PecanBread.com - Treating Autism with the Specific Carbohydrate Diet

Halloween

Intro Diet

SPARKLING BEVERAGES

Rewards for ABA

Picky Eaters

The good news is that extremely picky eaters can change to SCD.Here are posts from our experts,the parents.

My son won't touch vegetables - except, for some strange reason, he tries to steal bites of my salad. I'm holding off on giving him lettuce now until his gut is healed some more. I have to hide vegetables in his food. Last night, I made him hamburger patties and put shredded zucchini in it.

Also, the recipe for chicken croquettes in BTVC is great for hiding vegetables - you can try zucchini or cauliflower. I have to use the light colored vegetables in that recipe because my son would spot anything green in it a mile away. I can hide green stuff (like parsley) in meatballs and he never notices. Also - broccoli goes undetected in meatballs. As long as my son has the homemade ketchup to dip it in, he's happy as a clam. I can't wait until the day comes when he will eat veggies "on-site"..

Hope this gives you some ideas..

-Tanya

Hi,

I'm a grandmother to a 4.10 year old. We started the diet about the end of January. At first my daughter thought she could never do it. He was very picky and very disruptive at meals. She started out slowly -- trying to eliminate the worst foods first. He did have some illegals while she was trying various recipes and foods. She used Ezekial bread with nut butter for instance. Although illegal it seemed better than rice or soy or amarath etc.

I took him to the mall for lunch especially where there were cars or train vehicles which you put .50 cents in to get a ride. Between rides he ate his broccoli etc. He loves hot tea so he had that for a reward too.

Now he likes to eat lunch with grandpa who rewards him with pickles (after he has eaten his food) We still help him eat his food by cutting it up small and feeding him when he is playing too much. Believe me he is eating very well now and looks great. He has started the yogurt and is tolerating eggs and other foods which used to be very sensitive to him.

The point of this message is not to give up. Start slowly and don't rush your child to eat. He may have to run around the table a little at first. Don't be afraid to spoon feed him if necessary--- just don't make a big deal of it.

Samuel is just about 99% scd now and his bowels are firm and we are very thankful to Elaine and all the others on the list. Marie

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You can stimulate your son to eat other things by heavily reinforcing him with every 'new' bite. Not just verbal praise, but maybe use a balloon or tractor or a bite of an (scd-)snack - whatever he likes best. Keep the reinforcer close and surprise him everytime he takes a bite. Be sure to take the reinforcer away quickly in an effort not to overdo this. Do not get dependent on reinforcing...maybe you know all about ABA, maybe you don't...

I have seen that my son now eats meat and vegetables, UNmashed, we NEVER saw that before. And this without any stimulation, he likes this food much better.

Marjan
The Netherlands

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Sneaking in vegies

mix small amount of zuchini, pumpkin or carrot purree with a couple of bananas and berries of choice. Sweeten with honey and add liquid (goat milk, yogurt, water, juice, almond milk, etc.). I add a dash of salt and cinnamon. Just don't add too much veggie or you'll overwhelm the taste.

For popcicles--pour into a mold and freeze.
For fruit leather--dehydrate and enjoy

Autumn

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Try to lure her back into the kitchen with your kitchen sounds. When she shows up, it's party time instantly! I mean really hugs, throw her into the air, whatever she likes best. This way you are systematically rewarding her for being there. Same thing for eating the new food. The circus comes into town whenever she takes a bite!
Try to ONLY reward her, be positive (as you said already are usually), better not discuss her 'bad' habits.
This is not an easy thing, but it is a long-term solution though. It may sound like training a puppy, but I can tell you first hand that it works. And it makes sense.

You said you are having a hard time right now and I can truly feel your pain and doubt when I think about it all. The very difficult trick to learn is to be positive when she is THERE. Bang your head on the door afterwards. You need to get the message across that you simply LOVE having her out of bed. The next step is to show her that you LOVE to see her eating your food. You may not succeed with words, try rewarding her with her favourite things. You may even decide to eat seperately with her and more often, to have more peace around the table.

If you wish, I can send you the chapter about eating from 'A work in progress' by John McEachin & Ron Leaf. An excellent book with strategies to manage behavior in children with autism.

