Category: life

Once Upon a Time…

Once upon a time there was a Mum whose baby just didn’t seem quite right. He wasn’t doing the baby stuff that all the other parents said their babies were doing, he hated being fed, he loathed sleep and he cried a lot. Like screamed, all the time, way more than babies usually do. His Mum had never been a parent before, but deep down inside she knew that something wasn’t right, so she visited doctor after doctor trying to explain that she felt in the pit of her stomach that her baby’s body wasn’t happy and perhaps it had something to do with what she was feeding him. Only to be told, that what she was experiencing was normal. After a long time, someone finally listened and perhaps agreed that he might be reacting to what he was being fed, but only because his weight on the chart now reflected that he should be investigated further. From then on the Mum decided to listen to her gut more often and follow her instincts, and mostly, they lived happily ever after.

Twice upon a time there was a Mum who had learned to listen to her gut for the health of her baby. She gave birth to her second baby, who very quickly became unwell and in a lot of pain. She visited the doctor, again, even though she had very broken trust from past experiences and suggested that she knew her baby was reacting to food she had eaten. The doctor completely squandered her suggestion and told her that it was rubbish, and to eat whatever she liked and sent her on her way. The mum knew herself, she knew her baby, and she followed her instincts. And it turns out, she was right (again!). For two years she fought for the health of her son, and not only was she heard in the end, but she lifted his health above and beyond what was ever expected and used her experience to help inspire and empower other Mums who were also fighting to be heard. And for the most part, they lived happily ever after.

Thrice upon a time, there was a Mum who could tune in to that quiet inner voice, deep within her gut, the one full of doubt, but reason, despite being broken over and over. She trusted herself and her baby to lead them through the right path to health and happiness. When her third baby was a few weeks old, covered in fiery, sore skin, on her face, all over her back and down her arms. she ignored the suggestions of hormone rash and cradle cap, and she found a strange suggestion in the voice in her gut. (The voice told her that her baby was reacting to coconut, which really sucked because she was already dairy free and all the yummy treats were made from coconut!) She listened to it, and within three days her babies skin was miraculously clear. She continued to tune in to her most inner Mum voice and her baby has been the happiest and healthiest of all the children, and in fact at two years old has never needed to visit the doctor. And so far, they lived happily ever after.

The moral of the story? That voice inside your gut is there to be listened to, it knows more than you could ever imagine. No one is more expert on your child than you are. If someone tries to tell you it is normal, and you know it’s not, tune in to that voice and search for the answers you are looking for. If you are going to trust anything, trust that voice that holds your Mum instincts. Sometimes you might need to gently peel away layers of fear, or pride, or anxiety, to hear it properly, then when you get that niggling message, make sure you don’t ignore it, it’s trying to tell you something important.

Kayla2 Comments

The Lunchbox Mum

When Ashton was five and Felix was 6 months old, I quit my job to be a stay at home Mum. As I envisioned myself as a school Mum … a stay at home school Mum. I envisioned being that Mum that turns up to school pick up in activewear, because I’ve actually done yoga or gone for a run. The Mum with the slick pony tail who always knew what day it was, and sent her son off to school every day in clean clothes with a healthy 100% homemade packed lunch. The Mum who turned up to help out in class occasionally and paid the school fees on time. The Mum who was always smiling, and organised, with a clear head and a clean car.

The last two years has taught me, that I am in fact, none of those Mums! I’m the Mum that stays in the car at school drop off because she is wearing her slippers, and the toddler is in his pyjamas. I’m the Mum who may have actually been for a walk or a run, but is wearing track pants because she hasn’t shaved her legs in 6 months. I’m the Mum with the un-brushed messy bun, probably still up from overnight, and clothes covered in baby puke, snot and possibly poop, maybe chocolate – but probably poop. I’m the Mum who hasn’t been in to meet the new teacher except through the car window one time. I’m the Mum whose son goes to school regularly wearing odd socks, and on occasion, odd shoes. I’m The Mum who has no idea what day it is, but can tell the time by how heavy her eyes feel. And the Mum who can’t see the floor of her car (last time I checked there was an open jar of mayonnaise in the back seat). But I am also the Mum who tries her best to send her boy to school everyday with a lunchbox made with love. Love doesn’t have to be homemade, or tidy, and it doesn’t have to be perfect. Love just has to try it’s best.

Here is what it looks like when I am that Mum, the one who is messy, unorganised, covered in baby excretions, and tired beyond belief, that tries to send her boys off with a nourishing lunchbox every day. My lunchboxes aren’t perfect, they are not 100% homemade, they are made quickly, on little sleep, and sometimes empty cupboards. When my boys open their lunchboxes, I hope that they see the love.

Don’t worry about perfection, because even the most experienced of us don’t get it right, all the time. Be inspired to pack lunchboxes out of love and the kids will have everything they need 💞

And if you need a little helping hand, this resource I created helped to make sure the kids had somewhat healthy lunchboxes packed daily, in my manic attempt to get everyone out the door on time

https://mailchi.mp/b75eda91781a/chefashton_lunchboxplanner?fbclid=IwAR2zWqBO66IABaMZNqWiyNpDMObZCwe_TTv5MeQgwt92_PsHLadMMrU41Eo

Kayla

Hey there, Allergy Mama

Hey there allergy Mama,

I see you, up late at night making safe cupcakes to take to the birthday celebration tomorrow. 

I see you, reading all the food labels at the supermarket and quizzing the restaurant staff with tireless questions. 

I see you, wondering was it food? Which food was it, or is it just a tummy bug? I know – the guessing game is just so tiresome. 

I see you, lying awake at night worrying, feeling guilt. The guilt. It’s relentless. Did I do this to my child? Could I have done something better? Could I have prevented that reaction? Could I be doing more to help? 

I see you, hide your disappointment that your child didn’t get invited, because of his allergies. That she missed out, yet again, because of her allergies. 

I see you, in the kitchen. Always in the kitchen, planning, baking, preparing, chopping, cooking. So much food prep, but without it, they would suffer. 

I see you, holding open tired eyes, making yet another dinner when you wish you could just order take out, like everyone else. 

I see you, with a forced smile and a heavy heart, as you reply ‘no thanks, we can’t eat that’ for the hundredth time.

I see you, do your best to mend a child’s broken heart, as they face the disappointment of not being able to join in, or eat the food. While you silently pick up the shattered pieces of your own heart. 

I see you, holding your screaming baby, dropping silent tears down his back, because you know, that this road ahead will be long. 

I see you. And I just wanted to say thank you. Thank you for mending broken hearts with your homemade cupcakes. Thank you for showing up, everyday, even when it feels too hard. Thank you for asking the hard questions, and sharing the harsh truths. You were chosen for this, because you are strong enough, you are smart enough and you are brave enough. 

