Sweetfudge

Hi all,

I'm expecting my first baby in January. I do all the cooking in our household (my husband is in grad school, and has very little time these days. Plus, he kinda sucks at cooking...). I know I'm looking a bit far into the future, but I am worrying about how to deal w/ people bringing food/offering to bring food over once I have my baby. We don't have a lot of freezer space, otherwise I would just pre-make a million meals to reheat and eat. I do plan on doing as much of that as I can. But I'm assuming most of the food we eat once our baby gets here will either have to be freshly prepared, or provided by others. I have a decent network of people (church community, family, friends) who I'm sure will offer to bring stuff over.

My question is, how do I ensure that I am not getting food that's going to make me sick? #1 - How do I deal w/ cross contamination issues from those not familiar w/ gluten-free cooking?! #2 - I have multiple foods I am intolerant to, so even if they get the gluten-free concept, how do I convey that I ALSO can't eat any dairy, beans, potatoes, onions, etc.

I don't know if I should just make some sort of blanket statement (post on FB/my blog/make handouts for anyone who offers food) saying, "These are the things I can't eat, and these are some ways to avoid making me sick." I suppose I could provide a list of ideas of things that we like/can eat that are simple enough to prepare...

Or should I just gratefully accept the meals, and if I feel like it's trustworthy, eat it, otherwise, let my hubby take care of it? The main issue w/ that is, he's slightly picky...so if it's not something that fits into his "comfort" zone, he won't eat it, and it will just go to waste.

Or do I just plan on making all of our food once the baby arrives?

I don't want to seem ungrateful or entitled by asking so much of people. I don't want to offend anyone who is obviously trying to help me out. But I also don't want their efforts to be wasted, if I can provide a way to make it beneficial for both them and my family.

Any suggestions, advice, and/or comfort would be much appreciated

Thanks!!

Hi all,

Been awhile since I visited the forum. But I need some help. My history in a nutshell: I've been gluten-free 5 1/2 years, DF on and off for the past few years (and off for good the past month), following a paleo diet for the past 6 months, also avoiding a few other foods (see my signature). I feel like the paleo is working for me in some ways - I feel stronger, I'm slimming down a bit (not exercising much, and I know that would help).

However, I feel like I have been having some sort of stomach pain/cramping/bloating/constipation/diarrhea (and possibly related occasional joint pain/headaches) every day for the past month or two. I've tried eliminating suspect foods, but nothing seems to work.

The more I read about leaky gut, the more I think I need to explore it. My husband also keeps telling me I need to do an elimination diet to figure out what's bothering me. The problem is, I don't think I'm eating any one thing consistently enough to pinpoint it as a source. Hence the need for a very restricted diet.

Does anyone have any ideas or advice? Any good websites that detail an elimination diet for leaky gut? Also, is a cleanse/detox something I should look at prior to starting the diet?

Thanks so much!