My Best Modified Elimination Diet Tips!

Here you will find a compilation of the best tips I can give you to help you succeed on this diet.

1) Prepare EVERYTHING from scratch until you are familiar with this diet and how it works! I found that once I got familiar with safe ingredients, good substitutions, and did the research then I was able to much more easily feed myself without thinking too hard about it.

2) No store-bought condiments! or sauces! or marinades! They all will include things you can't have, whether it be honey, vinegar, citrus or gluten. I mean literally, all of them. There isn't a sauce on the market you can have. You will have to learn to make your own marinades! You can have 100% juice, just remember no citric acid - you can't have citrus. I use pineapple juice in my marinades and desserts to add a little bit of a sweet citrus-y flavor.

3) Not all gluten-free products are safe! Remember, you can't have corn. You also have to be careful for yeast. This will cut out pretty much every already made gluten free bread substitute available to you.

4) Gluten-free recipes probably won't help you. There is a glut of gluten-free blogs, but while these recipes can serve as inspiration for your own recipes with modifications, many of them won't work for you. A lot of gluten-free recipes rely on corn, oats, or sweeteners you can't use. Try instead searching for allergen blogs. Raw recipe blogs can be great as well.

5) Broth - The diet calls for gluten free broth. All vegetable broth is gluten free. Chicken broths? Not so much. Only organic broth is gluten free and still, you need to check the label to be sure. Better than Bouillon does have an organic chicken broth that is excellent and gluten free, but make sure you are buying the organic as their regular one does contain gluten.

6) Take your allergen food list with you when you are shopping! Don't leave it at home until you feel comfortable you know all the foods you need to avoid.

7) Don't think you can just eat a lot of delicious salads - salad dressing you can eat simply ceases to exist when you can't have vinegar! Instead, I use salsa. There are some canned salsas that are gluten-free, check the ingredients list. Your best bet is homemade.

8) Don't get your heart set on recreating the a new allergen friendly version of a favorite food. It probably won't work out as well as you would hope. Instead get ready to try new things and create new favorite foods!

Eating Out on the Modified Elimination Diet

I know it's impossible to refrain from eating out. It's good to have a few safeties in case you are traveling or just too exhausted to make your own food for yet another night.

My best advice? Get ready to start loving taco salads (sans bowl) and naked burritos! I ask for extra lettuce so it's similar to a salad. It's always very filling and you can usually find one of these places no matter where you are on the road. Remember, most salad dressings are off the table due to vinegar as it promotes yeast overgrowth. 

Qdoba

Beans

Rice

All Salsas

Lettuce

Pico de Gallo

Fajita Veggies

Roasted Veggies

Note: the chicken here does contain gluten in the seasoning, so it's not safe to eat meat here until you have introduced one of the other meats they serve into your diet. 

Taco Del Mar

Shredded Chicken

Beans

Rice

Salsa (excluding medium, which contains gluten, and corn salsa)

Lettuce

Pico de Gallo

Chipotle

Chicken

Rice

Beans

Fajita Veggies

All Salsas

Lettuce

Each of these 3 chains does have information on their sites about allergens that you can use to help plan your meals. Once you introduce corn you can start eating corn tortillas and corn chips along with this! Remember, no guacamole from these places as it will have lime in it. You can try making your own at home, as well as saving your naked burrito for home to enjoy with brown rice tortillas. 

A lot of restaurants will serve gluten free dishes but you still need to be careful, because chances are they will include one of the other many prohibited items on the modified elimination diet list. All it takes is one meal out to make you have to start from scratch because it contained a prohibited ingredient, so be very careful where you eat! 

Meal Ideas for the Modified Elimination Diet

These are a few of my dinner staples for this allergen friendly diet.

Risotto! 

This is one of my favorite meals from before that I was easily able to adapt to this diet. Arborio rice is delicious and will give you that starchy pasta taste that you have been missing. You can take pretty much any vegetable risotto recipe you like and modify it without losing any flavor.

I use this recipe for Asparagus Risotto with the follow modifications:

• Allowed oil instead of butter
• No white wine or lemon juice
• No parmesan

I like to make it with asparagus or mushroom, or both! It may take some time but it is delicious and heats up great the next day. With this diet it's important to make dinners you like reheated so you can already have your lunch prepared for you the next day. 

Roast Chicken! 

I LOVE roasting a whole chicken on this diet. Not only do I get to eat a delicious roasted chicken, but the next day I have leftover shredded chicken for soup and bones to make my own gluten free broth. Instead of butter just rub your chicken down with EVOO and spices, cooking as you normally would. 

Yellow Curry! 

This is one of my favorites. It takes absolutely no modification whatsoever. Mae Ploy Yellow Curry paste has directions on the large container of paste for making this dish. All it takes is a can of coconut milk, red pepper, potato, onion, and chicken. I usually eat it over a bed of rice but if I am feeling adventurous I'll have it over rice noodles. Absolutely delicious and full of flavor. Also heats up very well the next day! 

Roast Turkey! 

I know, this kind of fits in with roast chicken, but still, most people don't think to make an entire turkey when it's not Thanksgiving. Get a small 13lb turkey, rub it with EVOO and herbs and bake. You will have meat for days! But the best part of this, by far, is the delicious TURKEY BROTH! A turkey has way more bones than a chicken, so the broth from one is extra flavorful. When you put it in the fridge it becomes gelatinous because it is so full of stocky goodness. You can use the leftover meat in soup, stir fry, salads, whatever your heart desires! We paid $13 for our turkey, got 5 days of meat out of it and a gallon of broth. Very cost effective! 

Crockpot Chicken Tacos!

I eat these without a tortilla because I don't really care for brown rice tortillas, but you might like them! I hear they are better when used like a quesadilla. Most packets of taco seasoning are gluten-free (always check the label just in case). Toss in some taco seasoning and salsa (and a little water if you need to stretch your salsa) and some boneless skinless chicken breast in the crockpot. Serve it over white rice with cilantro. Delicious! I go heavy on the lettuce so it's like a taco salad. 

Cranberry Apple Crumble!

This is the only dessert I've so far figured out how to make that is pretty rewarding. No picture necessary, it looks like any other crumble would. Enjoy! 

Ingredients

Cranberry Apple Filling:-1 pound of apples, peeled and sliced
-1 cup fresh cranberries
-2 tbsp pineapple juice
-3 tbsp 100% juice (whatever you have will work just fine, bonus if its cranberry based)
-3 tbsp agave syrup
-1 teaspoons vanilla
-1 teaspoons cinnamon
-1/4 teaspoons salt

Topping:-1 cup room temperature almond flour
-3 tbsp room temperature coconut oil

Instructions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees
1. In a baking dish, mix together the apple cranberry filling
2. In a separate bowl mix the ground almonds and coconut oil with your hands. Break it up as much as you can and then sprinkle on top of the apple cranberry filling. 

3. Bake uncovered for 25 minutes.