New Beginnings

I'm reworking this blog to share my adventures my lifestyle change. I hope you hop along in this adventure with me.

Two years ago I made a drastic lifestyle change. It's actually becoming more and more common in today's American society. I have a Dairy Allergy. I'm not lactose intolerant, believe it or not they are two completely different allergies extremes.

The common misconception of the dairy free lifestyle is that we are all Vegan. That is not entirely true. There are those of us who still eat meat, fish and chicken. We have to alter our meal ingredients and use tofu based cheeses and butter/margarine alternatives.

I personally do not care for tofu and I have to melt the cheese to tolerate the test but I love soy milk, soybean ice cream and baked treats. For the most part I use oil based spreads for my butter/margarine.

I'm always reading labels to make sure that there is no casein, whey, lactose and other mammal-based milk ingredients which makes a simple stop to the grocery or convenience store not so simple. You'd really be surprised at what's in the food you're eating if you had to read every label.

I sometimes dread going out to restaurants because mostly all sides and sauces have milk and/or butter in them. If I have warning about going out to a restaurant I will generally bring my butter, sour cream, and milk with me, Most restaurants won't care if you tell them up front that you have a dairy allergy and are usually willing to work with you to make your meal as safe as possible.

More and more companies are coming out with allergy friendly products.

Two years ago I thought my world was going to end, the adjustment period was extremely hard. Just like a young child learning had to eat solids, I experimented with my food and quickly found that I love SILK, Daiya, Udi's, Annie's Homegrown Food, and Amy's Kitchen products.

There's this start up company based out of Worcester, MA called Alicia's Homemade that makes vegan (dairy-free) and gluten free spices and sauces. I met the founder Alicia at an Arts and Crafts fair in Hyannis, MA a couple of summers ago. It was refreshing to meet someone with the same allergies as me. So every chance I get I pitch her products to friends, family and people with similar allergies I just met. I'm an advocate for small business owners and word of mouth is one's biggest form of advertisement.

I love Alicia's spices I make almost all my meals at home with them and she has relatively reasonable pricing. She has several types and they are all ready to mix with your favorite oils, and dips. They also make very good marinades. I have supplied their website link on my favorites list. Please check out her website.

Another company I really indulge in is Divvies I love their cookies and they are very allergy friendly. If you live in New England they just partnered with DeMoula's Market Basket to sell in  Market Basket's bakery department. They taste as if there is butter and milk in them (which they don't) and it makes for a guilty free snack for me. It's a win.

To wrap up this relaunch of my blog., I would just like to say everyone has a past and a present but it takes a brave person to launch a new beginning.  Here's to many new adventurous stories to be shared.

#silk #daiya #udisglutenfree #annieshomegrownfood #aliciashomemade #tofutti #divvies #amyskitchen