TIPS FOR CUTTING OUR DAIRY AND WHAT TO EAT INSTEAD, MRS. NIPPLE X MAMA SERIES
Welcome to the mama series! Today Mrs. Nipple is featuring Jenny, just a mom that loves cheese :)
JENNY WILL TAKE IT FROM HERE:
I remember exactly when I discovered that my daughter, Maple, had a dairy allergy. She was five weeks old and we were at the zoo alleviating some of the guilt that I had been feeling over taking my son’s only child status away. While changing her in the less than clean bathroom, I saw a small amount of blood in her diaper. From my weekly trips to our hospital’s New Moms group, I knew that it meant, dairy intolerance. That being said I wasn’t surprised when the nurse from our pediatrician’s office told me to cut out dairy and monitor her diapers.
The thought of cutting out all dairy from my diet was daunting. Never being much of a meat eater, I have always relied on dairy for a large part of my protein intake. And I also loved cheese. Like really really loved cheese. All kinds of cheese. Warm brie with toasty bread. Sharp cheddar on a crispy cracker. A salty tortilla chip dripping with queso. Fondue. Nachos. The perfect grilled cheese sandwich….and pizza. Ohhh pizza. I wondered how I going to give up so many of my favorite foods but I was determined. Nursing my first baby had been such a rewarding and wonderful experience. Cheese could wait because nursing this baby wouldn’t.
I never saw blood in Maple’s diaper again, and a rash that she had had for weeks disappeared within days of me cutting out dairy from my diet. Seeing these positive changes made me realize it was time to buckle down for the long haul of dairy free living. I joined a helpful Facebook group and reached out to my vegan friends for recommendations on substitutions.
I quickly learned that sometimes in life, there are no substitutions. So I’m here to share some of my tricks for navigating dairy free products and avoiding getting dairy-ed while you’re out.
As far as the grocery store, I’ve found that cheese cannot be replaced, unless you really do your homework and know which brands are best. TIP: Someone told me that you should wait a little while to even try “fake” cheese so that you’ve forgotten how good the real thing is but you can find some great alternatives below.
I’ve seen such an increase in dairy free products over the two years that it does make dairy free living much easier. I was never a milk drinker and have used Almond Milk for years. I use it in my coffee and oatmeal, and did you know it’s even froth-able? I have played around with different milks and discovered that coconut milk is great for baking and using to make pasta sauces.
If you’re having a sweet tooth, there are so many choices. Enjoy Life chocolate chips are great for baking and their cookies aren’t bad either. Justin’s dark chocolate peanut butter cups are my go to treat. I have a recipe on my website for lactation boosting, energy balls that are sweet, healthy and will increase your milk supply, too! You can find the lactation boosting energy balls, HERE.
The biggest tip I have is to read all labels. Many products that you wouldn’t think have dairy in them do. It can differ from brand to brand. Our local grocery store’s brand of English muffins are dairy free, but most other brands have dairy. you should check every time. Sometimes brands change their recipes, so something that was once safe, may not be the next time. While companies are required to list allergens, you still have to read the ingredients. Sometimes the allergens will just be in bold in the main list of ingredients rather than highlighted underneath the ingredients. Thankfully, most of the time the latter is the case.
A great place for recipes, both dessert and main dishes is the Minimalist Baker. You can find her website, HERE. Her recipes are easy, have minimal ingredients and are always yummy. Her recipes are also gluten free!
When you’re eating out, you really can’t be clear enough. Sometimes people don’t think of butter as dairy. Or if you ask for no cheese on something, it could still arrive with sour cream on it. A friend of mine got baked fish and didn’t think of the butter that was hiding in there. You have to be vigilant. It’s hard to be that person at a restaurant but it’s for your baby, so that should help. Servers handle these requests interestingly. I had one ask me if it was an allergy or a preference, with a lot of emphasis on preference. I made sure to tell him exactly why it was not a preference, thank you very much. He also got a little lesson in breastfeeding.
Giving up dairy feels very overwhelming at first but you’ll start to get the hang of it and you’ll notice that your baby’s symptoms start to dissipate. You will feel like the rockstar mom that you are: feeding your baby through a little bit of adversity. So maybe you’ll be dreaming of being reunited with a margherita pizza with the perfect amount fresh mozzarella. But just think of how amazing that first bite will be. You got this.
Jenny’s Bio: Jenny formerly used her quick wit to charm people at parties but now she mainly uses it to trick her children into eating vegetables. She can be found pondering mamahood on her blog, HERE and on instagram as JennyRadish.
A big thank you to jenny for sharing!!
One of my friends, Stephanie Trotta, who also happens to be a blogger lives a dairy and gluten freeish lifestyle. She is the force behind, The Girl Guide. You can read her post about being dairy free, HERE. Many of her go to recipes are found on GOOP. She uses some really good dairy free alternatives which include,
Califia Farms Almond Milk
Follow Your Heart Parmesan style shredded cheese alternative
Kite Hill Ravioli made with almond milk ricotta
Kite Hill Chive cream cheese
LAVA original whole food plant based yogurt
Follow Your Heart soy-free Vegenaise Better Than Mayo
Thanks for sharing your go-to DF products Stephanie xx