Changing traditions

Every July, Dave and I make our way to Chevys Fresh Mex, so he can indulge in their fresh Watermelon Margaritas.  I'm the DD and indulge on chips, salsa, and steak fajitas while he drinks watermelon margarita after watermelon margarita after watermelon margarita. 

Source

While Chevy's isn't nearly as good as our local Mexican places, I do love getting the fajitas...the sizzling platter of meat on a pile of grilled veggies, surrounded by all the tasty "fixins"....that dollop of sweet corn tamalito served on a dried corn husk....the piles of soft, fresh flour tortillas to use as a vehicle to get all that deliciousness in your mouth...

Chevy's summertime watermelon margarita trips were pre-food allergy diagnosis.

Now that it's July, and watermelon margaritas are back in season, I can't join my hubby in our summer Chevy's date.  I'm allergic to wheat, soy, cumin, coriander, and a bunch of other things that are typically in Chevy's food.  While they do have a limited GF menu, I still have all the other allergies and just can't eat there, at least for now.  It makes me really disappointed to not be able to continue our summer tradition this year.  Hopefully, by next summer, my stomach will be tolerating many of those foods again and I'll be able to join him.

But for now, I cook at home, using ingredients that I know won't make me sick.But I still wanted our Chevys date.  What should I do?  I don't want to eat myself sick, but it's hard to not do things you love to do...

I remembered a few years ago, Chevy's put out a cookbook of some of there most popular items.  I did a quick search and saw that Chevy's was also kind enough to share many of their famous recipes online.  I found the recipe for their famous steak fajita marinade called "Aqua Negra" or "Black Water." I decided we were going to have our own at-home edition of Chevy's steak fajitas that would be safe for me to eat.

When you have food allergies and sensitivities, any time you make a new recipe, you need to look over the ingredient list and see if everything is safe for you to eat.  If there are things that aren't safe, then you need to ask yourself if there are safe versions of that item you could swap with, if there is something similar you could use instead, or if you could just leave the item out without ruining the recipe.

For example, if you want to make a quiche, but are allergic to wheat, you can use a gluten-free crust.  If you are allergic to cow's milk and the recipe calls for cheese, you could use goat, sheep or soy cheese, or just leave it out.  But if you are allergic to eggs, you may want to rethink making that recipe, and find something that would be easier to make with your restrictions.

The recipe called for soy sauce.  I'm allergic to both wheat and soy.  Most soy sauces have wheat in them, and all of them obviously have soy.  My friend who eats a Paleo style diet introduced me to a product called coconut aminos.  It's a wheat and soy free soy sauce alternative.  It's actually really good and tastes way less salty than regular soy sauce.  I've recently re-introduced cumin into my diet and haven't had any negative reaction, so I'm using that sparingly in my diet from now on.  I revamped their recipe and made a safe one for me to enjoy!

First, I thawed out my meat. Safely. In the fridge.  Please don't thaw your meat on the counter and get food poisoning.  And never in the microwave, because it makes it rubbery and gross.  

I buy my beef in bulk from a local ranch.  It comes individually wrapped and labeled.  It can be frozen for up to a year.  Much better prices than buying it on an "as-needed" basis at the grocery store. 

Next, I mixed up my marinade in a Ziploc bag.  I don't mix it in a separate bowl.  Why dirty another dish?  I think that the bags are much better for marinating than in a container becuase you use less marinade yet the marinade is always touching the meat.  

Meat marinating for 48 hours

I added my meat, squeezed out as much air as I could, sealed the bag, and squished everything around. Then I let it sit in the fridge for 2 days. Every 12 hours, I turned the bag over and squished things around to make sure the meat was soaking up all those yummy flavors! 


The night you are ready to eat the fajitas, start by prepping all your fixing.  The meat will grill up in no time.

all the "fixins"

fresh sliced heirloom tomato

 Then grill up your meat to a medium rare. 

Any more, and it will get overcooked, tough, and dry.   

 

Grilled carne asada

Now it's time to assemble all your ingredients and eat!  

Que aproveche!!!

Fajitas!

 Carne Asada Fajitas

1.5 lbs organic, grass-fed carne asada

1/2 cup coconut aminos
1 cup crushed pineapple in 100% juice
1 tablespoons ground cumin
3 cloves minced garlic
1 lime freshly squeezed

Your favorite "fixins":  shredded lettuce,  chopped tomatoes, beans, rice, salsa, crema/sour cream, guacamole/sliced avocados, shredded cheese, salsa, cilantro, diced onions, tortillas, etc...

