Dairy Free Picky Eater

I will say it - I am a picky eater! So when Cash's pediatrician asked me to go dairy-free temporarily, I was SHOOK.

No ice cream slushes?
No milkshakes?
No cereal or milk and I couldn't even eat PIZZA?

It was a hard adjustment. I had days when I had absolutely NO appetite and would force myself to eat crap because I had to eat and drink to keep my milk supply up. But let's start from the beginning.

Cash has been EBF (exclusively breast fed) since birth. For the first month-6 weeks, we had no problems at all! But then, the poops started. I thought it was a spicy meal I had eaten, but all of the sudden, poops were mucusy, runny, and DARK algae green. I let it go for a few days, but when it didn't change, I started looking to reasons why it might be that way.

I looked into foremilk/hindmilk imbalance, so I would pump, mix the milk, and feed him. I started back to work soon after, but poops never changed.

And EVERYTHING I read online said: milk protein allergy.

I refused to believe it, really. I tried other things, but at his two month appointment, the pediatrician suggested that I "eliminate or limit" dairy for two weeks. After those two weeks, when nothing had changed, we brought in a stool sample, which was positive for blood, but negative for bacterial/other infections. They wanted me to try two more weeks, so I brought a diaper at 4 weeks of no dairy. There was less blood, so "keep doing what you're doing!" We are now at 7 weeks of no dairy, with no changes to me, except his poop has gone from an algae green to a light green and sometimes mustard yellow. Still no change in texture. (I am looking into "overfeeding," but that's just my own research. We go back in a few weeks with another stool sample.)

So dairy free has been hard. I am a super picky eater, so I didn't know what I could even have. My go-to meals use include butter or milk of some kind.

But I'll be damned if I want to give up breastfeeding and then would have to rinse my cloth diapers before washing! (However, the fact that I was coming back from Christmas break with 12 hour workdays and a new mom and I couldn't have my white chocolate mocha with whipped cream from Starbucks hit me HARD.)

So here is what I have stuck to for the last seven weeks.

MEALS

• Spaghetti (no Parmesan and no garlic bread. Instead, I would put olive oil and garlic salt on white bread and toast it. It tasted similar. Also, any kind of chicken in a tomato based sauce is good too!)
• Baked chicken (we smoked chicken last night in our smoker, and it was great!)
• Turkey sandwiches (from Subway, I had to switch from Italian Herb & Cheese to wheat. I also add lettuce, tomato, and cucumber. I also make these at home)
• Peanut butter sandwiches (just because I'm not a jelly fan, but jelly is dairy-free too!)
• Burger (I have never really liked cheese on my burgers - I just make sure if the bun is toasted, it is not toasted with butter on it.)
• Chicken fajita taco (fajita meat, lettuce, tomato, on a flour tortilla)
• Chili (we had deer chili - so good! No cheese on top or cornbread on the side, but you can eat with Club crackers)
• Salad (if that's what you're into)
• (some) cereals with Almond Milk (actually not bad at all. I get the sweetened vanilla flavor, and it honestly tastes like chocolate milk, just a little thinner)
• BBQ (YES. And BBQ sauce is dairy-free!)
• Steak (duh. If you like bearnaise sauce, that's out - sorry, unless you can find a dairy free recipe. Then send it my way!)
• Pork chops (not my favorite, but hey, it could be worse.)

SIDES

• Baked potato (I put Smart Balance butter on it - wasn't great, but was better than nothing. Sweet potatoes can be a good alternative, too.)
• French fries (sorry not sorry)
• Fritos (Doritos are my usual go-to, but NOOO they have to betray me like that.)
• Grilled veggies (especially mushrooms and onions! A lot of people like corn and asparagus, as well)
• Rice (flavor with tomato sauce or chicken broth, then skip the butter. You can also do dairy-free cream of chicken soup to put over chicken and rice. I have not tried myself, but plan on it soon!)
• Beans (not my thing, but dairy free none-the-less!)
• 
  

SNACKS - Check the labels to ensure they are dairy free.

• (some) Belvita snacks
• Iced oatmeal cookies
• fruits and veggies (I love to add carrots to my lunch)
• pretzels (can also be dipped in peanut butter - yum!)
• crackers (ritz, club, and saltines are all dairy free)
• Girl Scout Cookies (Thin Mints, Lemonades, Thank Yous, and some others are vegan! Sorry bout ya Samoas)
• All-natural popsicles (not great for this cold weather, but I would be lying if I said they weren't in my freezer)
• Chips and salsa or guacamole (RIP queso)
• Oreos (I don't like Oreos, but this a very popular dairy free sweet snack!)
• Peanuts
• Duncan-Hines brownies (check the labels, and you can't have milk chocolate brownies, but I have heard that these are dairy free. Have not tried these yet - must try soon!)
• Applesauce

EATING OUT

I use this guide when eating out. There are more on the web, but this has kind of been my go-to if I know we are eating out! Dairy Free Eating Out - my faves when eating out were burgers, grilled chicken, flautas, (some) onion rings, (some) fried chicken, 

Another great idea is to use whole 30 meals. You know they are dairy free, but you can always add in beans, rice, bread products, and sugar.

Go forth and eat!