Introduction

I am not a chef. My husband likes to tease me with the (true) story of how I had two cookbooks when he met me. They were literally named “Potato” and “Dessert.” (What else do you need?) Which is why it is ironic that I was blessed with two little creatures who I can’t very well feed out of the frozen food aisle. My boys – and my husband – have multiple food allergies. My husbands’ allergies are caused by a condition called EoE. So, although it causes great pain, consuming an allergen will not kill him. My little ones, however, do appear to have life-threatening allergies. So, ever since we first learned of big brother’s allergies, my life has focused primarily on experimenting in the kitchen and doing my best to keep him safe.

For the record, here is the dizzying list of what I try to keep straight: John (husband) can’t eat beef, tree nuts, seeds, avocado, or drink wine. Tucker (big brother) is allergic to peanuts, tree nuts, wheat, eggs, sesame, sunflower and poppy seeds. Sawyer (little brother) is allergic to milk, peanuts, tree nuts, peas, lentils, soy and chickpeas. What drives me bananas are the things that one can have that the other can’t, and vice versa. Sometimes I hand one kid his dinner and then have a tiny panic attack as I re-check the food to make sure I’m giving the right plate to the right kid.

For the sake of my sanity with the side benefit of health, we are going to start the Whole 30, transitioning to the Paleo diet, starting January 1^st. All four of us. Part of the purpose of this blog is to document the successes and failures, joys and frustrations of taking on this challenge as a family. The other purpose is just to ruminate on my life as a mom – especially doing what I do much of the time – feeding little bellies.