Oh the things you think.....on free donut day, when you have food allergies.
I wrote this a while back when it was hitting hard how different your life is when you have "food issues". Know someone who does? They likely go through this as well. Everyone has a down day. Fortunately, it's a passing thing and you bounce right back and get back into the grind of living life.
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Well, we know it's true so go ahead and say it.
Our diet is a pain because there's nothing we can eat at your house.
We know that.
You hate it.
Most days, we do too.
And I would do anything to be able to just eat anything that was in front of me.
I would love to try your secret family recipe of some special dessert.
Don't think that I wouldn't rather be planning fun stuff with my kids, or painting the ugly trim in my house, than constantly thinking about food; cooking food from scratch, researching recipes online, learning about food chemistry for viable substitutions, and growing practices of food stuffs.
I would love to take advantage of Free Donut Day at Dunkin Donuts. But, fortunately I still remember the last time I had one nearly 10 years ago. It wasn't good.
I would love to just "go out to eat" and not have to worry about what is on the menu, and whether I trust the staff to follow through on their GF claims, or even the ability to prepare food without cross contamination.
I would love to just not worry about how I will feel after I eat.
I would love to be invited to someone's house without them feeling like I am a burden.
I would love to just eat whatever is put in front of me.
I can't though.
I have a disease and it will kill be if I eat food that my body sees as poison.
I would love to enjoy all my childhood favorites...Tastycakes, Twizzlers, yeast donuts, bagels. There are substitutes for some of those.
OK, it's still not the same.
Now, if I want something that is anywhere near what I remember, I have to make it myself.
So, the battle sounds something like this.. "Oh, I'd love a tastycake. Hmm, do I have a recipe? Yeah, I do! Do I have flour? No. Oh, but I can't just mix up a batch because since I did that last, I found out that I am actually allergic to one of the ingredients so I have to substitute for that. Ah, but I bought some flour ingredients to sub out so I can mix up some flour. Now, do I have time to mix flour before I have to start preparing the next meal for my family? Nope, guess I will have to wait. I'll have a carrot..."
Many days when I want to just open a package and eat, I feel like the little red hen:
Interestingly, when you have food allergies/intolerances, you become much more aware of what is in food and how it is grown so it can grow into a food ethics issue. It opens up a whole new can of worms that you likely never gave much thought to beyond calories and perhaps fat content of food. This becomes another factor in food buying decisions. As you start looking at what you are eating, you become much more aware of how each ingredient affects you. I know that gluten makes me very, very ill, in many ways. But other ingredients have their own symptoms.
Funny though, many of the common food allergy/sensitivity symptoms have popular OTC medications available. I wonder, would more people be able to avoid the medications if they simply identified the offending food behind the reaction? Can't mention that to anyone though. They don't want to "catch" your "food issues". Because we all know that denial means you don't have "it".
Fortunately, in the end, we have a God who cares for us. He has provided work-arounds for these problems. We can make amazing pizza and bread (even if they are gluten, dairy, sugar and yeast free). And, he has promised heaven...where none of this will be an issue.
In Heaven, we will all have perfectly balanced gut bacteria and healthy bodies. :)
Now, where's that carrot...
I wrote this a while back when it was hitting hard how different your life is when you have "food issues". Know someone who does? They likely go through this as well. Everyone has a down day. Fortunately, it's a passing thing and you bounce right back and get back into the grind of living life.
________________________________
Well, we know it's true so go ahead and say it.
Our diet is a pain because there's nothing we can eat at your house.
We know that.
You hate it.
Most days, we do too.
And I would do anything to be able to just eat anything that was in front of me.
I would love to try your secret family recipe of some special dessert.
Don't think that I wouldn't rather be planning fun stuff with my kids, or painting the ugly trim in my house, than constantly thinking about food; cooking food from scratch, researching recipes online, learning about food chemistry for viable substitutions, and growing practices of food stuffs.
I would love to take advantage of Free Donut Day at Dunkin Donuts. But, fortunately I still remember the last time I had one nearly 10 years ago. It wasn't good.
I would love to just "go out to eat" and not have to worry about what is on the menu, and whether I trust the staff to follow through on their GF claims, or even the ability to prepare food without cross contamination.
I would love to just not worry about how I will feel after I eat.
I would love to be invited to someone's house without them feeling like I am a burden.
I would love to just eat whatever is put in front of me.
I can't though.
I have a disease and it will kill be if I eat food that my body sees as poison.
I would love to enjoy all my childhood favorites...Tastycakes, Twizzlers, yeast donuts, bagels. There are substitutes for some of those.
OK, it's still not the same.
Now, if I want something that is anywhere near what I remember, I have to make it myself.
So, the battle sounds something like this.. "Oh, I'd love a tastycake. Hmm, do I have a recipe? Yeah, I do! Do I have flour? No. Oh, but I can't just mix up a batch because since I did that last, I found out that I am actually allergic to one of the ingredients so I have to substitute for that. Ah, but I bought some flour ingredients to sub out so I can mix up some flour. Now, do I have time to mix flour before I have to start preparing the next meal for my family? Nope, guess I will have to wait. I'll have a carrot..."
Many days when I want to just open a package and eat, I feel like the little red hen:
- grow the ingredients,
- mix the flour
- make the food
- eat the food.
Interestingly, when you have food allergies/intolerances, you become much more aware of what is in food and how it is grown so it can grow into a food ethics issue. It opens up a whole new can of worms that you likely never gave much thought to beyond calories and perhaps fat content of food. This becomes another factor in food buying decisions. As you start looking at what you are eating, you become much more aware of how each ingredient affects you. I know that gluten makes me very, very ill, in many ways. But other ingredients have their own symptoms.
Funny though, many of the common food allergy/sensitivity symptoms have popular OTC medications available. I wonder, would more people be able to avoid the medications if they simply identified the offending food behind the reaction? Can't mention that to anyone though. They don't want to "catch" your "food issues". Because we all know that denial means you don't have "it".
Fortunately, in the end, we have a God who cares for us. He has provided work-arounds for these problems. We can make amazing pizza and bread (even if they are gluten, dairy, sugar and yeast free). And, he has promised heaven...where none of this will be an issue.
In Heaven, we will all have perfectly balanced gut bacteria and healthy bodies. :)
Now, where's that carrot...
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