PANDAS/PANS + Thanksgiving = Stress. Let’s face it Thanksgiving can be stressful even if everyone in your family is healthy, and if you have a child with PANDAS it can be downright unbearable. There’s this idea of “the “Norman Rockwell” picture perfect holiday, which is just not reality. Thanksgiving is also difficult because many of our children have developed an intolerance to dairy and gluten so to make dinner for others that might not be gluten and dairy free is so hard especially when it’s a dinner focused around enormous amounts of cream, butter, flour and sugar. But the other option is to make double(gf/df version and a regular version) of some of the dishes, which I’ve done and don’t recommend because this can add its own level of stress. There are so many recipes available to us now and also you can also take a step back from your tried and true recipes and use dairy free butter instead or olive oil, use almond or coconut milk. As for flours the all purpose gluten free flour works well in gravies there is also a Bob’s Red Mill pie crust mix. If you are new to gluten free dairy free cooking don’t be afraid it will become easier over time.
Keeping the Energy Balanced
I’ve been reflecting on our past Thanksgivings and thinking about some strategies that we used to get through the day. When my daughter was at her height of symptoms, we would do some crazy things before anyone came over like smudging our house with herbs. Putting special salts around our house in hopes to capture any negative energy. I’m not really sure if smudging or putting salts outside the door or in certain corners of the house did anything but, we did set an intention to get out any negative energy and simply by doing this we felt better. If your child can tolerate essential oils we always put a dab on before having guests or going to guests home. You can also try diffusing lavender it’ll relax everyone and smells good too.
Have a Game Plan
Making a game plan ahead of time can really save you from meltdowns and tears and unwanted additional stress. My daughter was old enough that we would talk about what the day would look like and what to expect. Because she was so sensitive, with this business of everyone together it would become too overwhelming. So, we created some strategies for how to get by or if need be how she could disappear without much notice. We would sometimes pull out possible games to play with the other kids or crafts, we would say ahead of time that she has some work to do so she might have to go to her room to do it for a bit, mentioned that she didn’t feel well so she might go lay down. Just talking about the day and even role playing a bit really helped her have a framework and a little structure in her mind. If you are at someone else’s house again try to have some type of game plan/exit strategy so if you have to leave it’s not altogether unexpected. Traveling can also make things incredibly difficult as well, so make sure to have snacks, games, crafts and of course don’t forget to pack the supplements and your child’s homeopathic remedy.
Dealing with family
Family members, extended family and friends have a very difficult time accepting and understanding PANDAS/PANS they think the children are misbehaved and the parents have bad parenting skills. Unless they are living through it themselves, they cannot understand what it’s like to have a child that is sensitive to everything; noise, smells, tastes and textures. It’s also important to consider that if someone else, maybe a carrier of strep or a virus, our PANDAS kids usually pick up on that too and sometimes will go into a flare.
It’s hard to have normal conversations with family members because all you can think about is your PANDAS/PANS child. Sometimes, it’s best not to discuss what’s going on or the new therapies you’re trying or what your newest doctor suggested. We parents have so much information that we’d like to share and it’s really hard to convey over dinner in such a brief amount of time what we are actually going through. Better to stay brief and maybe print out a brochure from PANDAS Network, or write down some websites like PANDAS Physicians Network to check out or suggest a movie like Stolen Childhood.
The Food
Our first Thanksgiving that my daughter was gluten free we were going to a friends house and I made gluten free rolls. I have to say I’m really a good cook but these rolls were awful. It was one of my first attempts of baking gluten free. It took me a while to get into the swing of gluten free baking, now I love it and I prefer many of my gluten free items to regular flour. If you’re making Thanksgiving dinner I wanted to give a few suggestions that are gluten free and dairy free so you don’t have to search on the internet. The key is to do as much as you can in advance so on Thanksgiving you are minimizing your workload and stress because with our kids you never know what might come up. Remember nothing is perfect and if you have to skip making a side or not make something from scratch it’s okay have a glass of wine, put your favorite music on, do some mindfulness, do whatever it takes to decrease your stress of the day.
The Turkey
Good news is you can do your favorite recipe and instead of using butter, use a dairy-free butter or olive oil. But if you’d like a good recipe try this by Ina Garten just substitute the butter for non dairy https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/perfect-roast-turkey-recipe4-1943576
The Stuffing
Here are two the first is no grain and the second is with gluten free bread.
https://40aprons.com/best-paleo-stuffing/
https://www.glutenfreepalate.com/gluten-free-stuffing/
The Sides
Sometimes the best part of the Thanksgiving meal can be the sides, often where our gf/df recipes can shine. So here are a few links for takes on the classic green beans, mashed potatoes, and general vegetable goodness.
https://minimalistbaker.com/vegan-green-bean-casserole/ (uses flour sub GF flour)
https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1015335-olive-oil-mashed-potatoes
https://theprettybee.com/easy-gluten-free-gravy/
https://minimalistbaker.com/butternut-pecan-sweet-potato-casserole/
https://www.delish.com/holiday-recipes/thanksgiving/g3016/vegan-thanksgiving-recipes/?slide=15
https://www.thespruceeats.com/sweet-cranberry-sauce-with-blueberries-3377810
ROLLS as I mentioned, I found a bit of difficulty with gluten free rolls my first time around but here’s a recipe I found so you don’t have to! https://www.mamaknowsglutenfree.com/gluten-free-dinner-rolls/
The Pies
Thanksgiving wouldn’t be the same without pumpkin, apple and pecan pie you can buy/make vegan ice cream or make whipped cream with coconut cream.
https://minimalistbaker.com/vegan-gluten-free-pumpkin-pie/
https://www.makingthymeforhealth.com/vegan-pumpkin-gingerbread-pie/ ( I use GF/DF gingersnap or cinnamon graham crackers)
https://www.onelovelylife.com/scrumptious-apple-crumble-pie/ (sub butter for no dairy butter)
https://www.allergyfreealaska.com/gluten-free-apple-pie/
https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/gluten-free-pecan-pie-3414390
https://tasty.co/recipe/the-best-vegan-vanilla-ice-cream
https://minimalistbaker.com/how-to-make-coconut-whipped-cream/
Happy Thanksgiving wishing your family as stress free of a day as it can be, hoping you will enjoy the day!