Creating Culinary Masterpieces with Goats Milk

Our adventure with Goat's Milk began in 2005 when 2-3 month old Natalie was not tolerating formula. We tried regular formula and soy formula before consulting with the Pediatrician about Natalie's upset stomach and cranky demeanor. It was suggested that we try Goat's Milk or some really expensive hypoallergenic formula. We chose Goat's Milk for all the positive things her Pediatrician said about it. We continued our use of Goat's Milk until Natalie was 2 1/2 years old when we finally transitioned her to Cow's Milk. Flash back to August 2007 when Natalie was finally on Cow's Milk daily. My little girl became really snotty, with continuous post nasal drip, a chesty cough and all around mucousy mess. By the end of 2007 Natalie was worse and began to develop a wheezy cough and eczema on her stomach. I took her to a Pediatrician in Austin, and he informed me that Natalie was exhibiting the signs of Asthma. We came home with a nebulizer and medicine to control the wheeze; however, I felt that she did not have asthma, but something else was triggering the wheeze, cough, snot, and eczema. I researched, studied, and consulted with her Pediatrician in Grapevine, Texas (who has treated her since birth) and we decided to take her off Cow's Milk and put her back on Goat's Milk. To my surprise the wheeze instantly stopped, the eczema disappeared and her snotty nose dried up. It was amazing, one minor change in her diet made the difference. I was right, Natalie didn't have asthma! One thing we were not advised on was that we should stop all dairy, so we proceeded to feed Natalie yogurt, cheese and ice cream.

In March/April 2008, Natalie once again developed the wheeze, snot nose and hacking cough. I couldn't figure out why she suddenly started having those symptoms again. I looked at her diet and realized that though she was drinking Goats Milk she was consuming vast amounts of yogurt and cheese. Natalie LOVES yogurt and was eating it daily sometimes twice a day. I once again consulted with her Pediatrician and this time I was advised to remove ALL cow's milk from her diet. This meant that she could not consume Milk, cheese, yogurt, ice cream, and processed foods that contained milk products. Suddenly I was thrown into a world of reading labels, evaluating the contents to make sure no milk was used. I have learned a whole new way of approaching eating and the results in Natalie are amazing. The cough is gone, the snot is gone, the post nasal drip has vanished. I can't even begin to imagine that milk was the cause of her misery. So here is a list of things I have learned about Natalie's new diet:
1. I learned that Teddy Grahams do not have milk and Spaghettio's do.
2. Goat's Milk yogurt costs me $2.69 compared to Yo plait or Dan non at $0.59 for the same amount of yogurt.
3. Goats Butter is $3.49, but you must be careful when cooking with it as the fat content is higher and it has a tendency to burn.
4. You can buy Goat Milk Ice Cream
5. Central Market and Whole Foods have now become my favorite place to shop and hang out.

6. You can buy Cheddar, Gouda, Brie, Mozzarella, and Feta cheese all produced with Goat's Milk and they are relatively good, though slightly pricey.

7. I can make almost anything with Goat's Milk and if it is baked there is not much difference in taste, but if not cooked, there is a huge

8. Finally, I have had the opportunity to learn how to cook with Goats Cheese and create fun but healthy dinners. (This means no fast food or prepared food for us!) I have created the following dinners for her:
(a). Mac and Cheese with a homemade cheese sauce with her fave goat cheese;
(b). Mini Pizzas with Cheddar. A definite success.
(c). Cupcakes with goats butter and goats milk. They were chocolate and Nat LOVED them.
(d). Muffins made from scratch with Goat Milk
(e). Chicken Cordon Bleu with Goat Cheese

Those are only some of the creations I have made with her special food. I will start journalling what I cook and take pictures for you to see as I experience cooking with Goat Products.