I mentioned near the beginning of the month that we had discovered that Andrew does not deal well with the bovine milk protein that comes through in my milk (a condition called allergic colitis), that I had gone off dairy, and that he seemed to be improving. I’ve now been off dairy since around 1pm on Thursday, September 30 (not that I’m counting or anything) and thought I’d give an update on how Andrew and I are doing.
Andrew is doing much better. Over the first couple of weeks, we saw a dramatic improvement in his comfort level, cheerfulness, and the quality of his stools. About three weeks in, however, it seemed like he was moving backward. I felt quite unsettled about him, and called wonderful Mary, our midwife. She connected me with a friend/client who has dealt with allergic colitis with a few of her babies and who has, through necessity, become an expert. It was very helpful to talk with her, and I tweaked a couple of things after our conversation, including dropping goat cheese, as her experience indicated that it is any dairy, not just cow dairy, that causes trouble. That helped a bit more.
Early this week, with Andrew still having the occasional pre-bloody (I can explain that in more detail if you really want) or blood-tinged diaper, I became more convinced that Andrew is one of those babies who cannot handle dairy or soy. I have generally avoided soy products for years now, but I had not realized how many innocent looking foods have soybean oil in them. I’ve peeled off a whole other layer of the dietary onion this week. And it seems to be paying off.
Just to give you an idea of the changes I’ve made, here are some of the things that are in the works in our kitchen:
Things at which I feel the need to develop proficiency/for which I need to find recipes that are dairy/soy free –
~ Tortillas
~ Mayonaise
~ Biscuits
~ Potato soup – a fall/winter staple in our home.
~ Popcorn. I tried it tonight with seasoned salt (and olive oil to hold the salt on the popcorn). It was passable, but nothing to hoot and holler about. I’m looking for ideas.
~ There are more on my mental list, but I can’t find the mental paper it’s on. I guess that’s a sign that I need to write it down with pen and paper.
Things I’ve tried/am trying –
~ Experiments in substituting for butter in various recipes. I have some coconut oil, but it is quite pricey, and I’m definitely not going to be making cookies with it at a cup or cup and a half per batch.
~ Today I tried an idea suggested by a friend – using mashed up white beans as a substitute for butter. I found a recipe for oatmeal cookies using beans and they were quite yummy. I’ll post more about this on my Love You Can Eat blog, because, well, it qualifies!
~ I have a batch of artisan bread dough in the fridge so I can start making bread again. Need a carrier for my homemade apple butter, you know. (Store-bought bread is pretty much an automatic fail)
~ I made cornbread last night. I generally use bacon drippings for the fat in my cornbread, so the only sub was almond milk instead of buttermillk. Quite tasty.
Foods for which I’m developing appreciation (read: my sanity savers) –
Almond Milk
Dark Chocolate Almond Milk
Dark Chocolate that doesn’t use soy lecithin as an emulsifier
Almond butter on gala apples
(Do you see an almond theme here? I’m extra grateful that almonds are an alkalizing food, or I would be in a world of hurt!)
In the midst of our food journey, I am thankful that we do not have to be concerned about one of the most common side effects of allergic colitis, failure to thrive.
For tortillas, my recipe calls for 4 cups flour, 1 tsp. salt, 2 tsp. baking powder, 2 TBSP shortening, and 1 1/2 cups water. I know you can’t use shortening, but I would think oil would work because my recipe for unleavened or matzah bread is exactly the same, minus the baking powder and using olive oil instead.
We just had to take my oldest off dairy and I’m learning a lot about this as well!
Oh how I love that last picture =0] How cute!
I’m so glad that you are finding things you like, and I’m sure you will continue to find more good things.
i make a generic “kettle” corn with a smidge of canola oil, sugar and chili powder. generally addicting and dairy free if you don’t mind some white sugar once in awhile!
the potato soup will be tough, maybe w/ white beans and rice milk???
good things outta you! he looks great 🙂
So glad he is feeling better! I was off milk with Gideon for over 6 months and I understand the limitations. And might I say, ” you are doing a great job!”
You might try looking on Vitacost.com for coconut oil. I have gotten it there recently for a good price (I use it in everything now).
I have a great french bread recipe that is dairy free
1 1/2 C warm water
1T yeast
1T sugar
1t salt
2T oil
4 1/2 C flour
Dissolve yeast in water. Mix in sugar, salt, & oil. Add flour. Knead until smooth and elastic. Let rise until doubled. Punch down & form long narrow loaf. Grease baking sheet, place loaf on pan. Let rise. Bake 20-25 min @ 400
makes 1 loaf.
Keep it up lady!
lot of love
J
That poor child is just wasting away!!
Love you tons!
Ok, I have tried substituting shortening with applesauce. It worked in biscuits I made, but changed the consistency made them more cake-like consistency with biscuit taste. Still quite tasty. I also did it with cookies (actually I substituted butter and shortening both) with applesauce in cookies once and it was pretty good too. I just used the same amount of applesauce as shortening or butter or both. So if the recipe calls for a cup of butter, I used a cup of applesauce. I was surprised there was no applesauce flavor at all.
Can you just buy lard? The tortilla recipe I have has lard in it. I don’t think it has dairy in it…Just nasty disgusting lard… 😉
Good luck on the diet front. That is difficult on everyone! 😉
Oh and I am so glad that he doesn’t need to worry about failure to thrive. 😉 LOVE those pudgy thighs!
Thank you, friends, for all the encouragement and ideas!
Nope! No failure to thrive! ; )
I’m not much help for suggestions, but I will pray.