Stinkerpants

One of the things I’ve repeatedly failed at is cooking. More specifically, menu-planning.

I’ve always hated figuring out what to eat. But add to that a dairy-free, gluten-free, picky-ass toddler, and you have a recipe for a major crankypants in the kitchen.

I’ve talked before about C’s intolerance to various foods, but I left off when she was under a year old and barely eating solids. What has transpired since then has changed our entire family.

I’m going to get into how we’re helping C with her allergies later, but to summarize, she and I are both seeing an acupuncturist/homeopath, who recommended that I get tested to see what I’m allergic & intolerant to (often, baby is allergic to what mama is allergic to). As it turns out, I am intolerant to dairy - like, really intolerant - and not just lactose, but dairy in all it’s forms: whey, lactose, milk protein, sheep’s milk, goat’s milk, etc. I would also say that, for much of my life, I was addicted to dairy.

When C had her first reactions through my breastmilk, I decided to give up dairy, soy and wheat. At first, this was extremely hard and not something that I ever would have done for myself.  When she was 10 months old, I was able to reintroduce all of these foods with no reaction from C. In total, I went nine months without dairy. I will say that I don’t crave it anymore, and it’s no longer my go-to (we don’t even keep milk in the house anymore). At this point, cutting out dairy is mostly an annoyance, as it makes eating out with friends difficult. Also, I love pizza.

But I digress.

At present, I am ashamed to admit that Y and I eat out most of the time, and we are stuck in a rut about what to feed C. She rejects most everything, so it’s really annoying to cook her something only to find that it goes in the garbage after she rejects it 15 times.

This morning as I shared a vegan black bean & yam tamale with C, I realized that I have to buck up and make a change. She will often eat stuff simply because we’re eating it, and if it’s something she can’t have, we have to hide it or she cries. It’s really sad. :( I’m feeling like a world-class awesome mama admitting this right now, let me tell you. :(

So while I’m not one for New Year’s resolutions, I’m making one. And only one. And I am resolving it PUBLICLY and hope that you will PUBLICLY SHAME ME if I fail. Got it? That’s your job: public shaming. As if my own guilt wouldn’t be enough. ;)

My resolution is this: I will be cooking dairy-free and gluten-free, and I will be menu-planning. I am giving myself until January to figure out how the #%!@ to do this, but if I can do it sooner, great.

So, step one: meal planning. As much as I dread this task, it has to be done - I can't imagine waking up every day and having to plan dinner. Nope, it must be done once per week. I have tried google calendars, excel spreadsheets and pretty magnetic meal planners. It hasn’t helped. I simply don’t follow through.

I also need to find some dairy-free, gluten-free recipes so that I have some meals to plan, as I’ve had to throw out all of my go-to easy meals & favorite pasta dishes. 

Meal requirements:

• must be dairy- and wheat-free
• must take 30 minutes or less to prepare (including time spent chopping vegetables)
• must not taste like crap