The Food Allergy / Pollen Allergy Correlation and Cauliflower Alfredo Sauce

I've been sort of running an experiment on myself - I wanted to see if I noticed a difference by not eating gluten.  My first goal was weightloss - it seemed like the safest route to go to lose weight while still breastfeeding.  Yes, Paleo is also gluten free, but I'll admit, I had been struggling to stay with strict Paleo.  I figured if I can narrow down my restrictions to just one thing, maybe it wouldn't be so hard.  Well, with going gluten-free I've pretty much gone back to Paleo, so it was a win-win all around.

And I feel amazing.

I have more energy, my moods are better, I feel more patient, I feel more motivated, I feel like my mental blocks are gone and I can be more creative and just think clearer, it's easier to get up in the morning and I've been staying up at night after the boys to go bed because I'm not dead-tired and dragging by the end of the day anymore.  My workouts are going better, my strength seems to be developing quicker, I tried on a swimsuit the other day and I feel like I don't look half bad!  And my allergy symptoms haven't been nearly as severe as most years even though the pollen counts are ridiculous (there's a green film on EVERYthing outside).

Ah, allergies.  I'd have little flare-ups here and there, but nothing out of control.  I'd use a lavender and tea tree essential oil roll-on I made and it would calm things down for me.  The worst one I've had so far (before last Sunday, anyway) was after we got sushi and then frozen custard on Mother's Day.  But, for the most part I figured I had my allergies under control and gluten was the culprit for my problems.  I'm going to write a more sciency post about gluten soon, I hope.  I still have more research to do (yay!).

Then we went to the Strawberry Festival at a local church and they make this amaaaaazing homemade ice cream that you just cannot pass up.  I passed up the bread rolls with the strawberry jam, but I wasn't passing up the ice cream with fresh strawberries on top.

I think it was not even a half hour later and I felt like someone dumped a pound of sand into my eyeballs and then lit it on fire.  It's like my body's entire defense system against the pollens and allergens was completely disarmed and I was thrown out into the firing squad.  I was miserable.

And I knew it was self-inflicted.  Sure, I do believe I'm a bit gluten intolerant, seeing that I have had so many positive results from avoiding it, but it seems as though dairy is definitely an issue too.  I kind of knew that anyway - back when I was avoiding dairy for Elliot when it was giving him tummy troubles early on, I noticed a lot of positive changes in my body during that time.  But this experience made it pretty clear.  And then I realized that the last bad allergy attack I had was after getting frozen custard the weekend before.  Ugh, maybe I should watch what I consume in the dairy department - at least during allergy season, anyway!

Writing these posts usually takes a few days before actually getting them published.  So it's been a week since I started writing, and I was doing great - I spent the week recovering from the last allergy attack, but no new ones hit and my eyes felt clear and no longer irritated, nor have I been hit with any new sneezing fits.  Then I went to a graduation party and there was this gooey butter cake... need I say more?  Oh my goodness it was rich and gooey and delicious.  And shortly thereafter, my eyes were set on fire and the sneezing hit.  Ugh.  That cake was delicious, but this was not fun, nor was it a fair trade.

Let me clear something up, too.  I've told a few people about my discovery, and I've been met with confusion each time.  "You mean dairy sends you into sneezing fits?  I thought pollen usually did that..."  or "That's weird, you usually associate those allergies with pollens or cats and dogs, not food..."

No, it's not the FOOD that is responsible for my sneezing fits and itchy eyes - it is the pollens that I'm allergic to that irritate my eyes and make me sneeze.  It's the FOOD that weakens my body's defense system and makes me susceptible to the pollens.  My system can fight that off if it's not compromised, and it's compromised when I eat things like dairy and possibly gluten as well.  I'll write more specifically about that later.  But that's what's going on here.  Hope that makes sense.

So.  Unfortunately I had been craving fettuccine alfredo for the last week or so since discovering my dairy problem.  I had bought a carton of half & half and everything, figuring I'd splurge and make the real thing instead of an imitation alfredo sauce.  Nope, nixed that idea.  Into the freezer the half & half went - I may use that sometime in the winter when I don't have to pay for it by having a horrible allergy attack.  For now, it's going to have to be imitation alfredo sauce.

I have no hard feelings about that, though.  Let me tell you, this recipe turned out AMAZING.  I'm not kidding.  I was licking the plate.  It's REALLY GOOD.

Of course I made it out of the ever-versatile cauliflower!  I found the original recipe on Pinch of Yum, called Creamy Cauliflower Sauce, and it sounded pretty yummy.  I tweaked it to my needs, and yes, it turned out pretty darn yummy.  My craving for fettuccine alfredo was satisfied!  In the meantime, I'm taking butterbur supplements, breathing in steam with eucalyptus, tea tree, and lemon oil, diffusing lavender oil, drinking green tea with local honey and fresh lemon juice, and hoping and praying that once the dairy leaves my system, I'll be in the clear.  I promise I won't eat ice cream or gooey butter cake again!!  (Well, until the pollen counts are down, anyway...)

Cauliflower Alfredo Sauce

1 head of cauliflower (about 5-6 cups of florets)
 32oz vegetable broth or water
8 large cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons butter
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2-3/4 cup unsweetened coconut milk
1 tsp parsley
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp basil

Boil the cauliflower in the water or vegetable broth in a large covered pot until tender when pierced with a fork.
Meanwhile, saute the minced garlic in the butter in a skillet over low heat until soft, being careful not to brown it.
Drain the cauliflower and place the florets into a food processor or blender with the sauteed garlic and melted butter, salt, pepper, milk, parsley, oregano, and basil.  Start with 1/2 cup of the coconut milk and add more depending on how thick or thin you want your sauce.  Blend into a creamy puree and serve hot.

I spiralized some zucchini with my handy dandy vegetable spiralizer and tossed it with the sauce and some shrimp in a large pot and cooked it together until the noodles were soft enough to my liking.  And it tasted ah.maz.ing.  I'll definitely be making this again!!