Pumpkin cake made easy

So we are always trying to find new desserts that work for everybody. however it seems like everytime I try to make something home made for gavin he wants nothing to do with it. although I am convinced that they usually taste good, I think he secretly think that I'm trying to poison him. so instead of making a dessert for him tonight, I made one for me!

It was super easy, low calorie, and actually good for you!  So it's time to pull out that leftover can of pumpkin puree that you have in the cupboard that's probably close to expiring and put it to good use. here's what you need:

1 egg mixed
1 c pumpkin puree
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp honey

It works best in the ceramic bowl. first mix the egg up nice and scrambled . then add the cup of pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie spice. mix until blended well. put it in the microwave for approximately 6 minutes or until the mixture is no longer watery. place the bowl in the refrigerator for a minimum of 20 minutes. immediately prior to serving, drizzle the honey on top. and you've got yourself an entire cake that you can enjoy! and not only is it good for you, it's gluten free, dairy free, soy free,  peanut free, and tree nuts free!

Officially an allergy mom

So if it wasn't a strong enough feeling being the crazy mom in the aisles of the grocery store reading every label as if it a contract guarding my soul, today topped the cake as far a me realizing that I'm officially and allergy mom!   This past weekend Gavin suffered his first allergic reaction that scared me into action.  He had had a cough and cold for about two days already when this all went down and initially I thought that's what was going on... A rough coughing fit.  

I had been meal prepping and making shrimp for the following day when my youngest distracted me away from the stove.   The shrimp and the seasoning stuck to the pan creating a little smoke by the time I had gotten back to it.   Gavin was extremely tired and coughing.  He kept telling me that he wanted to go to bed.   So I told him to go upstairs while I cleaned up and got everything off the stove.   When I got upstairs,  he was coughing uncontrollably and began wheezing.   I had never heard this before and a million things ran through my head!   Finally it dawned on me that shellfish was a top allergen and he was reacting.  

I got him out of bed and into the porch but it still wasn't away enough for him.   I put him in the can and was planning on rushing him over to the hospital.  He needed a breathing treatment or something!   However the strangest thing happened and within three minutes,  his cough was gone and his breathing was normal.   We drove around that night for about 2 hours while I waited for the house to clear.   And on Monday I got on the phone with every doctor he had.   There were no emergency plans in place should something like this happen and have escalated.   My only option was benadryl.   The allergist scheduled new testing and called us in a script.   He now has his epi pen Jr.   I thought that having that would bring me comfort but it's brought an overwhelming sense of anxiety.   Knowing he has food allergies is one thing,  having to handle the reaction is another.   But I'd rather be prepared just in case then feel like I've got nothing.   I just wish there was a magic pill!  

So the good thing is that I know how to use this thing after years of being a red cross Instructor so I stopped at my mom's,  gave her the extra and provided the lesson.

1) remove the blue pin lid
2) hold the sides with a grip
3) using some force,  jab the epi pen into the Thigh of the individual in need of care until you hear it click
4) hold it there for 10 seconds
5) call 911

We practiced a couple times then found a spot where the kids couldn't accidently get it.   I'm not sure if it should stay in my purse or the cupboard?  Do I get a cool pouch from Etsy?  Do I get a couple extras for school and my purse?   Not quite sure how to handle this one...

Replacing the Egg

So there are a ton of questions as to what you feed your child when you introduce an elimination diet.  From the beginning I decided that we were going to keep soy as a safe food.  Two years ago, we had attempted an elimination diet when his blood test for allergens came back positive for EVERYTHING except cod.  The soy level was so low though, I kept it in his diet and removed the rest without issues.  Kick me now for not staying with that and listening to the allergist who told me it was a fluke!  Live and learn, I guess.  But moving up to current situation, this kid wants to live off of Gluten free oatmeal and enjoy life chocolate chips.  Although I can't really blame him, I need to ensure a few more nutrients.  He may only be four but he is been influenced enough by though around him to see "healthy foods" as foods that don't taste a good...this could be because I am in no way a good cook, but also because it isn't processed and loaded with sugar so we have been slowly working our way to healthier and cleaner foods.  But he misses fun food!!  So now my job is to make healthy food fun...ok game on!  

