Like The Tomato
Nothing here but my musings about daily life, books, anime, and food.
Well, Thanksgiving came and went. This was our second Thanksgiving in Washington. Much like last year, Chris and I decided to celebrate the holiday with the just each other. But we agreed that we would lessen the food that we make – we went overboard last year, definitely prepared food for more that two people, to say we got carried away was an understatement.
So for this year, we decided to skip on the ham and turkey, we chose ribeye steaks. And that meat was beautiful… We had some asparagus, stuffing, and green bean casserole. Normally, I would be the one in the kitchen cooking but this year, Chris decided that she wanted to cook all the dishes. And so she did. She slaved in the kitchen while I lost myself in Christmas romance movies – because why not?
We both preferred our steaks rare, and she made a damn good job cooking those ribeyes to perfection. I’d like to share her process but I honestly don’t know how, grilling and cooking meat is her forte not mine. So I was more than happy to let her rule the kitchen for Thanksgiving.
We didn’t decorate – we are not decorators and we believe that we can celebrate without the trappings of the holiday. So we just laid the dishes as simple as we liked. And dug in. Pretty simple Thanksgiving dinner for the both of us. It was a pretty relaxed dinner for sure. And my introverted loner heart sang.
There are things that I need to be thankful for. A new job. A promotion. My family who has been supportive with every decisions I made and continue to make. Friends that regardless the distance are still there when I need to reach out and talk. My dogs who give me cuddles and I can always count on to make me feel better after a stressful day. And of course, Chris. For loving me for who I am and being patient with me always. Four years together and she still chooses to stay with me even though I can be the most difficult person in the world. And for choosing to slave in the kitchen to cook us a bomb Thanksgiving dinner though she had been awake all night because she had to work.
I am not picky with food, I mean I won’t say no to any good food. Sure I might not eat some dishes – anything with exotic ingredients is a no go – but generally, I enjoy and love food.
I like eating out, I like cooking. I love food. And I am lucky that I get to enjoy food the way I want to.
Until recently –
This might be a little TMI to share on the net but if this episode didn’t happen, I wouldn’t have met up with an allergist.
For the past year or so – maybe a couple of years or more – my skin had been a real problem. I get super itchy at times and my skin breaks in rashes. I thought it was the weather. Dry skin, stress, blah blah blah. But in a not so distant past or I should just say early last month, my skin got horrible. One day I was fine, the next day I wasn’t.
It started on my face – swollen and red. Then scalp got super dry and very aggravated. Then my skin. I was covered in rashes. I was miserable. I was struggling with itchiness and not scratching it.
I went to see a dermatologist, she said that it might be eczema but the fact that I never had it when I was kid almost ruled out that possibility. She suggested an allergist. She didn’t want to start treating me for any skin condition if the rashes and everything else were triggered by allergy. But she did say to stop using anything that has fragrances. And she prescribed me some strong steroid cream to calm my skin down.
That next week, I saw an allergist. I had some blood work done. We found out that I am vitamin D deficient, which could be a factor why I am itching so much. I am allergic to dust, some trees and pollen, cat and dogs – I have two dogs so that’s a bummer. It was also confirmed that I am in fact allergic to some shellfish – well the crustacean side anyway, so shrimp, lobster, crab. I am also allergic to eggs, milk, wheat, almonds, soy and peanuts.
So my allergist and I agreed that an elimination experiment on my diet is in order. Giving up my dogs was not an option, so eliminating allergens out of my diet was the way to go. Aside from shellfish, which I had stopped eating when I was in my early 20’s, all the other food allergies I have is in my diet pretty much everyday. The past three weeks had been tough. Some of the food that I like to eat and some of my favorite food in fact contains those allergens.
It has been an interesting journey. I have been reading labels ever so diligently, actively avoiding some of my favorite foods, not eating out too much, and accepting the fact that I probably won’t be able to enjoy food as much as I used to. My diet had to change drastically and I understand that I have to choose whole food now and actually have to cook my food at home.
I told Chris that I’m still deciding if knowing my allergens is a good thing or not. But the results have been amazing. Since I had stopped eating food with these allergens, my skin had recovered nicely. No more rashes, no more itchiness. And I’m pretty sure the no fragrance thing helped out a lot too. The only thing that I am having trouble now is breathing since I have environmental allergies as well. But that is another story and I have an inhaler for that.
And now a dilemma rises.
How do I go about writing about food if I can’t eat most of them?