Saturday, January 15, 2011

My Pizza

Just a couple of weeks after Charlotte was born, it was clear she was not happy about something. Turns out she has an intolerance to cows milk, or the protein in cows milk, to be specific.

Suddenly breastfeeding, though still a top priority of mine, became even more challenging. My diet needed to be completely dairy free - no milk, no cheese, no butter...GASP! NO CHOCOLATE!

After a couple of weeks of not knowing how/what to eat, I began some intense research and discovered lots of great options - Soy milk, pudding, and "ice cream", vegan "butter", goats milk cheeses, the introduction of a Calcium supplement, and most importantly, that I could still eat dark chocolate!

Here's one of my recipes - it's so delicious and easy, I just had to share. I guarantee I'll still be eating this after I go back to having cows milk again.

Step 1: Ingredients. Mine are:
Naan bread or flat bread (Non-dairy)
Pizza sauce
Cooked chicken breast pieces (or if I've cooked a turkey, use leftovers instead)
Spinach (you can use fresh, but my only option right now is frozen, nuked and drained)
Variety of goats milk cheese (i.e. mozzarella, marble cheddar, and feta)


Put it all together

Bake it at 425 degrees for about 10 minutes

Slice and enjoy!


Bonus: This is a fantastic quick and easy meal idea. With the premade crust and toppings handy, everyone can have their own unique pizza ready to eat in about 15 minutes. AND, it's super easy for kids to make their own too!

Enjoy!

5 comments:

Krista D. Ball said...

If you replaced your normal milk with soy milk and that was where your normal calcium came from, you are covered. Nearly all soy milk is fortified and there is a lot of research to show that it's more accessible to your body than cow's milk.

Also, white beans, strawberries, salmon, green leafy vegetables (not spinach, most of it isn't accessible to your body) are all good sources of calcium, too.

:)

Christa said...

Mmm...looks delicious :)

My pediatrician advised that I not drink soy milk as there contains too much estrogen for boys. Not sure if it applies the same to baby girls?

Sandy aka Doris the Great said...

Sounds delicious Myrna. My daughter was sensitive to milk products as well when I was nursing her. But she had no trouble with chocolate.

And further to what Krista & Christa are saying, I'm not supposed to eat much soy; I have hypo-thryoid and soy mimics thyroid and will interfere with my thyroid meds.

Stephanie said...

Sophia has a true allergy to cow's milk protein so I have also been eating a milk free diet. She had severe eczema from head to toe and it is now almost completely cleared. Our Pediatrician believes (and she knows this is controversial) that if the milk is cooked the protein is broken down enough as not to illicit an immune response. For example,milk in a muffin would be okay for me to eat. This is what I have been doing and it worked for us.

We were told not to eat soy because 25% of those allergic to milk are also allergic to soy.

I am also ready to try formula but all my friends say Nutramigen is disgusting....

Myrna Hynes said...

Christa, Krista's stepson has had soy from birth without any issues, and she tells me many of the studies about soy are funded by dairy farmers. I wonder?? Still, I'm not sure I want to risk it.

Steph, unfortunately the theory of the "cooked" milk doesn't work for us. Still seems to really bother Charlotte. Nutrimigen honestly smells like a rotten barn to me, it is truly disgusting. I'm told there's a formula available in the U.S. that's not nearly as gross. My sister is close to the border and I'm contemplating having her buy me a case and getting it shipped. Let me know if you want a can of it to try.