Make a cake and eat it too! Even though it is dairy and gluten-free...

Four months after my baby girl was born, she started filling her diapers with neon green slimy poop.I could always feel bubbles in her tummy and no amount of burping seemed to eradicate the problem. Lucky for me, she was a sweet, easy-going child, despite any stomach discomfort she might have felt. The pediatrician told me she had a dairy allergy which meant if I wanted to keep breastfeeding, I would need to take dairy out of my diet. No problem. I could go without dairy for the next 7-8 months. Easy breezy. I mean, we live in a world with dairy substitutes like almond milk! Unfortunately, taking dairy out didn’t fix the problem. So then I read that a percentage of babies with the dairy allergy are also allergic to soy. So out went the soy. This turned out to be MUCH more difficult because as those of you who have tried to live without soy will testify, soy is in EVERYTHING. I went to open a can of tuna—it had soy in it. I wanted to have some peanut butter—it had soy. My pre-natal vitamins had soy listed as one of the ingredients.

Taking soy out of my diet definitely helped the problem but she was still occasionally pooping green. So then, I decided to take gluten out of my diet as well, to see if that would fix everything. And it did. The problem was, now I had to come up with meals that were dairy-free, soy-free, and gluten-free.

Why am I telling you this? First off, I am in no way a scientist, nutritionist, or food expert—but it seems to me that when it comes to things that your are ingesting, too much of one thing isn’t great for your body. The fact that soy was listed on the ingredients of almost everything I put my hand on in the grocery store was rather disconcerting. There are probably just small amounts of it in most things—but still! It is in EVERYTHING! 

Secondly, for those of you who are breastfeeding babies with a dairy allergy (and if they have soy and gluten allergies too...), there is hope! My little girl's digestive issues were pretty much fixed by the time she was 11 months. So I happily integrated dairy and gluten back into my diet again. Until you reach that point with your child, here is a recipe that will help when you are craving chocolate. It is dairy/soy/gluten-free. And it is fast and easy and delicious. (And I will post a few other recipes this week that are dairy/soy/gluten-free and that saved me from going crazy while I had these eating restrictions.)

 Chocolate Cake (Dairy/Soy/Gluten – Free)

*You will need 2 ramekins (I found my ramekins in the dollar aisle at Target) or 1 oven-safe wide-mouthed cup or mug

·   1/4 cup granulated sugar

·   3 tablespoons white rice flour (This is my preferred non-gluten flour)

·   2 tablespoons cocoa powder (natural or Dutch process)

·   1/8 teaspoon salt

·   1/8 teaspoon baking soda

·   3 tablespoons almond milk

·   2 tablespoons vegetable oil

·   1 large egg

·   1 tablespoon dairy-free chocolate chips, optional

·   powdered sugar

1.  Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease each ramekin with non-stick cooking spray. In small bowl, mix dry ingredients. Then, add milk, vegetable oil, and egg. Whisk until smooth.

2. Divide batter evenly between two ramekins or use all batter in one large wide-mouthed mug. Bake about 25 minutes, or until a toothpick can be inserted and removed cleanly. Remove from oven and cool for a few minutes. Sprinkle confectioners' sugar over cake and serve warm with almond milk! Yum!

Adapted from: http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2012/02/gluten-free-chocolate-cake-quick-recipe.html