So how hard is it to go dairy free?

[pointydog]

I am contemplating bringing in a milk free diet in a week or so's time.

I realise I'll need to look for alternatives for milk, butter and cheese. Are they easy to find? Are they tasty?

Am I about to have the worst couple of months of my life?

oooh, yes, turkish delight. My one xmas joy (only ever have it xmas for some reason.......one of them traditions from childhood I am not allowed to break).

breakfast is pretty boring. I have discovered these..........very yummy, but a sinful treat if you have to watch your calorie intake.

plus crumpets are ok too, altho not quite the same without butter dripping thru

Gah! I really really want to post some recipes... But still waiting for a friend to release them for testing... She's writing a cookbook for intolerances, with no wheat, dairy, soya, yeast or eggs. And she's a fantastic cook (we're over there tonight - dribble).

If anyone wants to test recipes, and is prepared to provide feedback on prep, taste etc (and obviously then buy a copy of the book when it's out), mail me on thedreadpirateofmn at googlemail dot com, and I'll pass on your details

DS is dairy free - amazing how easy it is to resort to cheese!

I tend to use quite a bit of lentils to bulk things out.

Milk wise, Oatly is OK (he can't have soya). The oatly cream is good for thickening things out and for sauces.

ilovemydog I would love to be able to use lentils more but another of dd's allergies is lentils!! It drives me mad!!

I'll e-mail you dreadpirate - I would like to test the recipes

theDreadPirateRoberts - my landlord does have a team of gardeners who come and tend the roses round my house...so I dont have to. However, I am sure they would not mind me taking a few heads. They are very aromatic large headed pink and crimson ones.

Would they work?

Pointydog - I was originally put on a dairy/egg free diet to help my eczema and it did work. Unfortunately I went on over several years to develop a much worse reaction to them (egg is anaphylactic and dairy gives me very bad skin almost instantly as well as sinus swelling).

It is doable with children DS was dairy egg free for 8 yrs and DD till she was 18 months.

Cheaper biscuits tend to be best.
Lindtt plain chocolate is fine (not green and blacks or bourneville).
You can get dairy free smarties in Sainsburys (called whizzers).
Macdonalds hamburgers are dairy free but nothing else is.
Most breakfast cereals are fine and most bread so breakfast is ok.
I make sure I take calcium tablets even though my soya milk has added calcium I'm not getting other sources.

Abeta - just the petals required iirc. I'll dig out the recipe tomorrow and post in the foodie bit (off out to dinner shortly and need to find lipstick more urgently)

If you're finding it hard then there is an order of 'tolerability' of dairy products when it comes to allergies.

You could try eliminating the 'worst' tolerated products first to see if it makes a difference.

From 'most problematic' to 'least problematic' the order is:

MOST PROBLEMATIC
Uncooked milk
Yoghurt
Soft cheese
Hard cheese
Products containing cooked dairy, eg biscuits
LEAST PROBLEMATIC

The theory is that the large cow's milk protein molecules are what the body can't deal with, and cooking etc breaks them down.

However if you are very allergic then you won't be able to cope with even cooked cow's milk protein.

Many people who can't tolerate cow's milk protein also have trouble with soya, goat's milk and sheep's milk, however they are worth a try.

Lactose intolerance is different, that is when the body can't digest milk sugars and you get bloating and diahorrea. afaik things like eczema are less likely to be linked to lactose intolerance.

pointy i give you green and blacks cereal bars
they are scrumptious
swedish glace is also really nice i promise
i like sweetened soya milk in tea and on cereal but rice milk is also pleasant tasting
cheese is just a no go imo - the alternatives just aren't worth it

Psycho - I tried the banana loaf one time recently, but it's not as nice as Nigella's recipe made with Pure .

Oh Franny you recommended them on another thread, and I blame you entirely for at least 3lbs of fat gained since then .

Booja Booja 'Ice Cream' is amazing (better than the real thing IMHO).

I find nuts (ground and in butters) are the key to bulking and smoothing things out, but I assume they are a no no too?

Mild Thai curries are great for family meals. Co-op Soya milk is great, Alpro can be too sweet for macaroni cheese or fake Bechamel for example, but lovely for rice pudding.

If you are not veggie too, you have quite a lot of traditional kid friendly meals to choose from though?

oh yes booja booja chocolates are superb

sorry CSWS

i was dairy free for 6 months. easy when you get used to it. rice dream and oatly are best substitutes. ok in tea. i ate lots of potato and brocolli for the calcium, and take flax seed oil for efas which will also be good for your dd.
'pure' spread from sainsburys is good.
i had lovely skin and lost two stone, now thinking of going dairy free again just for kicks!

theDreadPirateRoberts - thanks. You enjoy you dinner. Hope the lipstick turns up soon as well .

god I am depressed

anyway, what happens re the lack of calcium? Potatoes and broccoli we can do but si that enough?

If you buy rice/oat/soya milk then get one with added calcium.
Sesame seeds also v good for it, and dried figs.

If you're really worried about it then you can get 'calcichew' tablets to supplement, but a normal healthy diet should be fine without this.

Look at the milk substitute that you use - I know for my dd I buy the soya milk with added calcium and vitamins.

ok thanks

Fish has calcium too. And almonds. Vegan DH says sesame seeds and leafy greens.

I have soya milk with calcium and take boots calcium and vitamin d+k tablets.

well whaddya know. You can't get oat milk or rice milk at the big supermarket near me. Bought some alpro soya and tasted it. I was surpirsed because I thought it tasted ok.

sainsbury's olive spread does not have dairy in it.

Did you look in both the free from section and the UHT milk section?

Which supermarket is it?

ahhh, no I didn't trixy. I only looked in teh fresh section. Is Sainsburys