As far as Thanksgiving specifics go, I am thankful for so very much, but especially this drawing that Alex brought home from school.
The kids had to draw their ideal Thanksgiving Feast. I’m sure most kids would put the traditional “Turkey Day” fare, but this is Alex’s design for the menu of his perfect Thanksgiving.
Why am I so grateful for this particular drawing? It took so much pressure, and potential criticism, off my shoulders. Alex and I cannot eat the Publix prepped bird and sides that my mom has gotten for the past few years. I also don’t trust most of her cooking as she tends to forget that most things like “broth” (for example) are not singular ingredients and if we ignore the labels on packaged foods we can wind up in deep doo-doo (as I found out last Christmas and wound up missing most of Christmas Day because I was too sick to even move).
So with only the two of us requiring special foods, and Alex not being a fan of any turkey except low-sodium Public deli turkey breast (and then he only seems to like it if it is given to him over the counter as a “taste”), I let out a big sigh of relief. This year, with my current level of fatigue, I did not have to brine and baste a turkey breast in the oven. I did not have to make stuffing and sweet potato casserole from scratch. Sure, I would have loved some roasted turkey that I could safely eat, but this fatigued state I’m in has also adjusted my appetite to next to nothing (I’m chasing my low blood sugars and adjusting my pump pretty constantly).
I prepped and chopped all of Alex’s menu items, and packed them bento lunchbox style and brought them to my Mom’s house.
He ate raw carrots (sliced into long planks), cantaloupe, bread (the express bread recipe that came with our bread machine tastes kind of like Carrabba’s bread when warm), herb dipping oil for the bread, american cheese, fritos (I forgot his garlic mill at home, but he was cool with it as he had specified that it was “optional”), deli turkey, and ice cream (though cookies and cream was specified, we couldn’t find any so he had Hagen Daas Chocolate Ice Cream. My dad even picked up a pint of it, so we had extra ice cream. You should have seen how wide Alex’s eyes got when he saw a freezer shelf with only ice cream that was safe for us to eat. He promised he’d let me have a taste. Such a sweet kid.
I also took a cucumber and used the peeler with the little cross blades. I ran it along the length of the cuke and it made long cucumber “spaghetti”…. I also made a tiny little batch of very light pumpkin fettucine and a few loaves of my crusty cheese bread (my mom requested it). Alex ate a nibble of the cucumber and a nibble of the fettucine. I was so proud of him for at least trying them. The fettucine didn’t seem too pumpkiny in flavor. I think the pumpkin, without the benefit of nutmeg or cinnamon, really brought out the eggy-ness of the pasta, even though I really just substituted a couple of tablespoons of pureed pumpkin (I’m still working through the case I bought from Amazon.com last year!) for one of the eggs and used a bit more semolina. The color was fantastic, but he wasn’t thrilled with it.
It was nice to see my parents and Uncle Richard, and to meet my parent’s friends from their community. Alex ran through his iPad battery fairly quickly, and then he occupied himself by playing with Gizmo (my mom’s “baby” Brussels Griffon rescue… He’s around 3 and such a sweet pup)…
I’m thankful that the day was fairly uneventful. I do wish that I had my appetite and the energy to cook a feast again this year. Maybe next year….
Now for the winter holiday season…
I’m going to take a nap first… Hope your Thanksgiving was mellow, happy, and low on conflict! :-)
xo
B
Tags: asd, aspergers, autism, canned pumpkin puree, dietary restrictions, fatigue, fettucine, G6PD deficiency, kid designed menu, Pasta, pumpkin, raw veggies, texture issues, thanksgiving
Accidental Thong 