Ah, yes, dear friends, la vida sin pollo (life without chicken). Until my allergist told me, “no more chicken,” I didn’t realize just how much chicken I ate. Gone are the days when I could stop by Chick-fil-a and get a box of nuggets to eat on the way home from work. No more chicken breasts, legs, thighs, wings, or varied body parts. Chicken soup. Sesame chicken. Chicken ceasar salad. Fried chicken. Chicken fried steak or chicken fried chicken. No more chicken. Ever.
Yes, I have developed an allergy to chicken. I have reactions to chicken that cause my tongue to swell from slightly to scary. Rather than eat chicken and be uncomfortable (or possibly develop a worse reaction), I have decided to take my doctor’s advice and just cut chicken out of my diet permanently. Better safe than in anaphylactic shock.
The jury is still out on chocolate, which he told me to be cautious about… but back to la vida sin pollo.
I used to eat chicken about four times a week. I rarely eat red meat and I am not fond of most fish, though I will eat tuna, salmon and shellfish. This leaves me with limited fish choices, pork, turkey, and tofu for primary protein sources.
Fast forward to tofu. Tofu tastes like whatever you cook it in… and I think I cook an okay tofu stir fry. I use olive oil to kill any icky taste the tofu might have, but it still looks icky for the innocent bystanders at the office lunch table. I will have to investigate further tofu offerings as time allows.
The transition to la vida sin pollo has made me feel cheated… especially when I drive by another favorite chicken stop, Whataburger. I can smell the chicken cooking as I drive by KFC. Many of my friends apologize for eating chicken in my presence. At times, I feel as if I should cluck just for nostalgia’s sake.
Of course, since I have stopped eating chicken, my tongue hasn’t swollen painfully once and my citrus tolerance (problems there, too) has increased. Hmm… so I can now eat more pineapple in one sitting. Maybe the trade off isn’t so bad after all.
So, my official food allergies (in order of harmfulness from greatest to least) are watermelon, grapefruit, chicken, an accumulation of citrus, and ever so slightly, chocolate. I’m sure I’ve forgotten to list something.
La vida sin pollo.
Suddenly, I’m craving nuggets…. do they make turkey nuggets?
Sassy Dreams Awake 
Dang, that’s bizarre! You can eat turkey, though? I eat a lot of chicken, too, though lately it’s not unusual for my protein to come from beans many days. Is it maybe a result of antibiotics or other injections/food additives given most commercial chicken? Have you tried eating organically farmed, free-range chicken?
Well, right now I am too poor to purchase an organic chicken for allergy experimentation. 😉 From what I understand the allergy does come from the additives, so someday, when I’m independently wealthy, I’ll do all my shopping at whole foods and eat whatever I want!