Day One

Well, I'm not entirely doing this by myself. My boyfriend, Toby, is partly going on this journey with me. He and I come from similar food-backgrounds, to a point. We were both raised on frozen foods requiring a microwave and a very select few vegetables that our mothers could get us to consume. His was salad while mine was broccoli and peas.
We're the same age, though six months apart. The difference in our diets happened during sophomore year in high school, when I happened to come across a Meal Management class. This taught us the etiquette of dining, proper food preparation, how to cook healthy meals and so on. It was really fun and interesting. After that I decided I loved cooking so much that I might consider it as a profession one day. I began obsessively searching the internet for recipes to try out. I would write them all out onto index cards. I had hundreds of them. This was not an experience Toby had.
When I began my studies in school, I only wanted to study herbs. I was intrigued by plants. I had no interest in nutrition though. It was just something that involved a bunch of vitamins. Whatever. However, one of the modules in my herbal studies was about nutrition. It was cleverly disguised as a module on the dangers of a toxic colon. It sparked my interest. It had never occurred to me that food could be used as medicine. I know I am not alone in this. Many doctors even do not acknowledge Hippocrates's words - the very words of the founder of medicine - "Let thy food be thy medicine".
This too, was not an experience Toby had.

I had suspected Toby may have a food allergy as well due to his own personal symptoms. I thought that since I was going to be going on this journey, perhaps he could join me part way. He has been thinking and thinking and thinking all month about which one he wants to give up during this time. It has been a battle which has been neck and neck the whole time. Even up until midnight, it was a 50/50 which way he might go.
It wasn't until we both woke this morning, hung over from celebrating the New Year, that he decided. We went to Sheri's for breakfast. It wasn't my first choice, but breakfast for a town full of hung over and bleary people- all the local places I'd have liked to have gone to had lines out the door. While looking at the menu, Toby finally made his decision to go dairy free for the next two months.
Later that day we went grocery shopping, and I realized how little Toby knew about food, and what was in it. I found myself coaching him on how to read labels, the key words that sounded harmless or foreign, but actually contained what we were trying to avoid. I more wanted him not to focus on what he could not have, but instead to focus on the creative adventure which lay before us. Unfortunately, Toby does not get as excited about food as I do.
It also didn't help too that he was still suffering from his hang over while mine had run its course with me, and I was excited for this shopping trip.

For dinner tonight we had a completely gluten free and dairy free meal that could have fooled any one.
I made a garlic tuna pasta, with salad on the side.
For the pasta sauce I substituted brown rice flower for normal flower, coconut oil for butter, and rice milk for milk. The pasta was brown rice pasta as well. I fried in the coconut oil onions until they just began to go transparent, then I added four cloves of chopped garlic (I am a huge fan of garlic) and zucchini. Once the onions had gone soft, I added some red cooking wine. I know - I know, one should use white wine with a white sauce - but I just didn't have it, so I sacrificed color for red. I allowed that to boil into the veg a little bit while also adding an onion stock cube and a vegetable stock cube for flavoring, along with some basil and dill. Once the stock cubes were dissolved I patted in some of the brown rice flower as mentioned and rice milk. After the flour had been whisked in, I added the tuna to heat.
The salad was nothing special. An already put together mix of different lettuces and spinach with an Italian dressing for me, and a dairy-free ranch we found for Toby (I can't stand ranch).

I was very impressed with the outcome of this meal. Had Toby not been joining me, I might have added a couple of diced tomatoes, some broccoli, and or some butternut squash. However, I am still easy Toby into healthier eating.

I consider for myself that day one was a success. I didn't feel any cravings for anything that I couldn't have. But it was also quite helpful that in general I don't consume much dairy aside from cheese, and I have no qualms with alternative pastas. I think it was also helpful that we were suffering from the hang overs. It meant we had a docile day, instead of a day of running around which would make us want to eat more.
I can come up with meals for myself that are along the guidelines I'm following, but finding something that Toby will enjoy as well is an entirely different feat.