In Need of Milk-free Recipes!!!

Updated on February 09, 2008
B.P. asks from Crandall, TX
18 answers

My 14 month old daughter has not been able to tolerate ANY milk products since birth! We have seen a pediatric allergist, and they are trying to determine to which proteins she is having reactions... Meanwhile, I am transitioning her to table food... she still enjoys some baby food. Just wondering if anyone has any healthy MILK-FREE recipes that my daughter might enjoy?

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C.L.

answers from Austin on

Try goat's milk or rice milk if you think you must have milk products.

Cow's milk is the worst thing you can give a child.

After weening from the breast, a child no longer needs any type of milk.

Give her warm veggies cut up really small. Also, mushed up avocados, strawberries, mushed up potatoes, and crackers.

Veggies and organics are best.

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C.K.

answers from San Antonio on

Try looking at Vegan recipes, you can do so much with Soy milk! We use soy milk 99% of the time and most times you can't even tell the difference. Good luck!

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M.B.

answers from Dallas on

You can replace the liquid cow's milk in recipes 1 for 1 with rice or potato milk. Soy is another very common allergen that I recommend to avoid if child is allergic, as well as the nut milks, which she might be able to tolerate later. There are also rice based ice creams available. The cheese is the really difficult part because the majority of the dairy-free cheeses are either soy based or still have the milk protein (casein), which is the source of the allergy. There is one flavor of rice cheese (cheddar) that we buy at sprouts to use on sandwiches. There is also a product called Chreese (pronounced Trees) that is based on lentils - it comes in a powdered form and you can use if for example in making Macaroni and cheese or other casseroles and it tastes okay. If it turns out your daughter also has problems with the protein found in wheat (another VERY common allergen), then you can find lots of good info on this website: www.gfcfdiet.com YOu might also want to encourage Martha Stewart to publish the magazine focused on folks with food allergies. You can vote here:
http://blogs1.marthastewart.com/martha/?rsc=todaysidea_Ho...
You have to scroll to the end to vote. My family has to avoid wheat (and all gluten), dairy, and soy. I also have allergies to yeast and eggs and some nuts, fruits and veggies.

1 mom found this helpful
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D.K.

answers from Killeen on

This might be a stupid question, but have you tried substituting soy milk in your recipes that call for regular milk? I am experimenting with eating totally vegan for one year, and I use soy milk just as I used to use cow's milk, in baked goods, homemade mac n cheese, and everything! It has almost as much protein as cow's milk, and the taste is hard to discern when it's mixed with other ingredients. You could also try rice milk, which mixes just as well and tastes a little better, but has way less protein in it.
Also, if cheese is an issue, you can use cheese flavored veggie shreds. In my grocery store they're in the produce case with the tofu and other meat substitutes. Unfortunately, I've just discovered that they do contain small amounts of milk proteins, so depending on which milk components your daughter has trouble with, this might not be an option. Read the ingredient list carefully and run it by your allergist if you're still not sure.

Hope this helps!

D2

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D.P.

answers from San Antonio on

Good evening
I too have children with food allergies much older 22, 19 and 12 . A big help to me was the anaphalaxis and food allegy web site . Also there are many great support groups on yahoo.one zi believe is the pofak not sure of the exact name but it stands for parents of food allergic kids . There are also many other groups that are great . do a search for food allergies. My oldest son is allergic milk shell fish eggs and several other foods but he is out on his own now.Unfotunatly I did not have the recipes I used to use. I hope this helps you . I knoe dealing with food issues is soooo hard . In my sons case his allegies caused his esophugus to stricture and we did not know he had food allergies till he was 17 years old. Have a great day and God bless you

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H.B.

answers from Dallas on

There is a mixture that a lady at Abundant Life in Lewisville...You might be able to call and ask over the phone, or she can tell you where to find it on the net.
http://www.abundantlifehealth.net/home/

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J.W.

answers from San Antonio on

I strongly recommend that you go to the website www.naet.com and find a doctor on the list. This allergy elimination technique really works. Both of my son and I were allergic to milk and had to eat milk free foods, but after being treated with naet we can now eat anything we want and our quality of life has improved dramatically. It really works. I recommend it to everyone.

