This might be my biggest breakthrough to date!! It has changed my mood entirely and I'm SO exited to share it with a friend who is going though the same thing...
It is *drum roll please*
MILK FREE CHOCOLATE!!!
I originally got the idea from Dr. Oz. I didn't have any carob though (and no desire to get some), and for the most part I only use sugar, no Stevia or fakes... I tinkered around with the recipe and what I've come up with is amazing! There are only a few draw-backs: The melting point is super low, so they have to be hardened in tins and stored in the fridge or freezer, and for some reason I CAN NOT eat one without getting it on my shirt!! I think that has more to do with me though! I'm sure the calorie count is much higher than Oz's, but as I've said before, I need MORE calories and they are SO worth it anyway! So, here it is!
2/3 c Coconut Oil
3 Tbs Liquid Sugar In The Raw
1/2 c Cocoa Powder
2 tsp Vanilla
Heat the coconut oil (in microwave or over low heat) until it's just liquified. Mix in liquid sugar and cocoa and vanilla. Place paper liners in mini muffin tin (or tartlet pan). Fill each cup with about 1 1/2 Tbs of mixture. Refrigerate until set. Remove from tin and eat, store the rest in an air-tight container in the fridge or freezer. Makes about 16.
If you can't find liquid raw sugar you CAN use regular white sugar, however, the sugar won't dissolve so they will be rather grainy and a little crunchy... You should re-stir between tins. They are not as enjoyable this way, but are still a Godsend and totally worth the (very little) effort. I'm sure agave could be used, but as I never use substitutes (I only had the liquid stuff for iced tea), I don't have any to try it...
Like I said, this has totally changed my mood! I have a serious chocolate addiction I'm not interested in getting over and not getting my daily Kisses was killing me! Sam seems to be pretty sensitive to chocolate too, so when I would sneak just one tiny little bite he'd still notice! I hope this changes your life as much as it has mine!!
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Thursday, August 23, 2012
S'More Love
I've spent the last week or so completely dejected again. I noticed that my hint of lime corn chips AND my salt and vinegar potato chips both have milk..! The corn chips were particularly depressing because I use them with my tomato-free guac to punch it up a bit. Plain chips are fine, but I'm already at a taste deficit, this just adds insult to injury. Feeling deprived again sent me looking for another pick-me-up... When I first began this endeavor I avoided all baked goods (which is a Herculean feat for me... I bake weekly). Sam's pediatrician said this wasn't necessary though (she said the proteins change when they're cooked, or something). I did, however see some mild responses in Sam when I indulged so I've set some ground rules for myself:
1. Only home-baked goods so I know EXACTLY what went in.
2. Nothing with milk or heavy dairy (i.e. sour cream, yogurt, cheese)
3. One serving a day!
With all this in mind I have to make my treats count! Here is my latest creation to be a salve on my chip wound!
S'Mores Brownies
Melt 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (I found dairy-free) and 4 Tbsp butter in a sauce pan over low heat, stirring frequently. Turn off the heat and whisk in 3/8 cup brown sugar and 3/8 cup sugar. Cool slightly. Add 2 eggs, one at a time. Add 1/2 tsp vanilla. Stir in 1/2 cup flour and 1/4 tsp salt. Spray an 8x8 inch pan. Spread a small amount of batter in the bottom then line with graham crackers (the first time I skipped the initial batter and the crackers proved VERY messy when eaten). Bake at 325 for 35 minutes. Top with mini marshmallows and chocolate chips, pressing them into the top just a bit. Bake another 10 minutes or until a toothpick comes out mostly clean. Store air-tight!
Enjoy!!
*Reprised on Sept. 4th!
1. Only home-baked goods so I know EXACTLY what went in.
2. Nothing with milk or heavy dairy (i.e. sour cream, yogurt, cheese)
3. One serving a day!
With all this in mind I have to make my treats count! Here is my latest creation to be a salve on my chip wound!
S'Mores Brownies
Melt 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (I found dairy-free) and 4 Tbsp butter in a sauce pan over low heat, stirring frequently. Turn off the heat and whisk in 3/8 cup brown sugar and 3/8 cup sugar. Cool slightly. Add 2 eggs, one at a time. Add 1/2 tsp vanilla. Stir in 1/2 cup flour and 1/4 tsp salt. Spray an 8x8 inch pan. Spread a small amount of batter in the bottom then line with graham crackers (the first time I skipped the initial batter and the crackers proved VERY messy when eaten). Bake at 325 for 35 minutes. Top with mini marshmallows and chocolate chips, pressing them into the top just a bit. Bake another 10 minutes or until a toothpick comes out mostly clean. Store air-tight!
