marginal.

How I Save Money on Food

This post is my entry for a BlogHer contest sponsored by Prego Italian Sauce. The winner will be randomly chosen, but as I thought about what I'd say in a quickly posted comment, my ideas sounded so off-the-wall that I decided to pretend it’s an essay contest and try to craft something thoughtful.

I have always been a coupon clipper and rebate/sale circular scanner. However, in the past months we have made the decision to try to start our own business, which means making our current savings last as long as possible. We are also trying to improve our health by eating a low-carb diet, and my son has a casein allergy. These factors mean inexpensive products full of carbs or whey/milk/cheese are off-limits.

If it’s Tuesday, we must be having veggies
We joined a CSA this year – a vegetable coop. It arrives (well, we go and get it) once a week, and since it’s already paid for we’re kinda forced to cook and eat it! It didn’t feel like we were saving money writing the check, but it averages out to $10/week to split a share – with only 2 of us eating these foods, it’s more than enough. We joined because the veggies taste so good – our neighbor gave us some of her extras last year. But it’s been a money-saver too, as I hate to waste food, especially good food, so I make an effort to cook the veggies.

Woo hoo, cheap meat!
There is an episode of The Simpsons where Homer goes into the convenience store and excitedly stuffs himself with on-sale hot dogs and the like that are outdated, have been on the floor, etc. While my choices are nowhere near that, talking about saving money on meat always reminds me of that. I do 2 things here:

1. Sale meat. Really, pork tenderloin isn’t exactly roughing it. And we happen to prefer chicken thighs and wings to breast meat anyway. But how old am I that $2 a pound for the cheap cuts sounds like a lot?
2. Store-brand cold cuts. I love Boar’s Head, but at half the price, it turns out the Stop & Shop brand isn’t so bad. I have 2 supertasters in the house, so that switch wasn’t as much of a no-brainer as it may seem. Mouthfeel is king around here when it comes to meat products. But I took a chance and found an acceptable alternative to $10/lb Virginia ham.

Sufficient unto the week are the groceries thereof
I’ve stopped buying in advance, and am trying to be more mindful of what I already have, and how long it will last, rather than automatically tossing in something I see and know we’ll use (eventually).

This is a big shift for me, born of Depression-era parents who believed in stocking up. There are still a few things I always make sure to have a spare of in the house, but less important things I'm trying to cut back on. This is especially true of snack foods, which are so much fun to get for DB, when I see something new.

Benefits in addition to cost savings include:

• Making more of an effort to wean DB off prepared foods and onto “real food” (like, a grilled-chicken sandwich instead of nuggets). In the past it would have been stressful for him if I were to run out of one of his staples, but now he’ll deal.
• Having less go stale/ become outdated.
• Fewer desserts in the house – none of us really needs them anyway!

Random tips
#1 – I cook late at night sometimes now. In the past I’d think, “I’m too tired, let’s order in.” But in our neighborhood it actually takes less time to cut up veggies and roast 2 pork tenderloins than it does to order Chinese food.

#2 – I take DB with me to pick out the foods that only he will be eating (such as bread). He eats it faster and better than when I take a guess, or always buy the same thing over and over.

#3 – When I do save enough in a week to have grocery money left over, I save it up for the next trip to the pricey health food store for the convenience foods that are hard to live without right now – like enriched, single-serve almond milk and dairy-free breakfast bars that DB takes to school.

Busy Saturday

I just wore myself out telling my friend on the phone what DB and I did today, but honestly, it was a lot of fun. (Times are approximate. I only added them to break up the text.)

8 - 9:30 AM
First I got to sleep in until like 7:30 because so did DB, woohoo! And he let me stay in bed for another show, by which I mean, another half an hour. Then I unpacked all the bags from yesterday that I dumped in the front hallway. I checked my email and cleaned up the kitchen and we both had breakfast. He watched TV happily; I think it's good that he watches less during the week, he gives me a break on weekend mornings and I don't feel too badly about it.

9:30 AM - 1 PM
We played and played, then DB was itching to go to the playground with his bike (trike, actually), so he was ready to get dressed. (A big deal. Most days he'd stay in his pajamas all day if I let him.) I had something more to eat and then off we went.

1 PM - 3:30 PM
When we came back from the playground we hung at home for a little bit, then headed off to try taking the bus to Metropolitan Avenue. Partly to see if we could do it, partly to kill time, partly because the car is so loud and clanky I feel like I should avoid driving it if at all possible.

By the time we were on the bus DB was hungry, so I reminded him that the craft store (our destination) was right near Wendy's. A transfer and half an hour or so later, the bus let us off right in front of Wendy's. Perfect!

As we were eating I realized it was 2:30 and the craft event only went until 3:00. When I mentioned it, he was ready to go -- even suggested packing the fries and drink. Surprising for a person who has. dawdled. all. day.

Less than 5 minutes later we were across the street picking out a foam craft pumpkin -- usually terribly overpriced but a bargain today at $5. The idea of the event is that you get all the decorating bits (big google eyes, pipe cleaner hair, etc.) for that price too, and the woman was really nice about making sure he had time to pick stuff out. But he was so happy with his pumpkin pick -- a white one -- he didn't want anything, liking instead my suggestion to carve a face on it at home. "I got the only white one," was his comment. Interesting.

Quick stop in Trader Joe's next door, got some chips and a root beer for later/tomorrow.

3:30 pm - 5 pm
On the way back to the bus stop, I could see his legs were tired, so we hit the library for a bit. He thoroughly enjoyed the silly words in The Lorax and a special 25th-anniversary edition of Arthur's Nose. Then in 7-11 (Family Rule: do not pass by 7-11 without stopping), my suspicion that he had to pee was proved right; the counter woman took pity on us and let us into the employee bathroom. (DB was impressed that she let us use it despite the big "Employees Only" sign on the door. She said it was only because he was so handsome, and I'm not sure she was kidding.)

Of course, we got some chips at 7-11, though he tried dearly to convince me that a toy would be better. The child with more toys that he knows what to do with needs one more. I didn't bite. He took it well. "These are better than the baked," he pronounced about the regular Lay's chips. Often he picks "Baked! Lays" because, I think, he likes the exclamation point in the middle of the name.

5 - 6:30 pm
On the bus he showed me how to do "The DB Dance" -- didn't even phase him that the bus arrived when we said we'd do it at the bus stop, he just showed me on the bus!

He was up for walking home from the bus stop, the option being to transfer to another bus. We watched some pigeons on the sidewalk snag a piece of bread, he was laughing and enjoying it so much! We tried tossing them one potato chip but decided that perhaps they don't like Lay's.

Went into the kids store ("They always have stuff for kids..." he remarked as he veered in, "...of all ages.")

As we went past our local healthy-food store, I thought I'd try one more thing, and told him if he was up for going in, we could get him some "panda pudding," really the only dairy-free kind I've found (and my attempts to make it are feeble).

To my surprise, he agreed heartily! Didn't even balk at the long line! Carried the bag part of the way home!

Waffled back and forth a bit about whether he wanted to go right to the park again or home to eat pudding first. Decided on home, pudding, then park. Which is what we did -- with bike going to the park with us again.

6:30 pm - 8:30 pm
When it got dark, I finally convinced him to come home... for a bath, a buttered roll and two batches of chicken nuggets (accompanied by Little House in the Big Woods), and 3 more books -- half an hour past bedtime, but my own fault because I was just having such a good time reading to him and on weekends I don't HAVE to be such a slave to the clock -- before I finally said, No mas! I have to call my friend who's coming over!

Alas, my friend is in bed under the weather. But I told her our story and now have told you!

I was a little mad at myself for caving to DB's desire to NOT take the change to the bank on the way, but it worked out alright, since we just had time to eat and get the craft pumpkin.

And I am proud of setting limits today on telling stories. It really could have gone another way.

Bacon: It's What's For Bedtime Snack!

DuckyBoy is still a picky eater but now he eats much MORE of what he does eat.

