About this time last year, I discovered I was lactose intolerant. I’ve always had trouble with dairy, but suddenly any and all dairy was no longer my lukewarm friend. Now it was my mortal enemy. Like many, many others I realized that those stomach aches weren’t a coincidence – they were directly related to my body’s inability to digest the lactose enzyme.

Lactose Intolerance is surprisingly common.  Most people produce that natural enzyme, lactase, which breaks down lactose (sugar in milk). The amount of lactase your body produces will determine how much lactose your body can break down. So as you lose that lactase, you lose the ability to digest the lactose in milk. And it is common for lactose intolerance to be progressive; many people develop a lactose intolerance later in life. Guess I’m getting old?

It was quite sad when I had to say goodbye to some of my favorite foods. Like lattes. (tear) Like ice cream. (SOB! Goodbye, Old Friend!) But my sister recommended Lactaid tablets and I gave it a try. It helped – a lot! I still had trouble eating really good ice cream, but with Lactaid I could comfortably eat frozen yogurt again. Now I always carry Lactaid in my purse, for those dairy emergencies. Like crème brulee on the dessert menu. (Because you should never EVER pass up crème brulee.)

I just recently was on a call with Food Network chef Melissa d’Arabian and registered dietitian Michelle Harrington and learned so much about what lactose intolerance is and how to live with it. And one of those ways to help is Lactaid milk products!  I went out and grabbed some Lactaid milk. I cannot remember the last time I enjoyed milk!  I put it in my coffee, in my cereal and my tummy is so much happier! Even those little glugs of dairy in my coffee were hurting, so this is a fantastic development for me!

Lactaid milk is real milk – it just has had the lactose enzyme removed. For some reason I never knew this. I thought it was like soy milk or something. Clearly, I am a super informed consumer, as usual. But it is just regular milk without the lactose. Same thing, just made so that people like me can drink it. And did you know  that Lactaid also makes ICE CREAM? No joke. Things just got real, people.

WIN IT!

One lucky Girlymama reader will win a coupon for a FREE Lactaid product!! (As if you are going to get anything but ice cream, right?)  To enter, tell us someone in your life who is lactose intolerant.

Additional entries:

2. Like Girlymama on Facebook to keep up with what’s happening on our site (then comment here to tell us!)

3. Tweet about this giveaway on Twitter & follow me on Twitter @MelissaAngert

I entered to win free Lactaid from @MelissaAngert #giveaway! Enter here: http://girlymama.com/?p=5969

One winner will be selected at random using the And The Winner Is plugin for WordPress and will be notified by email. Winner must have a U.S. Mailing address. For other contest rules, see our giveaway policies page.

*Giveaway is now closed! Thanks to everyone who entered!*

I love the Box Tops for Education program and I’ve seen first hand how effective it is as a school fund-raiser.  You may not know this but the General Mills program began as an experiment on boxes of Cheerios in California back in 1996 with first year earnings of only $1 million. Since that experiment  Box Tops for Education has grown to include more than 240 participating brands providing needed cash for 90,000 enrolled K-8 schools. At the heart of the program is more than 75,000 volunteer Box Tops for Education coordinators who motivate local school communities to collect the 10-cent coupons which are redeemed for cash schools use for whatever they need most. Over the years, American schools have earned over $525 MILLION from Box Tops for Education.

To celebrate this milestone, this winter, the program is offering a variety of bonus Box Tops on more than 50 million packages at grocery stores and at btfe.com, allowing shoppers to DOUBLE their earnings with select products. With school budget cuts across the nation,  Box Tops for Education is now more and more important as it provides unrestricted cash to help schools with their basic operating needs and programs that would not be possible otherwise. Programs and supplies such as field trips, textbooks, musical instruments, playground equipment, classroom technology and arts and cultural programming.

“We are very impressed at how far the Box Tops program has come,” said Mark Addicks, chief marketing officer at General Mills. “To say that we’ve awarded schools more than $525 million through this simple program is amazing to us. However, it’s due largely to our participating brand partners and passionate coordinators that have propelled the program to this level.” On average, schools in the U.S. earn around $900 annually through the program, but many schools earn more than $20,000 by clipping Box Tops, participating in bonus programs and shopping 300 online eBoxTops retailers at the Box Tops Marketplace.

Get Social with this great program through these social media sites:  Box Tops for Education Facebook page,  Twitter  and YouTube.

WIN IT!

One lucky reader will win a Box Tops for Education Pantry Stock Up Prize Pack! 

The Pantry Stock Up gift pack includes:

• New Peanut Butter Toast Crunch cereal
• Nature Valley Chewy Trail Mix Dark Chocolate Cherry and Protein Salted Caramel
• Fiber One Protein Bars
• Progresso Recipe Starters
• Food Should Taste Good Chips
• Green Giant Fresh Box Tops for Education pencil pouch
• Hamburger Helper Sweet & Sour Chicken and Parmesan Crusted Chicken
• Betty Crocker Mac & Cheese and Au Gratin potatoes
• Kleenex wallet pack and 184 count box
• Scott toilet paper (4 roll) and paper towel roll
• Avery dry erase weekly calendar
• Ziploc bowls and bags
• Yoplait Frozen Yogurt free product coupon

Here’s how to enter:

1. Please leave a comment below by February 22, 2013 telling me whose school you collect Boxtops for!

2. Like Girlymama on Facebook here and leave a comment telling me you liked our page

3. Tweet the following for an additional entry and leave a comment telling me you did so

I want to win Boxtops Pantry Stockup Prize #giveaway from @MelissaAngert. Enter here: http://girlymama.com/?p=5788

disclosure: I was provided with a stockup kit for my family to enjoy. Highly recommend the Fiber One bars. They’re yummy.

About Box Tops for Education

America’s schools have earned more than $525 million through the Box Tops for Education® program since the program started in 1996, including $47 million just since March 2012. More than  90,000 schools use that cash to purchase items such as computers, library books, art supplies and playground equipment. Schools can earn up to $20,000 by clipping Box Tops
coupons from 240 products and can earn eBoxTops by shopping online through the Box Tops Marketplace. To learn more and for a list of participating products, visit www.btfe.com.