My food world crashes . . .

 

A dairy-free meal
Eggs scrambled with smoked salmon, tomato, and green onion
Stuffed zucchini, without the usual cheddar.

Several years ago, I was diagnosed with lactose intolerance, and I dutifully watched my diet and took lots of Lactaid. I didn’t even eat any cottage cheese for a long time, and it’s my standard breakfast. But gradually, the symptoms went away, I began to forget the Lactaid, and I had no problems, even though they say the intolerance is a lifetime sentence.

But several weeks ago, it came crashing back. After several attempts to kind of cheat the system, I have finally had to recognize that I cannot eat much dairy, even with Lactaid. It’s simply not worth it, though I won’t detail the symptoms for you—as Jordan would say, too much information.

Until you looked at it from the intolerance point of view, you don’t realize how much dairy is in our daily diet. Cheese is out, and if you can make a casserole without cheese, I’d like to know about it. Most creamy salad dressings are out. Ice cream, cream in your coffee, butter on your toast (I have always loved butter, to the extent that my kids used to say, “Have a little cracker with your butter, Mom”). Some dairy products have less lactose than others—butter for instance is low, as is cheese and yogurt. And the substitute milks—soy-based, almond-based, etc.—aren’t bad, and neither are some bands of plant-based butter substitutes--nothing will ever really substitute, but Earth Balance is better than dry toast. Don’t mention plant-based cheese—I can’t go there. What’s astounding is that lactose lurks everywhere—bread, breakfast cereals, processed meats, chips, ready meals, most snacks (I had to give up my beloved Cheez-its).

One day recently I watched Jordan empty my refrigerator, and I nearly cried—lots of good cheeses, cottage cheese, sour cream, yogurt, butter. One bright spot: contrary to what many believe, mayonnaise is lactose-free (eggs and oil, no dairy), so I can still have tuna, chicken, and egg salads. Some non-dairy foods are still not good for irritated intestines—such as beans, pasta, and rice. Nuts, seeds, some vegetables. On the other hand, fermented foods are good —surprise! Fortunately, I really like sauerkraut. Can’t quite do kimchi, however.

Long story short my appalling collection of recipes is pretty much on hold, and I am cooking in new ways—lots of proteins, especially fish; green salads. Happy hour finds me at a loss, and so does that snack hour at eleven at night—oh well, you’re not supposed to eat that close to bedtime anyway. I’ll appreciate any good recipes, advice, etc.

One of the things I discovered that I can eat and now love is polverones—those Mexican sugar cookies. My neighbor, Pru, brought me some, and they made a perfect late-night snack. Also good for breakfast.

Restaurants are a problem—you can’t be sure what has dairy and what doesn’t. . Recently we had dinner at HG Sply. I worried beforehand—but I had a piece of salmon, sweet potato hash, and a grilled avocado half. With chimichurri sauce. Superb!          

Tonight I had dinner with friends at a new, upscale seafood and steak restaurant striving for a New Orleans vibe. The thing to me was that it was in the space where my Jamie waited tables all through college, where we had his rehearsal dinner, where we felt completely at home. The space has been completely renovated a couple of times since—now it bears little resemblance to the café I knew, but it is bright and open and clean feeling. I had two things that I like a lot—bone marrow (it had blue cheese on it which would have been good, but I scraped it off—still delicious) and crab cakes (I ignored the sauce and asked for lemon). So eating in a restaurant is possible, if you’re careful. It was a pleasant evening, good to be out and with good friends. And proof that I’m not going to let this restricted diet hamper my life.

Still, I’d love a bowl of cottage cheese along about now.