Combine all ingredients in a Ziploc bag.  Add carne asada. seal, taking out as much air as possible.  Lay flat in the fridge, turning every few hours.  Marinate at least 1 hour and up to 2 days.  

Remove carne asada from marinade.  Discard marinade.   Cook carne asada on a hot grill until medium rare, about a minute or two on each side, depending on the thickness of your meat.  Chop carne asada into strips or bite size chunks.  Serve hot. 

 

We grilled up a tray full of sliced onions and bell peppers, a tub of fresh pineapple spears from Costco, and slices of fresh yellow squash.  We wrapped everything up in a gluten free corn tortilla that had been softened in coconut oil.  You could definitely serve this without the tortillas or put on top of a salad!  

It was delicious.  It was the next best thing to going to Chevys. 

Actually, it was probably way better for us. 

Except....

I forgot to make the watermelon margaritas for Dave. 

The watermelon is still sitting on the counter.   

Oops! 

Next time.

I felt so bad, I took him to happy hour after work today
so he could have his watermelon margarita.  I stuck to a Sprite
and cooked us dinner at home.

  

Grain-Free Summer Fruit Crisp

"You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4, not with a parade of guns, tanks, and soldiers who file by the White House in a show of strength and muscle, but with family picnics where kids throw Frisbees, the potato salad gets iffy, and the flies die from happiness. You may think you have overeaten, but it is patriotism." ~Erma Bombeck

Ah, the 4th of July.  A day for celebrating our country with BBQ's, alcohol, and explosives.  A day off of work to spend with your friends and family surrounded by piles of food.  A day spent hopefully near a body of water - a lake, a swimming pool, a slip-n-slide - to help you manage the summer heat.  

When you have food allergies, and you are going to a BBQ, instant panic sets in.  What will I be able to eat?  What if I eat something that makes me sick?  Should I just pack all my own food?  Will I offend the host if I don't eat any of their food?

As I get further along my journey, I have become more pro-active about making sure I will be able to eat when I go somewhere.  I am learning to speak up at a restaurant to ensure I don't accidentally eat something I shouldn't.  I am carrying snacks in my purse in case we are out later than anticipated and I need a quick bite to eat.  I am bringing my own food to BBQs so I can guarantee that there is something I will be able to eat.  

A couple days before the 4th, I asked my in-laws what was on the menu:  cheese burgers, chili dogs, spinach dip, broccoli salad, potato salad, cake, peach cobbler.  All the family 4th favorites.  Nothing I can eat.  

I had to get creative.  Nothing is worse than feeling like the odd man out.  I'm watching you eat your cake while I eat an apple.  Sure, it's a million times better for me, and it's not going to make me sick, but I really miss having cake with everyone else.  

I searched and searched.  I came up with a menu for the day that will be 100% things that I can eat, but will also be foods like everyone else is eating, and yummy enough to share.  

Roasted corn and jalapeño salsa

Late July Organic Chips, Summertime Blues and Sea Salt by the Sea Shore

Grass-fed hamburger patties

Applegate Organic All beef hot dogs

Quinoa "pasta" salad

Grain-Free Fruit crisp

It was going to be a yummy 4th of July for me.  There would be no surviving on a lara bar for me today!  And best of all, there would be no stomach aches and no food hangovers!  

I have a dear friend that has started eating a "Paleo" based diet.  She eats nothing processed, no grains, no dairy, no soy, no legumes, no sugar.  Nothing but lean meats, fish, nuts, fruits, and veggies.  Eating just like someone in the "Paleo" era, or a Caveman, would eat.  She has lost tons of weight, has become super active, and feels amazing.  She is so inspirational to me!

Lately, I get much of my cooking inspiration from paleo style recipes.  With the exception of eggs and a few other minor things, I can eat many paleo recipes, unaltered.  Even though I don't eat this way exclusively, I try to focus most of my meals around this food lifestyle.  I feel so much better during the day if I skip the carbs and fill up on proteins that will fuel my body hours after the carbs have burned off.  

Paleo desserts?   

Who knew there was such a thing?!?!?!  

