Phood Philosophy

*First of all Happy Valentine's Day everyone! My FANTASTIC Hubs got me a big bouquet of chocolate covered strawberries from Edible Arrangements! Can you say yum?? On to another guest blog from my partner in crime. Isn't she the best?? I can't wait to try some of these! Enjoy!*


I have had a love/hate relationship with food most of my life... namely, I love food, and it hates me back.  I've had a milk allergy all of my life, and at various inconvenient times I've discovered some rather unpleasant food intolerances.  Some of those (like lettuce and celery) have thankfully come and gone, while others are persistent little buggers.  Last week, my husband started reading Wheat Belly, and now we're trying to cut back on bread, pasta, flour, etc, and see if it makes a difference for us.  Sometimes it feels like my entire diet is in flux.

I think it's really easy for people to feel deprived when they're readjusting their diet (whether for weight loss or health/allergy reasons), and I'd be lying if I claimed to not occasionally drool over the cake / pizza / donut / etc I know I shouldn't/can't eat.  But I think over the years I've learned a lot about how to have a wonderful relationship with food even if I can't eat everything that other people eat. 

Some of my thoughts on the topic:
1) Focus on what you CAN eat.  It can be really easy to focus on what is suddenly off-limits, but that is exactly what you don't want to do.  What do you already eat and love that you can keep enjoying?  These might be recipes, convenience foods, or simple whole foods.  When trying to cut down on our wheat consumption, I started thinking immediately about the entrees we already made that had minimal wheat products: steak and potatoes, homemade sushi, burrito rice bowls, brined and roasted pork chops, BBQ ribs, buffalo chicken, etc.

2) Learn to love substitutions.  A lot of recipes can be made healthier or allergy-friendly just by making simple ingredient swaps, but I'm mainly talking about things that require thinking outside the box a little more.  Think about the flavor profile or the texture of what you're trying to recreate.  I love the taste of peanut butter cups, but it is next to impossible to find affordable milk-free versions of them.  When I crave that flavor, I'll make up no-bake cookies or a small bowl of puppy chow.  I'm also a huge fan of cole slaw and recently had to stop eating cabbage.  In that case, it's the crunch and acidity I want, so a lemony jicama slaw does the job fantastically!  I'm desperate for cake?  Pass the cinnamon toast crunch!

3) Splurge a little on what you can have.  When I'm changing my diet, I stop looking at food prices for a couple weeks.  I want blueberries in the middle of winter?  I buy them.  Those fancy little dark chocolates look fantastic?  Into the cart they go.  Go for the more unusual foods that you usually don't think about getting due to the expense or the time they take to prepare.  They might become long-term staples, or they might just help you get over the hump into a new eating habit.
4) Try everything once (or twice... or thrice).  If someone offers me a new food (and I can verify it's ok for me to eat), I will ALWAYS try it, no matter how gross it looks, sounds, or smells.  I've also made it a goal of mine to try every type of fruit and vegetable that I can find.  Some I like and introduce into my somewhat regular diet, and others... not so much.  Sometimes the preparation method makes all of the difference though, so trying it more than once is usually a good idea (raw cauliflower = yuk to me, but roasted in the oven until browned and crispy = MINE ALL MINE GO AWAY).

5) Cook from scratch.  Starting from raw/minimally processed ingredients gives you freedom and flexibility to adapt foods to your needs and desires.  Prepared meals are great sometimes when you're busy or stressed out, but they can also be really limiting.  Trying new recipes and combinations (hello sloppy joes with tortilla chips) can make eating so exciting you're likely to not even miss what's not on the plate.

There are so many delicious, healthy, unique, and awesome foods out there that totally outweigh the "can't have it" foods; sometimes it's all about perspective and being an adventurous eater...  Rocky mountain oysters anyone? :-)
-Cindy