Marjan
The Netherlands
[email protected]

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Also, I've seen other listmembers suggest the idea of one allowing one bite of a preferred food in exchange for one bite of a less preferred food. That might be something to help ease her into it
. Keep us posted!
Marisol

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FOR VERY CHALLENGING CASES

I just had a thought. My daughter was a very picky eater. One thing I have done is to blend together some of the less tasty things and �syringe� them into her mouth. Of course, at first, it had to taste pretty good, and then gradually I added a little greens or broccoli or whatever. So you could start with just blended fruits for several days, or if she has diarrhea, you could start with something else.

I just use a turkey baster and put a little in her mouth at a time. Now she will just suck whatever it is right out of the baster and I can get a lot of stuff down her in a hurry! That way, too, if she is tactily sensitive to the texture of foods, the blending would make them soft and make her able to tolerate them more easily. And I had to do this a lot before it became easy. Sometimes she would only take a bite and then quit.

Marina

This can be a sensory problem. Perhaps you can get help with a local OT therapist. I found a resource for feeding concerns. Perhaps this can help. website: www.new-vis.com/fym/q-feed.html.

http://www.new-vis.com/p-map.htm

Try this web site: www.new-vis.com. Look on the menu for feeding development resources. Hope this helps.

Marie

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Making them love the yogurt

My son loves pureed mango in his yogurt. Sometimes I add the mango puree to the yogurt, and then pop it in the freezer just for a little bit to make it extra cold. He loves it.

Does your son have a favorite fruit? Maybe you could put some of his fav fruit chooped up in a bowl with a little bit of yogurt - so he can gradually get used to the yogurt taste - and then increase the amount of yogurt over time.

-Tanya

For my older son, I drew a time line to represent 100 years. (I said he would live to be at least 100 years old.) I showed him what a small stretch two years was when compared with the rest of his life. I told him that if we do this diet for two years, then for all the rest of those 100 years, he'll get to eat lots of the good things that everyone else is eating. But if we don't take these two years to do this diet, then for the rest of his 100 years, he'll have to bring his own food to parties and say no to just about everything that people offer him. He seemed to accept that.

Alicia

A few suggestions that I found worked with Julian at the beginning of the diet.....

1. When it came to food, I realized that Julian was the boss. I learned to listen to Julian, and give him what he wanted to eat. Start with where HE is at. Offer him different foods, and see what he will eat. Then go from there.

2. I thought that Julian should have variety, but he sure didn't agree with me. He ate the same thing over, and over, and over. Variety seems to have been MY need, not his.

3. Keep it simple! For example, Julian still eats hamburgers (beef, chicken, lamb, salmon) plain, made with meat, salt, an egg for binding, and maybe a little thyme for flavour. Nothing fancy, dancy. He won't go for a lot of spices. His vegetables are steamed, add a little salt and butter, and are still often pureed. When I make applesauce, boy, personally I would want some cinnamon or ginger in it .... but not Julian. Make it plain, and add a little honey.

4. Experiment with textures. For example, Julian wouldn't touch the intro diet chicken soup - such a wonderful source of nutrition. When I figured out that he likes mushy things, I just pureed the chicken and the broth together in a food processor. He loves it. I also now give him "hamburger soup" - cooked ground beef in the chicken broth. Anyway, the point is, what might seem yucky and blah to me, is yummy to Julian. I just give it to him and try not to make a face.

5. I learned that Julian would not starve or be malnourished! And that he would add more to his diet as he was ready.

Maybe he'd like peanut butter pancakes. Here's a recipe that Julian loves. It was sent in by Sheila, (mom of Daniel, SCD 6 months). They're easy to make and don't require almond flour if someone isn't tolerating it yet. I make up a bunch and freeze them. Hmmm...... what might you use to top the pancakes? Applesauce? Sliced bananas? Juice which you have reduced/boiled down until it's syrupy? Also, I buy frozen strawberries (with nothing added, of course) and when they defrost, there's lots of concentrated juice left at the bottom of the dish. I add a little honey, and that makes a great pancake topping. -------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------- Peanut Butter Pancakes:

1 banana
1/4 cup legal peanut butter
2 eggs
1/2 tsp baking soda

Mix all the ingredients with a mixer. I make them into small pancakes because they are easier to turn. ---------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------

Suzan Mom of Julian, 37 months old diagnosed with ulcerative colitis, August 2001 SCD 11 months, currently in remission

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More for picky eaters:

One thing I did do was just cook a LOT of food, and have things to eat ALL the time, and I cooked things in as different ways imaginable as I could think of, like out of ground beef I would make:
---hamburgers
---"egg pizza" -- an omelet with (already cooked) ground beef in it, made in a little 7-inch omelet pan, and then cut into pizza slices
---meatloaf --every variation from just plain beef, to adding different things like tomato sauce, tomato juice, an egg, or shredding up some squash or zuchini in food processor and mixing it in with it- ---Etc, etc

I also made this that he LOVES:
I would brown some cubed meat (Like beef stew meat, or my son's favorite is lamb) in a little oil, and then add chicken broth and carrots, bring to a boil, partially cover, and simmer for a long time, a couple of hours, on a very low setting, stirring occassionally.
What happens is the broth and meat juices simmer together and make the meat just very tender, but also the broth eventually cooks down (you have to stir it more towards the end), and makes like a "gravy" which is SO delish!!!

