Eat Your Oatmeal!...With Your Fingers

Oatmeal.  The word is warm, it steams, it gurgles on the stovetop and the aroma congers up the image of a cool fall morning when woodsmoke hangs in the air and geese honk overhead.  


There, on the ranch cook stove in mama’s oversized pot we’d lift the lid with a clang and view the bubbling slime ("looks like buggers,” one of the six said); our breakfast.  Since then I have come to enjoy oatmeal and its many benefits.  I’ve fed it to my growing children with their health in mind, save one, Zach.

Zach does not eat with utensils, a small obstacle, therefore, porrage’y type foods are out for him, which proves a slight health conscious dilemma for his caregiver, me.  I once heard a friend say that she cooked her irish oatmeal in the crockpot all night long.  I cocked my head to the side and took note, I’d never heard of that method for cooking oats before.  I didn’t give it much thought till I saw some recipes for the same posted on the newly put forth social media craze, Pintrest.  I gave the pottage a whirl this winter while we had our grown children and grand babies visiting (I forgot to spray oil into the crockpot first though.  A mild expletive inducing mistake).  The recipe was, to me, surprisingly delicious, in spite of the heavy brown crust lining the inside of my shiny crockpot insert.

It got me thinking.  How can I get Zach to eat this?  I made up a cookie recipe similar to the oats (a good second), I tried the spoon to the lips routine, which caused my twenty-year-old to turn his head in displeasure.  Ha-rumph-a-rooie!  Well, you know what they say, where there’s a will, there’s a way, by gum (thanks, Grandpa Culp for the, “By gum” part)!

Shortly thereafter I had an epiphany during one of my unnerving “middle of the night hot-flashes”; they can be useful occasionally.  I was excited to give it a try.  The next evening I mixed all of the ingredients into my ancient, never say die slow cooker (I forgot to spray the oil in first...again!).  I set the dial to low and smiled, as I meandered up the stairs with a book under my arm, tea in hand; a healthy breakfast would be ready to serve as soon as feet hit the floor. These small seemingly silly things give this homemaker/caregiver a great since of accomplishment.

This loosey-goosey easy recipe can fire up the culinary artist in almost anyone because, really, you can add any number of ingredients to the base of oats, all sorts of healthy things like flax, coconut, nuts, raisins, peanut butter, crisp bacon (organic, pasture raised of course, for savory lovers), chia seeds, hemp seeds, et cetera.  The next morning, if you like oats, you’ll find breakfast warm, satiating and yum.  

After Web (Zach’s dad) an I had our, utensil eaten oats that swam happily in melted butter and brown sugar, I plunked the heavy cinnamon smelling ingredients into a greased bread pan, pressed them as though I were making a mold and baked the “loaf” for an hour at 350 degrees (you may refrigerate the leftover oats and bake the loaf in a day, or two.  The refrigeration makes the concoction firmer and easier to work with; just press the cooked refrigerated oats into the greased loaf pan as directed above and bake).  Once cooled, this amazingly healthy loaf cereal may be cut into moist finger sized slices for dipping in melted butter and maple syrup, or for the utensil’less eater, bite sized squares.

As Zach’s health and fitness guru, I’m very happy to have come up with a way for him to eat oatmeal...with his fingers no less and me, I’ve given it a shot, you bet!  It works for we busy utensil users who want the experience of eating oatmeal with our fingers occasionally; quite satisfying actually.  Spread on a pat of softened pasture butter, drizzle a little warm honey over the top and eat on the go-go-go.

This experiment, gone good, has added a much needed change-up in Zach’s deeply rutted breakfast routine.  I hope it also helps you kick one little finger-food-eating breakfast dilemma in the buttski!

 

Slow Cooker Steel Cut Oatmeal, With Options

Make sure to use steel cut oats in this delicious crockpot breakfast recipe.  I use Bob’s Red Mill organic steel cut oats (look for gluten free).  Costco now sells steel cut oats in 4 LB 8 OZ bags.  Yay Costco!

