I need support from vegetarian/vegan TF'ers

[Koalamom]

Due to allergies, we have cut out meat, dairy, eggs, and honey. We can do butter though. So we are almost vegan. I am trialing some goat cheeese. We will see how that goes. I am so used to eating meat that I am so burnt out on ideas. We don't eat soy and try to be as TF as possible. Please share some ideas. I need the support.

[tanyalynn]

In another thread, did you mention your LOs were reacting to fermented foods? Is it possible that you are reacting to amines? They're a naturally-occurring food chemical like salicylates, and odd things affect the amount of them in the same food. Fresher, preferably un-aged, meats, have fewer amines, and apparently long freezing times increase amines.

I don't have suggestions on the other part, I don't have enough btdt experience to offer concrete advice.

[Koalamom]

Yup my kids react to loads of other stuff. I don't know what amines are and just have barely heard of the word salicylates. Do you have any other info? I would love to actually have my kids get over these allergies.

[FairyRae]

When first dropping my ds's allergens, we found the vegan-and-gluten-free yahoo group helpful for recipes. (We were soy, dairy, corn, egg, gluten free, and also vegetarian at the time.)

If you haven't already, I might write a really detailed post of your whole story in the allergies forum (from pre-pregnancy to now!)--they are amazing, and sometimes having *all* of the info about your situation can help those mamas find clues to underlying issues you might not know about/recognize.

Also, just fyi, if you search the allergies forum for amines/salicylates, I think you'll find lots of info!

[Peacemamalove]

Maybe I am a little confused on this why stop everything at once? Isn't that a worse shock to ones system? To me I can't see how it would be beneficial? Wouldn't it be easy to start with a few things and just eat less of another? I might be wrong on this it just seems drastic to me.

With that said when my family was only eating raw foods this was the best place for recipe

http://www.rawfoods.com/recipes/

[425lisamarie]

I make lentil burgers/loaves that are REALLY satisfying. Lentils, buckwheat, and lots of mushrooms make a really good burger!

I prefer to eat vegan, but my family does not though i have to bake egg free for DD. I think if you are eating no meat at all you will need to rely heavily on legumes and whole grains

[FairyRae]

Originally Posted by Peacemamalove

Maybe I am a little confused on this why stop everything at once? Isn't that a worse shock to ones system? To me I can't see how it would be beneficial? Wouldn't it be easy to start with a few things and just eat less of another? I might be wrong on this it just seems drastic to me.

Dealing w/ food allergy/sensitivity issues can be very tricky. And she may have been taking foods out one at a time, or dealing w/ this for a long while and just realized one of the foods she just posted was also a trigger for food reactions. If only eating sweet potatoes and rice clears up their child's burning rashes or etreme excema, some mamas will do whatever it takes to stop certain reactions...

(I don't know the details of bluebirdmama's situation, but have read MANY complex stories of food sensitivity issues, just here in the MDC allergies forum...)

And bluebirdmama, I hope you don't need to eat this limited diet for too long! Hopefully the allergies mamas can shed some light on all this for you!

[Peacemamalove]

FairyRae that makes perfect sense! I would do the same if need be.

s bluebirdmama hoping you get it all worked out.

[FairyRae]

I hear you Peacemamalove! I feel so fortunate we've only ever needed to cut out around 5 foods at a time...

[Koalamom]

I totally need to post an the allergy board but evrytime try to, I just feel like giving up. I am a mess. It is easier to list the foods we can have than the foods we can't have. Thanksgiving at my families house was horrible. I could only eat the cooked peas and parts of the salad. My dd was so sad that everyone had pie and she couldn't. I shouldn't have put her through that even though there was tons of family we havent seen in ages.

I need ideas on how to thrive on very limited foods, and vegeterian. I feel like I am just barely surviving. Soup in no good without bone broth.

[FairyRae]

Originally Posted by bluebirdmama1

I totally need to post an the allergy board but evrytime try to, I just feel like giving up. I am a mess. It is easier to list the foods we can have than the foods we can't have. Thanksgiving at my families house was horrible. I could only eat the cooked peas and parts of the salad. My dd was so sad that everyone had pie and she couldn't. I shouldn't have put her through that even though there was tons of family we havent seen in ages.

I need ideas on how to thrive on very limited foods, and vegeterian. I feel like I am just barely surviving. Soup in no good without bone broth.

