Since the rest of the family was out watching Sunday football (not that football, the other kind) I decided that I would do something cooking, something that I rarely seem to do anymore. Partially because I have no time and partially because of the food complications now that there is three of us. I eat anything (Jason will say "not really", because I only want to eat certain things at certain times, but that's not the point here). Jason doesn't eat meat, which is fine because generally I don't like to cook meat but its gets tricky now, because Nora is allergic to dairy. Like systemically, throwing up and hives allergic. Bad allergic. Problematic, because dairy is sort of central to this vegetarian households diet. N's doctor says, no dairy in no form, including in baked goods. If you look a label of just about anything processed/pre-made there is some dairy in there: butter, cheese(whey), milk, etc. Oh and while we're at it, no nuts and no egg whites either because allergy in one area, usually means allergies in other ares. There is a very good chance (about 80%) that she will outgrow this by the time she's about three. But only if she stays away from it all until then, and even then it might not happen.
So, now I'm cooking more meat and more vegan dishes at the same time. Or cooking vegan and taking out some for N. and adding dairy to the rest. This is working well for now, but I'm sort of dreading it all in a couple of years, since all the two and three year- olds I know eat only the following: mac n cheese, grilled cheese, and chicken strips (that breading is usually made with buttermilk). Look at any children's menu at the restaurant and this will be confirmed. There's also peanut butter.
Sunday dinner turned out to be veggie soup, which when mashed up, went quite well down the little one and with the addition of Parmesan cheese, went quite well down us. But, I see me cooking more in the upcoming year, so send me your recipes! Maybe cutting down on all that dairy will be good for all of us.
Monday, February 26, 2007
Sunday Dinner
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2 comments:
I've not come even close to vegan (my southern farmer/butcher ancestors would rise up and chase me with their knives and meat hooks), but in my quest to avoid prescription meds advertised on television by peppy people in picturesque settings I've certainly reduced the intake of meat products. As such, I can say that many of the alternatives are better today than they used to be. There are some really fine soy products out there that are available in the average supermarket, and if you make the trip to the specialty stores you can load up. Some are total crap, sure, but others aren't too bad. And though they add a little expense, they provide the plus side of convenience foods with the lack of dairy and meat. I'm particularly fond of the "GimmeLean" soy sausage (looks and tastes like I remember Jimmy Dean - oh.. Jimmy Dean...). Also, in the sweets and snacks area you'll find a lot more soy ice creams in a lot more flavors. I've actually been kind of impressed with the textures and flavors. Not Ted Drewes, of course, but not bad. I don't think you can substitute with soy cheese... that stuff is just plastic, but some of the other foods are quite good, much healthier, and easy enough to fool Nora into thinking it's sinfully bad. I mean, look at the chix nuggets from morningstar... that's really just exactly what you expect from a nugget in all its tasty grossness. Mac and Cheese will have to wait, but I say embrace the convenience soy vegan boxed happiness!
In the cheese arena, I would imagine that you'll find yourselves naturally eating less since she can't indulge, but I also imagine that cheese can be categorized alongside liquor as something the grownups enjoy and the toddlers have to wait on. Not a cruelty to keep your kid out of the gouda. Just means less incorporation into the body of food and more use as condiment (ala salt, pepper, et al).
As to recipes... search me. The extent of my cooking lately has been to heat a can of veggies and poor over rice/pasta. I'll pass along, of course, if I find a treasure trove.
And because I haven't commented quite wordily enough... Ugh...
I haven't tried these recipes but I do have great faith in the web to bring together vegan food with soul food (among other things), so I'm going to look into some of these recipes.
http://www.theppk.com/
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