Hermiones Mom's Journal, 28 July 2014

I had that same problem about a week ago. I gave it up months ago and when I tried it again I thought I was going to die. .... it did go away and I also avoid milk for the same reason. I bet the lactose free stuff would be ok when you're ready to try it. good luck! 

Kristyanne3 -- I've been drinking lactose free milk and eating lactose free cheese for about 5 years now. But I was always able to eat full fat ice cream, because the higher the fat content, the lower the lactose. Now it appears that I can't eat any lactose at all. It makes me very very sad. Ice cream is one of the great joys of life! 

check the ice cream shops too the one opposite my school makes lactose free ice cream (they have it in the back though so you have to ask for it) and it's actually quite nice (the sugar free ice cream less so xD)  

A couple of thoughts for you HMom - 1) I purchased a Dessert Bullet (same thing as a Yonanas). Lots of photos/videos of the thing online. Freeze bananas and other fruit and feed thru the feed tube and you get a very creamy sorbet. Bananas are the key to the creaminess IMO. My fave thus far is banana berry. 2) Haven't tried this but it's on my list - Sugar Free Jello Pudding Mix w/ Almond milk and freeze in the ice cream freezer. From what I've read, the pudding mix won't set up as pudding w/ Almond or Soy milk but I see no reason it shouldn't freeze well. I have a box of cheesecake pudding mix in the pantry right now calling my name for this! Ice cream of SOME sort is a summer must for me and I really hope you find something that satisfies your taste buds AND doesn't make you sick!  

I second Vickie 5966's advice. Most of the smoothies I make in my NutriBullet come out like ice cream, since I usually use frozen veggies and fruit. There are loads of recipes out there for ice cream substitutes you can make in the blender/nutribullet/dessert bullet/yonanas. I only recently heard of the Dessert Bullet and Yonanas, but they look like too much work :-) The Nutribullet makes it just as well. It also whips up hummus and things like that in a jiffy and there is only a cup to wash and a blade to rinse....very easy and takes up very little room on the counter or in the cupboard. I NEVER thought I would be drinking/eating a smooth creamy milkshake-type drink with spinach in it....lol. Hope you find some good Doctors soon and I think you are wise to listen to your body. 

I was making Magic Bullet smoothies almost daily until the past couple of weeks. I use one frozen fruit and one fresh, with some lactose free plain yogurt, basil or mint leaves, and sparkling water. It really does come out like a milk shake. Unfortunately right now, I'm not permitted fresh fruits or vegetables because I am recovering from what might be termed an "insult" to my intestinal function: got a food-borne infection from a restaurant I shall not name here, and after being treated with Cipro and lots of other stuff to get the infection under control, now I have temporary IBS. In fact, since I could eat full fat ice cream before this happened but can't eat any non-lactose-free dairy at all now, it's probably part of the damage done from the infection and/or the Cipro. So it might be temporary. I hope so...  

And thanks everyone for the suggestions and support -- it's so helpful to have this community and also to be able to come back and reread the comments later on so that you don't lose the benefit of the advice!  

Oh, that really sucks, I hope that you recover soon and can go back to enjoying the foods you love! Are you taking any acidophilus? I have found in the past when I have taken antibiotics I really benefited from taking some with it. Prevented some of the "upsets" that go with strong antibiotics. 

:( so sorry for you - but thanks for the magic bullet idea - I still have one in a box, and with this 100 degree weather we're having here this week, it may just need to come out! 

Hermoines Mom, that really IS an insult! I'm so sorry. Since fresh fruit is out of the mix for now, perhaps the jello instant pudding w/ non dairy milk could be a substitute. I'm curious to try this in the ice cream freezer but I'm also wondering about mixing it like pudding and throwing in the freezer for a couple hours. Wouldn't be quite ice cream - but more frozen than pudding. A warning though - as mentioned, I've read it doesn't set well w/ non dairy milk. If you do a google search for "sugar free instant pudding+almond milk" you'll get a hit from a forum post on myfitnesspal dated Sept 23 2011. It gives a few suggestions for getting a thicker consistency. Hope the IBS is VERY temporary and is just a memory for you very soon.  

