th butter and of course my favorite, cheeseburgers.

You know you shouldn’t eat it but you just can’t help yourself. “I’ll need to take an extra lactaid pill with this meal,” you think to yourself. You find your lawn chair and with that paper plate teetering on your lap you begin searching for your pills only to find nothing but pocket lint. You curse under your breath as you attempt to remember whe

Summer is fast approaching and with summer comes the nicer weather and with the nicer weather comes the return of the backyard BBQ potluck party.

I love Saturday’s but used to hate Saturday nights. During the summer months my Saturday nights were usually spent at home as close to the bathroom as possible. Why you ask, because I was lactose intolerant and I am sure all of you out there who suffer from lactose intolerance will most certainly be able to relate and some reading this may even have a similar story.

You see my wife and I along with our kids seem to attend one of these backyard BBQ potluck parties almost every Saturday. Kids running around, meeting and hanging out with other adults and of course the food. I love these get togethers but always paid for it later. You throw back a couple of cold beers on a hot day and always end up eating that which you know you shouldn’t. I mean come on it all looks so delicious; the homemade dips and sauces for vegetables, bread and chips, the garlic cheese fingers, the cheese balls all of which is loaded with dairy.

While some people can’t stomach any dairy without suffering from the symptoms of lactose intolerance, my body could handle it in small doses, so as long as I wasn’t setting up camp next to that platter of cheese, I was ok just dipping veggies.

After cautiously munching all day, you finally hear the words you’ve been waiting for, Suppers Ready!

Everyone heads to the table circling like sharks overfilling those paper plates with pasta salads, baked potatoes smothered in butter and sour cream, corn on the cob drenched with butter and of course my favorite, cheeseburgers.

You know you shouldn’t eat it but you just can’t help yourself. “I’ll need to take an extra lactaid pill with this meal,” you think to yourself. You find your lawn chair and with that paper plate teetering on your lap you begin searching for your pills only to find nothing but pocket lint. You curse under your breath as you attempt to remember wher

om lactose intolerance will most certainly be able to relate and some reading this may even have a similar story.

You see my wife and I along with our kids seem to attend one of these backyard BBQ potluck parties almost every Saturday. Kids running around, meeting and hanging out with other adults and of course the food. I love these get togethers but always paid for it later. You throw back a couple of cold beers on a hot day and always end up eating that which you know you shouldn’t. I mean come on it all looks so delicious; the homemade dips and sauces for vegetables, bread and chips, the garlic cheese fingers, the cheese balls all of which is loaded with dairy.

While some people can’t stomach any dairy without suffering from the symptoms of lactose intolerance, my body could handle it in small doses, so as long as I wasn’t setting up camp next to that platter of cheese, I was ok just dipping veggies.

After cautiously munching all day, you finally hear the words you’ve been waiting for, Suppers Ready!

Everyone heads to the table circling like sharks overfilling those paper plates with pasta salads, baked potatoes smothered in butter and sour cream, corn on the cob drenched with butter and of course my favorite, cheeseburgers.

You know you shouldn’t eat it but you just can’t help yourself. “I’ll need to take an extra lactaid pill with this meal,” you think to yourself. You find your lawn chair and with that paper plate teetering on your lap you begin searching for your pills only to find nothing but pocket lint. You curse under your breath as you attempt to remember whe

le of cold beers on a hot day and always end up eating that which you know you shouldn’t. I mean come on it all looks so delicious; the homemade dips and sauces for vegetables, bread and chips, the garlic cheese fingers, the cheese balls all of which is loaded with dairy.

While some people can’t stomach any dairy without suffering from the symptoms of lactose intolerance, my body could handle it in small doses, so as long as I wasn’t setting up camp next to that platter of cheese, I was ok just dipping veggies.

After cautiously munching all day, you finally hear the words you’ve been waiting for, Suppers Ready!

Everyone heads to the table circling like sharks overfilling those paper plates with pasta salads, baked potatoes smothered in butter and sour cream, corn on the cob drenched with butter and of course my favorite, cheeseburgers.

You know you shouldn’t eat it but you just can’t help yourself. “I’ll need to take an extra lactaid pill with this meal,” you think to yourself. You find your lawn chair and with that paper plate teetering on your lap you begin searching for your pills only to find nothing but pocket lint. You curse under your breath as you attempt to remember whe

small doses, so as long as I wasn’t setting up camp next to that platter of cheese, I was ok just dipping veggies.

After cautiously munching all day, you finally hear the words you’ve been waiting for, Suppers Ready!

Everyone heads to the table circling like sharks overfilling those paper plates with pasta salads, baked potatoes smothered in butter and sour cream, corn on the cob drenched with butter and of course my favorite, cheeseburgers.

You know you shouldn’t eat it but you just can’t help yourself. “I’ll need to take an extra lactaid pill with this meal,” you think to yourself. You find your lawn chair and with that paper plate teetering on your lap you begin searching for your pills only to find nothing but pocket lint. You curse under your breath as you attempt to remember whe

th butter and of course my favorite, cheeseburgers.

You know you shouldn’t eat it but you just can’t help yourself. “I’ll need to take an extra lactaid pill with this meal,” you think to yourself. You find your lawn chair and with that paper plate teetering on your lap you begin searching for your pills only to find nothing but pocket lint. You curse under your breath as you attempt to remember where you left them as you stare at your plate trying to convince yourself that it wont be that bad, this time will be different, the plate’s already filled you can’t just throw it in the garbage, “I guess I’ll have to eat it!” you say to yourself knowing full well that with that first bite the clock begins ticking.

Some people suffer from the symptoms of lactose intolerance within 30 minutes but my body used to give me a chance to get home. I knew after consuming dairy that I had at most an hour and a half to two hours before I would be spending a considerable amount of time with my porcelain friend.

Those days are over now. No more cautious eating, no more guessing if there is dairy in that dish, no more “chancing it” and no more pills. As hard as it might be to believe, I am no longer lactose intolerant. I have found a solution to my lactose intolerance and this summer will be different. I say bring on the backyard BBQ’s, I’ve been craving a good grilled cheeseburger all winter.