I was you. I am you. We are all in this together. Thank you for joining me in this beautiful community here, full of love, support and of course healthy, allergy friendly food. 

If you want a space to connect and have a chat, you can find me here

Love and Peace,

Kayla

Kayla

Why we left behind our quarter acre dream

While most people tend to outgrow their houses when they add to the tribe, our family of five has just downsized! We have left behind a quarter acre land with chickens, bees, fruit trees, berry bushes, veggie garden, outdoor kitchen area and plenty of (neglected) grass and sheds, and large 1920s bungalow. Instead we have downsized to a section half the size and a nice tidy little house across town (that’s five minutes away, for you city folk!)

While leaving behind a lifestyle that enabled us to supply our own eggs, honey, fruit and veggies was a little sad, while we were there we were left with little time to focus on the things we love most. Our house was enormous but cold, drafty and old. we spent a lot of time sorting fire wood to heat the place and it took ages to clean and tidy even after we decluttered nearly half our possessions. I am often home alone with the kids, for sometimes weeks at a time with little notice, I just didn’t have time to upkeep such a big section, all the pets, and the house, let alone keep the kids alive and make sure they have allergy friendly food made for each meal. It was really stressful trying to juggle everything.

Our new house still has enough backyard for the kids and dog to play, for a small veggie garden and a green house (and maybe a couple chooks if I can convince Chef Dad 😆). The neighbors behind us have land with fejoa trees along our whole fence line 🙌. Our house is warm and dry and easy to heat and set out so i can watch the kids play outside while I’m in the kitchen. Really hoping less space means less maintenance and upkeep and therefore more time to do the things that we love. Which for me is blogging, cooking and writing! And of course spending time with the kids without having to worry about the wall that needs painting and the fence that’s going to fall down.

In our case, bigger isn’t always better. Sometimes it might sound like someone is living the dream, but you just don’t know, behind the scenes what sort of stress is being created to upkeep that life. It was a huge decision to admit that we were in too deep, and there was blood sweat and tears involved in the buying, selling and moving process. In fact I think I’m still in fight or flight, but Just in this short week post move, I’m realising how much of a valuable decision we have made. So here’s to onwards and upwards, moving on to bigger (but actually smaller) and better things, and hopefully more free time to do the things that matter to us most.

Kayla

Beautiful Lines

When I saw this photo the first thing I noticed was the lines etched into my face, that didn’t exist 5 years ago. It’s not that I have a problem with lines on my face, they just took me by surprise as I haven’t really taken the time to study my face in the last five years! Lines that at times have felt like they bear the weight of the world. Lines that carry the stress of being responsible for three little beings. Lines that carry worries about health, and allergies and how I’m going to protect my kids and keep them safe from the extra challenges of living in a world where food can make them very sick.

All these thoughts stampede through my mind in a fleeting moment. Before I realise, that when I look at the faces of others, first, I see beauty, wisdom, kindness and compassion. I don’t know why society tells us that ageing should be reversed because it’s actually the most beautiful thing.

As we get older we harbour more experiences that can wear us down, and sometimes even threaten to break us. But as the universe so kindly gives us more time, every day that passes we have a chance to heal, to love and to reconnect with life. The experiences might leave lines, or scars on our bodies, or in our hearts, that then become a reminder that we are even more wise, experienced and magnificent than yesterday. ⠀
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So then, I looked again. And I saw love, connection, pure and true happiness, wisdom and life. I saw a moment in time that I will treasure forever. ⠀
Having Hazel has been such a healing experience for me, while she hasn’t made the scars of feeding tubes and hospital visits, appointments and medications, elimination diets and exclusion disappear. She has helped me see how beautiful they are to be a part of me. ⠀
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Just remember that every day we grow older, we are gifted another day to feel love, and while it might not cover the marks from the past it will use them to etch a path to a brighter future 💗⠀

Kayla

Confessions of a Healthy Food Blogger

I share a fairly popular recipe for zucchini cheese – but I never make it myself, and always buy that super expensive vegan cheese from the supermarket.

I don’t like Brussel sprouts, I think they taste like farts. I live with three males (five including the cat and the dog) yes, I know what farts taste like.

My kids won’t eat frozen peas, in fact they won’t eat frozen mixed veggies either. Purely to make my life difficult. Except this one time I told my friend that my kids don’t eat peas and my 1 year old then stole and ate all the peas from her sons lunchbox.

Ashton, just Ashton. Ashton is incredibly fussy. He has the most ginormous list of foods he won’t eat, and bunch of finicky food preferences that I often comply with because I hate the moaning at the dinner table. If you want a winge-fest serve roast chicken (unless it’s a supermarket rotisserie basted in all sorts of non allergy friendly crap that he shouldn’t eat), or potatoes, especially mashed, roasted is marginally acceptable but only if they are cut into 1cm cubes, and crisp, but not too crisp, heaven forbid. Or try soup – if it’s soup, it’s inedible. Make sure you have you best gag face at the ready to make a performance at the table on soup night. Also if its marginally spicy, it may as well be poisonous. Someone save me from this kid he is a healthy food bloggers worst nightmare.

My kids won’t eat my homemade hummus, the two little ones just straight up won’t touch the stuff while Ashton will only eat “Lisa’s” hummus original flavour.

Sometimes I eat proper crisps for breakfast … and let the baby join me.

None of my kids eat raw carrot sticks, but I put them in their lunchboxes all the time because they look good in photos.

When I was a kid I used to steal meal mates crackers from the pantry and eat raro juice sachets like it was sherbet.

My mum buys the kids allergy friendly biscuits and chocolate and I eat it all myself.

Our children are allowed pudding once a week. But every night when they go to bed we eat chips and chocolate and mug cakes.

Most of my blog photos are taken on our bed covered in white sheets, or on the floor of our snail infested sunroom (best lighting in the house 😆)- I peg an upside down piece of scrap vinyl to a portable clothes rack to bounce the light off. Once I spilled a milkshake all through the bed during a photo shoot.

Sometimes I lie to the kids about what they are allergic to, so they don’t eat too much sugar, because I can’t handle the meltdowns.

Anyone else got anything to confess?!

Kayla

Allergies, Trauma and baked beans

When I was in my second year at university someone brought us this huge tin of baked beans. It was beyond massive, 3kg or something of baked beans in this colossal tin. It was so big no one wanted to open it. It had so many baked beans in it, once the tin was open, no one knew what we would do with them, how we would eat them, or how we would organise and store them. So the tin sat unopened in the cupboard of our grubby Wellington flat. It was carefully tucked away and it didn’t bother anyone, sitting nicely in storage for the duration of the year.

Recently I thought back to this tin of baked beans, and to what might have happened if we decided to open the tin. Now, after some recent events, I think I might know how that may have unfolded.

