The Lactose-Free Auto-Immune-Fighting Diet

I have been having health issues.  My already-cranky immune system has suddenly become quite peevish and I have found myself in a battle with non-cancerous (but still annoying) salivary gland tumors, swollen surgical areas that refused to return to normal months after said surgery, the constant appearance of mouth ulcers and a general feeling of malaise and unease.  

I am a firm believer in the power of good nutrition but when sick, I tend to comfort eat.  

At the time when my body could use natural foods and nutrients the most, my mouth convinces me that multiple cookies and soft, warm baked-goods would be the better option.  I know that I should eat that vegetable soup, but being the champion of self-pity that I am, I convince myself that I deserve the soft sweet roll instead.

It's quite the mental dilemma.

Fortunately, for the last few weeks, good common sense has been winning the battle against my sweet tooth, but I've found that cooking a nutrient-rich, whole-grain meal that is also lactose-free is not as easy as it looks.  I've also learned that my three children and husband are not as enthusiastic about eating whole wheat pasta and endless amounts of sweet potato.  

Cooking the nightly meal has become a three-act play involving different meals for different people.  Wheat pasta for me;  white pasta for everyone else.  Spinach and kale added to the pasta sauce for me and kept on the side for everyone else.  You get the picture.

I HAVE managed to find some wonderful recipes that please everyone and which are lactose-free and safe for me.

For instance: 

Spicy, sweet-potato chili, which was absolutely delicious that night and even better the next day at lunch.

Whole wheat pasta with homemade tomato / spinach sauce.  (the photo includes a small helping of grated cheddar cheese on top.  My lactose intolerance does not seem to be bothered by hard cheeses in small quantities, but not everyone is so lucky)

Quinoa-coated, baked chicken breast:

which was moist and wonderful along with being extremely fast and easy.

I've posted the recipes on my Pinterest account.  click on these words to be taken to my pinterest page

I have two boards for these recipes:  Lactose Intolerance and Improve Immunity.  Feel free to "Follow" me as I pin new recipes quite frequently.  If anyone has any recipes they'd like to share, I'd love for you to leave a comment.  I'm also on the look out for good, nutritious, easy ideas.

Let the healing begin!

The Lactose Intolerance Master List

If you were to go on the internet to try to find a comprehensive list of foods that a Lactose Intolerant person could or could not eat, you would search for hours without finding any information whatsoever. The frustrating fact is that lactose intolerance affects people in different ways and what foods bother me might be quite fine for my lactose intolerant neighbor.

For instance, I can eat most cheeses except for those that are very runny - like ricotta and cottage cheese.  I am also lucky enough to be able to tolerate small amounts of butter.  However, give me an ice cream cone or a butter-cream frosting made with regular milk, I'm doubled over in pain in minutes and in full-fledged agony seconds later.

One of my friends' husbands is lactose intolerant as well, and while he can't eat butter, milk or runny cheeses, he has no problem consuming whip cream.  Go figure!  I did a blog post (Click here to read) about a wonderful lactose-free yogurt I discovered and I was pleasantly pleased when the company posted my review on their Facebook page (click here if you want to see that facebook post!) along with my recipe for yogurt/zucchini pasta.  I was not surprised to see that they did warn lactose-intolerant readers to be wary of the fact that I included cheddar cheese in my recipe.

I can eat cheddar cheese, but some other lactose intolerant might not.  It's a puzzle that takes one bad experience to solve.

So I am starting a Master List of Foods For The Lactose Intolerant and maybe make some poor person's internet search a little easier.

Dairy Foods Acceptable for Lactose Intolerant People:

Most hard cheese, up to and sometimes including Mozzarella (as long as it is not milky)
Small amounts of butter
Sour cream if cooked into a Bundt cake
Lactose-free milk
Lactose-free yogurts (I recommend this brand)

Dairy Foods To Avoid Like The Plague If You Are Lactose Intolerant:

"Soft" cheeses like ricotta, cream cheese, cottage cheese etc
Large amounts of butter
Sour cream
All regular milks
All regular yogurts - cups or tubers
Heavy Cream - half & half, whipping
Butter milk
Cheese cakes
Butter cream frosting of any sort unless made with lactose-free milk
Cream cheese frosting
Sour cream-based veggie dips
Mousse  or puddings

Foods I'm Just Unsure Of:

Condensed milk - I can eat this when it's baked into Seven-Layer cookies
Brie cheese - I've had some successes


Feel free to leave me a comment and I'll add to any of the lists!

Confessions of a Lactose Intolerant Dessert-a-holic

As you know, I am always on the look-out for dairy-free versions of my favorite desserts, which is no small task considering that my list of beloved confections is well onto it's 10th page.  I love desserts.  If I had my druthers, I would eat butter-cream frosted cakes and creamy chocolate mousse for breakfast, lunch and dinner... and I would eat chocolate chip cookies and other assorted pastries for snacks in between!  Alas.  Lactose-intolerance - and okay, COMMON SENSE -  has ruined all hopes of me indulging in my rather childish dream.  That's not to say that I don't occasionally fantasize about entering a pastry shop and leaving with a weeks-worth of wonderful white boxes tied with candy-cane-colored string.

