THE WORKS

This book was inspired by the story of a little boy&mdash,my little boy. With the turn of a page&mdash,elevated numbers and red linesappearing left, right, and centre&mdash,our diets changed. I wasn&rsquo,t quite ready for it. Positive test results can leave their mark!As I write this, we are a family without labels. We are not strictly vegetarian, vegan, paleo, coeliac, or anything else. Why, then, am I writing this book?Because these are recipes I have loved for many years, along with many new ones. To keep life simple, I have put in this book all the vegetarian, vegan, reduced-sugar, and gluten-free recipes that I crafted for my son. These are recipes that were also made for the rest of my family so that we could eat them too, and enjoy them. If you don&rsquo,t see fish or meat here, it&rsquo,s not because I find them without benefit or that they d on&rsquo,t at times play a role in my family&rsquo,s health. They just didn&rsquo,t make it in here. The other news is all recipes were made to be adapted. If you eat eggs, use them instead of the chia substitute. Regular gluten-filled flour works in lieu of the GF version, and choose cheese, instead of vegan cheese or tofu. I thought of everyone!I don&rsquo,t have a cure for arthritis or irritable bowel syndrome, or for any of the plethora of diseases that plague our lives. But I do know, after thirty years of watching my father suffer on and off and then watching my five-year-old, that wholesome, nourishing meals have such a place in our struggles. I am never happier than when I am making real food that my family eats and enjoys. When Owen went from a wishy-was hy fan of vegetables to a little boy begging me to pack him a salad for lunch every day, it felt great. People may ques tion what I&rsquo,m doing, (see Much ado about Gluten [page 50]) but it certainly isn&rsquo,t doing my son any harm. The benefits of re al food will always stand to us in our battles.I hope you find a recipe or