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C.J.

answers from Dallas on

Try the website godairyfree.org I've used it in the past for recipes (my son is 9 mo old, has a dairy and soy allergy, and I still nurse, so I need to eat dairy and soy free!). We also drink rice milk (vanilla flavored!) and I substitute that in anything that requires milk. Rice Dream, same makers of rice milk, make "ice cream". I've only been able to find it at Whole Foods (even though their website said Kroger had it). Hope this helps!!

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S.E.

answers from Houston on

My son is allergic to milk, as well as several other things. We use a milk alternative (Almond Breeze is our choice). I use it to cook in place of milk. He doesn't drink it, but it is fine on recipes.

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S.S.

answers from Dallas on

B. P,

My daughter has been lactose intolerant since she was born and my mom developed a dairy allergy shortly after that. I have become sort of an expert. First off: Beware of soy...it can stop a little one up very quickly. Watch for hard stools that don't occur every day and turn into marbles. We had to avoid soy. It is so hard to find a balance! We had to put her on Murilax (before it became over the counter) when she was two.

My daughter drank goat milk for as long as she could stand it. That stuff is rank. It is missing some essential vitamins. And beware of unpasturized, I know it is supposed to have more vitamins, but you never know about contamination. If you want flavoring, Nestle's Quick Chocolate Milk Powder does not have milk in it. We mixed it with Pediasure which is lactose free and gives her all of the nutrients, but is not caseine free. You might want to ask you allergist or pediatrician about it though. It is milk based.

The problem is not the liquid, the problem is getting all of the correct nutrients in her body every day.

Here is what we use in cooking: We keep a stockpile of Rice Milk (really nothing nutrient wise), Almond Milk (very high in protien)and Pediasure (not recommended for dairy allergies), my mom keeps a small supply of soy milk (brave woman, although it is tastier) and we use it to cook everything from Pancakes to Milkshakes.

Here is the lowdown:

Butter: Fleishmans Unsalted Margarine is the only "butter" you can use in cooking. It is not really butter.

Marshmallows: Perfect no problems!

Girl Scout Cookies: The just came out with one cookie that is dairy free! Thank the Lord!

Ice Cream: NADA MOO! and Sorbet (still...check ingredients) Comes in four flavors...Awesome!

Smoothie King or Factory: Kids Smoothie has not yogurt, just fruit and ice.

DO NOT LET HER EAT MCDONALDS FRIES They have NONfat dry milk. You would be surprised at how many fast food items and frozen things have non-fat dry milk...candy and suckers too. Always check ingredients.

For chocolate: Very important and worth every penny:

Chocolate Emporium in Ohio. www.choclat.com
They are amazing. They specialize in Non-dairy chocolate. Their pops come in really cute shapes for all of the holidays. They know us by name. We have been ordering for years. The chocolate is the best you have every tasted. My daughter can safely eat special treat any time she wants and there is never any sadness when she can't have something. Chocolate emporium logs your allergy onto their computer and packs your order by hand. The best time to order is when the high temperatures are below 70 for two weeks. Call immediately and you safe a hot weather shipping charge. Try it once. It is so worth it.

Gingerbread cookies are generally dairy free.

Ciabatta breads are fine, the bread at Macaroni Grill is fine, any Marinara sauce is okay, just ask if they butter their noodles in real butter if you are at a really nice Italian restaurant. Real whole wheat breads are generally fine (not the wheat breads that are really white breads in disguise!)

Stay away from Vienna Sausages. Gerber little Entrees were a lifesaver at this age. We took them everywhere. The pasta wheels with carrots, the green beans and there was one other one that didn't have cheese or milk. You will become an expert, too. You just have to research.

Vans Waffles are fabulous. Dairy free (make sure you read the front of the box).

Real dark chocolate is always dairy free. Albertsons has a whole line of dairy free cake mixes called Cherry brook farms. It is really expensive, but well worth the cost, because, yes, you will be making every one of her birthday cakes. You might want to take a cake decorating class. My lifesaver was finding out that the pressurized can, the one with the four tops, of colored icing, was dairy free. Hallelujah!

No white bread.

You will be amazed going into restaraunts (I never know how to spell that and this thing doesn't have spell check!) how many times you can ask the chef if a dish has dairy in it and he will say, "Yes, it has eggs." Last time I checked, a cow does not lay an egg. I will kindly remind them of that fact and they will blush and prepare the dish.

You just have to ask. and send back sometimes and remind people that even fake cheese is a dairy product.

