Dairy-free Recipes/cookbooks

I have a dairy-free cookbook I love called "Dairy Free Cooking," by Louis Lanza. I like it because it's not vegetarian, but it's dairy free.

Also: I have to plug my food blog! I have several vegan recipes there. www.nico-eats.blogspot.com. I label my posts. Find a vegan recipe and click on "vegan" at the bottom, and all the other vegan ones will show up.

Good luck!

____@____.com is a wonderful resource that is out there. My son (and soon to find out for sure if our daughter is, but we suspect) is allergic to eggs, dairy, and peanuts. He grew out of the wheat allergy, but we are still very cautious about that. Because I am breastfeeding our daughter I have had to eliminate these major allergies as well. Watch for the "fake" cheese because there is still dairy in them (certain ones). Smart Balance makes a LIGHT version which is VEGAN (no animal product) but certainly fools you when eating it. My parents (who have no allergies) had it when they came to visit and now have switched. We use soy milk, but rice milk is good too as a regular milk sub. Feel free to email me (I won't post it here for spam reasons) and I am more than happy to share what I've learned in the 2 years of being dairy free. Good luck!!!

My children have dairy allergies as well, plus I am breastfeeding our son and currently dairy free myself (due to the family history).

I don't have any recipes to send off the top of my head., but here are a few easy to find products that you can substitute in recipes fairly easily:

Fleischman's no-salt margerine is dairy free. It works great in cookie recipes, isn't bad used when frying potatoes or noodles - I just add a little salt.

Fleischman's light spreadable margerine is dairy free and tastes good on toast, etc.

Peanute butter is actuallay dairy free. For a long time, I assumed it had dairy in it and didn't give it to my kids until I decided to read the label one day and realized it actually does not contain any dairy. (assuming no one has the peanut allergy).

Bisquick Pancake mix is dairy free (I either use soy milk or apple juice to substitute for the milk that is recommended) I don't know if it's wheat free though.

There are some excellent baking mixes carried at Giant Eagle in the health food aisle by Cherry Hill Farms that are all dairy free (and free of most other major allergens - peanutes, wheat, gluten). They also make a pancake mix that is wheat free. It's not bad, but I prefer the bisquick mix myself. My kids like either though.

You have to watch both the soy cheeses and the soy yogurts. The O'Soy brand yogurt does contain dairy. When I started using it five years ago, it did not, but my husband recently re-read the label and we realized that it now has milk in it (which I found to be quite annoying - what's the point of making a soy yogurt if you are going to include dairy?)

I've also substituted water for milk in some recipes (like cakes or frosting) and the things I've made turned out just fine. Tofetti makes some good dairy free products that my kids like - the cutie pie ice cream sandwiches taste pretty much like real ice cream. The cream cheese isn't bad to use in a recipe, but I don't like it much to just eat it straight.

Quaker Brand Oatmeal to Go Breakast snacks are dairy free. Most granola bars contain some dairy. The only ones I've found that don't are by Cascadian and can be found in the Health food section at Giant Eagle.

The Steamfresh vegetables that you microwave in the bag are excellent without adding any butter or sauce (if your kids are used to eating butter on their vegetables.)

Plain Pasta is pretty much dairy free. I've never found a box of pasta that had dairy in it. (Pasta mixes you'd have to read the label - those Rice mixes usually have dairy in them too)

Chicken Buillon and Beef Buillon cubes have dairy, but there is a soup base that you can find in the same aisle - I forget the brand - that does not contain dairy in the chicken or beef flavors. I use it in a lot of recipes with rice or to make broth with noodles.

Cereals that don't contain dairy include Cheerios, Lucky Charms, Cocoa Puffs, Honeycombs, Trix, Fruity Pebbles, Cookie Crisp, Life, and Cinnamon Toast Crunch. (I'm sure there are others too, but those are the one's I've found that my kids like.) You really have to read labels carefully because a lot of foods contain some dairy.

Hope this helps.

I am a working Mom of a six year old daughter, a 3 1/2 year old daughter, and a seven month old infant.

I am allergic to corn, and recently found out I am allergic to dairy and fresh tomatoes. I can suggest one book: The Self-Help Allergy Cookbook, which talks about rotating the fiber in your diet to avoid wheat, etc.
I grew up in a kosher home and keep kosher still, so I got used to non-dairy meals plenty. Explore soy and rice based milk and tofu but be sure to look for corn additives in all of it. Anything in particular you are wanting to make?
For those of you who also posted, is it o.k. to write to you about non-dairy suggestions you might know about that I do not?

Dear A.,

Good for you! I stopped all dairy, grains (except oats, and sugar last February, and it has made a world of difference in my life. I wish my doctors and parents had known about the symptoms of dairy intolerance when I was little ~ and my dad was a doctor! No one suspected there was such a wide range of symptoms.

