On the morning of November 8th, amid the conversations about the results from THE election, I got a text from my mom that read, “You are allergic to yeast, tomatoes, and peanuts.” At first, I thought this was a sick joke because she knew my love for PB&J, the one sandwich she sent me to school with everyday for 10 years straight; then, I remembered we took a food allergy test a few months earlier.
Because hearing people argue over politics at 9 AM wasn’t enough, I had to come to terms with the fact that my favorite foods were the causes for the hives and rashes I kept getting.
Since food allergies can develop at any age, it makes sense as to why I wasn’t getting such bad reactions in elementary school from my regular PB&J lunch. I did have some breakouts that could have been from yeast, tomatoes, or peanuts, but they were just passed off as eczema. I don’t know exactly when the irritations started to get as bad as they are now, but I do know being an adult just became a lot harder.
Having an allergy to all of these foods is tough, but being from New York with these allergies is even tougher—especially now that so many specialty food shops like Dough are around. Just picture it: No pizza. No bagels… No pizza bagels. No donuts!
Because I’m not the only one in my family allergic to yeast, or allergic to a common ingredient, food shopping is harder than it should be. I’m always the one in the aisle reading the ingredients, most of the time finding that everything is made with either yeast or wheat—which is something my mom or stepdad can’t have.
Tostitos are the key snack in our house because they’re only made with corn, vegetable oil, and salt. Bless up. These allergies aren’t all bad though, especially since they can make a good customized birthday gift.
Thanks to this food allergy test, I know what foods to stay away from if I don’t want to to break out in hives. If I’m feeling real risky (which I usually am), I’ll have the tomato-filled guacamole because, you know, guac is definitely worth every extra consequence. In the meantime, I’ll just live vicariously through my bitmoji.
