This Friday, I went to my doctor’s office to see the results of my food sensitivity test of 200 foods.  It came in severe intolerance to foods such as celery, cucumber, brussel sprouts, plums, and kale – all which seem very healthy, but apparently not for me.  Among the long list of my other moderate to mild intolerances were things like cocoa, vanilla, cinnamon, millet, oats, white potato, olives, grapes, basil, corn, maple sugar – the basis of my cooking  and baking.  When I first glanced at the list, I thought that eliminating these foods was going to be fairly easy.  However, I later realized how much of these foods I was actually eating: the olive oil and vinegar of my kale salad, the square of dark chocolate after dinner, potato starch (the binder of all my desserts).  At fourteen years old, I cannot have any dairy or gluten, and after leaving that doctor’s office, I was quite upset.  When we got home, my mother and I scavenged through our pantry and refrigerator, disappointed to find my intolerances in the ingredient lists.  So this morning, I was extremely determined that these restrictions will not limit the tastiness of the food I make, nor take away my love of food, despite it taking away half my ingredient list!

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