The meltdown

I haven't written abut a meltdown here in a while, mostly because they haven't happened much of late.  My streak came to an end this weekend.  I was visiting Connecticut, land of fall leaves, cool climes, beautiful local apples, and a fabled vegan breakfast house.  Vegan, you say?  Yes vegan, they don't eat eggs or dairy so maybe I could have breakfast.  Take a moment to think about what you might order in a breakfast place if you can't eat eggs, dairy or yeast.  No really, give it a shot.  If you're thinking of anything other than a delicious breakfast meat product, I likely can't have it.  Even hashbrowns are cooked in butter for that crispy outside I love so much.  Needless to say, I haven't eaten breakfast in 2 months.  That's torture for a breakfast lover!!

So, here we are at the vegan breakfast hut (not its real name).  I'm pumped.  Pancakes with local apples, soysage, and home fries please... and throw in a piece of that "chocolate devastation cake".  Heaven!!  Except not.  The pancakes are sourdough, that means they have a yeast starter.  The soysage has "nutritional yeast" as an ingredient.  And that delicious cake? Also sourdough.  That means I'm left with a breakfast of home fries.

The tears spring forth unbidden.  I find myself unable to from an actual sentence.  I have to retreat to the bathroom to attempt some form of regrouping.  Except I can't stop crying.  Had it been up to me, I would have left.  Just cut my losses and have another protein shake breakfast, but I was not alone and I would not deny another the joy of pancakes with local apples.  So I sat at a table and ate potatoes and cried all through breakfast.  This is incredibly difficult for me.  I like to be tough, in control of my emotion.  I like to be unbreakable, and now yeast has broken me.

Apparently we aren't out of the woods where the food meltdown is concerned.

Food is just not that interesting.

If you know me well at all, that statement is blasphemy!  In my family, we do food.  My dad relates stories of his travels by places he eats.  It is a longstanding tradition to have pictures of each feast we assemble for.    I LOVE food.

The problem is, I'm allergic to everything I love.  I love pizza, and cheese, and pie, and sandwiches, and good bread, and brownies, and a whole slew of other stuff I just can't eat.  It's somewhat depressing really. So I tend to eat the same safe stuff that is decent, but overall bland, and it's boring.  Food I'm not allergic to, just isn't fun.

This means I'm going to have to shake off the cobwebs and get creative.  I'm going to have to make food I can eat interesting.  I have a great new vegan cookbook that has lots of good breakfast recipes.  The one for sweet potato pancakes has me interested so I might start there.   I just know I have to do something different.  So stay tuned for updates.  I will definitely repost recipes that are great!

A great experience!

I apologize, I have been remiss in posting.  I know, I promised an Apergillus Niger post, but I had such a great, and unique, experience this weekend that it got bumped.  Sorry to those of you who were excited (mom).  I promise to get it up sometime this week.

You must go eat at Ticoz.  Really.  It's great.  I'm not kidding or exaggerating.  If you happen to have food allergies, things you avoid on principal, stuff you hate, or are just generally picky, this is the place for you.  Saturday night found me with two wonderful friends looking at a menu that was overwhelming.  The whole experience started much as every restaurant experience starts.  Greeting, seating, menus, panic attack.  The server (who was lovely, but who's name I cannot remember) came by to ask what we would like.  Given that all of us have some dietary challenges, we start throwing the questions at him.  He doesn't know the answers, but he vows to figure it out. Usually, this does not end well, see the open letter to our sandbar server.  We just get back to our conversation when chef Holly appears at our table.  Everything on the menu is her brainchild and she knows exactly how to answer every one of our questions.

Not only did Chef Holly answer our questions, she created an entirely new dish for one friend (it was incredible), whipped up a lemon apricot vinaigrette salad dressing with enough for leftover containers, and took back my chicken when it came covered in parsley.  All this is impressive, but what made the experience incredible was her attitude.  It was obvious that she was excited about food.  She saw the challenge in creating something for us.  She told us that no one has ever gotten sick from her food and she was going to make sure we weren't the first.

In the end, all the service is amazing, the atmosphere is wonderful, and the staff is great.  But the food is incredible!!  This is pretty important, since we were there for the food.  All around, this was an awesome experience.  So, go to Ticoz.  Chef Holly will take care of you.

Casein

In addition to being allergic to lots of stuff everyone has heard of, I have the great joy of being allergic to lots of stuff people have never heard of!  It's fairly easy to avoid stuff that people know about, "no cheese please!", but the other stuff is significantly more challenging.

My first step was figuring out what the heck this stuff was.  I figured I might share some of this learning with you.  Starting with Casein.  I know, you're excited.  How could you not be?

According to my internet research, casein is a milk protein.  Because it clots well, it is frequently in cheese (even soy cheese, but we'll come back to that).  It is also frequently used as a organic adhesive for other food products.  It has been identified as the major allergenic ingredient in cow's milk.

Ok, seems straightforward enough, just avoid milk and cheese.  Not so much!  Because it's a great adhesive (ew), it ends up in lots of stuff.  For instance, there are very few soy cheeses without casein, which I find completely unethical.  You think we're buying soy cheese because it tastes so good? Of course not!!! We're avoiding milk, you jerks!!  If you add casein to soy cheese we're allergic to that too!  They are very sneaky about what they put casein in, so it requires careful attention.

This whole allergen thing has led to verrrrry long grocery store trips where I have to read the labels for everything!!

It's a process, but I'm chugging along.

Stay tuned for info on Aspergillus Niger, the most common part of mold!!  Try not to jump out of your chair in excitement.

Huge Progress

Yesterday I played an entire soccer game without using my inhaler.  This may not sound all that exciting to you.  Maybe that seems completely normal in your life.  Not for me.  I have never, in my adult life, been able to do something active without my inhaler.  Yes, you read that right, never.  Asthma has been this albatross hanging around my neck, or more accurately, with its hands around my throat, for as long as I can remember.  From the first time I woke up from a dead sleep in an asthma attack, its been a huge part of my life.  Its been terrifying at times, not just for me, but for those who love me.  The very idea that I could play an entire 90 minute soccer game without the benefit of a vaso-dialator was inconceivable to me even 6 weeks ago.  But here we are.  Its happened, and it makes me believe I am on the right path.  There is better life on the other side of all this food nonsense.  And it is worth the effort to get there!

An open letter to our server at the Sandbar in Scottsdle

Dear Chelsea,

"Yes" is the correct answer to the question"does your guacamole have cilantro in it?"  Your answer "no it totally doesn't", along with the lighting that rendered me unable to see said guacamole, led to me waking up the next day with eyes swelled shut!  Thanks for that.  Also, and this is just a bonus tip, if a customer outright tells you they are allergic to cilantro, you might want to ask the kitchen not to sprinkle it over EVERYTHING ON THE PLATE! You see I, the customer, am blissfully unaware of what the kitchen uses to garnish plates.  You, the server, should not be!  So maybe you could hook a sister up and ask them to leave it off.  I did, after all, tell you I was allergic to it less than 2 minutes ago.  This might help with your tips.

With warmest regards, and no bitterness whatsoever,
Steph

Oops!

I read labels obsessively. Almost as much as I read my textbooks.  I have to know every ingredient in everything I put in my body.  So imaging my surprise when I took a second look at my new favorite crackers and found that they have milk and eggs in them.  Dang it!!

I wish I could say that mistake wasn't a big deal.  But I woke up this morning feeling like I'd been hit by a truck.  In fact, I felt hungover.  Not a drop to drink and I have a hangover! Aren't I the lucky one!?!  It's 5:30 the next day and it's still hanging on.  All I want to do is go back to bed.

Note to self: read more carefully!!