My parents like to tell stories of when I was a young child. One of their favorite memories is of me trying to help my grandmother, who lived with us until she passed away, cook one of her famous dishes. The specific dish has been forgotten, but the memory of me hanging on to the side of our kitchen table, trying to see into the bowl still lives on.
Our house was famous for Christmas cookies, we made huge batches every year, and I wanted to carry on our traditions of cooking and baking as a family. But since we are gluten free, sometimes it can be hard to carry on with those traditional recipes. (Just as a note, we are no longer casein free! After 3 years on the GFCF diet, and years of trying to control yeast and heal Matthew’s gut, we have successfully, and uneventfully, added milk back into our diet. I still limit it’s use, but we finally get to take the kids out for soft serve ice cream. A summertime necessity!)
So I decided to make some of our own traditions. Matthew’s school is encouraging summer reading, so I went to the library and checked out a few books recommended for his age range. We selected a book called Chicks and Salsa by Aaron Reyonlds. The boys loved the book, where the chickens on the farm decide they need something spicier to eat and make up a delicious salsa. But I think the most exciting part of the book was found on the inside, back cover, where Mr. Reynolds included recipes for salsa, guacamole and nachos. Matthew begged to make the salsa. I had him write the grocery list. I read the ingredients and he sounded them out while writing them on the list. I loved watching him try to spell cilantro!
Because they are still too young to roast the tomatoes and onions, and to chop the veggies, I got all the ingredients prepped and waiting in bowls. Then I let the boys pour, mix and season the salsa. They loved it and I don’t think there has ever been better tasting salsa in the world, at least to the boys. Daily, Matthew asked to eat it as a snack with corn chips.
Now the boys help me make pancake batter, pouring the vanilla and always sniffing the lid. So yummy smelling. I even have Matthew make his own “Mexican Pizza” ( our home version of a tostada), he spreads the beans and sour cream, then grates the cheese and adds the cilantro. He even helps me cut them.
The boys love to cook and they seem to be better eaters when they are involved. It makes the food become more real to them. Matthew has started asking questions about nutrition and why we make some of the decisions we do. Such as the fact that we don’t eat at McDonald’s, and how we don’t think the food is healthy for our bodies. How certain restaurants use corn fed beef cattle, and Matthew knows that cows don’t eat corn! He also knows that artificial color, flavors and sweeteners are not healthy choices, and therefore we very rarely choose items that contain them – never artificial sweeteners, we see no need for that ever.
It feels good to see my kids getting involved and growing. Plus, I love that Matthew’s body is healing. Well, all of our bodies are healing. We make conscious choices to eat real food, and when we decide not to, we are aware of what we are doing.
As I’ve said before, I would never ask for autism, but the lessons I’ve learned are priceless. I wonder if I would ever had learned these lessons if my son hadn’t been a “canary in the coal mine”. (look it up if you don’t get the reference – canaryParty.org).
Stay well, enjoy the summer and go cook up something delicious with your kids this weekend!
