Which fruit and vegetables can I actually eat?

Good question. Very good question.

Well, the answer depends on another question:

What is your reaction to a little bit of citric acid?

No Citric Acid
The following fruits are safe to eat no matter your reactions, as they contain mallic acid instead of citric. Unfortunately this list is rather limited...

• Apples
• Pears
• Blueberries

On the veg side of things it is more promising. Vicky Clarke's page gives a list of things that will be off the menu. However, several things that are ok to go for are...

• Cauliflower
• Broccoli
• Peas, pulses and beans of all kinds (although be careful they are not in tomato juice - tomatoes do contain citric acid. Another note is that tinned varieties often add citric acid. Always read the label)
• Potatoes (which means chips, too, although with the frozen kind be aware of added citric acid. Label reading encouraged.)
• Carrots
• Cucumber and courgette (zucchini)
• Sweet peppers
• Leeks
• Onions and spring onions
• Garlic

Whether you class them as a fruit or vegetable, tomatoes are a no-go zone for those avoiding citric acid. Which also means no ketchup. 

Foods That Should Under No Circumstances Be Eaten 

The main culprits here are (pretty logically) your citrus fruits, such as lemons, limes, but also tomatoes; stone fruits such as cherries; and berries like raspberries and red currants are off limits if you don't want to ingest large amounts of my least favourite acid. Heed the voice of painful experience; raisins, sultanas, figs, dates...just don't go there. Other, more surprising, offenders include Jerusalem artichokes (can't say I miss those) and lettuce (cry, cry), although I am unsure about kale. I would steer clear, or at least let us know your results if anyone does try it!

Dried blueberries - an alternative to raisins

For once the title says it all.



Dried. Blueberries.

They are basically like raisins, certainly smaller, maybe a bit sweeter. Definitely a great alternative.

An important note, as always, is ALWAYS CHECK THE PACKET. The ones in Morrisons nearly caught me out - they add citric acid (Why????), but the ones from Tesco, they're good to go! Other stores are likely to carry the safe ones, too, but I can only vouch for places I've been.

Healthy (Breakfast?) Cookies

As a disclaimer, I did not create this recipe.

You can find the original here on Chocolate Covered Katie. 

I've tweaked her ratios and doubled the amount - her cookies must be tiny because I can never get as much out of mine as she does!

It is a good go-to recipe, as peanut butter never seems to contain citric acid. Obviously don't put raisins in, but some supermarkets sell dried blueberries that work just as well (ALWAYS check the packet on these). I've also found that chopped nuts work quite nicely.

Just a side-note, bananas DO contain some citric acid, so if you're dealing with anaphylactic reactions then you'll have to use the apple version I'm listing here.

Another point is that you'll probably have to make the applesauce yourself, as bought versions tend to contain citric acid. It is pretty easy to make, I just blitz an apple in the food processor with a bit of water and you're done! (Incidentally if your food processor is a wuss like mine, or you only own a smoothie maker, you can peel the apples and boil them until soft before blending. You can also add sugar to this if you like, but I don't bother)

So, what do I need?

• Cup oats
• Cup applesauce
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 6 tbsp dried blueberries (CHECK THE PACKET) or white chocolate chips or chopped hazelnuts
• Between 1 tbsp and 1/2 cup sugar, depending how sweet you want them

So, what do I do?

1. Preheat the oven to 160. 
2. Mix the applesauce and peanut butter, then add all other ingredients and stir, stir, stir.
3. Spoon out into cookie shapes on a greaseproof papered baking tray and bake for 10-15 minutes, depending how big your cookies are.

According to Katie's estimates you should get about 24 cookies from this, but on my sizes it is more like 14!

Breakfast 101 - Cereal

There are millions of different cereals in the world.  Most of them overpriced.

This means I don't tend to buy cereal an awful lot.

Lets start with the basics.

Branflakes, porridge oats, rice krispies, weetabix are all fine. As is PLAIN Special K. Beware the one with yogurt! Obviously don't put citrus fruits or berries on any of the above, but plain with milk you're good to go.

Honey puffs are also an option. A sugary, sugary option!

Or (my current favourites) we have these little guys:

Cinnamon flavoured, square shaped. What more could a girl ask for? Just don't be tempted to look at the strawberry ones they invariably have on the shelf next to them...

To sum up, most cereals seem to be ok to grab. If you don't have the problem of cocoa you'll have an even wider selection.

Drinks - There is a New Juice in Town!

I realize that most people would not be as excited as I was to go to Waitrose. I'm strange, I know. Anyway, while I was there I found the greatest thing...

...

...

Drum roll please...

..

.

A non-apple dilutable drink that is actually citric acid free!



 Ok, it has apple in it, but it is most certainly a different flavour to all the others, Which, when you are drinking only apple on a daily basis is a wonderful thing.

Here is the previous post on the other dilutable drinks I have found so far

I Want to Eat Crisps

Crisps.

Like iced buns, I never really understood why crisps were so good. They are basically potatoes in fat and salt.

Think I may have cracked it there...

Anyways, crisps are now another minefield. Fear not, though, because there are several options left open. A couple are even the 'healthy' ones!