I was the original cheese & crackers queen. All I could think was, "What? No cheese? No crackers?" I thought it would be impossible to enjoy a dairy free life. I have found foods that are good substitutes without trying to find "faux" dairy products. For example, I make guacamole and eat it with crudite instead of eating cheese and crackers. I use slices of avodcado in place of cheese slices on salads, etc. The texture is remarkably similar, and the nutritional benefits are a big plus.

Another thing I have found to be really good is Trader Joe's Light Coconut Milk on cereal, in place of dairy. I love it, and you only need a little bit. It can also be used in most recipes as a substitute for dairy. I like soy milk, but not for everything.

I recommend book called "The Coconut Oil Miracle," by Bruce Fife. It has some good recipes that use coconut milk, and a full explanation of why coconut oil and coconut milk are so beneficial for the human body. Coconut oil has long been associated with other palm oils, when it actually has a completely different molecular structure that makes it the oil that most closely matches the human body's oils.

Watch for a web site called http://www.drsandydiet.com It might be a month or two before it's on line, but it's my doctor's basic health plan. We're working on developing this site as a support mechanism for people who follow Sandy's plan, and want to exchange recipes and other tips. If you want some advance information about it now, please feel free to send me a message.

I also have a friend who is a world class chef, and he has been developing recipes for a vegan bakery in his city. His web site has a lot of recipes that are dairy free, and some gluten free as well, and he has offered to help me make adjustments to his recipes to make them appropriate for the Dr. Sandy Diet. His web site is http://www.getcookingamerica.com

I've cooked with soymilk for years, and pretty much it always tastes fine with it. Some things like macaroni and cheese or mashed potatoes taste a little different since you can taste the soy a bit. I like SunSoy milk and Silk. They have the light with less calories too. I would use plain soy milk for cooking and the vanilla for cereal. You usually can't taste the vanilla in recipes, but that's just my preference.

You might also try buying Lactaid milk without the lactose in it. Some people are only allergic to the lactose while others are allergic to milk entirely.

One of my favorite cookbooks is How it All Vegan by Sarah Kramer and Tanya Barnard. I bought it because I'm vegetarian and my ex was lactose intolerant, and figured that way I could make things that both of us could eat.

The recipes are pretty quick, easy and tasty. They also incorporate sugar alternatives as well as cooking without eggs or milk.

Hi A.,
I'm not too sure of any recipes for non-dairy products BUT....My family and I are CRAZY about Tofrutti's brand of dairy-free ice cream..it's sold at Giant Eagle in different flavors and I swear you can't tell the differece. If you and your family like ice cream you should try it...it's YUMMY DEE-LICIOUS:)

Soy milk might be worth the try. My husband drinks gallons of milk daily. Too much actually and was given soy milk in the hospital. I didn't think he would drink it since i took years to get him to let me buy 2% and more years to convense him FF would be best for him if he's going to drink that much. He really likes it and I tried it. It's not bad really. Good luck. I don't know of a totally dairy free diet.

Hi -
We drink Almond Milk in our house - I've heard it's better than Soy because soy is processed so much.
We also use Earth Balance for our "butter" - it's wonderful for cooking with as well! I get it at Giant Eagle I think - if not there - Kroger in the organic section.
Good luck!!
Be happy your are doing this for your family.
Check this out: www.notmilk.com

Good luck!
T.

I had to go dairy free for a few months b/c my son had trouble processing dairy. You can still cook normally when the recipe requires milk. Just substitute with Rice Milk which you can get a Giant Eagle in their organic section or at Krogers. You cannot taste the difference. I did all the time. Like you, I didn't like soy products. I also tried almond milk and didn't really like it (neither did my son).

Hi A.,

One of "The Tightwad Gazette" books (by Amy Dacyzyn--hope I spelled that right)has a recipe for lentil-rice casserole that is dairy free (actually it calls for you to put cheese on the top but it tastes fine without). I don't have it close by.

Also, simple cookies with no milk or wheat:

1 cup peanut butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs

Mix all. Make into walnut size balls, place on greased cooky sheet, criss-cross with fork like peanut butter cookies (or not, if you prefer). Bake 10 min or so at 350, or watch until done. Can put a chocolate kiss on top, or a few choc. chips or pieces of dried fruit. Would probably work with other nut butters or sunflower seed butter but I have not tried it.

Ooops, just re-read the "sugar sensitivity" part--I'd still try it, maybe with honey, molasses, or reduce the sugar.

Good luck!

K. Z.
PS--some macaroon recipes are dairy free--just coconut and egg whites. Apologies if there are multiple copie of this post

Try alternatives like goat milk (closest to human milk) and goat cheeses, soy milk and soy cheeses, almond and rice milk. IT may be the protein, not the lactose he can't handle.
Good Luck! :)

Hi A., my children and I have problems with dairy also and I have been eating animal free for some 10 years now.
There is so much I could say so I just wanted to give you my e-mail address so you could e-mail me with any specific questions you might have. I would love to help you.
It isn't difficult, but I have to say sometimes I wonder if I will ever stop missing cheese : )

Good luck to you.

C.
____@____.com