Going and Staying Veg with Allergies/Intolerances/Celiacs

[ShangriLewis]

I'm starting this thread to list resources and for discussion of those with allergies. It seems easy enough to cut out eggs and dairy for Vegans. But, it gets hard when you can't eat nuts, beans, soy, wheat etc... So, go at it ladies. If you suggest websites or books I will try and get them in this first post. If you have recipes please put them in the recipe subforum with GF or Nut Free or Bean Free etc... in the Subject line. If you think I could add anything else to this main post or the Subject please let me know.
Heather

Books:
The Food Allergy Survival Guide

Websites:
The Gluten Free Diet: Easier than it Sounds
A message board http:// community.livejournal.com/glutenfreevegan/
Another message board http:// www.vegiac.com/forums/index.php
GF CF Cooking Australia
Blog: http://glutenfreebay.blogspot.com/ I don't think this person has always been Vegan, but just trying to be close now. Beware

Baking Mixes or Foods:
The Cravings Place Mixes Gluten, Wheat, Dairy, Egg and Nut free. This are really, really good.
Vance's Food makers of Dari free milk substitute This does use Vitamin D3 but it's potato based and it seems like a good choice if you are still looking for a good sub.

[abbiroads]

Just wanted to say I loved the Food Allerge Survival Guide.

And, I am really drawn to eating veg/vegan, but we are soy free and it seems so daunting.

Oh good!! you did make it!!!! I was just in the shower thinking - hey - along the same lines.... we should all donate our "what we spend each week on what "at the grocery store...... that would be helpful for me to know if i am spending too much/normal... i doubt i spend too little ... but do you kwim? I think it would give us all an extra bit of suggestions as to varieties and such...

Yea for this thread! We have to avoid dairy/wheat/soy/egg/peanut/tree nut/avocado/citrus for Ian. We haven't introduced beans because of the other legume issues. It seems like we can find mixes/recipes that avoid some but not all of our allergens. I am excited to see some ideas!

heather - Pamela's also makes realy good baking mixes! I like hers better than cravings place - because there isn't all the sugar!! ( Her brownies are my favorite!!!



Iansmama - doesn't it feel like w/ all those allgies - your only option is frutarian???!!!

you should reallly check out the NAET program. (google it) See if it sounds good to you... we are going to start in 2 weeks.

[ShangriLewis]

Irene is going through that. I think she blogs about it. Just in case you have any questions. She did just have a baby though.

We ate vegan for a while and ending up dropping it due to my pregnancy (couldn't stand to prepare food ) and ds's allergies to every type of nut and several legumes, including soy. We stayed off dairy for a couple of years, but eventually introduced eggs back into our diet... then occasional meat.. then more meat and even a little cheese in recent weeks. He is still reacting to things and has his next appt. on Monday, and I'm gonna thrash the doctor if he tries to back out of testing for the things I want. (oops.. sorry.. *Gentle* Christian mothers, Paula.. *gentle*) I asked him well over a year ago to test for legumes and he wouldn't. grrrrrrr...

Just checking in and I'll add more when I get my book.

(and we LOVE Vance's )

[ShangriLewis]

Paula what type of testing have you done?

So.. ds may be allergic to corn. ahem. CORN??? you mean corn and gluten are out? AND we are vegan??????? i think i am going to hyperventilate!!!


Corn and soy are like, the two things that are in EVERYTHING. And - corn is my fall back in a lot of recipes for no gluten.....

oh man.

I have a gift card for barnes and noble... i am gettting that cook book tonight.


Otherwise, we are all going raw.........

Heather,

we've only had skin testing for select items so far. That is a saga in itself. Our allergist really resists testing him for "just anything" and for the life of me I don't understand why. He seems to want to wait until Caleb reacts and THEN test to confirm it.

I'm DONE with that approach.. I'm ticked.. I was so enraged the last time he had a reaction, b/c I suspect it was to something that I had specifically asked him to test for, and instead he sent me home to experiment.

He can be a little overbearing in a friendly way so I'm planning to go without taking all 3 kids (b/c that's always so distracting), have my say before he interupts me, and present him with a (long) list of things I expect him to test for this time. I need a working list of foods that dh is *not* allergic to... I realize I will still have to sort out the sensitivities by trial and error, but I'm tired of being sideswiped by huge reactions to new foods when we could have *easily* tested for them and known they were dangerous. I will also discuss blood testing, b/c that might be easier on ds than getting 50 skin pricks. :/

I have looked into finding a different doctor, but EVERY allergist that my insurance will cover is part of the same group, and I suspect they will function along a similar SOP. This is his last chance, though... (Monday) I will switch doctors, even if it's to someone in the same group, if I am not satisfied with the way this next visit goes.