We play the game of hide the nutrients!!!  How many of you moms do this?  I'm hoping and praying it's not just me! Do your kids have food that they love that they wouldn't notice a little extra?  I LOVE baking with alternatives to do this.  Since we can't have eggs, this is the perfect opportunity to replace them with good foods.  There are so many egg replacements.  Here are a few of our favorites:





*Banana - ½ pureed Banana, abt 1/4 cup = 1 egg

*Flax seeds - 1 tbsp ground Flax seeds + 3 tbsp Water = 1 egg

*Pumpkin Puree - 1/3 cup of cooked pumpkin = 1 egg

*Applesauce - 1/3 cup applesauce = 1 egg or ¼ cup Applesauce + 1 tsp Baking Powder 

*Chia Seed - 1 tbsp ground chia seed + 3 tbsp water = 1 egg 


Baking with egg replacements can be tricky, especially when you have to remove the gluten as well so I prefer to do anything that includes yeast with Chia seeds since they expand. It's kind of like cheating! For pancakes, waffles, scones, and muffins; I prefer the fruits and veggies.  I will also mix and match to get dun flavors.  I always like to toss a little nutritional shake mix into the mix as well just to make sure I've got all the vitamins and minerals covered. Check back for recipes to be posted soon!


I would love to hear about your tips and tricks as an allergy free family!  Sharing is so important when you're doing everything you can to keep yourself and your families healthy!

Lisa Fickenworth

My kid has what!?! The EoE diagnosis

Today, Gavin is 4 and so close to becoming five but as I think back to the beginning, I knew...I knew that there was something going on and it scared the living daylights out of me!  Gavin was born on April 13, 2010, full term. However starting on March 17th we began to have questions.  His heart rate was jumping and at times would just disappear.  If I would lie still and he would be calm, he was fine but activity caused a decrease in vitals.  On April 13th, I was induced due to gestational diabetes (the only pregnancy of three that I had it btw). We were about to deliver and he wouldn't drop.  His heart rate kept disappearing and the next thing I knew I was signing papers, drinking something, and being rushed to the OR by myself, scared to death.. The last thing I remember was the doctor yelling, where the hell is the anesthesiologist.  Nothing like stress to start off your life!  I woke up who knows how long after and the room was empty except for the nurse sitting on the gurney next to me.  You won't believe it, she said, "he is perfect!"  She was right, I never believed it...he came into the world with the cord wrapped around the top of his head so every time he would become active and push his head into my body, he would cut off his circulation.  I don't know if this affected anything, but it left me with this gut instinct that there were long term effects that would eventually surface.

Honestly, he was a good baby. I don't ever remember him being overly fussy.  Just that he vomited...a lot.  We used to call him the "mad puker."  However whenever we talked to the doctors, we refused medical intervention because he did not seem uncomfortable.  We started noticing early on that lots of activity would almost immediately induce cold-like symptoms. Within an hour of leaving a play place of some sort, he was sneezing, snotting, and tugging at his ears. I guess we thought it was coincidence at first.  He had tubes put in his ears at age two. We tested him for allergies and his IgE was crazy high and the bloodwork should up positive for all food allergies except cod.  I went into panic.  We took him in for the scratch test and the foods presented as negative.  The allergist literally wrote it off as a fluke.  The tubes did wonders but eventually grew out. I continued to see his doctor with concern of something, but never able to really identify it other than he puked a lot and would go right on his way like nothing ever happened.  However, once he turned 4, he stopped gaining weight and I started to push.  After many many appointments of people telling me it was likely reflux and he would grow out of it, I said that's not enough. We made an appointment with a GI specialist.  However right before that i took him to a natural wellness center and her testing indicated parasites.  hmmm, i thought. I guess that was possible.  I waited to treat since we were going to the GI and figured I could test it first.  Blood work, stool samples, upper GI barium x-ray and everything came back negative.  The only thing elevated were his IgE levels.  So they referred us to the allergist at the Childrens Hospital in Pittsburgh.  The earliest appointment was about a 3 month wait.

