As I was in the midst of trying to figure out how I was going to swap out these particular ingredients in the foods we normally consumed, I happened upon this cookbook:
When I say "happened,"
I mean I was trying to kill some time in the grocery store waiting for a prescription to be filled
in their pharmacy.
So I started browsing the books, and this cookbook practically JUMPED into my hands.
I immediately loved what they had to say and on impulse bought it.
Hands down.......one of the best impulse buys EVER.
I knew the recipes would be good because the authors are from my homestate of Ohio,
and they are Mennonite!!!
If you've never had Mennonite cooking, my friend, you have truly missed out on one of life's greatest pleasures!!
Anyway, on page 167 of this cookbook is a fabulous recipe for making your own taco seasoning.
I use taco seasoning in several dishes including THIS one which I have shared with you in the past.
I now use my own taco seasoning and we like it even better than that nasty 'ol store bought stuff.
Have you seen the sodium levels on a packet of that stuff??
Taco Seasoning
Place in one pint jar:
1/2 cup onion flakes
3 tsp. paprika
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper (optional)
3 Tbsp. ground cumin
2 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
Cover tightly and shake well to mix. To season, use 2-3 tablespoons of the mix and 1/2 cup water
for each pound of meat or beans.
** I tripled the recipe and don't use the cayenne pepper.
So during this summer, I have been very slowly modifying some of our "staple" meals to be more "ADHD friendly", as well as experimenting with some new recipes.
I thought this week I would share some of these recipes.
Making these dietary changes hasn't been nearly as traumatic as I was envisioning it would be,
and in fact, my family is loving some of the new things that have come to the dinner table!!
I have learned that in making diet changes it works great to just pick one or two things you want to eliminate and find alternatives.
Don't try to knock out the entire list of things all at once.
It takes time for you and your family members to learn to like new flavors and textures,
especially if they are addicted to sugars and chemical flavor enhancers.
So one of the first things I started purging from my pantry was the
HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP.
Can I just say that I was embarrassed at how much of that one ingredient permeated our diet??
I had no idea.
And since it is largely a thing of the past.....the difference in the calmness of my children has been palpable!!
I thought I was doing great making these at home and baking instead of frying.
PFFFTT!!
NOT!
Store bought bread crumbs have high fructose corn syrup in them.
Bummer.
So I found a recipe to make my own chicken coating mix!
You have to make it with bread that has no HFCS in it though, so be careful.
"Nature's Own" and some "Oroweat" bread is free of HFCS,
and I can get that inexpensively at the bread store outlet near me.
The homemade coating mix is wonderful and no one in my family noticed a difference!!
Coating Mix for Oven-Fried Chicken
2 cups dry bread crumbs
1 1/2 tsp. salt (I leave this out if I have the onion and celery salt, or it's too salty for us)
1 1/2 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. celery salt
1 tsp. onion salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. poultry seasoning
1/4 cup vegetable oil (I actually like to use a little less or it's too oily)
To make the bread crumbs: Save the heels of bread or rolls or toast in the freezer until you've accumulated enough for a batch of bread crumbs. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line your cooking sheet with the stale bread and dry it thoroughly in the oven. Put cool toasted bread in your blender and whirl until very fine.
Blend the bread crumbs and remaining ingredients with a fork until well mixed.
Keeps unrefrigerated in tightly covered container.
One thing that has been incredibly frustrating and painful for me as a mom of 6, two of which are living with ADHD, is the constant pressure that is on me (as the parent) to keep these children "under control." We already draw enough attention to ourselves when we're out in public simply by the number of children that follow behind us. But when one of those children draws even more attention to us because of the (always loud) disrespectful reaction to me when given a response he wasn't wanting, or the constant climbing on stacks of toilet paper, or the angry tantrum in the van because of an unforeseen seating issue, the pressure is almost unbearable.
I have never had someone come up to me directly and say something incredibly judgmental or unkind, but I know that there is an immense amount of misunderstanding about the behaviors involved with these types of issues. I try to be kind and give my children's Sunday School teacher's and any other adults who will be caring for them a bit of a heads up on really what's behind certain behaviors and unruliness. For the most part, we have have been met with tremendous understanding and patience, and this has greatly benefited my children. But I know there are many other parents with ADHD children who have not been met with grace and support. Such is the following excerpt from a blog post that I revisited lately that was tremendously encouraging to me.
Recently I got a newsletter from Crosswalk.com The title caught my attention ‘Bad Attitude: The Newest ‘Disorder’ I read the article and I encourage you to as well. Mr. Ken Connor wrote this article is response to George Will’s take on the new DSM for psychology coming out, A ‘Cure’ for Character Both of these articles discuss the medical community over reaching to create disorders to explain away our child’s problems. Do I agree with this…No with a touch of yes.
I have seen a child in full rage. No thought just a locked, frustrated, screaming cycle that can go on for hours. Is this normal..no. A normally responding child would throw a tantrum at a young age attempting to assert their will usually to get something. The parent should not give in, you are in charge. A rage is as different as a house cat is to an anger lion. They are similar and you can try to explain away they are basically the same. But if you try to pet that lion to calm it down you will get hurt. A child in a rage does not respond to normal calming techniques. They do not stop until the intense emotional outburst ends. I think though that even with all that rages are not a diagnosis. They are a symptom.
Do conditions like ODD and RAD exist? YES!!! and I am sure I could easily get a show of hands that live it. These articles belittle those of us that deal day in and day out with children that have these disorders. I don’t think the authors know that.
