I love food! I have always loved food! I am an adventurous eater by most standards, and I enjoy trying new foods and new recipes. Unfortunately, IC (Interstitial Cystitis) can feel like a big barrier to eating. My husband and I have created this website to share our passion for food and help others with IC.
I was diagnosed with IC in November of 2021. And because I had negative reactions/side effects to typical medications, my doctor turned me to physical therapy, stress management, and you guessed it DIET to manage my symptoms.
I followed the IC diet very strictly for a month. Like many people, I was afraid to eat, had no idea what I could eat, and felt like all my favorites were not options. I told myself it was temporary to help me get through it.
When I started to introduce new foods, I was devastated to find I could tolerate very few. I became determined to find a way to enjoy food even within my many limitations. With the support of my family, and especially my sweet husband, I began my quest for making IC safe foods that required little or no omissions to be tasty!
Motivated by the desire to help other people with the condition, I began to plan a website. I worked on developing a system that would distinguish recipes and ingredients based on how safe they were in reference to the IC food lists available (see How to Use). Focusing the website on those who are just starting the diet, starting to introduce new foods, having a flair up, or for those like me with extremely limiting diets.
This process has felt like a quest at times. Through the setbacks and discouraging moments, the resolve to keep going was fueled by the idea that maybe our efforts will help a few other people. Maybe one of those people will be you.
If you’re wondering about the website name, my husband and I started Barker’s Random Projects back in 2019. We have long enjoyed taking on a variety of very random projects and decided to share our projects along with our love for engineering through Barker’s Random Projects.
Unfortunately, a series of medical problems including my IC diagnosis, interfered with us continuing that. Choosing to look for the bright side, we realized we could bring these two passions together! We set out to create an efficient way for people to look through recipes/ingredients and began looking at cooking like a science. Thus, Barker’s Random IC Recipes was born!