Enjoy!!
*Reprised on Sept. 4th!
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
I Love Lara
I didn't remember anything about them until I was scouring the grocery store shelves at Lake Tahoe for something to curb my raging desire for chocolate! Since I had already learned that milk-free snacks were kept separate in stores (kind of like kids banished to the middle of the school bus: not cool enough to sit in back, too annoying to sit up by the driver), I was looking in the raw/whole/organic food section. Chocolate Chip Brownie caught my eye... So I read the ingredients: Dates (interesting), Dairy-Free Chocolate Chips (yes please!!), Almonds, Walnuts (well, I guess if you have to have nuts..), Cocoa Powder. Hm. WAIT!! These are those bars Hayley told me about!!
I bought three, two days later I went back and bought five more. They ARE NOT brownies. But they are terribly satisfying, hunger-wise and for a good dose of yummy. At 240 calories they are a good sized snack for one making milk all day. They come in LOTS of flavors. And they're not all that expensive. I have three boxes in my pantry right now, and I'll probably keep eating them even when I can go back to ingesting whatever my little heart desires!
* Sorry Hayley!
Saturday, August 4, 2012
What about a Parfait?!
I found this recipe a while ago but could never seem to have all the ingredients at the same time (I have a new baby, remember!)... Until today! What got me so excited was the promise of creaminess without dairy. I have to say, it delivered! The only problem was that it was WAY too sweet this time! I used strawberries and they were very ripe, so you might need this much honey (I left out the Stevia completely and would use regular sugar anyway) with black- or raspberries, but next time I'm going to omit it completely and add to taste. For the crumble I used plain ol' Rice Krispies (since my husband loves them), so there was probably a little less fiber, but I have no problem making THAT up. I was really happy to see coconut oil in there too. I try to eat a tablespoon of coconut oil every day for my skin and nails, and since I ate most of this on my own for lunch I got a pretty good dose!
Overall this was a success and having it available will really improve my mood!
Friday, August 3, 2012
Grill It Like It's Hot!
When first learning about a dairy-free life I read that a lot of lunch meats are cured with milk. So I cut that out (except for the super nagging, however infrequent Subway hankering). Of course I couldn't have anything with cheese... My pickiness reared it's ugly head again in the form of a disdain of all fish... On top of all that I've been forced to eliminate beans, so no black beans and couscous, no (cheese-free) bean burritos... I was at a loss for protein until my wonderful husband said one night "why don't we grill extra chicken to have around for lunch?"
Brilliant!
After that, every Sunday or Monday we grilled copious amounts of chicken tenderloins marinated in Italian dressing for just enough flavor to eat on their own but not enough to ruin any other plans I might have for them. After that I ALWAYS had a satisfying lunch! I would wrap one up with lots of veggies in a tortilla , or with hummus (beans, I know, but we've never had a problem with hummus specifically) and cucumbers, or, my favorite! chicken salad. Here's how I make it:
Chopped Chicken
Diced Green Apple
Chopped Raw Pecans
Real Mayonaise
Curry Powder
I eyeball everything and mix it all up in a bowl. I like a little less mayo than average and not too much curry so it's not overpowering. On the other hand I like LOTS of apples and pecans. This will keep in the fridge for several days so I generally make at least two lunches worth. I prefer it on a pita or in a tortilla, both have no milk where wheat bread does.
What is most satisfying about this is the creaminess. In a life devoid of dairy it's hard to find something that is truly creamy and while this doesn't kill the desperate longing for ice cream, it helps to curb the feelings of complete deprivation. Hope you like it!!
Brilliant!
After that, every Sunday or Monday we grilled copious amounts of chicken tenderloins marinated in Italian dressing for just enough flavor to eat on their own but not enough to ruin any other plans I might have for them. After that I ALWAYS had a satisfying lunch! I would wrap one up with lots of veggies in a tortilla , or with hummus (beans, I know, but we've never had a problem with hummus specifically) and cucumbers, or, my favorite! chicken salad. Here's how I make it:
Chopped Chicken
Diced Green Apple
Chopped Raw Pecans
Real Mayonaise
Curry Powder
I eyeball everything and mix it all up in a bowl. I like a little less mayo than average and not too much curry so it's not overpowering. On the other hand I like LOTS of apples and pecans. This will keep in the fridge for several days so I generally make at least two lunches worth. I prefer it on a pita or in a tortilla, both have no milk where wheat bread does.
