Food I Like

I know you guys were asking about some of my favorite foods that are within my dietary restrictions. Since I know I won't be able to think of everything at once, I decided to do a blog post rather than an email- that way I could keep updating it as I thought of things to add. I'm assuming you're asking for grocery store items, so I will list lots of my favs from Trader Joe's in mind (although some of these things you could obviously get anywhere). I also don't know exactly what kinds of food you're curious about (snacks, apps, desserts, meals, etc.), so I'll try my best to add a little of everything. I'm just going to pretend I'm making a shopping list.... Feel free to make comments or email me if you have more specific requests!

• roasted red pepper hummus
• 3-layer hummus (layers are: roasted red pepper, original, cilantro)
• everything bagel chips
• pita bite crackers
• organic baby spinach salad
  
• organic blueberries
• organic strawberries
• organic baby carrots
• organic apples with organic creamy, unsalted peanut butter
  
• organic corn chips
• Trader Joe's, Whole Foods or any FRESH salsa without additives or preservatives
• T Joe's all-natural vanilla cake mix (if you were looking for a dessert item)
• chicken shu mai (T Joe's all natural asian apps in the frozen food section)
• all natural egg rolls (I'm pretty sure Trader Joe's has these too)
• organic white wine (I generally don't drink, but could make an exception for the shower if there is going to be alcohol- if not, that's completely fine too :)
  

Just to sum up the restrictions/foods that I avoid again (along with a few strong opinions I threw in), here they are:

• organic when possible
• when organic is not possible (b/c there are many times it's not), all-natural is the best alternative - just make sure that it is really all-natural (meaning nothing artificial is included and there are no preservatives used)
  
• no dairy products (almond milk is my milk alternative)
• for chicken or beef (which probably will not apply for the food you guys are getting, but just in case...) I will only eat chicken or beef that is all-natural, free-range, vegetarian fed, never treated with antibiotics or hormones - if it doesn't say this on the package, that means that you're eating medicated meat that's been caged in a dark, unsanitary living area on top of other animals that are sick and sometimes dead... yup, pretty gross... I highly recommend watching the documentary Food Inc. if you'd like to see what I'm talking about. Oooh, I just learned that I can post the trailer for the movie. Watch below.
• NO artificial sweeteners (this includes sweet n lo, nutra sweet, splenda, anything with aspartame, etc.). Aspartame causes cancer, this is a fact. Another documentary, Sweet Misery, A Poisoned World (while very informative, it is rather boring...) that I will post clip of below.
  
• avoid gluten when possible (this can increase my symptoms, but it won't hurt me if I have it here and there)
• no alcohol (I haven't drank since New Year's and don't plan to drink again until the bachelorette, so I don't think a glass of wine would kill me)

*Will update more things as I think of them!

Food Inc Clip:

Sweet Misery, A Poisoned World Clip: