Bored of Avoiding Soy

Hello! Welcome to Beyond Soy!

Ashley and I have found ourselves in a bit of a food rut recently. We’ve been eating consistently soy-free without worry, but we also haven’t really been trying new things or branching out from our usual meals. Some of the excitement of adventureous eating has faded away and we are looking to recapture it.

Lately we've just gotten bored of the food we've been eating - IMAGE VIA PIXABAY

Having a routine is what helps Ashley and I stay dependably soy-free. That isn’t to say that we don’t experiment, but we typically buy the same foods over and over again and we typically make meals from the same batch of recipes. Occasionally, we’ll put something new into the mix, but usually we stay pretty consistent in the food that we eat. While we always check ingredient labels for soy (because you never know when a product’s ingredients will change), we’ve essentially been on autopilot when it comes to buying food. We shop for food that we know is soy-free and we haven’t had to seriously figure out if something was soy-free in the grocery store in a few months. This has been enormously successful in staying soy-free, but there seems to be something missing from our eating. 

We’ve lost our sense of experimentation and adventure with food! Before we knew about Ashley’s soy intolerance we would try new recipes all the time. They weren’t always good, but we had fun finding a new product in the store or working through an unfamiliar recipe. When we started checking all of our food for soy, this meal experimentation stopped being fun. It was already nerve-wracking enough to ensure that our typical food was soy-free without the added burden of the unknown in new recipes. After several years of avoiding soy, checking ingredients has become second nature and we don’t find it stressful to eat anymore. On the contrary, finding soy-free food has become much easier and, as a result, food has lost its luster. 

But that is changing this summer! For the past few weeks, we’ve been making a new recipe about once every week. These new dishes aren’t particularly difficult to make, but they inject a much-needed sense of adventure into our diet. We’ve made things like pork tacos, ratatouille, and pasta with scallops. With these new recipes, it has become fun to cook again! When we shop for new ingredients we check everything carefully for soy, but this process isn’t as scary as it once was. We know what to look for on the ingredient list.

By trying new recipes, we've injected some fun into avoiding soy - IMAGE VIA PIXABAY

If you find yourself in a lull with your food, or if you are feeling constrained by your diet or the difficulties of avoiding soy, consider trying a new recipe. It doesn’t have to be complicated! Even a simple new meal can inject life and energy into eating. Have fun picking out a unique ingredient in the grocery store, try a new food preparation technique, or find a new recipe to refresh and reset cooking with a food intolerance, allergy, or sensitivity!