I remember before I had children, thinking I had it going on when it came to training children and keeping groups of children under control. But then I was given a child who didn't respond AT ALL to nearly every technique and strategy I tried. So I adapted and learned and things were still crazy, but bearable. Then we were given another child who not only didn't respond to what we knew in the area of child discipline, but went crazy!! You try and try, and try again. For years. And then you hear you just need to spank them more, or be more consistent. And it's terribly confusing when our other children who are not ADHD easily learn and follow along and get along happily with each other and actually WANT to do things with me. So then I started thinking I was a bad parent. Especially when you read articles such as the one she mentioned in her blog above. You know the kind.....the ones that say these issues don't really exist, they are just excuses for children who aren't disciplined well enough or come from bad homes. Well, I know better now.
I certainly don't watch the screaming children in the grocery store and think I know better how to raise that child, or that that child simply could use a good spanking.
I wish that the adults of the generation that I grew up under had had more information about it so I could've watched them handle it and already have an arsenal of techniques tried and tested that I could apply for every single situation that I deal with on a daily basis.
I do believe that these differences exist. They are very real!!
I think it would be much more beneficial for parents such as myself if the judgmental folks spent more time equipping parents with ADHD children (and the myriad of other issues out there) on how to get these children to sleep at night, or how to be able to calm their brains enough to absorb the atmosphere around them in a church service, or to resist the urge to jump on a quiet sibling, or to be able to memorize the steps for cleaning up their bedroom. It would really help take some of that pressure off!!!
Oh, and the lady who wrote the above article has a tremendous blog for parents of special needs children who homeschool:
"And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children,
and the heart of the children to their fathers...."
Malachi 4:6
I'm not convinced that most of the men I know who are fathers to daughters
really, REALLY know how important they are in the life of that daughter.
It's pretty well-known and highly documented the incredible impact a father's relationship with
his daughter has on that daughter's life in so many different areas of her life.
Take these thoughts for instance:
Stats About Daddy's Girl
Girls with a father figure have higher self-esteem, and are more likely to get along with people and attend higher education.
Girls with fathers who are actively involved in their life show higher English and math skills, as well as having a higher IQ.
Girls with active dads tend to be more determined, more successful in school, more self-nurturing, more independent, and are less likely to have abusive relationships.
Dad's that are loving tend to have daughters that are less likely to try drugs, and less likely to be truant or delinquent.
When a father support his daughter playing sports, he is helping her lesson the pressures of sex roles, and helping to promote her social independence.
Dad's Are Important Too
It has been said for far to long that dad's "take a backseat" to moms in the relationships with their daughters. If this is true, then daughter's are suffering because of it.
Father's often focus more time on their relationship with their sons because they may believe that mom will take care of their daughter's needs. Sometimes dad's don't realize how important they are to their growing young ladies, and if they did, it may shock them.
Father's are very important role models for their daughters, especially in the puberty and teen years. A father is the first male that a girl comes to intimately know, and he can set the stage for how his daughter interacts in future relationships, especially with men.
If her father is a loving, supportive, encouraging, protective, honorable husband and father, his daughter will seek out relationships that mimic these positive qualities in other men. Father's have this unique ability to inspire their daughter's, and daughter's give their father power like no other male in their life.
About a year or so ago, my husband took our oldest daughter out for a "date" night.
They had so much fun!
They went to eat at the restaurant of her choice and then he took her where she would want to shop.
He let her pick the store.
Instead of rolling his eyes and continuing to look at his watch, he was helping her pick out
some clothes that would be appropriate as well as adorable.
When they came home, Lexi was just an excited chatterbox about all the fun they had had.
Ashlyn, then of course, wanted to know when it would be her turn.
I think he unwittingly started a tradition.
I'm sure he wishes he could do this more often with each of the children, but time and finances
prevent this.
So, he is working his way down the line and each child is looking forward to some extra,
exclusive,
"daddy and me" time.
This past Saturday was finally the day he planned to do something with Ashlyn.
She was talking about it ALL day.
She was ready to go the minute he walked in the door from his 12-hour shift at work.
Out to dinner they went.
Out to the girly-girl store they went.
He didn't disappoint.
Look at the outfit he helped her pick (in the correct size for her),
complete with (matching) shoes, and a necklace!!
What great memories for a daughter to have.
These are the kind of things that fathers can do with their daughters.
** You'll have to MAKE the time.
It won't happen until you deliberately pencil it into your calendar.
**You'll need to be aware of the things SHE likes.
It's more special if you know her and what's important to her, and not just to you!!
**It doesn't have to cost a lot of money.
(We can only afford something like this once in a while, but you don't even have to spend any money.
It's the time and details that matter.)
**Pay attention to her while you're with her.
Don't share your time with the cell phone, IPhone games, or something else.
Look at her and listen and learn to enjoy what SHE likes.
Here are some great benefits to the above suggestions:
Benefits of the Father/Daughter Connection
Father's can help daughter's build self-reliance and self-confidence by letting her know she is special and can achieve anything she wants to. Daughter's who have actively engaged fathers are also less likely to experience depression, become a teen mom, develop body image problems, use drugs/alcohol, or engage in criminal activity.
Father's teach their daughter's adventurism and achievement, assertiveness and self-worth. The way a father relates to his daughter will determine how she will relate to herself and others, and what type of a family she will create in her future. Father's also teach their daughter's leadership, humility, and courage.
Most importantly we find in the holy Word of God this command (as opposed to "suggestion):
"And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all they soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up...." Deuteronomy 6: 5-7
So, I humbly submit this question:
How can we do this (teach our daughters how to love God as the above scripture tells us to do)
if we don't spend time with them and let them see God's power and working in our own lives?
How can a daughter learn of the love and interest of her Heavenly Father better than when
her earthly father takes an interest in her?
