I am struggling. Earlier this year we did a meat-free month (which I know, I don’t think I ever finished blogging about), which was a choice we made to stop over-indulging on meat and remember what we love about vegetables. We chose to do that.
Due to some health issues, I have recently been told I have a sensitivity to dairy (among a long list of other items). So, for a month I am cutting dairy out completely – or almost completely. It has been a week, and I am struggling. I love to torment myself by watching Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives with all the gooey cheese that goes with most things.
By some miracle I resisted a pot of burrata in the mozzarella section at Waitrose yesterday – AND it was discounted! That is a sign that I am truly unwell, or more positively committed to spending a month dairy free to see if I feel better at the end of it. I’ve had a good moan at my husband, so I thought I’d moan to all you lovely lot of grace my blog.
It really is terribly challenging – no milk, no yoghurt, no cheese, no chocolate (although I have found a delicious alternative that has no dairy called raw chocolate and the brand I’ve found is scrummy – but I’ve temporarily run out). I utterly love all things dairy and I try to buy the best quality of all these items – organic milk (or even occasionally organic unpasturised from the farmer’s market), organic yoghurt, artisan cheeses, organic chocolate.
I am mortified currently, and thought I would weep on your shoulders. Don’t get me wrong, there are lots of foods and dishes I’m still enjoying, but a bit like when we did the meat-free month and hit the point where we were just utterly craving a crispy piece of bacon, I am craving dairy, especially cheese.
To make it better I thought I’d show you lots of pictures of all the stuff I’m missing…hmm…
Eat the Earth 
10 comments
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April 11, 2012 at 5:28 pm
countrywoodsmoke
Aww bless you, that’s too cruel,
I would really struggle too, just eat lots of meat to cheer you up 🙂
Maybe don’t look at my next pizza post then.
Cheers
Marcus
April 11, 2012 at 6:48 pm
Charlie
Thanks Marcus, I could just stuff my face with buffalo mozzarella right now… But no no looking forward to more of your pizza posts – any tips/ideas/suggestions on toppings without cheese would be much appreciated 🙂 Hoping to have pizza this Friday (always homemade pizza night) so will either try and come up with something delicious without mozzarella or just have a tinsy-tiny bit on mine x
April 11, 2012 at 6:55 pm
Michelle
Oh, my. And you are torturing yourself with all these yummy photos!
April 15, 2012 at 10:07 am
Cat
If it makes you feel any better, I recently discovered I have an intolerance to garlic (probably brought on by the massive amounts I ate). I can no longer stomach fresh homemade garlic bread, garlic and potato pizza, the barbeque pizza sauce I make with garlic, my all time favourite pasta dish… I am just lucky that at the moment it seems to be rawish garlic thats the problem, so as long as I heat the hell out of it I can still put it in everything.
April 17, 2012 at 1:45 pm
Charlie
Gosh I didn’t realise you could have an intolerance to garlic, what a shame 😦 Have you tried roasted garlic? It goes beautifully sweet 🙂
April 18, 2012 at 3:24 am
Cat
Unfortunately you can 😦 I can still eat roasted garlic which is great, and I use that on lots of things. I make a new garlic bread just by having toasted wood oven bread, spread with roasted garlic that’s been ground with salt to a spreadable paste. Yum!
April 19, 2012 at 11:15 pm
India
Hi,
I too was recently told that I am lactose intolerant(cows milk) and reading your post I felt I had to tell you that there is light at the end of the tunnel. As a huge foodie and lover of cheese,butter and pastry all of which had to be cut out I began to look for alternatives. Now a few months down the line there is not a scrap of dairy in my diet and I am pretty much cooking everything I was before.
Soya margarine is a life saver. Cakes,cookies,flapjacks and even pastry can be made successfully.
Using suet and other dairy free fat together works a treat when making pastry especially for pies.
For a milk substitute, I find soya and rice are the best alternatives,I put them in everything from porridge to pancakes to rice pudding.
Good luck with it all.
It will get easier 🙂
April 22, 2012 at 6:36 pm
Charlie
Thanks for your message, I don’t believe I’m lactose intolerant, but just at the moment I have a sensitivity to dairy, so the advice I have is to cut it out to allow my body to recover. I am doing a lot of reading and hoping I’m finding out more of what is upsetting my body, and hope one day I might be confident and comfortable enough to share it with others who might be suffering similar things. Thanks for sharing your tips, I am really enjoying rice and almond milk, especially to create an alternative hot chocolate xXX
May 24, 2012 at 1:18 pm
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