An Ode to Dairy

Oh Dairy, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways...


In my coffee. 
I use a LOT of cream in my coffee. This is easily battled with non-dairy creamer. It's more difficult when going out for breakfast, though. A lot of places only have the powdered stuff (blech) if any thing at all. 
On my toast.
My favorite breakfast in the whole wide world is a piece of toast with melted cheese on it and a soft boiled egg. So delicious. And so out of reach when you can't eat lactose. There just isn't a good substitute for melted cheese. 
On my bagel. 
My second favorite breakfast in the whole wide world is a bagel with cream cheese. With coffee. Soooo good. Luckily, there is this magical substance called Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese which is just as delicious as cream cheese. Thank goodness. 
With my cereal.
My standby breakfast is milk and cereal. Almond milk gets the job done. 
With some fruit.
Oh fruit and yogurt. Or fruit and cottage cheese. Such a tasty and wholesome snack you make. I haven't found any good yogurt substitutes, yet. 
On my sandwich.
Cheese, cheese, glorious cheese, what a delicious sandwich you do make. Avocado is a delicious, albeit expensive substitute. 
In my pizza.
Chicago style deep dish pizza. 'Nuff said.  
In Cheddar Bay Biscuits.
Just after finding the most amazing recipe for these in the world I became lactose intolerant. Cruel, cruel world. 
In Mexican food. 
I know that there is plenty of Mexican food that is not covered in cheese. Fish tacos are good, but they just don't hit the spot when all I want is queso fundido. 
Frozen.
Seriously, all of the desserts that are worth eating have lactose in them. Thankfully, the food industry has acknowledged this and has therefore created a plethora of imitation products. Not the same, but close enough. 


So that's my whiney lactose intolerance post. I have also discovered Lactaid, a magical pill that solely consists of lactase, the enzyme necessary to digest lactose. I'm doing my best to not just use all of the soy substitutions there are available because too much soy isn't great for your body. And I'm only allowing myself one (or two) Lactaid pills a week because I figure there's probably a reason my body isn't liking lactose right now and I shouldn't force the issue. 


It turns out that not eating dairy is really great for weight control. I lost 4 pounds immediately upon stopping, and only just recently have begun to gain it back what with the growing baby bump and all. So in the end, it hasn't been the great tragedy I thought it was going to be, and there are some days where I just give in and order pizza for dinner because it's too hot/I'm too tired/Lily was a pill all day. All things in moderation, I say.