This past summer it was discovered that my niece is allergic to dairy. Her mom, my sister, said she likes to check out my blog for ideas. I looked at my past posts and saw I haven’t devoted much time to the foods I use. Today I will share, with all of you, some of the dairy-free foods I use. I’m also giving you pictures because my sister said it helps to have them while shopping. They give her an idea of what it is she’s actually looking for. Initially my plans were to post all of the pictures of the food items at the end of this post, so you wouldn’t have to scroll through all of this while shopping. But, the more I thought about it, I think it’s nice to see the picture beside the description of each item.
Earth Balance Buttery Spread – I use this wherever I used to use butter – on a slice of bread, potatoes, cooking, sautéing, and baking. It’s my butter replacement.
Unsweetened Cashew Milk (I also make sure it doesn’t have vanilla in it.) – While I no longer drink a glass of milk, I use it in my oatmeal or on my cereal. I also cook with it; using it in mashed or scalloped potatoes, casseroles, soups and baking. It also works nicely for hot cocoa. I’ve tried the other dairy alternatives: soy milk, rice milk, coconut milk and almond milk – cashew milk is (in my opinion) the creamiest and I really do miss the creaminess of cow’s milk. (I don’t have a favorite brand name; I usually pick up whichever brand I can find that day.)
Cashew Chocolate Milk (hard to find) or Almond Chocolate Milk is good too – Yummy and creamy to give me my chocolate fix. (I don’t have a favorite brand name; I usually pick up whichever brand I can find that day.)
So Delicious Dairy Free Coconutmilk Yogurt Alternative (Unsweetened – NO added vanilla) – I use this unsweetened yogurt as a replacement for sour cream; using it on baked potatoes, tacos/nachos, in cream sauces and for baking.
So Delicious Dairy Free Coconutmilk Yogurt Alternative (Flavored) – Raspberry and blueberry are my favorites, strawberry and key lime are both okay. I haven’t tried their other flavors; I’m not real adventurous when it comes to my yogurt.
Natural Bliss Coconut Milk Creamer –Sweet Crème – This is by far my favorite over soy and almond varieties. I know quite a few people that also use this brand. (I recently tried using just coconut milk as suggested by one of my readers. It just didn’t float my boat. Maybe I did something wrong? So, for now, I will continue to buy the Natural Bliss. Be sure to READ the labels well, they have non-dairy and dairy together on the same shelf.
daiya cheese – I prefer the cheddar style over the mozzarella style – just my personal preference.
daiya pizzas – “Supreme” is my favorite by far., but they have several options.
Just. (Ranch) – For salads and a dipping sauce for pretty much anything.
Just. (Thousand) – For salads, on burgers (reminds me of “special sauce”) and as a chip dip. When I was growing up, my mom always made 1000 island dressing from scratch and we loved to dip potato chips in it.
Enjoy Life Semi-Sweet Chocolate Mini Chips – I really like these, not only for baking but also for eating by the handful (I’m not kidding) with some potato chips. I will also mix them with 1-2 tablespoons of peanut butter for a “candy fix”. They really are nice to bake with or to drizzle over pretzels.
So Delicious Cashew Milk Ice Cream – After trying soy milk ice cream, rice milk ice cream, almond milk ice cream and coconut milk ice cream (I’ve been doing this a long time.) – my sister told me about this. Well worth the wait. The “Dark Chocolate Truffle” is incredible. An added perk with this ice cream: One day I didn’t get my groceries put away as quickly as I should have and I discovered the ice cream was very soft. It was the consistency of a chocolate pudding. It was really good. So, every once in a while I fill a small dish with it and let it set out for a while – if I can be patient enough.
Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese – I’m not a huge fan of this. I used it to make cream cheese frosting for a pumpkin roll – big disappointment. I do like it for ham and pickle roll-ups.
Hope this helps you if you are in need of a few ideas for dairy substitutes. Sorry for the picture quality. They were taken to be a reference for you, not to showcase my marvelous photography skills – which I’m hoping look a bit better than these quickly snapped pictures.
Thanks for stopping!
Brenda
Disclaimer:
These recipes and tips are not guaranteed to work or be safe for everyone. Allergies are extremely complicated and vary for each individual. It is still your responsibility to read labels to ensure your safety. I cannot be held liable for any ill effects from using my tips to avoid your allergies. (Sorry guys, I don’t foresee any problems, but Momma’s gotta cover her backside, ya know? Just read your labels!)
Tofutti sour cream is the BEST! My guests never know that the onion dip is dairy free at my house when I use Tofutti!
Also, look into Ghee. It is clarified butter. It has no lactose because all of the animal proteins have been cooked out and what is left is the butter fat. That fat is good for our brains! (brains are made of fat and cholesterol and we need to feed it!) You can make it on your own, or buy it like I do. The Mayan Indians learned to do this to preserve butter and it is fantastic! It has a buttery flavor with out the tummy problems.
I have picked up the Tofutti sour cream before; hadn’t done much with it. You have me intrigued with your onion dip comment. I really do need to get more adventurous. I will be looking into onion dip recipes or feel free to pass yours on to me.
Regarding Ghee, I’ve researched it very little. I have a niece who is paleo and loves it, but I’ve been hesitant. While I’ve read that it contains no lactose, I’ve seen it may contain traces of casein (a protein) which can impact someone if they’re very sensitive. Because my issue is with the protein, not the lactose, I tend to err on the side of caution. Thanks for your input, I hadn’t thought about the fact that those with a lactose intolerance may be able to benefit from Ghee. But everybody, please remember to do your own research and read your labels before trying any new foods. You are your own advocate and know what is best for you and/or your loved one.
In addition, the SO company makes coconut ice-cream. YUM!!
I like a LOT of the SO company products. I’ll check out the coconut ice cream. Thanks again Angela!