Chicken nuggets for Jenn & Kali

[Guest guest]

Hi, Jenn and Kali! If Mc's nuggets are the main thing from holding you

back from being 100% SCD, have you considered making them yourself? Homemade

chicken nuggets are so much better-tasting than the processed things from McD's.

My daughter is 13 now, but McD's nuggets (and fries) used to be virtually the

only thing she would eat, until we went GFCF, soy-free, Feingold, etc, over the

years, then eventually went SCD recently.

Even though fried foods aren't on the beginner diet, you're not on the beginner

diet anyway with Kali getting McD nuggets, so maybe you could strive, as the

next step, to just get all her foods compliant. For SCD chicken nuggets, just

dip chicken tenders in egg that's been beaten, then into any nut flour with salt

and pepper added to taste. (Salt is important--it's a Mc's prime

ingredient :-) Then skillet-fry in any allowed oil. We like canola for taste,

but safflower is good, too. If your husband believes McD's is a treat, have him

taste the 2 nuggets side by side. Trust me, your SCD ones will win, hands down!

To help my daughter transition from her ritualistic activities as we've limited

her diet over the years, we've tried to duplicate the experiences she used to

enjoy as much as possible. We have had Smoothie stores, Mc's and

Starbucks all provide us SLEEVES of cups and food wrappers (when we just asked

for " a couple " from the person behind the counter!) You can put Kali's SCD

nuggets in McD's boxes, make some compliant honey mustard, BBQ sauce or ketchup

for dipping, if that's what she's used to (I have recipes you can try, if you

need any) and say a prayer, make a wish--whatever works for you.

The other option is just to avoid passing by McD's for a length of time. Make

some peanut butter caramels and bring those out as a treat, or an SCD baked good

that you all can enjoy together, while also watching your daughter: feel the

best she can feel; have the greatest chance for gut-healing; avoid the

deterioration that will likely happen if toxins from improperly-digested foods

continue to get to her brain. It's a beautiful thing--even more beautiful than

seeing your child wolf down a box of favorite fast-food nuggets.

We have consistently found, over 13 long years, that the transitions we thought

wasn't ready for, we (her mom and dad) actually weren't ready for. Once

we took the " bull by the horns, " created a plan, scheduled its implementation

and followed through with it, our daughter made the transition like it was no

big deal!

I'm not telling you this to make you feel bad for not yet having gone " 100%. " I

just want to give your Kali the greatest chance to avoid what my went

through. We literally watched her become more and more challenged with new and

greater autism symptoms, and are finally seeing huge improvement. CF helped

her, but she still deteriorated and had stomach pains; then GFCF helped her out

of another behavioral rut, but she slumped and deteriorated more after that

upswing. And as we studied her behavior, diagnosed her symptoms, and

continually adjusted her diet and probiotic (and other) supplementation, all the

evidence pointed ever-increasingly to exactly what Elaine Gottschall describes

in BTVC--GUT BUGS! Until we stopped feeding the gut bugs, she deteriorated.

We've stopped feeding the gut bugs, and we have our little girl (who's bigger

than me now, actually) back with us in a way she hasn't been with us in many

years. I don't need a scientist to tell me toxins from undigested food aren't

getting to her brain anymore; I can see from her behavior that her brain and

belly don't hurt her like they did just 2 months ago. She's now having BM's

every 2 to 3 days instead of every 2 weeks! (Now, that's pain--diarrhea behind

an impaction!) She's finally healing. She's ready for new things, and trying

harder than ever to " talk loud enough so Mom and Dad can hear you " because she

doesn't have that huge obstacle in her way anymore--the obstacle of intense pain

and the resultant " anxiety/fight or flight " experience that is one of her many

symptoms of autism.

Even if you don't change anything you're doing right now, Jenn, don't let

anything written here discourage you. 95% IS better than any lesser %age. Just

be encouraged that 100% is probably nearly within your reach. (But it's not

100% you're after, it's 0%--0% gut bugs! :-) If there's anything anyone here

can do to help Kali and all who love her onto that next step, just ask.

Nannette IBS, SCD 2 months

daughter, , autism, age 13, SCD 2 months