"Vegan Gluten-Free Mocha Cake" from a website I found on-line (looks delicious) !

 

 

Ingredients:

Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake:

 

2-1/2 cups gluten-free flour blend

2 cups organic cane sugar

1 cup cocoa powder

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon sea salt

 

1 cup unsweetened coconut milk beverage (such as So Delicious Dairy Free)
 

1 cup warm water

2/3 cup mild flavor oil (such as sunflower seed, grape-seed, or canola)

2 tablespoons white vinegar

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Vegan Coffee Buttercream:

1/2 cup dairy-free margarine (such as Earth Balance Soy-Free), softened
 

1/4 cup organic non-hydrogenated shortening 3 cups organic powdered sugar, sifted

1 tablespoon instant coffee granules

1 tablespoon warm water 2-3 tablespoons dairy-f ree cof f ee creamer (such as So Delicious Dairy Free Coconut Creamer) 

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

 

Vegan Chocolate Ganache:

2 cups dairy-free chocolate chips

 

1/2 cup dairy-f ree cof f ee creamer (such as So Delicious Dairy Free Coconut Creamer)

Candy pearls, optional

Instructions:

For the Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake:

1. Preheat your oven to 350ºF.

2. Line the bottom of 2 8-inch round cake pans with parchment paper and spray each with cooking spray.

3. In a large mixing bowl, sift together the flour blend, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

4. In a medium-sized bowl, combine the coconut milk beverage, warm water, oil, vinegar, and vanilla. Pour over the flour mixture and beat f or 1 minute.

5. Evenly divide the cake batter between the prepared cake pans, and bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans for 5 minutes, then invert onto cooling rack to cool completely.

For the Vegan Coffee Buttercream:

6. Place the margarine and shortening in a mixing bowl, and beat f or 1 minute.

7. In a small bowl, dissolve the instant coffee in the tablespoon of warm water.

8. Add the coffee, powdered sugar, coffee creamer and vanilla to your mixing bowl, and beat for an

additional 2 minutes. Add another tablespoon or 2 of the coffee creamer, if needed, to make the

buttercream until light and fluffy.

9. To frost, place one layer of the cooled cake on serving platter or cake stand. Top with half of the

buttercream and smooth out to the edges. Place remaining buttercream in piping bag with star tip.

 

Top with the other cake layer and place in ref rigerator for 30 minutes. While it’s chilling, make the ganache.

For the Vegan Chocolate Ganache:

10. Mix the chocolate chips and coffee creamer in a small microwave-saf e bowl, and heat for 30 seconds.

Stir, and heat again in 15 second intervals, stirring in between, until the chocolate has just melted. Whisk until smooth.

11. Pour ganache over the top of the chilled cake. With an off set spatula, immediately spread the ganache

evenly on the top, then the sides of cake (ganache sets fairly quickly). Place cake back in the refrigerator for another 30 minutes.

12. Take the piping bag with remaining buttercream and pipe rosettes on the top of the cake, starting with the outer edge. If desired, sprinkle with candy pearls.

Notes:

The cake can be stored in the refrigerator, just be sure to let it sit at room temperature for a couple hours before serving.

  http://www.godairyfree.org/recipes/vegan-gluten-free-mocha-cake

One of the most important things with autism is ABA Therapy !

 

 

      Angelina has been with ABA Therapy for almost 5 years and I am so happy for all the improvements that she has made. When she was diagnosed with autism, every doctor I have seen told me that ABA therapy is an important factor with an autistic child. When she started I honestly thought that maybe it wasn't that important, but as time passed by I saw her improvements. An ABA therapist knows how to control their behaviors and redirect them in ways that transition them to other steps in their development.

 

      My daughter is may be in biomedical treatments, but the first thing that her biomed doctor told us is to please "Continue with ABA therapy and be aggressive with it". He wanted Angelina to continue with her behavioral therapy and that it is an important factor for her development. My daughter has been with biomedical treatment for months now and it has come to a turning point that she is realizing things more. By her realizing things more, she knows how to dominate people and has develop an attitude in the process. Her biomed doctor laughed when I told him this, but he said that his laugh is a great sign of progress from my daughter.

 

      My daughters ABA therapy company reduced my daughter's hours which made me very concern. I now learned that the best way of getting your point across and of communication is to "be straight to the point". The reason why I say that is because nobody will read your mind, you have to be your child's voice and advocate for them.

