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| The damage...wheat, barley, malt, chicken, and coconut. |
In September of 2011, I began the process of getting an official allergy test done. I was surprised when the allergist wanted to test me for food allergies as well as environmental allergies. I had never had a reaction to any food in my life other than, "This is NASTY!" or, "This is AMAZING!" I was shocked and dismayed when the test revealed that not only did I have food allergies, most of them were foods I ate every single day. I drove home in tears. How was I going to give up my beloved wheat!? I'm Italian-American on my dad's side of the family; we pretty much live on wheat.
After some grumbling, I decided to go ahead and quit eating my non "Liz-friendly" foods. I began to do some research into what foods I could still eat and began to get discouraged. Many of my formerly favorite foods were no longer an option, as well as the vast majority of the quick and easy prepackaged meals we bought. Even some of my condiments like mayonnaise and soy sauce were now off-limits. Replacement "gluten-free" foods were too different: rice pasta didn't taste as good as its wheat-infested cousin, and I didn't even try the Tamari sauce past the first attempt.
About 2 months later, I found myself pregnant with our second child and morning sickness and intense pregnancy cravings took over. I managed to continue to avoid eating the majority of my trigger foods, but had to go back to wheat, if just to help keep food down. FYI, rice crackers don't help with nausea NEARLY as well as Saltines.
When my son (lovingly nicknamed "Squishy") was born at the end of June 2012, I discovered that he was even more of a barfy baby than our older son had been. He was diagnosed with mild reflux and put on Ranitidine, the same heartburn medication that my partner is on. I discovered that his symptoms alleviated greatly when I didn't eat as much wheat, and disappeared altogether when I didn't consume milk products. I did some reading and discovered that in babies, a sign of a food sensitivity can show up as increased spitting up! The most common culprits are dairy, gluten, eggs, nuts, and soy. Breastfeeding mothers who change their diets accordingly see a huge improvement; babies who are formula fed see improvement when switched to "gentle" formulas. I wish someone had told me this before he was born; I would have saved some money on not changing our outfits nearly as often!
One weekend when I was going on a trip by myself with the boys, I decided to "give myself a break" and eat out at fast food places while driving so I didn't have to worry about cooking. HUGE mistake. Not only was I miserable, but I had the immense pleasure of listening to Squish scream in pain for 150 miles.
I started this blog in hopes that I could help others who are just starting out can learn from my mistakes and successes, as well as find some good recipes along the way. Enjoy!
