Quick update as this page pops up on web searches. I've created a website and Facebook group for Alpha Gal cooking:
Website
The AlphaGal Kitchen
Facebook Group
The AlphaGal Kitchen Facebook Group
Tuesday, December 8, 2015
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
The beginning
Greetings!
If you've found your way here, you most likely have the Alpha Gal allergy or know someone who does (or a really dominant woman, for which you will need to cook some great meals, so stay tuned). Let me start by saying, I'm sorry! But... it could be worse.
Why start this blog?
I am an crazy "foodie", self proclaimed "home chef". After becoming allergic to mammalian meat, I have had to completely change the way I cook, what I cook, and how I look at food. I generally will not eat out because I do not know if I will get sick from cross contamination or if there are ingredients that may make me sick in the foods. My initial reaction was depression and self pity I would guess. I pulled back from cooking completely for a few weeks and didn't want to bother anymore if I couldn't make my steak au poivre or Carolina style BBQ pulled pork (that I spent years mastering) and many other dishes. I had never been a huge fan of chicken, it had its place, but not every night on my table. Here, I plan to share recipes and cooking ideas with others. With a bit of creativity, I am slowly replacing my favorite meals with alternatives and coming up with a lot of new and exciting meals. Complexity and prep/cooking times for these recipes will vary. But they will absolutely be international. My major influences are French, German, Korean, Chinese, Vietnamese, Japanese, American, etc... so you never know what I'll be posting next. I am new to blogging and will do my best to keep this up, in addition to the cooking, I'll have to deal with photo's, videos, and obviously writing the blog posts, so I cannot at this time promise how often I will be able to submit new posts... but I cook everyday and if things go well, I'll do my best to take notes and submit a post.
How'd this all start?
I started having reactions about a year an a half or two years ago, but couldn't pinpoint why I was getting sick. I started to recognize that it was food related on my own, after seeing some doctors that didn't help at all, I finally got a clue from one doctor as to what it might be. But even prior to getting clued in finally by that doctor, I was doing an elimination diet and basically had cut meat (except fish) completely out of my diet, which was a major lifestyle change for me. I can almost certainly say that I ate some sort of meat everyday, whether it was bacon, sausage, or ham with my breakfast... anything from burgers or Chinese to salads with ham on them for lunch, and regularly a portion of meat, pasta or potatoes, and some veggies for dinner. After learning about the Alpha Gal allergy, I realized, this is likely what my problem is.
What is the Alpha Gal allergy?
Well, I'm not a doctor, so I'll refer you to another site, http://allergytomeat.wordpress.com/frequently-asked-questions/ , but in short, it is a food allergy to non-primate mammal meat, with the suspected primary culprit being the bite from certain ticks. While the Lonestar tick is the primary suspect in southeast US, there are also cases in Australia, Africa, and Europe, where the Lonestar tick does not exist.
Basically we can eat meats that come from animals that have Fins or Feathers. That is, poultry or fish (including shellfish... I know, no fins... ). We eat more vegetables these days than we used to and it tends to be a much healthier diet, but WE ALL WANT A STEAK! We often times have to look for vegetarian or vegan options just to be safe. We cannot eat things with mammal byproducts, such as gelatin made from beef and pork bones, which would likely cause a reaction and some have reactions to milk products. I don't have the milk issue and do consume milk products in a limited quantity. I MUST be careful though that when I choose cheeses, that I choose cheese that are made with non-animal rennet. Rennet traditionally comes from the stomach of a calf before it has ever eaten anything other than its mothers milk. There is also now vegetable rennet and microbial rennet, so some cheese are safe if you don't have the milk issue. If you can consume milk products, I recommend sticking with cheeses on this list unless you know of others that are safe http://cheese.joyousliving.com/
I'm notorious for friends and families asking me for recipes only to give the response, "recipes, hmm, I could write one up for you, I guess"... that is, I generally don't use recipes or write down what I am doing. But, that is also part of the reason I wanted to write this blog, I need to start writing this stuff down :). When I look to make something new, I usually review about 10 recipes and choose how to make it on my own. Rarely, but sometimes, I will make a recipe exactly as it was written, sometimes I'm happy, but usually I say, "I knew I should have done XYZ differently". When I use a recipe from another source, I will always give credit, and if I got inspiration from somewhere, I'll credit that as well.
Non-Alpha Gal foods
I fully intend to post several of my absolutely favorite food that none of us alpha gal allergy sufferers can eat. This is for a few reasons. I am often requested to share some of my recipes and by pointing people to this site, I intend to raise awareness. Additionally, I do not want to maintain multiple blogs. Finally, I still cook (for special occasions) meals that I cannot eat for parties and might as well share some of those.
Advertising
Like I said, I am new to this whole blogging thing. I am not at this time planning on putting ads in the blog, but I am planning on showcasing my favorite kitchen tools and gadgets, at this point, I will not make any kind of commission or money on sales of these items, but I am putting links etc in for your convenience. So, if you want something I show on here, shop around :)
Update
When I first started writing this post, I was awaiting my official results from the alpha gal allergy test. I was almost certain that I had it, but wanted to wait.... well, now it's official, the blog will live on. My results came back positive, but at least it's not something worse like cancer, etc...
See you soon with my first recipe blog!
