Cravings, lessons learned

Dairy-free month is coming to a close. We've been remarkably good, and frankly it was a lot easier than I thought it would be. There were a couple of things I really wanted but couldn't have, but for the most part, I hardly missed dairy at all. Which is remarkable.

That being said, as we're getting ready to transition into our new challenge (March: gluten free) I find myself craving things I can't have.

I want tiramisu. I want buttered popcorn. And, for the second month in a row, I want a grilled ham and cheese sandwich like nobody's business.

Since Alex and I technically cheated on Valentine's Day, we forfeit our amnesty day. Which means we transition directly from dairy-free to gluten free with no free day in between.

I'm planning on trying my hand at gluten free sandwich bread, but I don't know how well it'll turn out.

For the most part I'm not worried about being without gluten. Gluten is Alex's downfall, not mine.

I survived dairy-free. And I learned something very important - I can do without. I didn't miss cheese with a passion. I couldn't have cared less about not having milk. Butter is well loved, but not needed.

I plan on cutting down on my dairy intake from here on out. I'm still going to eat cheese because I love it, but I'm downgrading it from a necessity to a treat. I'm switching to almond milk lattes (less than 40 calories a serving!).

So, wish us luck as we transition, and if you know of any tried and true gluten-free sandwich breads, please let me know. I've got a hankering for a good grilled cheese sandwich.

Decisions, decisions

Sunday is Valentine's Day. I'm sure you're all aware of that. For us, Valentine's Day has typically been a day where we indulge and treat ourselves to a nice meal.

There is a restaurant here in Seattle that is wonderful. It's called Tilth. We've eaten at Tilth many times and have always thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. This year, they are having a prix fixe menu. When Alex called to ask if they would be willing to make ours dairy-free, they readily agreed. They're just awesome like that.

However. We have given ourselves one amnesty day per month. And Tilth is rather expensive. Why, Alex asked, would we pay all that money and not eat what we want?

Why, indeed?

We are very lucky. We have no food allergies. We make enough money to eat what we want. That's the whole point of this exercise.

But Alex was right. It seems silly to pay a lot of money for a dinner that, while I'm sure we would enjoy, isn't what we'd really rather be eating.

So Sunday is Valentine's Day. It is also our amnesty day. And we will enjoy it. But the most important thing is this: we will appreciate it for what it is. And that is actually what this is all about.

The reality of the situation

I commented last month about how I was aware that dairy was everywhere. I was worried about sinning unknowing.

Here's the reality: it happens.

Alex's latte got mixed up with someone else's on Tuesday, and he got one made with milk. He sipped it and knew right away it was wrong (though it had more to do with the fact that it was flavored, and less to do with how the milk was).

Last night, I baked a cake for a coworker. The cake is fine for me to eat because it doesn't contain any dairy (remember, for our purposes eggs are not dairy). However, when I went to make the icing, I realized I had three choices: make the icing and put it on the cake untasted, make the icing and snatch someone from outside to taste, or taste it myself.

I take a lot of pride in my cakes. I most definitely wasn't going to put it on the cake untasted. Icing is finicky, and it has to taste just right. I didn't want it to be too tart (it was cream cheese frosting) but I also didn't want it to be cloying. No way to tell without a taste.

I could have grabbed someone to taste it. It might have been difficult, it was 9:30pm after all, but I'm sure I could have done so. However, again, this is pride in my cake. I know what the cake tastes like so I know what I need the frosting to taste like.

So I tasted it myself. I only had two small tastes (think the size of a nail head). It was enough to get an idea what the icing needed.

Day three and I had dairy. But you know what? I don't regret it. I'm sure my lactose-free friends would back me up.

The second challenge: dairy-free

Well, we were successful. Vegetarian month came to a close with both of us feeling good about our progress.

During the course of the month, we decided that each month we would have one amnesty day. This, of course, is dependent on our adherence to the monthly challenge. Our amnesty day for vegetarianism was the 31st and we reintroduced ourselves to land animals and said goodbye to dairy.

Alex and I both agreed that we would return to vegetarianism later in the year and give it our full effort. In January, we were helped along by eating fish. When we return, we will be completely animal-free.

This month we're dairy-free. My hardest vice to give up will definitely be cheese, but I'll be strong. We even found a restaurant willing to make us a dairy-free dinner on Valentine's Day. Lucky us! (More on that later in the month).