Anyway, it seemed like when there was always someting "ready", he ate better. Because if I waited until he was very hungry, then he was fussing for a muffin or raisins or something he couldn't have. And he probably ate more.
Sonya

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Hi Melissa,

Since you are avoiding the egg whites You might be able to make the pancakes without the whites. So that would be with the peanut butter, the yolks, baking soda and maybe a little water to thin it a little so it is pourable into pancake batter. If he doesn't like peanut butter, you could try cashew or pecan butter. Sometimes I'll throw in some blueberries to make blueberry panckes. Honey with a little water gently heated makes a nice syrup. If you want a dash of legal vanilla extract might hide the honey taste.

How about apple or banana slices with peanut butter or other nut butter on top. This is a favorite of my kids. I still peel the apple for Daniel first and then slather on the peanut butter.

You could also try the carrot curl (or chips)recipe that is in the book as a substitute for chips.

When I make nuggets I make sure that they have all the legal condiments. They can have ketchup, honey and legal mustard sauce for dipping and just plain honey. Just about anything they complain about eating goes down quicker with some to dip it/ cover it with. Like homemade applesauce/ pearsauce which I'll serve with roast beef or pork roast. I have made legal BBQ sauces (from the ketchup) but they aren't too fond of it.

In place of a yogurt smoothie you could make a nut butter and fruit smoothie. Peanut butter , banana and some water in the blender.

There are lots of different breakfast recipe ideas at http://www.scdrecipe.com/r_006_00003.html

I completely agree with Marisol about clearing out the illegals and sticking to your guns. That way you are not forcing it on him but you are also not giving him the option of going back to the other stuff. And you always have us here for support. We know how hard this all is. Hope this helps.

Sheila,
SCD 2 yrs, UC 19yrs

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Here is an email that a mother wrote to the group about a picky eater:

To all of the experienced cooks and SCD experts, please help. I would appreciate any ideas on getting going on this diet. We started on Saturday. I tried the intro, but he wouldn't touch the chicken soup, or the yogurt, or any stewed fruit. I made hot wheels cars with the juice and gelatin, he wouldn't touch it either (except to drive them around the table). I cook chicken, which he usually loves, no go. He won't eat eggs, no matter how they are cooked. He hates honey, and the saccharin tastes horrible. I've tried the pancakes, no go. I made "pizza" with the crust in the book, homemade sauce and bacon, nope. I tried spagetti squash with homemade sauce, and little meatballs, nope. I've deep fried squash, zucchini, turnip (rutabaga?) and carrots into chips, nope. I've made 2 kinds of bread, 3 kinds of cookies, muffins, he won't touch any of it, except the peanut butter ones. I even rolled pretzels with the pizza crust recipe. The bread crumbles with or without toasting, and doesn't really have a bread taste, so he won't eat it. I've tried the yogurt plain, with honey, with stewed fruit, in smoothies. I've dripped it and added cinnamon, also tried it with garlic, as a sort of cream cheese, and mixed it with homemade ketchup as a dip, no way. All he has eaten in the last 6 days is bananas, apple slices, hamburgers, and peanut butter cookies. I'm getting desperate, here, and running out of ideas.

On the plus side, I had my bi-monthly meeting with the school, and they say a different child walked in on Monday, and they are so impressed with his progress since, they can't believe it is the same child. He is talkative, friendly, almost no aggression, smiling, hugging, happy and participating. I want to stick with this, but not at the risk of having him malnourished. His energy level is dropping fast. Any ideas you have would be most appreciated.

Thanks in advance,

Alane

Here are the responses she got from the list members:

Alane,

Wowser! I look at the number of things you've tried in ONE WEEK and think, "That's at least two weeks, maybe three weeks worth of menus around HERE." My immediate reaction to this is to wonder if, when you took away all the starches and sugars, and then he rejected your offering, you immediately made something else and offered it because you felt guilty about taking away the foods he liked?

