Paleo Diet and Paleolithic Diet Questions & Answers

Question

2

I have an almost 3 year old who is gluten-intolerant, but loves his carbs. Any ideas on how to wean him of his morning piece of rice toast? It is, for the most part, the onlygrains he gets. He has tons of food sensitivities, and I really worry about the grain/leaky gut connection. I also don't want him to feel like he's losing one of his favorite things! Help!

flag	asked Mar 14 2010 at 21:31 Mama J 1,499●1●10●19

	How does he react currently? Does he demand it every morning? What would happen if you just put out some eggs for him? Maybe a bacon/egg smiley face? – Bread-Eating Beelzebub Mar 14 2010 at 21:33
	I could use this advice too. Fortunately our daughter doesn't seem to have any allergies, but everyday she asks for pancakes. We relent on the weekends and she gets excited like it's her birthday. We try to downplay the wheat, but she learned to love them completely on her own. – PortlandAllan Mar 15 2010 at 0:31
	He demands it. Every. Morning. It's really hard, because we started giving him rice bread in the last year, and over time it became his favorite thing. It felt harmless enough, as he never ate much of it. But it's all he wants to eat now. He does live him some bacon, though. How do you feel about a slice of organic bacon every morning? I fear the in-law's reaction, but they have more or less accepted my "strange" ways thus far ("what do you mean he can't have ice cream, cotton candy and hot dogs at the zoo? He's already two years old!") – Mama J Mar 15 2010 at 3:28
	Bacon is AOK of course! It's what I have every morning! I wonder if children's addiction to starch (which seems pretty common) is tied to a natural desire for easily digestible things. Does he like broth? – Bread-Eating Beelzebub Mar 15 2010 at 13:20
	He actually loves broth. I wonder about the GAPS diet. Isn't hat about easy digestability? – Mama J Mar 15 2010 at 21:34

Mady · Accepted Answer · 2010-03-15 01:33:42Z UTC

I think that the trick is to replace it with something that feels like a big treat. My 4 year old daughter is a fan of the apple omelets in this post. Other treats are avocado and bacon, and also pumpkin pudding. Smoothies can be good too, as are berries with fresh cream if you do dairy. An alternative is to make mini fritatta in decoratively shaped muffin tins. I think you can find cars and bugs at a craft store, and if you make them the day before you can decorate them together before baking with meat or veggies. Or, if you have metal cookie cutters, you can put them in the skillet and break the egg into them and it will cook in that shape.

Blue -the Thrifty Mom · Answer 2 · 2010-03-15 13:12:57Z UTC

5

Honestly, if it was ME I'd say: just stop giving it to him. I'm the momma, I decide.

I've never catered to my kids. I fix three hot, healthy meals from scratch (almost) every single day. The rule is, after taking one bite of everything, if you don't want to eat, then you get down from the table.

No fussing, no weeping, no making special stuff to appease any little tyrants, and no telling me you are hungry later. There's plain, good food there, they'll eat when they get hungry.

Nobody is gonna die. Kids won't starve themselves. And no one will suffer any damage from missing a meal (or two!) and they'll learn that you can't always get what you want.

JMHO, of course! This is what I did/do with MY kids and I've got 5 (ages 8-3) great eaters.:)

answered Mar 15 2010 at 13:12

Blue -the Thrifty Mom
2,773●7●17

	You're right, and, for the most part, I have done his. Most folks consider him a great eater, and think I'm just too strict. Part of the problem is that his dad is not paleo (not yet ;) and h loves bread. I doesn't feel fair for his dad to have it when he can't, even though he's used to having gluten-free subs. Do your kids get snacks throughout the day? How do you get thm to eat meals that aren't their favorite and not just binge on snacks? Our snacks are healthy, but he'd sometimes rather eat a pound of nuts or yogurt and drink a gallon of milk than eat a "meal". Thanks! – Mama J Mar 15 2010 at 21:41
	At 2-3 I think it's still pretty normal to eat tons of one food or another. As long as they're eating good healthy food and the nutrition comes out pretty balanced over a week or so, I'd call it good and trust that the child knows what they're doing. My kids often make a token effort at dinner (a bite or two of everything) and fill up on the bedtime snack (yogurt or milk and jerky). It is really hard to get kids off of bread when a parent is still eating it. You might have to transition them both at the same time. : ) – puddlefoot Mar 16 2010 at 14:46
	We're not big on snacks all day. I fix a huge breakfast, then we eat a small dinner, then I make something big - meat and veg for supper. If they get peckish between dinner and supper, I'll let them have some yoghurt or a piece of raw fruit. Like puddlefoot said, if they fill up on fruit at snack and then pick at supper, I just shrug it off. They'll be hungry by breakfast! :) – Blue -the Thrifty Mom Jul 4 2010 at 14:33

