What I do and don't eat.

I typed this up recently for someone, and thought it might be useful as a general point of information for anyone who might ever want to feed me. I'm still working on the list of allergies (requires far too much arsedness :/ )...

I don't eat meat or fish for ethical reasons. ( Read more... )

I don't particularly mind people eating meat near me, but I am severely squicked by any meat product that still looks significantly like the animal it was when it was alive. ( Read more... )

I don't eat dairy for health reasons ( Read more... )

Other triggers for IBS are sulfurous, excessively fibrous or acidic fruit/vegetables. ( Read more... )

I am not in any way shape or form allergic or intolerant to aubergine (eggplant), but I don't seem to like it, and would rather it didn't feature in my diet. Don't care hugely for mushrooms for slightly complicated reasons, but quite like mushroom chopped up & buried in things like spring rolls & gyoza. Although scary black shiitake mushrooms trigger my "not food" reflex quite badly.

Then the part that makes everyone think I'm a health freak: I don't drink anything containing caffeine or alcohol. ( Read more... )

I don't know whether the caffeine thing counts as an allergy - I usually count it as one, because it is severely contraindicated, whether it provokes an actual immune system response or not. I am also mildly allergic to casein (milk protein), which is handy as I have to avoid dairy for lactose reasons anyway. I am definitely allergic to melon, and I might be allergic to strawberries (but I can apparently eat strawberry jam without distress, as of yesterday).

Now for what I do eat. The "don't eat" list seems really insane, so I should probably mention foods I do eat.

Soya is good - anything made from soy is good, including edamame, tofu, miso, soy milk, soya fake meats... :) ( Read more... )

Pulses and nuts are good ( Read more... )

Carbohydrate foods are good: rice, pasta, potatoes (I LOVE potatoes), cereals, bread...( Read more... )

Fruit & vegetables are good, if a little obvious.

Cooked Chinese & Japanese foods are positively fantastic (anything featuring fried tofu + one or more carbohydrates HAS to be good), and you never know, someone who makes sushi for me while the rice is still warm might be able to get me to like it. But sushi out of a fridge is just ick, especially the wasabi and (real) seaweed.

I adore cakes & puddings of any kind but avoiding dairy in desserts gets tricky and fruit salad annoys me by being too damn obvious (what do vegans eat? Vegetables!). Sorbets made without milk protein should be easy to find, but frequently aren't (why does whey powder need to go in everything?). Dairy-free chocolate cake and mousse or dairy-free ice creams are my absolute favourite, but a pain in the ass to find unless you know where to buy the ingredients. ( Read more... )

And I've linked to them at least three times in the past year, but montezuma's - for all your vegan chocolate needs. (They do LOTS of dairy stuff as well).

Am exhausted now! Feel free to ask any questions (though I reserve the right not to answer them).