If you've found your way here, you most likely have the Alpha Gal allergy or know someone who does (or a really dominant woman, for which you will need to cook some great meals, so stay tuned). Let me start by saying, I'm sorry! But... it could be worse.
Why start this blog?
I am an crazy "foodie", self proclaimed "home chef". After becoming allergic to mammalian meat, I have had to completely change the way I cook, what I cook, and how I look at food. I generally will not eat out because I do not know if I will get sick from cross contamination or if there are ingredients that may make me sick in the foods. My initial reaction was depression and self pity I would guess. I pulled back from cooking completely for a few weeks and didn't want to bother anymore if I couldn't make my steak au poivre or Carolina style BBQ pulled pork (that I spent years mastering) and many other dishes. I had never been a huge fan of chicken, it had its place, but not every night on my table. Here, I plan to share recipes and cooking ideas with others. With a bit of creativity, I am slowly replacing my favorite meals with alternatives and coming up with a lot of new and exciting meals. Complexity and prep/cooking times for these recipes will vary. But they will absolutely be international. My major influences are French, German, Korean, Chinese, Vietnamese, Japanese, American, etc... so you never know what I'll be posting next. I am new to blogging and will do my best to keep this up, in addition to the cooking, I'll have to deal with photo's, videos, and obviously writing the blog posts, so I cannot at this time promise how often I will be able to submit new posts... but I cook everyday and if things go well, I'll do my best to take notes and submit a post.
How'd this all start?
I started having reactions about a year an a half or two years ago, but couldn't pinpoint why I was getting sick. I started to recognize that it was food related on my own, after seeing some doctors that didn't help at all, I finally got a clue from one doctor as to what it might be. But even prior to getting clued in finally by that doctor, I was doing an elimination diet and basically had cut meat (except fish) completely out of my diet, which was a major lifestyle change for me. I can almost certainly say that I ate some sort of meat everyday, whether it was bacon, sausage, or ham with my breakfast... anything from burgers or Chinese to salads with ham on them for lunch, and regularly a portion of meat, pasta or potatoes, and some veggies for dinner. After learning about the Alpha Gal allergy, I realized, this is likely what my problem is.
What is the Alpha Gal allergy?
Well, I'm not a doctor, so I'll refer you to another site, http://allergytomeat.wordpress.com/frequently-asked-questions/ , but in short, it is a food allergy to non-primate mammal meat, with the suspected primary culprit being the bite from certain ticks. While the Lonestar tick is the primary suspect in southeast US, there are also cases in Australia, Africa, and Europe, where the Lonestar tick does not exist.
What does this mean?
Those of us with the Alpha Gal allergy cannot eat mammalian meat, mammalian meat byproducts, and in a lot of cases even products made from milk (though not in all cases, and so far not in my case). Shoot, I never thought about what meats were mammals or not before and they are most of them. Beef, pork, lamb, rabbit, bison, venison, etc. If we eat it we have allergic reactions.
What meats can people with the Alpha Gal allergy eat?
Basically we can eat meats that come from animals that have Fins or Feathers. That is, poultry or fish (including shellfish... I know, no fins... ). We eat more vegetables these days than we used to and it tends to be a much healthier diet, but WE ALL WANT A STEAK! We often times have to look for vegetarian or vegan options just to be safe. We cannot eat things with mammal byproducts, such as gelatin made from beef and pork bones, which would likely cause a reaction and some have reactions to milk products. I don't have the milk issue and do consume milk products in a limited quantity. I MUST be careful though that when I choose cheeses, that I choose cheese that are made with non-animal rennet. Rennet traditionally comes from the stomach of a calf before it has ever eaten anything other than its mothers milk. There is also now vegetable rennet and microbial rennet, so some cheese are safe if you don't have the milk issue. If you can consume milk products, I recommend sticking with cheeses on this list unless you know of others that are safe http://cheese.joyousliving.com/
A little bit about me and my kitchen
I'm notorious for friends and families asking me for recipes only to give the response, "recipes, hmm, I could write one up for you, I guess"... that is, I generally don't use recipes or write down what I am doing. But, that is also part of the reason I wanted to write this blog, I need to start writing this stuff down :). When I look to make something new, I usually review about 10 recipes and choose how to make it on my own. Rarely, but sometimes, I will make a recipe exactly as it was written, sometimes I'm happy, but usually I say, "I knew I should have done XYZ differently". When I use a recipe from another source, I will always give credit, and if I got inspiration from somewhere, I'll credit that as well.
Non-Alpha Gal foods
I fully intend to post several of my absolutely favorite food that none of us alpha gal allergy sufferers can eat. This is for a few reasons. I am often requested to share some of my recipes and by pointing people to this site, I intend to raise awareness. Additionally, I do not want to maintain multiple blogs. Finally, I still cook (for special occasions) meals that I cannot eat for parties and might as well share some of those.
Advertising
Like I said, I am new to this whole blogging thing. I am not at this time planning on putting ads in the blog, but I am planning on showcasing my favorite kitchen tools and gadgets, at this point, I will not make any kind of commission or money on sales of these items, but I am putting links etc in for your convenience. So, if you want something I show on here, shop around :)
Update
When I first started writing this post, I was awaiting my official results from the alpha gal allergy test. I was almost certain that I had it, but wanted to wait.... well, now it's official, the blog will live on. My results came back positive, but at least it's not something worse like cancer, etc...
See you soon with my first recipe blog!
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