Food Frustrations & Maybe Some Solutions

I’ve mentioned that I am a mom of four totally amazing kids. Did I mention that 3 of the 4 have food allergies? Yikes! It can be sooooo frustrating making any sort of meal that I want to just about lose my shiznas every – single – day! For people who can’t cook, can’t eat half of everything, they sure have an opinion on what they want to eat.

Carissa, George, and Charlie have Celiac Disease. Celiac Disease is an autoimmune disease where when you eat gluten, it creates inflammation that damages the small intestine’s lining! It also prevents some nutrients from being absorbed into the body. Let’s just say that Celiac Disease is not cool! It will never go away, and it cannot be cured. It’s a big pain in the tushy!

George has other allergies in addition to Celiac. He is allergic to strawberries, shellfish, and the whole cow! You read that right. George is allergic to the whole dang cow! That means no burgers and no dairy. He used to live for pizza and cheeseburgers, now he lives for tree bark! I joke. He is all about baked potatoes and garlic pizza with Country Crock!

Not to be left out, I am allergic to pepper. Pepper! I am allergic to both peppers, vegetables, and pepper as in capsicum. I can instantly tell if someone added a pinch of pepper because my mouth is on fire, and sometimes I have a hard time breathing. It’s terrible. Growing up my family just thought I didn’t like blackened chicken, peppercorn steak, or whatever it was that had a nice bit of pepper in it. Darn skippy I didn’t like it. It hurt like a mother! Hate me and want me gone? Then Sunflowers are the way to go. I am anaphylactic when it comes to them. Any form, I will stop breathing! I cannot smell, touch, or eat them in any form which is terrible since a lot of places have switched to using Sunflower Oil. So now I have to read the ingredient list for myself.

There is usually some sort of battle with food because of this. I used to LOVE cooking all the time. I found such joy and pleasure in it, but because of the issues, I have fallen out of love with cooking. Do you ever feel like that? I mean, the melt down when Charlie and Christian see a carrot or a green bean is enough to lose your mind. Funny thing is that I go out of my way to make a veggie they like.

I know I am not alone in this, and this is why we meal plan! It is so important to meal plan in our family. It’s important so there are fewer breakdowns, and also so we know what is going on budget wise. When we meal plan, we actually do a bit of this as a family. It’s their least favorite day in fact! I ask everyone what he or she might want to eat, and then I try to incorporate it somewhere in the month. Mission accomplished.

So how do I organize this? I will post this in another blog and later link it here. I'm also working on a recipe section. I will include pictures as I take them because honestly I started this blog and didn’t think ahead in that sense.

I failed to mention that since we moved, I have had to food shop at several different stores because not one store has exactly what we need! Sometimes I also take a trip to Raleigh because I love and miss Wegmans, and that’s where Costco and Restaurant Depot are located.

Let me know what you think of how we meal plan and if you have any tips to get me through the month. Keep a fellow mom sane!