The builder broke out in hives this week, the hot-to-the-touch kind.  Three previous febral seizures have made me a bit uneasy when it comes to he and sickness/food allergies.  While at the chiropractor/kinesioligist, we discovered the culprit was corn syrup, food additives, and food coloring.  There is more to say, but for another post.  While we were there, I asked the doc to check the dancer for food allergies.  Sure enough, wheat intolerant. 

I wasn’t surprised.  She does not like most bread, and loves to eat my sandwiches right out of my hands.  With she, Krystalina, Charlotte, Tracy’s mom, Shanna, Cami, and Denett in mind, I’m going to start writing regular posts on food allergies, what I’ve learned, and how we’re surviving (and happily).  I’ve been thinking of food, specifically for Krystalina, but realized there is too much to write in one sitting.  So take what you can, and hope this will help us all.  Let me know what is working for you and what recipes you would like to see posted.

Whatever your food allergies, intolerances, I’ve found that eating regular salads have made such a difference.

When I was single, in school, working, and trying to live gluten-free, I found that not only was I able to eat many different salads, but that it helped my adrenal glands as well.  (Another topic to be discussed further, but when your body is already under a great deal of stress, it relies on your adrenals to cope.  Eating leafy greens will replenish your adrenals).

Here’s a salad the designer and I ate for lunch today:

romaine lettuce
pears
apples
pumpkin seeds
Parmesan cheese
mushrooms
chicken sausage
balsamic vinaigrette

Keys to a great salad:

• never use iceberg (there are no nutritional benefits)
• go for fresh, local and/or organic
• have lots of trimmings on your lettuce
• seeds and or nuts (pumpkin, sunflower, pine nuts, walnuts, almonds, pecans…)
• try fruit (apples, pears, strawberries, black and blueberries…)
• get some protein in there (black beans, garbanzo, pinto, chicken, steak, salmon…)
• fancy cheese (feta, blue, Kerry gold, Emmental, goat’s, Gouda,…)
• make your own dressings (I’ll keep posting mine) or buy ones with natural ingredients (no msg)
• lots of raw veggies (peppers, mushrooms, avocados, tomatoes, peas,…)
• use the best ingredients you can find
• eat with chips, crackers, biscuits

At Thanksgiving, we had a great one:

• spinach
• pomegranate
• pears
• pumpkin seeds
• avocado
• balsamic vinaigrette

What are your favorite salads?