Dairy-free food, recipes, experiences

My son has been diagnosed with Eosinophilic Colitis, which, in his case, means he has an allergy to something which is causing his intestines to become inflamed. Despite allergy tests (blood) coming back negative, we have been advised to eliminate dairy for a few weeks to see if this is the problem. He will see an allergist in late Sept for patch testing, but we have been told that there is only a 50/50 chance we'll figure out what the allergen is!

Anyway, so back to the dairy free... we're going to start that this week. He's not a big cheese eater, but loves ice cream, yogurt, and milk. So far attempts at rice and almond milk have not gone over well. Because he is so skinny, we have to make sure his calorie intake doesn't drop too much so I'm interested in any info anyone may have on dairy free foods to try, blogs, etc.

We're in the US so while food recommendations for the UK are useful for when we travel, I need more for over here.

TIA!

Awww poor Sammy. But it at least sounds like you're getting some answers. Hang in there!

Is it all milk or just dairy milk?
Soy ice cream is yummy! 
Smoothies with rice milk/almond milk/soy yoghurt/ Goats milk and sheep's milk yoghurt (if he can have)

Certainly vegan food blogs will be a good bet (substituting non-vegan things when you want to, of course!). 
http://eatair.blogspot.com/
http://veganlunchbox.blogspot.com/
(good for the kids, as she makaes vegan food for her son)
http://veganyumyum.com/

Thanks Laura!

Right now, it's just cow's milk I think. TBH, they didn't give me much input but, since he eats no goat or sheep's milk products now, I won't add them until I know if cow's milk is a problem. So we're sticking to rice, almond, and, I guess soy. The problem with soy is that it's the next biggest allergen so if milk turns out to not be the problem, then they would likely suggest we eliminate soy.

Anyway, thanks for the links... I'll have a look!

Don't use rice milk, it's poisonous to young kids!! I only know this because my friend's son (nearly 4) is on a dairy free diet and when they went to see the paediatrician for a check up she told them this.

I personally love soy yogurts & think they taste creamier and richer than dairy ones.  You can also try some of the various vegan ice creams out there like Tofutti (there's loads but I can't remember the brands off the top of my head) - they usually taste pretty nice and could be a good calorie booster.

I can also recommend checking out the Vegan Lunch Box blog...I use it for myself and I'm not a school child !  Not sure how picky he is with veg, since obviously she does rely quite heavily on them...but it could be good for dairy substitute ideas.

Anyway, I'm not vegan nor ever have been but I've explored non-dairy options in the past in an effort to cut it out of my own diet.

Another thought - what about coccnut milk?  not so much for drinking but for desserts/cooking.

Thanks everyone!

Liz, I'd not heard about the rice milk issue. I Googled it and it looks like it's a problem with arsenic. He didn't like the rice milk (though we were going to try the unsweetened version next...). It doesn't seem to have been a reported problem in the US which is odd.

I've just read that there are some really good coconut yogurts and ice creams out there, too.

Make sure to check labels on any soy yogurts or cheeses - most contain casein and/or whey.

I have a friend who can't eat whey. She eats a diet heavy on meat and tomato-based pastas, she eats pizza without cheese (she orders it this way in restaurants), and I know that Indian food is her favorite because it's made with coconut milk. I'll ask her if she has any non-dairy recipes that a child might like.

Make sure to check labels on any soy yogurts or cheeses - most contain casein and/or whey.

AN, aren't they supposed to label that in parentheses as milk? That's what the nutritionist at U of MD told us, but I've not checked labels enough yet.

Bmore - thanks... he's eaten curry before but it's been quite a while since he has!

AN, aren't they supposed to label that in parentheses as milk? That's what the nutritionist at U of MD told us, but I've not checked labels enough yet.

Yes, they do need to list them as milk derivatives.  But how they list them isn't quite so set in stone.

ooh, I can help with this one! I've been lactose intolerant for years, and have dealt with it a number of ways - from avoiding (most) cheese and milk to taking the lactaid pills to using nondairy substitutes, and at the beginning of the year I decided to work towards being vegan (have been vegetarian for about fifteen years and decided to step it up a bit - I'm not there yet but I've eliminated the remaining bits of dairy in my diet now).

I have only done a bit of investigating into the dairy subs in the UK, and I don't know how many of the old US products I had are over here. If you can find Tofutti it's worth a try - their Tofutti Cuties (mini ice cream sandwiches) are super yummy. IMO all the soy/rice/almond/etc milk brands taste slightly different, so it's worth trying a bunch to see if one has a flavor he likes. Some are sweetened, some are 'natural', some are chocolate!! I saw some smaller containers at Waitrose last week, so you can try a few different ones without having to fill your fridge with liter containers. I use Pure Soya brand margarine - it tastes fine on bread and cooks like regular butter. They also make a cream cheese product which I just tried and found FANTASTIC. I'm going to be looking to see if they have other products to try.

The advice most people are given about fake cheese is to avoid them for a while after quitting dairy, and then experiment with some different kinds, and to NOT expect a super dairy taste. it's just not going to happen. There are some types that melt well, and some types that are better for sandwiches. If you want to try these, google for "vegan cheese review" to get an idea of how people have used the different brands.

I also have a cookbook called "the un-cheese cookbook" or something like that - my cookbooks are being shipped and aren't here yet - which has a bunch of nut and nutritional yeast based recipes for cheese-like sauces and such. I've only tried a couple of them, and they aren't mistakable for a dairy meal, but they're certainly tasty enough.

I can't make a yogurt rec - when I ate it I always preferred thick yogurts, full cream or greek style, and I haven't found a soy one that has the mouth-feel I'm looking for. So I'm going without, though I try a soy yogurt every once in a while and usually find it too runny.

Good luck! Honestly, it's not all that hard to live dairy-free, and there's a lot of good products out there these days.