Prep Time: 15 minutes Cook Time: 8 hours Total Time: 8 hours, 15 minutes
Organic Ingredients: (you may make up your own, by using the 1 cup oats and 4 cups water, just add a total of 2 cups of anything, coconut, raisins, flax, chia seeds…mix it up oh creative one :))

• 1 cup steel cut oats

• 1/2 cup of cold milled flaxseed, or chia seeds




• 1 cup dried cranberries

• 1 cup dates, chopped

• 4 cups water, with a 1/2 tsp salt and a pinch of cinnamon and mace added

• 1/2 cup half and half

• 2 tablespoons honey, or maple syrup

Preparation:
Spray inside of slow cooker with organic nonstick cooking spray…please. Combine all ingredients except half and half and honey in the slow cooker, cover and cook on LOW for 7 to 8 hours. Stir in half and half and honey, and serve with butter and sweetener (coconut palm sugar is a winner).  With leftovers (if there are any) grease a loaf pan with coconut oil, or nonstick spray and pour oatmeal to within 1/2 inch of the top.  Bake at 350 degrees for up to one hour, or until set.  The loaf will set further when it is cooled and placed into the refrigerator.  Loaf may be sliced and stored in the refrigerator for up to a week.  You may warm it slightly in a buttered frying pan, or microwave. Drizzle with a mixture of melted butter and warmed honey, mmmm.  Messy, a little yes, but so delicious!  Zach eats it right out of the fridge.

OATMEAL COOKIES 3-6-9 OMEGA-FIBER SLAM!

THE BALANCING act of clean healthy food, supplements and patience is tough to feng shui.  As I mentioned in my last post, rigidity can throw a bucket of cold water on the need to create.

ABOUT THE TIME I am ready to pull my hair out from the simple human need to veer off the beaten path and begin to wish, cross fingers-legs-toes, pray and hope for any glimpse of new, it happens.  Mind you, it might not seem like much to the naked normal eye, but to the bulging eye of the primary care giver, any small movement outside of the worn through; it’s really quite significant.

THREE MONTHS AGO Zach stopped taking his walks down his Love Trail (we’re not very happy about this detour).  At first I thought maybe it was just a one week modification to his deep rut brought on by, perhaps, the fact that he didn’t feel well.  Three months down this different road, I’m beginning to wonder.  No amount of coaxing can get him to run that trail daily!  But hey, he’s made a choice on his own and is sticking to it.  That’s sorta cool, sort of grown up of him don’t you think?

OTHER CHANGES, a month, or so ago now he put himself on a fast for three days, no water, no food.  No fever, no tooth issues (as best we can tell), or mouth sores.  We’re still stumped by that fast, but luckily, he is back on track with eating and drinking (though from different cups; they are glass, easy to wash and he gets more water.  This is good).  Since the time change, he has not “forwarded” his sleeping as we’d hoped and prayed, begged and pleaded, instead, he has back-warded it; rather than sliding into the new time and rising at 4:00 a.m. from his old 3:00 a.m. roust, he is chirping at 1:30.  Seriously?  And, is he a VEGAN?  His love of meat on his plate his waning.  What’s that about?  He’s been leaving the meat.  He rarely leaves a crumb.  There are digestive issues that no amount of pre, or probiotics, enzymes, etc seem to help with, so perhaps that might be the culprit.  Still, what do I do…?

FOR STARTERS-A CONCOCTION, A REVISION…3-6-9, it’s a cookie, but not just any cookie.  It’s easy to make, but this cookie; it just might change your life.  We’re a few weeks into this…stay tuned for more.

IF YOU FIND IT DIFFICULT to get your child to take their supplements and eat enough to get their much needed fiber and omegas, here’s a sneaky twist.  I’ve posted an oatmeal cookie recipe in earlier blogs and though it is a healthy treat (for the most part, minus the sweetener) this is a modification to that adored old friend, The Gluten Free Oatmeal Cookie.