I'm so sorry. I've been in tough spots and felt helpless in our past and I know it was a very rough time for me (but I haven't dealt w/ such a limited diet). I hope you do end up posting your story in allergies though (when you feel able), just b/c it can be really helpful to get an outside perspective. And those folks are all coming from different perspecitives, biomedical, whole foods, homeopathic, etc etc etc...I just think it *could* be really helpful...sharing all the details of my own story on the heal-thyself forum (run by some of the allergies mamas) was truly life changing, and we've gotten back some key foods based on their recommendations, including coconut, peanuts and eggs (which has been amazing...)

I just hope you find exactly what you need!!!!

[Peacemamalove]

I can sympathize with you. Ds was so upset that he couldn't have dessert either because everything was made with gluten but on the other hand I made my own gluten free pumpkin pie.

Can you use Ener-g egg replacer, coconut milk? That might help with a few recipes. When I was veg*n I loved the recipes on Vegweb not sure how TF any of them were but maybe you could adapt to them?

Sorry that your Thanksgiving was horrible. Maybe making a list of things you can eat you will be able to see you can have a good variety.

[FairyRae]

Originally Posted by Peacemamalove

Maybe making a list of things you can eat you will be able to see you can have a good variety.

It would be awesome if you would post a list of foods you guys can eat w/out reactions--then we can really try and brainstorm some food/meal ideas for you!

[Koalamom]

I finally did it:
http://www.mothering.com/discussions....php?t=1167234

[tanyalynn]

http://www.plantpoisonsandrottenstuf...tion-diet.aspx

The Failsafe diet describes how to cut out several food chemicals.

That said, let me see if i can find links from Allergies about amines and salicyclates. Short-term Failsafe has helped some people, but longer-term, adding in the specific nutrients that people need more of to detoxify amines and salicylates (I don't know much about glutamates, Failsafe addresses them too--describes each and how to cut them out and challenge one at a time, they are often "bucket-type" allergens, a little is okay, but more and you get problems), it seems like most people can at least increase their tolerance of these, and sometimes they aren't sensitive at all.

Old posts by caedmyn are a goldmine for understanding amine sensitivities.

Regardless, I'd find a low-allergen sublingual B12 and start that and almost not be willing to stop unless you see really bad reactions (and then look for a different brand with different flavors/binders). B12's important for detoxification too, and starting with issues and then cutting out animal products, I'd do this to try to prevent more problems in a few months. On scary, frustrating stuff.

[tanyalynn]

Just saw how long I had this window open, will respond in your other thread.

[FairyRae]

YAY!

You mention in that thread

I just don't want tomorrow to come since I know all we can have is carrots, some greens, few grains, and few legumes.

Do you make any grain-based milks (like rice milk?) I used to make mashed carrots and broccoli w/ rice milk. Can you do salt and pepper and other spices? They of course can make a world of difference.

What about flax or chia seeds? They can work as a binder in baked goods and pancakes, etc.

I might look into making curries w/ some legumes (lentils are great for this), green veggies and grains...

Any fats/oils ok? You can make carrot chips by frying in oil or baking in the oven...

Juicing could be an option--carrots w/ various greens?

What about stevia? Its an herb and a sweetner--maybe you could make some sort of carrot cake w/ ground grains, carrots, some kind of binder (if you can find one you're ok w/) and stevia for sweetness?

Just a couple of thoughts!

[lil_earthmomma]

While I'm not a vegan, my dsil is and I love to cook wholesome TF meals for her. Last summer I cooked for her almost everyday.

We used CO all the time. If you're having trouble with dairy, perhaps ghee would be better than dairy, or even just CO?

Soaked beans, sprouted lentils and quinoa were my main ways of getting protein into her. She loves indian food, so I often made chickpea chana masala (I can share the recipe if you'd like). She liked tabouleh salad with quinoa for lunch, or dilly potato salad, pesto pasta salad or a curried potato/pasta salad. All with veggies and soaked beans of some sort.

Peppers stuffed with curried coconut milk quinoa.

Soups. I made her vegan french onion soup, creamy mushroom soup, curried butternut squash, white chili, regular style chili, etc. Coconut milk is awsome!

