Food intolerances

I work around them a lot. We have very limited tolerance for tomatoes and onions, despite the fact that we love them. I can only digest cooked and wrung out spinach. Walnuts and melon are a problem. Hubby cannot eat barley. So, I cook around any food sensitivities.

For example, it took a few false starts but I finally have a "bolognese" (Italian meat sauce) that can be made without any tomatoes by using roasted red peppers. Salsa is a problem so last night I made my first no-tomato salsa out of frozen apricots and it was really good.

I did end up getting a diagnosed list of food sensitivities from an ENT/Allergist. The overnight GERD resulting from my undiagnosed sensitivities was causing over 20 years of chronic sinus infections. I control the GERD through diet and a daily PPI and now can go a couple years without a sinus infection.

By eliminating tomato and onions totally for a good while, I find I can now add back in limited amounts of them if they are thoroughly cooked. We also find now that shallots and Vidalia onions in small amounts don't seem to get us as badly. I say we and us, because hubby has similar sensitivities to some things.

One way I found some interesting onion-free recipes is looking for Jain recipes. The Jains, a group from India, do not eat onions and other things grown underground for religious reasons.

Oh yeah, I can imagine onion would be very difficult to avoid when eating anything you didn't prepare from scratch yourself.

Cooking your own meals from scratch is the best way to avoid food intolerance. Also, when using purchased premade items don't be shy about calling the 1-800 number provided on the package to ask about ingredients or production methods. The same can be done in restaurants. Explain that you have a food intolerance and ask for your food to be prepared without onion or onion powder.

Nuts, coconut, peanuts, fatty meats, high-fat dairy to include cheese, yogurt, ice cream, and butter. Most of the time, I do the cooking so I can control what's going in. I've found very little processed foods that I can tolerate without having massive migraines, so yeah...my cooking has improved. My work team is starting to enjoy the fruits of my labors in the kitchen. We have a monthly potluck and today I brought in a Lemony Basil Chicken Quinoa salad and it was disappearing! (I found it on the twohealthykitchens.blog) Even the boys who won't eat veggies were eating 2nds and 3rds.

I used to think I was sensitive to eggs... then I did a Whole30 and discovered that it wasn't the eggs, but the butter I was cooking them in that was making me sick. Go figure! Dairy and shellfish are bad for my stomach, wheat makes me cough like crazy, soy puts me to sleep. The soy one sucks because soy is in EVERYTHING pre-packaged... forget eating protein bars or frozen dinners or soups (and of course edamame or tofu)!

I also have issues with onions. Used to love raw onion but the stomach ache just isn't worth it anymore.

I have celiac disease so no gluten. Found out about it 2 years ago (at age 37). It's kind of a blessing in disguise because it means a whole lot of food is just off the table. I can't eat fast food even if I wanted to.

I discovered my intolerances to Sulfites about 3 years ago. Sulfites being many preservatives in foods, also including Onions, Garlic as well as many vegetables and dried fruits, and more.
I am still learning what I can and cannot tolerate. During this time I also developed problems with Milk products. I started getting painful gas and bloating from any kind of milk. So I now drink Lactose-Free Milk or Rice Milk.
I recently seem to have become intolerant to a lot of foods with Salicylates in them after drinking some red raspberry wine. That was the thing that overflowed my Salicylate bucket so to speak. So now I keep a food and symptom diary as I am still learning about both Sulfites & Salicylates. You should try to see what foods you can handle and not handle. Keeping a journal lets you look back and see what time you ate something and see if you can match it up to the symptom/reaction you may have had. Sometimes reactions/symptoms won't show up for days, sometimes it is only hours depending on the food.
Look up information on Sulfites, also spelled Sulphites. So many food products contain garlic and that is a big trigger for a lot of people who are intolerant to sulfites. I get migraines from just being in the same room where onions and/or garlic are cut or cooked. I get an itchy scratchy throat and swelled tongue from anything onions or garlic. I am not eating as good as I should. I had to cut out so many foods, including a lot of fruits and vegetables. It really sucks but for me, it is working for now.
As I learn what I can handle and not handle I slowly add or subtract foods. I wish you luck in your searches and hope you can find what works for you. It is very frustrating a times. But when you can go even one day without a reaction from any foods or even smells it is something to be thankful for.