[mistofviolets]

We recently took my oldest dairy free, and its helping (I'm glad, but also a little sad...I like casein! Not just the taste, but the easy snack options...)

Anyways...Now that she's decided she wants to stay dairy free, I'm trying to come up with family meals.

Family restrictions: Dairy, limited eggs; Peanuts and Tree nuts, lentils, peas (Hoping some of these are outgrown, but haven't challenged her yet); gluten, CORN (all derivatives), potato, squash, green beans, asparagus, citrus, cruciferous veggies, kidney beans & relatives, olives/olive oil, lettuce and beef/flesh foods. Oh, we challenged salmon and it didn't go well for 2 out of 4...I'll try again in a few months, but, until then assuming fish is out for family meals.

Obviously I'm making 2 meals right now, like rice for all plus beans for one and eggs and cheese for the others, but, on some nights that degenerates into a can of soup for one, a frozen entree for another, cup noodles for dh and eggs for me...and though its all "quick and easy"; it isn't fun. And its probably going to add up (although compared to specialty food meeting all restrictions, maybe not so much)

[diamondheart]

Originally Posted by mistofviolets

Family restrictions: Dairy, limited eggs; Peanuts and Tree nuts, lentils, peas (Hoping some of these are outgrown, but haven't challenged her yet); gluten, CORN (all derivatives), potato, squash, green beans, asparagus, citrus, cruciferous veggies, kidney beans & relatives, olives/olive oil, lettuce and beef/flesh foods. Oh, we challenged salmon and it didn't go well for 2 out of 4...I'll try again in a few months, but, until then assuming fish is out for family meals.

First of all, let me say that I feel for you! I'm wondering if all of those foods are truly sensitivities. I'm asking because I thought I was reacting to fruit and dates, but it ended up being soy and nuts. I did an IgG antibody test for 90 foods. For all it's controversy, I thought it was very helpful. My reactions were delayed 24 to 48 hours, so it was difficult for me to do a food elimination. I didn't have the patience to wait! I started eliminating the foods I tested sensitive for and started eating foods I thought were bad for me and waited for the diarrhea. It never came. It's well worth the money, if you can afford it. Especially for kids. I mean, you never know what they are eating at school.

What does beef/flesh foods mean? Does that mean all meat? I have read that meat, rice, and millet are usually not true allergens. Sometimes I think people react to the additives in meat, and some people can eat grass fed beef. I like bison personally, and elk, when I can get it. I guess the most common food allergens are: gluten, dairy, corn, soy, eggs, nuts, and garlic, so when in doubt, leave all those out. That pretty much follows my pattern except for eggs. I eat eggs everyday, no problem. You didn't mention soy, but you did mention a lot of other beans. I'd look into soy as a problem.

Second, can you eat ghee as a substitute for butter? It's ok for me, as well as casein. Can you have casein? All other dairy is out for me.

My current restrictions are: gluten, corn, quinoa, dairy (minus casein), most nuts and seeds, soy, and beans. Some of the oxalate veggies don't seem to agree with me much, like spinach and chard.

Coconut milk and coconut oil are great items to have in your pantry for food stuffs. If you can't have the guar gum in the canned coconut milk, making your own is sooo much better, but time consuming. The Coconut Lover's Cookbook has ideas, just leave the flour out of recipes or substitute with arrowroot or tapioca flour. You can make an easy coconut milk sauce by using coconut milk and fish sauce. The rest of the meal can be made with shrimp or chicken and some kind of vegetable. It's very easy.

You could look at some of the SCD recipes, and I bet you could find something there you could eat. I liked the zucchini noodles, but if you can have Tinkyada pasta, why bother? Speaking of Tinkyada pasta, it makes a quick meal with a sauce you can have, perhaps a homemade tomato sauce. I've never heard of olive oil being a problem, but I can see how one wouldn't digest olives very well. I don't, but I didn't react to olives on my IgG test.

