It's complicated ...

Life in the last month or so has been difficult ...

... again ...

More sickness,

More diet changes,

More parenting challenges

More days stuck at home

- or rushing frantically from place to place,

catching up on errands after all the home days.

As I said in this post,

Laura has been diagnosed as very sensitive to gluten,

and has been on a gluten-free diet for 6-7 weeks now.

And yet we are not seeing improvements in her symptoms

(headaches, visual disturbance, nausea).

Now the doctor tells us that other foods 

can cross-react with gluten,

and so for 2-3 months we also have to 

remove some other foods from the diet:

Milk, corn, rice, yeast, oats, millet, (and coffee).

So my latest challenge 

is to figure out exactly what is left 

for a slightly fussy teenager to eat,

keeping in mind her braces, also, 

and also I'm trying to keep sugar to a minimum.

And then to cross-reference that with the other diets

in the family and see if we can come up with any matches

at any time, 

to save me making 3-4 separate dishes.

On top of all that, 

we've bought a Thermomix,

which is perfect timing, as it turns out.

I'm very grateful for it, 

but it does come with a learning curve of it's own.

* * *

It's no picnic, let me tell you.

Menu-planning and research has become 

an all-consuming activity.

But I think I'm over the hurdle now,

and am slowly getting my head around it all.

Today Laura is home with a headache,

and has just enjoyed 

a banana icecream for morning tea,

(made in the thermie, 

with one frozen banana and nothing else!)

and coconut pancakes with 

pears and maple syrup for lunch.

Much cooking has been done,

but there's been no time for photo shoots!

So instead, please enjoy these lovely tulips

that Tanya gave me a few weeks back,

as I did, during some dark days.