That being the case, I have to wonder if your guy isn't doing a grade-A leg-pull here. In other words, you've been so quick to offer an alternative when he rejected the first offering that he's now holding out to see if you might offer something else that's more to his taste. Or even give him the old, familiar food.

>> All he has eaten in the last 6 days is bananas, apple slices, >> hamburgers, and peanut butter cookies. I'm getting desperate, here, >> and running out of ideas. <<

And you know what? Even if he can't articulate it, I'll bet you he senses your anxiety when offering him something new, and that sets off alarm bells in his head. It makes him wonder what's WRONG with this new, strange stuff that Mom is so anxious about it.

Just as a data point -- my first three months on SCD, I lived off beef roast, pork roast, steamed zucchini with melted cheese, and soft-boiled eggs with butter. I was desperately sick, first with gall bladder disease, and then from a reaction to the anesthesia for the surgery, and Not Equal to New Cooking. I survived.

One of the things which we are conditioned by modern society and nutritionists to believe is that we must have every meal, every day, properly balanced or we're going to fall in a heap and die. Wrong-o!

Our systems evolved to take advantage of whatever was available in season -- to achieve "balance over time" -- and that balance can be a matter of months, rather than days, or even weeks.

Your boy has had fruit, meat, and nuts this week: heck, in looking over what I've eaten this week, I've had a couple of salads in there, but that's pretty much what I've eaten this week.

You're seeing the success of the diet with the report from his school!

>> I want to stick with this, but not at the risk of having him >> malnourished. His energy level is dropping fast. <<

Is his energy level really dropping? Or is his activity level simply becoming less frenetic? You said, "He is talkative, friendly, almost no aggression, smiling, hugging, happy and participating." THAT sounds like a shift in where the energy is going.

I know you want this to work, but take a deep breath, step back, and calm yourself down. If you are calm and steady, he's less likely to reject the strange new foods. Your descriptions of some of the foods, especially the breads, is vivid enough that I can see YOUR distaste for the fact that this isn't "real" food... he's almost certainly picking up on that!

Remember how kids usually hate to have their routines changed? Well, it takes 40-60 hours of repetition to establish a new habit for an ordinary person. Why should it take your guy less than that?

Try something like a pizza made with hamburger for the crust: pat a small amount of burger out in a thin circle, top it with sauce, bacon, cheese, and bake. Later, you can add some well-cooked veggies to it, or something.

Above all, KEEP IT SIMPLE!

-- Marilyn (New Orleans, Louisiana, USA)

HI Alane,

With what he is eating, it is possible that it isn't his energy level that is dropping but that he is going trough"die-off". A lot of people report feeling tired almost cold-like symptoms when they start the diet. It doesn't last too long and then they rebound with more energy than they ever had.

It might be a good idea to hold off on a bunch of new items because he probably is thinking if he holds out long enough he'll get his old foods back. You just have to remember and probably say over and over to yourself "I am the parent, I know what is good for you, I am doing this because I love you and want you well." Take a deep breath and look at what good is already coming from your decision. You wrote "they say a different child walked in on Monday, and they are so impressed with his progress since, they can't believe it is the same child. He is talkative, friendly, almost no aggression, smiling, hugging, happy and participating".

You are doing a fantastic job!

As long as he is eating some protein - burgers, peanut butter, fruits. I wouldn't worry about the veggies and other things they will likely come in time. A lot of parents Scd and otherwise always say "what am, i going to do my kid will only eat "X" for every meal. Everything I have ever read says that kids will not starve themselves. They may drive parents nuts in the mean time, but instinctually they will balance what their body needs as long as those building blocks are available to them. Another words get all the bad stuff out of sight, in a high cupboard or garbage. After his bad "critters" have died off he may be more receptive to some of the almond goodies and yogurt. Right now his cravings may be getting the better of him.

That said is he eating any of the legal cheeses or juices? Or how about SCD chicken nuggets or peanut butter pancakes?

Sheila

Oh, my God, Alane!

I hear your cry for help, and boy, does it ever sound familiar! I wrote the same type of letter to the Long Island list when Julian started the diet last December. He was 26 months old at the time, and was very sick. The pediatric gastroenterologist had written a prescription for prednisone a few days earlier, and told us that we had better get him on it fast, otherwise he was going to end up in the hospital on feeding tubes. I made all the intro diet foods, and Julian wouldn't touch anything. For several days, all he would eat was yogourt, bananas, and honey. Then, all he would eat was the dry curd cottage cheese. We were scared, scared, scared. We wondered if he would be malnourished. We wondered if we were being irresponsible parents. Thank God, several moms who had been through the exact same thing with their kids wrote back to us and held our hands through the first few weeks.

