Cow's Milk

Well, i caved. I started using cow's milk in the blends.

This is not a HORRIBLE thing. Remember, i only suspect a milk allergy, not intolerance; I've not had any sort of medical test done to prove or disprove either. Although, as i type that, i should really do a little more research. I'm only using those terms because they make sense in my head, but in having a recent conversation with a friend, there was some confusion on what i MEAN, and i had to clarify.

TO ME, i mean:

Milk Allergy: causes allergy symptoms, like stuffy nose, congestion...
Milk Intolerance: causes gastric disturbances. Gas, bloating, cramps and discomfort.

So now i'm going to look it up and do some actual research and see if i was right or at least onto something with MY terminology...

(in this area, imagine the Wayne and Garth flashback wavy screen, indicating time-lapse (oops... is this reference too dated for some of you readers?...))

Okay. So here's what i found, off the LiveStrong site (out of about 3 or 4 quick pull-ups). Click on it for full article.

So i was right!

Anyhoo - - i've added milk. Why? Well, for a few reasons. The predominant one being cost. All these other "non-milks" as i'm calling them - almond, rice, hemp - their price adds up. And for the quantity i use in a blend, i'm plowing thru. Maybe i should do further research on what options to add in the DAIRY section. Right now, i'm mostly set on milk, yogurt, and cheese (cottage and hard). I have NOT yet introduced eggs, though i think that is coming next.

Another reason, to be honest: We are already getting WIC for Thom, our 4 yr old. Hank is still eligible but has been off of it due to only eating formula, which is: 1) only covered til the age of 12 mos and 2) was being covered by our health insurance anyway. Now that Hank is eating real food, we could really use the help of BUYING said real food. And a large component of that real food is MILK. They give us almost TOO MUCH, but i'm not complaining.

Hank has been super congested for about a week now. Sans milk. Probably just a seasonal cold and/or allergies. I'm gonna see how he does. If i feel the congestion is just way outta control, i'll find another route to travel down... It's a bit of a conundrum, really. :-/ Sigh.

I think that's all i gotta say about THAT.