Hunches Confirmed

Well, the results are in and as I thought, my dear boy has allergies. Wheat in particular. I can deal with that. What has been super hard is the sensitivities. I cried for half an hour when I received the list. Literally. How am I supposed to feed him? And worse, or better, the doc thought that all the children should follow the same dietary plan. So here I am trying to explain to young children that they cannot have certain things even though we have had them before. It isn't going so well. Since my staples are gone, I have resorted to creative options. I do not really like meat so that is something else thrown into the mix. We have had a lot of nuts and seeds and veggies. I want to know how I'm supposed to do comfort food though. Two days ago I made over my favorite muffin recipe. Not bad. But, I do not want this to continue! I know I must, but as a selfish child, I feel like I am being punished!

The children are feeling better. The tummy grumbles and some of the sinus things are gone. My three year old has had a normal bowel function lately. That alone is amazing! The bumps and lumps are almost completely gone now, and some of the crazies have subsided. Phew! That is a lot of good things. My whole cooking and kitchen knowledge has been turned upside down. I am learning new grains and how to use them. (Millet is not bad.) My creativity is being stretched. My only other concern is how to keep the budget under control. Now that their tummies do not hurt, they are always hungry! Good I guess but the budget is set in stone. If anyone has suggestions, I would be happy to hear them. I am doing the farmers market right now because its summer. Winter will be a stretch.

So, are you interested in the list? Here goes... Wheat. A true allergy. Never will he be able to have this again. Milk and associated products. Very high numbers, the doc said we can try to reintroduce it after 5-6months but to not get our hope up. Probably aren't getting that back either. Banana, pineapple,coconut, rice, oats, pinto beans, green beans, Lima beans, yeast, gluten (and all that goes with it), eggs, garlic, shrimp, walnut, peanuts, and lemon. I hope that I didn't miss any. <sigh> Some we will try to introduce back in after 3 months but most of them are out for a minimum of 5 months. And if there is any reaction, they stay gone.

Ha! My new life summed up in a few paragraphs. I will continue to mourn my loss of food options but I am overly excited and happy to know that they are feeling better. I will be on the lookout for new recipes and options to try. Please send me things that you think I might like. The muffin experiment went well. The cookies...not so much. Better luck next time.