As many parents of children with allergies will agree, that this diagnosis comes with some degree of trauma. Whether this is a traumatic flash back to a horrible allergic reaction – witnessing instant hives & swelling take over your child’s body or face, vomiting repeatedly until limp and lethargic, a trip to the hospital while breaking the speed limit, or worse yet in an ambulance or helicopter! Or sometimes it’s a flashback to moments in time – weeks of rubbing creams on inflamed, red itchy skin and soothing a child who lives constantly in pain, on the inside, or outside. While we are living in these moments our bodies go into fight or flight, we just want to get through each minute, or each day.

But when the dust settles down, what do we do? Some of us breakdown, worn thin by the event we finally crumble and find an outlet for the shock, worry, anxiety and trauma. Some express their worry, or grief in the only ways they know how. Some feel gratitude and relief.

But what happens when you live in a state of angst and worry for weeks, or months, or years? As many parents of allergy sufferers do, because often, advocating for these kids isn’t a one time event. Some probably find a regular outlet, a safe person or group to express or share, family to fall on. Some might seek professional help, counselling. Some might delve into self care to negate all the time and energy spent on traumatic events. And some, cant face up to those emotions right now, so they take their experiences, cram them into the worlds biggest can of baked beans and pop them away in the back of the cupboard.

Except there’s one problem. As I mentioned earlier, when when the neglected tin is suddenly discovered, sometime later, no one wants to open the baked bean monstrosity, because if you open such a big tin all at one time you are going to need a fuck load of friends to share it with! And in this day and age we just don’t seem to have ten mates turn up, all on the same day, ready to help us eat a massive portion of baked beans, even if they don’t like them, or weren’t prepared for them before they arrived.

I ‘spose you can probably guess how I dealt with the years of food allergy angst we experienced with Felix. Except the crazy thing is, I didn’t even realise that I tucked those feeling up for safe keeping, because when I popped them away, I replaced them with gratitude, greatfulness and happiness that our journey was making so many positive leaps. I had tucked the tin of baked beans so far back that there was heaps of room in front so I filled the space close to the door with everything great about life, despite all our struggles. And then, there was no place for grief, anxiety or sadness, they made the cupboard messy so they got pushed to the back. (Can anyone else’s linen cupboard relate to this!?) Ive noticed that, as humans, we have come to quite like the look of order and organisation and not so much a big pile of mess out for days or weeks, while we make spaces and sort it back into its places properly.

So, at some point all the well organised feelings at the front of the cupboard are all being used, usually during big changes or life events. Kind of like when you have a new baby. You might find the linen cupboard bare at times as you find time to adjust to life and catch up on all the washing. You also might find your emotional cupboard a little scarce as you pour everything you have into late nights, little sleep, and caring for a little being 24 hours around the clock. In fact, this year when we had our third baby, the cupboard got pretty bare and the old, somewhat rusty can of baked beans sat exposed, naked and glaring out.

At some point, each of us will experience a repeat of some of the events and feelings tucked away in the baked beans can. For me, it was a replay of baby rashes and eczema after something I’d eaten. Even though it was no where near as severe as with Felix it felt like ripping a plaster off an old wound that just won’t heal. When you haven’t properly put the past away, you spiral straight back into the feelings of distress and fear, of hopelessness and knowing the journey that we have to travel all over again. The feelings are tripled, and compounded, even though you are now equipped with experience and knowledge. It doesn’t feel very helpful because there is a huge mess you made two years ago piled underneath all the linen that fell out of the cupboard just now.

While I was very tempted to leave it be, I decided it’s time to open the (metaphorical) can of baked beans. I don’t even like baked beans, not to mention some of them aren’t even gluten free! Anyway they spilled out all over the floor, like everywhere, overflowed and made a huge mess that I wasn’t really prepared for. Each bean is smothered in bitter memories and unpleasant emotions that got sealed up inside and here I am amongst the huge mess trying to find a way to tidy it up. Some days I make a good dent and manage to file away some of the mess nicely and other days the tin tips over and makes a bigger mess than there was before.

The lesson here is, when they are happening (or soon after) feel all the feels. ALL the the feelings, even the real shit ones. Don’t be a Harry the Hero and soldier on. I should have let myself break down and ugly cry, and taken more time to acknowledge that yes, while I was grateful things weren’t worse, they were actually pretty shit. And that’s ok, because life is a bit shit sometimes. If it was good all the time then that would be boring and we probably wouldn’t learn any deep lessons or gain better morals and values. I was so busy trying to live life like an inspirational quote, I forgot to realise that it’s ok to be sad about all this.

I just know that there must be others out there, other parents who have experienced a traumatic situation, which may or may not have been to do with their children’s allergies, that have probably done what I’ve done and shoved their feelings in a great big tin. Perhaps you are yet to discover them, perhaps you have and you totally understand where I’m coming from right now (I’d love to hear how you tidied up the mess?) or maybe you are in the middle of the discovery of stale old feelings and ripping plasters from open wounds. Or perhaps you are in the eye of the storm, and I might have just prevented you from dealing with these feelings in three years time, instead of embracing them, right now.

Wherever you’re at, or however you relate just know that you are not alone. It’s ok, ideal even, to feel sad, grief, ripped off, exposed, traumatised. It’s ok to not be strong – sometimes being strong is allowing yourself to hurt and feel pain. And then to seek out support, or let others give you hand to get back up. Be kind to yourself while you sort your feelings out and take time to sort through them and file them away in the best place you can manage. Before continuing on your kick ass way. Now, if you excuse me, I’m off to follow my own advice.

**If you are like me and writing provides a good outlet for expressing and organising your feelings, I’d love to hear your story. I’m thinking of opening a page on my blog, a place for you to share your story to help and inspire others, and let them know that there is hope on the other side.

Kayla

What’s the Deal with Food Co-ops? How they work and how to start one.

Ok so, ive been asked by so many people what is the deal is with food co-ops. How do they work, where do i find them, and how to i start one? Hopefully all the answers to your questions are here!

Dry Goods

There are two main suppliers of dry goods, that we use through our co-op, one is Chantals Organics and one is Ceres Organics. Before going straight to these places it probably pays to see if there is already an existing co-op in your area taking on new members – there are heaps out there, hopefully someone can direct you to one already set up. I do believe Ceres may have a list of existing co-ops from around the country that they can direct you to also.

There usually are some rules, when you are filling orders as a co-op. With Chantals – You can order individual items, if you order the outer/carton you get it at a slightly reduced price. so an ‘outer’ or carton might be 6 or 12 items of that product, depending on what it is. In Chantals there is no minimum spend per month, so its a good one to start with if you don’t have many people on board. There you will find many of your favorite products that are usually sold in health food stores, for cheaper prices.