I love peach cobbler so much, but can't eat that soft, buttery, sweet, cake-like biscuit on top.  Crisps and crumbles are also my favorite, but they are full of oats, flours, and butters.  More stuff I can't eat.  

Enter the grain free crisp.  

I found this amazing sounding grain-free apple crisp at Stacy's Paleo Kitchen.  I read the recipe, and my mouth was already watering.  

A quick call to mom.

"Can you make apple crisp with other fruits, like peaches and berries?  Can they be fresh? Frozen?"

"Yes." 

"Yes." 

"Yes."  

And a bit of advise. 

"Make sure to add some extra thickener to the fruit if you don't use other fruits besides apples or else it may get too runny." 

I went in the kitchen, grabbed out all my favorite fruits, fresh and frozen, and went to work.  I'm a really bad baker because I don't usually measure anything.  I just dump, sprinkle, and pour 'till it looks and tastes right.  Which is probably why I'm so bad at baking where measurements really matter.  This recipe is really forgiving because it will work even if you just use a big spoonful instead of exactly 2tbl of coconut oil! 

Grain Free Fruit Crisp 

4-6 cups mixed fruit, washed, peeled, seeded, cored, etc(apples, plums, apricots, peaches, nectarines, blueberries, raspberries, etc)
1-2 tbl cornstarch  or arrowroot powder
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tbl raw honey
1 1/2 cups almond flour
1/2 - 3/4 cup shredded coconut
1/2 - 3/4 cup pecans, chopped
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tbl coconut oil
1/3  cup maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp sea salt

Preheat oven to 350*.

Place fruit in a medium sized glass baking dish.  An 8x8 square, large pie pan, or a casserole dish. I never measure the fruit, just keep adding until the dish is full.

Sprinkle fruit with arrowroot powder, cinnamon, and honey and stir gently to combine.

In a medium bowl, mix together, almond flour, coconut, pecans, cinnamon, maple syrup, coconut oil, vanilla, and salt.

Top the fruit with the crumble mixture and bake until the top is browned and the fruit starts to bubble, approximately 45 minutes.  Serve warm.

This post was shared on whole food fridays.

Welcome to Taco Tuesday

Growing up in a town that's heavily influenced with Mexican culture, has really made me love Mexican cuisine. Yes, yes, I know.  Much of the food in California isn't authentic Mexican food, it's Cal-Mex, Tex-Mex, Colorado-Mex, New Mexico-Mex, etc.  While I'm not a fan of the fast food or major chain Mexican restaurants, I love local, hole-in-the-wall places like Murillos (location of hubby and I's first date!), Vasquez Deli, and Chando's Tacos. 

When I was little, my mom had a copy of the Sunset Mexican Cookbook, 1983 edition.  I remember reading it like it was a Nancy Drew book, absorbing every word in the book on how to prepare everything from tamales to enchilada sauces to flan.  We cooked Mexican food often at my mom's house: enchiladas, tacos, burritos, quesadillas, and chili verde.  My mom is well known for her green chicken enchiladas and a pan of those is a coveted birthday, Christmas or "just-because" gift.  

Now that I'm on my strict elimination diet, Mexican food is pretty much on the "banned" list right now.  I tested positive to wheat, dairy, coriander, and cumin, and also found that I need to severely limit my intake of corn, beans, tomatoes, and peppers in order to feel better.  That means no tortillas, no salsa, not hot sauces, no "Mexican" seasonings, no crema, no refried beans, and no queso.  While I'm waiting for that magical day in August when I can start adding foods on-by-one back into my diet,  I have been trying to eat some of my favorite menu items minus all the ingredients on my allergy list.  

Last summer, I was talking to a farmer at the market and they were selling prickly pear cactus pads, also knows as nopales.  I had never had cactus before and didn't know it was edible. I vaguely remember a prickly pear cactus margarita at a chain Mexican restaurant, but wasn't sure if it was made from cactus or that was just the name because of the color.  Nights involving margaritas are very fuzzy in my memory.  Except for the night there was a clown drinking margaritas at that restaurant's bar, but that's another story....  I told the farmer I had never had cactus and asked how it tasted.  He replied, "Delicious" with a big grin on his face.  I asked him his favorite ways to prepare the cactus, and he said that there was too many to count.  He started listing off all the ways you could eat cactus, and I suddenly felt like I was watching Bubba talk about all the ways you can eat shrimp. I really love that this particular farmer removes all the needles prior to selling.  They can be dangerous and difficult for the newbie to remove, and can really harm you if you accidentally ingest one. 