Well, here we are 11 months later, and Julian is currently in remission. He is as healthy as a horse! He never did need to have the prescription for prednisone filled, but it has been a very bumpy road getting here. Of course, he has added a lot more foods, but it has taken a long time. He will still accept only certain foods, cooked only in certain ways, and certain textures.

Suzan,mother of Julian

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I need some advice. My children were GFCF for a few months and then I decided to move over to SCD. I removed them from all their supplements and I have tried so many times to get them to eat, but they simply refuse. I eventualy fall back on hot dogs which were legal on GFCF, but obviously not on SCD. I just can't bear to see them go to bed without food. They simply refuse to eat the food I have prepared for them. I don't think a vegetable has passed my son's lips since he ate baby food (not counting french fries). Has anybody else encountered such resistance to the diet?

Any advice appreciated

Ingrid

Have you tried the baked goods? Some have sneaked vegetables like zucchini, squash, carrots, and advocado into these.

Beth

Hi Ingrid,

Katie lost 2 lbs. at the beginning -- from 30 to 28 lbs. I was very nervous! Today I said to my husband ... do you think she's getting a little chubby?

We didn't do the intro diet because she is a very picky eater. At the beginning, she ate mostly bananas and grape juice, and soon after that meat. She couldn't tolerate apples then (she can now) and after about a month she started eating pears.

She hasn't touched a veggie since the puree stage either. Still won't after almost 6 months on SCD.

Now she eats any kind of plain meat, apples, pears, bananas, nut muffins (boy did I throw out a lot of nut muffins and breads at the beginning), and dripped yogurt. We did goat for 2 months and have moved on to cow with no problem. Oh yeah, and she loves cheese.

It was hard at the beginning when she was hardly eating anything ... that's why I let her have 3 bananas per day! We have cut back to 1 or 1 1/2 per day.

Hang in there. See if there's a butcher near you who makes their own sausages which might be legal. We found one. See if you can find some legal bacon, maybe.

Good luck!

Sue (from Pickering)

Mom to Katie, 4 in Oct., SCD 5 months+, recovering ASD

Ingrid,

Take everything I'm about to say with a grain of salt..... because I don't have the same problem with my daughter. She will eat just about anything I feed her.... but then, she is severely mentally retarded and physically handicapped.... and we aren't even sure if her sense of taste works normally. She never complains. I know.... I'm lucky when it comes to keeping her on a special diet. So, my advice to you here is only what I *think* I would do if I were in your shoes. :)

I think part of the problem here might just be a power struggle. If you have really committed to SCD, take a giant leap and throw everything illegal out. All of it..... right out of the house. Have everyone in the house eating ONLY SCD. There are some hotdogs that a few families do use, and have verified from the manufacturer they contain no illegals, by the way...... Applegate farms, I think is that brand name. I don't personally use them but I know some others do. I honestly think your kids WILL eat eventually..... but are holding out to see if you'll cave in. If you have illegal stuff around, they might just know they can wear you down and get their way. I'd say try to have quite a few legal things that are quick to grab eat immediately...... kiss them, hug them, read them stories, sing songs, blow bubbles, do anything else that they think is fun. Don't make food a huge issue.... eat the SCD foods yourself and don't make a big deal out of it. Definitely don't pressure them to eat.... don't show them you're upset about any of it. They WILL get hungry and choose to eat if you stand firm. Just let them see you, and other family members enjoying SCD foods casually. Don't shame them or threaten them. Smile a lot and sing while you're baking SCD cookies! Paint hearts and smiles on cookies with honey.

They won't even eat bananas? Applesauce? In some cases, you might have to ease over to SCD but I can see where this wouldn't work with kids that are really rigid about their preferences and routines. Those things might be part of the "autistic" behaviors that might soon melt away after SCD helps heal their guts, though. I'm sure a lot of other parents will have ideas to help you out. Remember, where there's a will, there's a way! They won't starve...... trust your kids..... they'll eat eventually. They've probably been very used to having their favorite carbs...... some may even say addicted. So, there's a LOT of resistance on their part..... but sometimes our own resistance is as much a part. We don't want to make our children unhappy, even for a minute sometimes..... they've endured so much, and so have we..... but think of their long-term happiness and recovery. Keep your eyes on the prize! I don't know if any of this helped you at all.... but don't worry, you'll find a way to succeed!