If you order through Ceres there are a few more rules– You need to purchase by the ‘outer’ eg, peanut butter 6 in an outer, so you will need to buy 6. So if someone wanted 3 they that in their column. So this is where the group comes in handy as others can help, and hopefully someone else also wants peanut butter that month and you can fill the outer of 6. If not then you cannot go through with that product order.  There is an $800 minimum spend per month, usually it is helpful to set a minimum spend of x amount per family, per month to ensure the minimum spend it met. (its surprisingly easy to fill really, i usually spend around $100 a month (only $25 per week) – so you only need 8 families to do that!)

Every group runs their co-op slightly differently, but this is how ours works:

Everybody places their order in a google doc spreadsheet. Everyone places there order by 7pm on the 15th of each month, Lu, who oversees all of our ordering and places our final order (among other amazing general day to day running of the co-op stuff) checks it and on the on the 15th night or 16th .  She comes back to the group via our Facebook group with incomplete ‘outers’ and then people advise if they want to up their quantity to fill the outer or remove their order. This works really well as people will often ‘help’ others out, they may not necessarily need this month but they will get it. Or i often see stuff that i had forgotten about but all of a sudden ‘need’ so jump in to fill some of the product outer.  Then she places the order the following morning, Ceres can be done online and Chantals via email. With Ceres she cross reference prices, and makes sure the shopping cart and excel spreadsheet match up. Our speadsheet is friken huge – thousands of columns down, and forty odd across – each person / family in the co-op has a column they place their order into.

Prices are subject to changes so once she has cross referenced prices she comes back to the group and lets us know of any dramatic price increases – or decreases, last month coconut oil was reduced to a steal! In our first order some things were out of stock, so people had over paid and they were in credit so to make it clean we pay after the order is placed. The expectation is that people will pay within a day or 2 once she has send out the exact costs. It’s also a great way of earning airpoints! If you were worried about people not paying you could just get them to pay you before you place the order. Lu says “I guess I trust that if they are buying organic they will be invested in their families health and therefore will pay and I find it easier if they pay after as sometimes we have had an item missing or a packet has burst, this way it saves me having to refund people”.

Everyone pays freight for both Chantals and Ceres around $5 (was $8ish with 8 families) total regardless of whether they purchase from one or the other or both. Freight will obviously vary depending on where you live. Ceres comes from Auckland and Chantals comes from Napier. When we first started we had a minimum spend of $75 with Ceres this is so we reached the minimum spend, since we are bigger now its $75 across either Ceres or Chantals.

Everyone in our group is very open to helping, although so far it’s been pretty straightforward. With some co-ops someone might do orders/payment and the goods get delivered to someone else’s place where they sort to share the load. Everything gets delivered to Lucindas house each time. We get 6 people to come and help sort and we knock it out in two hours. 2 sort produce, 2 weigh, 2 put items in peoples boxes and tick off printed spreadsheet. There has never been any problems getting help. Everyone has been recently told to help out every 3 months or so, and a roster has been set up, which means each person does a sort about twice a year.

Ours has been going for two years now and we have added a few more suppliers in which we order from every second month these include Lifefoods, Bostocks, Franks Sausages and Goddbuzz Kombucha.  For the last 12 months we have been ordering produce from Chantals. Lu said “initially I wasn’t as driven as I have a large veggie garden however I am pleased we have as the quality and the prices are excellent in a number of instances cheaper than the supermarket last month bananas $2.60kg, apples $1.60, limes far cheaper than the supermarket”. With the produce it’s quite busy that day as she gets it sorted and people collect the same day and “if it’s not a Kindergarten day I have a little helper muddling up my orders and eating all the apples”.

Our co-op grew very easily, personally Lucinda said she doesn’t mind as “I figure the more families that are involved reduces the freight costs and gives you more people to share outers/cartons with and from a personal point of view gets people supporting smaller and ethical growers and I figure it’s my way of helping spread the real food message and my contribution for others”.  We have over 30 families now and the facebook group is always a hive of activity, including recipe sharing and some general day to day thoughts and questions between like minded people.

Produce

On a Friday, every second week, Chantals organic produce sends an email with a list of available produce, Lucinda copies it across to our spreadsheet and shares it on google docs with the group. Orders usually close on sunday night, so poeple have over the weekened to put in their order.
Monday morning she places the order and it generally arrives on the Wednesday.

Once it arrives we have the boxes labelled with each persons name and literally just weigh everything out.  When its not a dry goods week, lucinda sorts it herself, it takes about two hours to weigh the produce out and put it into peoples boxes and this is for a large number of families so anything less would only take an hour or so, then about 30 mins to reconcile the spreadsheet versus the invoice afterwards. (so thats entering the exact amounts that were weighed out because depending on whats turned up, say i ordered 2kg of bananas – not all bunches or bananas come in lots that will weigh out to exactly 2kg so adding in exactly the weight of the bananas given to me in the order.

There are some good perks to hosting the produce and doing the sort – like when they can’t count Avocados and you end up with more, or picking the biggest broccoli heads etc!

Rather excitingly, for those who are keen on affordable organic produce but for whatever reason are not keen to play an active role in a co-op Food Together runs a service where you can buy organic produce for a pretty good price too, they just started up in our area and lots of people i know have signed up, and have said nothing but good things. You could also check them out to see if they bring produce near you. There are probably heaps of other places that do something similar, its just a case of asking around!

So basically…

Ask around and join an existing co-op in your area if there is one available.

To set up a co-op you need to contact the right suppliers;

Gather up a small group of like minded people who are keen to be involved.

Make sure someone is willing to take on the main role of over seeing the co-op, the emails, communication with suppliers and / or decide what role each person in the co-op will play – where will the goods be delivered, who is going to send out the spreadsheets, do the payments, ensure there are enough people for sorting.

Send out the spreadsheet, make sure all outers are filled and minimum spend is met.

Email it back to the suppliers

Have the goods delivered

Sort the food and have everyone collect it

Send out payment info then make payment to the co-op

Enjoy your fresh organic produce and cheap organic dry goods!

 

Kayla

How we eat real food on a small budget

Real food on a budget – how do we do it?

On average i aim to spend about $150 a week for my family of 4 on food. We are gluten free, mostly dairy free (apart from organic butter and a bit of raw milk), we generally don’t eat from packages and i even manage to buy all our dry goods organic (flours, nuts, seeds etc) and 80% organic fruit, with some organic vege and chicken thrown in there too. I know where to save and where to splurge. Here is what i do to keep our food budget down.

