Moo Hoo--No More Dairy

A few months ago I found a new doctor.  Dr. Jeanne Hubbuch.  Refreshingly thorough, confidently balanced between medical worlds- Western, Eastern, homeopathic- with time to understand the whole me, not just the one or two symptoms I arrived with. 

I walked away with an assignment- NO DAIRY FOR ONE WEEK.  How would I survive?  What would I eat?  My life is built on dairy!  No dairy products from cows, goats, sheep...nothing!

Let me show you a list of some of my favorite foods so you have a sense of the impact this experiment would have on my life:

Milk, cheese from Vermont, yogurt, cheese from Wisconsin, cottage cheese, cheese from Spain, coffee ice cream, cheese from Italy, butter, cheese from France, Kahlua cheesecake from the Nuns of New Skete, cheese from the UK, half and half in my coffee, cheese from mid-state MA, labne, creme fraiche, cheese, sour cream and lastly, CHEESE!

Being the good patient that I am (huh!), I began.  I was willing to try giving up dairy, but not the foods I associated with dairy.  I needed something for my coffee.  Something for my cereal.  Something for sandwiches.  I experimented with the myriad of non-dairy drinks and found likable substitutes:  Unsweetened vanilla soy milk was best for my coffee.  Almond milk was best in my cereal.  Soy cheese that was "cheddar flavored" worked in my sandwiches so long as there was something else between the bread.  I learned to eat toast and bread without butter.  Jeff's bread was best without butter anyway!

Unfortunately, after one week, I felt the positive effects of not having dairy!  How could I justify eating dairy if I felt better not having it?  Feeling more than a little self-pity, I stopped eating dairy.

And then we left for Europe!  How could I NOT eat dairy?  It is served 3 times a day!  In France it is a course unto itself!  Italians put it in and on everything!  I ate dairy while we were on the road- it just wasn't possible to avoid it without starving.  Now we are settled and mainly cooking for ourselves, I have gone back into avoiding it.  No one will ever know how hard it was to pass the cheese plate at a dinner party last weekend!!  Four deliciously aged, perfectly cut, beautiful cheeses passed through my hands and I didn't take any.  The conversation stopped momentarily. I gave no explanation, they asked no questions.

You should have seen the face of the lady at the cheese counter when I asked if she had any soy cheese.  She stared at me for a long moment, then said that there is no such thing!  (I am sure it was mentioned at her dinner table that evening!)  We found a health food store in Aix-en-Provence.  They had non-dairy "cheese".  It was made primarily from potatoes.  It was awful!

So while I may never fully avoid dairy (Jeff made squash polenta with Brebis blue cheese and sauteed spinach last night that I could not resist), I will continue to make an effort to avoid it.  I may even stop whining about it one day!

Until then, I will try to find other things to enjoy eating.  There are worse tasks in this world!  I bought apricot sorbet last week.  Jeff said that the ice cream maker at home can make sorbet.  I have seen some sorbet recipes that I would like to try.  Anyone have any suggestions?

Blue skies!