Tonight I will make probably my cheapest non-dairy meal ever and I'm so excited. It's my first stab at making mujadarah from scratch, wish me luck! BooBoo loves it and there should be some leftovers for her to take to school tomorrow. I like it pretty well too and it should make a nice dinner with a salad. The hubby will be gone tonight, so I can get away without cooking something "fancy" (not that anything I make anything so fancy).
The Bug would never dare to touch things like lentils and rice, so he will eat a waffle, most likely. :sigh:
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Monday, November 17, 2008
The stomach ailment is no longer a mystery!
ETA: Be sure to check out this Betty Crocker page for free coupons!
The hubby and I came down with the stomach flu this weekend, so looks like yet another lovely bug going through the house. On a positive note, extra meals in the meal plan since no one felt like eating yesterday, except BooBoo. So I can bump some things to different days and work on stockpiling a little bit for next week. LOL!
Now I'm just waiting for BooBoo to catch it. Yuck!
The hubby and I came down with the stomach flu this weekend, so looks like yet another lovely bug going through the house. On a positive note, extra meals in the meal plan since no one felt like eating yesterday, except BooBoo. So I can bump some things to different days and work on stockpiling a little bit for next week. LOL!
Now I'm just waiting for BooBoo to catch it. Yuck!
Friday, November 14, 2008
I hate pizza parties
I almost forgot, today is a pizza party at the Bug's school. One of his classmates has a birthday and his parents are sweet enough to bring in pizza. On the one hand, this isn't a huge issue for the Bug because he is so picky that, although he may say he wants pizza, he would never actually eat it. On the other hand, it makes me so sad that he is left out and makes me wonder if my child will ever be able to eat dairy. It reminds of the times when he does care that he can't eat exactly what every one else is and refuses my almost-as-good dairy-free alternative. Those days are rough and usually involve birthday cake at a party attended by all of my friends so that they can be witness to the power of the Bug's tantrums. Fun! I feel his pain, though, as I was dairy free for a year and those days really do suck.
His stomach is just about as sensitive as it was the day he was born. We may try a food challenge next year, but I think it will take a miracle for it to work. Every once in awhile we slip and some dairy gets into his diet, so we learn quickly and repeatedly that he is still intolerant. For awhile, this wasn't such a problem b/c he wasn't too bothered by a little gassiness and loose poops. But, now that he's potty trained (kind of), I'm not taking any chances!
I do have to say though, I am always mindful of how lucky we are that he does not need an epipen if he eats dairy. We still carry one for his suspected peanut allergies, but I find that is easy for us to avoid as he can't have many processed foods because of his dairy issue to begin with.
His stomach is just about as sensitive as it was the day he was born. We may try a food challenge next year, but I think it will take a miracle for it to work. Every once in awhile we slip and some dairy gets into his diet, so we learn quickly and repeatedly that he is still intolerant. For awhile, this wasn't such a problem b/c he wasn't too bothered by a little gassiness and loose poops. But, now that he's potty trained (kind of), I'm not taking any chances!
I do have to say though, I am always mindful of how lucky we are that he does not need an epipen if he eats dairy. We still carry one for his suspected peanut allergies, but I find that is easy for us to avoid as he can't have many processed foods because of his dairy issue to begin with.
The mystery of stomach ailments
So, yesterday morning my adorable little Bug woke up at 6:30 am. Not an unheard of hour for him. He climbed into bed to snuggle, again not unusual for us. I'll do anything to catch an extra five minutes of sleep, even if it means getting elbowed in the ribs. Next thing I know, the poor kids is throwing up all over my bed. Oy vey!
The poor thing proceeded to vomit for the next 2 hours and then by 9 am he was fine. No fever, kept down soy milk for the rest of the day, not a big appetite (which is not surprising for him), but otherwise just fine.
Not that this happens to so often, but it has happened before. As a mom of a kid with a sensitive stomach, it always makes me wonder if something didn't agree with him. I've never know dairy to make him throw up, other than some refluxy spit up as a baby. Who knows what he gets into at preschool, the other day a sweet classmate of his brought him a slice of (real) American cheese when he sat down at the snack table after I dropped him off. Being that he's a super picky eater, I can't imagine he ate it. But, you never know!
