the dishes

As you already know, when you are cooking for an Allergyhead, you cook from scratch. Everything.

I can easily spend 6 hours a day cooking since my Allergyhead was diagnosed. Of course, part of that is because we aren't (and never have been) meat and potatoes people. A usual week at our house includes mexican, indian, chinese, thai, trini, basically anything except the usual midwest-style cooking. I can't remember the last time I made something that included 'cream of anything soup' - even before allergies we just didn't cook that way. I don't make casseroles. And we don't eat leftovers.

Today I made vegan strawberry ice cream; coconut 'whipped cream'; Karina's marvelous bread; Lentil, Garbanzo, and Spinach Curry; and a Gluten-free (but not dairy or egg free) ice cream cake for Father's Day (super yum, a brownie crust, vanilla ice cream, reese's pieces, peanut butter ganache, and chocolate ganache layers).

The worst thing about all the cooking? The dishes, hands down. I do an average of 6 loads of dishes a day. Before the allergy diagnoses I had - in a fit of healthfulness - gotten rid of the microwave and stopped using the dishwasher. Just about 4 days ago I decided to start using the dishwasher again but it is sooo SLOW. When I'm cooking I can easily use every dish I own - usually twice. (My kitchen is tiny, there is no room for lots of extras of everything). Anyways, my point in all this is that really, the cooking part I love, and I don't MIND being "everything free", but the dishes, thats my least favorite part about this allergyhead lifestyle.