What’s for supper?

I woke with one of those three-o’clock in the morning panics this morning. It dawned on my what I’d be giving up in going lactose restricted. When I announced that, Jordan immediately collected the cottage cheese, yogurt, and Sargento cheese slices from my fridge. But I eat much more dairy than that-milk with cereal, mayo on sandwiches and with all kind of salads—egg, chicken, tuna, ham. What was I going to feed myself?

Lunch today was easy. Friends Jeannie and Betty brought me meatloaf, green beans, and roasted apple slices. Turned out dinner was equally easy—I had the same thing all over again. And a friend visited for happy hour and convinced me of what I suspected—mayonnaise does not have dairy. It is creamy because when you mix the olive oil and lemon together, it emulsifies. And Jordan and I both found lactose-free mayo recipes, so I’m home free on that count. I can have tuna salad and tough it out without the cottage cheese.

Still I decided if I’m going to do this—and do it right—I need to plan ahead. So I had a delightful morning sorting recipes—something that was on my to-do list and that I love to do anyway. I came up with recipe ideas--like a baked egg on a bed of spinach. Oops? I don’t have an oven. How am I going to bake it?  I think I can figure a way. And a frittata with asparagus, green beans, and scallions—I’ve never made a frittata in my life, but how hard can it be? Once again I’ll have to figure out a way to cook the top without overcooking the bottom. This cooking without a stove or oven is going to be a challenge. I have a good toaster-oven in the main house that would do all these things but really don’t have counter space for it.

Scrambled eggs (with water and a tad of olive oil) will be good. I can get almond milk for my morning cereal. This is going to make me think more about the creativity of cooking. Other things I found that will make cooking this week fun: tortilla, green chili and lime soup—with chicken of course; that baked egg, which sounds better all the time. A white bean and pork chili. I think in my reliance on tuna and cottage cheese I’ve been missing a whole world of good food, and I’m ready to discover it.

And who knows? We may discover lactose isn’t my enemy and move on, searching for another cause for my gastric distress. Meantime I don’t intend to starve.