Now that cactus is back in season, I always make sure to get some at the market each week.  While I haven't really branched out and made them in the million and one ways the farmer said you can, I have found them to be a quite delicious as a taco filling.  This week I decided to mix them with some ground chicken.  It was so yummy, despite not having my beloved Pepper Plant Seasoning added in (I added salt, pepper, garlic and onion powders to give it some flavors).  Today I splurged and ate corn taco shells, but you could just as well put this in a brown rice tortilla or on top of a salad.  

Nopales and Ground Chicken Tacos

 

1 lb 99% fat free ground chicken

1 lb nopales, needles removed, cut into small, bite-sized pieces

2 tbl coconut oil

2 tbl pepper plant seasoning (or 1-2 packages of your favorite taco seasoning)

taco shells

desired garnishes: avocado, lettuce, tomatoes, salsa, crema or sour cream, guacamole, queso, chopped onions and cilantro, etc.  

Heat a heavy skillet with 2 tbl coconut oil over medium high heat.  Add nopales, and saute until soft, about 5 -10 minutes.  Remove from pan and set aside.  Add ground chicken, brown and crumble, about 10 minutes.  Add your seasonings and about 1/4 cup of water (or whatever your package directions say) and simmer for about 5 minutes.  Add nopales and mix together.  Spoon the chicken nopales mixture into taco shells.  Top with desired garnishes. ¡Buen provecho!

  

 

The beginning of summer

Even though fall and winter are my favorite seasons, I really do love summertime (minus heat and humidity).  I love the long days...summer gardens....BBQ's...roadtrips...star gazing...spending long nights lingering over a chilled bottle of good wine and good conversation with friends. 

The one thing that's been so hard this year is not being able to eat at any of the food when we go to a party. After one day of surviving on carrot sticks and a Lara Bar, I decided that I'm just going to have to bring my own food and not hope that I'll be able to eat wherever we end up.  This past weekend we celebrated my Grandpa's 80th birthday and a cousin's high school graduation.  Both were BBQ's, so I decided to bring along a cold side that I could enjoy and share if anyone was interested.

One of my favorite things to make for BBQ's is an "everything but the kitchen sink" pasta salad.  I boil up all the odds and ends of leftover pasta, chop up all almost empty jars of olives and pickled vegetables, add bits of meats and cheeses from the lunch-meat drawer, finely chop up what's left in the vegetable crisper, and toss with the 17 almost-empty bottles of vinaigrette taking up the entire fridge door. It's always different, yet always delicious.   

Now that I'm on such a restrictive diet, I can't use my go-to "recipe" for the summer BBQ season.  So instead of focusing on what I CAN'T have, I looked at what I CAN have.  I had a box of quinoa in my pantry and decided to make a quinoa "pasta" salad and only use what I had on hand.  It turned out so good.  My hubby said it was "light and refreshing."  You will probably want to double the recipe for your next potluck because it's that good!

Quinoa "Pasta" Salad

1c quinoa, rinsed throughly, prepared according to package directions (can be made ahead of time and chilled)
2 carrots, shredded
1 bunch green onions, chopped
1/2 cucumber, seeded, peeled and diced
12 large basil leaves, cut into ribbons
4 c baby spinach, chopped
1 can artichoke heart quarters, drained
1 can black olives, drained

Dressing
1/4 c garlic flavored olive oil
1/4 c raw apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper
1 tsp herbs de provonce

Mix together cooked quinoa, carrots, green onions, cucumber, basil, spinach, artichoke hearts, and olives. Pour dressing over top and mix toghether.  Cover and chill or serve immediately.

Lazy Saturdays

Saturday mornings are my favorite day of the week.  Every Saturday morning, rain or shine, year-round, the Davis Farmer's Market is open for business.  One of my favorite farmer's market in our area, this market has such an amazing selection of food, in addition to your standard zucchini, tomatoes, and peaches.  Yolo Land & Cattle sells some of the best Grass Fed and Finished Beef around.  They are very humane and respectful of their animals, which is very important to me.  Bledsoe Natural Pork has some of the most amazing pork, including smoked pork chops and bacon, I have ever tasted.  And as a bonus, it's completely allergy friendly, free from any added ingredients including any of those icky nitrates or nitrites. There are also numerous vendors selling pastured chicken and eggs, fresh cheese, wine, baked goods, and lets not forget about all the lovely organic fruits and vegetables lining the tables. 

