Being a mom and a teacher of young children, a good majority of my waking hours are dedicated to keeping the peace and facilitating the concept of sharing is good.
Except when manufacturers encourage say, an allergen like WHEAT to share equipment with something benign and tasty such as corn. This new restriction from my friendly dietitian is really, really tricky. I was talking to myself in the grocery store–yelling softly at our used-to-be favorite rice crackers—why, oh why do they have to shack up with soy at the factory? A lot of things we’ve been enjoying these past three weeks co-habitate with the NO-NOs. I’m going to have to go to someplace more dedicated to food allergies (read: more expensive) than Trader Joe’s. And that makes me sad, because TJ’s is close to my house, has great samples all the time and remember, is the maker of the gluten free rice milk. Which is now a staple in our house. Which means I can’t not go to TJ’s, it just means I’ll add another stop to my grocery route.
While I’m at it, I’m amazed at what pops up in the most unusual places. HUMMUS has allergens. CHICKEN BROTH has allergens. Milk in HOT DOGS. Because that makes sense. Oh and Burger King? Almost every item on the menu contains soy.
Which really just means more work for me. I will have to make things that I’ve become accustomed to buying. Things I know how to make, but prefer to buy, mostly because I don’t like cleaning my blender or food processor. It looks like I’m going to have to get over that…