B. P,
My daughter has been lactose intolerant since she was born and my mom developed a dairy allergy shortly after that. I have become sort of an expert. First off: Beware of soy...it can stop a little one up very quickly. Watch for hard stools that don't occur every day and turn into marbles. We had to avoid soy. It is so hard to find a balance! We had to put her on Murilax (before it became over the counter) when she was two.
My daughter drank goat milk for as long as she could stand it. That stuff is rank. It is missing some essential vitamins. And beware of unpasturized, I know it is supposed to have more vitamins, but you never know about contamination. If you want flavoring, Nestle's Quick Chocolate Milk Powder does not have milk in it. We mixed it with Pediasure which is lactose free and gives her all of the nutrients, but is not caseine free. You might want to ask you allergist or pediatrician about it though. It is milk based.
The problem is not the liquid, the problem is getting all of the correct nutrients in her body every day.
Here is what we use in cooking: We keep a stockpile of Rice Milk (really nothing nutrient wise), Almond Milk (very high in protien)and Pediasure (not recommended for dairy allergies), my mom keeps a small supply of soy milk (brave woman, although it is tastier) and we use it to cook everything from Pancakes to Milkshakes.
Here is the lowdown:
Butter: Fleishmans Unsalted Margarine is the only "butter" you can use in cooking. It is not really butter.
Marshmallows: Perfect no problems!
Girl Scout Cookies: The just came out with one cookie that is dairy free! Thank the Lord!
Ice Cream: NADA MOO! and Sorbet (still...check ingredients) Comes in four flavors...Awesome!
Smoothie King or Factory: Kids Smoothie has not yogurt, just fruit and ice.
DO NOT LET HER EAT MCDONALDS FRIES They have NONfat dry milk. You would be surprised at how many fast food items and frozen things have non-fat dry milk...candy and suckers too. Always check ingredients.
For chocolate: Very important and worth every penny:
Chocolate Emporium in Ohio. www.choclat.com
They are amazing. They specialize in Non-dairy chocolate. Their pops come in really cute shapes for all of the holidays. They know us by name. We have been ordering for years. The chocolate is the best you have every tasted. My daughter can safely eat special treat any time she wants and there is never any sadness when she can't have something. Chocolate emporium logs your allergy onto their computer and packs your order by hand. The best time to order is when the high temperatures are below 70 for two weeks. Call immediately and you safe a hot weather shipping charge. Try it once. It is so worth it.
Gingerbread cookies are generally dairy free.
Ciabatta breads are fine, the bread at Macaroni Grill is fine, any Marinara sauce is okay, just ask if they butter their noodles in real butter if you are at a really nice Italian restaurant. Real whole wheat breads are generally fine (not the wheat breads that are really white breads in disguise!)
Stay away from Vienna Sausages. Gerber little Entrees were a lifesaver at this age. We took them everywhere. The pasta wheels with carrots, the green beans and there was one other one that didn't have cheese or milk. You will become an expert, too. You just have to research.
Vans Waffles are fabulous. Dairy free (make sure you read the front of the box).
Real dark chocolate is always dairy free. Albertsons has a whole line of dairy free cake mixes called Cherry brook farms. It is really expensive, but well worth the cost, because, yes, you will be making every one of her birthday cakes. You might want to take a cake decorating class. My lifesaver was finding out that the pressurized can, the one with the four tops, of colored icing, was dairy free. Hallelujah!
No white bread.
You will be amazed going into restaraunts (I never know how to spell that and this thing doesn't have spell check!) how many times you can ask the chef if a dish has dairy in it and he will say, "Yes, it has eggs." Last time I checked, a cow does not lay an egg. I will kindly remind them of that fact and they will blush and prepare the dish.
You just have to ask. and send back sometimes and remind people that even fake cheese is a dairy product.
Cafe Express: every piece of chicken is dumped into a buttermilk batter before it even sees a frying pan. This is one thing to think about before eating out. Don't assume that a chiken is safe just because it is grilled. It might be Marinated...Whaa Ha Ha Ha! In many marinades is either butter, milk, buttermilk or Non-fat dry milk.