What is most satisfying about this is the creaminess. In a life devoid of dairy it's hard to find something that is truly creamy and while this doesn't kill the desperate longing for ice cream, it helps to curb the feelings of complete deprivation. Hope you like it!!
Thursday, August 2, 2012
Hammer (Snack) Time!
Generally speaking snacks weren't a problem for me at the beginning. I'd just have peanut butter with my apple instead of cheese (or PB with something else)... That was becoming monotonous though (I CAN do the same breakfast every morning, I CAN'T do the same snack three times a day, every day!). Also, once we started traveling (for almost a month, all over the west) I started having problems. Enter
!!!!
I've had the Whole Berry Blast and Superfood Slam. These were great because, as a nursing mommy I needed something with a calorie count comparable to a Snickers without the milk chocolate or nougat... or caramel for that matter! These were incredibly filling and VERY yummy. Now, the Superfood has chocolate and I know from experience that Sam has trouble with milk chocolate (even three squares of a Hershey's bar), but somehow they make it without milk, but we'll see that more in the Larabars... Coming soon!
Anyway, this is where an epiphany came. These bars are mostly raw, whole foods. Up to now I was looking for help strictly from the lactose-free community and while I found some good info and recipes, I was still unsatisfied in a lot of ways. So now I look at all the extreme diets, raw food, whole food, vegan... I can't get these bars at any of the stores near my house, but now I know they're out there.... I will find something along the same lines or, like everyone else does, get them off of amazon!!
I've had the Whole Berry Blast and Superfood Slam. These were great because, as a nursing mommy I needed something with a calorie count comparable to a Snickers without the milk chocolate or nougat... or caramel for that matter! These were incredibly filling and VERY yummy. Now, the Superfood has chocolate and I know from experience that Sam has trouble with milk chocolate (even three squares of a Hershey's bar), but somehow they make it without milk, but we'll see that more in the Larabars... Coming soon!
Anyway, this is where an epiphany came. These bars are mostly raw, whole foods. Up to now I was looking for help strictly from the lactose-free community and while I found some good info and recipes, I was still unsatisfied in a lot of ways. So now I look at all the extreme diets, raw food, whole food, vegan... I can't get these bars at any of the stores near my house, but now I know they're out there.... I will find something along the same lines or, like everyone else does, get them off of amazon!!
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
First Light
My first ray of light came, fittingly, for breakfast. I'll be the first to admit that a lot of my trouble has stemmed from my own pickiness... I won't eat eggs. Ok, I WILL eat eggs as long as they come in a tortilla with sautéed onions and peppers, sausage, hot sauce, and LOTS of cheese! At first I was just eating a lot of nuts and fruit. You can imagine how boring that gets. Then I ran into this:
1 Green Apple
1 Lemon's juice
2 Handfuls of Raw Almonds
Several shakes of ground Ginger (I always have to taste and add..)
Fig spread (this was easy to find, figs were not. I get it in the deli section by the artisan cheese, the irony is not lost on me)
Grape Nuts, added just before eating for a nice crunch and more fiber!
A sprinkle of Flax Seed Meal
Throw the first 5 ingredients into your food processor and make it chunky! This lasts me two days... I make a double batch and it's good for most of the week (the lemon juice keeps it fresh). I have found that it is absolutely necessary to use a food processor. There have been a couple of occasions (on vacation) where I've had to use a blender and it's awful! The mixture is yummiest when it's fairly chunky and the blender pulverizes it turning it into a mushy, nasty mess. It's still edible, but NOT enjoyable.
I have had this almost every morning for a month now and am still glad to eat breakfast. Despite that I have another recipe I'll be trying... I'll let you know how that goes!