Thanks everyone for the suggestions and encouragement. Guess what one of the things is that you are NOT supposed to have with IBS: artificial sweeteners! In fact, you can't even have peaches and pears when the are cooked because they contain natural sorbitol. I don't actually miss the artificial sweeteners though -- I almost never use them. The Magic Bullet is also fantastic for making vinaigrettes. They blend the olive oil and lemon juice into that creamy consistency that is really yummy. I've been making a lemon-garlic-thyme vinaigrette to marinate chicken, and it's great.  

Ooooh, thanks for the suggestion about the Magic Bullet and vinaigrettes ! I must try that next time, I made on recently and it wasn't very good because it wouldn't blend. Perfect suggestion to reduce my reliance on store bought condiments.  

ChrisSpark - I've always had the same problem and never understood how the chefs got these dressings so creamy. I also have to avoid store-bought dressings and marinades because I have a sulfite allergy and these items are often problems for me. So the vinaigrette I made was: 2 TBSPs olive oil, 4 TBSPs fresh squeezed lemon juice, 1 large garlic clove, 1/2 tsp citrus season salt, a few grinds of black pepper, and 1 TBSP of fresh thyme leaves, plus the leaves from a couple sprigs of fresh tarragon. I just threw it all in the magic bullet and blended it up until it was creamy. I used this to marinate chicken breasts the other day and then I also poured it over hot cooked asparagus. Both uses were fantastic.  

Many thanks for all the Nutribullet mentions! I have a small Ninja blender but never would have thought to do salad dressings on it. Hermoines mom, you've opened a whole new world! Also Hermoines Mom, wanted to mention that my hat is off to you for even attempting to maintain/lose weight right now with all the dietary limitations you currently have. Kudos to you!  

Well obviously I never thought of it either, Vickie 5956, since I've had the thing for about 4 years and it only just occurred to do so! Thanks also for the encouragement, Vickie. But you know something: There's so little I can eat and I feel so crappy if I make a mistake that it's almost easier to diet than not to! If I can't eat dairy or anything with sugar or white flour for the rest of my life, I bet it'll be a heck of a lot easier to keep the weight off than when I could eat hot fudge sundaes and chocolate cake. Guess I won't have to worry so much about diabetes creeping up on me.  

You know, that makes a twisted sort of sense ;-) A few weeks ago I had a spurge day for something DH & I had been craving but hadn't eaten in close to a year. It was SO rich and heavy it made me sick. I'm fairly certain it's cured my desire to ever eat that dish again. BTW, you mentioned artificial sweeteners being on your banned list. Does that extend to Stevia and some of the others that are considered to be natural? Although thinking about it, you may have been off sweet flavors for long enough that perhaps it no longer appeals to you.  

Actually, sorbitol is natural, but the gastroenterologist said not to eat anything with sorbitol, including peaches and pears which are natural sources of sorbitol. I tried out stevia as a sweetener for hot cocoa and smoothies -- don't use very much because I'm not big on sweet beverages -- and after a week or so, I had this odd rash just under the skin on my thighs. As soon as I stopped the stevia, the rash went away, so apparently I am one of the many who are allergic to it. To be honest, I use so little sweetener that I finally decided to go back to raw turbinado sugar for most things, honey on oatmeal. In the small quantities I use it -- a half tsp at a time -- it has very little impact on either my calorie or carb count for the day, and it really amps up the flavor. Before raw fruits got banned for me, I would put blueberries and a half tsp sugar right into the hot oatmeal, and the blueberries would heat up and just burst in your mouth. Delish. 

There are so many different sweeteners it can be dizzying sometimes. I'm sure that scientists have known of many of them for decades but it seems that they've just come public availability in the past few years. Interesting about the peaches and pears being a natural source of sorbitol. It really does sound though like you're managing your changes and challenges extremely well. Hopefully the raw fruits will be allowed back into your diet soon. It sounds though like you can still have cooked fruit, correct?  

Yes -- I can have cooked fruit EXCEPT no peaches, pears, or plums. I am cooking strawberries and nectarines with some lemon juice, a tiny bit of sugar, and some basil leaves. I cooked up a whole bunch the other day, and divided it into small containers and froze some so I can use it up gradually. 

Thanks for the vinaigrette recipe Hermiones Mom !