Dairy Free Dilemma

It's been just over 3 years now since Toots was diagnosed as being dairy intolerant.  Some days I feel like I've got a handle on it.  Others I'm convinced I haven't!

She was originally diagnosed after endless visits to the health visitor by me trying to find a reason for her, lets say, extremely regular poo cycle!  'Toddler diarrhoea' was always the response.  But as she was almost 3.5 and it had never changed, I began to suspect that couldn't be the case - particularly as she was often having accidents despite being potty trained from age 2.

Anyway, around the same time, my mum dramatically lost 2 stone.  We all thought the worst (except my mum, funnily enough) until, after about six months of testing, they discovered she was coeliac (or celiac if you're in the US).  The minute that word was mentioned within earshot of a health professional, Toots was rushed in to the Sick Kids for a battery of tests to rule it out.

The blood test (which was awful - screaming, almost passing out, turning three shades of grey - and that was just me!) revealed possible dairy, egg and peanut allergies.  After the allergy tests - a much calmer 'spot on the skin' testing experience - we discovered that she was intolerant and not allergic (phew!) to all three.  I remain totally unconvinced about peanuts (she'd eaten most of the entire bag she was to feed to the squirrels at the Botanics two days before being tested and was neither up nor down - however...).

As soon as milk was excluded from her diet there was a dramatic improvement.  But that said, we often have days when she'll have an upset stomach and we can't figure out why.  We have managed to re-introduce eggs but, given that she's 6, it's not looking like she is going to grow out of her dairy intolerance (apparently).

Fortunately, I love cooking, so have taken to experimenting with a few family favourites with mixed success.  Macaroni Cheese made with soya milk and Sheese just isn't any comparison to the real thing for the rest of us (although Toots loves it!).  Similarly, I haven't managed to make a fish pie that we're all happy with.  Toots has forgotten what dairy tastes like - we have not!

However, I have come up with lots of recipes that do work, mainly of the cake variety (as a big complaint of hers is a lack of 'treats' for dairy free kids!) and I'll be sharing some of them on here. And, of course, if you've any that you'd like to share back, I'd love to hear them!

Gorgeous Dairy Free Homemade Nutella

I've realised that I haven't blogged with a new recipe for a while - which is pretty appalling as I cook ALL the time.  Recently, after buying Cheeky Boy a pot of Nutella when he requested pancakes and Nutella for his birthday breakfast, I have had constant moans from Toots (who is dairy free and therefore, unable to enjoy the delights of Nutella - and quite a few other things too).

In a quest to stop the whining - and in the interests of trying out more dairy free recipes as she's also fussy as well as being dairy intolerant - I searched the internet and found this little beauty on The Londoner blog (thank you!)

Not entirely sure what blog etiquette is here but I've copied it out below (or you can hop on over to The Londoner's Nutella recipe here).

Anyway, it does go rather hard in the fridge overnight so I'd definitely leave it out for an hour before using.  And it's WAY too rich for me (not a massive chocolate lover myself) BUT it is delicious.  I think it would make a fabulous chocolate sauce (albeit very thick!) on ice cream and I am definitely going to try it out in the Frugal Family Homemade Nutella Cookies recipe too substituting the butter for hard Stork, of course (as it's dairy free)...

Homemade Nutella

150grams of hazelnuts
200grams of chocolate (milk would probably make it less rich but I had to use dairy free dark chocolate - for obvious reasons.  Next time I'd be tempted to up the cocoa quantity and reduce the chocolate to reduce the richness but obviously, that's entirely up to your own personal chocolate preference!)
120g icing sugar
60g cocoa powder
Vegetable or rapeseed oil (I used Black and Gold rapeseed oil from East Lothian)
and a clean jar - I sterilised it in the oven for 30 minutes on a low heat.

1. Preheat your oven to 180°C or 350°F 

2. Pour your hazelnuts into a baking tray and roast them on the middle shelf forabout 10 - 15mins.  If you're using unblanched hazelnuts (as I did) you'll need to take of the skins after roasting to stop the spread being too bitter - but don't worry about removing every last piece as it won't make too much difference as long as most of the skins have been removed.  You can do this by hand.

3. Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a saucepan of simmering water.  Once the hazelnuts are ready, put them in a food processor and blend until turning into a hazelnut butter consistency - the smoother the better (although crunchy Nutella would be lovely too!)

4. Once blended, add all the dry ingredients, the melted chocolate and 2 tablespoons of whatever oil you've decided to use.  Blitz for a few seconds to combine before adding another tablespoon or so of oil then whizz for 10 - 15 minutes - basically until it looks like melted Nutella.

5. Then pour into the jar, seal tight and put in the fridge overnight.  

As I said, I'd give it an hour to soften up but it is absolutely delicious!  And, more importantly, now Toots has a dairy free chocolate spread/sauce that's all her own!