Beer-Glazed Ham

I bought 3 lbs of ham the other day at Lindsay's request and decided to do a beer-glaze with it. It's a sweeter glaze (lots of brown sugar!) and I know that Linds, the boy and I will all eat it (again, Luke picks but doesn't care much for a variety yet...I'm patiently waiting until he gets older since Linds was the same way). I made mashed sweet potatoes and some other kind of veggie (insert preggo brain excuse here) with it, and had plenty of leftovers to use it in a quiche, sandwiches and other leftover plates. I always love when I can get full use out of a bulk purchase!

Oh, and this photo is an old one and obviously does not match the description above.

Beer Glazed Ham
Ingredients
1 boneless fully cooked ham (3 lbs.) 
1 can beer
1 cup packed brown sugar  
2 T balsamic vinegar
2 tsp ground mustard

Directions

1. Place ham on a rack in a shallow roasting pan (I didn't have a rack, so I rolled up some foil to keep the ham from sitting right in the pan). Score the surface of the ham, making diamond shapes ½ inch deep. 
2. Set aside 2 T beer. Pour remaining beer over ham. 
3. Bake, uncovered at 350 for 1 hour. 
4. In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar, vinegar, mustard and reserved beer; spread over ham.
5. Bake 40-45 minutes longer or until a meat thermometer reads 140, basting occasionally.

Update on Luke's Peanut Allergy

Today I took Luke in to an allergy specialist to get more information on his peanut allergy. When we had the pediatrician do his blood test back in early January, it showed a significant enough severity for me to give up peanut butter (since it passes through breast milk) and to warrant this appointment. The doctor ordered a skin test at today's appointment, so the little guy was pricked and tested for all sorts of indoor and outdoor allergens, as well as for peanuts and all tree nuts, milk, soy, eggs, etc. The first round showed absolutely no allergies to anything (including the control)?!? We tried again and the control swelled up instantly in a hive and the peanut was slight, but not enough to even be considered an allergy. They opened a new bottle of test liquid, tried it again, and there was minimal reaction.

This is super strange since the blood test showed such a severe reaction, but it's a relief that perhaps the allergy isn't as bad as we originally thought. He still reacts to the peanuts when I eat them (projectile vomits), so we know there are some issues, but perhaps they won't be all that awful. For the time being, we're going to keep doing what we're doing (no peanuts for me as long as I'm nursing, and no peanuts for him at all), and we go back to the doctor in October for more blood tests and skin tests. Keep your fingers crossed that the earlier labs weren't accurate! Here's the happy little guy.

Luke has an allergy

We got our results from Monday's allergy tests and they are surprising, to say the least. The foods we thought would be flagged (rice and peaches) showed no signs of Luke being allergic to them. On the other hand, they ran a whole panel of other common allergens that he has not yet had (tree nuts, shellfish, etc.) and he tested positive for a peanut allergy. UGH! It's a class 3 allergy, which our doctor described as a "mid-class." From what he explained, class 1 and class 2 allergies are likely to be false positives or to go away as children age, but when you move up to class 3, it's more serious. He didn't mention anything regarding an EpiPen, although he did tell me to cut back on the peanut products I'm ingesting while nursing.

On the nursing front, we have gone through four full days without him wanting the breast. It's still pretty frustrating - I'm not pumping nearly enough for him and I don't have much of a freezer supply. I'm going to get in touch with a lactation consultant tomorrow to see if there's anything else I can do.

Otherwise, he's continuing to do well with some new solids. He ate pears and applesauce for breakfast and a almost an entire jar of apricots/pears/apples for dinner. Hopefully this progress continues! Here's the happy guy post-dinner.