Why its called "The Broken Stomach"

Well, welcome to my food blog.  It seems weird starting one, but I read so many each day searching for recipes that I could eat with my specific diet that I thought I would post some of them that I have tried to help people in similar situations.  Around a year ago I was diagnosed with gastroparesis, though I had it for almost a year prior and noone accurately diagnosed it.  Gastroparesis happens when the vagus nerve, which causes your stomach to contract and empty, is damaged.  Right now my stomach is completely useless, hense the blog name of "The Broken Stomach"! Unlike most people with gastroparesis, I am not diabetic and do not have any thyroid issues.  Instead I caught a "super virus", probably from working with children, and it killed the nerve.

To deal with gastroparesis, many people take medicine.  I have found that mine is completely controlled if I follow the low-residue diet that my GI doctor provided (I had bad side effects with the meds).  This is what makes me feel normal, but makes cooking and enjoying reading food blogs and recipes difficult.  On the low residue diet I cant eat:

• breads and pastas with whole grains or corn meal
  
• strong cheeses
  
• raw vegetables
  
• tough meat
  
• crunchy peanut butter
  
• oatmeal
  
• beans or peas
  
• dried fruits
  
• raw fruits other than bananas
  
• chocolate (but I havent had a problem with it)
  
• juice with pulp
  
• popcorn
  
• nuts and seeds
  
• limit amount of milk products

I also find that I cannot eat food with large amounts of fat- which cuts out things like pizza and fries- and have to eat small portions.  Starting the diet was hard because we used to eat out constantly.  My boyfriend owns a bar and is the GM for 3, so he would bring home food or we would go out to try out other places.  Eating out has now become almost impossible because nothing really fits the diet well, and even if it does, generally it has too much oil or I eat too much and get sick.  The answer was to start cooking at home.  I began on websites such as MarthaStewart.com (I listen to her channel on Sirius all the time) or foodnetwork.com.  However they didn't update their websites often enough for me.  Then I discovered food blogs and photograzing and have been hooked on it ever since.  

Now my complaint about reading the foodblogs and websites- the push for fiber.  I know that diets with high fiber lead to better health and right now there is a huge movement for it-whole grains in everything, raw vegetables, fruits, etc.  But how about we who cant eat it?? I would like to have a salad every now and then (especially the chop salad from Wildfire) but it makes me sick.  I would like to eat cornbread with sweet maple butter but a few hours from now I will not be functioning.  So, heres a place where I can post recipes that I have found that work, or may work, that follow the low residue diet.  They may not all follow exactly, but I know what works for me and, if you have similar GI disorders, it may work for you.

Enjoy!

Sara