He's liked bacon for a while, but last weekend he ate almost an entire package of Oscar Mayer Ready to Serve Bacon. Tonight, after wolfing down a frozen oat-bran waffle (toasted and buttered), about 10 mini chicken nuggets (close to a full serving per the package), a Tofutti ice cream cone (with an extra scoop of ice cream added halfway through) and a Peeps ghost for good measure, he STILL wanted an after-bath snack an hour later. But he didn't like the sound of anything else sweet; he went for 1/4 cup of penne with Grandma's spaghetti sauce! He ate the whole (albeit small) bowl of pasta with gusto.

And then, bacon! I wonder how much of it he'd have eaten if it hadn't been bedtime. The guy sure can pack it in at night. No wonder he never wants breakfast!

I'm delighted he wants to eat more. Now I just need to wean him off at least a few of his expensive, prepackaged tastes -- chicken nuggets, Glenny's caramel-peanut-butter marshmallow bars, and single-serve Tetrapaks of chocolate almond milk, to name a few $1-a-pop items. Of course he gets his appetite when we try to start our own business and live off our savings!!

I think I'll keep the Ready to Serve bacon; if I had to cook bacon from scratch in that quantity, I never would. And it's one of the few high-protein foods he really likes.

Another exciting food experience to report today: (and, pork-related): After I opined at the grocery store that he was going to have to learn to like ham so he could taste different brands of cold cuts to tell me which his father would like, he actually ... hold your breath... TRIED SOME! Of his own free will. He liked that I reminded him that I think he's a "Supertaster." I think his father is too. Who else do you know who can tell two national brands of peanut butter apart? I live with two people who can.

Speaking of peanut butter, I've got to go to plan B for DB's protein-rich breakfast and snacks at school; a note came home just a few days ago that the peanut-allergy problem has hit our school. Peanut butter is still allowed in the cafeteria (where there's a peanut-free table), but not in the classrooms. Anyone have an opinion on whether almond milk or cashew butter and the like are acceptable alternatives? The Web sounds a bit scary on the cashews, maybe we'd better keep them at home. I'll know more after I call the school nurse about it tomorrow.

Wow, Great Party!

We just had DB's 3rd-of-3 birthday parties for the year. Do ya think he's turned 6 enough?

I actually think this was a good year to celebrate a lot. So far he's doing really well adjusting to school. First week was a bit rough, but now that week 2 is behind him, he seems to be getting into the swing of things.

We've got a printed list of what we need to accomplish in the mornings (which helps me as much as, if not more than, it does him), he has a nice long swim lesson with another student, a girl who's a better swimmer than he is -- good for the stretch! We're getting the breakfast-snack-lunch components tweaked so he's not complaining of being hungry in the mornings (why are wholesome foods so expensive? I spend $100 at the grocery store, then pick up a few things at the health food store and it's another $50!) And he's already had one social story come home about being flexible re: who walks him from the bus to class in the mornings.

Oh, and no early session on Fridays, so he gets to watch tv and take a little more time getting ready one day a week. (I wanted that last year, but they slotted in an OT session he wasn't supposed to miss.)

And while a bump on the head yesterday stopped him from getting back into the swing of things at gymnastics, at least he was there for a few minutes (while he recovered; he bumped his head across the street from the gym) in prep for being there Today! For! His! Party!

I was a bit of a crazy person this morning; I baked his cake(s) last night but had to cut and frost them into a bear today, and we had an appointment at the accountant (is there a prize for being the last people to file your '07 taxes?) at 9:30 and I had this idea we had to leave at 1 for the party.

Fortunately, around 11 am I realized our party did not start until 4:00, so I had a chance to relax. (Once I called the restaurant we were ordering chicken satay from and corrected the pickup time from 1:00 to 3:00!)

And at least the cake was all done!


{Edited to add: I'm so proud of my cake
I uploaded it to the Website
that gave me the idea, Coolest Birthday Cakes.}

So, Party. DB did great; when he needed a break from the noise and activity, he took one; he sat on a rocking toy by himself, or came out into the vestibule for a drink, and about 5 minutes before the end of the gym portion, which is long -- an hour! -- he simply staked his claim at the table in front of a slice of pizza and waited for everyone else to join him.

