Be Inventive: Pizza!!! Allergy-Free(to me) Recipe

I had a crazy/somewhat 'over-dramatic' moment. You know, that moment when you find yourself crying inconsolably in the Kroger aisle. No, not because the ninety-year-old woman in the electric cart ran over your new designer flats and ripped off the gold label emblem (that really happened), it's because now you are forced to read every ingredient on the d*&! box/bag/can to only place it back on the shelf. Why? Because everything seems to have wheat or dairy or soy in it and you can no longer eat those things without chancing turning into HITCH and dying (like I said, a bit 'over-dramatic).

Thank God for Pinterest!!! I am able to access millions of recipes...recipes for me to adjust and manipulate to get the taste and texture I want without fear of stabbing myself with epinephrine.

       Cauliflower Pizza Crust 

Dairy Free, Wheat Free, Soy Free, Egg(yolk) Free

Ingredients:

• 1 Head of Cauliflower
• 1/4 teaspoon Sea Salt
• 1/2 teaspoon Dried Basil
• 1/2 teaspoon Dried Oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon Garlic Powder
• 2 Egg Whites
• 1 tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Cheesecloth (or in our case, a new pair of panty-hose:))
• Parchment Paper
• Desired Toppings

         Directions:

• Wash and thoroughly dry the cauliflower.
• Cut off the florets and put in food processor.
• Pulse in the food processor until you get cauliflower “snow”.
• Microwave for 5 minutes.
• Dump the cauliflower onto pizza pan to cool.
• Once cool, put the cauliflower into your new panty-hose leg and squeeze! It is IMPORTANT that you get as much excess water as you can. Getting it drained well will make the crust less mushy. (I did this for about 10 minutes--a great arm workout!!)
  
• Preheat the oven to 450ºF.  Place your cookie sheet in the oven to heat it up.
• Combine the sea salt, dried basil, dried oregano,  garlic powder, and cauliflower in a medium bowl.
• Mix it together well and then add the egg whites and use your hands to form it into a dough ball.
• Pat it down gently onto a piece of parchment paper.
• Use your hands to form it into a pizza crust. (It will be thin-crust and mine did not have perfect edges.)
• Glaze dough with a bit of olive oil.
• Put it onto the heated up cookie sheet and bake the crust without any toppings for 9 minutes until it is golden brown.
• Remove from the oven and add your toppings. (I used dairy products for my family, three different cheeses, etc...Mine had tomato sauce, pepperoni, and bell peppers.) 
• Bake it for another 7 minutes with your toppings on it.
  

The Review:

I loved it. However, it did not taste like pizza crust, so don't hope that the amazing doughy/bread taste will be there. It won't be. However, it's a unique taste that I found to be satisfying in both taste and texture. I will definitely be making it again!

I will leave this post with a shout out to The University of Kentucky Wildcats!!! So proud of these young men, their determination, and teamwork!! Great win against Michigan!!! FINAL FOUR!!

picture credit: Sports Illustrated
and a link to the 3 point shot from Aaron Harrison---The CLUTCH!

3 Point Shot!

Love & Laughs,

Valerie Jo

The Allergy Adventure: Adult Onset of Food Allergies

For the majority of my life I thought I was just lactose-intolerant. Milk or any other dairy item would send my body into a bloated, gassy, unpleasant machine that I just dealt with. (TMI?) I would take Lactaid but nothing seemed to help, especially if I wanted to enjoy a Reese Cup Milkshake from the local Shake Shoppe. About a year ago, I started to experience different symptoms that I just discounted as being a result of digesting lactose unsuccessfully or possibly experiencing GERD.

Symptoms Included:

• bloating
• abdominal pain
• unexplained weight gain (18lbs)
• diarrhea 
• vomiting
• hives
• wheezing
• swelling of ears, fingers, and lips
• lip tingling

In my mind, I had not connected these symptoms. I thought I was lactose intolerant, but suffering from an allergy to something environmental, and having seasonal allergy/asthma type symptoms. Kind of a perfect storm type of deal.

Once my hives would get to a point of no relief, I would head to the doctor or urgent care. They would ask about allergens, mostly environmental and stress. I was given steroid shots, oral steroids, and told that some people 'just get hives,' or uticaria.  Due to having hives for an extended amount of time, (7 months) I was diagnosed with chronic uticaria with angioedema, idiopathic in nature. Everyday I would have hives on my legs. Every. single. day. Some days it would be head to toe. There was no rhyme or reason.I just lived with it and kept telling myself that one day it could and hopefully just go away. Every night I prayed that by next morning I would be clear of the constant itching and eliminate taking benedryl like candy.

I would tell close friends or loved ones about it every once in awhile...especially if I had to explain why my lips or ears were swollen...or why I had hives on my hands..etc. (My poor husband who is absolutely amazing, got the brunt of it. He would do everything he could to help when I couldn't deal with it.) I would always pray and tell myself that so many other people in the world were suffering worse or on a completely different level. If this was all that was wrong in my life, I could deal. I am blessed and loved so very much.

Here are a few pictures so you can see a little of what I am talking about.... (FYI--skip through them if skin rashes make you queasy, as they are not pretty):

They were consistently present on my legs.

Side of my stomach: red and very itchy

It's kind of hard to tell, but 80% of my body was cherry red.

Looks like bad botox, doesn't it? haha. I took this pic about 4 hours after taking multiple antihistamines. It was twice this size at first.

It was time for my annual appointment at my ob/gyn. Surely enough, I had hives up and down my body. As if going to her wasn't already uncomfortable enough, now I had my hive stricken body to display. I told her about my hives, the weight gain, and sleepless itchy nights. She immediately set me up a referral to an Immunologist at The University of Kentucky and got me an appointment for the following week. 

The day came to see the Immunologist. She looked my skin over--only hives present on my thighs. She talked to me about the possibility of unexplained uticaria, an environmental allergy, and she didn't see the likelihood of it being a food allergy. However, she started with full blood work and a antihistamine regime. Also, she said that if I wanted to, I could start the elimination diet. (I will write about that experience in another post.) 

Blood work came back: Ige antibodies were present. I was needed to come back in to the office.

I noticed that by doing the elimination diet, I had cleared up my hives by day 4. Day 5, I was back in the doctor's office. She told me how shocked she was to see that I had these antibodies present. She said that they are proteins made by my immune system that are attacking whatever I am allergic to.

Before I got the blood results back, one night I decided to treat my husband and I with Frosty's from Wendy's. While eating it, I experienced swelling of my tongue and lips, wheezing, uncontrolled coughing, hives, and dizziness. (Also known as an anaphylaxis episode) It was crazy! Did that Frosty just make me do that?! I took a lot of benedryl and puffed on my albuterol inhaler.

More blood work would give the results that I had been praying for (well, kinda.) I do have food allergies. 

I am allergic to:

• dairy
• wheat
• eggs
• soy
• almonds (tree nuts, in general)
• bananas

With this diagnosis, I have welcomed a new lifestyle. I eat COMPLETELY different. (More to come on all of that craziness later!)I carry my EpiPens and Benedryl religously. Since avoiding these allergens, I have not had hives, wheezing, bloating, vomiting, etc and I have lost about 7lbs!!!!

Not only that, I feel so much better! I feel free! I didn't realize how terrible I had been feeling for so long. This blog will follow my attempts in this allergy adventure, as well as many other awesome and lovely topics! I welcome everyone into my life to share in this experience, the crafts, the love of family and friends, and the daily happenings of girl living life in the Bluegrass! (GO CATS!)

Love and Laughs,
Valerie Jo