Dairy Free Recipes/Ideas

[k2bdeutmeyer]

Can somebody please help me feed my child something other than graham crackers, jelly sandwiches, and applesauce??

 

Okay....maybe it's not THAT bad, but it's bad. I think my brain will just not function in the capacity I need it too anymore. I'm just at a complete and utter loss for what to feed this poor child (and myself).

 

So, please, please, please help a mama out! I need ideas for dairy free meals (breakfast, lunch, AND dinner) that are fairly quick and easy. I do have a picky 10yr old.....and a hubby who is definitely a meat and potatoes kind of guy. Breakfast and lunch can be MUCH more simple and quick. We are typically bowl of cereal/turkey sandwich/macaroni and cheese/chicken nugget type people.

 

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!

[susankenny]

Well, for any recipe that calls for milk, we use almond milk. it is wonderful. You can buy it or make it easily. Therefore, you can still have mac & cheese, homemade bread, etc.

 

For breakfast, make oatmeal, eggs, cereal with almond milk, cinnamon toast (homemade), muffins, pancakes, etc.

 

Would this work?

[KatieJ]

There are lots of dairy alternatives IE: almond, rice and coconut milk. They also have yogurt, icecream and cheese alternatives from the same companies that make the almond, rice and coconut milk. They can be harder to find, but a good health food store has them.

There is one chicken nugget that does not have dairy ( My grandson is dairy free and his Mom has read labels) It is a Tyson brand I think.

There are mac N Cheese mixes that are dairy free, but they are very expensive.

If you are not soy free, there are lots of mayo and butter alternatives that use soy so you should be able to find something that resembles a turkey sandwich.

 

I am dairy, gluten and soy free right now and it's hard at first, but you can get into it. :grouphug:

[Dana]

There have been a few threads on this (I know I've posted on some), so you may also want to do a search to get other ideas as well.

 

:grouphug:

 

It can be a rough change.

My son is allergic to dairy (and nuts).

 

Keep reading - and re-reading food labels. They sometimes change ingredients, so you've got to read EVERY time.

 

McDonalds french fries do contain dairy. My son doesn't have a reaction to them (phew) but some people do.

 

For breakfast - bananas, bagels, fruit is pretty good.

Silk yogurt does have a dairy starter, but again, this is something my son doesn't react to. It's tough if you're trying to avoid soy as well. I'm assuming you aren't :)

 

Earth Balance has good margarine. Tasty overall & I can even do it on popcorn or with baking and be okay.

 

Enjoy Life products are expensive, but they do have dairy-free chocolate chips!!!

 

The cookbooks I use most often (they also have dairy-free cake recipes!) are: The Milk-Free Kitchen, What's To Eat, and its sequel.

 

Bread can be tough to find that's safe. We're using Arnold Whole Wheat at the moment. Used to use Sara Lee but they changed ingredients. Keep reading labels!

 

For breakfast, our son usually has oatmeal (Quaker instant apples & cinnamon) or cinnamon pop tarts (yup, we're bad). Bagels work well too.

 

Hope this gives some ideas... and good luck!!

[k2bdeutmeyer]

thanks!

 

We're pop-tart people too :)

 

We used Arnold whole Wheat before we found about the dairy allergy, so it was nice to night have to make a switch there.

 

i think I'm a decent cook, and I enjoy cooking, but apparently am NOT creative at all. Meal time comes and I just can't come up with anything to make, and it seems like what I DO come up with DS can't have.

[Ellie]

Hot cereals for breakfast with dairy-free margarine (tricky to find, but still available) and maple syrup instead of milk, and raisins or chopped apples. Yum.

 

Most sandwiches should be safe. Not all breads have milk (in fact, I would say most don't), mayo doesn't have milk, tuna and lunch meats have no dairy.

 

Meat and potatoes is fine. :-)

 

You're lucky your dc can have graham crackers, as they have some dairy ingredient...caseinate? something like that. A friend's dd was so allergic that she couldn't have graham crackers at all, ever.

[k2bdeutmeyer]

Nabisco's Honey Maid graham crackers don't have any dairy in them at all.

[joannqn]

Alternatives:

 

Milk: Choose rice, almond, coconut or soy. Try different brands and flavors until you find one you like. I didn't find any that I would tolerate straight or nearly straight, like in cereal, but I used plain rice in cooking and sometimes vanilla rice in baking. Almond can give some people the runs; it did me.

 

Butter: Use dairy-free margarine (some Earth Balance, Nucoa) or coconut oil

 

Ice Cream: Our favorite alternative was Coconut Bliss Naked or Vanilla on a la mode desserts or Chocolate Hazelnut Fudge by itself. Tofutti is a soy-based ice cream that many people like but we couldn't use it because I'm allergic to soy.