I CALL IT Oatmeal Cookie 3-6-9:  Chai seeds, flax meal, hemp seeds, coconut and pasture butter combined with a healthy array of gluten free, egg free and peanut free ingredients give us our omegas, fiber and other benefits in a delicious cookie.  He loves them!  So do I.

THE FOOD ISSUE, WELL, THAT seems solved.  Now if I could just come up with a sleep inducing cookie and instant exercise powder we’d have this caregiver thing wrapped and could market it in cellophane baggie.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

In a glass measuring cup add
9 tbls spoons warm water
3 tbls chia seeds
1 tsp organic vanilla
1 cup raisins
soak all for 1 hour

In the mixing bowl combine (I use a KitchenAid Pro 6)
1 cup softened pasture butter (even if your child is dairy free, pasture butter should not bother them)
1 cup coconut palm sugar and either
1 cup brown sugar, or 3/4 cup honey
1/3 cup flax meal
1/3 cup hulled hemp seeds
1/3 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
2 1/2 cups gluten free flour (I like Namaste Perfect Blend)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp soda
2 cups oatmeal
1/2 cup dried cranberries, or raisins (optional)
3/4 cups chopped pecans, or walnuts (optional)
*may add more water, teaspoon by teaspoon till the dough is playable and feels somewhat sticky.

Drop heaping tablespoon of dough onto parchment lined baking sheet.  Bake for 10-12 minutes, remove from cookie sheet after they have cooled for 5 minutes.  They may be frozen, or refrigerated (if there are any left at the end of the day).  Makes 4 dozen cookies.

Sifting Through Supplements and Diets. You can work yourself into a frenzy; when is enough, enough?

Zach, age two and a half with his sister Rachel

Zach at one year

Zach, age two 

Zach was "normal" (I use quotations because I am fairly certain that our normal has liquified and is ever changing shape) till the seizures began at age three and a half.  The seizures began with one in June of 1994, then nothing till November of the same, at which time they came in clusters, one every two hours.  In April of the coming year, the Zach we had come to know and love had pretty much gone into hiding and we had a different transformed Zach to love.  We grieved the loss and began accepting our new life and Zach.


We didn't get the early intervention memo in the mid-nineties when  Zach began having seizures.  Back then the spectrum for autistic disorders was very narrow and in most medical circles, unless the child was born with it, diagnoses for autism weren’t given.  Since Zach wasn’t thrust down this melded path till he was almost four he was tagged with a seizure disorder and developmental delays, riddled with anti-seizure medicine and sent home.  We are pretty sure that he is on the autism spectrum, though to this day he goes undiagnosed.  We are trying some of the recommended diets and…a few of the overwhelming list of supplements advised by many DAN (Defeat Autism Now) doctors, as well as some tips from parents who, like us, through trial and error, have stumbled onto something that helps.  These seem to be helping Zach.  If I’ve learned anything, it is that simplicity, where applicable, is the key to sanity.  It would be easy as a wink to go overboard with the supplements and treatments recommended.  We try one at a time to determine which ones are doing the big lifting, then stick with those.

As I watched my little boy slip away I began frantic studies thinking it was up to me to come up with a remedy for him, like Augusto and Michaela Odone, the brilliant parents portrayed in the movie Lerenzo's Oil (though at this time I had not seen the movie, nor heard about their findings).  My table top was littered with all of the medical and naturopathic digests I could get my hands on.  I had four children and a husband to care for, a household and eight acres to tend behind the, "in-front" of me chore of curing my son.  I worked to keep some semblance of order in our home amidst the disruptive seizures.  I lost ten pounds, my hair began to fall out, I rarely slept and came near a nervous breakdown.  I was living and “not sleeping” with intense gut wrenching fear.  What were these horrible seizures doing to Zach's brain?  What would happen to us if Zach wasn't cured?  Would he die?  How would we go on?  What if he got worse and we had to care for him till he became an old man?  I’d never seen a seizure before, they were so horrific and I so naive, I thought that the seizures were causing this rapid transformation, now I know… there was an underlying metabolic shift happening in Zach’s body.