It's nice to go somewhere that the staff knows your child, and lets him do what he needs to do. As they do in class, they encourage him to rejoin the group, but don't see the need to force it during a party.

Sure, there were a couple of glitches. We did Bears2Go along with the gym, and the first thing they do is color the shopping bag they'll put their bear in. He was anxious, probably just because I wasn't in the room with him, and needed to be sure I'd help him stuff his bear. Once reassured, he wrote his name and a couple of cute happy drawings on his bag.

Since we've attended other parties there, he's been waiting for his turn to be "in the parachute" --the b'day kid gets tossed around. So when the parachute came out, DB wanted to hop into the center right away, but they had a few warm-ups to do first. He had a hard time listening to that answer, and waiting, but after a few stern words from me (I basically said, "You can calm down and wait, or we can go home ... ") he dealt with it.

And then he was great. Even rolled in the big circle (hard to describe...)
ate pizza-with-the-cheese-removed (his choice to have regular pizza be the food -- it's what everybody serves, so I think he just wanted the whole package), tolerated the always-off-key rendition of Happy Birthday, blew out his candle -- didn't even wig out when the candle blew out as the cake was placed in front of him, just waited --waited!! -- while it was relit, blew it out, ate a bit of cake, WOW.

As I write it all down, I'm blown away. And I even got a super-nice compliment from Husband that I did a great job with the party.

This was a big expense that we agreed to and then promptly lost our steady source of income. I'm glad we did it. I like having parties at home, will happily continue them in the future, but this was really special.

And the look on those little girls' faces when they got to pick a Unicorn!! With Heart-shaped Feet! to stuff? Absolutely Priceless.

A Great Weekend So Far

DuckyBoy has been fantastic this weekend. Granted, there's a day left of the 3-day, but wow.

On Saturday he and I attended a planting day at the NY Congregational Home; there were lots of people helping this year (unlike years past when there's been a smattering of folks from our church and no one else), so I didn't feel badly when he skipped from project to project.

Most fun was simply watching a worm we dug up; for a short-attention span kid, it was awesome to sit with him, heads together, and watch the worm crawl around on my (gloved, thank you) hand for 5 minute? 10 minutes? And he was even willing to put it in his (gloved) hand.

He was delighted with worms, and the hard sap he found on a tree, and said something like, "It's like we're on a nature walk!"

Then we attended a party and on our way in I tried someting new: I took a moment to explain to him that I expected to spend most of the time at the party talking with the other adults, and I expected him to play with B. ( a boy about his age who he knows) or on his own (I didn't say, "alone" which is a trigger word for DB...).

And, by golly, he did it! I hardly heard a peep from him! For hours!

Today he wanted to sit in front in church. And I mean, IN FRONT. We could practically see up the minister's nostrils. But DB seemed to like being there, and even entertained himself during the hymn!

Afterwards we walked across the Brooklyn Bridge in honor of its being the bridge's 125th birthday, which is long for him and yes, he complained, but after his dad explained the options (do it without whining and thereby honor God; or do it and whine and make mom and dad mad), he did it.

On the way home, he fell asleep... for more than an hour!

Which makes us wonder ... Is he sick?

Milk: It's What's for Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner

We planned a while back to let DuckyBoy go off the no-casein diet during Spring Break this week. (For those not in the know, casein is a protein in cow's milk, and also used to make a lot of lactose-free or "non-dairy" items, like cheeses, have a better mouthfeel. Allergy to casein, as well as gluten, are fairly common among children with autism, though much of the info is anecdotal.)

DuckyBoy certainly remembered and was clearly looking forward to it; I think it was Saturday morning when he said, "Hey, since it's Spring Break, can I have..." In fact it may even have been Friday night.

