Living with Lactose Intolerance [Part 1]

Image via: Free People Blog

I see all these memes about lactose intolerance like this one and this one, and although I have a sense of humor and I can laugh about my own issues, it's hard for me to find humor in these because I have not so pleasant memories of being curled up with severe stomach discomfort as a child and not having a clue why. 

As a kid I remember having strong stomach aches. I had no idea what triggered it but all of a sudden it would start and I would cry and hold my stomach and just try to find relief but not really succeeding. I would try to tell myself to relax and to just pretend like it wasn't all that bad, but it was really bad. 

I noticed that ice cream would always give me a stomachache and I stopped eating ice cream at a very early age. Even then I would still get discomfort and over the years it kept getting worse and worse.

I grew up in a house of milk lovers. My dad and my sisters still have several glasses of milk a day. I never loved milk and when possible I would opt for juice or just plain water. In Brazil, I would normally drink a glass of juice, or a cup of tea, and eat some bread and fruit for breakfast.

When I left for college and came back to the U.S I would always have a big bowl of cereal with milk in the mornings, because that's what everyone ate and that's what the cafeteria had available. I started noticing my stomach aches coming back and I would usually be really uncomfortable during class. That's when I started skipping breakfast, because I thought that the problem was eating in the morning, I never made the connection that the real problem was milk and was lacking solutions to effectively overcome this barrier while still consuming dairy foods

After my first year of college, I went back to Brazil and left on a two month field study, in remote areas where I just didn't have access to milk. After three weeks without milk I noticed that I had been feeling great, that for the first time in my life I wasn't suffering from stomachaches. Then I was moved to a different location, where there were cows right there on the farm, and the family that hosted me served milk for breakfast. About an hour after breakfast I was so sick. It was one of the worst episodes I ever had and my stomach hurt so much I thought I was going to have to go to the hospital. That's when I finally made the connection, that drinking milk makes me feel sick and was there even a solution to still drink milk?

Stubborn as I am I tested my theory a couple times after that incident, not by drinking a full glass of milk but by having milk with cereal, or milk with oatmeal, and inevitably I would get sick. I never thought that slowly introducing dairy foods back into my diet may work or even giving lactose-free milk a try, its real-cow’s milk, just without the lactose and providing the same essential nutrients.

The National Dairy Council has created a great resource page about Lactose Intolerance and Dairy to help people understand what lactose intolerance is and isn't. The thing is that lactose intolerance affects people in different ways. I know people who can't have any dairy at all, while I can't have a glass of milk I can certainly make quiche and add both milk and cheese to the recipe. So many of the recipes I create have dairy and they don't make me sick. 

People have different levels of intolerance and don’t have to miss out on the great taste and health benefits of low-fat and fat-free dairy foods.  It’s important to understand it so you can be better prepared with a solution to meet most needs in the dairy case – from lactose-free milk to dairy foods that are typically easier to digest. Whether you are hosting a party and wants to make a recipe that has dairy that is great for everyone, or if you are experiencing stomach pains and are wondering if you are lactose intolerant.

Stay tuned, in my next post I will share some tips for living with and managing your lactose intolerance.

This post was sponsored by the National Dairy Council. As always all opinions are my own.

This post was sponsored by the National Dairy Council. As always all opinions are my own.

White Sauce Pizza with Bacon and Summer Squash

Pizza is one of the few foods we eat every week around here, usually near the end of the week. My husband makes the dough, and then while it rises I'll prep the rest of the ingredients, usually whatever veggies we have lying around. Pizza is great because it's versatile and it's easy to make everyone happy. We always make one just cheese pizza for the kids and another one with lots of toppings for the adults and sometimes a dessert pizza (bananas, cinnamon, sugar or guava paste and cheese) for everyone. This week we took the white sauce route, it's hard to go wrong with white sauce. 