This past Saturday, I stopped by Mission Fresh Fish's booth and picked up some fresh caught wild king salmon.  When I spoke with the vendor, she stated that the fish has been caught in Half Moon Bay only the day before.  It smelled so fresh and was so bright red, I couldn't wait to get home and cook it for dinner. I had also bought an entire flat of fresh, organic strawberries.  The farmer is in year two of the five year process of becoming certified organic so cannot legally call them "Organic" yet.  They don't use any of the harmful chemicals on their berries, which is a huge bonus for me because I am so sensitive to the sprays on strawberries.   

When I was getting ready to make dinner, I knew that I had to somehow incorporate the salmon and the strawberries together into my dinner.  I turned to Google and ended up finding an amazing sounding recipe from the Whole Foods website "Salmon with Strawberry Salsa" and I knew that I had to make something like this that would fit with my current allergy elimination diet as well as with what I had on hand.  It turned out amazing!  My mouth is still watering so much just thinking about this, that I am going to make this tonight for dinner!  

Salmon with Strawberry Salsa

2 6 oz. pieces fresh wild king salmon
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 basket strawberries, washed and dried then cored and diced
1/2 cucumber peeled, seeded and diced
1 large firm avocado diced
2 tablespoons mint finely chopped
2 tablespoons citrus juice (I used orange)
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 350*.  Drizzle salmon with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.   Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes until cooked to desired level of done-ness.

While the salmon is cooking, mix together strawberries, cucumber, avocado, mind and citrus juice. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

To serve, spoon half of the salsa on a plate and top with a piece of salmon.

"Clean out the kitchen" veggie pasta

One of the most difficult things about being on such a strict elimination diet is that if I don't plan out my meals or I'm too busy/tired to cook, I don't have the option to go out and grab something. Usually I try to plan out a basic meal plan and do some cooking for the week on Sundays, but this week I slacked.

This past weekend was so much fun, but exhausting. We hosted a mini fundraiser at our house for my friend Zara who is going to be competing in Iron Canada with Team in Training. We did a "Redneck" themed BBQ, with lots of cheap beer, hot dogs, and deep fried Twinkies to go around. It was so hard to avoid those things, but I stayed strong. It was so much easier for me to eat right because I had a buddy! Zara is in full on race training mode and is eating a very clean Paleo diet right now. We ate our own "taco salad" while everyone was eating "tacos in a bag" and we had our own organic grass fed all beef uncured hot dogs while the others were eating mac n cheese chili dogs.

By Monday night after work, I was exhausted. I hadn't planned out my meals for the week, but I had done my grocery shopping and had a fridge full of yummy fresh veggies waiting to be eaten. I wanted so bad to get take out, but that's not an option right now. I could have snacked on a Lara Bar or some nuts, but that didn't sound appetizing.

I'm a cooking show junkie (man do I miss cable), and one thing that I've learned from Rachel Ray is that the quickest homemade meals out there are burgers or pastas. Since I had so many veggies on hand, I decided to make a veggie pasta. I have many of her cookbooks and love to gather ideas for my own takes on her quick meals. One of my favorite things she does in many of her pasta dishes is to melt a tin of anchovies in with the garlic and onions when starting the base of some of her sauces. I based this "recipe" off all the veggies I had in my house and what I can currently eat at the moment. The best part about this is that it made a ton of food, so I can eat it throughout the week and not have to worry about cooking for a few days! You could totally adjust this recipe to use up whatever veggies you currently have at home. Spinach, kale, frozen peas, cherry tomatoes, mushrooms, bell peppers...all of these are fabulous additions to pasta.


"Clean out the kitchen" veggie pasta

1 package brown rice pasta
2tbl coconut oil or olive oil
1 small tin of anchovies in olive oil
1 onion, diced
6 garlic cloves, sliced thin
1 bunch of asparagus, cut into 1" pieces
2 carrots, diced
2 zucchini, diced
1 can artichoke hearts in water, drained and chopped

Prepare 1 package of brown rice pasta (I like Trader Joe's brand) according to package directions. Drain and rinse, reserving 1c of cooking water.