 

Here is a link on the definition of ABA Therapy and the benefits to children with autism: http://www.autismspeaks.org/what-autism/treatment/applied-behavior-analysis-aba

 

      





The Definition of Ignorance vs. Wise Knowledge of Others

 

 

 

Ignorance vs. Knowledge

 

      I haven't blogged in a while, but everyone that has seen me on my Facebook page knows that I love to post stuff on what goes on with my kids. Anyways, the children have returned to school and that is a positive thing especially for my daughter Angelina. Being in an autistic support class it is very important for my daughter to be distracted with educational stuff and not at home playing on her iPad or watching movies. Things are actually better for my daughter than before and I get super emotional every time Angelina says something new or does something different.

 

      Once school begins "its the time" where our children get sick with stomach flu or any type of virus, which means "it is time to visit their pediatrician or take a trip to the ER". Over the weekend I decided to take my daughter Angelina to St. Luke's Hospital Anderson Campus close to where we live at 4am. First, it was a Saturday and her doctor wasn't open that day plus she couldn't stop coughing all night and I just couldn't sleep hearing her cough so loud. I might sound paranoid but my daughter had pneumonia in the past plus asthma so I take any type of illness serious. I can honestly say it was the most uncomfortable time I passed with my daughter because I don't know in what way I have to spell or say "my daughter has autism, she is not crazy". Inside the room I had a horrible nurse that just wasn't feeling it which is not my problem because if she decided to be an ER nurse, she is definitely not going to be seeing healthy patients. Plus, in the beginning when I just got there and registered my daughter the receptionist had to put a bracelet in her wrist and I should of seen this whole negative vibe going on that day. I told her if it was necessary to put it on my daughter because I know Angelina doesn't like to wear stuff in her wrist and I know from previous hospital stays I can wear it in my arm because I am the parent, but this women said that it was necessary and said to me in a ignorant way "I have my cousin who has autism and I know how they are". I don't mind if someone feels like commenting that to me, but the way she said it was so not cool for me.

 

      I'm a parent of a child who has autism and am not embarrassed to say it to nobody, but hate sounding like a voicemail machine when people are so ignorant when my daughter acts a certain way or does something. I feel like screaming at these type of people, but don't want my daughter to hear this. Angelina may have autism but she is a very bright and smart girl, she understands any type of conversation that goes on in the house either in Spanish or in English. At first I thought that if I spoke in Spanish she wouldn't understand some stuff, but I was shocked to see how well she understands both so well. I feel so proud of all the accomplishments that she has done over the past years and how well she has progressed over time. I know this will be a very long bumpy journey that both Angelina and I will have together, but I will always have a smile and my head high.

 

      As a mom of a special needs child, I want to be able to help others who are going thru the same situation I am going through. That's one of the reasons why I'm posting my daughter's biomedical journey and her gluten-free and dairy-free diet is going step-by-step. I can honestly say that my daughter enjoys eating her Gluten and Dairy Free foods and loves it. There is nothing that my daughter may miss from what she was eating before to what she is eating now. All I did was modify everything to a Gluten-Free and Dairy-Free version with a good taste in the middle. It was difficult at first for me to go shopping and read labels, but I think I got it right now. I even have my iPhone App where I put in my zip code and it shows me places where they have Gluten and Dairy-Free foods or desserts. I love technology and the wonders of my iPhone apps.

 

Enjoy your week everyone!!! 

Biomedical Test Results for Angelina that I received Today ...

Microscope versus Parents with a Child with Autism are the same...But why?

 



      That question has been asked in several ways or forms to me, but in a different type of sentence of course. Like I mentioned in my previous post, I am not a doctor nor have a medical diploma, but feel like I should. I have researched since the beginning about biomedical medicine and everything. I have asked her doctors for advice before I started this with my daughter and didn't get no answers. I was told my daughter had to go see a psychiatrist and maybe be put on more medicine and I just was not happy with that answer. That is why I decided to go this path with her. Biomedical medicine might not work for everyone depending on their condition or diagnosis, but I am willing to try and see what happens. You can never say "of course it will work", but you can at least try it and not say later on "what if I tried it? what could of happened?" That is my thinking and probably not everyone would think the same as me. "Well getting to the point of my blog"....  

