Elimination Diet

Kazzy

AHHHHH! Help. I'm 8 days into a 4-week elimination diet and am dying of boredom. I've got to avoid dairy, yeast and sugar (this includes all fruit). I've also got to stay away from artificial flavourings. I'm turning into the grumpy old woman on the block. Does anyone have any tips to spice up my diet, or at least take my mind off it?

EileenG

Chili flakes. Or leave some whole dried chilies to infuse in some good olive oil, and it will add a kick to anything.

What sort of food can you eat?

Schnork

Hi all,
Sorry to muscle in on your thread Kazzy, but I have a similiar query and didn't want to start another thread for it!

I've been in poor health and it's thought that what I eat may affect some of my symptoms. So, my doctor ordered a food sensitivity test, and loads of nice foods came up :-( Typical! So I have to cut them out for 3 months. I can't remember the whole list (starting the diet Monday) but I basically have to cut out;
Wheat, Yeast, Dairy, Eggs, Garlic, Onions, Mushrooms, Citrus fruits.

I can eat all meat and fish, most veggies and grains like quinoa and rye, most beans. However, as it's going to be for 3 months and I have to stick to foods free of additives, I feel that it's going to be tough to keep my diet interesting!

Can anyone point me in the direction of a really good website or health-food shop which could offer options? I love cooking and am off work due to my illness, so I don't mind putting time into food prep, it's just finding recipes to make the diet interesting is proving difficult so far! Also, some of the foods tat I can eat sound interesting, but I've never had them before and don't know what to do with them! For instance, yams, squash, sweet potato, quinoa, buckwheat...

I really hope someone can help, because I refuse to spend the next 3 months eating steamed fish and cabbage ;-)

Many thanks,
Schnork.

mack1

Schnork wrote: »

Hi all,
Sorry to muscle in on your thread Kazzy, but I have a similiar query and didn't want to start another thread for it!

I've been in poor health and it's thought that what I eat may affect some of my symptoms. So, my doctor ordered a food sensitivity test, and loads of nice foods came up :-( Typical! So I have to cut them out for 3 months. I can't remember the whole list (starting the diet Monday) but I basically have to cut out;
Wheat, Yeast, Dairy, Eggs, Garlic, Onions, Mushrooms, Citrus fruits.

I can eat all meat and fish, most veggies and grains like quinoa and rye, most beans. However, as it's going to be for 3 months and I have to stick to foods free of additives, I feel that it's going to be tough to keep my diet interesting!

Can anyone point me in the direction of a really good website or health-food shop which could offer options? I love cooking and am off work due to my illness, so I don't mind putting time into food prep, it's just finding recipes to make the diet interesting is proving difficult so far! Also, some of the foods tat I can eat sound interesting, but I've never had them before and don't know what to do with them! For instance, yams, squash, sweet potato, quinoa, buckwheat...

I really hope someone can help, because I refuse to spend the next 3 months eating steamed fish and cabbage ;-)

Many thanks,
Schnork.

http://www.gourmetnutrition.com/

Berardi is a legend - fact!

Though there are lots of eggs, garlic and onions used in the book there are also lots of other good stuff, I'm sure you will find some useful - certainly wont be all steamed fish and cabbage (tho I love steamed fish so I dont know what the issue is there!)

It is also available as an eBook.

NextSteps

Blazing Salads in Dublin (beside the George's Street Arcade) have published a book: http://www.blazingsalads.com/index.asp?pageid=8. Could be good, their salads are always nice.

littlefriend

Eileen Cousins [I think] has a few books called 'Cooking Without'. Definitely worth getting - they are really very good and not remotely boring.

SMK

I use a lot of spices (usually mild ones) in cooking. When cooking the quinoa you can add herbs or spices to the cooking water and the quinoa will absorb the flavour. Probably about 70% of my meals now are based on Indian flavours and spices. I add curry leaves to a lot of my meals, also ginger, cinnamon, tumeric, bay leaves - well anything really!! Experiment with trying different flavours together and tomatoes (fresh or tinned) are a great base for a sauce and then just add flavours and meat & rice. I started experimenting with flavours because I need to lose weight. This way, I can have really tasty meals without them being fattening!