The Foreign Service Journal, November 2009

16 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / N O V E M B E R 2 0 0 9 mended using soy-based infant for- mula. Don’t be afraid to try new recipes, make interesting substitutions or adapt favorite recipes to new ingredients. This will require a bit of imagination, but sometimes the results are surpris- ingly good. Our family loves frittatas (an Italian egg dish rather like a crust- less quiche), but given our problems with dairy products, using milk and cheese was completely out of the ques- tion. In desperation one day, I instead added chicken stock to the eggs. The results were spectacular, and now I do the same with plain scrambled eggs. Even my picky eaters devour them. Get a good cookbook and go on a culinary world tour! Many Asian dishes use little or no dairy or wheat, making them perfect for a large number of al- lergic or intolerant people. And histor- ically, soy was unknown in the Middle East, making many dishes from that re- gion suitable for those who can’t ingest that plant. Be patient. Don’t forget that when implementing a new diet, it takes time to find something all of you can live with — especially if your house, like mine, is full of picky eaters. Talk to your doctor or pediatrician about the necessity for multivitamins, and inves- tigate cookbooks like Jessica Seinfeld’s Deceptively Delicious. She provides practical, step-by-step instructions for ‘secretly’ introducing fruits and vegeta- bles into dishes; I find her ideas an ex- cellent starting place for ways to round out our family’s nutrition. Most importantly, don’t be afraid to fail. There are bound to be meals that looked good in the cookbook but that no one, not even the cook, wants to eat. When I find I’ve prepared something horrible, I happily throw it away and mark the recipe out of my cookbook. Get Organized Radical dietary changes sometimes require making from scratch many of the foods you used to buy pre-pack- aged. If so, make sure you get the equipment you need. Internet forums and specialty cookbooks are excellent sources for tips on what others with similar problems have found useful. For instance, a gluten-free household will likely need both a breadmaker and a heavy-duty mixer. Our wheat- and dairy-free household also uses a tortilla maker and soymilk maker weekly, if not daily. Whatever you purchase, make sure you get a product that will stand up to frequent use. Online product reviews by satisfied, or dissatisfied, customers are an excellent way to judge whether a product will be right for your family. The tortilla maker I purchased was ac- tually panned in the reviews, but the reviewers’ stated needs were so differ- ent from mine that I knew it would work perfectly for me. It turned out to be the best thing I could have pur- chased. Once you’ve gotten the equipment you need, make sure your kitchen is organized to support the cooking you do most frequently. I make bread about six times a week, so everything I need, including the recipe, is either on the counter or in a basket under my workspace. From start to finish, I can have a loaf in the breadmaker in less than five minutes. I also frequently bake some variety of muffins or ba- nana bread, so I have a shorthand ver- sion of those recipes written down and taped up inside my cabinet at my workspace. With everything within reach, I can get a pan of muffins into the oven and have the bowl washed in less time than it takes the oven to pre- heat. In the process of restructuring your family’s diet, you may find yourself spending a lot of time doing things you never even thought of before. Whether it’s shopping for esoteric in- gredients or baking something every day, you may quickly find that what was already a busy schedule can be- come overwhelming. But the good news is that you will eventually settle into a new routine, especially if the whole family pulls together. If finances allow, consider hiring extra help around the house, at least for the first few months. Whether it’s a maid who comes in once a week to do the cleaning or a high school stu- dent who works off some community service hours as a mother’s helper, every little bit helps. The lifestyle changes that often come with a change in diet can be huge. But with a little research, pa- tience and willingness to try the un- usual, you can make the transition work. ■ Kelly Armstrong is a freelance writer, Foreign Service spouse and former State Department employee who served in Frankfurt and Tel Aviv. She has since lived in Jakarta, Frankfurt and Zagreb, and currently resides in San Jose with her husband and three children. F S K N O W - H O W The Internet is your friend in searching for ways to feed your family.