Our Story

When my son was a baby, the pediatrician recommended I use soy formula since I was both nursing and supplementing with formula, since soy formula is supposedly easier to digest. There was a distinct change in his digestion starting at 2.5 weeks of age. Instead of newborn pasty poo, he passed hard poo, and was in a lot of pain. It wasn't long until we realized he couldn't tolerate soy. We were prepared for that reaction though, as the Husband's family has a long history of soy intolerance. Switching to a milk-based formula was better, but still a bit problematic. I didn't think much of it, though, since he seemed to do better than before.

At the age of 2, he continued to have severe constipation issues, and he was put on Miralax by the pediatrician. We avoided overt forms of soy (but never cut out 'hidden' soy), and continued with the Miralax regimine. Fast forward 5 years... at the age of 7.5 years, his digestive issues became much more pronounced and things were going downhill. I finally gave up with the pediatrician and began researching things on my own, and thanks to a friend, I learned about Milk Soy Protein Intolerance (MSPI). The more I read, the more I wanted to learn. It fit my son to a 'T'. As of April 1, 2011, he has gone dairy and soy free, and he's a much happier kid when he's not had anything with dairy or soy. The pedi was confident that after a time, when I began re-introducing dairy and soy into his diet again, that he would be able to handle things on not only a derivative level, but to have milk products cooked or baked into food items. I've discovered over the summer that's not the case. The true derivative level is OK for us... but even small amounts of foods with casein, whey, soy protein isolate or anything that resembles milk or soy sends us back to square one with digestive issues.

I was very overwhelmed at the beginning of this journey and had NO IDEA what to do and what we were going to eat! My son has never been a huge meat eater, relying more on dairy then meat for his protein needs (milk, chocolate milk, cheese, etc.). Once I cut these out of his diet, he had normal bowels for the first time in his life! He's healthier and happier, and that, combined with the absence of pain, is motivation for me to continue! So, I thought I'd put all my MSPI friendly recipes in one spot...not only as a reference for myself, but hopefully it will help someone who is scratching their head and saying, "Now what???"

I make as many things as MSPI friendly as possible so I don't have to make two different meals each time I cook. My husband has not been terribly excited about some of the dairy/soy-free foods, but I've gotten things to a point where he rarely realizes I've made something MSPI safe! I know if it passes the Husband's test, it should pass most people's test! Let me know what you think!