((Navae )))

I'm so sorry! Take a deep breath... you can do this (do you need a paper bag?) I felt like that when they told us ds was allergic to wheat AND rice AND soy.

You've still got potato starch, arrowroot, xanthum gum, and tons of different choices for flours... We will all help each other figure this out.

(I have a recipe for mini brownies that I think would be safe for you... chocolate makes everything seem more manageable!)

http://www.marthastewart.com/page.jh...&rsc=ns2006_m4

I sub'd several ingredients and they still turned out yummy!

And actually Ian would be pretty happy living off fruit alone. He would eat 10 bananas a day if I would let him.

Yep, I forgot to add corn to our list of known allergies too. It is a huge pain to avoid too. Prepackaged foods are pretty much totally out of his diet.

Sometimes I get so burdened by having to cook mulitple meals every time we eat. If we go anywhere we have to pack his food. I mean, its all routine by now and is not the same overwhelming feeling that I used to have, but sometimes it still gets to me. And $5 for a tiny loaf of bread or 5 little bagels really gets expensive quick. I'd like to make my own breads for him but am at a loss on where to start for that.

We did NAET for a while....we quit because it was $60 a visit and we just couldn't afford to do it anymore. And his blood tests are still postive to things that the chiro who was doing NAET for so I don't know what to think about that one. I would like to try it again I think, when Ian can be tested and treated himself instead of treating through me, which is how it worked when he was to small for the kinesiology. Dh is in school to become a chiropractor and I am actually hoping that we can learn to do some work at home when he learns applied kinesiology.

Palil, I would be so frustrated with that allergist. I hope your next visit goes well. Our allergist asks me what I want him tested for.

So the Vance's Dari free is ok? Some of our mulitple severe allergy kiddos do okay on it? I had considered ordering it for Ian but I always get really nervous at getting and introducing new foods. I have an aversion to seeing my kid with hives and asthma. :/ I would feel better knowing that there are others who have used it and it is safe!

We've been using it for years with no problems, but I would check the ingredients carefully, since each family has their own unique set of sensitivities and allergies.

here's the ingredients:

http://www.vancesfoods.com/nutritiondarifree.html

Got the book! I basically just thumbed through it, but it look fantastic, ya'll! Great features... charts.. the recipe section looks great.

I'm not jumping in to trying a lot of recipes yet, b/c they lean heavily on seed products and (non-soy, non-peanut) legumes.... and I'm just flat out scared to give any of those to ds until we have his testing on Monday. I suspect some combination of those are responsible for his last 2 reactions.

more detail later.. I"ll post the outline and some of the features I thought were neat. I gotta get off the computer for now.

ok.. super quick overview... Here's the chapter titles

What are Food Sensitivities?
Creating and Maintaining a Healthy Intestinal Boundary
Food Sensitivities and Various Conditions
Discovering What Ails Us: Testing for Food Sensitivities
Foods, Label reading, and Alternatives
Wheat and Gluten Sensitivities and Celiac Disease
Living with Food Sensitivities: Feelings, Safety, and Exercise
Nutrition Planning for Adults and Children
Kitchen Basics and Cooking Fundamentals
Recipes

(which include)

Baking Basics
Great Seasonings and Spice Mixes
Banner Breakfasts
Dips and Spreads
Salads and Dressings
Satisfying Soups
Main Dishes
Sauces and Gravies
Simple Sides
More Treats and Sweets

Then it has a list of resources which looks GREAT, food diary form, Appendixes, etc.

The recipes note at the bottom if something contains tomato, fermented food, or citrus. Explanations are given for unusual ingredients, and they give good tips on equipment and even pressure cooking instructions and times. They cover preventing food allergies, elimination diets, and give lots of nutritional analysis. They give a nice variety of make-your-own seasoning mixes, have a section on building meals around the potato, and give dozens of options for plain grains and rice. Many of the "recipes" have so many options listed that they are way more than just a recipe (18 muffin options.. not just flavor options, but different grains). The more I look through it the more impressed I am. They were very thorough.

I think this book could really lend itself to being adapted to almost any set of allergies, as long as you can eat *either* some beans, or some seeds, or some nuts.

I hope we'll know next week if that's us or not.

Here you go... a random recipe that i thought we all could enjoy!

VEGAN-GF-CF-Corn free-Soy free butter...... and RAW!!!!

2tbsp Virgin coldpressed: coconut oil and olive oil. beat it with a fork. add sea salt to tast. Drizzle w/ a little canola oil. and mix again.

we put ours in a little pyrex dish w/ a glass lid in the fridge. (the canola oil helps the coconut oil not to hard unevenly. ... and if you leave it out at room temp., it will completely liquify)

we had to come up with this after realizing there was a corn derivative in our margarine....

But i like it better - it was a great discovery.