Going Dairy-Free

Parentberries
1

[name_m]Hi[/name_m] everyone,

We’ve had a heck of a time with our DD that was born in [name_u]December[/name_u]. She will not sleep unless she’s being held and when she’s awake she’s screaming. At 10 weeks old we’ve got her on probiotics for colic, zantac for reflux, and are now looking to cut all dairy and possibly go vegan in case it’s a dairy intolerance. She’s lucky she’s so cute :slight_smile:

For any of you who have had to cut dairy, can you recommend any decent bread, butter, cheese, basic dinner alternatives that are dairy free? Preferably things you can find at a normal grocery store. Really not looking to spend a fortune buying groceries at Whole Foods or a health food store.

Thanks!

2

Back when I was vegan we ate [name_m]Ezekiel[/name_m] Bread, used oils instead of butter (ghee also doesn’t have milk proteins so it might work), I personally never found a great replacement for cheese but we did like the taste of nutritional yeast paired with non dairy cheeses like daiya in recipes like vegan mac and cheese. For us what worked wasn’t replacing dairy products but focusing on other food groups like adding avocado for creaminess vs sour cream or nutritional yeast for the saltiness. Replacement products tend to be highly processed (which may or may not be important to you) and more expensive because of it. So I would first say see if you miss the dairy products once you cut them out and when/if you do try to replace them based on what your missing.

3

I’ve been able to eat dairy for about 2 year now, so I’m a little rusty on details, but here’s what I remember.

When I went dairy free I also had to cut a lot of other things out of my diet at the same time, so my top choices are probably more limited that you need. I switched to rice milk. I tried out every brand I could find, but mostly used [name_u]Rice[/name_u] [name_u]Dream[/name_u] since it was the most easily available. There were others I liked better, but I cannot for the life of me remember what they were–one had a blue diamond logo.

For bread, that just didn’t happen since I had to cut out gluten and nuts at the same time and the only breads I found that I could eat were super pricey. I just switched to corn tortillas and ate everything as a wrap.

For butter, there weren’t many alternatives that were free of everything else I had to avoid (only one that I found and it tasted so bad I never bought it again). I just switched to olive oil for cooking, and butter was never really necessary for anything else since I wasn’t eating bread at this point. If I remember correctly [name_f]Miracle[/name_f] Whip is dairy free too.

For cheese, I was still able to eat goat products. Those might work for you too. Typically a dairy intolerance for infants is not due to lactose, but is because of the casein protein which is very abundant in cow’s milk, but is much, much less in goat’s milk.

Breakfast alternatives:
Oatmeal
Eggs and bacon (or sausages)
Breakfast burritos
Omelettes

Lunch options:
I usually ate leftovers from dinner, otherwise just ate fruit, or a sausage/brat wrapped in a tortilla

Dinner alternatives:
Fajitas
Tacos
Jambalaya
Salad (most Italian, vinagrette, and Thousand Island dressings are dairy free)
Meat with a side of rice/quinoa and veggies
Soups (so many wonderful soup options!)
Stir fries
Make up a big pot of rice or quinoa and toss in tons of meat, veggies, and seasonings for a one pot meal
[name_m]Chili[/name_m]
Breakfast burritos
Omelettes

After a while I was able to add gluten back in, but not dairy, and I found this amazing biscuit recipe. I liked it so much that I continued to use it even after I was able to eat dairy again. (You don’t even have to cut them into biscuit shapes if you don’t want to, I just make drop biscuits instead and it works wonderfully).
http://www.cooks.com/recipe/819l50kl/no-milk-no-egg-biscuits.html

4

You make pretty much anything dairy free these days. I have a mix of soy, oat, almond, and coconut products in the house. I vary rarely use specifically vegan recipes, I just sub out the bits I don’t want. [name_m]Just[/name_m] stick with your trusted to recipes, and switch the dairy out. Much easier than trying to find new recipes to love!

5

I cook and eat dairy free 95% and echo a lot of what has been said above!

For some items, a lot of it is just about reading labels at your local grocery store at first. Bread, for example is most often not made with dairy but pans are buttered/loaves might be coated with butter which is why it is not always dairy free. Easier to just go to your bread aisle and read through the labels than having us send you on a chase for a specific bread.

I am not a big believer in ultra processed fake cheeses etc. What may be easiest is if you tell us what you anticipate missing the most and then we can help to give you a specific substitute.

For example, is it milk in your coffee? Most grocery stores have nut/seed/soy milks and you might need to try a few to find out which you like best. My favorite is Flax milk which is available in my regular grocery store. (also I make my own hemp/oat milk which sounds insane but is as easy as throwing some stuff in a blender). Or do you eat a lot of yogurts? Where does dairy come into your diet?
I make a lot of soups so one thing that changed for me was using coconut milk instead of cream. Also I absolutely second Sarabcook for nutritional yeast for the salty savory flavor and ripe avocados for creaminess.
Most meals for us are a lot of cooked vegetables with some grains (brown rice, quinoa etc) or beans/chickpeas/lentils or some meat. This way of eating is very easy without dairy. No need for any specialty dairy free foods for cooking those just oils and spices for extra flavor!