Tip of the Passing Spare Moment- Prepare

Starting an allergy diet can be extremely stressful. As a wife and mom, this is never more true than when it comes to deciding whether to include your entire family on this venture, or continuing on as usual for the family at large and having (another) salad yourself.
My advice is, if you can afford it, make the switch for everyone at dinner time and with home-baked treats. This is the only way to eventually enjoy eating again. It will take awhile for you to familiarize yourself with the ins and outs of your new diet, and to establish a tried and true tasty menu, so take the time to prepare.

Purchase an assortment of quick and easy meals for your non-allergy family members, and establish a "got-to" dish for yourself. That way on nights when the casserole tastes like putty, the bread didn't rise, your husband politely declines, and your child would rather die than try a bite, you have a stress-free back up plan. There will also, in all probability, be nights you don't feel up to hitting the cookstove again; for the first few weeks you will probably suffer food-withdrawals. Ending a life-long habit of wheat and dairy intake will take it's tole for a time.

Beginning my diet again this time around I hit Costco to pad my refrigerator/freezer with sure-fire winners. Frozen burritos and pizzas, summer sausage, cheese and crackers, bagels and cream cheese, and sandwich fixings, along with a lot of fresh fruit and veggies. Your family will survive a few nights of less-than-food-pyramid-standard meals.
My "go-to" meal is oriental chicken(turkey) salad. I keep portions of chopped cooked turkey in my freezer at all times (we can't have chicken). A quick trip to the microwave while I shred lettuce and crumble corn chips (sort of like chow mien noodles), and voila. Dinner. I love the sesame dressing by Feast from the East, also found at Costco (12-18 weeks out of the year) and is safe for almost any diet.

Most importantly, keep your sense of humor about you! Everyone embarking on a whole new way of cooking/eating is going to have some fantastic flops (i.e. my risotto with beet "tomato" sauce. No food has the right to ever be that shade of hot pink!) Keep at it, be flexible, browse your cookbooks. Better Homes and Gardens and Betty Crocker are both great resources. 99% of your headache comes from pre-packaged foods chalk-full of unnecessary additives. Scratch cookbooks provide base recipes to work from and are a lifeline. As are foods from certain ethnic groups; for my garlic and tomato intolerances, discovering Asian cooking has been a God-send.

Always remember, although allergy-eating is different and sometimes difficult, but it can be tasty as too!