Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Happy Thanksgiving, Food Allergies

Happy Early Thanksgiving! 

We're probably like most of you all, scrambling and trying to work on our grocery list for the upcoming feast. Great job for everyone who's accomplished it earlier- someday that will be me. For some crazy reason, I thought Thanksgiving was supposed to be last Thursday (yes, I really am jumping the gun on this- maybe it is the snow on the ground, Holiday music starting around Halloween- who knows). Last Monday I was trying to plan out everything, bought some Harvest Bon Bons at Chocolaterie Stam as gifts and sent then away. Well, they arrived a little earlier but better early than late!


 For this Thanksgiving, we're going to be in Ames celebrating with friends. Since Adam and I both like to cook, we are easily going to be in a bind with oven temperatures and timing. One of my favorite dishes that I'm looking forward to is a sweet potato dish with our giant sweet potatoes from the farm. I'm a huge fan but Adam is a squash and sweet potato hater. I will post the recipe... along with some of our favorites. 


Our Thanksgiving feast was a in limbo for a bit. On Monday I had an allergy test done because I had a severe reaction when I was in Wisconsin. I couldn't breathe and my throat was tight. It was definitely scary and was the defining moment of seriously looking into what was causing this. Before, sometimes I would break out in hives after eating or exercising (the most severe) but other times an annoying little rash. I blamed it on wheat and would try to avoid gluten - sorry wheat- it wasn't you. 

Turns out, I'm severely allergic to soy/ soybeans and soy happens to be almost EVERYWHERE- breads, soups, salad dressings, candy, ice cream and more. I have other allergies to egg yolks, cucumbers, broccoli, carrots, raspberries, and TOMATOES- I was very bummed about that last one and the other veggies. I mean really- we have a vegetable farm, what are the odds! Now I've turned into a little label reader, more than ever.  The doctor mentioned on the less severe allergies, if I avoid them for a year or so there is a chance I will overcome them. So, it is going to be a long and difficult year without salsa, ketchup, heirloom tomato salads (the saddest thing) and snitching cherry tomatoes from the field. 





 It also is an opportunity- an opportunity to cook more and really focus on fresh. Even I was caught in the not enough hours in the day mode. Since soy is a major preservative, I can avoid it by cooking more- fresh breads! For the other veggies, I'm going to have to find new favorites. 


We will be possibly going to Italy next year for a wedding. That might be a little more of a challenge. One day at a time... 

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