Vegan Eating and the Great Commission

Before I was diagnosed with RA I signed up to be a part of a mission trip to Haiti. I knew I was in severe pain, and truthfully I just turned my pain over to God. I would be in pain either in my living room or in Haiti. Once I was diagnosed with RA and then moved into the Vegan eating plan food options were a bit of a concern for me traveling to a third world country, however on the bright side the severe pain was gone once I moved into a Vegan eating plan, so that concern was gone. Yay!

It took some extra planning and serious thinking ahead to bring food I would need to get me through the week. We would provide lunch for ourselves, but breakfast and dinner would be prepared by the staff. I was able to find out the standard menu and discovered 4 nights would be rice and beans which is right on plan. The other two nights were spaghetti with meat sauce which would not work for me. Breakfast was lots of fresh fruit and avocado's along with eggs and homemade bread of which the last two wouldn't work for me.

So I made a plan.

My breakfast each day consisted of a rice cake or two that I brought with me, peanut butter - which I brought with me in individual serving packets and then the delicious fruit and avocado's provided. There was peanut butter provided also, but once someone dips a knife into the peanut butter, slathers their bread and then puts the knife back into the peanut butter then the peanut butter is no longer gluten free.

For dinner I brought some pre-made packaged rice which I bought at our Natural grocers. It was already cooked so I just dumped it on my plate and mixed in some slaw that was a part of the meal each night. There was no microwave or way for me to heat it up, but cold rice was fine.

For my lunch each day I brought a Macrobar, some nuts and fruit strips.

I write this post because there are great things out there we can all be a part of, but when you have food allergies sometimes the idea of traveling can be very scary. I am here to say it can be done. Don't miss out on adventures because of food issues. Bring your own. Some people on the eating plan I am on will bring a rice cooker with them to a hotel room if they are unsure they can get the food they need. You can cook rice, quinoa, buckwheat, steam vegetables all from your counter top.
As the foodie I am, it is hard for me to not want to try all the food around me. But the indulgence of 30 seconds is not worth the chronic pain in my joints that follow.
I met some awesome people, had awesome experiences and participated in the great commission. God is good.  www.livebeyond.org