An afternoon latte

One of the frequent themes I’ve seen from my colleagues this week talking about their 5 Days experiences is the challenge of changing their coffee and tea habits. I almost always drink black coffee, so going dairy-free wouldn’t be a huge problem for me in the coffee arena anyway.

An afternoon latte from Carol's Cafe.

An afternoon latte from Carol’s Cafe.

Since I’m doing my 5 Days with a gluten-free diet, there aren’t a lot of workplace beverages I need to think about! But every once in a while I like to indulge in a latte or a cappuccino. Italians, who invented these wondrous espresso-based drinks, roll their collective eyes at us silly Americans for drinking them anytime other than in the morning, but that’s OK. I find I’m most interested in one in the afternoon.

Conveniently, I work a short walk from Carol’s Cafe in Balch Hall’s Tatkon Center. A few minutes, and a few bucks, and I can indulge in a nice treat that doesn’t even pack many calories. Yes, I’m still looking forward to my next glutinous pizza or pasta or cake, or even just a baguette, but this indulgence will tide me over.

Day Four – Vegetarian!

I’m 8 months pregnant and craving so much dairy this week!  It must be because I’m eating less meat. There are beans galore in every Cornell Dining operation – so I’m certainly getting my fill of beans for protein….
Just for a morning snack, I drank a large latte and had some Chobani yogurt.  The staff at Carol’s Cafe made my “pregnancy decaf” latte perfectly!  More dairy please!

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Dairy Denial???

So it is day 2 in my Gluten/Dairy free diet and I’m having nightmares of visits from large black and white, four legged animals that say “Moo.”  I am reminded of a favorite milk quote:

I asked the waiter, “Is this milk fresh?” he said, “Lady three hours ago it was grass..” – Phyllis Diller

It seems that I could possibly be missing my dairy products and it might take me a bit longer to fully immerse myself in this new role. To tame the beast within, I scurried over to Carol’s Cafe again this morning to pick up a “Very Vanilla” Silk soybean milk and promptly followed the directions on the top, “Shake Well and Buy Often.”  Good flavor, I could get used to this, and they tell me the chocolate is even better!

"Very  Vanilla" Silk Soybean milk

“Very Vanilla” Silk Soybean milk

Gluten/Dairy free Day 1

Cornell Dining office candy dish!!

Cornell Dining office candy dish!!

In anticipation of Day 1 eating a Gluten/Dairy free diet I visited my small rural grocery store (Ovid, NY) and found that they had almond milk for my dairy replacement.  I was delighted and planned to bring it in and keep it in the fridge for my private stash to use in my daily caffeine fix.  I forgot it!  Visited Carol’s Cafe in the Carol Tatkon Center and found vanilla soy milk as a not so bad substitute, however there wasn’t much more, than the banana and apple that I took away, for me to eat there. Careful label reading proved that most items contained either dairy or gluten, Boo!  Tomorrow I will venture further beyond a small retail unit. P.S. I love the note attached to the office candy dish upon my arrival this morning!  Thanks Gail!

Team Dairy Free

Started the day with a Soy Latte from Carol’s with a shot of almond…it was very good! The staff at Carol’s was extremely helpful navigating the dairy free options.

Soy Latte

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