Food Allergies

[dollamasgetceliac?]

Hello,

I am allergic to:

Laytex (and its family ex: kiwis, celery, pears, etc.)

Tree nuts

Peanuts

Fish

Shellfish

Honey

Sesame

Dairy (intolerance)

Gluten (intolerance and allergy)

I also am gluten-free, casein free, and Lactose intolerant (although I am wondering if I should be eating yogurt)

I am also thinking of going on the Specific Carb Diet. (SCD)

The problem I am facing now is that a lot of the foods are contaminated with nuts, pecans, etc. I feel extremely bloated and I have been craving alot of sugar and carbs. I have suffered from severe celiac problems for 2 yrs and I have been experiencing severe excruciating abdominal pain. Are there any other folks out there who have food allergies (i know you're out there! ). By the way shopping is a science and if you are sick, takes a lot of time and energy to cook from scratch, even though I manage but I wish that there would be more awareness as to how serious food allergies can be. I am aware of the food allergy organizations etc. also if anyone has any recipies for cooking with these kind of conditions, please, do tell!

Also about testing for allergies seems to be a very mysterious science.

- The Llama Llady

[Juliebove]

Hello,

I am allergic to:

Laytex (and its family ex: kiwis, celery, pears, etc.)

Tree nuts

Peanuts

Fish

Shellfish

Honey

Sesame

Dairy (intolerance)

Gluten (intolerance and allergy)

I also am gluten-free, casein free, and Lactose intolerant (although I am wondering if I should be eating yogurt)

I am also thinking of going on the Specific Carb Diet. (SCD)

The problem I am facing now is that a lot of the foods are contaminated with nuts, pecans, etc. I feel extremely bloated and I have been craving alot of sugar and carbs. I have suffered from severe celiac problems for 2 yrs and I have been experiencing severe excruciating abdominal pain. Are there any other folks out there who have food allergies (i know you're out there! ). By the way shopping is a science and if you are sick, takes a lot of time and energy to cook from scratch, even though I manage but I wish that there would be more awareness as to how serious food allergies can be. I am aware of the food allergy organizations etc. also if anyone has any recipies for cooking with these kind of conditions, please, do tell!

Also about testing for allergies seems to be a very mysterious science.

- The Llama Llady

Daughter and I have IgG allergies, not IgE. Testing is not a mysterious science. It simply involves a skin prick and/or blood test.

We don't cook everything from scratch, but we do cook most things. I use my crock pot a lot. I cook a lot of chicken and ground beef. Sometimes turkey. We also have vegan meals. Our allergies are not as extensive as yours though.

One thing that helps is to cook up a lot of meat at once. I used to do chicken breasts and put them in the freezer. But recently we have found cooked chicken breasts that contain nothing more than salt and pepper. Might be a local thing.

I cook ground beef several pounds at a time. Some is plain and some has Mexican seasonings. I portion it up in single serve or family serving packages and keep it in the freezer.

I make a cream soup base for casseroles and such that uses broth, plain rice milk and sweet rice flour for a thickener. You may have more difficulty since you can't have celery. I suspect most if not all broth that you buy would have celery in it. You could make one with just rice milk, thickening it with sweet rice flour and adding a bit of olive oil for richness. When I want a cream of mushroom soup, I add dried mushrooms that I powder first in my Magic Bullet. These make it even thicker so I must thin it with some rice milk.

Plain tomato sauce can also be used in casseroles. You can make a mix of ground beef, green beans or wax beans (canned or frozen), some chopped onions and tomato sauce and put in a casserole dish. Then top with Spud Puppies (organic potatoes like tater tots), frozen hash browns, freshly shredded potatoes, or even mashed potatoes that have been made rice milk and olive oil. You can add some chopped chives or onion for extra flavor. You might even be able to find instant potato flakes that work for you. I get some at the health food store that are just potatoes. Bake the casserole at 350 until browned on the top.

I also make tuna stuffed shells. You could use ham or chicken since you can't have tuna. Get the large size rice shells. Use cooked chopped ham or chicken and mix with some chopped green onions and a bit of the cream soup base. I also like to mix in some little bits of rice cheese. Make sure you get the kind that is vegan. The other has dairy in it. Cook and cool the shells enough to handle, then stuff with the meat and cream soup. Pour some more cream soup on the top to keep them moist as they bake. Then heat through in the oven or microwave.

Stuffed potatoes make another quick meal. You can do the potatoes in the microwave or crockpot to make it easier. To do in the crockpot, prick and wrap with foil. They bake on low in about 8 hours. When I do them this way, I do them the day before.

You can get bags of pre-cooked rice that are plain. Trader Joe's sells them and I got some at a health food store. These are nice for a quick meal with pre-cooked meat from your freezer.

Cool enough to handle, then cut them for stuffing. We are pigs here, so I buy the largest potatoes I can find and cut just a slice off the top. If you don't want them this big, then cut in half lengthwise. I also make a few extra because I tend to mess a few up and we like them overstuffed.

Scoop out the potatoes with a spoon, leaving about a 1/8" shell. Mash the potatoes with some rice milk, light olive oil and plenty of nutritional yeast for a cheese flavor. Add chopped green onions or chives. Stuff the mixture into the potato skins, drizzle with more olive oil and sprinkle with Hungarian sweet paprika. Bake until heated through and nicely browned on top. These are nice with crumbled cooked bacon on the top.

[lizard00]

I'm allergic to egg whites. So, as you can imagine, breakfast is hard for me.

I'm also either allergic to dairy or intolerant to casein. Not sure which, although I'm starting to think it's celiac related intolerance.

So most of my cooking is done with either soy or rice milk, ghee (which is clarified butter-lactose and casein free), and most baking has to be done with an egg replacer. I often think I'm lucky though, because somehow this is the only food allergy I have. (Which I've had my whole life, only found out about it within the past few years though. Eggs always made me feel gross.)

But with the celiac alone, somedays I feel like I cook ALL the time! Shopping is definitely a science, but I stick with as much whole foods as I can. I use some canned beans and tomato sauce, but that's about it. Most things are just much better fresh.

I agree though, I wish people understood food allergies a little better. But, it's only been recently that people have been popping up with food allergies. I can remember growing up, which wasn't that long ago, like one or two kids had food allergies. Now, it seems there's kids everywhere with food allergies. I think society still has to catch up.