In a large deep skillet, melt oil over medium high heat. Add anchovies and allow to melt. Add onions and cook about 5 minutes until soft and starting to brown. Add garlic and stir, cooking about 2 minutes. Do not allow garlic to burn! Add asparagus, zucchini, and carrots and cook until soft, about 7 minutes. Stir often so veggies don't stick or burn. Toss veggies with pasta, using a little bit of the pasta water if needed. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
(While I was eating this, I decided that it would have been fabulous with some fresh grated Parmesan cheese, basil, and some grilled shrimp on top...)

What's for dinner? (An allergy friendly sushi swap)

I remember my sisters and brother and myself always asking mom that question as a child. "Food" or "I don't know" were the typical responses she always gave to us kids. As I got older and learned my way around the kitchen, that answer often changed to "Why don't you figure it out?"

I had always loved to help in the kitchen, but my dad died when I was 12, that's one of the responsibilities I seemed to help my mom with the most in the years that followed. As as adult, I read cookbooks for fun and before we cancelled our cable, my DVR was filled with cooking shows. Last weekend I was staying where there was Direct TV and spent HOURS watching the Food Network and the Cooking Channel. Food porn. It's my weakness. Watching a TV chef make a gooey mac n cheese or a Egg Benedict with crab salad...be still my beating heart.

Now that I'm on such a limited diet, my entire cooking world has been turned upside down. It has been such a challenge to learn to cook within my limitations. I'm used to flavorful foods full of spices and layers and TASTE. Salt, pepper, and garlic just aren't my idea of a flavorful meal. I miss my cumin, cilantro, coriander, and chilies. I miss food that makes me sweat when I'm eating it. Food that makes me swoon when I breathe it in out of the skillet. Although I'm adhering to my elimination diet 100% of the time with no deviations, not a day goes by where I don't spend some time lusting over pictures and recipes of Mac n Cheese, Kalua Pig Nachos, Vietnamese Shaking Beef, or an antipasti platter with a nice glass of wine.

One of my favorite foods to eat is sushi. But sushi is pretty much off limits to me now. Sushi rice has vinegar, many of my favorite rolls are spicy, contain shellfish, or have sauces that contain soy or wheat. Thankfully, I have a wonderful local sushi restaurant and Chef Tyson will help me out and make "safe" sushi with plain rice, no shellfish, and no sauces.

Since I can't afford to go there all the time, I have started making my version of sushi at home. It may not be as beautiful as your favorite sushi bar, but it tastes amazing, and will help with your sushi craving. I have found that Costco sells some Wild Smoked Salmon that doesn't have any of my allergens. My friend Lauren and I made these and man did it hit the spot! Thanks for taking this yummy picture!

Allergy-Friendly Sushi Rolls

Nori Sheets, cut in half
Cooked sushi rice, cooled to room temperature
Sliced sashimi grade fish, or smoked salmon
Cucumber, seeded and sliced into matchsticks about 4"
Avocado, thinly sliced
Carrot, cut into matchsticks about 4"
Green onions, sliced into 4" pieces
Coconut aminos


Take a nori sheet and put about 1/4 cup of rice on the left third of the sheet. Spread the rice so it's even. In the middle of the rice, place a piece of fish, a couple pieces of the vegetables and then sprinkle with green onions. Then roll it up like a taquito. Repeat until you have made desired amount of rolls. Usually 2-4 rolls are enough for the average person. Dip in coconut aminos.

The beauty of this is that you can customize it to your taste. Don't like fish or Avocados? Leave them out! Want to add sprouts or lettuce? Do it! Don't have my food allergies? Use soy sauce, spicy mayo, wasabi, add some seasoned rice vinegar to your rice. Use crab or shrimp tempura or tempura veggies. It's like a sandwich, your imagination is the limit.

Sick and tired of being sick and tired, part 2

I nervously went to my first appointment and met the doctor. She was very nice and we talked, and she listened. Never before had a doctor listened to me. She would ask me questions and she would listen, type out notes, stop me and ask for clarification, and just let me talk. It was amazing to finally have a medical professional not shoo me out of the office after 5 minutes and tell me to stop stressing out and hand me a stack of prescriptions. After what seemed like a very long interview, she said that she was pretty sure what was wrong with me, but it would take a blood test to confirm and would that be something I would want to do since I would have to pay for it out of pocket. YES!!! She said that it was very possible that I had multiple food allergies and wanted to do a an IgG blood test that would test for delayed allergic reactions. She also said that my long history of heavy antibiotic use throughout my entire childhood and adult life has left me devoid of the beneficial bacteria that are supposed to live in your stomach. Finally, she noticed that some of my hormone levels from previous blood tests were very low. She said that she first wanted to start working on getting probiotics back into my body. Then I would need to do an elimination diet based on the results of my allergy test, to allow my body to heal and the inflammation go down. Finally, one the other stuff was under control, we would work on getting my hormone levels back in balance. She warned me that it was going to be a tough road ahead, but if I was committed, I would start feeling better in a few weeks.

