Sunday, April 24, 2016

Feeding a Hungry Husband on the 6-food Elimination Diet (plus Coconut Chicken Curry )

It has now been six months that Preston has been wheat, dairy, egg, soy, seafood, and peanut free. It hasn't been too bad, although Preston might say differently, and we have gotten used to it. The diet is definitely working. It's nice to not spend time making a nice dinner only to have Preston come home, take a bite, and spend the next hour or two in the bathroom trying to work it down (or up) his throat. I would like to say I make him a lot of fancy allergy friendly treats, but the past six months have also been full of sick kids and babies not sleeping through the night, so I keep it as simple as possible. Plus, one time when I did make a cake for him, he said he would rather eat cereal....so I stopped trying very hard after that.

Our food budget has definitely increased and I am trying hard to just not worry about it, while still keeping things as frugal as possible on my end. This is what his diet is like most days.

Breakfast:  Cereal with almond milk. Usually some variety of Chex, Cheerios, Rice Krispies, or Corn Flakes, although there are more options becoming available. This is where most of the increase in our food budget has come from. We go through lots of cereal and lots of almond milk. Almond milk is $1 cheaper at BJ's, so I get it from there as often as possible, but it's still just expensive.

Lunch:  I try to make a dinner that will have leftovers that Preston can take, but it doesn't always happen. If he doesn't have leftovers, he has oatmeal packets and fruit, or buys a salad or rice bowl.

Snacks:  At work, his staples are Enjoy Life bars, Justin's Honey Almond Butter packets, and oatmeal packets. At home, his staple snack is........cereal........with almond milk.

Dinner:  There really are only a few options that are completely off the table for dinner - like pizza - I can't make pizza allergy friendly. Or lasagna. Or quiche. But most other things can be adjusted.  Our staples lately have been baked potatoes, bean and cheese burritos (bean and guacamole on corn tortillas for Preston), basic stir fry, brown rice spaghetti, and any other chicken and rice or beans and rice combination. I have made meatloaf with applesauce and quick oats instead of eggs and bread crumbs. We have also discovered some new favorite recipes, like the lentil, sausage, and spinach soup from Mom's cookbook, and the coconut chicken curry recipe below.

Preston has another upper GI endoscopy in a couple of weeks, and then will probably start adding foods back in one at a time. Six months from now, only one or two of these things will be permanent. That will be nice.


Coconut Chicken Curry from the Budget Bytes cookbook (my changes in parentheses)

2 T vegetable oil
1 medium onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled (I always used powdered)
1.5 pounds chicken breast, cut into 1.5-2 inch chunks
1/2 t paprika
1/2 t turmeric
1 t curry powder
2 cans coconut milk (I think one is plenty, especially if you use less chicken)
1/2 t salt
6 cups cooked rice (I cook 1.5 cups dry rice and it's about right)
1/4 bunch fresh cilantro (I omit because cilantro is way too expensive and I can take it or leave it)

Heat the vegetable oil in large skillet. Add the onion and garlic, and using a small-holed cheese grater or a Microplane, grate the ginger directly into the skillet. Saute about 5 minutes until the onions are soft and translucent. Add the chicken and continue to saute until the chicken is cooked through.

Add the paprika, turmeric, and curry powder and saute for 1 minute more. Add the coconut milk and stir, scraping up any browned bits stuck to the bottom of the pan. Reduce heat to low and cook for 10 minutes more, or until warmed through. Stir in the salt. Serve over rice. Top with cilantro leaves, if desired.