Sick little boy

Our Zach at age 5

As I hunched over my dining room table searching the pages of the books there on for a miracle herb, or drug, diet anything; I heard a quiet inner voice say simply, "You've lost your peace."  I knew this voice, but hadn’t heard it in a while.  I also knew precisely what the words meant.  I reluctantly closed the books, shelved them and began a journey of meditation and listening.  I didn't just stop helping, or trying, but I left off the urgency and dropped the, "it's up to me" mentality by staying close enough to hear and employ the courage and energy to do what was needed at the time.  Today this is the peace driven life I choose to live.  It has proven successful laying an overarching blanket of tranquility over our home for Zach to live inside, miraculously (most days) this peace bubble seems to transcend flung pooh and stress.

Zach is super sensitive to moods and troubled waters.  A peaceable and tranquil atmosphere seems to be one of the greatest “pills” we’ve found, but still, we have the occasional meltdown, or physical need for doctor needed assistance.  I try not to be moved from fear, stress, or frustration.  This is somewhat of a mind bending exercise, but worth the effort.

After seventeen years of trial and error with diet, supplements and drugs….

Things that didn’t work for us-

Hard drugs, Valium (rectal) to stop the ever growing clusters of seizures, this drug did indeed stop the seizures, but Zach became addicted and went through severe withdrawal when he wouldn't have a cluster.  Once noticing his depression and aggravation, we eased him off and haven't given him valium for probably ten years (for Zach, what was at first a simple tool to stop seizures, became very destructive).
Vitamin cocktails.
Intravenous Gamma globulin treatments.
We took Zach a homeopathic clinic for a month.  They gave Zach intravenous antioxidants, detoxed him for heavy metals, gave him B vitamin shots (called Mule Kickers) and we were giving him vial after vial of homeopathic remedies during the day and before bed at night.  I have no idea if this treatment helped.  At this point Zach was still verbal and interactive, but the staring and some strange behaviors, like repeating one word a thousand times were surfacing.  I don’t think these treatments were destructive, but it wasn’t the cure we were hoping for.  His cognizance continued to decline.
The Ketogenic Diet (brutal to follow) worked to hold off the seizures for 9 days and then everything resumed as it had been before the diet was implemented.
Mannatec's Ambrotose.
Lorenzo’s Oil.

Things that are working-

Anti seizure medications were, in the beginning, to many to list.  Some caused severe reactions in Zach, vomiting, rashes, sleepless nights, hyper activity, etc.  We are now down to two, Keppra and Dilantin.  The pharmaceutical companies are always coming up with new things to try.  I am grateful for these two drugs that give Zach some peace, but they have side affects, and I consider most of them the lessor of two evils.

About two years ago Zach's behaviors began to worsen (screaming and head banging, unhappy most of the day, not sleeping at night and began to show, what appeared to be, depression.  The three of us went into a bit of a tailspin…stresses brought on by sleep deprivation, outbursts of tears and over all, bumbling and barely coping with what we thought was seasonal allergies, or some sort of virus.  After a month, or more of this behavior our blessed eldest daughter did an internet search and found the one and only DAN doctor near us.  We booked an appointment asap and out the door we flew.

Dan intervention: After our first visit with the DAN doctor we stopped gluten and dairy and added a strong probiotic, calcium and magnesium at bedtime, had a blood draw and sent in fecal cultures for yeast overgrowth and other testing.  Within a week Zach was calmer and sleeping through the night.  We were ecstatic, but then the seizures and some of the behaviors came back..as always.  But we were on the right track.  We made another appointment and he suggested we have another blood draw (these are traumatic and very hard on Zach) and run some allergy tests.  He felt Zach’s aggravation was brought on by allergens and inflammation.  When the tests came back we were shocked to find that Zach was off the charts allergic to eggs and peanut butter, which he consumed every day and was moderately allergic to gluten and dairy.  Yeast growth was low and there were some thyroid issues (t-4 was given in varying doses, but we didn’t see any results and stopped after one year). We had to radically alter his diet.  We made an appointment with a dentist also to rule out abscesses and mouth pain (Zach must be anesthetized, so this has to be done in the hospital).

