So, there is a family joke about me when I was little. Apparently one night when my mom told me we were having enchiladas for dinner, I replied "Enchiladas make me itch-a-lotta!" I was allergic to practically everything under the sun and had terrible eczema. I still have no clue as to whether or not the eczema was related to my lactose intolerance or not since it can be related to food allergies, but it always makes me wonder if maybe I could have avoided a lot of discomfort by just avoiding dairy. And by "a lot", I mean A LOT.
As far back as I can remember I would get sick to my stomach when I had pizza, or ice cream, or cheese dip. When I was very young I actually ate my Cheerios with orange juice instead of milk--then I learned the much-loved technique of draining the milk from my cereal on the side of the bowl that I still use to this day. It drives my husband nuts that I "waste" all that milk. I just can't bring myself to drink it--even now that I use rice milk instead.
In college I read an article that said something about how certain allergies can lessen over time when a person is exposed to small amounts of the allergen over a period of time. (I AM NOT A DOCTOR!!! DO NOT USE THIS AS MEDICAL ADVICE!!!) I figured that since lactose intolerance wasn't an allergy that was going to possibly kill me--just make me ridiculously uncomfortable if my plan backfired--I would try this approach with milk. I wanted to go have ice cream! (And not feel like death 30 minutes later.) So, it worked! I built up my tolerance to dairy enough that I could have a small cup of milk, a bowl of ice cream, a dinner at a restaurant with cheese or a cream sauce.
Several years passed, and I moderated my dairy intake and was just fine. And then I got pregnant. Let me tell you, never have I drunk so much milk in my life. I also had a low blood sugar problem and was instructed to eat more protein--hello cheese! Then in 2008 my beautiful daughter was born. She was tiny and perfect and vomitted after nearly every feeding like a frat boy after a keg stand contest. She had reflux. That's what the pediatrician told me, anyway, so I went with it. Then I was thinking one day about some other research I had read and asked my lactation consultant if I stopped eating dairy could it possibly prevent her from becoming lactose intolerant later on. She gave me the little information she had on the subject and encouraged me to try it, adding that it would take a week or two for the dairy proteins to get out of my breastmilk. EXACTLY a week after I stopped dairy, she stopped with the Exorcist imitations. It was amazing. And sad. After all this time and work, I was back to where I started. I was BEHIND where I started--anything I had with dairy made her sick again. And so began the quest for edible meal options. Truly a task I was no excited about with a newborn and a picky husband.
Luckily, these days finding acceptable non-dairy meals is much easier than when I was young. There are tons of non-dairy options on the market, and even without using the "replacements", the internet has brought limitless recipes right into our home.
My husband is a good sport about trying new things with all my different brands I try until I find one that works--or just scrap the idea altogether--but he doesn't settle in the taste department. It has to be pretty close to the "real" thing for him to give it his approval. I will be sure to add this in all my posts. And if I don't, feel free to ask. After all I now have a 2-year-old (who is doing MUCH better with dairy!) and a 5-month-old to chase after. Sometimes I forget things.
A lot of my recipes are "a little of this, a little of that", too, but I'll do my best to give measurements as accurately as possible. I'll try to post alternatives for other allergens, too (especially eggs and nuts--my niece is allergic to both) whenever I can. I'm looking forward to getting some recipes on here soon!
Editing to add: My husband is not picky. He will eat just about anything once. What I meant was that he is picky about "replacement" foods, such as almond milk, soy cheese and the like. These have to be pretty dang good for him to eat it more than once. And I can't blame him.
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