So, he's digging butter on his toast and popcorn, and pizza with real cheese. At first he couldn't taste the difference between the Earth Balance spread and the butter, but I knew from The Peanut Butter Issue that wouldn't last. Sure enough, halfway through the toast (he requested one slice with "our butter" and one slice with "Daddy's butter," as we call it) he'd decided he preferred the Daddy butter.

You know what he seems to be enjoying the most? Kid Cuisine (think TV dinners). They have a cute penguin character on the ads, and they ALL have cheese; mac and cheese, pizza, and a cheeseburger are the entrees. We made a special trip to the grocery store --the whole family -- to get some, and so far he's already had 2. And he's really eating them -- even trying the corn! Wow!

I know, I know: Getting a 5-year-old to eat macaroni and cheese, fruit gummies, and one-quarter of an already-small serving of corn should not be cause for celebration. All I can say is, Welcome to Jan's life. I'll move over to make room for you.

I like that some of his choices are still nondairy (he picked a Popsicle-type thing from the ice-cream truck, and he wanted chocolate almond milk instead of cow's-milk chocolate milk this morning).

So far, it seems as though the milk products shorten his frustration tolerance. By a lot. But then again, sometimes we all have better days than others. Today I didn't notice hardly anything that seemed out of the ordinary. He was a little more clingy to me, maybe. But that's normal for him on a day off when he spends it with me.

He has many more tools in his emotional arsenal for dealing with frustration than he did 2 years ago when we put him on this diet; he also has more experience calming down, and more (I hope) trust that we will help him make sure things work out.

If he continues to wig out more often on the cheese than off, I'll want to eliminate it again, but it sure was nice to order a pizza for the 3 of us for dinner. And to eat together at a diner this weekend without having to drag special margarine, soy milk for the coffee, worry about the scrambled eggs, etc. etc. He can eat the hot lunch (and the breakfast) at school if he can eat milk.

So at this point, there's a big upside to going off. I have my fingers crossed that the downside won't be too bad this week!

Fingers Still Crossed

So far, so good... at least in terms of dairy-laced baked goods. Yesterday's cupcake seemed to have caused no ill effect, unless taking 10 minutes of a half-hour swim lesson to get used to the water ("I'm stiiiill getting uuuuuuused to it..." he whined to his instructor. I swear I almost hear him say "Suckah" under his breath...)

I do agree with him that this pool is numerous degrees cooler than the bathwater known as the St. Bart's pool, but the teacher, newbie that she is, obviously does not know two important things:

1. He will play her for all she is worth. For minutes 11-25 of the lesson I had a fantasy going in my head about how I was going to have to Speak.To.Both.Of.Them after the lesson about how just because they played when every other child in the pool was getting, oh, I don't know, a SWIM LESSON, does not mean the same will happen next week. Because ...

2. This is how he thinks: If we did it like that once, we can do it like that again. Is this, as I suspect, an Aspergers thing? If so, why is this not written at the top of every scrap of instructional material that someone who might work with a HFA child might read???

It's all well and good to list vague phrases such as "Resistant to change," but let's spell it out for all these nice people: If You Let It Happen Once, Kiss the Way You Want to Do It Next Time Good-Bye.

Then came minutes 26-30, and I took it all back. Duckyboy actually swam around when he thought he was playing! Ha! Who's the suckah now? Adults rule!

I still think he's going to want to have his lesson be like that every week though. And it could work -- but he's gonna have to show a lot of improvement every week in order for me to be able to watch that again.

He ate the remaining contraband, I mean bake-sale cookies, on the way home. Probably full of butter, I can tell by the way he snarfed them down. Wait, maybe that was just because someone Other Than Me made them? No, wait, one of our sesame cookies was in there too. Oh, maybe the kid was actually hungry at 5:45 pm!

Anyway, fingers still crossed. And not just about the dairy -- how's about a 101.7 degree fever for bedtime??

With any luck, it will burn off any milk-based effects. And I'm not even kidding; a fever makes him loving, workable, and snuggly. In other words, less autistic. And there's even proof of it now. It's just one study, but it's a start.

Husband just told me to blog about why SuperNanny Jo Frost is the hottest babe on TV. And that, friends, is one of the reasons I love him.