PSA #1: Lactose free mozzarella exists!!
Last week, while grocery shopping in the dairy aisle, I picked up a package of shredded Cabot mozzarella cheese. I love Cabot because their cheddar cheese is lactose free, and is one of two lactose-free cheeses I am aware of. (The other is Bel Gioso gorgonzola; weirdly, their small packages in grocery stores do not say lactose free, but their large bulk packages at Costco do.) I flipped over the back and read the label, because no food enters my house without us reading the label for Peter's food allergies.
Unbelievably, the mozzarella cheese was LACTOSE FREE. This is incredible. I have never found a lactose free mozzarella, and I have searched for years. I have not had a lasagna or a pizza in the past ten years, as I avoid foods that give me spectacularly adverse gastrointestinal effects. (As an aside, every Friday night I order a large plain pie for the kids, and a small white pizza with spinach and tomato with cheese only on half for myself and the Mister (the Mister gets the half with cheese), and despite the fact that I have ordered this pizza every single Friday night for the past SIX MONTHS from the same pizzeria, I still get questioned on it--"I don't understand, you want cheese only on half? Why would you do such a thing? That's really weird? Why order a pizza at all?" Every. Single. Time.)
It is not listed as lactose free on Cabot's website, but the packaging says "0 grams of lactose per serving." This probably means that a few servings might have a small amount of lactose, but a serving size is 1/4 cup.
Anyhoo, this opens up a wide world of homemade pizza and lasagna and general cheesy goodness. A world that has been closed to me for the past decade.
So, I decide to give up pasta and bread and the next day the universe shows me that I can have pizza and lasagna again. I'm guessing this is a test. But I freely admit I have no internal fortitude; we had baked ziti last night for dinner.
It was delicious.
PSA# 2: You need a Zoku pop-maker!
We recently bought a Zoku pop-maker and it is awesome. We avoid a lot of ice cream and frozen dessert products because they are generally produced in factories that also process nut products. This sort of sucks for Peter, because he has a big sweet tooth. The Zoku pop-maker allows us to make our own popsicles at home, including milk-based ones. Its also just a cool product. You keep the base in the freezer, and when you want a pop, you pull it out, pour liquid (like fruit juice, or milk) into the base, and five minutes, voila, you have a frozen popsicle of your chosen flavor.
Its also simple enough to use that a first grader could use it on their own.
(Neither Cabot nor Zoku has paid me in any way for these endorsements, I just really like them.)
PSA #3: Google Friend Connect going away!
Are you aware that Google is getting rid of Google Friend Connect March 1st, 2012, for non-Blogger sites? It will be continued a few months longer for Blogger sites, but by the end of this year it too will be folded into Google+. Thus, that little sidebar that shows how many followers you have is going away. Presumably all those blogs you follow as a follower will also disappear out of your reader. I find this...annoying. I guess I will have to figure out how add an RSS feed and subscribe by email to my blog. Ugh, technology.
PSA #4: Let me email you when you leave a comment!
Is your email address tied to your Blogger ID, so when you leave a comment on my blog I can hit reply and email you back? You can easily set your ID to be tied your email address, and if you are afraid of tying it to your everyday email address, you can set it to a different one. Just go here for the instructions with big pictures if you use Blogger.
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How I am doing on New Years's non-resolutions:
1) I set up a playdate for Greg. Greg told me who he wanted to have over, and at school I walked up to the child's grandmother (who doesn't speak English), handed her a note with an invitation to come over and our phone number, and that night spoke with the child's parents. Playdate will commence this Friday afternoon.
2) I installed the computer-holding shelf on my treadmill and have been using the Rosetta Stone while exercising every morning. It makes my half hour of exercising go quickly. The shelf is unfortunately a bit high--the straps tie around the center bar, and our center bar is low, thus dragging the shelf higher--but since I don't need to type, just see the screen while walking, the shelf works fine for me.
3) Cookies, I cannot quit you. As I'm typing this Peter is hanging over my shoulder, asking "when you finished that we make cookies PLEEEEEEEASE??????"
Last week, while grocery shopping in the dairy aisle, I picked up a package of shredded Cabot mozzarella cheese. I love Cabot because their cheddar cheese is lactose free, and is one of two lactose-free cheeses I am aware of. (The other is Bel Gioso gorgonzola; weirdly, their small packages in grocery stores do not say lactose free, but their large bulk packages at Costco do.) I flipped over the back and read the label, because no food enters my house without us reading the label for Peter's food allergies.
