Cheese, Glorious Cheese!!
It pains my heart to share this with you, but the house full of Tutus is going to be cutting down on this yummy goodness.
Oh butter, how I will miss Thee…
*Sigh*
So, here’s the deal. My daughter has been having a lot of tummy issues. I tried keeping a food log for her, but honestly, when you homeschool three kids, it’s hard enough to track my own eating habits, much less that of a child. So, my husband and I discussed what we should do. We figure there are two main “culprits” of digestive issues – namely, dairy & gluten.
Frankly, eliminating gluten seemed much more difficult than eliminating dairy, so that’s where we decided to start. Today is day three of no dairy for her. We have had no tummy issues past day 1, which I attribute to still being in “detox” mode. So, good news, I suppose, in that it looks like we may have well identified the culprit. Bad news in that the culprit is most likely dairy.
So, where does that leave us?
Well, I don’t think it’s fair for me to eliminate dairy completely from one of my children’s diet and to allow the rest of us to go ahead eating our normal cheesy fare in front of her. So, I am planning to attempt a more dairy-free menu around here. The problem is, of course, that I use cheese and butter in cooking a LOT. Most of my go-to meals are full of diary. This is going to be difficult.
Will I cut out dairy completely from my diet? No. But I am going to make an effort to cut it out completely from hers for now and to cut it drastically for the rest of us – at least for a little while, to see how things go.
Planning my weekly menu with this in mind was rough. Here is what we ended up with:
Tonight: Taco Soup
Saturday: Dinner at Kevin’s parents. Mexican, but she can eat a tostada without cheese and rice.
Sunday: Lunch out, Dinner: Meatball appetizers for life group
Monday: Chicken Eggrolls, Fried Rice, Broccoli
Tuesday: Pasta with meat sauce, bread, green beans
Wednesday: Tacos, Fideo, Salad
Thursday: Chickpea Pitas, Mexican Rice, Veggie
Friday: Grilled Chicken, Spaghetti Squash, Additional Veggie
I guess in a way, it’s a push in the direction of whole foods that I’ve been leaning toward.
But really, I’d just like to whine for a moment.
Going to the grocery store was a pain in the neck. I found myself scanning all the labels. There’s milk in TONS of things… including the breading in the chicken nuggets that I shouldn’t be feeding my kids anyway but I do because they’re easy. I found myself thinking… well, if we go without for a week, maybe we can add this in and see how she does. Surely trace amounts won’t hurt… but how do I know that? I suppose I don’t. Which is why we just have to be strict but flexible. If that makes any sense at all.
Maybe I was just irritated by my trip to the store because like a lunatic I chose to take my three girls with me. What was I thinking?? Oh yeah, that they were older and knew how to behave. Silly me.
Anyway… that’s where we stand at the moment. Wish me luck. And if you happen to have any ideas for great dairy-free meals or snacks, feel free to send them my way!
Laura.. You may find she is still able to tolerate some cheese. I don’t think it has as much lactose in it. My niece is lactose intolerant and she can still eat cheese. If she has one serving per day she is usually okay. if she has more that one, she takes enzyme replacement tablets. Look for them at the store.
A good substitute for butter is coconut oil. It makes very good toast. We use it in our hot cereals. We like it.
I am lactose intolerant. It was very difficult for me to change my eating habits but you find things that will eventually taste great to your child. Some suggestions are most Kraft cheese products are lactose free. If you look on the back of the Kraft packages, it will say “contains 0mg of lactose per serving” almost all just check them. The deli slice packages are a little expensive, not the individually wrapped slices. Kozy Shack has a chocolate pudding that is lactose free and gluten free, it tastes very good. Enjoy life has chocolate chips and chocolate bars that are very good. I have many more suggestions but will not overload your blog. Good luck!