You know how parents always talk about the gray hairs given to them by their children? Or how many hours of labor mom withstood before birth?
Okay, well maybe it’s me – I talk about those things.
There’s more. I definitely took one for the team during pregnancy. I developed all sorts of crazy skin sensitivities, as well as an allergy to dairy.
In The Atlantic, Vanessa Hua writes, “In pregnancy, women are shape-shifters, their bellies waxing like the moon. After delivery, they hold another kind of magic: microchimerism, a condition in which women harbor cells that originated in their children even decades after birth.”
You see, I’ve learned to embrace this as my super power. Okay, maybe that’s going a little far.
However, when I read this, it really made me not feel crazy for thinking that these things were somehow related to the pregnancies.
Did I mention that the child with whom I was pregnant when this first happened, has the same, identical issues?
It is now known that, “Fetomaternal transfer probably occurs in all pregnancies” and that, “Microchimeric fetal cells are found in various maternal tissues and organs including blood, bone marrow, skin and liver.” (Source: The National Center for Biotechnology Information)
This would certainly explain ⅔ of our family’s dairy issues.
Shortly after realizing that my newborn child’s eczema and other reactions were triggered by dairy, I had to eliminate it from my diet so that there were no traces of it in my breast milk. When he weaned, I went back to consuming it only to realize that I too, could no longer tolerate it.
From that point on, I, and the rest of the children born to me, would need to become dairy free.
For someone who enjoyed dairy before, it was a little challenging at first. But now, we have become so used to it that it is not even an issue. We will even have pizza dinners, where ⅓ of the family will eat regular cheese pizza and the other ⅔ will have cheese-less pizza, topped with veggies…and we all actually really like it!
I suppose it’s just now a way of life.
When outside of the house, before my children will put anything into their mouths, they will usually ask, “Does that have milk (or butter, or cheese) in it???” If the answer is yes, usually not even a hint of a tantrum ensues.
That’s saying a lot for a three year old.
I would say that the only semi-struggle is going out to eat at a restaurant. It is not impossible, but it does involve lots of questions about how the food is prepared. Ordering is never a quick process. But we make it work!
As a result of our allergies, there are quite a few non-dairy things that the dairy eaters enjoy: coconut milk tonic, coconut milk ice cream, cashew milk, and this “cheese,” to name a few!
If you have dairy allergies and you’re like me, I know that you’ll appreciate some good, tried and true recipes that are kid tested and mother approved.
So here’s a short list of 3 dairy free treats:
The first is Chocolate Chip Cookies from Caroline at Gutsy.
Ingredients
- 1 ¾ cup almond flour
- ¼ cup maple syrup or honey
- ¾ cup homemade chocolate chips or non-dairy chocolate chips, like Enjoy Life
- ¼ cup butter or coconut oil (softened)
- ¼ tsp unrefined sea salt
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp vanilla
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Line cookie sheet with unbleached parchment paper.
- Mix all ingredients together in one bowl (except chocolate chips).
- Add in chocolate chips.
- Scoop out 1 tablespoon cookie dough with a spoon (I use a measuring spoon) and place on the prepared cookie sheet. Keep 3 inches of space between each cookie. Press down slightly to flatten the cookie.
- Bake for 6-10 minutes. The cookie should just be a little golden brown on the bottom. Do not over cook!
- Cool for 10 minutes on the cookie sheet (or else they will be too soft to pick up). These cookies should stay soft when cool.
- Eat with a smile!
Notes
*Store leftovers in a container for 1 week or the fridge for a few weeks.
*Store left over cookie dough in the fridge for 2 weeks or the freezer for a few months!
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Next is Coconut Flour Zucchini Bread from Dawn Gifford at Sustainable Footprint Family.
Ingredients
- 1 cup (1 small to medium) zucchini, shredded finely and squeezed out
- 4 eggs
- 2-3 Tbsp. raw honey or Grade B maple syrup
- 1 ripe banana, mashed
- 1 Tbsp. coconut oil, plus extra if greasing the pan
- 1/2 cup coconut flour
- 3/4 tsp. baking soda
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1 Tbsp. cinnamon
- ½ tsp. nutmeg
- 1 tsp. apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 cup walnuts (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Grease a small loaf pan with coconut oil or line with parchment paper; set aside.
- Shred your zucchini finely, and then use a nut milk bag or cheesecloth to squeeze all the moisture out of it.
- Mix the egg, honey or syrup, oil, and banana together in a large bowl.
- Mix in the dry ingredients and zucchini, then add the apple cider vinegar, and stir until the batter is smooth.
- Stir in the nuts, if using.
- Pour batter into a greased loaf pan and bake for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. (Larger pans will take less time.)
- Enjoy!
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Last is Flourless Sweet Potato Blender Muffins from Super Healthy Kids.
Ingredients
- 1 medium – sweet potato
- 2 medium – banana
- 2 large – egg
- 2/3 cup – almond butter
- 6 tablespoon – maple syrup, pure
- 1 1/2 teaspoon – cinnamon
- 3/4 teaspoon – ginger, ground
- 1/2 teaspoon – allspice
- 1/4 teaspoon – nutmeg
- 2 teaspoon – baking powder
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a muffin tin.
- Bake sweet potato until tender (about an hour) and allow to cool, or use leftovers if you have them on hand.
- Place 3/4 cup mashed sweet potato along with all the remaining ingredients (except the baking powder) in a blender. (Make sure you measure the sweet potato as the texture will change if you add a different amount.) Blend on high until smooth.
- Add the baking powder and blend on low until just combined.
- Pour the batter into the muffin tin, filling each cup 3/4 of the way full.
- Bake in preheated oven for 18-20 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.
