Lyme Diet/Recipe Help

[renschwa]

My LLMD has me on a sugar-free-yeast free diet... I'm also vegeterian. I was pretty much born hating meat fish chicken, I never ate that stuff even as a kid,  it grosses me out so adding those in is pretty much impossible for me.

I'm struggling to find a salad dressing that does not call for vinegar or honey (no no's on the diet LLMD gave me). Do any of you out there have a recipe? I've tried just olive oil and some italian spices- bearable. Also tried tahini ground sesame sauce- somewhat ok. I'm having a tougher time with the diet than I am with the Abx's!!!!

If any of you know of some good recipes, would you mind sharing?! I'd really appreciate the help! I'm not much of a chef so this is a big adjustment for me. I've gotten alot just from googling but still think it's going to be a tough road with this diet. It's been a week and a half and already feel stumped, bored and hungry LOL!

This weekend we will be away one night in NYC so we'll have to eat out. No idea what I'll eat but I guess if I cheat once I will not die... it's a tough one to follow.

[JackieCalifornia]

and PS, something I've learned to love lately:  carrot, onion and Brussels sprout soup.  Your cabbage soup made me think of it.

Same basic start:  olive oil, sautee onions, add chopped carrots and Brussels sprouts [just baby cabbages, but they seem easier to buy here and not so tough to chew], cover with water, cook till fork-tender.  Add ginger or cinnamon (or turmeric, which I'm not so fond of, but some people are -- it stains everything -- counters, aprons, clothes), then salt and yes, I'm making myself hungry again.  A big bowl of that and I'm full for hours.

[JackieCalifornia]

The last time I made tomato sauce from scratch, I had to add a little bit of sugar to take the edge off the acidic tomatos.  If you are making it yourself, starting with tomatoes, you can of course control how much sugar you put in.  Some people use Splenda or other sugar substitutes, but I've become such a purist that I would probably use (brown?) sugar, and not much of it.  Extra virgin olive oil, sautee garlic and onions, add chopped basil and perhaps chopped Italian parsley (the flat leaf kind), then add the tomatoes and a little sugar and water, cook it down, and that's heaven on a plate -- where a little salt is useful.  Mmmm, making myself hungry!

[renschwa]

Oh yes, I've already learned that making everything home made is the way to go. It now takes me a long while to shop b/c of reading labels.

I am able to eat fruits and veggies, except corn and potatoes. The cinnamon is a nice tip. Thanks for that one.

For breakfast I've been having fruit smoothies or a brown rice cereal (like Rice Krispies) w/ banana. Been eatign a lot of hummus with bevvie for lunch or whole grain tortillas with veggies and quacomole.

My diet says I'm allowed brown rice and whole grain pasta and even whole grain tortillas and taco shells- which is helpful being vegeterian.

I make my own tomatoe sauce for pasta as I'm worried about the sugar content on the jar stuff. Starting to explore the ideaof a pesto suace, not sure what's in it... Even can tomatoes have sugar but not near as much. Tonight I made a cabbage soup. It's basically my veggie soup w/o potatoes & corn with cabbage subing for potatoes, so I'm learning...

Been trying to come up with some sort of sir fry sauce.... no soy is allowed.

I  make a veggie chili with all of the spices in it that you mention.

I should eat more eggs too, espec for the protein being vegeterian. So I'll keep your recipe in mind...

Thanks Jackie!

[JackieCalifornia]

I was on a no-yeast, no-sugar, low-carb diet for about 8 months recently.  The first few days are hard, but after that, it was no problem.

I try to stay away from prepared foods because so many of them have ingredients I am trying to avoid.  Therefore I cook fresh food whenever possible.  Breakfast is an egg, with vegetables sauteed in extra virgin olive oil (onion, zucchini, spinach, garlic).  Lunch and dinner are protein (chicken, salmon, fish [canned sardines in water usually]) and vegetables (carrots, brussels sprouts, onion, whatever looks good in the veggie case at the store).  Sounds boring, but it's not.

Herbs (esp fresh) are really good.

When I eat out, I often have fish or salmon and just ignore the starches, but you may be able to tolerate them.  Restaurants are MUCH more accommodating than they used to be about answering questions and modifying items to exclude things you can't eat.

Are you able to eat fruit?  Some have more sugar than others; you can find online a list of relatively low-sugar ones.

I drink water with a bit of fresh lemon or lime juice.  I don't drink coffee or alcohol, but I used to be a Diet Coke junkie ... and I do not miss it AT ALL.
  
If you buy prepared food, read ALL the labels and stay away from anything that doesn't look right.  I personally stay away from things like prepared salad dressing, because it has a boatload of garbage-y chemicals.  Try a little bit of olive oil with lemon or lime juice and some spices.  With a little practice, you'll be able to get the balance of oil vs citrus just right.

I ate all I wanted on this diet and was never hungry.  And I lost a bunch of extra weight, now down to my pre-illness weight and have stopped losing.  I have recently added apples and blueberries back into my diet -- they are good with cinnamon sprinkled on them.

I don't really miss the foods I used to crave (pasta, sweets), and am very surpised at the whole outcome.  

I recently consulted a dietitian to be sure I am getting all the right nutrients, and while she clearly thought I was nuts, she did tip me to a few supplements I was missing.

Try cooking with spices like ginger, cinnamon, and turmeric.  They have medicinal qualities (so I hear) and are supposed to boost your immune system.

I don't take dairy, but I do take calcium supplements.

Good luck, let us/me know if you have any questions. (I know, this sounds like starvation, but it's not!)