1 Tip That Will Change the Way You Approach Allergy-Free Cooking

 I still vividly remember the day that Audra’s doctor gave us her EoE diagnosis. After going over treatment options with him, we agreed to try a 6 food elimination diet to treat her disease. We went straight from our meeting with him to his office’s nutritionist who gave us a huge stack of papers covering what Audra could and couldn’t eat under this new diet and suggestions of what brands are allergy-friendly. It was overwhelming, to say the least.

Our first trip to the grocery store took forever (reading e.v.e.r.y. label), and we came home with some hard, dry rice crackers, a carton of hemp milk (didn’t know that was a thing!), and a bit of produce. Making lunch was quite interesting, and I remember still being hungry afterwards. :) I’m so glad I can look back and laugh now because at the time, our outlook on eating seemed bleak and, ahem, bland. Not hopeful for anyone, especially people who enjoy food as much as our family.

In an effort to try this new way of grocery shopping and cooking, I began searching for “6 food elimination diet recipes” and “egg-free” or “dairy-free” versions of some of my favorite recipes. I tried so hard to adapt favorites to fit our new guidelines, and truly, none of it tasted right.

Something needed to change. One day, I decided to look on one of my favorite websites for recipes to see if any of their recipes just worked without all the modifications. And guess what? I found an arsenal of recipes that were created to taste amazing without any of our “no” ingredients! A whole new world opened up to me!

Instead of searching for substitute ingredients for our go-to recipes (leaving us disappointed), we began to look for recipes that are designed to highlight flavor and fresh ingredients without the use of common allergens.

I created, and still use, a board on Pinterest with many of our new found recipes, and began going through them one by one. Each one was a crowd pleaser for our family and only inspired our love for cooking and being in the kitchen more. Yes, we did rely on a few modification recipes during this time, but overall, our meal plans now included recipes that were delicious in their own right. If you are intimidated by the prospect of cooking new recipes, or cooking in general, there’s nothing to fear. We have found that there are lots of simple recipes out there, and if something doesn’t turn out (we definitely have plenty of those stories), you can try something new the next time.