Controlling Basil and Defeating Wheat

This is my new garden. Not bad, right? Of course, I haven't actually eaten anything out of it yet...but that's a minor detail. I'm sure baby tomatoes, green onions, and a lovely mesclun mix is in my future.

I've realized I'm not in control of cancer, I'm not in control of how other people treat me (or what they think of me), and I'm not really even in control of my career (although I still believe there's hope for a certain amount of career-control after I've racked up a few more grey hairs). Although I know Mother Nature probably has her own ideas about my tiny little garden, I can at least water it every day and plant radishes (a vegetable which adds no discernible value to a plate other than its lovely red color). There's something to be said about grabbing control wherever you can get it.

We just found out that we're going to have to make some dramatic changes to my son's diet (no cane sugar, no high fructose corn syrup, no wheat, no rice, no milk, no eggs, no carrots, no MSG, no benzoic acid....etc....etc....). After a few weeks of feeling out of control about my mom's diagnosis (and other issues), I have to admit that even though I ache for my 8-year-old boy who won't be snacking on treats the way he wants to snack, I was thrilled to be given this challenge. It feels like a gift from heaven to be able to approach a problem academically and actually make some headway against it.

So....the regular gluten-free diet won't work for us because we're also dealing with a rice intolerance? No problem, I found rice-free, dairy-free, egg-free, gluten-free recipes. (I know, I know -you think I'm talking about water and bananas when I say that...but there is a little more variation available to us.)

In a way, my garden and our new diet adventure work hand-in-hand. I'm suddenly a lot more interested in knowing exactly what is going into my children's mouths. Here's an interesting fact: did you know that every single can of chicken broth on the market seems to contain carrots? Carrots are one of the foods that cause the most severe reactions for my little man. As a result, this former vegetarian mom chopped up a dead chicken and tossed it in the crock pot today so I could make my own chicken broth. Broth that doesn't contain anything other than chicken, onion, celery, salt, pepper and water.

Bang. Problem solved.

Hand me another one, world. I'm up for it.