I'm mildly dairy allergic and, it would appear, react to cinnamon as well.

This suggestion may not be practical for working Moms. I tend to make a lot
of prepared foods myself. For example, I love bread so I own a bread
machine. Soy milk replaces milk in it, etc. I also read labels although
that is not 100% effective. I also avoid any foods which you just know are
candidates for containing milk, e.g., most breads. I became aware of the
incredible range of foods with dairy in them when my youngest daughter
became a Vegan (thankfully she's reverted to just being a Vegetarian). Then
I finally self-diagnosed a dairy allergy.

I am truly amazed by the foods which have dairy in them under a variety of
names. Whey proteins are my 'bete noire' so guess what I find in a
tremendous range of products? Whey, of course. Here is my list of things to
be very careful about (most of the time they are bad for you): breads/buns,
french fries, margarine, pastries (cookies, cakes, cinnamon rolls),
prepared meats such as pepperoni/salami/sausage/bologna, pasta sauces,
prepared meals. In restaurants always ask what things are cooked in.
Recently I found out that a local restaurant fried eggs in butter.
Restaurants also like to coat veggies in butter. You may be aware of
everything on this list but I hope you don't mind the repetition. So the
way to protect your family is to either make it yourself or to
automatically avoid the kinds of foods I've described above, unless you
have read the labels.

I find our meals tend to be more basic now because of my allergy. Things
like roasts and pasta are frequent choices. They are relatively easy to
make and are easy to garnish with known and safe products. I've also
managed to find substitutes or dairy free ingredients for the desserts I
make (my wife says I'm a BAD PERSON because of the desserts!). An example
is coconut milk to replace sweetened condensed milk. I don't know if this
is helpful at all. Good luck with your life...

Don M

>My 2nd question for you all is how do you cope with the dailyness of diary
>allergy?  I have honed my skills and can do the shopping in 1 1/2 hrs now -
>it used to take 3!!
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