I changed my mind

It's not dairy I miss. It's soy.

A couple nights ago I made a masala burger for myself as a snack before heading over to a friend's house. When I got home the dirty pan was waiting for me. With the lingering smell of Chinese food! To be specific chow mein. Not sure why an "Indian" style veggie burger smells like Chinese food, but my husband noticed it too.

Now I have been craving Asian foods for days and with no success in finding soy-free substitutes.

Although I still want a big hunk of cheese, I have been pretty successful in finding dairy subs. This morning I even had Amy's chocolate cake and Rice Dream cookies n cream ice cream for breakfast. TJ cheeseless pizza with Daiya for dinner last night. A burrito (rice, beans, salsa only) from my favorite taqueria for lunch.

Soy sauce I miss you.

what should I write about?

I have been trying to figure out how to structure this blog so I am coming to you for suggestions.

Should I write a list of what I eat each day?
Should I review the foods I eat?
Should I talk about the soy& dairy free websites I visit?
Should I tell stories about my baby's tummy woes?
Should I tell stories about my family?
Other suggestions?

Happy Mother's Day

My mom is so amazing. She made a dairy free / soy free vegetarian picnic lunch for my whole family. My nephew was born in August so he is only 6 months older than Nelle so this was my sisters first Mother's Day too. And the first as GrandMom for my mom.

It was windy, but otherwise it was nice to finally be outdoors. It was us, my parents, my sister/brother-in-law and their baby. The "sensational 6" has quickly multiplied into the "awesome 8".

My mom made the most amazing grilled veggie sandwiches, wrapped in deli paper and pasta salad in resealable jars. She also made carrot cake and "no-apple" pie (It's made with Ritz crackers) a la mode (Rice Dream) for dessert.

chocolate chip cookies

I just tasted my first soy free dairy free cookie. Yum! I halved the Tollhouse cookie recipe and added a sprinkle of cinnamon.  Other than that, my only changes were using Soy Free Earth Balance and Enjoy Life Mini Chips. I wish they weren't mini. I had egg replacer on hand, but I did not make the cookies vegan.

Happy Cinco de Mayo

Both my husband and I are teachers. I had planned working up until my due date, but Nelle came 12 days early so that didn't happen.  So, instead of going back at 8 weeks like I had planned, I was on maternity leave for 10 weeks, back for a week, and then went on spring break. Now there are only six weeks until school is out for summer. My husband's summer break starts two weeks earlier than mine so we only had five weeks to worry child care.

Thankfully, between family members we were able to figure it out and Nelle won't have to go into day care until she is nearly seven months old. When Nelle was nine weeks old (she's now 13 weeks), we went to check out the day care that she will be in and it was wonderful. The woman who runs the place is vegan so she understands crazy diets, uses a cloth diaper service for all kids who attend even though Nelle currently wears Huggies, charges separately for the school year and summer so I won't have to pay for the three months a year we won't use, and has a garden in her backyard where the kids can play in the dirt.

GranMom was over watching Nelle the past couple of days while I was at work. Last night the three of us attempted to go grocery shopping, but someone did not want to be in the car. Today I knew I had to stop by the store to pick up rice milk and bread on my way home or I would have nothing (ok, not entirely true) to eat tomorrow. Instead of those two items, though, I got three bags worth of goodies. The cashier accurately guessed the items that I had gone for.

Amongst my other items were corn tortillas, an item I don't often buy. But today is Cinco de Mayo and my mom makes yummy tostadas. Yay for fake cheese!

dinner in under 5 minutes & dairy alternative review

Dinner in under 5 minutes. I’m hungry, but baby is hungry too. Guess I’d better get something quick.

Amy’s Mexican Tamale Pie

Decent, sauce tastes like tomatoey cilantro infused pasta sauce. Would be better with a glass of whole milk. Or cheese. But I am nursing so I can’t get to the kitchen to try any of the alternatives.  Fritos would be a nice accompaniment. Bonus: I can eat one (left!) handed so I can hold Nelle at the same time. 

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I had written this before trying the milk or cheese alternatives. 

The Daiya Cheddar tastes kind of like ballpark nacho sauce in shredded form. If that's what you're going for the WayFare Cheddar Sauce is more like it. It's made from oatmeal. Interesting. I will likely buy the Daiya again, but next time I'm thinking I'll try the Mozzarella to make pizza.  The Galaxy Nutritional Foods Rice Vegan American Flavor Slices didn't melt very well or have much flavor so I will probably just use the Daiya for grilled sandwiches, but I did notice on their website that they have cheese blocks so that might be interesting to try out. 

And to round out the taste test of the dairy substitutes:

So Delicious Coconut Milk Yogurt, Plain – tasted actually like really gelatinous coconut yogurt... hmm... but okay when I put it in my cereal.

Earth Balance Natural Buttery Spread Soy Free – My mom, a butter addict, agrees that it’s actually pretty good.

By the way, these sites all have recipes. Let me know if anything you make turns out tasty. 

websites to check out

I have never blogged before this so there is a lot I'm still figuring out. Like, there has got to be a place to link to other websites, right?

AMY'S KITCHEN

I've never really loved Amy's frozen meals, but as a lifelong vegetarian I've gotten them from time to time.  Someone recommended I check out Amy's Kitchen's website. It is too cool. Here is a list of all of their foods that are dairy and soy free. You can search by other allergies, etc. here. With this new restricted diet I may have become an Amy's convert.

PETA'S ACCIDENTALLY VEGAN

Although I am not vegan, for I have often found Peta's Accidentally Vegan list to be quite useful. Keep in mind though that many of the items have soy in some form.

ASIAN PREPARED SAUCES

Soy free Asian sauces can be located here, although I can't eat many of them because of a seafood base.

HIDDEN SOY

This is a fairly comprehensive list of items that contain soy.

Feel free to share your favorite soy/dairy free websites in the comments section.

what's in my pantry?

SNACKS

Nu Go Free Bars

Sweettarts Jelly Beans

Back to Nature Honey Graham Sticks

Nuts – variety

Tortilla Chips

TJ Pita Chips with cinnamon and sugar

TJ Corn Chip Dippers (like Fritos)

Annie’s Fruit Snacks

DRINKS

Sparkling Water

Ah!Laska Organic Cocoa Non-Dairy Chocolate Mix

Beckmann’s Honey Whole Wheat

lots of teas

BAKING/ETC

Enjoy Life Mini Chips

Marshmallow crème

Olive Oil

Canola Oil

Powdered Sugar

Non-Refined Sugar

Brown Sugar 

lots of spices - the only one I cannot use is my favorite - Spike, it contains soy.

BREAKFAST

Bananas

Dates

TJ Very Berry Clusters Cereal

TJ Honey Nut O’s

Cocoa Puffs

Whole Foods Vegan Blueberry Muffin Bread

Oatmeal

LUNCH/DINNER

Road’s End Organics Alfredo

Road’s End Organics Cheddar Style Sauce

Road’s End Organics Shells and Chreese

Seeds of Change Jalfrezi Simmer Sauce

Jyoti Dehli Saag

Pasta

TJ Pizza Sauce (all of the other types had soy oil &/or meat)

Simply Organic Vegetarian Chili seasoning

TJ Hearty Vegetable Broth

TJ Three Grains Blend

TJ Bread Crumbs

Amy’s Lentil Soup

Amy’s Barley Soup