Converting to dairy free?

[Nishu]

Is it possible to do without the family complaining? We love our cheese and milk and ice cream. I'm really not into soy, so that kind of limits our options.

When we converted to gluten free, I focused on meals that just naturally didn't include wheat products and I'd like to do the same for dairy. I'd love any suggestions!

Thanks!

[2ndGenGranola]

You kind of do it the same way - go with meals that don't naturally include that item. I'm not into subs that much because when you say "mac and cheese" you expect a certain flavor. Soy "cheese" and rice noodles just don't do it.

You really don't need to drink milk if you are over 2 years old. It is just extra fat and calories.

Usually your taste buds are after the taste of the fat and salt in the cheese. You might try bacon, avocado, nuts... I do buy nutritional yeast for its cheesy flavor. I LOOOOOOVVVVEEEE it on popcorn. Some people like a cheese sauce made with it.

You can make your own ice cream (sorbet/ices). There is rice milk for those who have to drink something. It doesn't have the "kick" soy does. Their ice cream is not too bad either.

A student cookbook I have said that milk is only needed in baking for its liquid value and a little fat. If you are used to using reduced fat, then you don't expect that and plain water will do in baking.

That's all I can think of at the moment but IMO it is the easiest of all "diets".

[HappyMama]

I do use milk, but I love making chocolate coconut ice cream, cherry chocolate ice cream, coconut keifer and yogurt. I also use coconut milk as my creamer in my coffee and to make chai lattes as well as whipping cream ( it tastes like cool whip ) so yummy. I love coconut milk as a replacer and actually better for many things. I do make my own almond and rice milk but love coconut milk best for ice cream etc. Hope this helps.

[Palooka]

Almond and rice milk are wonderful. Actually I like almond milk and so do my kids. It's perfect in cereal.

You might check out the "Uncheese Cookbook." I have it and there is several recipes for using nutritional yeast in dishes for the cheese taste.

If you have a local health food store your family might like rice dream ice cream.

You can even make vegan ranch dressing and Veganiase is the bomb in place of mayo.

Some people enjoy Follow your Heart Vegan cheese. It melts pretty good, but I'm no fan of vegan cheese. Sometimes it's
just easier to kick out the cheese.

[MissSeetonFan]

When my daughter's milk allergy was at an all time high (she is outgrowing it gradually), we used:

• almond and rice milk
• rice-based cheeses from a health food store - it actually melted and tasted like cheese
• "rice-cream" - tastes much better than soy based ice cream
• arrowroot flour to help make up for no milk when making sauces and gravies

I could go on. Because she reacted to all forms of milk, even as an ingredient in canned and other store-bought food, we had to read labels very carefully and we did a lot of from-scratch cooking.

Coconut milk, and Asian cooking were other solutions for avoiding milk.

[Dancing Lotus]

I'm telling you the family will complain. It's been a year for me and my kids still look for cheese. UGH

Also try coconut milk. NOT THE CANNED KIND. It's called So Delicious and is sold where the soy milk is. It's 80 calories in a cup and I believe 4 grams fat. I use it for baking because it's thick and creamy like whole milk. But it's pretty flavor less so it doesn't work for dunking your cookies.
The family all seam to prefer Almond milk for drinking and cereal.
You'll have to experiment with using different types of milk for different applications.

As for cheese I don't care for the Fauxcheese but Nutritional yeast is a staple at my house. I second using it on popcorn.

[2ndGenGranola]

Do read labels if you are looking at the fake cheese. Most of them DO contain dairy protein. I don't recall you saying why you are going dairy free but if it is for allergy or autism type issues you will want to avoid the casein. Don't trust labels that read "dairy free" either. Read for yourself and use the Jewish parve markings for backup if in doubt.

[Nishu]

Did any of you feel like you had withdrawal symptoms?

[2ndGenGranola]

Did any of you feel like you had withdrawal symptoms?

Milk and gluten often have strong withdraw symptoms. In some of the autism research I have read they say that the protein acts on the opiate centers of the brain and the stronger your withdraw the more you really need to stay away from it. It is like a drug to many people and withdraw is like that of cocaine.

We did see a variety of "detox" when starting eliminations but the good outweighed the bad.

[Dancing Lotus]

Did any of you feel like you had withdrawal symptoms?

Yes I did have a hard time shortly after going cold turkey. It didn't last long and was totally worth it. I'd say it's similar to withdraw from sugar or refined carbs.

It' took about a month before my husband noticed that all of his allergy symptoms were gone. Now he cant' consume any dairy at all or his sinuses back up right away.

My best advice to you is at this stage in the game don't worry about hidden dairy so much until you get adjusted to not directly consuming dairy, it will help ease the transition.

[Nishu]

Ann, do you do anything about your kids' diets when they're not at home? They're school age, right? Sometimes my kids' teachers pass out treats at school and I was wondering how you handle that.

[HappyMama]

I'm telling you the family will complain. It's been a year for me and my kids still look for cheese. UGH

Also try coconut milk. NOT THE CANNED KIND. It's called So Delicious and is sold where the soy milk is. It's 80 calories in a cup and I believe 4 grams fat. I use it for baking because it's thick and creamy like whole milk. But it's pretty flavor less so it doesn't work for dunking your cookies.
The family all seam to prefer Almond milk for drinking and cereal.
You'll have to experiment with using different types of milk for different applications.

As for cheese I don't care for the Fauxcheese but Nutritional yeast is a staple at my house. I second using it on popcorn.

I personally don't use and wouldn't recommend So deilicous coconut milk . Carageen is a form of MSG. Even if coming from seaweed a natural source, most use an unatural source to extract with alkani chemicals etc. No thanks just my humble opinion. Here is some information.DEMEANING CARRAGEENAN

Use Thai kitchen, no extra ingredients, great quality, no added sugar only guar gum that is a thickener. I want coconut milk no added sugar. Just my opinion.

When making whipping cream freeze the coconut milk in the can ( take only the cream add 1 teaspoon vanilla , one tablespoon organic sugar and tada whipped cream). Or you can make your own coconut milk. It is easy though I love the convenience of the can of Thai.

Here are the ingredients: Of So Delicious

So Delicious Original Coconut Milk Beverage - Nutrition Facts
Serving Size 1 cup (240 mL)
Servings Per Container 8

So Delicious Coconut Milk BeverageCalories 80
Calories from Fat 50
Total Fat 5g (9%)
Saturated Fat 5g† (25%)
Trans Fat 0g
Cholesterol 0mg (0%)
Sodium 15mg (1%)
Potassium 90mg (3%)
Total Carbohydrate 7g (2%)
Dietary Fiber 0g (0%)
Sugars 6g
Protein 1g
Vitamin A 10%
Vitamin C 0%
Calcium 10%
Iron 4%
Vitamin D 30%
Folate 6%
Vitamin B12 50%
Magnesium 10%
Zinc 4%
Selenium 8%

INGREDIENTS: Coconut Cream (Water, Coconut, Guar Gum), Organic Evaporated Cane Juice, Calcium Phosphate, Magnesium Phosphate, Carrageenan, Vitamin A Palmitate, Vitamin D-2, L-Selenomethionine (Selenium), Zinc Oxide, Folic Acid, Vitamin B-12.

[2ndGenGranola]

For school -- most parents who have kids on special diets will keep a treat box at school. Some schools even have freezers available to freeze cupcakes and such. Some very lucky people can put a dorm fridge in the child's classroom (but this is rare).