It's been really hard to get it together to post to the blog over the past six weeks.
The photo below was taken from one of my last ventures away from the house, having a lovely breakfast on the outdoor patio at Pushkin's Restaurant.
Shortly thereafter, I came down with a severe case of food poisoning from a delivery order. Thanks a lot, grain bowl with chicken! Aside: why is it always the chicken that gets me!?!?!
It took a full week to get my gut back into working-and ability to tolerate more than broth-condition. And that's when Sacramento's shelter-in-place mandate came out.
What Do You Eat When You Can't Eat What's Available?
Since I don't drive, I've been buying my gluten-free and low FODMAP groceries online for years. But now, with so many other people doing that, and making multiple stock-up trips to the grocery store, that hasn't really worked out so well. When I can get an order window, I find that much of what we need simply isn't available. And the substitutions that are offered are almost always something we can't eat due to wheat, garlic, or onion content.
So it has been a huge adjustment.
Add to this that much of my freelance work has been reduced or cancelled in light of the COVID-19 crisis. So I've found it challenging to continue to make healthy gluten-free and low FODMAP meals on a significantly reduced budget. Sure, I did have some pantry staples on hand, but we don't have a big freezer, so, ongoing grocery shopping is necessary.
Our awesome local farmers markets are still open, but I'm not excited about going out and about, or about not being able to handle my own produce (even though I understand and agree with the policy). So I've had to change things up quite a bit.
Grateful for My Kitchen Garden
As you can see in today's #FODMAPfriday blog post, we got our kitchen garden started in February. Unlike most of the rest of the U.S., February was prime planting time here in Sacramento.
In addition to planting my Spring to Summer blooming bulbs, I put in a few varieties of lettuce, beets, carrots, and other tasty salad inclusions. Which is why now, 2 months later, I don't need to buy lettuce-I can just go out and snip off some arugula or baby lettuce leaves whenever I want.
No more feeling bad about tossing out lettuce that gets accidentally frozen in the fridge!
I've been told that lettuce tends to bolt when the days get hotter, so I'm not counting on having this abundance throughout the growing season, but right now, I'm loving it!
Martha + Marley Spoon to the Dinner Rescue!
I'd been an occasional customer of the Martha Stewart-partnered Martha+Marley Spoon meal boxes for a couple months, using them for those nights when I had to get dinner on the table fast, without thinking about it.
While they aren't an exclusively gluten-free meal service, they do have many gluten-free dinner options, or I can make swaps like subbing out a GF hamburger bun or making a lettuce wrap. For recipes that call for using garlic or onions, I simply leave them out, and sub in whatever I would typically do when adapting a recipe.
But once my local grocery delivery couldn't guarantee that I could purchase chicken, ground beef, etc., I ramped up my weekly order. I think I'm not the only one who did, as they recently added a protein-pack as one of the meal options.So now, I can get some pre-planned dinner dishes each week, plus proteins I can add to what I have on hand.
This has saved me so much stress!
If you want to try it out for yourself, you can use this referral link to claim a free box. If you get an error, that means someone already claimed it, but comment, and I'll create a new link for you. It's well worth checking out.
Farm Fresh to You Delivers Farmers Market Treats to Your Door
A good friend has been getting her farmers market delivery from Farm Fresh To You (affiliate link) for years. So as soon as I was complaining about missing my weekly visits, she convinced me to check them out and I'm so glad that I did.
I'd hesitated participating in a weekly farm box program because I was concerned I'd end up getting too many things I didn't want, wouldn't eat (I am looking at you, kale), and would end up tossing in the green waste bin.
But happily, I am able to customize every box to not include produce like oranges that I have a lifetime supply of right outside my window. And in addition to the produce, they also have a great selection of local producer dairy (St. Benoit, Strauss, Nicasio Valley, and more), snacks, and meat that you can add to your produce order.
While it can't replace the joy of walking from farm stall to farm stall and sampling the produce and talking to the farmers, it has been a welcome and helpful source for keeping us well fed and on track with our lof FODMAP meal planning,
What have you been doing to keep your low FODMAP diet on track during the COVID-19 crisis? I'd love to see your tips and resources. Stay safe, andbe well!
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