Join a food co-op
I am part of a food co-op, we have roughly around 40 families in our co-op and together we make large bulk orders for organic dry goods every month, the stuff I get ranges from coconut flour and raw cacao to olives, gherkins, dried fruit, nuts and cacao butter. We get organic fruit and veggies and even eggs, every fortnight. Plus we also organise other bulk orders for treat foods like Proper Crisps, Good Buzz kombucha, Dr Feel Good ice blocks, we get things like bulk lots of olive oil from a member’s parents, order organic bostocks chicken, franks preservative free sausages and have split up a beast between some of the members too. It’s like a really awesome little food community! Because we are buying in bulk and splitting the food between us, the cost is much less than what you would pay at the supermarket (sometimes even half the price!). Even the veggies, for example, the other week limes were $19 a kilo at my local supermarket and $9/kg in the co-op. For 2.5kg of organic potatoes from the supermarket is $13.99 the same amount through the co-op is under $5. At the moment avocadoes are about $4 each from the supermarket – currently we are still paying $1 something! Not only is the produce organic but much cheaper and is usually picked the day before it arrives, so super fresh. For an even cheaper bargain you can order the ‘juicing produce’ which, sometimes i can’t even tell the difference between that and the eating produce! And it’s about $1 per kilo for things like apples, beetroot and carrots. If you want to know more about co-ops and how to join or start one – you can find that here.

Spend less time at the supermarket
I try to buy as much as i can from the markets and the co-op to reduce the times i go to the supermarket, because pretty much every time i end up there for one thing i come out $40 later! I try to limit my trips there to once a week to top up on toiletries, coconut cream, produce and reduced meat. This is a work in progress though, i still feel like i end up there way more than i need to!

Don’t spend weekly
I don’t spend our weekly budget every week, i allocate $600-$700 (which works out to about $150 p/w) a month for food and try to spend it over the month by buying things in bulk. Some months i might be over budget and some months i might come under but it all evens our over the year. I have money put aside to take advantage of food bargains, reduced meat or if someone wanted to split up a beast i can generally rustle up something from the food money pool at short notice because i know how much it’s going to save us in the long run.

Local markets and fruit & vege stores
Again the message is step away from the supermarket! Only recently have we been able to buy produce from a local market (hooray) extra points because it’s spray free and home grown, with love. I take advantage of the markets and buy anything there that i’ve managed to kill in my garden at home (pretty much everything). Even though the closest fruit and vege store is about 40km away, whenever i am in town (at least once a fortnight) i usually make an effort to go there because the produce is cheaper than the supermarket.

Stock up! (and invest in a freezer)
I stock up on any reduced meat, good specials, and in season produce that is going at a good price. I freeze the meat and produce or sometimes pickle, preserve or ferment the vege. Old reduced fruit or an abundance of in season fruit freezes great for baking.

It’s not what you know but who you know…
When people started realising that real food was important to us, instead of bring scones for morning tea we often have friends and family turn up with schnitzel, frozen chicken, baskets of fruit or bags of meat they have cleaned out from their freezer! Even though i say we spend $150 a week, the value of the meat we get for free is well beyond what we could afford to buy. We also got gifted a large chest freezer from a friend who didn’t need it anymore, and had a family member build us a run that we keep our chickens in. When you let people know that real food is important to you and your family, they are more likely to help you pursue this, than hinder it by bringing cake and cookies into the house.

Make your own, and stick to the basics
Store bought versions of healthy foods are expensive. On the rare occasion i purchase paleo bread or even store bought coconut yoghurt i’m pretty sure can hear my wallet sobbing! Sorry wallet, but *sometimes* an extra $5 is worth the hour i don’t spend in the kitchen! Sometimes being the key word, very occasionally, like less than once a month. But if you are buying this stuff regularly while you are trying to budget, your poor wallet is probably in the midst of a mental breakdown. I make my own version of everything, bread, crackers, dips, spreads, hummus, pate, jams, buns, pizza base, almond milk, coconut milk, yoghurt, bliss balls – you name it, i’ve probably made it! And for the most part it’s not that hard, i spend a whole lot less time in the supermarket buying food so there is more time at home to make it! And if you are buying a whole lot of pizza bases, breads, dips and bars, even if they are labeled with ‘real food’ or healthy ingredients, perhaps it’s time to consider looking back into things that come from the ground or animals (fruit, vege, nuts, seeds, meat, eggs) as the basis of a real food diet. Because as soon as you start trying to recreate cakes, burgers, pizza and pies on a regular basis is when real food actually becomes expensive, and even if you are making your own and not buying it, it costs you more time in the kitchen than you would like. I try not to get too caught up making real food versions of the standard western diet (cakes, pasta, muffins, burgers, pizza) because that’s when it starts getting expensive, and we lose perspective in that ‘real food’ should just be real food there are plenty of delicious things you can do with veggies, nuts, fruits, eggs and meat – Like freezing your ripe bananas and using them to make ice cream! You will not find me whipping up buns or pizza on a regular basis.

Grow your own or hunt and gather
Ok so i’m a bit preachy with grow your own, i currently have a tub of baby spinach dying in my sun room and a capsicum plant hanging on to dear life which for some reason has survived, but i’m pretty sure it regrets its existence. I even managed to have my wheatgrass turn brown. I have kale skeletons in my garden (result of a grizzly green caterpillar escapade) and 12 brown tomato plants that i harvested about 6.2 tomatoes off this year. I totally get points for trying right? We did get some strawberries, blueberries and cranberries this year though (right, that’s it i’m starting a berry orchid!). And i cannot seem to kill herbs, phew. So if you are game, start a vege garden, grow in pots, plastic tubs, a hole in the ground, a big black sack full of soil – whatever you want because they might just die anyway! Or they might flourish and you have easy fruit and vege cheaper than the supermarket. If anything though, indoor salad greens are awesome, they are always super expensive and probably highly sprayed from the supermarket. Unless an army of slugs traipses into your indoor growing area in the dead of the night and devourers all of your salad green seedlings every time you plant them for three planting cycles in a row (yep, it happened) then you should be sweet.

Having chickens comes under this too, now, chickens are quite the opposite of our vege garden, we have had 3 chooks for nearly 6 years now, they have survived 3 house moves and numerous dog attacks, the geriatric girls are no longer laying us eggs, but we don’t have the heart to move them on, so they are now company for our 7 new girls, currently about 3 months old. We managed to raise them from 1 day old with no fatalities! They even came to the beach batch for the weekend on holiday with us. Yep, 7 chooks … in the batch .. how is that for real food commitment? They will hopefully be ready for lay very soon and then we will never have to buy eggs again! We have a fairly large section and our birds are free range in a portioned off area. Just 2 birds don’t need a whole lot of room, especially if you are happy to let them out for a roam then lock them up in a hutch at night. We feed a mix of pellets and scraps and it really doesn’t cost us a whole lot at all, much less than the price of eggs! They also make really cool pets, don’t shed fur all over the floor, crap in a litter tray inside the house, or steal your bed space at night. So, chickens for the win!

On some rare occasions, the Man of the house has been able to go out hunting, and has come back with a freezer full of meat for us. If the opportunity crops up, it’s a no brainer, i will happily stay at home all weekend wallowing in the sorrow of children i don’t get a break from, in exchange for some wild and free meat.

