I've lost my love for cooking

[jeteaa]

About a year ago my dh started developing food sensitivities (cause stomach aches etc). He has always been allergic to diary, but it was easy to cook/bake w/ dairy substitutes. It has taken him awhile to self diagnose his new food issues, but now he can't eat beef, pork, onions, soy, wheat and gluten. And at the same time, my kids, 3 and 5, are entering the picky eaters stage. I am not the kind of person who can cook 3 separate meals, 7 times a week w/ a smile on my face. So we have been eating out way more than we can afford or I'm relying too much on pre made dishes/sides..... HELP. And tips? I want to enjoy cooking for my family again!

[crunchy_mama]

You should check us out at the allergy forums, lots of us over there w/ dietary restrictions. It is a very hard, especially at first. And no we aren't all chipper about it all of the time, but I know myself and others do try to see it as a challenge to come up with food that meets our restrictions yet is supper yummy and healthy as can be. Maybe a start would be focusing on what you can eat- make a list of that and then meals you can make around those ingredients that you all like. If you can just get 1 week of meals together as a start you can just repeat it and slowly start adding new meals to your repertoire. We are dairy, gluten and soy free at my house and I try to keep paleo as well (no grains) as well as using traditional foods.

You still have so many options, but you have to get out of the box of traditional American meals. For meat there is chicken, turkey, lamb, bison, goat and venison (and more depending on the availability where you live). I don't do seperate meals at my house. We all have the same diet, except dh but he eats meals w/ us except breakfast- which he eats before we get up- on the weekends though that is together.

Try to think of the meals you do love- anything new you want to try? Explore ethnic cooking- so much to try there and that certainly doesn't feel like deprivation. Depending on how my day/week has went I do a lot of one dish meals for easiness or basic meals- roast chicken - some mashed potatoes and steamed green beans. Meatloaf- can be made w/ a combo of ground poultry and other red meat. You can still have sausage just make yourself some turkey sausage easy and yummy.