Allergic to Cake!

I recently had some blood tests done to see what I might be allergic to. The tests came back with moderate allergies to egg whites, milk, and wheat. So, cake. And cream, butter, half & half, milk, Carnation Instant Breakfast, yogurt, sour cream, CHEESE, mayo, marshmallows, meringue, soy sauce (has wheat!), bread, crackers, pancakes, biscuits, croissants, doughnuts!, and lots more including whiskey, vodka, and beer.

I got the test results on March 15th and stopped the wheat and egg that day. I stayed with the milk because I can’t drink coffee without cream and I wanted butter on my cabbage for St. Patrick’s Day. By Saturday the 21st I had my last Starbucks Tiramisu Latte with milk. I’ll have to switch to a non-dairy option. Their website says they have soy and coconut. I much prefer the coconut to the soy.

We went shopping on Sunday for some alternatives for me. I found Kikkoman wheat free soy sauce and I bought some oatmeal and potato chips and Fritos. We also bought a half gallon of coconut milk and a half coconut half almond milk to try in coffee. The coconut almond milk doesn’t fit the bill for me for coffee, so I’ll use it in smoothies instead. I mixed cream of coconut with some coconut milk and that makes a passable creamer. Tuesday I found some soy creamer and a coconut creamer. The soy one said it was now creamier, but I found the coconut one much creamier. I also found some coconut yogurts that I’m going to try.

I also bought some wheat, dairy, and egg free pretzels, and some brown rice flour, potato flour, and tapioca flour. I have a little masa, but I’ll get some more. I will have to do a LOT of reading of labels. I won’t be getting rid of everything in the house because my husband and son can eat them and I am not so allergic that I can’t be around them.

I eat real food and make most of what we eat from scratch so I know what’s gone into my ingredients. But I’ll have to check what’s gone into other ingredients. I had a Swanson flavor packets box (mushroom marsala) that I had to give away because it contained butter and buttermilk.

I’ll find out if I feel any different after cutting these things out of my diet and keep notes of how I work around the loss of these in my cooking. I have decided that I can’t try for a competition cooking show because the items are too ubiquitous in cooking. They’re used in appetizers, entrees, and desserts. It’s not like, say, a shrimp allergy. That’s something that can more easily be avoided.

mm-5