Be thrifty!
I often go to op-shops to scope out the kitchen appliances, you can find all sorts of treasures there, George Forman grills, blenders, food processors, slow cookers, waffle irons, donut makers, cast iron pots and pans. Sometimes it’s the best stuff, the stuff my parents had – that was actually made to last a lifetime, for mere dollars. I recently scored a juicer for $10 – hello fresh juice! Not that you actually need all the latest appliances, but some things are nice to have – a food processor and slow cooker is certainly helpful and i use our hand-held blender more than we use the toaster! Then there are luxury items, like stand mixers, juicers and waffle makers – but if you are buying them for $10 they become a lot more affordable and give the option for some interesting homemade kitchen creations.

Choose the cheap cuts
Sometimes, if i can’t afford an organic chicken, I will buy organic, free range bones, so at least i can make our broth from a chicken that was once happy and free to roam outdoors, which i’m pretty sure makes happy broth! Same with beef, sometimes i buy grass fed beef bones (from green meadows) to make broth – but we cannot always afford to buy the actual meat. I often buy a whole roast, opposed to smaller cuts, which per kilo end up costing a lot more. And things like chicken wings, thighs and nibbles seem to go a lot further than chicken breasts. Casserole steak cooks up awesome in the slow cooker, and is just as good as an expensive sirloin.

BULK up the beef
The boys of the house (so everyone except me) are big eaters. Actually i can pack away a fair bit for my body size too. So we are a family of ravenous pigs, we eat a lot of food. Ashton and his Dad in particular, eat ridiculous amounts. I often add rice or potatoes to our meals so they don’t eat my portion of food – or the part i was envisioning for my lunch or breakfast the next day! Being cheap, staple items, this also helps to keep costs down. I bulk our mince out with grated vege, and sometimes lentils, to make it go further. I add chickpeas to curries and eggs to salads and stirfrys for them. We actually don’t need a whole lot of meat – a palm size is usually a pretty good portion guide, so keeping that in mind helps to keep consumption (and cost) down, and bulk the rest of the meal out with veggies, and some healthy fats to keep everyone full.

Be flexible
I love good food, delicious food is important to me, and if we have money leftover at the end of the week that doesn’t need to be saved or spent, then i might use it to buy something we wouldn’t ordinarily afford, like a nice steak, or some little island coconut ice-cream (yum!). Sometimes i also have to be flexible in that, we are running low on funds and running low on food. I might need to choose to put $10 less petrol in the car that week because i’d rather buy some fresh vege. Sometimes i choose to wear shoes with holes in them or buy my clothes second hand, so i can get little extras like Beef Gelatin for Felix, and i’m totally cool with the sacrifice because it’s about what is important to me, and what i wear is not, what my family and I eat, is. When Felix was at his worst and being admitted to hospital last year, i had a big decision to make, do i continue to go to work and do a half ass job there, and a half ass job at home. Have the money to buy good food, but not the time to prepare it, or spend with the kids. Or do we choose the backseat, a life with less stuff, less money, but more time. I chose time, because time is invaluable. It’s also when i realized that setting my children up for a healthy lifestyle, providing them with the best possible thing i could ever do for their health and well-being was important to me. I saw them suffer from what food can do to them, and it’s my job to also use it to make them thrive. That means less money to spend, but more time to use. So pretty much, i quit my job so i have time to spend preparing and organizing real food for my family… A decision I do not regret!

I’m sure there are heaps of other things I do that have just become second nature to me now (like saving ridiculous tidbits of leftovers which i either feed to the toddler for snacks or re-purpose for my lunches). Would love to hear everyone else’s tips and tricks too!

Kayla2 Comments

What it feels like to eat only 10 foods, for 10 months.

Watching your baby break out in hives while he is still laying on you, actively feeding is a bit of a life changing experience. This is how I came to eat only 10 foods, for ten months, to keep our son safe.

You might have read on Felix’s story, that he reacted to many, many foods. I think I stopped counting when the list went past 20. Every. Single. Thing. I ate seemed to pass through into my breastmilk and the effects on him were sometimes instant.

It all started when he was about 2 days old, after every feed he seemed to break out into little hives. I googled it and asked the midwife, but in a bit of denial I just hoped they were the ‘newborn rash’ I read about in my online search, after all, whose baby shows signs of allergy at two days old! Deep down though, I knew something was not right. By 10 days old Felix was having reflux, uncomfortable bouts of colic like screaming, little to no weight gain, and dark green and mucous filled stools. While we could attribute the low weight gain to a tongue tie issue we were working through, when I showed the midwife one of his nappies she agreed that it looked like he might be having a reaction to something I was eating, so I cut dairy and soy out of my diet.

After 2 weeks, I saw a small improvement, in that he would sometimes have a normal newborn mustard coloured poo. How exciting! Poos – colour, texture, smell …  a common topic of conversation in our household! Something that can make one happy, relieved, excited, or worried and anxious around here, who would have known poo could have so much influence. Anyway, he was still having reflux, colic, rashes and after two ‘normal’ poos he would then produce an intergalactic green frothy number or something that resembled a tissue after you have blown your nose! Not good. I noticed particularly after I ate eggs, things went downhill. So when he was about 3 weeks old I decided to eliminate eggs, nuts, fish, wheat and peanuts from my diet. When you are used to bread as an easy go to staple and rely on things like nuts and eggs for a quick snack, a total and immediate ban of all of the above really rocks your world. I would have 5 mins to quickly run to the kitchen to make a snack and would find myself frying up some broccoli and bacon! Even though I had heaps of experience with label reading from Ashton’s allergies, doing it for myself was a whole different ball game. Should I avoid traces of? Packed in a facility with? Where the heck is dairy in this – it is not in the ingredients list but it’s in the allergen warning! Heads up – usually it’s in the ‘colour’ or ‘flavour’ description on the label. Now I thought I had a pretty healthy diet before, but it was surprising how many times I used to reach for toast as a snack or grab some sort of chocolate bar at the supermarket, or get a muffin with my coffee. You don’t realise until you can’t do it anymore! It was quite an eye opener.

About 1 week into the new can’t eat anything diet it was becoming apparent that we were not seeing improvements like we had hoped. Plus, Chris and I were getting quite wary with taking turns to hold Felix for over 6 hours every night while he screamed inconsolably. I’ve never prayed so hard for a baby to take a dummy. He didn’t, by the way. He just gagged on it and spat it out. Then resumed screaming. I remember feeling good that we were trying something, because what did we have to lose. But the feelings of overwhelm, loneliness, and confusion are still so raw. Why him, why us? So much of our culture revolves around food, if I wanted to associate with other adults then I had to face the disappointment of not being able to join in at morning tea, no shared biscuits, no sorry you can’t make me a coffee. And so many people just don’t understand, ‘surely one egg won’t hurt?’ or, ‘It’s only got a little bit of dairy in it?’ Even health professionals had varying opinions, some of them adamant that food proteins cannot get to baby through breastmilk, most of the ones who understood were the people who have experienced it themselves. Honestly – who sits there and tells a mama whose baby has clearly had a reaction to something she ate, that it’s impossible – here is the baby, here is his rash, here is his screaming, here is his weight gain (or lack of), and if you don’t take me seriously in a minute I will have to show you a picture of his shit, yep I have a photo of that too, several actually, just incase people like you thought he might be reacting to thin air!

