Sandra Sheih is plagued by food allergies. She was always a sickly child, but she didn’t find out the extent of her allergies until she gave birth to her son. He went into anaphylaxis when he was just 12 weeks old, and her pediatrician told her that if she didn’t change her diet, he would die. Three months into her diet modification, Sheih felt good for the first time in her life. “I thought, Wow!, this is what people feel like,” she recalls, “I thought I was just a wimp!”
When Sheih weaned her son, she added foods back into her diet, but her body responded violently. It turned out that she is allergic to gluten, dairy, egg, tree nuts, shellfish, fish, avocado, strawberries, kiwi and banana, and peanuts. Her reactions vary from a mild rash to full blown, life-threatening anaphylaxis.
A light bulb went off in Sheih’s head. She soon discovered that her 3-year-old daughter was not just a strong-willed, perpetually ill child, but allergic to dairy, peanuts, eggs and gluten. Sheih’s son could not eat wheat, rye, oats, barley, corn, milk, soy, egg, peanut, tree nut, shellfish, seeds, berries and more. A dietitian gave Sheih a long list of no-nos, said “good luck” and sent them off without a clue. These revelations hit the Sheih family hard. For the first year, they ate an extremely limited diet of beef, apples, pears, grapes, rice, carrots, chicken and sweet potatoes. “It was so sad to deny my daughter a cookie when other preschoolers had treats all the time,” says Sheih, “and I felt terrible giving her something I made from a box that tasted like a piece of cardboard. I just wanted my kids to a have a birthday cake or some bread.” After much experimentation, perseverance and support from her husband, Sheih learned how to cook an abundance of delicious, allergen-free food.
Sheih put in a lot of online research time and helped set up a health food section at the local grocery store. “I’d see people in the store with what I call the look that screamed ‘I don’t know what I [can] eat’!” she says, “I’d hand them a recipe sheet and help them plan some meals. It was neat to be able to do that.” Soon the recipe sheet became a recipe packet, and Sheih finally wrote her cookbook, Abundantly Free Cooking, last summer. She included a balanced selection of 120 recipes: breads, breakfast items, desserts, appetizers, soups, veggies, side dishes and main dishes. “So many of the dishes in gluten-free cookbooks are gross,” she says, “they’re gritty, full of white rice and sugar and have a bad texture.” It’s been a nine-year journey for Sheih to get to this point, but now she is an expert on allergen-free cooking.
Twenty-four year old St. Thomas graduate Megan Reilly is another passionate advocate of the connection between food and health. She has family members with both type II and type I diabetes, so she knew her genes were stacked against her. It was up to her to safeguard her own health. Reilly found the standard American diet of pasta, pizza, and pre-made packaged meals lacking, not to mention boring. She set out to explore the world of food, looking to make meals from scratch with new ingredients and dishes that were naturally full of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants.
She collected recipes online and when she came across a technique that was unfamiliar, she would Google it or call her grandmother, who prepares all her own meals from scratch. “I really admire that and try to mimic it in my own life,” says Reilly, “plus, when meals are prepared from scratch you control the sodium, calories and adjust the recipe to your family’s personal needs. I like to know exactly what I’m putting in my mouth!”
Reilly believes that food has the ability to cure. She urges other home cooks to try new ingredients and purchase the majority of their food from the produce section according to what is in season. “Everyone needs to indulge in something sweet now and again,” she says, “and you can, even when you are adhering to dietary restrictions such as wheat, gluten or dairy.” She suggests using non-gluten flours, black beans or chickpeas, tofu, almond or coconut milk as substitutions. “I wanted every piece of food that entered my mouth to have a positive impact on my body,” she says, “and the result of that was increased energy, better mood, confidence, and effortless weight loss. My food choices had a direct impact on every facet of life.”
Sandra Sheih’s Chocolate Cake
2 cup sugar
1 3/4 cup GF flour blend*
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
2 Tbsp. corn starch
2 tsp. xanthan gum
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1/2 cup water mixed with 2 Tbsp. Ener-G egg replacer (or 2 eggs)
1 cup water (or milk)
1/2 cup oil
1 cup boiling water
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease two 9-inch pans or muffin tins (Recipe makes about 30 cupcakes). Combine sugar, flour, cocoa, corn starch, xanthan gum, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Add egg replacer, water (or milk) and oil. Beat on medium speed 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water. Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake 35—40 minutes. Remove from oven, and cool on a wire rack or on cold, wet towels for five to 10 minutes. Remove from pans, and cool completely. Frost if desired.
*GF flour blend = gluten-free flour blend. Sheih’s unique blend is listed in the cookbook, but store varieties will also work.
Megan Reilly’s Mint Shake
Blend together:
1 frozen banana
1 handful of spinach*
1/2-3/4 cup of almond milk
2-3 few drops of peppermint oil
This can be adjusted any way you like. Replace the peppermint with peanut butter and cocoa powder, and you’ve got a peanut butter cup shake!
*You can’t taste the spinach, but it gives the beverage an awesome green color
&
Recommendations from the Experts
Sandra Sheih recommends
GF flour blend ingredients at Lakewinds market
Personal GF flour blend recipe in Abundantly Free Cooking
Abundantly Free Cooking by Sandra Sheih available at abundantlyfreecooking.com
Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network, foodallergy.org
Megan Reilly recommends
Blogs:
Chocolate Covered Katie
Linda Wagner’s blog Nutrition to Invigorate Mind, Body, and Spirit.
Book: Wheat Belly: Lose the Wheat, Lose the Weight, and Find Your Path Back to Health, by William Davis
Website and recipe: healthyindulgences.net