 

       I went to my daughter's blood results follow-up appointment alone because I wanted to not have Angelina with me and be able to absorb all the test results and fully understand what is my daughter's next step for treatment. I knew that I was not going to expect good news, but I had my Starbuck's skim latte to help me deal with this shocking news (hey I have to have some sarcasm in all this). Of course, everything that I was informed today is not  medically proven to be the cause for autism, but if you these results in every autistic child.. you kind of get the "idea?" .. why are these results so high and not normal with my child? These treatments are biomedical medicine and it is very upsetting why it has not been proven medically or at least somewhat proven. Angelina's DAN! doctor gave me all her tests results and she has extreme high levels of immunization and a lot of red flags everywhere. I also did the "nagalase blood test" for her that were send to Europe to be checked & they were not normal as well.

 

       Starting tomorrow, my daughter is starting with IV infusion of GcMAF treatments once a week which is given over 20 weeks total. I researched the doctor who made this medicine and saw his blog and website or the results of several parents and they were positive. Of course I am my daughter will be taking the IV medicine in her DAN! doctors office which I will be going to Philadelphia every week for 5 months, but I do not mind because it is about my daughter well being and progress. I am very positive about this treatment and hopeful that everything will turn out good, I researched about this medicine and there is no side effects .. the only thing that can happen is that she will be very "happy and giggle" which have no problem with that if it occurs. I will post her progress and see how it goes.

 

Website of Dr. Jeffrey Bradstreet GcMAF shots

Happy Tuesday everybody and enjoy the last weeks of summer ! Lol 

 

 





Benefits in going to a Chiropractic for a special needs child or in general

Why should my child visit a Chiropractic?

      Many people wonder why an autistic child should visit a chiropractic doctor? I direct the focus on an autistic child because in their childhood years, they are not able to explain to mom or dad if they have a back pain, neck pain or any type of discomfort in their body. That is why it is beneficial to visit a chiropractic because they are the professional ones that can manipulate and make adjustments to any type of person or condition. 

      I read in the internet and found a website on a chiropractic who works in Canada and made this blog on why children with special needs should visit them, this is what Dr. Caldwell-Chu wrote:

      The importance of chiropractic care is essential to children with disabilities. These kids often have hypotonia (low muscle tone), poor posture, decreased body awareness and as a result have more pronounced musculoskeletal problems such as restrictions on movement and stiff joints. Furthermore autistic kids often have sensory stimulus deficits, either hypo (too little) or hyper (too much) sensitive. Receiving the proper chiropractic adjustments can be like hitting the information reset button on the nervous system. Either calming or turning up the nervous system when the body requires.

    Children with developmental disorders can benefit from chiropractic treatment focused to improve joint mobility, gross motor training, core muscle strengthening, vestibular (balance) exercise and sensory stimulation. However, chiropractic care is only part of the treatment puzzle. Other avenues of care including biochemical, nutritional, cognitive and emotional components should be addressed to offer the best possible outcome for the patient.

     My daughter Angelina used to go to the chiropractic before, but I stopped taking her because that doctor was a person "not to have patience with kids with autism". I am happy "now" to have found a chiropractic doctor who is very patient with my daughter and who also has this new machine that actually scans your body (in sections), which lets him know which part of the body needs adjustment. Love it!! Angelina showed him where in her neck and lower back, but it was great that the machine gave him a second confirmation that "she needed an adjustment really bad". Lol Angelina left the office so happy and every time her neck hurts, she lets me know that she wants to go the "the doctor for neck". I get so excited every time she talks or expresses anything that she would never do before. 

Anyways you guys... Good night and hope you found this post interesting to read!! 

Gluten-Free Products that are everywhere (especially Wegman's)

Learn to read labels

   

      I am a fast shopper now because I have learned how to read labels when I shop for Gluten-Free products. Honestly, I love going to Wegman's because they have a big section of GF foods and their prices are really good compared to other places that I have searched in the internet. Because of my daughter's diagnosis of autism, I shop gluten-free and casein-free (non dairy) foods. But, I can say that since Angelina has been eating gluten-free foods, her constipation and gastric problems have gone down 80% from what she was before starting in GF. 

