Living and loving with allergies

How do I cope with allergies? "It must be so hard to have allergies." Well, to tell you the truth, I haven't always been allergic in the way I am now and it isn't all that hard depending on how you look at it.

As a child, I wasn't aware of what allergies I had, I just knew certain foods I really liked and other foods would make me feel ill and so I ate them less. It was my mom that I watched struggle with her allergies, most of which she acquired after the births of my siblings. She instilled in me to enjoy the food I like while I can, because I never know when I can't eat it the same way again. And I did! BOY, did I ever fully enjoy eating my favorite foods. Two foods in particular were my favorite, eggs and peanuts. I have eaten eggs every possible way that I can remember and I ate it in some of the finest places (nothing like home gourmet cooking hehe). I can still remember enjoying a soft-boiled egg with a dash of salt on a cold morning before school. I LOVED eggs. And peanut butter is a Saturday morning cartoon memory of me sitting down with a jar of peanut butter, a bear of honey (squeeze bottle) and a big tablespoon to scoop out the best from the bottom of the jar. My favorite chocolate bars were the ones with peanuts in them. I did as my mom told me, I enjoyed it to the fullest.

So when the day came when I could no longer eat eggs or peanuts I was definitely sad, but not heart-broken and devastated. I had my time and now it was time to move on...to other options of food were waiting for me to enjoy. When I discovered that gluten was no longer a benefit to me, I threw a party with my favorite pizza, spinach, chicken and feta, and after that, I moved on. I LOVE food and the food I loved was no longer loving me back...it was time to share my love with other foods and to be nourished in return :).

And I am so grateful for what my allergies prepared me for, to provide the best of enjoying food and good nutrition for my sons. They have allergies to foods, and I was the perfect mom to help them through their transition and help their bodies and culinary experiences to grow in a positive way. I am also living at a higher awareness of what the food I eat is really doing to body and the way that I want to live. I have the experience and now the knowledge and wisdom that I can share with others and help them to live and love a life with good food too.

Over the next few posts, I will be going into more information about foods and allergies and how to make the most of living with them.