puddlefoot · Answer 3 · 2010-03-15 01:51:35Z UTC

3

I wanted to wean my girls away from their morning toast too. I started by telling them to eat their eggs first and then they could have their toast. After a while, they forgot to ask for the toast. I do the same on the days that their dad makes french toast or waffles, eggs first, then you can have the junk food.

I've also had luck with just not buying things. I refuse to buy crackers anymore, and now nobody misses them.

answered Mar 15 2010 at 1:51

puddlefoot
257●2●5

	Yeah, I've been trying that lately, but it seems to make him hate the thing I ask him to eat even more. I think I might try switching to a less sweet/appetizing bread first, and then try to wean him off that. Thanks for your help! – Mama J Mar 15 2010 at 3:37
	I did switch my girls over to sourdough first (do they make sourdough rice bread?) which might have made them less interested in it. I also cook their eggs in lots of butter/bacon grease and they get bacon or ham with their eggs. We also do raw milk at breakfast with a shot of cream added in. Basically, I deluge them with fat and after that they're not really hungry for carbs. – puddlefoot Mar 15 2010 at 16:09
	I recently made some rice sourdough from homemade starter. That's a good idea, I'll try switching first (he didn't like that bread as much). – Mama J Mar 15 2010 at 21:46

henny · Answer 4 · 2010-03-14 21:58:18Z UTC

Have you heard of One Minute Muffins? They are made in a cup in the microwave and go something like this:

1/4 cup flax meal (might sub with almond flour?) 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1 packet splenda packet 1 teaspoon cinnamon 1 large egg 1 teaspoon butter

Put the dry ingredients in a coffee mug.

Stir, then add the egg and the butter. Mix.

Microwave 1 minute (or more). Take out. slice, butter, eat.

Cream cheese would go nicely, too.

Notes: 11.1 total carbs, 8.8 fiber, for 2.3 net carbs.

The shape of this can be changed by making it in a bowl.

It can be "toasted" once it's cooked.

The cinnamon can be replaced. I would imagine that any sugar free syrup could be added.

Per serving: 235 Calories; 18g Fat (63% calories from fat); 12g Protein; 11g Carbohydrate; 223mg Cholesterol; 284mg Sodium

When I miss regular toast- I make this, cool and toast.

gilliebean · Answer 5 · 2010-03-15 04:40:42Z UTC

You're the cave-momma! Put your club down! ;)

...

Here's a recipe for Primal Pancakes. I say primal because they're not fully paleo. These might be a good "carb-like" alternative for a while. :)

Primal Pancakes

2 eggs

2 teaspoon stevia (optional)

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups blanched almond flour/meal

1/2 teaspoon celtic sea salt (optional)

1/2 teaspoon baking soda (optional)

lard or coconut oil for frying

In a food processor, combine eggs, stevia and vanilla and blend on high until smooth Add almond flour, salt and baking soda and blend again to incorporate dry ingredients into batter.

Let batter sit for 15-20 minutes to thicken up. Warm oil or lard in a large cast iron skillet over medium heat. Ladle pancake batter onto skillet - one 1/4 cup at a time.

Pancakes will form little bubbles, when bubbles open, flip pancakes over and cook other side. Remove from heat to a plate. Repeat process with remaining batter, adding more oil to skillet as needed.

Makes 12 pancakes.

I modified this recipe from Elana's website. I tried it once with coconut flour. Didn't work at all. Almond meal is the way to go. I use the almond meal from Trader Joe's.

How to wean toddler off bread?

5 Answers