Going Casein/Dairy Free: Starting Over

On Monday I announced that Julianna would be going casein free, the first step in implementing the GFCF diet. The week before that, we found a milk that she would drink: original almond milk, sweetened. I like the Blue Diamond Brand, but I'm sure Silk would be fine, too.

So this week, when buying products at the store, I made sure to read every label and make sure there was no milk or soy in the ingredients. Luckily, her cereals and crackers do not have milk. Instead of her usual cup of yogurt after school, I made some cook and serve Jell-o pudding with almond milk. It did not set very well, but it tastes good, and she has been eating that every day after school. Snacks included Fritos corn chips, fruit, rice cakes, and dinner has been either cereal (I'm not that prepared yet!) or pasta, because most pastas do not include milk, although they do have gluten, which I don't have to worry about yet. I also made sure to buy natural peanut butter, Skippy All Natural with Honey, and Welch's jelly. Most breads include milk as well, so I have been giving her a peanut butter corn tortilla roll-up instead. I felt accomplished, and ready to see how going without milk would affect her behavior.

This morning, as I was spreading the peanut butter on her tortilla, I realized that I was using the same peanut butter jar to spread on the milk-based bread for Nathan at his lunch time. Oops. Though there are only traces of milk in the bread, it is something, and that means I contaminated the peanut butter jar. So I made a note to buy Julianna her own peanut butter and jelly and I will label it clearly! No harm done, just start again tomorrow.

And all week, I have been meaning to tell her one on one aide at school that we have started taking milk away from her diet, but keep forgetting. I would reassure myself that her lunch was milk-free, and I would tell her not to let anyone at school give her food. Well, this morning, I finally remembered to tell her aide, and she said, ooh, she's been drinking milk at breakfast every day this week, and eating a muffin, which no doubt was made with butter or milk. I didn't even know she took Julianna to breakfast! I guess the school has a free breakfast, and they also serve it again at recess, and that's when Julianna would go, and this girl was willingly drinking milk even though all week I've been telling her she can't drink regular milk! I looked at her, and asked her why she was doing this, and she said, okay, okay, I won't drink the milk anymore! Sneaky little girl.

So my first 4 days were a flop, but at least I have two weeks to get this diet figured out and refined. So glad I am taking it slow this time, and not cold-turkey. There really are so many things to remember when you implement a diet like this, and I am sure it will take the full two weeks before I can say she is casein-free! Not giving up yet!