so much discomfort and a recipe review

i have a terrible rash on my chest, but that showed up before i drank the soy milk. pretty sure it's from the heat, as a matter of fact. my eyes have been terribly itchy all day, but i'm pretty sure that's due to environmental influences. i have a rash on my wrist that has developed out of nowhere and my stomach has ached since the soy milk and now more so after the tofu. for the last hour and a bit, my throat has become progressively more swollen and sore and so have my ears and the back of my nose, but Jacqui has a cold, so maybe i've caught one, too. mostly, i feel very uncomfortable in general and i have no idea if soy has attributed to any of it.

the good news? my face is a normal size and i can breathe, in a somewhat restricted manner, without wheezing. oh, and no diarrhea.

Orange Chicken Style Tofu

this was fantastic! so easy and so delicious. i actually found myself wondering how i've managed to miss an encounter with such a simple sauce before now. also, it kept well in the pan for the fifteen minutes the quinoa required to catch up with the rest of supper.

i rate this one 9/10 (only because i thought it needed a veggie; i tossed in some red peppers).

Day 12--What's a Day or Two Among Friends?

out of growing impatience, i've decided to challenge soy today instead of waiting until Monday. really, i doubt those two days will make much of a difference and this way i'll have plenty of time to react if i'm going. i did not relish the thought of missing any part of Folkfest to ballooning body parts. i suppose i could then sell this as a purely practical decision, but i'd be lying through my teeth.

so, this day, the... um... 29th! of July, i am drinking my first glass of soy milk in 12 days. i plan to stirfry tofu this evening with organic, wheat-free soy sauce (Bragg's--expect a review). tomorrow, i'll make a soy smoothie for breakfast. if this is a soy allergy, i should expect some kind of reaction shortly. if this is an intolerance, then, well, it could take a day or two to manifest.

an interesting side note that could be important--i have a chronically swollen gland under my right ear that has shrunk to a normal size for the first in several years over the course of this elimination.

Days 10&11--almost there

i can't wait to change things up a bit with this diet. although i haven't had any serious issues with the food i'm eating in terms of flavour, i miss some of my favourite meals like Ma Pa Tofu and sushi (i'm avoiding sushi because I can't imagine eating it without soy sauce). and the almond milk isn't bad, but i miss my soy milk.

as for my judgmental lapse, this next week includes both Heritage Fest and the Edmonton Folk Festival, both places of many interesting food choices. even reconciled to foregoing any experimentation, i face the possibility of a reaction in the middle of one of these events since this will be the first challenge week. soy will be my first challenger and i'm not too worried, but there's always the chance.

actually, i've been thinking about the order in which i should reintroduce these foods. i chose soy because i wanted to reintroduced my biggest source of protein and the least likely culprit first. if i go with wheat instead, then I get the most likely suspect out of the way immediately. hm. not sure what to do, but i should figure it out soon.

'course, then there's the possibility that the reaction comes from a combination of foods or that it's none of these things. i try very hard not think about that. i'll deal with whatever happens as it comes.

Some Interesting Side Effects

not sure what to make of this, but my other allergies are much much worse than usual after that first week of the diet. i can hardly touch the cats without my eyes itching and swelling and cutting the grass has transformed my nose into a tap.

possible causes:

1. i haven't taken any anti-histamines since setting off on this journey. i've gone for stretches without taking any and this hasn't happened that i've noticed. certainly not to this extent. still, something to consider.

2. perhaps i am definitely allergic/sensitive to one of the elimination foods and the constant ingestion of the substance has masked the effects of other allergens. not sure of the plausibility of this situation, but it sounds good.

shrug

bottom-line? i miss cuddling my schmurns.

recipe review: Cranberry-Apricot Muffins by Gluten-Free Goddess

i don't have quinoa flour, so i used an extra 1/4 cup of sorghum and i used flax as an egg replacer instead of the Ener-Egg stuff since i can't eat corn right now. also, i subbed minced dry apricots for the preserves and reconstituted some craisins instead of using fresh or frozen cranberries. the bit of liquid left over from draining the craisins helped make of for the lask of moisture in the dried apricots. oh, and i used my homemade almond milk.

the result? moist, hearty, delicious perfection. i gobbled two on the spot and have frozen the rest for breakfast throughout the week. i'd like to try this again with coconut or shredded almonds.

Day 8, 9--nothing new under the sun

yesterday, i ate nothing out of the ordinary except some french fries, which was probably a bad idea since no guarantees that they used canola oil and not soy. nothing gastrically unusual happened either.

today, i went back to A Taste of Edmonton and had some more cabbage rolls and a tomato salad that was mostly iceberg lettuce. go figure. did some shopping on Whyte with Lorne and Kathy, too, and had a nice time with them.

word of the day: nihilism

1. Philosophy
a. An extreme form of skepticism that denies all existence.
b. A doctrine holding that all values are baseless and that nothing can be known or communicated.
2. Rejection of all distinctions in moral or religious value and a willingness to repudiate all previous theories of morality or religious belief.
3. The belief that destruction of existing political or social institutions is necessary for future improvement.
4. also Nihilism A diffuse, revolutionary movement of mid 19th-century Russia that scorned authority and tradition and believed in reason, materialism, and radical change in society and government through terrorism and assassination.
5. Psychiatry A delusion, experienced in some mental disorders, that the world or one's mind, body, or self does not exist.

Day Seven--i am an idiot

i had a grievous lapse in judgement when i decided that these were the best two weeks to launch this process.

today, Jacqui and I went to A Taste of Edmonton where many local restaurants set up little booths and offer choice dishes to the public in exchange for purchased tickets (i forgot to ask who cashes in on the profits). i managed to avoid the delicious vegan offerings of my favourite restaurants to which i've never actually gone and the not-so-vegan delight that is Deep-Fried Mars Bars (i deliberately block out the name of that proprietor--i do not need to know where to get those things on a daily basis). instead, i indulged in several other delights:

rice-stuffed cabbage rolls from Taste of Ukraine--Darren will be happy to know that they serve entire plates of vegan cabbage rolls as well as an interesting salad that includes pickles as an ingredient. why would he care about these items? well, if i can find something to eat in a Ukrainian restaurant, my Ukrainian husband can eat all the pyrohi and kielbasa that he wants without any guilt whatsoever.

bean sprout salad with peanut dressing: very tasty and, no, i did not note the name of the place. Zeljka didn't like this at all, so Jacqui and i ate hers. made up for the fact that we later handed Z our remaining tickets so that she could have another Deep-Fried Mars Bar (i derive incalculable delight from the fact that my friends' names include so many high pointing Scrabble letters. i just need to befriend a Max or an Xavier and i'll have them all)

wine: a dry, spanish red. mucho yummy wine.

sweet potato fries: perfectly fried to a light crisp and full of flavour

more cabbage rolls: i haven't had good ones in years. now, i am tempted to make my own

i ate the usual for breakfast as well as some orange juice throughout the day. for supper, i had leftover lentils, leftover potato soup, half a cuke, and celery with peanut butter. later, i snacked on rice crackers and hummus and some thawed berries.

this evening, i've felt bloated and gassy, but nothing particularly uncomfortable. had a hot bath earlier and thought i was going to pass out, but that's not unusual. i think i like the idea of baths more than i like the actual practice. mostly, i feel cramped, uncomfortable and vaguely uneasy in the tub.

since i slept for only four hours last night, i think i'll head 'er. tomorrow dawns on yet another ridiculously busy day.