So sorry, y'all, to NOT be posted. but there hasn't been a lot to say! I've been really busy with work/school stuff and subsequently haven't been cooking. All of this is also happening while I'm staying with my mom, who has been doing all the cooking and grocery shopping. We can find some cool stuff, but mostly it's nice because i thoroughly detest grocery shopping.
In good news: my mom has perfected the yeast-free black bean burger, which was an accomplishment. It's very difficult to find something to bind the black bean and corn together, but somehow couscous works. Also, it was a good time to find out that couscous is not an allergen. I had it sometime in the last two years, but it was one of those super-organicy places, where I took it out of a barrel. There are so many potential allergens within that--the barrel, whatever the scoop had last been placed, poor storage allowing microscopic mold to take hold, etc. So I've been enjoying actually being able to have a burger again--in my own way. We take a Pillsbury biscuit, slice it in two and hope it doesn't crumble up too much, put the burger on it, cheese, and a dab of ketchup (we found a safe brand). It is a similar enough experience to the real burger that I have been eating these fairly regularly recently. It's amazing the craving for a burger that hits sometimes--there are so many occasions in America that call for burgers.
So the other news is that one of the reasons why it's been almost a month since I posted anything is because I've been travelling rather extensively. It's funny enough travelling by car and unloading in a hotel room: garment bag, suitcase, purse, bag o' food. The fewer meals I eat out, the better. And even better: flying. I always wonder about the TSA and what they will let through. I didn't have any problems this time, but all I took was the vanilla cupcake graham goldfish and a sleeve of shortbread. delicious, but even my sweet tooth was down and out after a few 'meals' of this. Flying in the morning means all the restaurants are serving bacon, eggs, and biscuits. No fries. I can do fries. And then I flew back late, so places were closed. I texted my mom that I was almost home and please can i have something warm to eat, since i was subsisting on shortbread.
Overall, the reason I'm writing this now is to make an accounting for a recent event--I was out to dinner with a group of applicants pre-interview and we'd ordered some appetizer plates. I didn't know what was on each one, but the one in front of me looked like fried shrimp and some quesadillas. Nobody had touched it yet, in a polite, etiquette kind of way, so I went ahead and got things started. Except as I bit into the shrimp, I realized--NOT SHRIMP. CHICKEN. It was a very odd looking wing. And of course, not a wing, with no bone. Regardless, chicken! Chicken! It sounds so stupid--I accidentally ate chicken! but it's wholeheartedly true. I avidly avoid the meats I'm allergic too, and for good reason. Besides my anxiety ticking off the charts at that moment, knowing that my H2 blockers aren't going to be powerful enough to combat chicken, I knew I had to a) finish getting through the dinner and b) I still had my interview the next day. Luckily, I was able to order some scallops seared with lemon butter that was totally safe, and a safe dessert also. Sometimes when I eat something I shouldn't, I'll try to overwhelm my body with other, safe particles. Doesn't work always, but sometime it'll mitigate things. At the very least, dessert makes me happier.
I woke up the next morning and felt like I had done an intense abs workout, how sore my abdomen was. Luckily I was also suffering through a sinus infection, so my meds had kept me mostly knocked out and unaware of what I know is crippling abdominal pain.
And I made it through my interviews just fine. :)
I was also recently eating apple pie, which seems to be just fine...not exactly easy for me to distinguish, because at the same meals I had other allergens present so I couldn't sort it all out, but it was interestingly a very minimal reaction so we'll see...
And then there was the Greek food yesterday I was presented for lunch...I could not identify a single thing on the plate besides the grape leaves...always a pleasure to be eating out and have no say in my food.
But then there are occasions, like where I got to order the vegan creme brulee, made with avocado and coconut milk and something else, topped with raspberry sauce--it was amazing. AMAZING. makes up for some of the other stuff.
Never a boring day in my life with food.
