I don't like to whine, but I'm tired of cooking for my family. I mean, really.
I used to like cooking for my family when our needs were simple. My boy can't have any tree nuts, and my husband can't have many fibrous vegetables. I could deal with that. I had gotten used to it. It was pretty simple when you took all of the nuts out of the house (with the exception of the one writing here) and I learned how to chop onions really big so they can easily be picked out of food.
My husband has IBS, but thankfully, we figured out early that he can control it with food. We were just dating when all this started. Before he got a handle on it, it was impossible to go anywhere. The man was very thin, weak, and gray. Thin's not so bad, but the gray wasn't a good look for him. Thankfully, I was too smart to dump him just because he was pale and couldn't go anywhere. But now, he has a list of foods he can't eat. For him, no onions, lettuce, spinach, chard, kale, celery, broccoli, artichoke, asparagus, peppers, shallots, or weird untested vegetables.
And then there is my boy. We learned very early on that he has a life-threatening allergy to tree nuts. Three or four really frightening trips to the emergency room set all of that into motion. When he got the standard skin test, they said that his tree nut allergies were so bad, he'd probably have them all of his life. So bakeries and candy shops are off limits. Once, I ate a couple of almonds and then kissed him. His eye stayed swelled shut for two days while we kept him on antihistamine. For him, no walnuts, pecans, almonds, pine nuts, hazelnuts, filberts, pistachios, nut extracts, marzipan, Frangelico (just kidding), Brazil nuts, chestnuts, hickory nuts, cashews, pralines, Nutella, nougat, pesto, or anything made on equipment that also processes tree nuts.
A couple of years ago, I found out that I'm practically diabetic, so I count carbs. If I eat the equivalent to two slices of bread in carbs at any one time, I feel sick. That includes all those sneaky little carbs in the peas and the fruit. I can handle making low-carb meals. So, for me, no carbs, mostly.
Last summer, my boy started having stomach aches every night. We went back and forth with his pediatrician for a couple of months. She blamed it on his weight. She also blamed a rash on his weight. It was the only thing she could talk about whenever we went in for any problems. So we changed pediatricians. Then, we finally got to a gastroenterologist who tested him for sensitivity to fructose, a three-hour breathing test. They didn't even finish his test, his results were so conclusive. For three weeks, we went on a very low fructose diet. I went on it with him figuring that fructose was close enough to carbohydrates that I'd be in diabetic heaven. It was awful. I couldn't have lettuce, apples, asparagus, or artichokes. I was miserable, but I held out because I didn't want my boy to be doing all this by himself. If it was hard, it was going to be hard for both of us. He's been on this diet for a while. No high-fructose corn syrup, no sugar, no stevia, no watermelon, no peaches. He shouldn't eat apples, lettuce, asparagus, artichokes, or cherries.
Recently, his mouth started swelling up when we were eating gyros. Another trip to the allergy specialist and we found out that he's also allergic to ground sesame seeds. So, no hummus or tahini. And we're all just a little nervous about sesame seed buns.
So, you can understand why I get a little annoyed when the next doctor suggests something like a low-fat diet.
That's whining, isn't it?
Thank you for listening, jb
I used to like cooking for my family when our needs were simple. My boy can't have any tree nuts, and my husband can't have many fibrous vegetables. I could deal with that. I had gotten used to it. It was pretty simple when you took all of the nuts out of the house (with the exception of the one writing here) and I learned how to chop onions really big so they can easily be picked out of food.
My husband has IBS, but thankfully, we figured out early that he can control it with food. We were just dating when all this started. Before he got a handle on it, it was impossible to go anywhere. The man was very thin, weak, and gray. Thin's not so bad, but the gray wasn't a good look for him. Thankfully, I was too smart to dump him just because he was pale and couldn't go anywhere. But now, he has a list of foods he can't eat. For him, no onions, lettuce, spinach, chard, kale, celery, broccoli, artichoke, asparagus, peppers, shallots, or weird untested vegetables.
And then there is my boy. We learned very early on that he has a life-threatening allergy to tree nuts. Three or four really frightening trips to the emergency room set all of that into motion. When he got the standard skin test, they said that his tree nut allergies were so bad, he'd probably have them all of his life. So bakeries and candy shops are off limits. Once, I ate a couple of almonds and then kissed him. His eye stayed swelled shut for two days while we kept him on antihistamine. For him, no walnuts, pecans, almonds, pine nuts, hazelnuts, filberts, pistachios, nut extracts, marzipan, Frangelico (just kidding), Brazil nuts, chestnuts, hickory nuts, cashews, pralines, Nutella, nougat, pesto, or anything made on equipment that also processes tree nuts.
A couple of years ago, I found out that I'm practically diabetic, so I count carbs. If I eat the equivalent to two slices of bread in carbs at any one time, I feel sick. That includes all those sneaky little carbs in the peas and the fruit. I can handle making low-carb meals. So, for me, no carbs, mostly.
Last summer, my boy started having stomach aches every night. We went back and forth with his pediatrician for a couple of months. She blamed it on his weight. She also blamed a rash on his weight. It was the only thing she could talk about whenever we went in for any problems. So we changed pediatricians. Then, we finally got to a gastroenterologist who tested him for sensitivity to fructose, a three-hour breathing test. They didn't even finish his test, his results were so conclusive. For three weeks, we went on a very low fructose diet. I went on it with him figuring that fructose was close enough to carbohydrates that I'd be in diabetic heaven. It was awful. I couldn't have lettuce, apples, asparagus, or artichokes. I was miserable, but I held out because I didn't want my boy to be doing all this by himself. If it was hard, it was going to be hard for both of us. He's been on this diet for a while. No high-fructose corn syrup, no sugar, no stevia, no watermelon, no peaches. He shouldn't eat apples, lettuce, asparagus, artichokes, or cherries.
Recently, his mouth started swelling up when we were eating gyros. Another trip to the allergy specialist and we found out that he's also allergic to ground sesame seeds. So, no hummus or tahini. And we're all just a little nervous about sesame seed buns.
So, you can understand why I get a little annoyed when the next doctor suggests something like a low-fat diet.
That's whining, isn't it?
Thank you for listening, jb
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