Welcome!
I have been cooking, baking, and planning meals for over thirty years. In 2017 I was diagnosed with a medical condition called, Fructose Malabsorption. Basically, my body cannot absorb fructose, fructans, or sugar alcohols. My sweet tooth and I are no longer friends. My love for all things food turned sour. It took me years to figure out how to eat food that not only tasted good but also didn't make me sick.
I learned how to adapt my favorite recipes to make them delicious and safe for me, all while still feeding my family. I use a version of the Low FODMAP diet, yes that is a real thing. As a self-proclaimed foodie, when the doctor first handed me a glossy, sixteen-page guidebook on this diet I shrugged it off and said no freaking way. Well, world, life doesn't exactly work that way and with time I played Russian Roulette each time I ate whether I would get sick or not, spoiler alert - the odds were not in my favor.
Eventually, I faced the music and started an elimination diet following the Low FODMAP guidelines. My last cheeseburger with a soft, buttery bun from Hansich Bakery was on the Fourth of July that year. Not only did I say goodbye to wheat, but I also said goodbye to onions and garlic. My holy trinity was now just celery, Emeril Lagasse's "BAM" just became a whimper.
Here is the deal folks, when I first started this food journey I felt isolated and alone. My ability to sit down at a restaurant and order whatever I wanted from the menu was gone. Grocery stores became some odd version of torture showing me ALL the things I could no longer eat. Events became awkward and terrifying - do I eat, do I ask for accommodations, do I bring my own food, or do I just skip it? Truth be told all of the above things still have their challenges because what doesn't in life. However, in my little corner of the vast world wide web, I want to help. We can learn together, support each other and make food taste good again.
Join me on an informational food journey to the world of adapted low FODMAP recipes. Explaining what happens when a diagnosis becomes like a sour lemon and you have to adjust recipes to make them loveable again.