Dietary Woes

Well, not mine. Okay, they ARE my dietary woes, but only in a roundabout way. Ian seems to have sensitivities to milk and soy products, as well as having highly sensitive skin. So I'm on week three or four of dairy-free life and week two of no soy. Being that I'm already a vegetarian, this has made my life very interesting. It's a little disturbing how much milk and soy products crop up in packaged, ready-to-eat foods. I'm being a good little label-reader like never before.
I've found some great cooking websites, and so many friends have sent me links to others--it's been really helpful. I find myself cooking a lot of Indian food these days. I made aloo gobi last night with chola tikkis as a side dish--good stuff! There's a great website called Manjula's Kitchen that's got a ton of good recipes, plus videos to demonstrate cooking methods.

But trying to find recipes that I can alter for my dairy eating husband and daughter has been a challenge. They only humor me for so long.

And I miss cheese. All the cheese substitutes I've seen (and I SCOURED the fake cheese section at Whole Foods) have either dairy or soy in them. I did happily discover that Earth Balance has made a soy-free vegan margarine that's even hydrogenated oil free! I can even bake with it, and that's cool. It does lend baked goods an odd, corn-like smell that bugs me, but I would much rather have that than no cookies at all! And I've found soy-free dark chocolate, which is awesome. And coconut-milk ice cream is tasty. I wish all this stuff was cheaper, though...

It's just been an adjustment. But Ian's skin look so much better already! I've started using the free and clear detergent and double-rinse all his clothes, blankets, etc. I should buy stock in Aquaphor and CeraVe lotions--we slather him with those a couple times a day. It all seems to help his eczema. Poor little guy was just clawing at his skin, it all itched so bad. Thank god for the internet--it makes researching this stuff so much easier. I've found some really helpful information from other moms with similar issues.

Hopefully he'll outgrow these food sensitivities eventually. That seems to be the case for a lot of these kids. I will have cheese again, I know. I'm making pizza tonight for the fam (I'll just leave the cheese off my portion) and I make jokes about rocking in the corner and crying while they eat theirs. I know cutting out the dairy is probably healthier for me (not to mention better for the cows), but I miss cheese and yogurt and butter like you would not believe. I feel as if I sound vaguely like a meat-eater reacting to my own vegetarian lifestyle: "Yeah, that's great, but don't you miss a good STEAK?" If I had a dollar for everytime I've heard that in the last ten years...