Butter

So I know I said that yogurt was my favorite, I take it back, Butter is. The real stuff...not the tub junk masquerading as the sweet cream, real stick butter. I wasn't thrilled when most of my books said that I can have margarine, mostly because it is made with oils, but the real problem I have lies with the partially hydrogenated oils. Not a good thing to invest my taste buds in...or my arteries.
What do I do now? I cook, saute and bake with butter rather regularly. I know what you're thinking, "Bacon and eggs at every meal, you just can't do that!" I believe in the age-old phrase of 'everything in moderation.' This includes alcohol, meat, cow's milk, fats and oils and sometimes veggies. Remember the year when nutritionists/scientists told us that yogurt, or some component of yogurt, could cause cancer? I mean all bias aside...seriously? Do they really know? One year it's one thing, next year it will be another; I suppose Prevention Magazine needs to continue to write about something. 
I went on the hunt for an alternative butter that didn't make my cookies soggy or cake taste like cardboard. My parents would push Smart Balance as the answer until the apocalypse, but after many years of a butter-less house, I'm not so eager to continue - that and the only kind that doesn't have milk is some olive-oil concoction - yuck.
Yes, onions taste better after being caramelized in butter but I've moved back to using olive or vegetable oil for saute or browning vegetables and meat. Still, a lot of cake mixes, cookie doughs and general dessert delites call for butter. So I ended up finding Earth Balance:

 

Earth Balance site  - So far I have made scrambled eggs, garlic bread, cake! and toast with the delish alternative and everything worked out just fine. The garlic bread was rather tasty...and I didn't feel quite so guilty and/or bloaty.

However, I did try making some gluten free cookies that my roommate in college used to make that came out awful. Then again, I used the vegan butter and almond milk. I'm pretty sure the almond milk did me in there. I'll have to try again with real cow's milk *gasp* and the vegan butter to even things out when I start reintroducing milk as a component of a baked good (mainly buns, breads, cookies and cakes) Speaking of cake! Hannaford's brand yellow cake mix didn't have any dairy in the box and only required egg, oil and water for baking! Great find.

I think I'll try mexican night without sour cream, meat or cheese. Till then, enjoy your dairy induced life everyone!

But this is life on earth, you just can't have everything.

My love affair with yogurt

I absolutely love yogurt. I've almost had to stop watching Burn Notice for fear of yogurt jealously every time Jeffery Donovan puts back 8 oz. of the manna from heaven.
My mornings ususally consisted of one cup of Hannaford brand Banana Granola, 1/2 - 1 cup of Yoplait Smooth and Creamy Strawberry and usually one whole banana. Pure bliss.
Lactose intolerance = no more yogurt. At least for now, one of the books I've been studying up on: suggests that some conditions can reduce from severe to mild after an elimination diet - the idea here is that your body will heal itself and you can move on to once again enjoy dairy. But, if you still have mild to moderate intolerance, yogurt - although containing dairy - could actually help your circumstance due to the cultures and enzymes present in the yummy goop.
Now enter Soy yogurt!

One it's own the yogurt has a more gelatin consistency at first but once you mix and taste it becomes like regular yogurt. The Vanilla is the safe way to go for the first try - especially if you already drink and like Vanilla flavored soy milk. The yogurt is more tangy and surprisingly didn't leave an after taste.
Dinner tonight, because I just couldn't wait until breakfast, is my 1 cup of Hannaford brand Banana Granola, 1 serving size of Stonyfield Soy: Vanilla and a very large spoon. The stronger Banana flavor in the granola comes through after the first taste of tangy soy. Very enjoyable and I was most certainly be adding it to my grocery list.
Let's face it, it's not as good as the real thing but in a weeks time I won't even notice the difference.

But this is life on earth, you just can't have everything.

Drinking the unknown

Today is just another day into the unknown world of mad cow's milk. Like several other million people I have a dairy intolerance. Here's the difference between me and you...I actually know I have one, the rest of you are suffering in ignorance, smelling up your homes while unable to put down the sesame seed cracker and cheddar cheese square, you are just too addicted to see the signs. I of course diagnosed myself after several months of uncomfortable whatevers (you don't want me to go in detail here) and a few trips to the saw bones. Well okay, I had help from my doctor who made a few suggestions but maybe didn't have the nerve to say, "chubby girl, lay off the animal fat in milk and cheese, enroll in a spinning class and you'll probably feel better." Ah, if only Dane Cook was my primary care physician...

It was clear that the only thing to do was embark on a dairy-free diet for one month, track my diet, my weight, how I'm feeling and learn to be 'OK' with tofu. Then I can take a decent amount of information back to the saw-bones, have an unpleasant allergy test and call it like it is. It was suggested that I try taking lactaid before I eat something with milk, I followed the directions to the letter and it was a disaster. Definitely made things worse - my husband could barely stay in the same room as me, bless his heart...his stinking, non-mad cow heart - he can eat whatever he wants and never gain a pound! Disclaimer: there may be a slight undertone of jealously to the male gender and their ability to eat, walk the dog for 5 minutes and look 'beach-ready' in January. Bums.
Then, for about a month I slowly gave in to Parmesan on my pasta, cheese on my sandwich and then the coup de grace: mac'n'cheese. Aaaand I felt worse and worse. It was finally time to give into my ailment and go whole hog...

So. Here I am in a new world where the streets are not paved with cheese but rather tofu - which quite honestly I haven't had the nerve to dive in to. My love affair with cheese, milk, ice cream, all things bright and beautiful is over. After 24 years of faithful service to the cow, she has turned her back on me and I without any regret do the same and to take a line from one of my favorite movies, 'fart in her general direction.' I'm already in my 2nd week of dairy-free and a wealth of knowledge - granted this all comes from an interior design graduate armed with the internet and a plethora of dairy-free paraphernalia - but I'm hungry for alternatives and have made a few useful discoveries. Drinking my way through un-refridgerated, non-milk products with clever images of flowing liquid...still, vanilla flavored almond milk is turning out to be quite the treat. Eat and learn my friends.
Enjoy the trials, triumphs and what I am sure will be some interesting recipes and product reviews to calm the inner fat kid screaming for milk and cookies, blue-box mac'n'cheese and lots and lots of ice cream.

But this is life on earth, you just can't have everything.

^the perfect last line for my rants and raves taken from my favorite book which I was re-reading for the hundredth time, given to me by my bestest man-friend: "The Princess Bride, S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure. The "Good Parts" Version abridged by William Goldman."

[Alice]