Need Menu Help Please - Multiple Food Allergies (Food Allergy/Intolerance)
Hi,
The posts regarding the vegan with soy allergies (in May) has given me some ideas for menus but I think I might need a little more help. I've been allergic to meat, shellfish, casein (milk protein), gluten, eggs, sugar cane and a few other misc. things for a while now but I was able to get my protein from soy, beans, rice protein etc. The problem now is that I've developed an allergy to soy, rice, peanuts, and salmon (a big loss for an Alaskan). The rice reaction is pretty mild so I can probably still have rice protein once every four days or so. The same is true for lentils. Navy beans are out but I can still have chickpeas, kidney beans (in all forms) etc.
So, here I am, rather discouraged. It's been strongly recommended to me that I not eat the same things more than once or twice a week (and never in a row) because it's pretty obvious my body can develop new allergies fairly easily. Any thoughts on other combinations/foods/recipes that will provide variety while still allowing me enough protein? ???
Thanks much!
Erika
Hi Erika,
I guess I'm not sure what your question is exactly. It sounds like you may have answered it yourself.
So, you can't eat the same foods in a row and hopefully not in the same week...
You can get quite a bit of protein from veggies alone. Broccoli for example. You just have to have a large serving of it. There are so many different kinds of vegetables, I'm sure you wouldn't have a porblem with vareity. If you eat a sufficient amount of veggies everyday (a lot!) you can get by with 1 cup of beans, or less and have plenty of protein.
I suggest reading Eat to Live by Dr. Joel Fuhrman.
You only need around 60g of protein a day... do you know what your levels are? Typical levels are much higher than what one needs so you may be getting plenty of protein it's just not in the 'average' range.
Remember that in any bean recipe you can usually sub another kind of bean with different taste but much success.
Sounds like a rough situation. For protein, try out pumpkin seeds, split/green peas and lima beans. You can use limas, chickpeas, kidney beans, any beans really, along with spices for delicious fillings for tacos, with different kinds of types of vegetables in a tortilla or just plain with salsa or guacamole.
A serving of dark greens usually gives you about 10-15% of your protein, so add in those for variety (for example: spinach, asparagus, peas, brussels sprouts, collard/mustard/turnip greens, swiss chard, kale, cauliflower- i know it's not green, green beans).
There are a lot of food allergies in my family, so here are a few I thought of. Also, you might want to check out Dr. Neal Barnard's book, "Foods that Fight Pain" since it features all vegan recipes designed to avoid allergic/arthritic/migraine reactions.
Anyway, you might try replacing some of your rice with quinoa. It's easy to cook just like rice but is gluten free and quite high in protein. I serve it under beans or stews. You can use the flour to bake with, and there is also pasta made from quinoa that's pretty tasty.
Can you eat oats? What about other nuts and seeds? Do coconut products bother you?
I would suggest a trip to your HFS to look for pastas made with alternative flour, gluten-free hot cereals, a variety of lentils, nut butters, and mik alternatives (like almond).
Then you could make many types of stews or bean dishes and serve them over quinoa, millet,polenta, or pasta. You could try serving them with corn tortillas, also.
I would look for Indian and Mexican vegan recipes since those seem most likely to avoid your particular trigger foods. And from a regular vegan cookbook, look for sauces and condiments that could jazz up your simple recipes.