Cafe Express: every piece of chicken is dumped into a buttermilk batter before it even sees a frying pan. This is one thing to think about before eating out. Don't assume that a chiken is safe just because it is grilled. It might be Marinated...Whaa Ha Ha Ha! In many marinades is either butter, milk, buttermilk or Non-fat dry milk.

Breading: That is a whole new ballgame: If it is breaded in crackers, like Luby's fried okra, you are okay. Panko Crumbs is okay. There is a line out at Central Market of Non-dairy packaged bread crumbs, expensive, but the freeze. A flour dusting batter is safe unless it is then baked in butter. No other bread crumb is safe. By the way, Luby's has never seen a stick of butter. Everything there is done in margarine, which has never affected my mom (the one with the dairy allergy).

Mayonaise: Real Mayo is generally safe (always ask to see the ingredients) Do not use anything other than real mayonaise.

Kosher foods are safe because they can't mix meat with dairy.

At Panarea, the kids whole wheat and the sourdough bread (sourdough is generally okay anywhere) is dairy free as is the pumpkin muffin. Their chicken noodle and garden veggie soup is, too.

The Campbells Dora and Shrek Chicken Noodle soup are okay as are the Oriental Ramen Noodles. Again...non-fat dry milk is in so much of that.

For a snack, Cliff bars for kids, Z bars, Gnu bars, are all dairy free (again, double check in case I am just getting a certain strange flavor)

Watch out for trail mixes and chip flavorings, the powder has Non-fat dry milk in it.

Watch out for pancake mixes. I use Alton Brown's off of the Food Network website, but here it is with my dairy free chocolate Valentine twist:

I used a standard base pancake recipe this morning to come up with a really incredible non-dairy chocolate pancake. Using non-dairy white chocolate chips from Chocolate Emporium and my knowledge of dairy free stuff, I created the following recipe. Happy Valentines Day!!!!!!

Get out one cereal bowl, one medium mixing bowl and one really large mixing bowl.

Mix all dry ingredients in the really large mixing bowl.

2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons sugar
1 1/2 - 2 tablespoons Ghirardelli ground sweet chocolate

2 eggs, separated
2 cups, chocolate almond milk, chocolate soy milk, or chocolate Pediasure (lactose free, not dairy free)
4 tablespoons melted Fleishmans unsalted margarine (the only dairy free margarine)

Melt the butter in the cereal bowl.
Separate the eggs: egg whites in the med. mixing bowl and yolks in the melted butter (stir)
Whip the egg whites and then whip in the "milk".
Dump the yolk "butter" into the egg white "milk".
Whisk well.

Heat pan till hot.
Dump liquid on top of dry mixture in the large mixing bowl and whisk quickly just until moistened.
Put "butter" (1/4 tablespoon at a time in pan for each pancake)
Before the butter is melted, dump a spoonful of batter on top of the butter in the hot pan.

Sprinkle frozen dairy free white chocolate chips from Chocolate Emporium on the pancake. Flip.

Don't burn.

Top with a drizzle of the following mixture:

1/2 cup pureed raspberries
1 teaspoon sugar

Enjoy!

The best non-dairy pancakes ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Back to you, B.,

Basically, you can take any recipe and substitute your stuff for it. You know your milk subs, for cheese, goat cheese is a good sub (although my doctor said that the only milk that is truly lactose free is sea lion milk! it just depends how sensitive you are). Also, soy cheese works. For whip cream, use marshmallow fluff. For Butter use Fleishmans unsalted maragrine.
Check ingredients (yes, it will take you at least 1-2 hours at the grocery story and you will automatically just read ingredients even if your friends say, "yeah, it's dairy free!) and ask for accomodations at restaurants, check the ingredients there: what is in their sauces, how do they prepare something, what do they marinade it in.

Oh yes, when she starts school...let the teacher know that doughnuts and cupcakes (even the icing) have milk in it. Duh! I am working on a non-dairy doughnut. I will let you know. I think I will stop writing right now and write the CIA in New York, (I am serious) and see if a student can develop a non-dairy doughnut and give me the recipe. I will share if I find out.

By the way, we just found out that Oreos do not have a real cream filling...they too are dairy free!

Kettle Corn is dairy free.

Your daughter will not be missing out on life! She will just be eating healthier than everybody else!

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S.C.

answers from Dallas on

Any receipes that call for milk can be substituded with soy!!! at least that is what we have to do... We have tried rice milk and he hated it. We even tried goat cheese again no luck with him.but wish you much success

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S.T.

answers from Houston on

I'm sorry! We just went through a month of wheat free products to see if my girls have an allergen, and now we're going a month dairy free.

