Our menu is designed especially for families who are suffering from multiple food sensitivities or allergies. As you know, the physiological fallout from these allergens ranges from mildly annoying to debilitating. We have discovered that by strictly abstaining from foods to which we are sensitive AND by rotating our ALLERGY FREE foods on a 4 day plan, we can reduce and even eliminate symptoms and access our energy once again.

Each weekly menu is laid out in a “minimum” 4 day rotation. This means if you eat chicken on Monday, you will not see it again on the menu until Friday or later. Some weeks will include a bean protein meal and/or an alternative animal protein in the rotation. The rotation will also apply to seasonal vegetables, nuts and fruits. (Grains will not be strictly rotated; i.e., rice may appear on a Monday, while brown rice noodles may appear on a Tuesday.) Please refer to your food allergy chart and eliminate or substitute any foods that YOU are allergic to. For instance, our child is allergic to garlic and black pepper. So we either eliminate those from our family recipes completely or set aside a portion for her before adding those ingredients to a dish.

Our goal with this plan is to support you by sharing all the things we have learned on our journey. We have included other elements in your weekly plan that we have found helpful in our life.

For instance, begin your rotation with the evening meal and eat the same protein the next day for breakfast and lunch. You can often use leftovers from dinner for tomorrow’s lunch. This is a huge timesaver. ( Dinners are intended to serve four, so if you are feeding a family of four you may want to double the dinner recipe to have enough leftovers to serve for tomorrow’s lunch.)

Make a weekly pot of “something.” We will include in each week’s plan a pot of soup, beans or chili, etc. – a favorite that you can heat up in an emergency. (It is better to stick to your allergy-free recipes even if you occasionally get out of the rotation.)

Plan takeout or an EASY night on Fridays. We found that by Friday we were sometimes just plain exhausted. And that’s when it is easiest to give up or “cheat.”

We also will include a “no brainer” dinner each week. The open-up, heat-up and serve-up option that will also keep you calm and sane.

Lastly, we have planned each week to include a combination of simplistic “kid” favorites with more complex and interesting dishes. We have two grown-ups and a child in our family and the Dad is a bonafide “foodie” so we learned that success requires variety on many levels.

We have worked with different nutritionists on our journey and have compiled that knowledge with the tools that you need to plan – everything you need to live allergy free is right here at your fingertips.

No more struggles to modify recipes or eating the same foods day in and day out –planning will be your new path to freedom!

Please accept our best wishes as you embark on this week’s journey, may it be allergy free and energy full!