To ask you what your dairy free store cupboard essentials are?

[Littleonesgettingbigger]

Dd2 is on a dairy free trial, I am struggling with what to feed her. Lunch used to be bits like cheese, crackers and grapes. What are your healthy store cupboard/fridge/freezer essentials to put together quick meals? So far I have baked beans, alpro soya yogurts, fruit pots, ham, fruit and not much else!

We have to try dairy free first for 2 weeks, then dairy and soya free for 2 weeks

Pure spread, 3 flavours, we prefer the sunflower one. Great for spread and for baking.

Coconut oil, extra virgin olive oil.

Almond, coconut, soya and oat milks.

Swedish Glacé dessert, there are others but they are very expensive.
Alpro soya custard.

AVOID processed meats, most breads, biscuits, pastries, some stock like Marigold, some chips and all 'fries' Most contain milk, also labelled as whey, lactose or casein
If you make something yourself, you know what's in it.

My dd's fine with goatsmilk and sheepsmilk products but absolutely not cows even traces give a reaction.

I had to go dairy free for a while - nut butters were great, as were turkey/chicken/ham slice/smoked salmon/poached fish and crackers/pittas, houmous and home made guacamole and veg crudité dippers for snacky lunches. Noodles were also fab and quick to eat. Wraps with houmous and veg or chutney and meats were good too.

I hated veggie cheese. The booja booja stuff got me through some grim times.

ouryve
Your DD has the right idea with vegan"cheese". It's vile.

I disagree. There are various brands and types out there; they vary in taste and people have different preferences. And sometimes it takes a while to adjust to a taste that isn't the same as the one you're used to. That said, vegan cheeses don't offer much nutrionally.

Just wanted to add my vote for Violife "cheese" (or "veese" as we call it in our house).

I have tried loads of dairy free cheese (have vegan DD) and all bar this one have been vile.
This one has the texture and taste of mild cheddar. Its not made of soya, either.
I haven't tried the cream cheese (yep, veam veese) yet, but am planning to do so to make DD a surprise vocolate cheesecake. (Or should that be chocovate?)

Hotel Chocolat have a 'creamy' dairy free Easter egg currently for sale.

Also for a rich softness in saucy foods, I always add red lentils.

Good quality peanut butter or other nut butter from your local health food shop. We go through a huge tub almost every weel. I use it in baking, on crackers or with Apple pieces for a snack. On toast with banana for breakfast. Almond butter In porridge (make with water and almond butter)

I cannot have dairy atm and soya milk produces exactly the same symptoms (it took a while). I would stay clear of soya and focus on almond/rice milk and maybe feta cheese / goats & sheep milk products, if she can have them.

Hummus and mini breadsticks, roast chicken bits or pepper sticks are some dairy free things my son usually has, what about vegan peanut butters or nut butters?

We are dairy soya gluten wheat free
My must have essentials are-
Coconut milk
Pure olive spread
Buckwheat slices
Doves gf flour
Gf Oats
Nuts

My only pretend /replacement treat products are-
Dietary specials bread sticks
Booja booja icecream
Moo free chocolate
Orgran biscuits
Morrisons free from cakes

We now eat far more meat fish and eggs tbh .
I don't work outside of the home and so have time to cook. Free from can be more time consuming .
We tend to eat food that you can identify by looking at it- processed food rarely comes in that format!
I find most free from products come with a long list of questionable ingredients .

We use oat milk as DS was dairy, egg and soya free. Smoked salmon, tuna, humus and olives were handy for us.

Ds2 decided to be allergic to tomatoes just to be awkward.

Vegusto cheese is nice. Not exactly cheese but nice.

Vegan pesto

We have hazelnut milk, soya milk (ds only , I don't like it!) and oat milk, depending on what we are making.

There's variations on most things other than specifically dairy products without the free from section.

Oh and (probably wasted on a child) booja booja chocolate ice cream dh was nicking it over his dairy one!

Oh op there's a great allergy section here -look under health.