Patti, mom to Katera, age 7, SCD almost 5 months.

I need some advice. My children were GFCF for a few months and then I decided to move over to SCD. I removed them from all their supplements and I have tried so many times to get them to eat, but they simply refuse. I eventualy fall back on hot dogs which were legal on GFCF, but obviously not on SCD. I just can't bear to see them go to bed without food. They simply refuse to eat the food I have prepared for them. I don't think a vegetable has passed my son's lips since he ate baby food (not counting french fries). Has anybody else encountered such resistance to the diet?

Any advice appreciated

Ingrid

Re: Struggling with Diet 2003-09-07 23:06:00

Ingrid,

Consider the textures of the foods you are presenting. Many kids have sensory issues particularly with food because their guts are SO sensitive. Are the foods mostly cold or hot? creamy or crunchy? slimey? I can't stand pasta because of the texture - like gnawing on a old worm. But that is just me, :)

One of my kids doesn't like 'chunks' in his food. It has to be all creamy or all crunchy, but not chunks. Some kids don't like beef or pork because it takes too much work to chew. One kid doesn't like beans because when he bites them they 'burst' open in his mouth. Mashed beans are okay though.

Try different shapes. Maybe the food is too long or round. I often take the same old plain food and make different pictures on the boys plates. One day an alien face, one day a boat, one day a SpongeBob shape, etc.. they REALLY like that. It is just fun to eat it that way. Maybe try serving it on one of those new Dixie plates that are in the shapes of different animals.

Another sensory thing is color. I can't stand the color orange because it hurts my eyes...thus I automatically didn't want to eat orange food because of this asssociation.

Karen

Halloween

Last year we told Colin that he was going to be able to trick or treat, and then choose who to give the candy away to -- his dad, cousins, etc. Then, when we got home, we filled his little pumpkin with toys (small ones from the dollar store) and SCD lollipops.

We knew we were doing the best for Colin, but felt sorry just the same that we could do the nut candy for him yet (it was too soon), and other SCD legal candy ideas (check www.scdiet.org and click on some of the recipe links there) etc. This turned out to be guilt over nothing; his friends and little cousin were jealous of his toys and they ended up playing with him instead of eating their candy!! Colin felt very popular. Best, Jen and Colin

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Intro diet

Combine all in a blender and process for 1 minute. Strain into a canning jar and refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 10 days.

To Make Ginger Ale: Pour ? cup of the ginger mixture (more or less to taste) into a glass. Add sparking water and ice cubes. Makes about 2 cups enough for 8 servings of ginger ale).

Strawberry Soda:

1 ? cups whole strawberries
1/3 cup honey
sparkling water

Place strawberries in a blender and process until smooth. With the blender running, pour in the honey in a thin stream. Process until well blended. Pour into a canning jar and refrigerate for up to 10 days.

To Make Strawberry Soda: Pour ? cup of the strawberry mixture (more or less to taste) into a glass. Add sparkling water and ice cubes. Makes about 1 ? cups enough for 6 servings of soda).

Sheila's note:

I haven't tried the strawberry, but I have made lemon "pop" and blueberry "pop". I bought a boatload of cranberries at Thanksgiving and might try to make some cranberry drink soon - probably with a little lemon. You could probably make something like "Sprite" with a mix of lemon and lime. To save time I juice *a lot* of lemons at a time and freeze it in ice cubes trays.
When they are frozen solid I pop them into freezer bags. I am still concerned about seeds etc. so when I make these drinks I always strain it with a litlle strainer i bought at the dollar store. Of course you can adjust the honey to taste or substitute sacharine. I also use salt free club soda.

Sheila

Non Food Rewards

We are doing an ABA-type speech therapy and, after a month of making nut cookies, merinque(plain) cookies, even bananas and pearsauce, I finally asked my therapist if we could do it without the treat. We are only giving her meat and veg now with limited pearsauce, so I didn't want to slow her progress with something sweet, or a cookie that she's not ready for. (she has intollerance to eggs-was dumb of me to give them to her so soon.)

She did great with just "good job, that's great, etc,) Maybe some hugs or proprioceptive deep squeezes or joint compressions while she's in the chair would be good, too.

The little toys are a great idea, but Elena would stop therapy and become fixated handling the little toys, I'm sure.

Paula (Elena, 2y9m, PDD, SCD 5 weeks)