I have noticed that it's almost impossible for me to eat any kind of take out or prepared food unless it's from Whole Foods or Indian food without the dairy. That means I pretty much have to cook everything. How do you eat Cup of Noodles? There has to be something in there that you react to, no? I'd watch out for any kind of preservative or artificial flavoring. If you have that many food sensitivities, processed foods are probably going to be out for the most part. For example, soy lethicin, it's in everything. I was getting diarrhea for the first time in a month and tracked it down to this sugarless gum my husband had bought. It had soy lethicin in it and aspartame. I'm pretty sure that's what did it to me.

I also like the cookbook Garden of Eating. Someone once suggested it to me on BT1. I like some of the recipes, and for the stuff you can't eat, it's pretty easy to substitute. For example, there's a homemade BBQ sauce recipe I make. I just substitute the tamari with fish sauce, etc. I make a shredded pork recipe in the crock pot with pork shoulder and this BBQ sauce. The family loves it! There is also a good soup you can make with zucchini and avocado. How about some kind of carrot soup?

Can you have sweet potatoes, yams, or pumpkin? You can make soups from those too.

I think crock pot recipes for meat are really helpful, especially if you have to work. I just look around the internet for ideas, substitute for ingredients I can't have, and give it a try.

I'll try to think of some more ideas.

Claire

[Hanna]

Chickpeas can be used whole or ground into flour. I realized that they are a majour part of Indian food. We sometimes used chestnut flour. Rice milk/Soy milk......

[NancyM]

Originally Posted by Hanna

Chickpeas can be used whole or ground into flour. I realized that they are a majour part of Indian food. We sometimes used chestnut flour. Rice milk/Soy milk......

Where do you find chestnut flour?

[KimS]

Is any meat allowed?

It's not that I'm not responding... it's that I'm thinking on it. It's a real challenge.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_vegetables

Is this list of food okay?

tomato
red pepper
green pepper
eggplant
carrot
spinach
swiss chard
endive
beet
cucumber

currants
blueberries
raspberries
strawberries
grapes
melon

peaches
pears
apples
avocadoes

When you say squash, does that mean all squash like zucchini right through to pumpkin or just one or two specific types?

Breakfast:

Monday: stewed apples w/ cinnamon and honey
Tuesday: raspberry smoothie (coconut milk and raspberries - strained for seed removal)
Wednesday: stewed peaches
Thursday: banana smoothie (cooked rice, water and banana)
Friday: stewed pears
Saturday: blueberry smoothie (coconut milk and blueberries)
Sunday: melon and grape salad

Dinner (this is pretty much what we do but we add some meat and lots of herbs):

Monday: spring onions, celery, red pepper (stir fry in grapeseed oil)
Tuesday: tomato, avocado, green pepper, mushrooms (spaghetti sauce)
Wednesday: endive, swiss chard and spinach (salad)
Thursday: carrot, beet, spanish onion (roasted)
Friday: eggplant, tomato, vidalia onion (ratatouille)
Saturday: cucumber, tomato, red pepper, carrot (salad)
Sunday: leftover soup


Note: Herbs have lots of healing qualities but people also react to them so I did not include any. However, our family has upped our herb and seasoning intake in hopes of adding some concentrated vitamins and goodness to our diets.

This is not the best... but it's a start...

Hopefully others will build upon it.

[mistofviolets]

Thanks for the responses.

Diamond heart...yes, I did IgG testing to track things down and by trial and error I do react to all sorts of things. Add in oldest's dairy and limited eggs (she appears okay with egg in baked goods) and youngests nut/lentil/pea allergy...and family dinners seem impossible!

I became vegetarian over 20 years ago b/c I noticed I got sick when eating meat. Beef is definately out...and so many meats are treated with corn derivatives that I'm not really up to the challenge of experimenting too much...if that makes sense. It took me two months to find a confirmed corn free salmon, and it comes in a can *sigh*. And...didn't even set well. So...well...I'm starting to vent. Anyways, you get the idea?

