Milk, And What It Means To Me

Milk

Why do I eat "Dairy-Free?" More than anything else, it's to keep my marriage healthy. My husband and I are flippin' awesome together. We'll celebrate our 8th anniversary this year,  and look forward to many more. But there's a dark period in our past we must never forget.

People laugh when I say there was a time in our lives when I was physically and verbally abusive of my husband. He's tall, strong and confident, so I get why that's hard to imagine, but it really happened and it was really bad. My husband felt like he was trapped with a rabid honey badger, and wondered what in the world had become of his spunky college sweetheart.

In many ways, The Dude and I are the same kind of weird.

Milk. Milk was the problem. Milk is like heroin to me; all dairy products are, to some degree. I have an allergy/addiction, so dairy consumption is followed by an intense high, which is succeeded by a super crazy low. So I guess you could say I suffered mood swings.

All I know is, a bowl of cereal was never enough. If I had one, I had to have at least two more, and often I continued having more until there was no more to have. When I was done, I could barely move, nor would I want to; I just wanted to sit there loving life and enjoying the high. Soon after, though, the crash would come on, but I wouldn't even realize it. I'd get quite sleepy and very, very cranky. Suddenly,  everything seemed like a personal attack, so I subconsciously lashed out in "self-defense."

If I'd seen a video afterwards, I wouldn't have recognized myself!

So now I don't drink milk, and the addiction has no foothold in my life. I have plenty of options I can turn to, depending on what I need.

Milk Substitutes

I live in a small town where not much is available; sure, we have a supermarket with a "health-food" section, but I am not convinced that "health-food" and "healthy food" are synonymous phrases. The boxed "milks" with added stabilizers and gums and sugars and flavor-enhancers... I don't react well to those, so I find other ways to get what I need. The substitute I use is determined by the intended application. 

For cereal?  A banana and water in a blender make a quick solution.

Knockoff Rice Chex (Also Marked Gluten-Free), Chia Seeds and Banana "Milk"

I like tahini and water blended to a delightful state of frothiness if I'm planning to add something to my coffee. (More often than not, I don't add anything, as I prefer "coff-tea," myself. Maybe I'll tell you about it some time.)

In fact, many nut butters blended with water make excellent milk substitutes.

When I do buy boxed "milk," it's organic soymilk from Trader Joe's (in a big city far, far away), because the only ingredients are soybeans and water. If I need it to taste like vanilla, I add vanilla. If I need it sweeter, I add something sweet (fruit, frozen apple juice concentrate, maple syrup, or an Indian sugar cane product called gur shakkar).

The Nug, Enthroned on High, Requesting "Milk," Which in This Case Means the Bowl of Qi'a I'm Stirring

Several mornings this week, the One-Bowl Meal I've shared with The Nug at breakfast time has been this hot/cold bagged cereal my mom picked up for me at Costco: Qi'a. It's got chia seeds, hemp and buckwheat groats, dried cranberries and sliced almonds. The baby's spoonfuls don't contain a lot of the last one there, but when he gets them, he handles them like a champ.

This particular bowl was made with soymilk, water, vanilla, cinnamon, ginger and maple syrup.  Another was recently made with banana "milk."