After about two weeks on the can’t eat anything diet it was time to take drastic measures. I cut my diet down to rice, pumpkin, bok choi, carrots, kumara and lamb, plus salt and pepper. This is what I referred to as my Total Elimination Diet (TED) sounds about as exciting as it was.  If I thought that the first attempt was hard this was level twelve hundred. What on earth goes up to level twelve hundred, nothing, because it’s so extreme! Breastfeeding is hard work, and hungry work, I was hungry all the time and found myself needing to eat huge amounts of food. Which totally sucks when you only have about 6 foods to eat. I would be at the supermarket every few days stocking up the trolley with huge amounts of my 6 safe foods. Lamb mince, lamb chops, lamb loin, lamb shoulder, lamb shanks – how many ways can you eat lamb! Some of the things I found myself creating was pumpkin risotto, pumpkin soup, lamb broth with safe veggies, roast meat and roast veg, fried veggies and meatballs, meat patties, lamb chops with rice and steamed veg, kumara chips with pumpkin puree for dipping, lamb meatballs, grated carrot and kumara fritters. I rendered lamb fat off the meat and used it to fry and roast in. During this extreme elimination phase we had to travel up to Hamilton to have Felix’s tongue tie lasered a second time as it had reattached. I had to cook myself enough food for the two day trip there and back, it was just so time consuming. All with a 3 year old and new baby to look after too. But I trucked on because what else was I going to do!

It’s crazy, really, when you see someone walking down the street or strike up small talk in the shopping queue, you just have no idea what they are going through. They might have just lost their Mum to cancer, or divorced their husband or wife of twenty years. They might have a child in hospital, or they might be doing it tough fighting with mental illness. They might also have a very sick baby that seems to be allergic to pretty much every food and the only way to keep them alive is to live off hardly anything to feed them safe breastmilk. You just don’t know the internal struggles. To the outside world I just looked like another Mum to a new baby, doing it tough with some sleep deprivation and colicky baby. People would say – ‘oh I know, i’ve been there too, it’s so hard. Yes my baby used to scream when I ate chocolate.’ The outside of me would smile and nod – yes that bloody chocolate, I bet it was tough avoiding chocolate for a few weeks. The inside of me would dive onto the floor and roll around laughing an uncontrollable, loud and rude cackle, slapping my hands to floor and snorting “Fucking chocolate, oh you poor thing, I just can’t begin to imagine all the extra work, the worry, the pain, the suffering, all the extra food prep and same food day after day, not being able to eat anything outside the house”. Then id scoop up my dignity and smile and nod some more. By the way, If you were someone who said this to me, in no way, shape or form did I judge you for this (i only laughed at you internally while I wallowed in my own self pity) because I actually do understand. It doesn’t matter if we are avoiding one food, or ten (or seven hundred and forty six) the change in routine, the move away from the known, the need to be cautious, careful and a little bit different, is still the same. Having to turn down food at every corner and the lack of understanding and support from the people surrounding you. The worry over the happiness and health of our babies is still the same. Though there are not too many people out there who can truly relate to the extent of what I went through, I can relate to them, to you, the ones who lived a snippet of our lives.

About 1 week into the new diet we started seeing some really positive improvements with Felix, he was content and happy sometimes, and was only crying for a short time in the evening then settling off to sleep. Hallelujah! It was so, so difficult for Chris to watch me go through the torture of a 6 food diet but once he saw the change we both knew it was the right thing to do. After two weeks I was pretty damn sick of eating the same food, the smell of lamb cooking nearly made me gag. It was time to branch out and try some new food! First I tried potatoes, solely for the purpose of if we were out I might be able to order some hot chips! It seemed to be a success. Next I thought I might try oats (looking back now this was a stupid choice, but if anything, it helped to seal the deal in letting us know there was actually something quite wrong with Felix!) So I ate oats for breakfast and then I breastfed Felix about 30 mins later. As he was laying on me feeding I saw his body begin to break out in hives right before my eyes. They started on his face and around his mouth and by the end of the feed were spread around his entire body. He then proceeded to scream inconsolably for 3 days straight. Never again! So I was stuck on my 7 food diet for another week while we waited for him to come right again. In the 4 weeks of my drastic diet I managed to lose 15kg with the scales moving down every day. I gained about 20kg during pregnancy so this was okay and I was at least feeling good to be back in my old jeans so soon!

Next I tried some chicken, please someone give me anything but lamb! Chicken also seemed to be successful and when I was alternating chicken and lamb the green nappies became less common. So using my newly found detective skills I decided to remove lamb and just eat chicken. Because naturally when you have just added a new food into a 7 food diet you should probably up the anti and take another one out, right? This became the start of my follow your gut mantra. Because it turns out he was reacting to lamb and life after chicken was just perfect!

Next I ate avocado and coconut which were a roaring success. Especially coconut. It was probably the most exciting thing to happen to me that year! Coconut oil, coconut cream, coconut milk, coconut flour, coconut butter, coconut flakes, desiccated coconut, oh the possibilities! Best day of my sad little 8 food existence. And fat, oh glorious fat, I was still losing weight really rapidly so I had to eat a spoonful of coconut oil at every meal. I stayed on this diet for another two weeks just to relish in this new baby we now had, too scared to upset the apple cart after all the hard work. It was salad season, and I remember cucumber and lettuce also being exciting introductions (yep, exciting life I lived at that point). I also drank chamomile tea and it was so nice to have a hot drink. I had to take a tea bag with me everywhere because the certain brand of organic chamomile was the only one we knew was safe, it wasn’t worth risking trying another. There is just something so humbling about being able to enjoy a hot cuppa with other people. It’s what we are made for! To eat and drink together, and that was taken away from me. It’s really hard, harder than you’d ever imagine, knowing that you cannot join in because it will make your baby really sick if you do, and trying to explain to people every time, he has allergies and I can only eat 8 foods. It did make for an interesting conversation starter though!

