Life without the Moo

So, unfortunately, Baby Girl has gastrointestinal issues. At 4 weeks old, she had blood in her stool and being the first time mom that I am, instantly freaked and called the doctor. He said it was most likely due to a sensitivity to something in my diet; the most likely candidate being dairy.

Since then, I've cut dairy almost completely out of my diet. And let me tell ya, a sandwich just isn't a sandwich without cheese. I don't really miss drinking milk, although I do miss milkshakes! I have never wanted a cookout milkshake so badly in my life! However, when I cut out the dairy, her fussiness went way down, so here I sit... cheese and milkshake-less.

So in efforts to make the best of it, I've gone in search for some yummy dairy-free recipes. Here are my favorites so far:

• "Loaded" Black Bean Soup
• Here's what I put in mine: avocado (this replaced the creaminess I would've gotten from the sour cream), cilantro, crumbled bacon, andouille sausage, lime (I squeezed this on at the end and it was wonderful!). And I didn't miss the cheese at all!
• Bourbon Chicken with my yummy green beans
• I served the chicken over brown rice and served my yummy green beans to go with. They's super easy to make. Here's the recipe!

Teri's Yummy Green Beans - serves 4

• 2 T butter
• 4 handfuls of frozen green beans (I like the long skinny kind, not the cut ones)
• One or two shakes of Lawry's Seasoning Salt
• 1 T dried minced onions

Melt the butter in a frying pan and add the green beans, seasoning salt, and onions. Toss to coat and allow the green beans to warm through.

• Steak and Mango Salad (made this for a lunch date with the lovely Carla)
• I used frozen mango chunks because fresh mangoes are hard to come by this time of year.
• Crispy Coconut Chicken Fingers
• So crispy and delicious, but it wasn't as good the next day, so only make as many as you think you'll eat!