As a gift for waking up in that manner yesterday morning, my hubby decided to go out to eat with a friend, which meant that I was free from cooking anything extravagant (not that anything I cook is). So, I made some vegetarian veggie soup for BooBoo and me, a real grilled cheese for me and vegan grilled cheese for the kids (couldn't find Toffuti cheese at Whole Foods this week ... weird). Yeah, the vegan grilled cheese went uneaten by all parties. At $0.40 a slice, that was a kind of expensive "miss." But, I can't say it will prevent me from trying it again. I kind of like making the same thing for everyone when I can. Better luck next time!
The poor thing proceeded to vomit for the next 2 hours and then by 9 am he was fine. No fever, kept down soy milk for the rest of the day, not a big appetite (which is not surprising for him), but otherwise just fine.
Not that this happens to so often, but it has happened before. As a mom of a kid with a sensitive stomach, it always makes me wonder if something didn't agree with him. I've never know dairy to make him throw up, other than some refluxy spit up as a baby. Who knows what he gets into at preschool, the other day a sweet classmate of his brought him a slice of (real) American cheese when he sat down at the snack table after I dropped him off. Being that he's a super picky eater, I can't imagine he ate it. But, you never know!
As a gift for waking up in that manner yesterday morning, my hubby decided to go out to eat with a friend, which meant that I was free from cooking anything extravagant (not that anything I cook is). So, I made some vegetarian veggie soup for BooBoo and me, a real grilled cheese for me and vegan grilled cheese for the kids (couldn't find Toffuti cheese at Whole Foods this week ... weird). Yeah, the vegan grilled cheese went uneaten by all parties. At $0.40 a slice, that was a kind of expensive "miss." But, I can't say it will prevent me from trying it again. I kind of like making the same thing for everyone when I can. Better luck next time!
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Yet another failed attempt at a dairy-free alternative
Last night we had tuna mac casserole for dinner, something akin to this. I added half a bag of frozen broccoli, cauliflower, carrot mix to my pasta for the last couple minutes it was cooking and then added the pasta and veggies to the cheese sauce along with some tuna and extra shredded cheddar before I baked in the oven to melt some cheese on top. Easy, inexpensive ($3 for dinner, max) and actually pretty delicious. Probably not remotely healthy, however. But, better than plain old mac n' cheese.
Obviously, my kids can't eat this (the Bug wouldn't ever dream of eating it), so I tried to come up with some dairy-free alternative for DD. The last time I made this, I tried to duplicate it by melting a Toffuti American cheese slice in with the noodles and a tiny bit of tuna. If you've ever tried to melt Toffuti cheese, you know that it tends to be a bit on the oily side. I actually thought it melted and mixed in not too badly, but BooBoo disagreed.
Last night I opted to make her a tuna pasta salad with mayo and some veggies mixed in. Again, BooBoo disagree with my choice of dairy-free alternative and ate soy yogurt instead. (FYI - if you or your child has a dairy allergy, Silk soy yogurt is made with L. casei - a milk derivative. Fortunately, for my kids, this is not enough of a source of dairy to upset their systems unless they eat it every night for a week ... which has happened.) I always have a big container of soy yogurt on hand for occasions just like this. The Bug is super picky, so it comes in handy often. He ate a dairy-free Van's blueberry waffle and soy yogurt for dinner last night. I actually thought that was pretty good for him.
So, that is how dinner in the No Moo for You household. Each night holds a new discovery and we never really know what we're going to find out.
Obviously, my kids can't eat this (the Bug wouldn't ever dream of eating it), so I tried to come up with some dairy-free alternative for DD. The last time I made this, I tried to duplicate it by melting a Toffuti American cheese slice in with the noodles and a tiny bit of tuna. If you've ever tried to melt Toffuti cheese, you know that it tends to be a bit on the oily side. I actually thought it melted and mixed in not too badly, but BooBoo disagreed.
Last night I opted to make her a tuna pasta salad with mayo and some veggies mixed in. Again, BooBoo disagree with my choice of dairy-free alternative and ate soy yogurt instead. (FYI - if you or your child has a dairy allergy, Silk soy yogurt is made with L. casei - a milk derivative. Fortunately, for my kids, this is not enough of a source of dairy to upset their systems unless they eat it every night for a week ... which has happened.) I always have a big container of soy yogurt on hand for occasions just like this. The Bug is super picky, so it comes in handy often. He ate a dairy-free Van's blueberry waffle and soy yogurt for dinner last night. I actually thought that was pretty good for him.
So, that is how dinner in the No Moo for You household. Each night holds a new discovery and we never really know what we're going to find out.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
My first official blog post evah!