I got my blood work done and started taking a very strong pro-biotic. I had to wait three weeks for the results of my blood test and when I got it back, I was SHOCKED. I was allergic to EVERYTHING. I was tested for 154 foods and tested positive to a third of them. The next step was the hardest of all. I needed to completely eliminate all of these foods from my diet for the next few months. I could not have any of them, even in small amounts. I needed to give my body a rest, let the inflammation in my digestive track go down, and allow my body to heal. I also needed to start taking a digestive enzyme to help my body digest my food properly, and also take a supplement called L-Glutamine to help heal my digestive tract.

So I went home, shocked overwhelmed and an emotional mess to attempt to tackle the new challenge placed in front of me. I was excited because I finally had an answer. A wreck, because I was allergic to almost everything I eat on a daily basis. I needed to eliminate the following foods from my diet:

Mace
Yogurt
Bay leaf
Egg whites
Casein
Mozzarella cheese
Coriander seeds
Parmesan cheese
Cottage cheese
Swiss cheese
Cows milk
Whey
Allspice
Yeast
Buttermilk
Curry
Horseradish
Oysters
Shrimp
Cashews
Ginger
Kale
Peas
Soy
Barley
American cheese
Wheat
Gluten
Mahi Mahi
Peanuts
Trout
Kidney beans
Crab
Goats milk
Mustard
Pistachios
Cumin
Haddock
Oats
Saffron

Not only could I not eat those foods individually, many of these foods are the basis of other foods, so I also had to eliminate the foods that contain these things as well. Bay leaves are used in stocks, soups, and tomato sauces. Yeast is the start of most breads and alcohols. Wheat and soy are in almost every packaged product. And all the spices...no one gives up their secret seasoning blend, it's just listed as "spices" on the ingredient lists, so to err on the side of caution, I had to eliminate my beloved seasonings. I cleaned out my pantry and found there were only a few things left that I could still eat. I had to learn all over again how to cook.

It was a challenge. Over the next few days, I had a tough time adjusting and I had many breakdowns. Thankfully, I had a wonderful friends who supported me during my temper tantrums. One of my friends lovingly reminded me that this is what I had asked for: I wanted answers and I got them. I finally came to realize, while talking to one of my friends, that I was upset over FOOD? Really? I have friends that are dying from Batten Disease (bdsra.org), there are people dying from cancer, kids in Africa have no food or shoes, and I'm upset about not being able to eat a cookie for the next few months. I needed to get over myself and stop acting like a spoiled brat and suck it up. I needed to focus on what I could eat. I started looking for recipes online and just ate as simply as possible.

At my next appointment, two weeks into the elimination diet, I had good news for the doctor. Many of my symptoms had lessened, and some of them had disappeared completely. I was still having some problems, but they were mild compared to what I had been experiencing. The doctor then said to look at what I had been eating and find out if there was a common food(s) that was causing my symptoms to get worse. Over the next couple days, I was able to identify and eliminate a few more foods:

Corn
Legumes
Citrus
Nightshades (tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, eggplant, etc)

After a couple days of making those eliminations, I woke up one morning with the weirdest feeling, almost like something was wrong. I thought in my half asleep state, what is different? Then it hit me, no heartburn and no stomach pain. I haven't experienced a heartburn free day in probably 6 years.

Now I'm almost 7 weeks in to my elimination diet and doing much better. I haven't thrown up in almost 7 weeks, and it used to be almost every day. I rarely have heartburn anymore, and it's almost never bad enough to take medication. The pain and swelling in my muscles and joints are going down. I'm still very tired but I know that this cure isn't overnight. It took me my entire lifetime to get to the point where I was, and it will take me a while to get back to feeling like I should. I feel like I'm becoming a new person. I'm so excited and so grateful for the path I'm on.