I last left you with Evan's parents searching for alternatives. Western medicine was quickly showing itself to be ineffective in helping Evan with his Crohn's Disease, and they wanted to find something that would actually relieve Evan's symptoms.

Enter naturopathic medicine.

A good friend of Evan's family suggested that they try naturopathic medicine. In spite of their several doubts about whether it could be effective, Evan's mother tracked down Dr. Donovan, a naturopathic doctor whose office is in Seattle's U-District. They an appointment with him, and he reconfirmed that Evan had Crohn's disease. It was here that Evan and his family learned about the gluten free, sugar free diet.

Dr. Donovan told Evan to cut out of his diet all products containing complex sugars. So, Evan was restricted to eating fruit, beans, nuts, meat and vegetables. He could only have dairy products that had a low lactose content, which essentially eliminated everything except cheddar cheese.

Now, up until this point, Evan's parents had been feeding him foods with high amounts of calories in an effort to make him gain weight. However, because Crohn's disease had caused lesions in his intestinal tract, food molecules had been leaking into his bloodstream. After visiting Dr. Donovan, Evan had an allergy test done, and they found that Evan had built up several food allergies in addition to his new dietary restrictions outlined by Dr. Donovan. His diet was further reduced. He could no longer eat chicken (which included chicken eggs), green beans, peaches, plums, bananas and potatoes.

These new allergies forced Evan to make another radical shift in what he could and could not eat, because the things he was allergic to were the things he was eating the most. However, he and his family got very creative. Instead of buying chicken eggs, they bought duck eggs. Instead of using Bisquick to make pancakes, they began using almond flour from Trader Joe's.

Well, the story does not end there. But, I think I have written enough for now. And, I haven't forgotten that today IS Sunday, so here is another recipe for you to try!

Homemade Tortilla Chips

Ingredients:

Corn tortillas cut into triangles
Canola or other cooking oil

Directions:

To bake: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly brush tortillas with oil on both sides before cutting. Bake for 5 minutes per side and sprinkle with salt if desired. Cool and store in an airtight container.

To fry: Heat about half an inch of oil in a large skillet over high heat. Place triangles into oil and fry until they puff. Remove from oil and drain on paper towels or cooling rack. Sprinkle with salt.

The frying can be tricky with corn tortillas because they don't puff up as much as flour ones do. Leaving them in the oil for about 1.5 minutes should do the trick.