Three More Weeks?

Pretty soon my time in what I consider to be a sort of purgatory will be coming to an end. But will it end? Really? That's still a bit of an unknown entity to me at the moment.

The "purgatory" I'm talking about has to do with the allergy shots my grandson, Kurtis, is getting now. The time table mentioned is how much longer he will be getting these particular shots.

He went through all the testings back in December and the first of January and the results of those tests were -in some respects -a bit of a surprise to us.

That he tested very positive for allergies to many of the grasses, trees, leaves type things was NO surprise at all. But the fact that he showed being positive for allergies pertaining to pork, green beans, peas, soy, onion and garlic -now those were a bit of a surprise!

And they've created some problems for Mandy and me too in the process.

How to cook for him has always been a bit of a problem -for his sister too -as they've always had some "issues" -shall we say -with various food substances but not to the extent that they created any rashes or reactions, at least not pertaining to the above mentioned foods anyway.

From the time Kurt was a baby, Mandy had to screen any fruits or juices to see if they contained pears because anything with pears as an ingredient would give him a nasty diaper rash but no where in the testings did he register as being allergic to pears. Go figure that one, huh?

The pork thing -which of course means pork chops, spareribs, bacon, sausage and hot dogs -the latter three things that he likes and the pork chops/spareribs being something he had only recently begun to eat and surprise-surprise -that he also likes were things we could deal with.  I just don't fix ribs or chops for all of us for a meal until this shot period ends and we can re-introduce foods back to him. Hot dogs were easy to contend with as we switched to beef/kosher hot dogs and the bacon and/or sausage, we started trying turkey products in place of the pork sausage or bacon and he was fine with that.

Vegetables have always been an iffy meal item with both kids but not due to any reaction he ever had to any veggies, just his taste buds not being big on most veggies. But, wouldn't you just know it the green beans and peas were two that he initially would eat! That does figure to me because I am a firm believer in old Murphy and his stinking law, ya know.

But the roughest part of this whole thing has been trying to figure out what and how to cook without onions, garlic and yes, soy!

Soy seems to be a major component in just about any food products on the market today. One of those that Mandy discovered contains soy just happens to be the Nestle's Quik Chocolate Milk stuff and on learning that, she decided she wasn't going to remove that from his diet in order to preserve some degree of sanity for herself and for me! The boy is totally addicted to chocolate milk and LIVES for those periodic cups of chocolate milk that, in his mind, provide curative, restorative properties to him and fix all sorts of ills and ailments!

The onion and garlic thing was a big issue for me and my cooking though as I use those two items in just about everything I cook -well, except for breads, cakes, pies, etc., anyway!

But try getting allergy information about these food substances -now that's a whole 'nother ball game there!

Mandy did hear or read somewhere that when reading food ingredients on a package that the further down the list that a substance is mentioned means that it has lesser amounts of that substance in the product. So, with respect to products containing soy, we've pretty much taken that tact there. And we have done that on some occasions to where a product lists garlic powder too. My theory there is how much garlic powder could there possibly be in some items anyway?

As to my cooking, well I've made my own spaghetti sauce or marinara sauce sans onions and garlic by loading the sauce up with various other seasonings, including sugar, a bit more of the red cooking wine and bay leaves and the sauce has tasted pretty decent! (Yeah, I'll always believe it would be better were there some amount of chopped onions in it, but still and all, it was very passable in the end.)

But, I wish I knew to what degree he actually is or was or will be in the future too affected by these food items. Another three weeks to go with the shots and then, we can start introducing those items back in to his diet so as to see how much, if any, reaction his system has to them then.

Sure am hoping the onions/garlic and soy items come up as minimal though! And Mandy and I were both extremely relieved, as well as surprised, that he didn't test positively for being allergic to dogs or cats.

That could really have been very problematic news in this household!