If plain, ready salted crisps of almost any variety are your thing you're good to go and can stop reading here, because the reason crisps are off the menu at all (apart from the sodium content) is that they put citric acid in when they add a lot of the flavourings. I'm not sure why, someone told me it might help the flavours bind or something? Not that it matters, to be honest.

So, as I've just said, 'ready salted' (plain) are good.

Further than that you are very, very limited.

Although they are still the relatively plain variety, you CAN have:

pombears

sunbites



if you are so inclined

Making a Sandwich 101

Making a sandwich is such a simple thing, right?

Yeah, right.

That is to say, it is easy once you have the right ingredients. Initially finding them, however...

Let's start from the top. Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you:

The Bread



You would think bread would be a pretty safe thing to eat. In general you would be right, and both white and brown loaves are edible.

Exceptions are: anything with lemon or tomato (obvious, but it is good to state the obvious sometimes, especially where allergies are concerned!), sourdough or rye (citric acid is produced or used in the making process somewhere) and some of the very, very cheapest supermarket loaves, which contain citric acid in the ingredients list.

The Spread

As I think I have said elsewhere, many margarine varieties contain citric acid. If you have the choice, stick with butter, as these are usually safe.

If in doubt, just leave it out! I generally eat my sandwiches without the spread anyway.



The Filling

This is a HUGE topic, so I'm going to gloss.

If you are putting your fillings together yourself from scratch then just use your common and you'll be away. If, however, you want to buy sandwich fillers from the supermarket or elsewhere you're in for a tougher time. Don't assume that anything is edible until you have thoroughly checked the label. A lot of things add lemon juice (which you cant taste, and most people wouldn't even notice. I know I never used to.). There are SOME ones you can eat, but as I said; check, check, check!

Oh, and beware ye the mayonnaise - citric acid is often a preservative. If you are a mayonnaise fan I know Heinz mayo is safe enough.

Drinks - Juice and Dilutable

The apple is your friend here.

In fact, apart from apples, I'm not certain there is anything else IN this category that is safe to drink.

And by no means are all apple juices/squashes safe either

I'm just saying that apart from apple (and pear - please tell me if you find safe pear or blueberry juice!) it isn't really even worth looking at the ingredients list because the fruit itself has citric acid in it, before you get to the added stuff.

Blueberry juice may appear ok on the scan, BUT 100% of the cartons I've checked have added citric acid to help shelf life. Sucks, I know.

So, for pure fruit juices you are stuck with apple, and always check the carton. If the actual phrase 'citric acid' or 'E330' aren't present then you're good to take a swig (although not before you've paid for it....)

Dilutables-wise, apple again. Are you sensing a theme here?

As usual, always check the label, but I can vouch for both this 'High Juice' from Tesco, and the equivalent drink sold at the co-op



(Although they are both packed full of sugar, and you might be best off just drinking your water plain. Still, it is nice to have options)

N.B. Homemade fruit juices (of apple, pear, blueberry) will be drinkable UNLESS the maker has added orange/lemon (as they often do). If you press fruit yourself the fruit juice will be perfectly fine (and delicious!)

Hot Drink Ideas for the Caffeine and Cocoa Intolerant

'No Caf' is a beautiful thing.

An alternative hot drink, by the time you get milk and sugar in with it it is a very acceptable coffee alternative. If all you need is a hot drink that isn't going to kill you, you just found it.

They sell it at Holland and Barrett, and I am definitely not doing it justice!



Another option is white hot chocolate. Be warned, this stuff is very sweet. 'Options' do a low calorie one, although I find you have to add about four times the amount they say to get it to taste of much. By which point you could have gone to Whittard and got some of this...

Protein Sources 101: Meat, Eggs and Tofu

Eggs

Not a lot to say about eggs. Totally safe. Convenient for the allergy restricted vegetarian.

If you are a fan of butter in your scrambled egg, remember to check the packet.

Tofu

Again, tofu itself is ok. Watch out for what it is packaged in. I know that the 'cauldron' brand is ok (you can get it in Tesco, Morrisons, and probably other supermarkets).

Soy sauce is good on this. I recommend this recipe from Chocolate Covered Katie as absolutely delicious!

And, last but not least...

Meat

As you may have gathered from other places, most fresh meat is edible to someone even with the list of intolerances in my header!

As a rule, tinned meat is also ok. I can vouch for tinned tuna, spam, and that potted ham stuff.

One thing you do have to be careful of, though, is if you were ever a fan of those tinned/jarred hot-dogs that are basically plastic. Some brands are fine, while others contain (you guessed it!) citric acid.

I'm not sure what else there is to say on that one. If it is fresh you know you're safe.

If you are buying fish, though, be careful they have not already added garlic butter to it (some brands of margarine and butter contain citric acid) and that they have not added lemon!

Extra note: be careful of your gravy! The red and yellow bisto are safe, but you really need to check the packets as many are not.

And if you're serving up a joint, the cranberry sauce is out I'm afraid, as is anything lemon (obviously). I'm unsure about bread sauce, as I never liked the stuff. Apple sauce is ok if you made it yourself  but many supermarket brands add citric acid to help it keep longer. As I said, check the label.