The Beginning
On May 7th our lives were infinitely blessed by the addition of our second little boy, Samuel Arthur. Within twenty minutes of his shockingly quick birth (story here) he was nursing like a champ! He did not slow down.. ever. Before his two week check-up his baby acne got REALLY bad, it looked tremendously painful and a friend mentioned a connection to dairy. I did some research and while I didn't see any evidence that said there was a connection I read many testimonies of mommies who had tried it. I figured cutting out some dairy could be a good experiment. Before that my dairy consumption looked something like this:
Breakfast: Yogurt AND cereal with milk
Snack: Cheese with crackers or apple
Lunch: Deli meat with cheese or pita with hummus and feta...
Snack: Protein shake or something with Nutella
Dinner: Pasta with cheese, or a cheese burger etc.
Snack: More cereal with milk...
On top of that there was the iced coffee, the occasional glass of chocolate milk, or ice cream. There was A LOT of dairy in my life, so cutting down was not difficult! What was difficult was eliminating it, so I just didn't do that.
At his two week appointment I mentioned all this to Sam's doctor who assured me that dairy had no effect on a baby's skin, the only reason to cut it out would be gas... My husband and I declared that he was still plenty gassy! With that I went back to my regular diet. Within a couple days Sam's gas got so bad that we were holding him ALL night as he squirmed and grunted and screamed... He was by no means colicky, he was perfectly consolable and was not upset as long as he wasn't actively passing gas but we were getting NO sleep, and with a toddler, that just wasn't a good option! After the second night of constant holding I put it together that things were getting worse the longer I kept up my dairy habits and resolved to cut it out completely... which was AWFUL! Within a week though he was sleeping (quite peacefully!) for no less than four hours and up to six every night! With all that sleep under my belt I decided
I CAN DO THIS!!
It's been very difficult. I won't use soy because of estrogen concerns and being a dairy connoisseur, the almond milks and ice creams are absolutely not satisfying. The second week was incredibly depressing when, during research into lactose-free items I figured out the problem is NOT lactose, it is a protein. My doubt was quenched the night I had a dairy-free steak dinner... Poor Sammy responded just as if I had had a bowl of yogurt.
I've spent the last two months unsatisfied, depleted, and hungry (although I've lost almost all my baby weight!)... But every now and then I find something that makes me feel better, something that makes me feel satisfied one way or another and gives me the will to do this (terribly important) task. That's why I'm writing. I want to help any mommies out there who are in the same position and feel as strongly about keeping up with the nursing as long as they can. I hope I can be a light to someone out there!
Breakfast: Yogurt AND cereal with milk
Snack: Cheese with crackers or apple
Lunch: Deli meat with cheese or pita with hummus and feta...
Snack: Protein shake or something with Nutella
Dinner: Pasta with cheese, or a cheese burger etc.
Snack: More cereal with milk...
On top of that there was the iced coffee, the occasional glass of chocolate milk, or ice cream. There was A LOT of dairy in my life, so cutting down was not difficult! What was difficult was eliminating it, so I just didn't do that.
At his two week appointment I mentioned all this to Sam's doctor who assured me that dairy had no effect on a baby's skin, the only reason to cut it out would be gas... My husband and I declared that he was still plenty gassy! With that I went back to my regular diet. Within a couple days Sam's gas got so bad that we were holding him ALL night as he squirmed and grunted and screamed... He was by no means colicky, he was perfectly consolable and was not upset as long as he wasn't actively passing gas but we were getting NO sleep, and with a toddler, that just wasn't a good option! After the second night of constant holding I put it together that things were getting worse the longer I kept up my dairy habits and resolved to cut it out completely... which was AWFUL! Within a week though he was sleeping (quite peacefully!) for no less than four hours and up to six every night! With all that sleep under my belt I decided
I CAN DO THIS!!
It's been very difficult. I won't use soy because of estrogen concerns and being a dairy connoisseur, the almond milks and ice creams are absolutely not satisfying. The second week was incredibly depressing when, during research into lactose-free items I figured out the problem is NOT lactose, it is a protein. My doubt was quenched the night I had a dairy-free steak dinner... Poor Sammy responded just as if I had had a bowl of yogurt.
I've spent the last two months unsatisfied, depleted, and hungry (although I've lost almost all my baby weight!)... But every now and then I find something that makes me feel better, something that makes me feel satisfied one way or another and gives me the will to do this (terribly important) task. That's why I'm writing. I want to help any mommies out there who are in the same position and feel as strongly about keeping up with the nursing as long as they can. I hope I can be a light to someone out there!
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