You know, if the whole food allergy thing wasn't so exhausting, it would be fascinating. At library sales, I found one allergy cookbook from the 90's and another from 1969. I also bought a copy of The Eat Clean Diet Cookbook, which was highly recommended to me. Of course the recipes vary quite a bit, but it's interesting to see that folks have been struggling with this issue in print for what amounts to all of my life.
Surprisingly, there really is a wide variety of foods my children can eat. Allergy eating forces you to make healthy choices because things like eating McDonald's or processed/convenience foods are eliminated. All that talk about wanting to get healthy has to be put into practice.
It's tough to have to closely examine every bite of food you take -- even more so when the children are young and don't really understand why they suddenly can't have so many of the foods they love -- but I'm convinced it will be worth it. Moe ate three questionable foods yesterday after being "clean" since Friday night, and by bedtime his eczema was crawling, he was hoarse and his nose was disgusting.
At church, it was very difficult to juggle my duties with the fellowship ministry, which prepares the Wednesday meal, with making sure the kiddos were safe. I cooked their dinner separately, then had to feed them before their classes, and then they had to watch their friends eat hot dogs and Fritos and cookies. It hurts my heart for them to be left out, but right now our options really are limited. Larry has been living off mashed potatoes since he had his braces reworked with rubber bands and other nasties Tuesday, and it turns out that there's only one boxed kind he can have.
The best thing I can bring to the table is a good attitude, and I'm afraid I fall way short sometimes.
