in 2020 my mother in law was diagnosed with IBS (irritable bowl syndrome) For months and months she had experienced impacts to her health that nobody was able to diagnose. Finally she found a doctor that was able to diagnose IBS as the culprit. While not an earth shattering diagnosis, it was certainly life changing.
In the beginning, we thought little of this. She is living in a retirement community for active seniors that provides a variety of meals in a central dining room. As the pandemic hit, they switched to meals in their apartments with a menu distributed the night before. Residents were instructed to make their selections and leave them in a basket at the end of the hall. This all sounds wonderful, right? We thought so too, but how wrong we were.
Given that visitation was restricted, and at times prohibited, we saw her less and less. There were however frequent phone calls and texting. Often we would hear how she was struggling to eat anything and was feeling ill. Then we noticed the decline in her ability to process information, quick to temper, and her voice weakening. I started to question her about her eating and she would lament how difficult it was to find food for the central dining room that didn’t make her sick. When we visited with her, she appeared weak and fragile.
This is where my brother in law stepped in and found a FODMAP friendly meal delivery service. The meals sounded wonderful and flavorful and were delivered once a week in “easy to heat” portions. We celebrated as a family as now we didn’t have to worry about mom not eating.
She got her first box of meals that she had chosen from a large menu and for the first time sounded excited about eating again. The first meal she cooked lacked flavor and she found it difficult to heat up. Parts of the dish were overcooked and others were ice cold. She began to again dread meal time as this food just did not work for her. There had to be another way to get her meals that were easy to prepare and had the amped up flavor that she loved.
In thinking about the problem, I could only come up with cooking for her. This is where I had to immerse myself in all things FODMAP. I started by downloading the Monash University app and researching all taboo foods as well as food that they give the greenlight to. If you are new to the the FODMAP lifestyle, I highly recommend starting there. Next I started to research recipes that were FODMAP friendly. I would often read a recipe only to discover that it contained ingredients that were high in FODMAPS, or that woudl be great prepared and eaten the same day. This would not work for us as my plan involved cooking meals and freezing them so we could drop off a couple times a month and she could easily heat to eat.
Now, in my house, cooking with garlic and onions happens with every meal. My husband in particular loves garlic, and he will often have us add more to boost flavor. In talking with him, a life without garlic is unimaginable. Is is a flavorless landscape and not a world he would want to be a part of.
FODMAP Life 