Breading: That is a whole new ballgame: If it is breaded in crackers, like Luby's fried okra, you are okay. Panko Crumbs is okay. There is a line out at Central Market of Non-dairy packaged bread crumbs, expensive, but the freeze. A flour dusting batter is safe unless it is then baked in butter. No other bread crumb is safe. By the way, Luby's has never seen a stick of butter. Everything there is done in margarine, which has never affected my mom (the one with the dairy allergy).
Mayonaise: Real Mayo is generally safe (always ask to see the ingredients) Do not use anything other than real mayonaise.
Kosher foods are safe because they can't mix meat with dairy.
At Panarea, the kids whole wheat and the sourdough bread (sourdough is generally okay anywhere) is dairy free as is the pumpkin muffin. Their chicken noodle and garden veggie soup is, too.
The Campbells Dora and Shrek Chicken Noodle soup are okay as are the Oriental Ramen Noodles. Again...non-fat dry milk is in so much of that.
For a snack, Cliff bars for kids, Z bars, Gnu bars, are all dairy free (again, double check in case I am just getting a certain strange flavor)
Watch out for trail mixes and chip flavorings, the powder has Non-fat dry milk in it.
Watch out for pancake mixes. I use Alton Brown's off of the Food Network website, but here it is with my dairy free chocolate Valentine twist:
I used a standard base pancake recipe this morning to come up with a really incredible non-dairy chocolate pancake. Using non-dairy white chocolate chips from Chocolate Emporium and my knowledge of dairy free stuff, I created the following recipe. Happy Valentines Day!!!!!!
Get out one cereal bowl, one medium mixing bowl and one really large mixing bowl.
Mix all dry ingredients in the really large mixing bowl.
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons sugar
1 1/2 - 2 tablespoons Ghirardelli ground sweet chocolate
2 eggs, separated
2 cups, chocolate almond milk, chocolate soy milk, or chocolate Pediasure (lactose free, not dairy free)
4 tablespoons melted Fleishmans unsalted margarine (the only dairy free margarine)
Melt the butter in the cereal bowl.
Separate the eggs: egg whites in the med. mixing bowl and yolks in the melted butter (stir)
Whip the egg whites and then whip in the "milk".
Dump the yolk "butter" into the egg white "milk".
Whisk well.
Heat pan till hot.
Dump liquid on top of dry mixture in the large mixing bowl and whisk quickly just until moistened.
Put "butter" (1/4 tablespoon at a time in pan for each pancake)
Before the butter is melted, dump a spoonful of batter on top of the butter in the hot pan.
Sprinkle frozen dairy free white chocolate chips from Chocolate Emporium on the pancake. Flip.
Don't burn.
Top with a drizzle of the following mixture:
1/2 cup pureed raspberries
1 teaspoon sugar
Enjoy!
The best non-dairy pancakes ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Back to you, B.,
Basically, you can take any recipe and substitute your stuff for it. You know your milk subs, for cheese, goat cheese is a good sub (although my doctor said that the only milk that is truly lactose free is sea lion milk! it just depends how sensitive you are). Also, soy cheese works. For whip cream, use marshmallow fluff. For Butter use Fleishmans unsalted maragrine.
Check ingredients (yes, it will take you at least 1-2 hours at the grocery story and you will automatically just read ingredients even if your friends say, "yeah, it's dairy free!) and ask for accomodations at restaurants, check the ingredients there: what is in their sauces, how do they prepare something, what do they marinade it in.
Oh yes, when she starts school...let the teacher know that doughnuts and cupcakes (even the icing) have milk in it. Duh! I am working on a non-dairy doughnut. I will let you know. I think I will stop writing right now and write the CIA in New York, (I am serious) and see if a student can develop a non-dairy doughnut and give me the recipe. I will share if I find out.
By the way, we just found out that Oreos do not have a real cream filling...they too are dairy free!
Kettle Corn is dairy free.
Your daughter will not be missing out on life! She will just be eating healthier than everybody else!