       Here are a list of GF products that I was able to search on the web and find them especially where I go shopping. I will include only gluten-free products and for every taste (meat eater or non-meat eaters). Hope you find it useful my info:

• Almond Milk (vanilla or original) 
• Good Karma Flax milk 
• Ener-G Rice Loaf White 
• EnviroKids Peanut Butter Panda Puffs Cereal 
• Betty Crocker Gluten-Free Chocalate Cake Mix 
• Brown Cow Vanilla Cream Yogurt
• Tofutti Cream Cheese Imitation Plain 
• The Real Deal Veggie Chips Baked 
• Amy's Dairy Free Cheeze Pizza Rice Crust 
• Amy's Rice Macaroni with non-dairy Cheeze 
• So Delicious Coconut Milk Dairy Free Vanilla 
• Go Veggie! Grated Parmesan Dairy Free 
• Original Tings Corn Sticks, Crunchy  (imitation Cheetos)
• DariFree Milk Alternative Chocolate Flavor powder 
• Wegmans Peanut Butter Creamy 
• Ancient Harvest Quinoa Pasta (any type) 
• Wegmans Juice, Apple Organic
• Annie's Homegrown Cookies Cocoa & Vanilla 
• Eco-Planet Organics Hot Cereal Instant, Apples & Cinnamon 
• Mi-Del Cookies Chocolate Chip 
• Rice 
• Quinoa 
• So Delicious Minis Non-dairy ice cream, Coconut Almond 
• Joy Ice Cream Cones Gluten-Free 
• Wegmans Brand Pasta Sauce (Gluten-free) 
• Schar Wafers, Vanilla 
• Sam Mills Pasta D'Oro Pasta 100% Corn 
• Wegmans Food You Feel Good About Tortilla Chips
• Wegmans Food You Feel Good About Hummus
• Kunzler Beef Franks Gluten-Free 
• Dietz & Watson Beef Franks Gluten-Free
• Lightlife Organic Smoky Tempeh Strips, Fakin Bacon 
• Wegmans Chicken Breast Nuggets Gluten-Free
• Ian's French Toast Sticks 
• Bisquick Pancake and Baking Mix
• All Wegman's Cheese are Gluten-Free or the brand "Cabot" 
• Glutino Pretzels or any type that says "GF" on label

      There is much more food products that are GF, it doesn't have to be necessarily in the "Organic" aisle. You just have to be sure in the "ingredients" section that it says "GF" or gluten-free. I also posted on my previous posts, a website that if in case you are "On the Go" there are restaurants that serve GF foods depending on your location. For people with smartphones, you can download the application and enter your zip code and it will tell you a whole list of places http://www.findmeglutenfree.com/ .

Hope you find my information helpful !!! I can honestly say that my daughter has "zero complains" on eating gluten-free foods. 

*For people who want a variety of GF foods, do not waste your time going to "Weis Supermarket" (they do not have a great selection). Just a heads-up... 

What are the benefits of epsom salt baths? "and" How damaging is GMO products in our children's health?

Epsom Salt Bath Benefits

      My daughter loves when it is close to bedtime because she gets to take her "Epsom salt bath". I thought it was going to be difficult in the beginning, but I told her that she was taking a bubble bath (without the bubbles). Angelina's biomedical doctor told us that it was something that was "a must" for her to take. I was skeptical at first, but I read all the stuff he gave me plus did my searching in the internet and found an article on Google. The article indicated how "Epsom salt baths help to relieve stress, soothe your muscles, soften your skin and maybe even reduce the look of wrinkles. There were some recent studies which indicated that Epsom salt baths may be soothing for children with autism". There is another website that I found which is Dr. Feingold Doc on Epsom Salt  which is a document from Dr. Feingold that tells you the benefits of epsom salt baths in autistic kids. I am going to end this by saying that it really helps my daughter to relax and have a good night sleep. Ofcourse there are some kids who might not react the same way, but it is worth giving it a try and see if it does help your child or not. 

Why our foods should be non-GMO?

      There was not much I knew about GMO products (Genetically Modified Organism), but I first read about it when my friend posted it on her Facebook and Blogger. Thanks Rhea! I have to say that I was shocked about it and had to look further it this topic. I found this internet website by Dr. Feingold that talks a little about going non-gmo Dr. Feingold GMO Article and also this separate article I found in Google Greeniac Nation (which I should advise that this second article is not great to watch with children).
   
       All this information has made me shop smarter and know learn to look at labels more. I am not an expert and I know that over time I will be a smart shopper. It is sad how a nation can allow these type of products in our kids lives. Hopefully raising awareness to everyone might make a difference.

Hope you have enjoyed these two topics that I have shared! Happy Sunday to everyone!!