Speaking of coconut milk, my quick go to meal for her is veggie alfredo on pasta. I just simmer half an onion, a bunch of cloves of garlic and a bay leaf in a can of coconut milk. Let the coconut milk reduce a bit, strain, thicken and season with plenty of garlic powder, salt and pepper. Add in veggies of choice and pasta.

I can share recipes for any that sound good to you.

ETA: I remembered grilled stuffed portobello mushrooms served on burger buns, and fajitas, and refried beans in tortillas!

[ambereva]

Originally Posted by lil_earthmomma

While I'm not a vegan, my dsil is and I love to cook wholesome TF meals for her. Last summer I cooked for her almost everyday.

We used CO all the time. If you're having trouble with dairy, perhaps ghee would be better than dairy, or even just CO?

Soaked beans, sprouted lentils and quinoa were my main ways of getting protein into her. She loves indian food, so I often made chickpea chana masala (I can share the recipe if you'd like). She liked tabouleh salad with quinoa for lunch, or dilly potato salad, pesto pasta salad or a curried potato/pasta salad. All with veggies and soaked beans of some sort.

Peppers stuffed with curried coconut milk quinoa.

Soups. I made her vegan french onion soup, creamy mushroom soup, curried butternut squash, white chili, regular style chili, etc. Coconut milk is awsome!

Speaking of coconut milk, my quick go to meal for her is veggie alfredo on pasta. I just simmer half an onion, a bunch of cloves of garlic and a bay leaf in a can of coconut milk. Let the coconut milk reduce a bit, strain, thicken and season with plenty of garlic powder, salt and pepper. Add in veggies of choice and pasta.

I can share recipes for any that sound good to you.

ETA: I remembered grilled stuffed portobello mushrooms served on burger buns, and fajitas, and refried beans in tortillas!

What she said! (great post, lil_earthmama!)

Bluebirdmama, I don't eat any of the things that you are trying to cut out and I still manage to have a really rich, varied, enormously nutritious diet. I'm always a little baffled when I hear people say a plant based diet is limiting, there's thousands of different fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, beans and grains that can be combined in millions of ways! I have so much fun creating new recipes. Right now I'm eating quinoa with a sauce I made from raw walnuts, spinach, parsley, garlic and lemon. I'm getting 40% of my iron RDA in one little bowl, plus about 25 grams of protein, almost my entire day's worth of Vitamin A, 25% of my Vit. C RDA, a big dose of Omega 3's, 10% of my calcium (without a drop of dairy) and half my fiber RDA. Plus it's YUMMY and my kids like it too. I don't think my diet is limiting, or limited, at all! Soup can be delicious without bone broth when you use lots of fresh organic, flavorful herbs and veggies and spices. I make a potato, leek and fennel soup with fresh dill that is sublime, you wouldn't miss the bone broth I promise. And an equally delicious sweet potato and peanut soup with fresh cilantro. A vegan diet can be really nourishing and fun.

[lil_earthmomma]

Originally Posted by ambereva

What she said! (great post, lil_earthmama!)

Bluebirdmama, I don't eat any of the things that you are trying to cut out and I still manage to have a really rich, varied, enormously nutritious diet. I'm always a little baffled when I hear people say a plant based diet is limiting, there's thousands of different fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, beans and grains that can be combined in millions of ways! I have so much fun creating new recipes. Right now I'm eating quinoa with a sauce I made from raw walnuts, spinach, parsley, garlic and lemon. I'm getting 40% of my iron RDA in one little bowl, plus about 25 grams of protein, almost my entire day's worth of Vitamin A, 25% of my Vit. C RDA, a big dose of Omega 3's, 10% of my calcium (without a drop of dairy) and half my fiber RDA. Plus it's YUMMY and my kids like it too. I don't think my diet is limiting, or limited, at all! Soup can be delicious without bone broth when you use lots of fresh organic, flavorful herbs and veggies and spices. I make a potato, leek and fennel soup with fresh dill that is sublime, you wouldn't miss the bone broth I promise. And an equally delicious sweet potato and peanut soup with fresh cilantro. A vegan diet can be really nourishing and fun.

Thanks ambereva! I agree that you definitely can have a deliciously varied exciting diet without animal products. I wish more of my veg*n friends would hop off the processed food wagon and try being more adventurous!

Mmmm... your quinoa with pesto sauce sounds delicious!