Food

Some of you may know that last month Molly was diagnosed with a number of food intolerances.

Under the guidance of an amazing lady named Paddy O'Sullivan, we've had to completely eliminate these things from her diet for 6 months. We will, at a later stage, re-introduce things and see where we're at, but for now it means some slight inconveniences!

Here's the list of banned foods:

1) Yeast
This means no breads or pastries (unless it's a strange bread-like creation invented by me - I've found that baking powder is quite a good subsitute for yeast, but it's still not quite the same). It also means no Marmite/Vegemite and having to check all labels thoroughly as yeast is hidden in a lot of things. Hellers Bacon for example!

2) Chicken and Eggs.
(Which came first, hahaha!). It's a bummer as eggs are the only thing Jake can cook. Great for him for the next 6 months though.

3) Mushrooms.

4) The entire Nightshade family.
This includes a collection of everyday vegetables that we have always eaten plenty of, eg: tomatoes, capsicum/peppers, potatoes, chilli and other spices.

As a family we're adapting well. Lunch boxes have been hard and I've had to allocate extra time each night for making up no-nightshade salads and no-yeast breads. But I'm getting there.

Parties and events are another story though. Molly's social life is a little bit of a whirlwind and in the last week she's been to a party at a farm - so I had to bake no-egg cupcakes and no-egg cookies and popcorn (she can't have potato chips/crisps) to send along. And also a party at a friend's house where pizza was served for dinner - so I had to invent a yeast free pizza base and a tomato free pizza topping - and then top the pizza with no nightshades!

Anyway, we're doing ok so far, and in 3 weeks here are the benefits:

- She's put on 1.5kgs in weight. (This is more than she's put on in the last year!)
- She's sleeping well, yay!
- Her constant aches and pains are pretty much gone
- She can breathe through her nose for the first time in years! Well, just one nostril, but it's a start!
- She has colour in her cheeks and is noticeably less pale
- And some other stuff which is too personal to discuss here ;)

So, all going well, except I am sick of the kitchen and inventing new recipes. So if you're planning to visit us in the next few months I'm afraid you might be roped into kitchen duties! ;)