Dairy Hope!

For anyone reading this who is Celiac AND dairy-free, know that there is hope out there.  I know that just after my diagnosis I was told by many people and read on many blogs that often lactose intolerance and celiac disease go hand in hand.  That made sense, because when I stopped eating any form of dairy I confirmed that I too was lactose intolerant.  One friend told me that her Celiac brother went off dairy completely, and within 3 months was able to reintroduce various dairy items into his diet.  Unfortunately, unlike with gluten, I've not been able to completely give up dairy, especially butter on popcorn and a daily "hit" of chocolate.  It was not until I went to Canada that I was able to give up dairy completely, probably because there are so many alternatives to butter, milk and cheeses there.  As for chocolate, I haven't been able to give that up completely, but I eat it in small doses.

Now that I have returned to Indonesia, I've realized how much healthier I feel.  It hasn't been all that difficult to eat gluten-free, and I think it's because I've brought fun ingredients back with me, things like GF liquid smoke and GF worchestershire sauce.  My recipe repertoire has increased incredibly, thank goodness!  I'm not sure what I'll do when things run out, but I'll worry about that later.  Until then, I'm just enjoying grilling, baking and experimenting with new recipes.  I've been able to exercise regularly and afterwards not feel as though my day cannot go on without a rest.  I've also been able to reintroduce dairy slowly back into my diet.

As I mentioned, I've never completely given up chocolate, and I've eaten the odd batch of buttered popcorn.  Lately I've been baking with butter and have had no side effects.  Knowing that, I've also tried Greek yogourt which was a success.  That lead to regular, non-gelatin yogourt, which also hasn't given me any ill-effects.  Mozzarella has agreed with me, and so has various types of cheddar.  Today I ate some vanilla ice cream and I do have a little bit of nausea, so I'll probably stay away from too much of that.  I did have a successful ice cream cup at Burger King, but I'm not really sure I can call it ice cream! There are things I will stay away from, like too much sour cream, cream cheese, definitely milk and whipped cream, and large amounts of ice cream. However, knowing that I can bake with butter and cook with cheese again really opens up my culinary world, and although I will need to use all of the above in moderation, I'm feeling like life is really good in the kitchen right now.