Let's Talk Tuesday: Special Diets

Cooking for my family has grown more and more challenging over the years. My husband has Barrett's esophagus, so he is not able to eat any spicy foods. When I say no spices, I mean there can't be a tiny trace of spice or he will suffer for the next 12 hours. It's boring to eat bland chili and Mexican food, but that's what we do. I grew up sprinkling crushed chili peppers on my spaghetti, so it's especially difficult for me.

Both of my daughters have been lactose intolerant since infancy. It's different than a true dairy allergy. Those with lactose intolerance can't digest the sugar (lactose) found in most (but not all ) dairy products. That wasn't so difficult because it was easy to avoid ice cream and soft cheeses and substitute soy milk for regular milk, back in the day. They knew to carry Lactaid tablets with them if encountering pizza or other foods that they wanted to eat while at school or social gatherings.

Unfortunately, over the past year, Middle Child has developed more digestion issues and symptoms of Irritable Bowel Syndrome. If you've read anything about the gut-brain-microbiome axis, you will not be surprised that it's common to find in persons on the autism spectrum and with other psychological disorders. She had some anxiety issues last fall, which could have been the trigger. And then 2020 happened and she was laid off for 4 months. I was hoping that once she went back to work in July that she'd see some improvement in symptoms, but it hasn't happened.

Before seeing a specialist, which I think would just add to the trauma for her, we are trying some diet restrictions. The first has been a complete dairy elimination. It's been a lot of package reading for me, making sure milk is not an ingredient. Fortunately, we don't eat a ton of processed foods, but she does like to have things like granola bars for snacks. I'm happy to report that labels now say 'Contains (possible allergy ingredients such as milk, wheat, soy, nuts)' underneath the long list of ingredients, so that it's easy to find! The hardest part has been not using butter while baking. I refuse to buy margarine, so it's been tricky. I've found an olive oil spread that's not a perfect substitute, but will do.

As a special treat, I made stuffed shells using a homemade vegan ricotta. The ingredients were: slivered almonds, coconut cream, nutritional yeast, vinegar, lemon juice, salt and garlic powder. I have to say, it was difficult to tell the difference. The texture was perfect. There was a hint of sweetness from the coconut cream, but it was really not noticeable.

I wish I could tell you that this solved her problems, but after two months, she really didn't see any improvements in her condition. So, three weeks ago, she decided she wanted to go gluten-free. NOT EASY and NOT CHEAP! I mean, since it's the current fad, you can find GF products, but it's just a pain if you are used to making foods from scratch.

I purchased some almond flour and some rice flour to use for baking. The almond flour has the consistency of wheat germ and the rice flour is similar to baking powder. I made some pumpkin almond flour muffins and they turned out really well. I also had success using the rice flour in a coating mix for baked chicken.

I made these chocolate cookies with the rice flour. They were edible, but I wasn't impressed with the grainy texture.

Apparently, oats can be contaminated with gluten, so I had to buy GF oats. I made a strawberry rhubarb crisp with them and the olive oil spread. Tasted fine, but it clumped up.

I've been making a lot of dinners like these bowls, where we can individualize. My husband and I can then eat couscous and my daughter can use quinoa instead.

Her cucumbers were plain instead of these dairy coated ones I had!

I've read that it takes a few months to get gluten out of your system, so we are in it for the long haul over the holidays. Our Covid Thanksgiving will have 6-10 fewer people than usual, so at least I will be making smaller quantities of everything. I won't be posting again this month, so let me just wish all of you a Happy and Healthy Thanksgiving.

Do you or someone you know have dietary restrictions?