Gluten/Egg/Dairy Free Oatmeal Cookies

Yes, you read that title correctly.  That's what is going down in our house right now.  Going gluten free, dairy free & egg free was not a decision I made lightly.  It took several doctors, an autism conference, food allergy testing and hours of research to convince me.  If you can't tell from my blog, i.love.gluten.  Eggs were actually the most difficult for me to remove and the food that Ava is the most sensitive to.  It's also her favorite food.  Imagine trying to make gluten free bread without any eggs!  I couldn't be happier now that we gave it a try.  Ava's behavior has improved, her vocabulary exploded & her digestion is moving the way it was made to.  Her last x-ray at the GI doctor showed she is all cleared out.  Her eczema is also totally gone.  We really don't eat a lot of "gluten free" products, just stick more to healthy fruits, veggies & protein as much as possible.  Ava's class is making oatmeal cookies, so her teacher asked me to send in some from home that are "Ava friendly". 

After searching the web I finally came across a recipe that I thought would work.  Since I was sending them to school, I added xanthan gum to help hold them together. 

Hello:)

Oh, hi!  It's been a while.  Lets see... since we last spoke we sold our home in Virginia, Ava was diagnosed with Autism, we moved to a temporary home in Texas, we then purchased a home in Texas & moved again...  Are we all caught up?  Okay good:)  Phew!

It's been a busy last few months.  I'm still catching my breath and unpacking.  Finding the right neighborhood, house, school district, therapist, etc.  It's been exhausting.  Zach has also been traveling a lot for work.  I was recently able to travel with him to London, so I can't complain too much about that;) 

Been A Little Busy

I guess you could say we've had a lot going on...

Frying Pan Farm Park

This weekend we visited Frying Pan Farm Park in Herndon, VA.  It's a free park run by Fairfax County.  Ava had a blast watching all of the farm animals.  I read about it in my new book Kid Trips.  If you live in the NOVA area and have kids, it's a great book to have! 

Cute Kidwell Barn filled with baby animals.

Ava was especially fond of the chickens.  I was especially happy when she moved on with all of her fingers UNpecked... ;) 

Fancy Japanese Manicure

 

While in Japan I asked my friend Rie where I could get a fun Japanese style manicure.  I've read on a few fashion blogs that Japanese girls have the most fun and wild nail styles... so I knew I couldn't leave without that as a souvenir!!  She set up an appointment with her friend in the town Niiza outside of Tokyo where she grew up and still lives.

Rie's friend Mihoko runs her fun nail business Duca out of her home.  She told me she had a regular job for a while, then decided that designing nails was something she really wanted to do.  She trained for several years before she opened her own business.

She had the most adorable apartment.  Everywhere I looked was so cute and you can tell she put a lot of thought into each little vignette. 

It made the experience much more special because I felt like I was getting such a special manicure that not just anyone could get.  You had to know someone who knew her:)

She had so many cute designs to choose from, but I decided to go with her "Scandinavian Style" design.  I put my own stamp on it by getting a little kitty cat on my ring finger.