 

Cheese: Try dairy-free cheese (many have caseine which is a dairy protein so if he's allergic to that particular protein you can't use those cheeses either), omit it from the recipe, or find something else to eat. Because of the cheese, we simply didn't eat mac & cheese while my DD was allergic to dairy.

 

Breakfast:

-Cereal with dairy free milk

-Toast/Bagel/English Muffin with peanut butter, jam, or both (check ingredients there are dairy free breads, bagels, and muffins)

-Toast/Bagel/English Muffin with dairy free butter

-Cinnamon toast using dairy free butter

-Eggs, friend, poached, hard/soft-boiled, or scrambled (use olive oil instead of butter in the pan)

-Homemade pancakes using dairy free milk and dairy free butter

-Homemade waffles using dairy free milk and dairy free butter

-Breakfast burritos (use any of the following: scrambled eggs, fried diced potatoes, sausage, bacon, ham, fried bell peppers and onions, refried beans, salsa)

-Sausage, Ham, Bacon, Steak, Homemade chicken fried steak with eggs

-Homemade McMuffins with egg and sausage or egg and ham

 

Lunch:

-Sandwiches using dairy free bread (make yourself or read labels: "Oroweat Whole Grain 100% Whole Wheat" with the brown label is dairy free as is their "Double Fiber")

-PB&J

-Peanut butter and banana sandwiches

-Peanut butter and honey sandwiches

-Deli Meat like turkey/Ham (add anything but cheese...mayo, mustard, lettuce, tomato, pickles, cucumbers, bell peppers, etc.)

-Hot dogs (check packages or buy Kosher; Oroweat 100% Whole Wheat buns are dairy free)

-Ramen with egg added

-Leftover dinner

 

Dinner:

- Almost anything you might make can be altered except for items heavy with dairy like mac & cheese and lasagna

- Mashed potatoes can be made with rice milk and dairy free butter

- Stuffing

- Rice, Fried Rice

- Baked potatoes with dairy free butter

- Fried diced potatoes

- French fries (check packages, most fast food french fries are ok..McDonalds are not)

- Steamed or stir fried veggies

- Any meat cooked in broth or with spices/herbs (avoid adding cheese or cream soup)

- Homemade soups

- Burritoes (Taco Bell brand taco seasoning is dairy free or make your own from an online recipe, refried beans, lettuce, tomatoes, fried diced potatoes, spanish rice...check ingredients for dairy free "roni")

- Homemade hamburgers (omit cheese; bacon and guacamole are great flavor additions; Oroweat 100% Whole Wheat in the brown label are dairy free)

- Hot dogs

- Spaghetti

 

Desserts:

Homemade apple crisp made with dairy free butter and Coconut Bliss Vanilla

Pioneer Woman's Chocolate Pie is ok with dairy free butter

Homemade Brownies made with dairy free butter

Homemade Cookies made with dairy free butter

Homemade Banana/Zucchini bread

Pumpkin Bread/Cookies/Muffins

Chocolate Muffins with dairy free semi sweet chocolate chips (Guittard brand)

 

If you need something specific converted, let me know and I'll see if it can be done. Can't work miracles if milk/cheese is a MAJOR ingredient though.

 

Godairyfree.org has ingredients for fast food restaurants. If you want to eat at a chain restaurant, check there before leaving and decide what he will eat. Know that cross-contamination can be an issue. For example, Burger King's onion rings are dairy free but are fried in the same oil as the mozzarella sticks; when I ate their onion rings it made my nursing infant throw up.

 

Red Robin has a dairy menu; ask for it. It tells you want has dairy and what omissions/substitutions need to be made.

 

Don't despair. You WILL get used to it. It WILL get easier. He MAY outgrown it...both of mine did.

[Dana]

 

i think I'm a decent cook, and I enjoy cooking, but apparently am NOT creative at all. Meal time comes and I just can't come up with anything to make, and it seems like what I DO come up with DS can't have.

 

We keep a list of meals and if the family eats together we all eat the same thing. It's easier here since I do lunches during the week and dh does dinners and weekend lunches :)

 

Breakfast is the oatmeal/poptart combo most times (strawberry or frosted cinnamon). I often do larger lunches which is rough...

 

Ds loves pork & bean burritos - toss in a hot dog sometimes and it's a quick lunch.

There's also pasta... spaghetti sauce - or toss with butter (safe margarine) and garlic salt.

 

I really do find having a list of menu possibilities is helpful - and we both plan out our menus for the week so there's no need to think much about it on the days.