In the meantime, he got sick...again. His eye blew up like he had been in a boxing ring and i took him to our PCP.  He treated it as an allergic reaction and he thought he had polyps in his nose so he prescribed flonase.  Over the course of the next two weeks, what I thought was one polyp turned into two.  Enough being enough, I called an ENT at Childrens in Pittsburgh and they got us right in. That day he reviewed his history, completed some scans and scheduled him for surgery.  He was to have his adenoids removed and while he was under he was going to do a scope of nasal passage for polyps and another of his esophagus to complete the follow up for reflux. He was already taking previcid and still vomiting. Gavin immediately is sleeping better. Less snoring, better breathing, but still puking. We go for the follow up and the doctor said that his biopsy tested positive for eosinophilic esophagitis and I need to follow up with the GI.  He gave me a super brief description, made it sound so simple and left the room.  I sat there waiting for the discharge papers thinking WHAT???  I had to ask the nurse to write it down on the papers since I could ever regurgitate what he said.  Then we drove 2 hours back home to wait for the allergist appt and the GI follow up.

I guess I thought having this name written down on the paper was going to make it easier but the truth is, I had never heard of EoE. So I did what anyone my generation does when we don't know something and I googled...and I googled...and I googled!

Holy smokes, this was nothing like I thought! As I read about how the eosinophils attack food like a parasite, I immediately thought back to that wellness appointment. She was totally onto something and I am planning to go back to that avenue soon. But the more information I read, the more I started to panic. This was a no joke diagnosis with no definitive direction. I turned to facebook, I turned to parents of other EoE kids and I learned. I did nothing for days but researching and asking questions.  I didn't have a doctors appointment for over two months but I wasn't waiting for answers, i was going to make them. So, this is how the journey started. A kid that puked A LOT, got sick frequently, had high IgE's, and showed like he was allergic to everything but in turn, tested negative to every allergen.  Crazy right!?!  I think so, but I was happy for a name to it and ready to individualize the treatment to Gavin and get him better.

What the heck is EoE?

So here we are,  we have this great diagnosis written in the back of the discharge papers from the ENT and after a couple hours of Google,  I think maybe there's a mistake.  And maybe there could be but the fact is that even if that were true,  I've already been introduced to this world,  to the parents who struggle tears everyday for their childrens health,  to the adults who weren't diagnosed soon enough,  and to the kids who have the strength of 10,000 men to be able to endure what they do so there is no going back.   I have always been an advocate for others.  My profession background has been working with teens who had mental health and substance abuse problems and those who have intellectual and physical disabilities.  I've always been a voice for others.   But now that we're working  through the struggle,  I have become our advocate.  My passion and profession is to help people change their lives through health,  fitness,  personal development,  and financial freedom.  So I now have a responsibility to my son to take this skill that I am learning and pay it forward to the next set of eyes that hears this diagnosis.   

With all that being said,  let me get to the point...

Eosinphillic esophigitis sucks!   There is no way around it,  and that's just the honest truth.   I'm not a doctor and this is not an official description of EoE but it's the vest way I've learned to describe it.  Basically your body treats food like it's a parasite.  Your white blood cells (the eosinphils)  head up to your esophagus as you eat.  These eosinphils leave scarring that can form rings around your esophagus squeezing it tight making it difficult to swallow.  Any food can be a trigger and cause a flare up.  Flares don't always happen in the throat.   Vomiting is one of our most frequent however,  Gavin also gets swelling in his eyes,  itching in his ears,  swelling in his nose,  eczema,  and what we think is asthma at this point.   The worst part is that the only way to tell if something is a trigger food is to try it.   Most allergy tests won't identify it.   Gavin for instance has zero allergies when the scratch tests are given.   Basically once someone is diagnosed,  they eliminate the top allergens for the diet and start there.   If there are still eosinphils present,  they eliminate more.   In some cases,  these children are fed liquid amino diets through ng tubes and G tubes.  Then one food is reintroduced at a time after healing has occurred.   Children experience many scopes and procedures to determine pass/fail of food trials and it's a life of ingredient reading and cross contamination hell honestly.   It changes our lives and the lives of those around us.  

Our children become different.  They have different foods and different ways of eating.  People hear me talking about the crazy hybrid of paleo /vegan meal plan I've created and don't understand why it's not ok to just let him have a slice of cake or some ice cream as an occasional treat.  Sure,  I tell them.  Go ahead and give him to him, but make sure you don't like the shoes you're wearing because he'll likely immediately have a reaction all over them. This is not something I'd wish upon anyone.  And the fact that it likely could have been prevented by the government never allowing gmos and hormones to be put into our food supply makes me angry.  The more chemicals  in the food,  the more harm it is doing to our culture but we will fight.  And we will heal with real nutrition!   That is our purpose.