Baby Girl’s colic turned out to be a dairy allergy, so about a month ago I stopped eating dairy. Since then, she is 90% less screamy, sleeps through the night except for a midnight snack, and frequently smiles. Henry has taken to kissing her fluffy little head, Sweetie gets a full 9 hours of sleep, and I have stopped requesting white-noise headphones for my next birthday.
But.
I never noticed how much I enjoy dairy foods, but now that they are out of my life I seem to be having the world’s least satisfying meals. Toast without butter? Soup without cheese? Pasta without cream-based sauce? Cereal with soy milk? It all seems so uncivilized. And then there are those foods that must be avoided entirely: chocolate, yogurt, Brie …mmmm.
Yesterday, while I was fixing a grilled-cheese-and-tomato sandwich for Henry, I found myself wondering how much dairy I would have to eat to upset Cleo’s stomach: a bite? Half a bite? What if I cut a tiny corner off a slice of cheese and ate it? What if I went to a cheese shop and smelled a bunch of stinky blue cheese, would that do it? In other words: am I doomed to cheeselessness for the next few months, or is there a ration I could possibly get away with?
I didn’t realize how much this was bothering me until I had to stop reading the book I was working on, Trollope’s “Framley Parsonage”. Aside from being boring and repetitive and too full of church politics, his characters were always discussing things over tea, and the requisite mentions of butter, hot chocolate, scones, toast, and clotted cream was making me feel hungry and sad. I will pick it back up in a couple months when the girl is older and able to digest cow proteins, and I will read it with a big mug of Earl-Grey-with-milk in the other hand, and a bowl of honey yogurt in the near future.
February 12, 2008 at 9:09 am |
I’m so glad to hear that you have solved the colic problem, but oh I know what it is to miss food groups. Hang on in there. And how inconsiderate of Trollope – what was he thinking?
February 12, 2008 at 5:26 pm |
Dairy must be one of the hardest things to completely eliminate from one’s diet, a close second to gluten, I think. I know some will think this weird, but orange juice on cereal is a good alternative when you just can’t muster another taste of soy.
February 12, 2008 at 5:33 pm |
Embrace soy, soy is your friend! Soy yogurt is available and tastes pretty close to the real thing. And soy margarine is also an option. If soymilk on your cereal is unappetizing, rice milk is a sweeter alternative. And you can eat chocolate, just not milk chocolate. Come to the dark side, Luke. Good dark chocolate with 60% or more cocoa in it is generally completely dairy free and I think richer and yummier than milk chocolate anyway. There is no really good cheese substitute though. Good luck!
February 12, 2008 at 10:17 pm |
I completely understand!! When I was pregnant just saying milk made me puke! And then my baby girl was born and had problems getting rid of her gas…so no milk or green beans (which I love). The good news is – Starbucks – you can order any drink with Soy milk and it is very good! I still drink my drinks there with Soy because they seem so much richer!! Good luck!
February 13, 2008 at 3:13 pm |
i went longer without dairy in my life than i ever thought possible. i used to live on cheese. it does get easier. btw, i like almond milk the best. i’s less chalky than soy and thicker than rice, although i think rice has the better flavor. never had it on cereal though. also, if you can find it, earth balance margarine is dairy-free and delicious. i buy bread just to have something to eat it on. also, theppk.com — good dairyless dessert recipes.
February 14, 2008 at 2:12 pm |
I completely feel your pain. Cheese is my favorite food maybe in the whole world, and I used to be allergic. And then when it ceased to bring me out in a rash, I became lactose-intolerant. Good luck!