No.  I am a grown-up.  I am a lactose intolerant grown-up and I eat vegetables and fruit and healthy meals that include small portions of lactose-free desserts.   And if I have a free moment, I scour the internet for little rays of hope amongst the black cloud of living with dairy issues.

Today, I discovered this recipe on Sharon Hilton's blog Food Farm Health:

Delicious, "Creamy," Non-Dairy Raspberry Mousse.

Raspberry Mousse (serves 3-4)
1 can coconut milk (we use Native Forest)
1/2 tsp agar agar powder
1/2 tsp gluten-free vanilla extract 
2 cups raspberries, fresh or frozen
1/3 cup honey (or other liquid sweetener if you're vegan)

In a blender, place raspberries and honey. In a medium saucepan, bring coconut milk, agar agar and vanilla to a rapid boil. Whisk continuously for several minutes. Remove coconut mixture from heat and place in blender. Mix everything thoroughly. Pour immediately into dessert cups and place in the refrigerator. Allow 4-6 hours to cool and set. Top with raspberries - or not - and serve! 

Note: it will set faster if you use frozen fruit. 




Yes!  You read that correctly!  Dairy-free mousse!  How I've longed for mousse!  What a wonderful dream come true.   And I would be willing to bet that this recipe could be adapted to create chocolate mousse!  How wonderful!  Thank you, Sharon Hilton!


Sharon's blog includes many dairy-free recipes.  I've added it to my blog list on the right, so please feel free to check her out.

Cooking For The Lactose Free Gourmet

Even though I've been lactose intolerant for more years than I care to admit on the internet, I do not own a single lactose-free cookbook.  Heck, I'm not even sure if there ARE any lactose-free cookbooks.  I know there are dairy-free cookbooks, but I'm not really dairy-free.  I can have butter and (most) cheeses and milk - as long as it is lactose-free.  My favorite recipes can accommodate these issues, but occasionally, I get adventurous and try to adapt something new.

Last night, was one of those evenings.  I was feeling adventurous and sassy so why not?

I went to my favorite go-to cookbook, The Best of Cooking Lite (2004), and chose "Gorgonzola Fettuccine with Asparagus."  Yum, right?  I looked over the ingredient list... fettuccine (no problem), asparagus (yep!), 2 tsp of butter (no worries), 4 cloves of garlic (great), 1 T of flour (still nothing to worry about), 1 1/4 cup low-fat milk (I can use lactose-free), 1/2 cup of Gorgonzola cheese (may be a little worrisome, but I can put less on my portion and hope for the best), 2 T of walnuts (love).... and uh-oh... 2 ounces of cream cheese (not good at all).

I knew with the exception of the walnuts (I have a nut-free child), every one would love this recipe, so I moved ahead with my plans and did what every lactose-intolerant person has to do... I made two sauces. One with the cream cheese and one without.

When you are lactose intolerant, you'd better own more than a few sauce pans and have more than a little time on your hands.

This was an incredibly easy recipe.  The pasta was cooked and the asparagus was added to the boiling pasta water 2 minutes before the pasta was finished.  In one sauce pan I made a rue about of butter, garlic and flour before adding the milk and cream cheese... in the other pan, I left out the cream cheese.  When the pasta, asparagus and sauce were cooked and ready to plate, I tossed with the Gorgonzola....

Voila!  My cream-cheese-free, walnut-covered portion!

And everyone else's cream-cheese-filled, walnut-less portion.  As you can see, the cream cheese made the sauce a whole lot creamier, but mine was still delicious.  

I think the whole thing took about 12 minutes.  Here's the lactose-free recipe:

Gorgonzola Fettuccine with Asparagus (adapted for the Lactose Intolerant)

8 oz uncooked fettuccine

3 cups diagonally sliced asparagus (about 10 oz)

2 t butter or margarine

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 T all-purpose flour

1 1/4 cup fat-free, lactose-free milk

1/4 t salt

1/2 cup (or less depending on how you tolerate Gorgonzola cheese.  I used probably less than 1/4 cup)

              Gorgonzola cheese

2 T chopped walnuts

1.  Cook the pasta in boiling water for 6 minutes, omitting salt and fat.  Add the sliced asparagus and cook for 2 minutes or until the pasta and asparagus are tender.

2.  Drain pasta and asparagus, place in a large bowl.  Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat.  Add the garlic, and cook 3 minutes.  Add flour;  cook 30 seconds, stirring constantly.  Gradually add milk, stirring well with a whisk.  Add salt and allow to thicken.

3.  Add sauce to pasta mixture;  toss to coat.  Serve with Gorgonzola and walnuts.