Current mood: Spotify playlist “Chilled Jazz, NuJazz, Funk, Deep House – Music for Travelling”
While I’m listening to the Spotify Chilled Jazz, NuJazz, Funk, Deep House – Music for Travelling playlist because it’s the only thing I could find already downloaded onto my phone (as I fly to Bellingham, WA), it’s also perfect. Music for Travelling! How more on point could the chance selection be, high five past Adrianna! It’s also a little upbeat, which is helpful because as I write this I had five hours sleep last night AND woke up at 5am to catch this lovely flight – aint nobody want that.
So, what I wanted to talk about today are safe food lists! When I first stumbled into living day-to-day with food allergies, it was really hard for me to share with friends and family, like, if you want to make something for me, here’s this book I’ve been using. But I can only have the items that are in the “low” or “medium” categories, and actually, I also can’t have any seafood, preservatives, additives, etc, etc, etc. Hard right? Hard conversation to have with people who love you and want to cook for you and make your life easier, let alone if you want to eat at a restaurant.
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| Recent successful meal out @ a Mike's Cafe & Wine Bar in Friday Harbor, WA |
So I did some research and found a couple solutions because surely I’m not the only one this happens to? Options seemed to be:
· Food cards to give restaurants and friends with an image and the name of the food that you’re allergic to, like these (well for me it was like, how long is a piece of string, that’s a fat deck of cards)
· A printed list of your food allergies, but again, pretty sure I have too many allergies to put on one list
· A list of the food you can eat – bingo!
I started with an excel sheet that I could email to friends, family members and restaurants that included all the foods I could eat, in a big long list. Today this is a google sheet that you can check-out here.
It’s fascinating that we can live on so few ingredients. My food list has just 115 items on it. 115 food items that I can eat on a regular basis – bonkers. And, if you have allergies you’ll know even that “approved safe list” ebbs and flows. Some weeks I can eat asparagus, some weeks I can’t eat lemon. With time my body has gotten stronger and I have more options – hooray! But it’s still a matter of checking the list every time I share it with someone to ensure I don’t poison myself.
Here’s what my food list looks like today:
Hi, I have severe allergies. I get anaphylaxis (puffy, can’t breathe, end up in hospital) to:
Additives, preservatives, shellfish, superfoods (yes, blueberries, avocado, etc.)
I can eat a lot of things though including wheat/gluten and dairy, please see my list below:
VEGETABLES
Asparagus
Bamboo Shoots
Beetroot
Brussels Sprouts
Cabbage
Carrot
Celery
Chinese vegetables, i.e. Bok Choy
Chives
Choko
Dried beans
Dried Peas
Green beans
Green peas
Leeks
Lemon
Lentils
Lettuce (no Rocket or Spinach)
Lime
Marrow
Mungbean sprouts
Parsley
Parsnip
Potato
Pumpkin
Red Cabbage
Shallots
Snap peas
Snow pea sprouts
Snow Peas
Swede (rutabaga)
Sweet potato
Turnip
Yams
FRUITS
Apple
Custard Apple
Loquat
Mango
Papaya
Passionfruit
Pawpaw
Pear
Persimmon
Rhubarb
Tamarillo
MEATS AND OL’ PROTEIN
Lamb
Chicken
Duck
Quail
Eggs
Rabbit
Sausage casing
DAIRY AND SOY
Cream (fresh, sour cream, etc.)
Fresh cheese (feta, ricotta, halloumi, tasty cheeses, Boccioni, mozzarella)
Milk (+ buttermilk, etc.)
Plain or vanilla yogurt
Soy milk
DRINKS
Apple, pear, mango juice
Carob powder
Coffee
Milk
Rice drinks
Soy drinks
Sparkling water (lemonade, lemon or lime soda – unpreserved, tonic water, soda, mineral, etc.)
Tea (Tea substitutes, decaffeinated, herbal, except peppermint)
Tonic Water
JAMS, SPREADS, SUGARS AND SWEETS
Caramels
Carob
Cashew nut butter
Golden Syrup
Malt Extract
Maple Syrup
Marshmallow (white)
Molasses
Rice Syrup
Sugar
Toffee
CEREALS, GRAINS AND FLOURS
Arrowroot
Barley
Buckwheat
Corn flour
Malt
Rice
Rice cereals
Rice flour
Rolled Oats
Rye Flour
Sago
Soy Flour
Wheat
Wheat cereals
Wheat flour
NUTS, SNACKS AND CRISPS
Cashew nuts
Corn Crisps
Plain potato chips
Tacos
FATS AND OILS (small amounts of Olive Oil for cooking is ok)
Butter
Canola oil
Ghee
Margarine
Safflower oil
Soy oil
Sunflower oil
HERBS, SPICES AND CONDIMENTS
Chives
Garlic
Malt, White & Apple Cider Vinegar
Onion (red, brown, etc.).
Parsley
Poppy seeds
Saffron
Salt
Shallots
Spring Onions
Vanilla
Lemon & Lime
Do you have a food allergy list or method you're using?
Xx A.