Just a reminder:

With summer now probably smacking some of you square in the face, may I remind you that Breyer's/Edy's Fruit Bars are lactose-free. (Or is it Dryer's? Sorry, I'm not current on my frozen food brands...) They also make a pint-sized sorbet that is as well, with the exception of the coconut flavor.

And should you want something chocolate but don't want to go the soy route, Haagan Daaz has a chocolate sorbet that, last I checked, was a-ok.

Me? I'll probably be swimming in So Delicious chocolate/peanut butter soy ice cream on a raft of their ice cream sandwiches.

This is not at all a comprehensive list of options. For that, wander on over to the right there and click on my 'product reviews' label.

Milk gets easier:

Hello -- I know it's been a little while (er, a long while), but I thought I'd point out some new lactose-free milk options I've seen around town lately.

Dairygold has their own half gallon size of lactose-free milk available now, and I've seen it run from anywhere between $2.20 and $2.80. Much cheaper than the Lactaid brand.

Walmart also has their own lactose-free half gallons, which are priced at $2.98 each.

So now we've those two, along with the regular Lactaid brand, Safeway, Fred Meyer and Albertsons store brands, Dairy Ease and Organic Valley, all producing half gallons of lactose-free milk in a variety of price ranges. Makes a world of difference, I'd say, compared to what I could find when I started this trouble 10 years ago.

Shout-Out

For those of you looking for more lactose-free recipes along with food photography to make you hungry, then I reccomend the site LactoseLess. Do take a peek.

Dear "Viral" Advertisers:

I receive a fair amount of traffic on this oft-neglected blog, an amount that surprises me sometimes, and it always pleases me when someone takes the time to let me know that I've helped them in some way. That's what this page strives to do, ease the hassle and sympathize with an annoying condition.

I enjoy answering questions, I enjoy hearing about lactose-free foods that other people like. Dialogue is all well and good, but here's what I don't like: thinly-veiled advertising.

I know, someone is paying you to sound enthusiastic, and maybe whatever product you're hawking really did work for you. Fine. But don't show up here acting like you're just a regular person leaving a regular comment like anyone else. I'd maybe be less annoyed if you were straight with me. "Hi, I'm so-and-so, and I work for [x]."

When I talk about some product I like, believe me, I am in no way tied to it. No one pays me to do this. It is, at best, a poorly maintained hobby that I think fills a need and it's a subject about which I have things to say. If I like something, I say so. If it's crap, I say so.

Here's the thing. To me, popping up in my comments section gushing about the product that saved your life, all written in considered ad-copy speak, is only one step removed from straight spam. Yeah, you're advertising in a place the relates to your product, but you're also doing it for free.

If you want to advertise your product, you need to pay to do so. Thing is, you'll notice there aren't any ads on here. I have some links on the sidebar relating to products and resources that have helped me, but that's it. No one contacted me about putting those links up; I chose to link them on my own.

If you want an ad, then you're going to need to be selling something pretty special. Something I've tried, loved and for which I don't mind collecting your money. We can work out a rate.

Unless you're that product, any comments that have even the whiff of advertising will be deleted from now on. Maybe some legitimate comments will be lost as a result, and I apologize in advance. Consider this the official advertising policy.

I'm Contagious: Family Members with Newfound Dairy Issues

(For the record, since I know people have a tendency to get confused and not use any sort of rational thinking when it comes to health issues, I am NOT suggesting that lactose intolerance is contagious. And forgive me if this sounds a bit mean, but you'd be silly to think so.)

As I've mentioned many, many times, I don't feel as though my life is damaged and severely affected by lactose intolerance. It's just not. The condition is annoying, sure, but I'd rather have this than a gluten allergy. You get used to it. Really, you do. I know that if you're reading this shortly after you've discovered just what your stomach was so angry about, I can see how this seems flippant. I know, everything seems like it has dairy in it, but believe me--- You'll live. You'll learn to read labels, you'll adjust and you'll go from being totally depressed about it to mildly annoyed.

(You'll also learn to keep a few Immodium pills on you, just in case. I can't tell you how many times I've had to spend a ridiculous amount of money on upset stomach medicine just because the nearest Walgreens couldn't stock a stupid sample size...)

That being said, getting used to your condition means that if someone else in your house starts exhibiting those familiar signs of stomach distress, you know what to do. You suffering x number of years ago means that person will suffer less if you're paying attention. It's a small consolation, but hey.

I'm often asked if I have to make separate meals, one for me and one for the rest of my family (If you're keeping score at home- I'm married, have a 4 year old daughter and an almost-1 son). The short answer: No. That's a waste of time.

Long answer: I cook what we feel like eating. Between lactose-free milk, Kraft cheese and margarine, dishes with dairy in them don't have to be avoided. But I also cook all sorts of things that don't have dairy in them at all. My husband has used my skim lactose-free milk in his cereal ever since we've lived together. It's expensive enough, so why buy separate milk if you don't have to, right?

Well, after six years and change of living with me, now he has trouble tolerating regular milk above 1%. If he orders a coffee drink somewhere, he always asks for it skim. Now, people develop sensitivity to lactose all the time, so it might have happened even without me. Who knows, but it's something he sort of has to give some attention. Cheese, yogurt and other dairy products do not appear to be an issue. He's not really an ice cream eater, never has been, so I can't really tell you how his stomach would react to that.

My daughter, as soon as she was old enough to have milk, drank whole milk from age 1 to 2. From there, we switched to 2%. This was fine up until a few months ago when she started complaining that her stomach hurt whenever she'd go on a big cereal binge. (Or my favorite-- "I want dry cereal in a bowl. But I want a cup of milk to drink." Haha... Oh, kids.)

Hmm. I thought.
So I gave her a week of soy milk and lactose-free milk, and she was fine. She thought the lactose-free milk was weird, but I think that had more to do with the fact that it was skim and she wasn't used to that.

I'll admit, I really hoped it was just a stomach bug. Dairy can irritate anyone if they're a little under the weather, and she was. So after she started to feel better, I bought regular milk again, but this time, 1%.

She was fine... Up until a week ago, which of course is when I bought a whole bunch of new cereal. Started giving her soy or lactose-free milk, and she's fine. I'm afraid that her dairy issues are not sickness related, and that sucks. So far, the issue seems centered around milk, but she did seem mildly uncomfortable after eating some pizza the other day.

Like I said, she could have developed this regardless of my stomach issues, but it does make me feel a little contagious. Still, if this is an issue, at least I know how to deal with it. I envision years of difficult friend's birthday parties for her, but... Well, hopefully she can make it just another feature of her delightful personality, like I did.

I'm totally delightful, aren't I?

Don't answer that.

Stayed tuned for more tales as this develops. My son, by the way, will eat anything put in front of him, regardless of what it's made out of. I fear for my grocery bills, especially if I'm going to buy buying everyone a different kind of milk after he turns a year old.

Last two recipes up on Lactofree.co.uk

My last two recipes are up on the LactoFree website. I don't have the specific links for each one handy at the moment, but head to the "news" section and they will be there. One is a vanilla-cinnamon whole wheat pancakes recipe, and the other is a veggie scramble. Both are quite good, but I would say that, wouldn't I?

Thanks to them for wandering my way and for referring to me as "clever," ha.

Two more recipes up on Lactofree.co.uk

Easy Phad Thai Sauce -- which for whatever reason, has both metric and "standard" measurements. Don't get on me about it not being "authentic." There's a reason it's called Easy.

Potato Soup -- Metric only on this one, but it's still tasty.

There will be two more recipes after these, but I don't know when they will be up. Stay tuned.