I hope I'm in the right place.

Question

To put it simply I need help with my diet. I'm deathly allergic to dairy, peanuts, all seafood, soy, carrots and apples.I'm sensitive to the level of cross-pollination so even basic fruits and veggies are trial and error. As you might guess that doesn't leave much when it comes to recipe choices. My husband won't give up meat but what we do eat very little compared to most people. I realize that all of you don't eat meat and I completely respect that. What I'm looking for are meals and ideas that I can safely eat but that I can adapt if needed.

wendypc · Answer

Hi countrymama, & welcome to HappyCow!  Did you check the Recipes section of HappyCow?  There's a lot of vegan recipes with no dairy there.  One of my favorite vegan cookbooks is "Peas and Thank You".  It's written by a Mom who likes to cook healthy vegan/vegetarian meals that taste good for her family.  All of the recipes that I've tried so far from that book have tasted great.  No complaints from my husband or daughter.  :)  You'll just need to substitute for the soy/tofu in some of the recipes.  It must be tough for you.  Good luck finding some healthy, tasty recipes.  I hope this helps!

hrefna · Answer

Hi Countrymama! You are in the right place. It sounds to me like you could do with some good vegan wholefood cookbooks, the kind that don't rely on processed fake meats, as with your level of allergies the more processing the more likely it is that an allergen will slip into your food. The more recipes you have available, the easier it is to cook whatever foods you have on hand that don't set off your allergies. I've been loving the cookbooks that Jae Steele has written recently, you can read her blog here with some sample recipes: domesticaffair.blogspot.com/ . Another book I really love is Isa Chandra Moskowitz' Vegan with a Vengeance (a lot of Moskowitz' recipes do use fake meat, but that book has lots of gorgeous wholefood recipes in it that I make all the time). Rose Elliot is an old favourite of mine, she's the queen of British Vegetarian cookery, her New Complete Vegetarian is stuffed full of recipes and you may well find some new ways to cook the foods that you can eat: www.roseelliot.com/index.php . Good luck, I hope you find some inspiration for some yummy healthy meals!

countrymama · Answer

Thank you both so much for writing me and sharing sites. I'm sure I'll find some great new things to try. At the moment we've having "Eastern week" at our house and trying out Korean, Chinese and Iraqi dishes. Maybe your sites will give me ideas for next weeks' menu.

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