In FL - Still Itching...and some new tips on recipe prep

Not much worse though - the house we're in does not have a lot of grassy landscaping, lots of bark instead so no grass to roll in and make things worse. Jack loves the beach and rolling in the sand, and while we know that's probably not the best thing, he's having so much fun doing it, that we hate to stop him. He also may be scratching from the salt water of the ocean. We do rinse him off after each swim but w/all that fur, it's hard to be sure we're getting him totally clean. Since he swims every day, fruitless to do a full bath each day.

Unrelated to the itching, last time we cooked up the ostrich, things went much smoother. No quicker, but smoother. I decided to brown the meat on the stove top a few lbs at a time vs. trying to do in the oven. Definitely worked better - consistency of the meat was much more even. We ended up doing the sweet potatoes 1st - getting them roasted and then peeled and cut, and then doing the oatmeal so it was ready to go. As the batches of meat were cooked, we'd dish up portions a few pounds at a time. Worked much better. I've also given up using the tupperware containers, as they take up too much space and the stuff freezes to the consistency of granite. In the zip loc bags, it defrosts better and it's easier to mush everything together before putting in the bowl. I hate the idea of filling up the landfills w/all that plastic, but sometimes I guess you have to go with convenience.

When we get back from vacation, I'll check in with the allergist and see what next steps are on the elimination diet - we'll be about 60 days in at that point and should see where we go from here.

Off topic a bit - while down here, we're seeing more signs of what our younger dog Amos will be like as an adult. He'll turn one tomorrow so his full personality is emerging more. He seems to be less confident and more skittish than Jack. He barks a bit more and is a bit timid. We're using this trip as opportunity to socialize him further around new places, new people, etc. He's sort of your typical second kid - why do anything when the older sibling will do it all for you - get the bumper, pave the way...I'll just sit back and take advantage of his work.