Although I'm lactose intolerant I still have dairy products on a regular basis. Lactose intolerance affects people in different ways, and I'll be talking more about this on my blog. Suffice to say that depending on the type and amount of cheese I eat I'm usually fine. The same applies to yogurt. As for milk if it's used in moderation, like in white sauce on a pizza, then I'm o.k. Finding ways to use dairy in my cooking is essential because I know it's an easy way to get the calcium I need and also because, lets be real, cheese and crackers are my staple snack. Christian is a milk addict and the kids have showed no signs of lactose intolerance so milk, cheese, and yogurt are things we always have in our fridge.

I'm a huge fan of white sauce for lasagna and pasta but had never actually put in on pizza so I decided to try something new.

White Sauce Pizza with Bacon and Summer Squash
(printable version)

Pizza Dough

makes about 2 medium pizzas

1 cup warm water

1 tablespoon sugar

2-3 teaspoon dry yeast

1 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoon olive oil

2-3 cups all-purpose flour

1. Put one cup warm water in a large mixing bowl, and add the yeast, sugar, salt and oil to the water and mix.

2. Gradually add the flour, mixing with a large spoon until it is too stiff to mix, then gradually add the rest of the flour and knead for a few minutes. I usually make my pizza dough a little bit sticker than bread dough because this makes it easier to spread out.

3. Let the dough rise for about half an hour, or as long as it takes to make the white sauce and to prep the other ingredients.

White Sauce

enough for two pizzas

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons all purpose flour

2 cups milk (Option: if you want you can use 2 cups of lactose free milk)

dash of nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon salt

Parmesan cheese (optional)

1. Melt the butter in a sauce pan.

2. Add the flour, stirring until slightly browned, for roughly 1-3 minutes.

3. Gradually add the milk, whisking to thoroughly blend the milk and the flour/butter mixture. Cook over a low temperature until the sauce begins to thicken.

4. Add salt and a dash of nutmeg. Don't omit the nutmeg, it really makes a good white sauce a lot better. Some Parmesan cheese can also help to add a nice flavor to your white sauce. Aged, natural cheeses like Parmesan contain a small amount of lactose, making this recipe lactose intolerance friendly.

Toppings

I will usually cook toppings before hand slightly because I like to make sure everything is well cooked, especially if I am using onions. I also cook spinach, chard, and kale as well because otherwise there's always too little once it's cooked down. For this white sauce pizza this is what I included. The amounts are all somewhat subjective, depending on how you like your pizza.

5 slices of bacon (chopped up and cooked before hand on the stove or in the oven)

10 mushrooms sliced

1 small summer squash sliced

2 large green onions, diced

fresh oregano

2-3 cups shredded cheese, Mozzarella, Monterey Jack, Cheddar, or some mix of the three

1. Saute the summer squash, mushrooms, and green onions on a large skillet on medium until not quite done, about 3-4 minutes. Put to the side.

Assemble Pizzas

Oil a pizza pan, cookie sheets, pizza stone or whatever you want to cook your pizza on. I sometimes use the leftover bacon grease which is super tasty. Press down the dough and kneed it once or twice and then divide the dough into two lumps. Press the dough into the well oiled cookie sheet, spreading it out and pressing it down until you have spread it out to the size of the pan. I find this to be much easier that rolling it out and then trying to transfer it to the pan.

1. Spread out the white sauce on the pizza. Sprinkle on the oregano.

2. Sprinkle on the cheese and then top with the veggies and bacon. You can do it in the reverse order (veggies and bacon then cheese) but with a lot of veggies this cooks them a bit more and makes the crust less soggy.

3. Bake for 12-18 minutes at 400 degrees.

Although the baking time may change depending on how much toppings and how thick the crust it. I usually take it out once the crust is starting to turn golden and the cheese is getting crusty in places, which is a better judge.

It seems like a lot of steps but with practice it all happens quite easily. I can usually have two pizzas done in less than an hour from when I first started.

This post was written while participating in my partnership with the National Dairy Council, but as always my opinions are my own.