Not that I would know. I did not, in fact, milk any soybeans or coconuts this week, but I did decide to cut the dairy first. My kids (referred to henceforth as Mini (she's 7), Pickle (he's 5) and Yummy (he's 2) LOVE milk. (FYI, Yummy is at this moment climbing up one side of my face in an attempt to kiss the other side of my face. I apologize if you're having trouble picturing that. Or maybe you're lucky.) They drink a big cup every morning (sometimes with chocolate, sometimes without) first thing after getting out of bed. They drink it after lunch. They drink it before bed, then they usually have another cup IN bed if they're having trouble falling asleep. All this milk is not only packed with sugar but is difficult for most humans who are no longer infants to digest. It is a common allergen and can trigger respiratory symptoms, eczema, digestive problems and asthma.
SO.
I sat Mini, Pickle, and Yummy down over the weekend and explained that I thought we should try to stop drinking milk. Pickle was fine with this. He loves chocolate milk, but doesn't usually drink milk plain. Yummy is 2 yrs old, and was oblivious. Mini, on the other hand, entered what I like to call Meltdown Mode. She sat on the kitchen stool crying. Actual tears. Explaining how much she loves milk, and how she could never learn to love anything new as much as she loves cow's milk.
Well, Tuesday morning, we ran out of that precious cow's milk. She sat at the kitchen counter, and tearfully sipped the last drops. I could see that she was less than enthusiastic about this little experiment. So I just asked her a question.
I asked her: Where does milk come from?
Mini: Cows.
Me: Who is that milk for?
Pause.
Mini: Baby cows?
Me: Exactly. [At this point I gave her a VERY mild G-rated version of a day-in-the-life of the average American dairy cow, including such tragic details as cows that are hooked up to machines continuously, and don't get to go outside or walk around. Ever. If you think you're ready for the grown-up version, go watch Food, Inc. Now. No, seriously...]
***
After a quick trip to the health-food aisle of our local Smith's Marketplace, I got out a newly purchased package of tiny dixie cups, and four kinds of 'milk'. I labeled each of the cups, and gave them each a sample of soy, rice, almond and coconut milk. I told them I wanted to hear lots of adjectives to describe what they were tasting, but they couldn't say the word "yucky". If they needed to, they could tell me which one was "not their favorite".
Success! Mini and Pickle both tasted all the options, and each picked one they wanted to finish drinking.
Taste test results: Mini preferred coconut milk, and Pickle preferred soy.
***
Today was Day 2 of being dairy-free. And apart from a minor skirmish today with Mini who wanted a quesadilla for lunch today, it's all going pretty smoothly. Yummy thinks all the milks are pretty, well, yummy. And both Mini and Pickle have discovered that (shockingly) ALL the milks taste pretty darn good with a big scoop of Nesquik.
Hmmm.... not looking forward to tackling sugar later this summer...
