Weeks 1 and 2 of the FODMAP diet and Epicured food service

 I started the low FODMAP diet on November 16th after a very painful weekend. By that Thursday, the 19th, I was notified that I was indeed SIBO positive and prescribed an antibiotic, which I picked up on Thursday and started that night.

This week, I've had little pain until Thanksgiving day, where I woke up with severe pain that persisted for a good hour, then I spent the rest of the day in moderate pain. It wasn't until Friday morning that my pain was down to mild for most of the day, and on Saturday it's been intermittently mild. I'm unsure why Thursday was such a difference in pain since I had been on the antibiotic for a week, hadn't eaten anything other than low FODMAP meals, and drank plenty of water and green tea. I'm glad that the pain eventually subsided.

I ordered a few meals from Epicured, as I wanted to have a proper Thanksgiving meal. Stuffing, gravy, cranberry sauce and chocolate chip cookies. (Turkey was just from the grocery store.) Since the shipping was going to be $20, I wonder if I could order more food and drop the shipping charge. I ordered things that I wouldn't easily be able to make, like Truffled Mac and Cheese, Lasagna Bolognese, and Chicken and Rice soup, as I couldn't find any approved chicken broth at the grocery store. With all that ordered, the shipping lessened to $10, and I didn't feel like adding more food that I may or may not like, just to save another $10.

The box arrived a day earlier than I requested, and the topmost gravy container (I ordered several) broke open and spilled gravy on all the rest of the (packaged) food. While the gravy spill was annoying, at least it didn't ruin the rest of the food, which was well packaged. Rating the food:

Truffled Mac and Cheese: 10oz for $11.99

3 out of 5

It was okay, but I just followed their reheating directions, which were to warm up in the microwave rather than the oven. It was a bland noodle with rather wet cheese. However, I note that this dish was specifically for IBS patients, who need to limit their spices. I should have added more salt and pepper, and some paprika or cayenne, but I wanted to see how the food was before doctoring it up.

Cranberry-Orange Sauce: 12oz for $5.99

5 out of 5

Excellent cranberry sauce. Very different than the normal jellied cranberry from a can. It had depth of flavor and great mouthfeel. I'm glad I ordered extra!

Gravy: 12oz for $3.99

4 out of 5

It was nice to have a gravy without worrying about onion or garlic powder, something that I couldn't find at the grocery store. It was a bit thin than what I normally would prefer, but I can rectify that by adding a bit of cornstarch when I have it at Christmas, as I froze the extra containers.

Baked Lasagna Bolognese: 10.3oz for $13.99

3 out of 5

Another rather bland microwave meal. However, another IBS spice sensitive meal as well. I could have fixed it a bit by reheating it in the oven and adding more non-onion non-garlic spices. Regardless, it wasn't enough food for nearly 14 dollars, so I wasn't particularly excited to get it again.

Chicken and Rice Soup: 11.6oz for $7.99

3 out of 5

A third bland and overpriced item considering the amount of food. At least this time I added more salt and pepper which helped, however the choice to shred instead of chop the chicken made it a bit strange to eat.

Cucumber Potato Salad: 7oz for $3.99

3 out of 5

I expected more mustard or mayo and perhaps a small amount of celery. I know that the low FODMAP diet allows for only a 10g serving, less than a 1/3 of a medium stalk, but since the salad was only 7 ounces anyway, the few bites of extra crunch would have been welcomed.

Stuffing: 12oz for $17.99

5 out of 5

Excellent stuffing! I'm sure, if I was to go head to head on Stauffer's stuffing, this stuffing may not win, but considering it is low FODMAP, it is excellent! Since I haven't had stuffing since last Christmas, this tasted just like any other very good stuffing. I wish it wasn't so expensive, else I would order more!

Chocolate Chip Cookies: 5.3oz for $8.99

4 out of 5

Very good cookies, considering that they are gluten free and low FODMAP. I ate half of them when I opened up the delivery box and the other half for breakfast the next morning. My only complaint is that after all the shipping, they were more like half cookies with cookie crumbles. Didn't change the taste, though.

While this diet is good for my current abdominal issues, it is not a high calorie or high fiber diet. I've been snacking more, but it is just getting a bit difficult to keep eating this way. My goal is to continue the diet until the 11th, where I reintroduce onions, then the 18th, where I introduce plain yogurt. If I have no issues with those two items, I'll know I can incorporate fructans, which will allow me to include wheat, onion, garlic and most premade spice blends and marinades and sauces; and lactose, which will allow me to include any cream or cheese or yogurt or ice cream. I'll also try out the other items that could be triggers but haven't bothered me previously like oligosaccharides, monosaccharides and disaccharides. Hopefully I can get back to normal by the end of January!