The Wheat-Free, Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, Egg-Free, Sugar-Free, Yeast-Free, Me!

Hello Folks, it's me, and I'm reporting to you from the end of day 4 of what was supposed to be a hellish 3-9 months of deprivation.

But actually, I'm feeling pretty awesome!

Eating this way has not been as hard as I thought it would be. Not only that, but it's really spiked my creativity in the kitchen (who knew the things you can do with a coconut!?). As for Sean, I'm managing to feed us both mostly the same things, and when we have left-overs, I'll have them for dinner and make the poor guy some pasta.

My allergies haven't bothered me at all, and my energy level is way up, even without any caffeine. I've also lost a few pounds to boot, so I'm not complaining.

The morning (and sometimes lunch-time) shake is not fantastic, but from our time eating low-carb, I'm used to breakfast shakes.

People keep asking "So, if you can't eat beef & dairy, eggs, wheat & most grains, gluten, eggs, sugar and yeast... then what the hell can you eat?" Good question. I've been eating lots of veggies; both cooked & raw, rice, nuts & nut butter (but not peanut- I'm allergic), lots of fruit, tofu, pork & chicken. I should be eating fish I suppose, but to be honest, I'm not a huge fan, and to be even more honest, I'm not comfortable cooking with it. Guess I'll have to work on that.

Of course, none of this is all that comforting at 8pm when all of my nerve endings are screaming for something chocolate! Fortunately, desperation breeds ingenuity...

(Sugar-Free, Dairy-Free, Egg-Free) Vegan Chocolate Mousse

1 package soft tofu

1/4 cup coconut cream

3 oz unsweetened dark chocolate (check label for dairy)

1 tsp guar gum (from the guar bean, a natural thickener, emulsifier & stabilizer)

sweetener to taste- I used a mix of brown rice syrup, agave nectar & stevia

1. Roughly chop the chocolate & melt it in the microwave, or over a double boiler. 
2. In a food processor, whir the tofu & coconut cream until combined. 
3. Quickly add melted chocolate to tofu and whir. 
4. Add guar gum and whir until colour & texture is uniform. 
5. Add sweetener, whir & taste, adjust flavours as necessary. 
6. At this point, you could add some very finely grated orange zest, but ooops, I'm allergic. 
7. Pour mixture into 4 goblets and refrigerate for at least 1 hour until thickened and cold. Enjoy!
   

Seriously, it's good.

Thou Shalt Not Eat

Tomorrow is Day # 1 of my crazy-anti-allergy-eating-plan. Over the weekend I bid Adieu to all the things I won't be eating again soon. I feel really gross because of the indulgence, which I think oddly enough will help in these first few days.

Did a little bit of preparatory shopping tonight and anyone peeking in my shopping basket must have taken me for some kind of raw-food-crazed-save-the-whales-freaky-emo-hippy. Or some variation thereof.

Tomorrow, to make things a little easier I'm going to have the Dr's meal replacement shake for breakfast & lunch as recommended. (but I think I'll do chef-like salads for most lunches when I'm in the swing of things) Dinner will be some kind of lemon-herb chicken with rice & salad.

Back to the shopping; I bought some really weird things tonight. One of them is Braggs natural soy sauce. It's made without fermentation, (so no yeast) so I can have it. I also bought stevia, which is a natural sweetener I have tried in the past (and hated, but I'll give it another go), and agave syrop, another natural sweetener. If you're ever in the grocery store and feel like a larf, try looking for a snack food that does not contain wheat, gluten, yeast, citric acid or sugar. Good luck with that. 

There are more rules to the crazy allergy-be-gone regime, like rotating fruits & nuts (and maybe other things, crap I'd better read the booklet again). Basically, If I have strawberries today, I can't have them again for 3 more days. There are reasons behind all this crap, but to tell you the truth, I'm not really caring right now. I'm just going to do it.

Dr. J's Shake Recipe:

Water

Coconut Milk

Rice Protein Powder (yuck)

Stevia (for sweetness, but well see if it's as gross as I remember)

1 kind of Fruit

Flaxseed Oil

Ground Flax

All I can say is it's a damn shame Rum is fermented.