Week 7 - Eat It!

Or perhaps that should be don't eat it.  After a year of struggling with food sensitivity issues that seemingly came out of nowhere, but passing every possible allergy test with flying colors, I have started seeing a new physician who wants to take a very systematic approach to figuring out what's going on.  I'm 95% convinced that I've somehow become histamine intolerant, which impacts my ability to consume tomatoes, strawberries, spinach and alcohol (especially red wine) amongst other things.  I went to this new doctor hoping that we might figure out a way to jump start my immune system in order that it might once again be able to process the histamines found in so many foods that I love.  The alternative requires dealing with facial swelling and antihistamines that don't always work or - worse - no consumption of these wonderful foods. 

On the road to a formal diagnosis, I'm on an elimination diet which allows me to eat legumes, vegetables (except potatoes, tomatoes, eggplants, peppers), fruits (except citrus and strawberries), nuts (except peanuts and pistachios), rice, soy, healthy oils, chicken and turkey, but requires that I completely avoid dairy, eggs, red or processed meats, gluten, corn, wheat, caffeine, alcohol, and sugars.  Two weeks on this plan, then I can start adding back one food at a time.  The good news in that I will be able to consume mostly everything in the box this week.  The bad news is that finding recipes that will work for both me and my family has been quite time consuming.

In the box this week

(top) Spinach, Kale, Rosemary, Butter and Red Lettuce

(bottom) Carrots, Summer Squash, Bunching Onions, Zucchini,

Apples, Blood Oranges, Strawberries

 

Meal plan for the week
Sunday: Grilled chicken marinated in Rosemary & Bunching Onion infused olive oil, Butter Lettuce and Carrot salad, garlic Rosemary white bean dip
Monday: Moroccan quinoa pilaf with Kale and Carrots
Tuesday: Grilled chicken with Spinach and pasta (I'll sub rice noodles for me, and skip the parm)
Wednesday: Curried Zucchini soup with Carrots and Apples (sub olive oil for butter)
Thursday: Grilled turkey burgers with Red Lettuce and Carrot salad
One day this week: Zucchini-pineapple bread for the rest of the family (and I think I'll add in some grated Carrots, too)

On day four of this diet, the no caffeine, no sugar part is definitely getting easier; not that I'm a major offender on either front, but it's still physically very noticable going cold turkey.  That said, it will take a few food miracles to not get completely tired of the few ingredients that it feels like I can eat... Hopefully the variety of veggies in the box will keep things fresh and exciting for me during an otherwise very bland food week!

This week's title is inspired by the Weird Al Yankovic song of the same name.