I did want to clarify that I'm not eating cup noodles. Its contained gluten for dh, who is only a semi willing participant on this diet. (Pour in hot water over the sink, and it won't jump out and bite me)

I'm trying to see if I can verify some safe coconut milk...I think it would add a lot of options and variety, good thought! I'm living off carrot soup right now (the kids balk, but enjoy canned soup) and we all use roasted sweet potatoes, yum! Pumpkins out for me. Its crazy!!!! Which is why I want to put everyone on the same diet...


Kim,
On that list...I can definately have carrots, spinach and small amounts of peppers. I need to trial tomato (I tested low on it...but above the "non reaction" line) I'm not sure what swiss chard is, or what to do with it? Supposedly I have to cook everything still (It gets old, very, very old; but lowering my fiber is a lot more comfortable, so maybe its worth the effort) I can have beets, too. Just have trouble putting that all in new exciting presentation! LOL.

[KimS]

Mist:

I was editing in a menu so you might want to go back up and take a look.

Give it some alterations and let me know where you need more input.

Do you have a sandwich press?

Do you have a magic bullet (to make your own coconut milk)?

[diamondheart]

I didn't know that about meats. I have always wondered if I have a corn sensitivity, is it ok to eat meat if the animals have been fed corn? This is why I suggested the grass fed beef. I think you have to search around to find sources of grass fed livestock. Try this link to EatWild.

When I have a chance, I'll hunt down that zucchini avocado soup recipe from the Garden of Eating cookbook.

I didn't see sesame seeds as a no-no. If you can have sesame, baba gannoush is really good. I used to like to have this for lunch until I found out I couldn't have sesame any longer .

To make your own coconut milk, either get fresh coconut meat out of a coconut (time consuming, but fun for kids and better) or use dried shredded coconut. Either way, combine equal amounts of coconut with hot water in a blender. Blend for two minutes. Strain and then squeeze by hand the remaining liquid out of the rest of the coconut meat. The fresh coconut will be much richer and have more of the coconut cream in with the milk that you make.

Like Kim, I'm still thinking up ideas...

Claire

[jamietwo]

Have you considered juicing? There are so many good qualities in raw fruits and veggies, and if you juiced them, you wouldn't have to worry about the fiber bothering you.... Just a thought. Your options truly are challenging.

[mistofviolets]

Kim: Wow! You are always so helpful, thanks for all the great ideas To answer your questions...yes, I have a magic bullet (3 months old and paid for itself, I think); no sandwich press. When I say squash; I mean I (personally, the kids are fine) am avoiding all gourd family...summer and winter squash, cucumber, melons.

How do I stew Peaches? (I'd love to cook more fruits...and possibly run stock up and freeze some cooked fruits, if I could figure out how best to do so.)


Diamondheart:
Some people who are very sensitive to corn procure their meat from a local farmer who guarantees grass fed and no citric acid treatment after slaughter in a small, controlled, setting. Its a LOT of work, which I'm definately not up for when it really doesn't appeal to me in the first place, and I understand it means buying in bulk (as in half a cow).
Corn fed might be an issue...I don't know. After learning more about the CODEX and industry "standards" I think the problem is more what happens during and immediately after slaughter than what the animal ate. Although, when they feed chickens dye to color the yolk, the resulting eggs definately bother me.
I can 'sense' corn hidden in conveyer dressings, too so thats my biggest challenge...anything needs a phone call or email.
Actually...my biggest challenge is pulling all our dietary restrictions together into something the kids want to eat! (besides melted chocolate, which they'd happily lap up I'm sure) I'm convinced this can unite or divide us. I'd prefer the former.

JamieToo: I'm very interested in juicing. My kids much less so, but that was actually the deciding factor in buying the Bullet. Thanks for the reminder, I need to pull out that attachment and give it a try.