As a couple of other said, soy is an allergen and you might want to stay away from it. they also have warnings of estrogen production in those who eat too much soy.

My girls don't like dairy free milk, so I have been making shakes and they LOVE those. You can blend fruit and ice with soy or rice milk or blend a drink mix and ice with it.

Have you tried organic milk or goat milk? What about raw milk or lactose free milk? My girls could never tolerate whole milk (and WIC only pays for whole milk!)

Good luck,
S. in Houston

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P.L.

answers from Killeen on

While I do not have a recipe, I can sympathize with you. My daughter was the same way and I nursed her till she was 2 1/2 but had to avoid all milk products myself as well.

What I did was use recipes and substitute. Pancakes and french toast I made with juice instead of milk. I found things to substitute in the recipes and made it that way the whole family just ate the way she needed to. I did let the other kids have milk though, just kept the drinking milk away from her.

Have you tried goats milk? For me, it ended up my allergic ones could have raw milk and if that was not available I used goats. Where I lived I could get it from the farm and it worked great, but as soon as I used the processed she was as sick as could be.

Try using substitutes and see how many recipes you can change to make this way. It was the easiest thing for me to do.

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C.B.

answers from Austin on

Here's my newest favorite recipe that the whole family loves. Even my almost 2 yr old daughter.

I'm dairy free b/c my infant son is intolerant so that means no milk for mommy. We are doing soy and he seems to be much better off. So I make a couple changes (soy milk, ground turkey, Smart Balance light, etc.) We only usually make 1/2 this but if we have a friend or neighbor in need of a meal then it's really easy to send over some comfort food.

Shepherd's Pie:
2 pounds freshly ground lamb
1 large onion, finely chopped
4 carrots, coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoons flour
1 to 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
Coarse salt and ground pepper
10 ounces frozen peas, thawed
Potato Topping:
2-½ pounds russet potatoes, peeled and quartered
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 cup milk
6 tablespoons butter
Shepherd's Pie:
1. Preheat oven to 425°. Heat a large skillet over high heat. In two batches, cook lamb until no longer pink, about 5 minutes per batch. Transfer lamb to a colander set in a bowl; let fat drain off and discard.
2. Add ¼ cup water to the skillet, scraping up browned bits with a wooden spoon. Reduce heat to medium; add onion and carrots. Cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in tomato paste. Add flour; cook, stirring, 2 minutes.
3. Add Worcestershire sauce, 2 cups water, and lamb. Season with 2 teaspoons salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Simmer until thickened, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Stir in peas; cook 1 minute. Divide among eight 8-ounce ramekins or two 9-inch glass pie dishes.
4. Meanwhile, make potato topping. Spread over pies; use a fork to make peaks. Bake on a baking sheet until tops are browned, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool slightly; serve.
Potato Topping:
1. In a medium saucepan, cover potatoes with salted water by 1 inch; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer until fork-tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Drain.
2. In pan, bring milk and butter to a simmer; remove from heat. Return potatoes; mash. Season with 2 teaspoons salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.

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S.Q.

answers from Houston on

I switched over a year ago from milk to rice milk. I love it just as much and it comes in several flavors. It can be used in place of milk in recipes. I've included their website for you to check out

http://www.tastethedream.com/products/index.php

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C.M.

answers from Houston on

If the doctors have not determined which proteins your child is allergic to, I would suggest sticking with rice milk over soy products because many children who are allergic to milk proteins are also allergic to soy. Denise Jardine has a dairy-free cookbook called "Recipes for Dairy-Free Living". So far, I have not found a bad recipe. Also, check out www.kidswithfoodallergies.org.

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A.K.

answers from Dallas on

Just replace the milk in recipes with soy milk. My son likewise has a milk allergy and we have been doing that for well over a year now. When my youngest son turned one we just transitioned him directly to soy milk instead of whole milk. If noone told you that the milk was soy you would never know! They make soy yogurt, soy cheese (be careful though - the grocery store soy cheese has milk in it so we have to get ours from Whole Foods, Central Market or Sprouts) soy ice cream - really soy everything!

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S.S.

answers from Wichita Falls on

I stuck to meat, fruit, veggies, brown rice, eggs - no butter, no cow milk, no fillers.

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