Our Dairy Free Life: Snacking Away

I am a slacker and needed a couple go to snacks that were quick and dairy free. This is what I'm enjoying so far:

- Hummus with peppers, triscuits, or veggie straws

- Chocolate Teddy Graham's or Oreos for a sweet treat fix

- Plain popcorn with flaked coconut or semisweet chocolate chips (Costco has their own Kirkland brand and they are dairy free) 

- Triscuits with goat cheese and sundried tomatoes 

- Nature Valley Oats and Honey bars

- Lots of fruit :) 

- Edamame with sea salt 

Our Dairy Free Life: Recipes Round One

How have we been surviving going dairy free? Pretty well, surprisingly! Here is what our menu looked like last week:

Monday: Chicken kabobs with sweet chili sauce and sweet potatoes with a sprinkle of brown sugar

Tuesday: Sausage, Egg, Spinach, Feta muffins cups 

Wednesday: Paleo Pancakes with strawberries

Thursday: Roasted chicken with butter lettuce, champagne dressing (Gillard's light champagne dressing - very yummy), strawberries, croutons, and sunflower seeds

Friday: Slow Cooker Thai Peanut Chicken (click here for recipe - you can use almond milk instead of coconut milk) and skinny fried rice 

We filled the gaps with scrambled eggs, roasted chicken, salad, and smoothies with just fruit and orange juice. 

Our Dairy Free Life: Getting Started

Just over a week ago we went dairy free. Okay, I went dairy free because my sweet peanut was experience severe reflux symptoms (even with medication). He is now much happier, which may be due to the lack of dairy I have been consuming.

Going dairy free was intimidating, to say the least. It is in EVERYTHING and is hidden under several aliases. You can find the complete list and more details here: http://www.godairyfree.org/dairy-free-grocery-shopping-guide/dairy-ingredient-list-2

So, I started reading labels and had a meltdown. Dressings, breads, all kinds of sweet treats... All contained dairy. I wondered if I could do it. Why not just go to specialized formula, but that is not what I really wanted. I realized I needed to continue my research, so using www.godairyfree.org and Pinterest, I began my dairy free adventure. I also found an amazing dairy free breast feeding group on Facebook. The information and support immediately made my attitude change (search: Dairy Free Diet - breastfeeding and you will find it). 

Here are a couple other links I found helpful while traveling down this new road.

http://www.chop.edu/pages/breastfeeding-baby-food-allergies#.VfoU5373arW

http://kellymom.com/health/baby-health/food-sensitivity/

Just know it can be done! I will confess... I miss my Reese Pumpkins, but I am losing weight!