It probably isn’t very good to be following the LOFFLEX diet during the festive season but crohn’s is no respecter of holidays and it may be that you have had to return to a very bland diet during the festive season. You can eat food during this time – here are some recipes I developed to help you to have at least a Christmas lunch, or you could use this recipe for thanksgiving too.

Turkey is suitable for stage one of the lofflex diet, so are carrots and boiled potatoes (no skins.)

Roast potato

Peel potato and wash with clean water.

Cut into pieces and par boil in salted water for five minutes.

Drain off cooking liquor

Shake the pan to roughen the edges of the potato

Spray with a small amount of vegetable oil.

Cook in the oven for minutes at gas mark 7/220°C

Have 1-2 pieces.

Stuffing

3oz/75g Rice crumbs

1 teaspoon of sage

1 teaspoon of mixed herbs

100mls/4 fluid ounces of boiling water

Spray with rapeseed oil

Salt to taste

Method

Add sage and herbs to a cup; pour on water and leave to brew.

Sieve herb liquor to remove solids and retain liquor.

Weigh out rice crumbs and add herb liquor till a consistency of stuffing is achieved, add salt to taste.

Place stuffing into a ramekins and flatten the surface, spray oil on the top.

Put into an oven at gas mark 6/200 degree celsius for approximately 20 minutes or until the surface has browned.

Gravy

Use turkey stock – drain off the fat from the surface and thicken with rice flour.

Cranberry sauce with no alcohol added – sieve out skin and seeds.

1. Pear or apricot crumble with soya custard

Serves two

50g/2 oz Rice crumbs

12g/½ oz granulated sugar

2 tablespoons sieved, or skin free apricot jam

2 pears

Spray rapeseed oil

Peel and remove the stalk and core from the pears

Slice the pear and add to two ramekins.

Add one tablespoon of sieved apricot jam to each one, (warm the jam in a pan till the jam is runny and sieve off skins, or purchase skin free apricot jam, available for Christmas cake decorating.)

Mix rice crumbs and sugar and sprinkle on the top of the apricot and pear

Spray surface with spray oil

Cook in the oven for 15 minutes gas mark 6/200°C – take care when serving as it can be very hot! Serve with soya custard.

Christmas can be a difficult time if you have restrictions on your diet, so try to keep focused and think of some treats that are not food related, such as going to see a movie at the cinema, watching your local football team on boxing day, going to see a play or pantomime or inviting friends round to watch a Christmas DVD.

Keep well hydrated and if you experience severe symptoms seek help from your healthcare provider. Everyones intolerances can be different so if you have noticed that some of the ingredients in the above recipes make your symptoms worse it’s probably best to avoid them, discuss this with your dietitian.