Thursday, June 2, 2011

The Inaugural Voyage: Breakfast as an Aware Food Allergy Sufferer

Yesterday, I had my first visit with Susan, a registered dietician, about my dreaded food allergies. To recap, I am allergic to—in order of severity—milk, wheat and egg whites.

Last night, I wanted to eat an entire carton of raw eggs, drink a gallon of milk and gobble up two loaves of wheat bread. After a fitful sleep filled with nightmares that included being chased by an omelette, swimming in a lake of milk and struggling to break free from a 'Valerie on whole wheat' sandwich, I awoke grumpy, tired and too damn early. And apparently, at some point throughout the night, I may have kicked the dog because he had abandoned his usual spot on the bed in favor of sleeping on the floor.

Was it going to be one of those days?

After an invigorating early morning fifty minute power walk that left me energized, awake and famished, I realized with trepidation that I was not looking forward to breakfast. If I couldn’t have an egg, than what was the point?

Putting my pity party aside, I vowed that I was going to see this thing through. If I couldn’t even last one freakin’ day without my allergic vices, then what good was I?

I pulled my tried-and-true standby—Oscar Meyer Turkey Bacon—from the bottom drawer of the fridge, collected the remaining ingredients for my feast and began to prepare breakfast.

This was a first for me. I was going to try my hand at my version of Tofu Scrambled “Eggs.”

Since I was determined to stick with the plan, I decided I had to adapt food to my palate. I put on my mad scientists' hat and got to work. I started with fresh vegetables—spring onions, orange pepper and green bell pepper.


I didn’t bother measuring anything since, after all, this was merely an experiment. I simply used what I thought would be a good amount for my tastes. Sounds kind of selfish, I know, but that’s how the mind works sometimes. I can tell you, however, that I diced one stalk of the onion, as well as roughly 1/8 cup each of the peppers. All three were sautéed in olive oil for three minutes or so until slightly soft.

Next, using the Nature’s Promise Extra Firm Organic Tofu that I purchased from Shop ‘n Stop, I cut approximately a 2.5-3.0 ounce chunk of it, pat it dry and crumbled it in the sauté pan with the vegetables and continued to cook on low to medium heat for another 3-4 minutes.

Tofu is notorious for taking on the flavors of whatever it’s cooked in, so I felt fairly confident when I grabbed a jar of McCormick Mediterranean Spiced Sea Salt and gave it a few shakes on the “eggs” while they were cooking. Next, I sprinkled just a hint of McCormick Herbs de Provence in for good measure.

The end result, below, was surprising. Not only did it look like scrambled eggs, it tasted like scrambled eggs as well! What's next? Tofu that tastes like chicken? Like crab legs? Like Filet mignon? The possibilities are mind boggling . . .



I managed to have a complete breakfast that was entirely milk, wheat and egg white free. To wrap up, my meal consisted of:
  • 2 strips turkey bacon
  • Tofu “scrambled eggs”
  • Whole Foods® Organic Seeded 6 Sprout Bread with Sesame, Sunflower & Flax
  • Silk® Vanilla Flavored All Natural Soy Milk
I can’t wait for lunch!

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