Dairy Free Questions

kirbear

My dd was just diagnosed with a dairy allergy and can no longer have any dairy products. I am looking for alternate products for her.  Tomorrow she has a party that is a make your own pizza party. I thought maybe I could find a vegan cheese so she can still make pizza.  Has anyone tried any of them to recommend one that tastes ok?

 Any other things to be on the lookout for?  I am surprised at all of the unsuspecting foods that contain dairy!! 

Thanks 

Cbidt's girl

I'm not dairy free, but I m kosher. Any product with a U or P on it next to the kosher info is dairy free. You'll find it in some crackers, margarine, soy versions of cheese, yogurt etc. Good luck

femmegem

I've heard that the dairy-free cheeses aren't great. I've been dairy free for over 10 years and I actually really like pizza without cheese. Make sure you look for the dairy proteins when you're checking ingredients on products (casein is a big one- also look for whey) and check EVERYTHING. There are very few breads I can eat. I like Earth Balance spread (it melts really well and tastes the best, IMO) and if she likes cream cheese Tofutti brand is really yummy.

gdemars

Daiya dairy free cheese is pretty good.  I get it at Whole Foods.  By itself it's kind of weird but on salads, omlettes, etc, it's good.    I also like the soy and cocunut milk yogurt that they carry.

If you have a Whole Foods by you they have a pamphlet/booklet that you can get at the Customer Service desk. It lists all the dairy free stuff that they carry. It was helpful when finding alternatives. 

 

cokt

Is she allergic to all dairy or just cow's milk dairy? I am dairy free while nursing my baby but have found he only reacts to cow's milk. So I can have buffalo mozzarella on pizza and goat and sheep's milk cheeses like pecorino. I have found that soy cheeses etc. don't melt really well and I would just prefer to have no cheese.

thumper57

I don't know about dairy free cheese, but I have seen tofu/ soy based cheeses at trader joes and whole foods.

for a yogurt alternative, I have been making a soy yogurt for my LO and it is very smooth and I like it enough to eat myself..  You can buy packages of silken tofu at any Asian grocery store, or it is also available at Trader Joes/Whole Foods.  It is the shelf stable box, not the refrigerated ones.

Blend it up and add whatever you like  ( Banana is pretty good)

shouldbworkin

Tofuti and vegan cheese, but they don't melt the same.  You can buy them at Whole Foods.  WFs is a great place to start with finding DF foods.  It helps you figure out what brands to look for at the regular grocery store.

DandelionMom

Amy's makes a frozen pizza that's dairy-free. 

ctbrideindc

Does she have a milk protein allergy?  If she does you need to be really careful about soy or other vegan cheeses that actually have some form of mp in it- casein and whey are the big ones you may find in replacement products.  DS really likes Diaya and melts well and is made of pea protein.

shouldbworkin

ctbrideindc:

Does she have a milk protein allergy?  If she does you need to be really careful about soy or other vegan cheeses that actually have some form of mp in it- casein and whey are the big ones you may find in replacement products.  DS really likes Diaya and melts well and is made of pea protein.

It cannot be vegan if it has whey or casein in it.  It's the soy and rice varieties that usually have whey or casein, other than Tofuti.

MediaBride

Also, don't assume that the pizza dough and sauce are dairy-free.  Often, they aren't.  DS is SUPER sensitive to dairy (not a true allergy but it might as well be) and I nursed him for 17 mos so I was dairy free until recently.  

 A lot of pizza dough and pizza sauce has parmesean cheese in it  I haven't tried the Daiya cheese (WF is a hike for us and they don't sell it in my area), but some of the soy based cheeses also have cassein or whey in them so watch for that as well.  

The good news is that there are a LOT of alternatives out there, it just takes some time and investigation to find them.  www.godairyfree.org was a great resource for me (they even have lists of restaurants/fast food places and which dishes are dairy free which is awesome).

Good luck!  

kirbear

Thank you for all the help and suggestions. I will speak to her dr about other types of animal cheese. I went to whole foods the other night and felt good seeing all of the options!!Thanks again!!