Diet: Today Zach's diet is as organic and pesticide free as possible.  We shop local and have modified his diet to consist of organic meats, fresh, or steamed vegetables and fresh fruit with some nuts and whole grains sparingly.  We applied for state assistance, to add some respite care and interaction to help with Zach's depression (some of these behaviors seemed to come on the heels of him getting his certificate of attendance for high school).  Respite care has been a godsend for all involved.  Zach loves his caregivers and so do we.

Seizures: We are now down to one, or two seizures every ten days.  At the hight of Zach’s seizure climb, he was having, fifteen to twenty grand mals per day.

Tools: Applied Behavioral Analysis; this method has been helpful in a small way.  We have tried some of the tactics and seen moderate improvement.  Zach has learned to hang up his coat and hat, remove his shoes, sock and pants, put himself back to bed if he wishes and pull up the covers and get himself a few cookies from the cookie jar (we can only put four cookies in the jar at a time.  Zach's OCD nature supposes that he empty and eat ALL of the cookies there in).
We purchased an ipad for Zach in hopes some of the apps would help with communication.  Presently he is not interested in working on something so out of his normal routine.  It has become his white noise machine for sleep and an option for movies.   We are working on photo recognition of family members and hopefully we will transition to other applications that will help us get the most of this amazing invention.

Zach’s handbook/binder has been a great tool for helping respite care workers learn Zach and follow his health and the changes in his routine.  We have put this together in a concise and neat way that is easily updated.  I have a copy of all pages on  my computer.  Zach had a website, which was nice also, but that became an added burden to update, so we are back to hardcopy only.

All in all I believe Zach’s improvement and (generally) happy state is due to his neurologist finding the mildest yet most effective anti-seizure medicine and prescribing the lowest dose needed for effectiveness; the implementation of the gluten and dairy free diet along with removing the other allergens and the out-of-doors, exercise and sunshine, we have found, are the best drugs “not" on the market.

What Zach’s (ever changing) supplements look like today (all liquid, or powdered capsules that can be opened).
At bedtime-500 to 1000 mgs of liquid calcium magnesium with 500 mg taurine and 500 mg tryptophan added.
In the morning-5000 mcg Now Ultra B-12; 50 mg liquid B-6 (with magnesium and zinc).
1260 mg Nordic Naturals cod liver oil (we are just adding pasture butter to go along with as findings are fairly substantiated that it works well in conjunction with cod liver oil in assimilation).
1000 mgs of TMG powder (trimethylglycine).
200-400 mgs of Selenium (I switch back and forth between antioxidants E, C and Selenium).
5,000 to 10,000 mgs of liquid vitamin D depending on the season.
400 mgs liquid Thorne folic acid and finally.
150 mg milk thistle for liver function.

Zach's morning meds routine + keppra and dilantin

.

Zach's nighttime routine + keppra and dilantin

Update October, 2014.  Zach no longer has the above regime, though it may help some.  He is now the proud holder of his medical marijuana card.  We are on a search to find him Charlottes Web (a species of marijuana that helps with seizure control.  Low THC, high CBD).  Zach is currently taking 5000 g’s of liquid vitamin D, 1 cap of a good probiotic and 3000 mg of an easily assimilated form of algae calcium morning and night.  1/2 t of Wellness Formula once a day along with 1 t of colloidal silver and presently his dose of Z-9 CBD marijuana coconut butter stands at 1/2 t three times a day.  This helps with behavior, but does not make him “high”.  It has been a godsend (he smiles a lot!)  

We are into simple and things that work here on Staunton Hill.  I never thought I’d have to change my mind about the stigma attached to the drug marijuana, but I have indeed come to find that this herb, like wine, or sex nowadays is made by God and in the right context, it is a healer and a help in time of need.