[k2bdeutmeyer]

The list idea is EXACTLY why I'm asking the question. I would like to have a list hung somewhere of dairy free ideas for DS and I, so I don't have to try to think on my feet all the time. I think I may have to plan more/better than I have been now that we're dairy free. It's harder to just throw things together.

[claire up north]

I haven't read everything here, so please forgive me if I repeat an idea.

 

We are completely dairy free. We also have to avoid peanuts, tree nuts & sesame seeds.

 

Here are my go-to recipes:

 

BREAKFAST:

 

Oatmeal

Cold Cereal with Oat Milk

Grits

Polenta

Bisquick pancakes

Jiffy Blueberry muffins

leftovers ;)

 

LUNCH:

 

Egg sandwiches (hardboiled eggs, bread, tomato, pepper & salt)

Baked Beans & Toast

Pasta with Prego traditional sauce

Cucumber and Tomato sandwiches (on pumpernickel bread with non-dairy cream cheese --Look for Tofutti brand)

Sunbutter sandwiches (Sunbutter is a peanut butter alternative)

Campbell's Classic Tomato Soup

Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup

leftovers

 

I hope this helps you out. It can be really hard to change your diet at first, but one recipe at a time, you'll get it figured out. :grouphug:

[Murmer]

Now that we are 1 year into a dairy allergy I can tell you it is really easy...ok so not really easy but not nearly as hard as I thought...basically anything I make with milk can be substituted or a close alternative can be found...ie Mac and Cheese (my favorite food) she just has the noodles with evoo, garlic salt, flax seed and ketchup (she's three). Or if we are having a chicken that I haven't figured out how to make milk free she can have baked /shredded chicken with garlic salt. She is finding all sorts of things that she will eat that she likes. There is dairy free yogurt that takes a bit to find but she LOVES them...also Oreo's are milk free just full of junk but make a great special treat when a milk sweet is offered.

[5knights3maidens]

Soy, rice, coconut, almond milk, even hemp milk. The unsweetened coconut milk is excellent for cooking and baking. It has that thickness that regular milk has. Try to alternate. Dd was drinking soy alot and she is now allergic.

 

Earth Balance is a very good alternative to butter. I have used it in cooking and baking. They have a few different kinds.

[helena]

Here are some dairy substitute products found at many health food stores. You may not need these types of things very often, but it's nice to have some quick and easy ingredients:

 

Mayo: http://www.followyourheart.com/products.php?id=3

It works the exact same on sandwiches, potato salad, and anything else.

 

Butter: http://www.earthbalancenatural.com/

Tastes fine, bakes well, etc

 

Sour cream: http://www.tofutti.com/ss-hydro.shtml

Works fine in things like a topping for Mexican, potato chip dips, and Beef Stroganoff, also bakes well in desserts.

 

Sour cream: http://www.tofutti.com/btcc.shtml

Tastes a little funky, but is fine (ish) when you're craving a bagel. Also works fine in desserts like cheese cake, and this strawberry recipe: http://www.marthastewart.com/article/filled-strawberries.

 

Cheese:

http://www.daiyafoods.com/

http://allergyfoodie.com/2009/06/15/vegan-rella/

http://www.followyourheart.com/products.php?id=26

and for grill cheese sandwiches: http://www.tofutti.com/cheese-amer.shtml

No vegan cheese tastes like cheese, but it's good enough when it's mixed in a lasagna, or a grilled cheese. The Daiya cheese is the latest "hottest" thing.

It's all pretty versatile.

 

Creamy style dressings:

I like this one: http://www.followyourheart.com/products.php?id=15

This one is decent on a burger: http://www.followyourheart.com/products.php?id=4

 

hth

[HollyDay]

my oldest is allergic to dairy as well. Make sure whatever bread or crackers you buy are truly dairy free. There are some brands of buns, english muffins, breads, etc. that are dairy free, but many are not. If it is a casein allergy, then make sure to check for that as well as whey and other milk byproducts. Also just because a mix does not say to add milk, it probably means there is powdered milk in the mix. I make all of our muffins, pancakes, waffles, cakes, pies, etc. from scratch using almond milk. Rice milk works too, but I like the consistency of almond milk better. Be aware that there is no fat in almond milk like cows milk, so most recipes need to be adjusted.

 

Dd usually has eggs, maybe some meat for breakfast along with a pancake or waffle or some such starch. Lunch is a sandwich or salad. She likes egg salad, tuna salad, chicken salad. We cook hamburgers sometimes too. Dinner is a meat with a starch side (rice, corn, potato), and a veggie.

 

It is not hard once you get in the swing of things. Read labels, then read them again to be sure. by the way coconut milk is a great substitute in many desserts.