Thursday, August 14, 2008

Life without Cheese

http://lauramartinez.files.wordpress.com/2007/10/cheese.jpg

Is no life at all. Naturally, the rest of the world may have an aversion to my incessant grumbling about this topic. Therefore, I strive to preserve it for the occasional rant. Like this one. You see, my body doesn't make a sufficient supply of the enzyme lactase. Hence, no lactose (insert "yummy food") in my diet. Addison can't digest dairy. Practically, this means no cheese. At one time, I could have imagined consuming a diet of milk products. Think about it. cottage cheese. ice cream. cheese. cheese whiz. cream cheese. cheese cake. yoghurt. chocolate milk. slabs of butter. to name a few. The contemplation of said diet now gives me shivers. Lots and lots of unhappy. So, I would like to include here a list of the things that I love that don't have dairy:

Hummus, turkey and tomato (from our garden) sandwich on whole wheat bread
ginger cookies
bbq chicken
cereal with soy milk
soy chai
egg salad sandwich with sprouts on toasted whole wheat bread
razzleberry pie from Marie Calendars
mango sorbet
sour gummy candy (did you know that you can lick a gummy bear and it will stick to your forehead?)
dal
black beans and rice
pinneaple
stir fry

Ok. I'm feeling less sorry for myself. And honestly, tofutti ice cream, although made with tofu, is not a shabby ice cream alternative. So here is my challenge. For all of you people with joy in your lives and milk in your bellies, think back to the last time you ate a meal without one drop of dairy (this means no butter. . . really). Let me know what it was - maybe I'll discover another of my favorite non-gas-inducing foods. I'll raise my glass of soy milk to that!

9 comments:

bret welstead's old profile said...

Wait, wait, wait... cheese whiz?

First, I don't know that you're really missing out not being able to eat a "cheese" that can be stored at room temperature for years before it's opened.

Second, is there really any actual dairy in it? I never would have guessed. :-)

Truly, though, I'm sorry this is such a matter of anguish. I can't imagine life without dairy.

mrscamacho said...

The best non-dairy (and no-soy too!) icecream alternative is called "Purely Delicious" and it is made from coconut milk. It is truly DELICIOUS. Oh my. I wish I had known about this stuff when I was eliminating for Sophia!

I can't think of anything else off the top of my head, because it's been a year (woot!), but if you want me to send you a list of safe restaurants and safe foods, I can. :)

Sarah M said...

If it makes you feel any better--Addison having 'milk intolerance' is SO fortuneate that you DIDNT eat all that stuff before because then it would be REALLY hard to go off of for her sake!

Chicken with sea-salt/spice blend, fried potatoes, and homemade juice popsicles! YUMO!
No dairy OR gluten! Good for both of us!

Sarah M said...

um, my comment above sounds kind of weird that she is fortunate to have a milk intolerance...NOT what I meant :)

I meant its sorta lucky she has a mom who is also "milk intolerant" bc I know a LOT of moms who stop nursing and just do formula because they can't get rid of dairy from their diet. I am a big nursing fan. Therefore, better for her! Hope that makes sense!

Anonymous said...

bow tie pasta with spinach-walnut pesto and heirloom tomatoes. side of white-bean hummus and pita chips. yumtastic.

JM Huscher said...

YES YES ON SOY CHAI!

I also order mine sometimes with a shot of espresso dropped in. Amazing. At Starbucks we called it "the land before time." At Jones' they call it a "dirty chai bomb."

JLW said...

YES! Someone who understands my life! 2 of our 3 children have pretty bad dairy "allergies". Throwing up, general sickness, rashes, and many other unmentionables. I survived without dairy products for a full 6 months without a single dairy ridden product when I discover raw milk. :) Neither of my kids are allergic to it - and despite what people say about "getting sick" from it - we are much healthier with it (and no throwing up!) and we've never been happier to actually eat dairy products! There are also raw cheeses (I can have pizza and quesadillas again!), and I make homemade Ice Cream with the milk -although, I still buy tofuttis for a quick and easy treat!

You can e-mail me if you ever have any questions about babies and the milk stuff. I've pretty much lived it all included some respiratory illnesses cause by dairy from my older dairy allergic kid. :)

-Ashley Wingo
thejwingos (at) yahoo (dot) com

Anonymous said...

I stumbled onto your blog, via Jesse and Michel's. It's hard doing the dairy-free thing! Azalia is finally able to tolerate it, so I'm back to a dairy filled diet. But one of my favorites during my dairy-free days was coconut curry stew: http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=10203.0 It's probably too hot for it now, but it's a great winter stew! That website has a lot of great recipes.

Oh, and Turtle Mountain makes some great, no, fantastic dairy-free ice cream.

crystal said...

You guys are great! I will definitely look into Turtle Mountain and Purely Delicious. And some yummy recipe ideas - thanks friends!

Bret - I hear you. not mourning the loss of cheeze whiz at this point. I'm pretty sure it can be used as an adhesive when dried. . .