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!

Hello Meal Planning Monday!

I have been very remiss in doing much in the way of blogging recently and have and endless stream if excuses (work, school run, camping trips, and on and on and on) but the one thing I have managed to do is Mrs M's Meal Planning Monday linky - mainly because I meal plan every week in an attempt to save cash (thrifty and all that) so here's this week's meal plan:

Monday
Breaded Haddock, Mushy Peas and Chips - bit of a Friday meal on a Monday but I just fancied it ( because that's the way I roll - hah!)

Tuesday
Veggie Spaghetti Bolognese - made with Quorn mince, garlic, tinned tomatoes, grated courgette and carrot (disguised from the cherubs) bit of oregano all bubbled up together until thickened and served with whole meal spaghetti. Yum!

Wednesday
Tuna Nicoise - new potatoes, boiled eggs, tinned tuna, green beans and salad leaves with olive oil and balsamic. Easy peasy (especially on hockey, Rainbows, Cubs night!)

Thursday
Chorizo, pepper and chickpea salad - we LOVE chorizo in our house (you may have noticed) so here it is yet again, sliced, griddles and served up with chickpeas, roast pepper (from a jar) and salad leaves drizzled in lemon juice and olive oil. Just as well my kids eat salad!

Friday
Oriental Trout and Broccoli Traybake - straight from Good Food but with trout instead of salmon as CB hates salmon. Trout fillets, broccoli florets, spring onions, olive oil and soya sauce - bang it in the oven for 20 mins and Bob's your uncle! (Actually I don't have an uncle Bob so have never really 'got' that expression but hey ho, you catch my drift?)

Saturday
Roast chicken - I love roast chicken. Nuff said. I shall be serving this with some of my apple, rhubarb and raspberry crumble (or whatever fruit we have) which I tart up a bit with the inclusion of mixed nuts and Demerara sugar in the topping mix (which I usually buy from Tesco as it's dairy free and makes life easy!)

Meal Planning Monday

 

I've just realised that I haven't really posted anything much this past week - although in part that's because I found out I was getting referrals from a dodgy site which put me off a bit!

Anyway, here's my meal plan for the week for At Home with Mrs M!'s weekly recipe linky - not terribly exciting (but then again it is the last week of the month!)

Monday

Smoked salmon & scrambled eggs on fresh wholemeal baguette with salad

Tuesday

Seafood paella with mussels, calamari and prawns - delicious!  (And using up leftover frozen seafood from last week!)

Wednesday

It's hockey followed by Rainbows, followed by Cubs - which means it's baked potatoes with tuna, sweetcorn and salad as there's not much time to prepare much else!

Thursday

Vegetarian pasta made with garlic, oregano and tinned tomatoes simmered down into a thick sauce and served with a generous helping of Parmesan!

Friday

Portobello mushrooms and halloumi cheese burgers - done on the griddle pan so the cheese goes all crisp which is just how I love it!  Served on burger buns with salad and corn on the cob on the side.

I've also been informed (by my dairy free daughter) that I've to make some of my dairy free pancakes at the weekend to be coupled with dairy free Nutella (homemade - and yes, the recipe is here too!)

Phew - so that's today's slightly late Monday Meal Plan.   But better late than never, I guess!

Blimey - it's Meal Planning Monday Already!

Well, after joining in the Meal Plan Linky for the first time last week, here's week two's effort - which is a wee bit hurried as the weekend just disappeared!

Monday: Baked Sweet Potatoes with Tuna, Sweetcorn and Salad - exactly as it sounds. Easy, tasty and sneers 2 of their 5 a day into them painlessly!

Tuesday: Roast Beetroot Risotto - I have a glut of Beetroot in the garden (yay I LOVE Beetroot!) so I'm going to pull some up, wash it, cut into wedges, roast it for 40 mins then add to some risotto which I make with garlic, onion, veg stock, glass of white wine, a dollop of creme fraiche and lashings of Parmesan!

Wednesday: Mixed Seafood Pasta - have a bag of mixed seafood thatci'm just going to cook with some olive oil, garlic and saffron before adding to pasta with basil. Will be interesting to see if the kids eat it :-)

Thursday: Spanish Tortilla with Chorizo and Salad (homemade and delicious!)

Friday: Homemade Dairy Free Pizza - it's just me and Toots for tea on Friday so we're having pizza topped with roasted artichokes (she loves them), roasted peppers, olives and basil.

And we're only planning up to then as we're off camping at the weekend (fingers crossed for good weather!)

Inspirational Children

I read a post today which I just had to blog about as it demonstrates the power of the human spirit and, in particular, the strength and compassion of a little girl in the US and how it changed the lives of hundreds of others living thousands of miles away.

In my 'real job' I run my own fundraising consultancy and, reading through some of the leading fundraising blogs this morning, I came across a post by The Agitator, about charity: water a US charity and how they thanked donors to a campaign they ran last year.  By the end of the post (and more importantly, the link to the charity's video that accompanied their donor email) I had tears running down my face.

Last year, a little girl called Rachel decided she wanted to raise money for charity: water to help children in Africa to get fresh drinking water.  She decided she would raise $300 and asked everyone to donate to the charity instead of giving her birthday presents.  She raised $220 and told her mum she would try harder next year.  One month later, she was killed in a tragic car accident and the resulting publicity about this caring, considerate wee girl ended up bringing in donations of $1.2 million which help 149 communities across Africa (rather than the 15 people she had originally intended).

The attached video is on their website.  Have a hankie at the ready but I just had to write about it as the girl and her family are truly inspiring.  No-one wants to think of anything like this happening to their children but for her mother to continue to fundraise in her daughter's name is, I think, inspirational and courageous.  And I don't think for a minute I could do it.

Click here for the link to Rachel's Campaign for charity: water