I'm not sure I can write anything worthy enough of "my first official blog post evah!" I decided to start a blog because I couldn't find any blogs that were about moms of kids who couldn't eat dairy. That might just be because I don't know how to search for blogs, though. So, if you have one, please let me know! You might know something I don't. ;-) Anyway, I found lots of blogs about gluten-free diets, kids that can't have peanuts, etc. But, none about dairy free, so here I am.
I'm the mom of two adorable kiddos (I may be biased) who haven't been able to consume dairy since they were wee little babies. We discovered that my son, the Bug, couldn't have dairy at his bris. He happened to have a lot of formula that day b/c mom was busy. The mohel, a wonderful man who is great with babies, informed us that our son was gassy and instructed us on some wonderful positions to help alleviate his pain ... from gas, not the circumcision. Three weeks later he was diagnosed with "colic" and I decided to try some soy formula that I received in the mail. Low and behold, my child was cured! I tried eliminating milk from my diet, but a new diet and new super-fussy-colicky-baby were just to much for me to handle. By 6 weeks he was on soy formula 100% and by 8 weeks he was one happy camper.
With my daughter, BooBoo, I was in major denial. She started with the fussing around 3 weeks old and I just couldn't believe that I could have two kids with dairy problems. It took me 3 weeks to wise up and cut dairy out of my diet. It was much easier the second time around, as my house was already stocked full of dairy free items for the Bug. And, I have to say, the dairy free diet sure did help melt off the baby weight.
We still really have no idea why our kids have milk protein enterocolitis. My theory is that DH and I probably had it when we were kids. I know it runs rampant on both sides of the family. All I had to do was go to one bar mitzvah on my husband's side to learn about all of the family members who couldn't eat dairy and were colicky infants (what the heck did I marry into?!). Hubby and I, if you listen to our moms', were both fussy infants up to 1 year old. So, I can only deduce that we had problems with dairy as well.
Our kids are 3 and 1 now, with no indication that their intolerance is improving. I breast fed BooBoo for 13 months without consuming dairy and am happy to say I am back on the (cheese) sauce again. This can make for some interesting meals with Miss BooBoo-I-Want-to-Eat-What-Mommy-is-Eating Baby. I try to offer alternatives, but as anyone who has ever consumed soy cheese knows, that stuff is just not the same.
That about sums it up, look forward to some interesting times in dairy-free land.
Edit: I figured out how to search blogs! And, I found some on dairy allergies. Still not as many that cover gluten free diets, so maybe there is a need for my blog after all?!
I'm the mom of two adorable kiddos (I may be biased) who haven't been able to consume dairy since they were wee little babies. We discovered that my son, the Bug, couldn't have dairy at his bris. He happened to have a lot of formula that day b/c mom was busy. The mohel, a wonderful man who is great with babies, informed us that our son was gassy and instructed us on some wonderful positions to help alleviate his pain ... from gas, not the circumcision. Three weeks later he was diagnosed with "colic" and I decided to try some soy formula that I received in the mail. Low and behold, my child was cured! I tried eliminating milk from my diet, but a new diet and new super-fussy-colicky-baby were just to much for me to handle. By 6 weeks he was on soy formula 100% and by 8 weeks he was one happy camper.
With my daughter, BooBoo, I was in major denial. She started with the fussing around 3 weeks old and I just couldn't believe that I could have two kids with dairy problems. It took me 3 weeks to wise up and cut dairy out of my diet. It was much easier the second time around, as my house was already stocked full of dairy free items for the Bug. And, I have to say, the dairy free diet sure did help melt off the baby weight.
We still really have no idea why our kids have milk protein enterocolitis. My theory is that DH and I probably had it when we were kids. I know it runs rampant on both sides of the family. All I had to do was go to one bar mitzvah on my husband's side to learn about all of the family members who couldn't eat dairy and were colicky infants (what the heck did I marry into?!). Hubby and I, if you listen to our moms', were both fussy infants up to 1 year old. So, I can only deduce that we had problems with dairy as well.
Our kids are 3 and 1 now, with no indication that their intolerance is improving. I breast fed BooBoo for 13 months without consuming dairy and am happy to say I am back on the (cheese) sauce again. This can make for some interesting meals with Miss BooBoo-I-Want-to-Eat-What-Mommy-is-Eating Baby. I try to offer alternatives, but as anyone who has ever consumed soy cheese knows, that stuff is just not the same.
That about sums it up, look forward to some interesting times in dairy-free land.
Edit: I figured out how to search blogs! And, I found some on dairy allergies. Still not as many that cover gluten free diets, so maybe there is a need for my blog after all?!
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