Dairy Free Won't Kill Me

So, it's been a week without dairy. I haven't seen too much improvement, but am still sticking with it because lots of what I have read (which is a LOT) says that you have to cut it out for about 2 weeks to a month to know for sure. If you are interested in knowing more about why I'm doing all this crazy stuff to keep breastfeeding, go here. I really am amazed at all the people suggesting to just give it up, but I know that it's the best thing for Kyle! Anyway, didn't mean to pull a Le Leche League moment on everyone. :)

I realized today that I just need to start substituting things and I can still have some of the things I love (although a big huge chunk of cheddar cheese is not one of them). I have been on a lot of forums of other moms going through the same thing and found that rice milk was a good alternative to regular milk in recipes. And, that you could use oil instead of butter. So this got me thinking....about fudge. Yep, since I was an infant (OK maybe not that long) my Mom has made us homemade fudge frosting for cakes. Her mother made it for them growing up, and now me and my sisters make it for our families too. I'm a chocoholic and so I was really mourning having to give up chocolate because virtually EVERY chocolate candy (except the overpriced organic rip off stuff) has dairy in it. But, today, it was like I had an "ah hah" moment!

Could I possibly still make fudge but just dairy free??? It can't be so.

But I tried.

And I conquered.

So, I am totally fine giving up everything else if I can still make my homemade fudge. Problem solved. This dairy free thing isn't so bad after all.

And I can't even tell a difference although my Mom said she could. Go figure.

And for any of you daring enough to attempt to make this fudge that never turns out the same way twice, here's the recipe with dairy for your enjoyment.

Take 2 cups sugar and 4 heaping tablespoons of Hershey's cocoa powder and mix.
Add 1/2 Cup milk and 4 tablespoons of butter cut up. Stir together over high heat until it comes to a full rolling boil.
Let boil at full boil for exactly one and a half minutes.
Remove from heat and let sit for 30 minutes.
Add 1 tsp. of vanilla and whip until it looks like the right consistency to pour over any cake of your choosing (although a white cake is the best).

PS-It is also good to just pour in a pan, let it harden and eat at your leisure with a spoon. :)

For the dairy free version, you can use rice milk instead, and it's also good with 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil instead of the 4 Tbs. of butter.

Good luck! Oh, and this picture below is just to drool over. Don't expect it to look this pretty. :)