While following an elimination diet is encredibly tough for a new mom, it does represent a big challenge for those around her as well.  Over the years, we have developped a few tricks and routines that help us make it just a bit easier:

1. Cook for the whole family

There is nothing worse for an MSPI mom than sitting at the table salivating and starving while everyone else eats something she can’t.  Cooking two separate meals each time you sit down is also an incredible time drain – especially with a new baby around.  Make it a priority to prepare food that everyone in the family can eat.  This helps normalize the situation and simplifies life enormously.  If you’re not sure where to start, check out our delicious recipes.

2.  Find someone you trust to cook for you

A big part of having a new baby in the house is eating take out.  On an elimination diet this is not really possible so if you can find a parent, sibling, friend or caterer who will follow the strict rules required by an elimination diet, it will make your life a lot easier.  It is very important that this person understands about cooking for someone with allergies.  Ask them to prepare a full meal (at least a main course and vegetable) once a week.

3.  Cook in bulk

Buy a chest freezer and a really big pot and start cooking in bulk.  Prep time is not usually that much longer, and when you have those crazy days when you can’-put-down-your-baby-and-the-other-kids-are-sick or you’re just too damn tired to cook,  you can just pull something out of the freezer and pop it in the oven or microwave and your good to go.

4.  Buy a slow cooker (Crockpot)

While I usually despise most kitchen gadgets, our slow cooker has become an indispensable part of dealing with our elimination diet.  The most useful way to use one is make an all-in meal that has your protein, carb and vegetable in it already, like our slow cooker apricot pork tenderloin.  You could also check out a slow cooker cook book and to see if there are any recipes you can use or modify to suit your needs.

5. Keep Reading This Site

This site is full of useful stuff, and we are adding more all the time.  Don’t forget to check out the forum as well.