Poked and prodded, Moo goes the cow...

Well something like that.
For now, I'm finished with having blood taken, pictures taken and barium swallowing - awful stuff. Time for the Dr.'s to do their suggesting, head scratching and coffee break taking.

I'm actually quite optimistic about everything. There's nothing to get upset about - I'm actually getting used to non-dairy. After the test came back normal I thought that maybe it was all in my head and I could have a slice of cheese and a mountain size glass of milk if I thought, "dairy loves me." Nope. I actually did take it a little slower than that - except for the glass of milk part...my culinary husband made homemade spaghetti sauce, nothing goes better with spaghetti and meat sauce than a nice tall glass of milk. Seriously, I'm not 14 just allergic to wine.

It was suggested that maybe I see a Nutritionist about getting the proper calcium intake without milk - which according to one of my books is mandatory for women. Not only do you have to take calcium you need several other minerals & vitamins to make it effective. Yeehaw. I see a lot of broccoli in my future.

Either way, we are still in the throws of Lent and it's meatless Friday! Rather, Fiesta Friday! We enjoy vegetarian burritos with all the fixins! Every color peppers sautéed in my famous taco sauce, homemade guacamole, rice with cilantro and lime, beans, corn, green chilis, salsa, you name it we pack it into a burrito - including some lactose free cheddar cheese from Cabot (I am still on the fence about this product and it's actual ability print on their labeling: "Contains 0g of lactose per serving" but we shall see. Off to set the stage for Fiesta Friday, good thing I'm not allergic to margaritas, now that would be cruel.

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

Coconut revisited

Oskri Coconut Bars. What a wonderful, albeit fattening, treat. I was browsing through my local natural food market when I found these: 

I of course checked out their  website and it is filled with all kinds of great products. Take a look and see if you find anything useful to you.


I have tried (and loved) original coconut, mango, cherry and almond. I am looking to try strawberry and looking to avoid pineapple - normally I love pineapple but I couldn't get past the chunks of pineapple in the coconut. Each bar is made up of coconut shavings and rice syrup. Not the most waist trimming product out there, but they are meant for people on a vegan diet usually desperate for a little fat in their diet. It's great for an on-the-go lunch or decadent dessert. Certainly not something you want to eat everyday - obvious fat reasons but also the price is a little steep. But sooo good!


I highly recommend them to my vegan, dairy-free and coconut loving friends.
Wouldn't it be great to combine the almond with chocolate pieces...


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

I've got a lovely bunch of coconut milk...

What a great way to have a chowder like soup - which I am surrounded by up here - without putting back artery clogging, heart stopping cream! Coconut Shrimp and Corn Chowder from Real Simple! Coconut milk is dairy-free, lactose too! I found this recipe in my Real Simple mag a few years ago and after a lot of cataloging I have re-found all of the recipes I collected since 2004...you betcha, sheet protectors, large white three-ring binders, label maker, talk about a lovely saturday afternoon. Judge all you want but I can bet you'd rather come to my house for dinner than head to your neighborhood fat-food-chain. My husband has even noticed that dinner has taken a turn for the better since I started working and since I've been forced to get creative with my diet. So far, everyone's happy! 


This recipe involves little effort (aside from peeling, deveining and defrosting the shrimp) but slightly more pocket change. Coconut milk isn't cheap and neither is the shrimp - but keep an eye on your weekly store flyers and buy shrimp when it goes on sale. Also, there is nothing wrong with frozen shrimp but the best way to go there is raw, shell on. The recipe calls for yukon gold potatoes and I recommend sticking with that specific potato - they are more mild and don't compete with the stronger flavors. A good side dish with this meal is cornbread. We like Jiffy the best and you can substitute water for the milk and a tablespoon of vegetable oil - this makes up for the fat content lost when you ditch milk. *Also, a little secret of mine is to add 1 tbsp. of sugar per box of cornbread, it helps add a little more flavor and make the bread less mealy. It's a great accent to the slightly sweet coconut milk.*


I made this dish for my sister since she has been battling an infant with a sensitive tummy. Soon she'll be set free from her dairy-free sentence but she loved it none the less! You really feel like you're eating something you're not supposed to - and for once it's not  a dairy-free recipe overrun with tomato. Give it a try before it gets too warm outside to warrant soup and sandwich night! 


Of course, we all know that cream tastes better, but if you like thai food this is pretty close to that - without the spice. Let's face it...


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

Normal

Well. My lactose intolerance test came back normal. Normal? What? I have to admit that I was less than thrilled to be a short distance from square one but on the other hand I suppose it's nice to be "normal." 


I still have two more tests and others pending, before more can be concluded on the subject. I suspect it's time to revisit the jotting down my food intake and how I feel thing.  There is no denying that I am sensitive to dairy products, so is it all dairy? Just because I'm not lactose intolerant does not mean that I'm not allergic to milk - or other proteins in milk like casein, which is also found in sandwich meat.  Anyway! I got tired quickly having to write every last food item down, how much, what time, blah blah...so I went on the search for an online database. *cha-ching* www.myfooddiary.com I think I'll go ahead and try the 7 day trial and see how it fits. So far it looks good: over 60,000 foods to choose from, exercise log, reports, etc. I'll decide this weekend if I want to spend $9/month on diet tracking...considering it's the same amount I spend on netflix and that turned out famously all should be a go.


Recently (for obvious reasons) I've been learning to cook without dairy products and find that it usually requires more tomato.  While I'm no stranger to the fruit...it also has a less than desirable effect on my stomach. Acid reflux, sour stomach, common irritations from acidic foods - orange juice, pineapple and sometimes strawberries and applesauce cause the same issues. Also, I've been cooking with more spices and stronger peppers - I love all of this - but it's causing more stomach issues. So am I supposed to drop it all and live on plain chicken, lettuce and crackers? I hope not.


Still, my favorite recipe of late is a Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup I found on www.allrecipes.com. Instantly a favorite: Super easy, delicious soup. I doubled the recipe (expect kept it to one beer) and it fit perfectly in my 7 qt. slow cooker. I hope you try it! 


For dessert I made (Vegan) Chocolate Chip Cookies - by far the best cookies I have ever made. I used the Earth Balance butter and brown sugar (confectioners) which made for a super moist cookie. They aren't Vegan because I used actual eggs instead of an energy (egg) replacer. However, semi-sweet chocolates are not milk-chocolate, don't confuse the two; one has milk and the other doesn't. I am sensitive to chocolate as well but I didn't have a reaction to the morsels. Here is the link to that recipe: Enjoy the recipe, ignore the chefs...


Be back soon. 


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