Welcome To Kaitlynn's Place

Kaitlynn was born September 29th, 2004. We have seen neurology specialists from St. Louis to New Orleans since she was born. Unfortunately, we still do not have a definitive diagnosis for Kaitlynn. The best guess her doctors have to offer is mitochondrial disease.

Scallops in Creole Vermouth Cream Sauce | Notecook

10:52 PM Posted In , , , , , Edit This 4 Comments »

Scallops in Creole Vermouth Cream Sauce | Notecook

This quick and easy recipe makes it look like you’ve slaved away…when really you haven’t. Makes four appetizer servings or two main course servings.

Read more: http://notecook.com/main-course/fish/scallops-in-creole-vermouth-cream-sauce/#ixzz12DPvSZ7r


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Stuffed Shrimp in Hollandaise Sauce | Notecook

10:31 PM Posted In , , , , Edit This 6 Comments »

Stuffed Shrimp in Hollandaise Sauce | Notecook

When my favorite restaurant closed last year and I could no longer get their Stuffed Shrimp In Hollandaise Sauce, I had to come up with my own recipe. Hope everyone enjoys it.

Read more: http://notecook.com/main-course/fish/stuffed-shrimp-in-hollandaise-sauce/#ixzz12DKUTM5N


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How To Find Clinical Trials

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Clinical trials are essentially human biomedical or health-related research studies that follow a pre-defined protocol. These trials can be interventional (addresses whether experimental treatments or new ways of using known therapies are safe and effective under controlled environment) and observational studies (address health issues in large groups of people or populations in natural settings.)

By becoming part of a clinical trial, you not only proactively participate in your own health care and gain early access to cutting edge treatment, you also contribute to the treatment and research of the disease you are afflicted with.

I get questions all the time about clinical trials. Many parents of special needs children are overwhelmed when it comes to finding a clinical trial that is disease, age, and location appropriate. I watch the clinical trial scene religiously for an idiopathic/mitochondrial disease clinical trial that fits my daughter. The two websites that I find easiest to use, reliable, and always current are:

CenterWatch


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This site has a little of everything. It is an excellent source to find news, directories, analysis, and listings of clinical research. If you are unfamiliar with clinical trials, the site breaks down the process in an easy to understand manner. You can search clinical trials and find out the who, what, when, where, and how of each trial; search for drug information; review already completed trials; and sign up for e-mail alerts about specific clinical trials. Start your search at CenterWatch.

ClinicalTrials.gov 

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This site includes current information on federally and privately supported clinical trials for a wide range of diseases and conditions. Search by topic, keyword, disease, location, etc.. Studies are updated daily. At the moment, there are 91,384 trials listed on the site. ClinicalTrials.gov was developed by The National Institutes of Health (NIH) and The Food and Drug Administration (FDA…so users can rest assured that the listings are all legit. Start your search at ClinicalTrials.gov. 



If you have any questions, feel free to leave them in the comment section:)

How to Make Homemade Baby and Pureed Foods

10:40 AM Posted In , , , , Edit This 1 Comment »
Have you ever considered making your own baby food? Whether you are the parent of a special needs child that needs pureed food or the parent of a baby just starting out to eat, making your own baby food has many benefits.

Benefits:

  • Assurance that the proper hygiene was used to prepare the food.
  • Assurance of nutritious value, freshness, and filler free food.
  • Satisfaction of custom making baby food that best suits your child’s tastes.
  • Ability to make the baby food organic, vegan, or any other lifestyle that you abide by.
  • It’s cheaper than prepackaged baby food.
  • It can be made and stored in bulk.



Basic Methods to Cook Baby Food:

  1. Baking
  2. Boiling
  3. Microwaving
  4. Steaming

   
Steaming is one of the best methods to keep all the food nutrients intact. With steaming, the nutrients are cooked into the food. If you don’t have an electric steamer,  just place the food in a colander and place the colander over a pot of boiling water, then cover the colander with aluminum foil or a lid. Microwaving also keeps in most of the foods nutrients. If the food is something that you wouldn’t bake for yourself, then don’t bake it for baby either. When boiling foods, be sure to put as little water as possible in pan. You lose a lot of the nutrients when you boil foods in a lot of water. 


Once you have cooked the baby food, you can move on to getting it to an age appropriate and swallowing ability texture and consistency. For older kids with good swallowing ability, a simple mash, food mill, or chop in the food processor is suffice. The texture will still be a little lumpy by just mashing the baby food up.  For smoother textures, use an emulsifying blender. Add water, stock, juice, milk, etc.. to the blender a little at a time until you get the food to the right consistency for your child.

Storing Baby Food

Refrigerator
You have to store baby food just as you would the food that you eat. If you have made enough baby food for just 2 or 3 days, then store it in on the refrigerator shelf in an airtight container. Dip each serving out as you use it. Do not feed baby from the food container, as it can grow bacteria. 

Freezer

You can make large batches of baby food and save yourself a lot of time. Once the prepared baby food has cooled, pour it into ice trays. Cover the ice tray with saran wrap and freeze till solid. Remove the baby food just as you would ice cubes. Place cubed baby food into freezer bags. Label freezer bags with type of food and date prepared. There are also specialty baby food trays on the market, but I find a 30 cent ice tray works just as well. Now, you have individual servings of baby food that you can thaw individually and use as needed. It takes about four hours to thaw in the fridge or you can microwave for 20-30 seconds. An entire months worth of baby food in just one day.


That is all there is to it. Simple, affordable, healthy, and fast….who could ask for anything more~

As far as recipes, your imagination is the limit. Of course, follow the pediatricians’ cardinal rule of only introducing one new baby food four days to new eaters. The pediatrician should also give you a list of foods that are high allergens. Aside from that, get inventive with your recipes. Here are some examples:



Peach and Ricotta Cheese
Ingredients:
1 peach
2 drops of  lemon juice
2 tbsp ricotta cheese
1 drop of pure vanilla

Method:
Cut the peach in half and remove the pit.
Rub 1 drop of lemon juice on each half of the peach.
Roast on a baking dish, cut side up, at 425 degrees for 20-30 minutes.
Allow peach to completely cool.
Mash peach flesh with ricotta.
Stir in vanilla.

Brown Rice with Pumpkin and Peach

Ingredients:
1/2 cup cooked brown rice
1 cup of peeled and diced pumpkin
1 cup of peeled and diced peach
2 tbsp chicken stock

Method:
Add peach and pumpkin to a heavy boiler.
Add chicken stock.
Simmer for 20 minutes.
Stir in brown rice.
Cook additional 10 minutes over low heat.
Mash or blend to desired texture.

Creamy Butternut Squash

Ingredients:
1 cup of diced butternut squash
1/8 cup cream cheese
1 tsp fresh chopped parsley

Method:
Steam butternut squash until fork tender.
Add chopped parsley and cream cheese.
Mash or blend until desired consistency.