So as the seasons changed and different foods came in and out of season, i’d swap out the cucumber for asparagus and lettuce for courgette. So over the year the veggies were varied a bit, but generally my diet didn’t include more than 10 different foods at a time. When avocadoes became $8 each then I swapped them with olive oil. Generally I served the whole family the same dinner as me, i’d just add extras into theirs like a different meat, eggs, nuts or seeds, so it wasn’t too much extra work, because constantly having to prepare my food relentlessly, every day was really tiring. I couldn’t have any fruit, oh how I longed to just eat a banana, all the foods in my diet had to be cooked or prepared in some way first. My one treat of ready made food was Proper Crisps potato chips – mostly because they are delicious but Felix seemed to have no adverse affects if I ate a bag of these whereas if I ate a bag of standard potato chips he’d become a bit fussy – the only difference is Proper Crisps are not cooked in canola oil like the others. I remember coming home on playcentre day, starving, not having had anything to eat for hours and I would eat an entire family sized bag of Proper Crisps just to get me through putting Felix down for a nap then preparing myself some lunch. I totally justified by saying it might stop me from losing another kilo! And they were delicious.

At various times, I tried eating apples, bananas and pears which all caused horrific acid-burn-everything-it-immediately-touches-nappy rash and body rashes. I gave up on fruit after that. And I tried a couple of nuts (almonds, cashew and walnuts) all of which caused varying degrees of hives, gastro upset, fussiness and rashes. He reacted when I ate hummus, I was never sure if it was the tahini or the chickpeas so easier just to avoid them both! In fact he reacted to anything that wasn’t the 10 safe foods. 

During this time, I was training to be a breastfeeding peer support person, and every week we would have a lesson and then lunch. Instead of buying in the usual affair of pre-made sandwiches and slices etc, the two lactation consultants running the program would bring in a hot roast chicken and salad items and buns for a build your own sandwich lunch so I could join in and eat the chicken and salad stuff. I don’t think I will ever forget gestures like that. When you are living in a world where you pretty much cannot eat a single thing outside of your own home, going to a meal once a week that I didn’t have to prepare was the stuff dreams were made of! I looked forward to wednesday every week! If you know someone who is on a limited diet, please don’t be scared to help out by making something, ask them what they can eat, or for a copy of a recipe they make (make sure you specify oils etc with them!) and make them a meal or cut up or prep some safe veggies or meat so it’s easy for them to prepare something for themselves. If YOU are on a limited diet and in need of some help, don’t be afraid to trust someone, be specific, and ask for help! I think everyone got too scared to help out because they didn’t want to make Felix sick, but in the end I gave out some recipes I had been making and my Mum cooked some food for me, and it was such a sanity saver, I just wish I had asked for help sooner.

By the time Felix was 5 months old, I had lost 25kg. All my pants were loose, I look back now, on photos of me around that time and cringe at how gaunt and bony I looked. I would try really hard to eat enough, but sometimes there was nothing in the house safe for me to eat! Or we were out and it was difficult to find safe food. Those days were definitely down days, the days that I was so hungry, and nearly wasting away, but there was nothing substantial to eat, or Felix was grizzly and I would find it difficult to find time to prepare myself something or finish a meal. Those days I just wished the food fairy would show up on my doorstep with a hot, safe meal. Luckily after another month or so, my body started to adjust to its new diet and I stopped losing weight.

When Felix was 8 months old we finally got to see the allergy specialist, who diagnosed him with FPIES, – an allergy that presents in the gut, and he said that even though all the literature suggests that babies with FPIES don’t usually react through breastmilk, most of them actually did. I had suspected FPIES for quite a while because when I had searched and asked around this seemed like the common diagnosis for babies who react to all sorts of strange foods like kumara, banana, chia seeds and most commonly, oats and rice.  And it turns out there is a whole network of Mum’s out there who are living off ten foods (and sometimes less – up to 3 foods) to try and provide their babies with safe breastmilk. Some here in NZ, others in Australia, and an abundance over in the US! I was not alone, which was humbling, but scary to know so many other parents and babies were sharing my reality. There were some Mum’s in the US, with FPIES babies, living off 3 foods! I got to meet some of the NZ Mums when I went down to Wellington, and being in the same room with people who actually know first hand what you are going through is something words struggle to describe. Through this i’ve also met a bunch of other mums who have eliminated foods for the sake of their babies, and even though they harp on about how well i’ve done, I take my hat off to every single one of them. They are all truly amazing, dedicated and strong in every way. We share a strong sense of drive, determination and a hunger for knowledge, always looking for what else we can do, and searching for answers beyond the standard information given to us. Like I said, it doesn’t matter if you are avoiding one thing, or only eating ten, a special bond can be shared between the mum’s who have sacrificed food for the sake of their children’s health. Food is life! It’s a big sacrifice, and one that takes true dedication and drive.

Just before Felix turned one, our breastfeeding journey came to an end. With no end (so to speak) in sight for me being able to expand my diet anymore, and him not being able to tolerate any solid food, a lack of weight gain, and one exhausted Muma, it was time to call it quits. I tried my very, very best and could not have done any better if I tried. Felix was waking every 3 hours around the clock to feed and despite me producing over a litre of breastmilk a day, he was not gaining any weight, a blood panel also showed he was lacking all sorts of important nutrients, I guess because of my limited diet for so long, and his inability to absorb nutrients due to probably reacting to one of my ten foods.  So we tried a hypoallergenic formula (which is a bit of a story in itself – but we got there in the end) and just like that we were done. We are so lucky that the formula is safe for him, because some FPIES children cannot tolerate any formula and the mothers have no choice but to keep eating 3 foods, to produce a safe nutritional source for their little ones. We are lucky, and I am grateful. There were days where I cried into my chamomile tea, and hated the world because I couldn’t eat an apple or a banana. There were heartbreaking moments of watching our little boy suffer when I ate something he reacted to. There were many moments, when I stared into blue eyes that reflected pure love, and I was so proud that I was able to nourish my son, though my hard work and dedication. Breastfeeding a baby with allergies is probably one of the most challenging things I’ve ever done, but I would not change this experience for the world. 

 

On a side note, if i still have you here, you are probably wondering, ‘what on earth lady – why didn’t you just give him the formula sooner!’ There are many, many reasons why, some physical, some emotional, and some scientific. For a start i have read a large number of research papers on the role breastfeeding plays in allergies, the gut microbiome and the immune system and knowing how seriously beneficial and how amazingly complex breastmilk is for a babies gut, i just couldn’t not try! Reactions or not, there are studies that reveal the microbes present in breastmilk play a very important role in the way digestion is formed and how the gut works, allergies, essentially all lie in the gut and if I could do something to help promote good gut microbes and bacteria, then that is what I would do! Breastfeeding was addictive, the surge of oxytocin at every feed was intoxicating, despite all the struggles. I did not experience this with Ashton, as i didn’t breastfeed him, and i have developed a very special bond with Felix through feeding him. Knowing what I know, and even after what we have been through, I’d do it all again in a heartbeat.

 

Kayla