We're milk, egg and tree nut free here. For packed lunch DS eats lots of things like oat cakes, toast, crumpets, bagels, wraps etc. with ham, tuna, pate, peanut butter, cold roast meat, soya cheese, peanut butter, (not at school) marmite, jam, hummus, tahini etc. Often with various crudites (pepper, carrot, cucumber, tomato, olives) and occasionally plain crisps or hula hoops.

If at home, we have a lot of soups (both ready made and homemade) and leftovers from the day before. He'll also happily much through falafel or beans/spaghetti on toast.

Dinner wise we tend to eat a lot of plain meat/fish with potatoes and veg, or pasta and tomato based sauce, or rice and tomato/coconut based curry. That said, asian style rainbow trout with brocolli and rice is probably his favourite dinner ever!

Desserts are usually soya yogurt, fruit, occasionally Alpro chocolate pots or Swedish glace ice cream. We make vegan cakes occasionally, and value bourbons and rich teas are milk free too!

Ds2 is cows milk intolerant and we use lots already mentioned above.

There is also a really helpful CMPA group on fb and I've got lots of ideas from there. Many posters have children with multiple allergies so loads of info and support.

Some lovely ideas, is there anyway I can save this thread so I can keep referring back to the ideas?

If you put it in "threads I'm watching" it will stay there forever!

Not sure where you are based but we took our daughter to, what my husband calls, the hippie clinic. By holding a metal stick it tells the computer what your body is intolerant to.

We were the worlds biggest sceptics but decided to trial their recommendations and they said she was lactose intolerant ( they can see if it's lactose or the protein in milk) so she could have lactofree stuff which made it easier. The difference in our dd was amazing, within a week she was sleeping better, bowel movements more normal it was fab. Life was hellish before we cut dairy for her and us. She has grown out of it now but it was a godsend knowing at the time.

The clinic was called the celestine clinic in Kent. The paediatrician thought it was rubbish but at least we found a way to make dd comfortable, hippie rubbish or not! Our friends have been too and out of about 10 kids only one of them didn't get any benefit from cutting out a particular food.

Which shops do you usually use OP?

I can tell you what we use from where you shop. Please say Aldi

If anyone could tell me if they have come across soya free buns by the way, I'd be very grateful! My 2 year old just had his first burger today in McDonald's with a surprising soya free bun. I'd prefer to make my own rather than relying on McD's, and I've never found a bun anywhere yet!

Sorry I went completely off topic there! My point was if she's cows milk protein intolerant a she can still have hard cheese and if it's lactose intolerance she can have lactofree but you've had better lunch ideas from other posters that I'd never have thought!

Koko milk, coconut drinking milk. Much nicer that soya and almond IMO. It doesn't leave an after taste when heated like some non- dairy milks do.
So use it to make hot drinks, soups creamer etc.
You can get it in most supermarkets in the long life milk aisle.

Nutritional yeast add to meals to give a cheesy flavour. I sometimes add it to a white sauce.

If you are also egg free look up flax egg, vegans use flax to bind like you would an egg.

Eggy you can't have cheese at all if its CMP that is the problem.

I just discovered Sacla pesto.
You can make couscous and add some of tomato pesto and you have quick snack. My kids are older so their chili pesto is very popular here.

It is good alternative for pasta sauces and it lasts in the fridge.

Alpro custard is great, try any of them with banana sliced up or strawberries. They do sorts of 'yogurt' flavours that we couldn't live without. Hummous/ bean dip type things made out of a tin of any sort of beans/ olive oil/ bit of coriander/ basil/ whatever with veg sticks/ oat cakes/ crackers. Various dairy free 'milk' on cereal. Apparently you can make your own out of cashews/ almonds but I really can't be arsed have always bought it in. I was veggie before DS was born then it turned out he was dairy intolerant so we went vegan, now I can barely abide cow milk, yogurt, most cheeses I've been off them so long and he has no taste for them either even though they don't set him off like they used to. And Marmite. How could ANYBODY live without Marmite? runs off to break into brand new LARGE squeezy jar and smear it over self