wheat free dairy free

For some months now I have been suffering from severe hayfever.

I have tried lots of natural things but I was only getting some temporary and minor relief from the symptoms.

I had a crisis one Sunday a couple of weeks ago when I had the worst reaction ever, I ended up at the chemist after Church in search of drugs.

The relief was almost immediate, including an itch at the back of my head that I hadn't thought of as related.

As someone who doesn't like taking medications I went in search of a long term solution to the problem.

My search led me to lots of different sites telling me of my body going into a highly allergic mode where everything becomes its enemy.

Two of the most common things mentioned on various sites was to cut out wheat and dairy from your diet.

I know I have an intolerance to dairy and try to ignore it most of the time, but every now and again the symptoms worsen and I go off it for a while and see an improvement- if only I could stay off it , but cheese and ice cream call my name and I surrender to their pleadings.

I also know that wheat is not good for me, when B2 was a baby I also got severe hayfever and when the naturopath I went to did an allergy test wheat came up - I found the hayfever symptoms eased and B2's wind went away after I took myself off wheat.

So to cut a long story short I decided to cut wheat and dairy from my diet.

B4 has had a persistant cough and runny nose and I have been telling him he needs to be off dairy for some time so he decided to come on board, then B3 who has been having some wheezing episodes and noisy nights (snoring and coughing etc.) decided to join our little club too a few days into it. 

With 3 of us dieting it made sense to make our monthly menu wheat and dairy free.

The rest of the family is welcome to eat up the rest of the wheat/dairy products in the house or if we go out they can eat whatever they like. 

The dieters take along some packed snacks of suitable foods.

Well I do feel better although I am still experiencing some symptoms, I am still taking the anti-histamines occasionally, trying to see how long my body can go without them. 

I am aware that it is Spring with lots of flowering plants everywhere that may not be helping. 

I did clean my bedroom and wash and dust everything in sight- normally this would set me off big time often making so sick I would end up in bed, instead I only had a few sneezes, so that was a vast improvement.
I have noticed that I feel lighter, more energetic, my digestion seems a lot better and I do feel overall healthier.

B4 didn't really think the diet was doing much good as he still had a slight runny nose although, his coughing has stopped.

The other night I let him have homemade pizza for tea with the rest of the family and the next day his nose was running lots and he wasn't feeling the best- he admits that perhaps the diet is helping.

So what are we eating?

Here are a few things from our menu:

Breakfast: mango smoothie made with coconut milk or 

this yummy breakie of tomato, onion and mushroom with some herbs from the garden (dill and parsley here), a fried egg and some fresh diced avocado- yumm!!

Snacks include: guacamole, corn chips and cut up veges, popcorn, fruit, celery with peanut butter, nuts

and occasional  baked goodies like these muesli squares.

Lunch: cold meat and salad, homemade chips,

Sushi

Vietnamese spring rolls made with rice paper.

Tea has been fairly easy, I just made sure we have avoided any dishes made with pasta, bread, or pastry.

This is a lovely fish meal we had the other night. 

It was macadamia encrusted fish with grilled mango, homemade chips and salad- it was super yummy!

 Scotch eggs and salad. Woolworths' sausages and sausage mince are all gluten free.

BBQ patties, Texas salsa and homemade chips

This is B3's birthday cake a number 11 made with a gluten free/ dairy free packet cake mix from Orgran
It is topped with their chocolate mousse (also from a packet) - yes you have heard it here first I have actually used a packet cake mix, probably for the first time in my married life if not before.
I have cooked gluten free foods for years, when my kids were young or I have gone off wheat or for any friends on special diets so cooking a gluten free cake would not be a problem but I saw this cake mix and thought I would see what it was like.
It was OK, well the cake was nice I just wasn't really fussed on the mousse for topping (recommended on the cake mix pkt)

So that's us and our new diet - will keep you updated and when I get myself organised I will put some recipes up on my other blog.

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