Unbelievably, the mozzarella cheese was LACTOSE FREE. This is incredible. I have never found a lactose free mozzarella, and I have searched for years. I have not had a lasagna or a pizza in the past ten years, as I avoid foods that give me spectacularly adverse gastrointestinal effects. (As an aside, every Friday night I order a large plain pie for the kids, and a small white pizza with spinach and tomato with cheese only on half for myself and the Mister (the Mister gets the half with cheese), and despite the fact that I have ordered this pizza every single Friday night for the past SIX MONTHS from the same pizzeria, I still get questioned on it--"I don't understand, you want cheese only on half? Why would you do such a thing? That's really weird? Why order a pizza at all?" Every. Single. Time.)
It is not listed as lactose free on Cabot's website, but the packaging says "0 grams of lactose per serving." This probably means that a few servings might have a small amount of lactose, but a serving size is 1/4 cup.
Anyhoo, this opens up a wide world of homemade pizza and lasagna and general cheesy goodness. A world that has been closed to me for the past decade.
So, I decide to give up pasta and bread and the next day the universe shows me that I can have pizza and lasagna again. I'm guessing this is a test. But I freely admit I have no internal fortitude; we had baked ziti last night for dinner.
It was delicious.
PSA# 2: You need a Zoku pop-maker!
We recently bought a Zoku pop-maker and it is awesome. We avoid a lot of ice cream and frozen dessert products because they are generally produced in factories that also process nut products. This sort of sucks for Peter, because he has a big sweet tooth. The Zoku pop-maker allows us to make our own popsicles at home, including milk-based ones. Its also just a cool product. You keep the base in the freezer, and when you want a pop, you pull it out, pour liquid (like fruit juice, or milk) into the base, and five minutes, voila, you have a frozen popsicle of your chosen flavor.
Its also simple enough to use that a first grader could use it on their own.
(Neither Cabot nor Zoku has paid me in any way for these endorsements, I just really like them.)
PSA #3: Google Friend Connect going away!
Are you aware that Google is getting rid of Google Friend Connect March 1st, 2012, for non-Blogger sites? It will be continued a few months longer for Blogger sites, but by the end of this year it too will be folded into Google+. Thus, that little sidebar that shows how many followers you have is going away. Presumably all those blogs you follow as a follower will also disappear out of your reader. I find this...annoying. I guess I will have to figure out how add an RSS feed and subscribe by email to my blog. Ugh, technology.
PSA #4: Let me email you when you leave a comment!
Is your email address tied to your Blogger ID, so when you leave a comment on my blog I can hit reply and email you back? You can easily set your ID to be tied your email address, and if you are afraid of tying it to your everyday email address, you can set it to a different one. Just go here for the instructions with big pictures if you use Blogger.
**************
How I am doing on New Years's non-resolutions:
1) I set up a playdate for Greg. Greg told me who he wanted to have over, and at school I walked up to the child's grandmother (who doesn't speak English), handed her a note with an invitation to come over and our phone number, and that night spoke with the child's parents. Playdate will commence this Friday afternoon.
2) I installed the computer-holding shelf on my treadmill and have been using the Rosetta Stone while exercising every morning. It makes my half hour of exercising go quickly. The shelf is unfortunately a bit high--the straps tie around the center bar, and our center bar is low, thus dragging the shelf higher--but since I don't need to type, just see the screen while walking, the shelf works fine for me.
3) Cookies, I cannot quit you. As I'm typing this Peter is hanging over my shoulder, asking "when you finished that we make cookies PLEEEEEEEASE??????"
Ok, cheese wonderful. Zoku pop maker need. Completely bummed about the google friend thing. I can barely figure out what little I'm doing now. Sucks! And finally, I need to set up the email thing. I know, I know.
ReplyDeleteI did NOT know about Google - stink, stink, STINK!!! I'll be really hacked about losing the blogs I follow from my dashboard because, well, just because it's SO easy! {sigh} First world problems, eh? ;-)
ReplyDeleteYay that you found lactose free mozz! I don't know what I'd do without my italian food!!
ReplyDeleteand how funny that you posted about the Zoku!! We are on the same popsicle wavelength;) I will probably break down and get one eventually:)
I want one of those pop makers! I spent a chunk of my summer scouring Amazon for a good popsicle mold because of my grand plans of making them - and having a healthier alternative to the constant "Do we have any ice cream?!" questions in my house, and this may do it for me.
ReplyDeleteOf course, that will never cut out the cookie request here! As I write this, there's three big bags of homemade cookies in the freezer and now that I've typed that, I need to put that thought completely out of my head!
Zoku - thank you. You just helped me figure out my sister in law's next birthday gift!
ReplyDelete