Life is like a box of chocolates

Forrest Gump said "My momma always said, "Life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get." If I knew his momma, I'd tell her that she would find some sort of food allergen in that box of chocolates. Seriously, I thought I was a pretty smart shopper, reading ingredients and doing all the jazzy research. I thought I was a smart mom who bought the finest products for her son Brek. Nope, not even closed. When I gave birth to Camden, he gave me and my family the biggest lesson in life... learning how to eat the right food.

I knew Camden would have issue with dairy. Since I was breastfeeding him, I started the food elimination. First, it was no dairy. When he wasn't feeling better, chicken eggs were eliminated. After 4 months, he was the same but inconstant. Some days were great, napping and nursing well. Some days weren't so great, screaming for hours. Then one night, I scanned a cookbook's glossary. There it was... caramel color is a product derived from corn. Light bulb moment. Long story short, I started to eliminate corn from my diet.

I was determine to cook and bake dairy, chicken eggs and corn free food for myself. After all, I was breastfeeding Camden, so I'd be the only one who needed this diet, right? Wrong! Corn is in everything! It was a challenge. Then all of the sudden, Nicole Jurain, founder of Corn Freedom, found me on Facebook support group and reached out to help me eliminate corn from my diet... well, pretty much from my life. With her help, it took another 4 months to eliminate corn and to see how happy Camden was.

Anybody can do this, right? Of course. Just take time and practice. I make it a mission!

Mission #1: learn to bake bread

I really missed eating bread as there wasn't a loaf of corn free bread in the supermarket. This mission became my 2011 New Year's Resolution. Mission was accomplished before the year ended. But I'm still perfecting a few recipes.



Camden's Elmo Birthday Cake

Mission #2: learn to make or bake something sweeter
I thought Brek only had dairy intolerance. After I witnessed Camden's reactions to corn, it brought back a lot of bad memories of night waking and similar reactions, including hiccups. Brek luvs sweet, and he always asks me for "something sweeter". I can't buy sweets because there is always the possibility of cross contamination. So why not learn to make them! This mission is on going. But I can tell you this much. Since I've baked nearly every day, I was able to bake Camden's 2nd birthday cake... his first birthday cake... which was free from dairy, chicken eggs, and corn. (He had a pumpkin muffin for his 1st birthday. Yes, I was still learning to bake back then).

Mission #3: learn to read labels and about the makeup of the raw or packaged food

This mission is on going. Com'on! Seriously! Do you know that lemons are coated with wax? Corn! Oh, you knew that? How about this one... pineapples were gassed to make them ripen faster? Yeah, that one was new to me too.

Mission #4: share my recipes and help others with similar food allergy/intolerance

Ta-da! I'm learning how to blog. I called my blog "Something Sweeter" as a dedication to my boys because life should include something sweeter... before, between, and after a good meal. I want to share recipes that I adapted from others and maybe able to help you learn how to make adjustments from your own favorite recipes. Of course, I'll add other savoury recipes too.

Let's get started.