Going Dairy-Free

Based on our family history of babies who are sensitive to lactose, I have begun the transition to dairy-free for the upcoming breastfeeding journey. It's no fun for someone who loves sweets, cheese, and butter but it's much, much better than dealing with a miserable baby who constantly fluctuates between being constipated and... not.

ANYway.

When Little K was born, I didn't make any changes to my diet and her poor tummy suffered (and so did we) as we figured out what was causing her discomfort. By the time we were done eliminating things from my diet, I was down to plain chicken breast and un-dressed salad for most meals. NOT FUN.

However, this time around, we have several things going our way. First, I know what to expect and am taking preemptive measures to keep Aaron's tummy safe. Two, my sister was vegan for 3 of the past eight years, so I have a pretty great resource to help me identify non-dairy substitutes. Three, I'm not coming straight off of low carb (with the achingly wonderful cheese and cream habit that comes from that particular diet) so I'm not as attached to dairy as I was before. I must admit, though, that I still can't get behind drinking almond milk or putting it on cereal. It just doesn't taste the same.

With all of that being said, here was my grocery list for substitutes:

• Silk Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk
• Silk Original Plain Almond Milk
• Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Spread
• Enjoy Life Dairy/Nut/Soy Free Mini Chocolate Chips
• Shaklee Lactose/Gluten Free Vanilla Protein Powder
• So Delicious Vanilla Coconut Milk Yogurt

These will be used to make:

• Fruit smoothies (Shaklee Powder, Vanilla Almond Milk, So Delicious Yogurt)
• Homemade Dairy-Free Cream of Chicken/Celery Soup Base (Plain Almond Milk, Earth Balance)
• Smitten Kitchen Meringues (Enjoy Life Choc Chips) *aka my favorite cookie*

Edited to add: I almost forgot! I also picked up nutritional yeast with the plan to replace the parmesan cheese in my fave roasted cauliflower recipe. Hoping it's great!

The fruit smoothies will be replacing my Greek yogurt habit for breakfast. I've actually been making these smoothies with regular yogurt for the past week and love them, so the only big change will be the coconut milk yogurt.

My lunch entree each day for the past several months has been a two-egg sandwich on enriched buttered bread, so the only change will be from butter to Earth Balance.

The meringues stay the same except for the brand of chocolate chips. Very minor.

I've never attempted to make homemade cream of (fill in the blank) soup base before. It's always been easier to just by a can! And we don't use it very much - just in three dishes. But those dishes freeze VERY well, so I'll be making a couple big batches this weekend for post-baby freezer meals.

The chocolate chips and Earth Balance will also be used to make these lactation bars dairy-free. They are super delicious! (Note that, due to the high-fiber in these bars, momma can end up pretty darn gassy. Just so you know.

My goal is to be completely dairy-free by February 15th so that my milk supply won't be tainted in March. And so that I'm used to the change before we dive deep into babyland. Wish me luck!

And keep any recipe or brand recommendations coming!