What Do You Use To Replace Dairy?

[Carriefaith]

I suggest Natur-a Rice Milk. they are gluten-free, casein free, and soy free.

I drink a lot of orange juice fortified with calcium and I also get some sun exposure for vitamin D.

[shai76]

For ice cream, coconut milk is great (if you make your own ice cream). I like to take 2 cups coconut milk, one ripe banana, blend in blender, add 1 tsp vanilla, and stevia/agave nectar/sugar to sweeten. Then pour in the ice cream maker. Good creamy stuff.

Also, you can make almond milk by putting almonds in a blender and adding hot water (careful - this can make a hot mess if you fill it more than a third or half way) and whir. Add vanilla and/or sweetener for taste.

I have made pumpkin pies with coconut milk instead of evaporated. Delicious! Also makes wonderful hot chocolate.

Stephanie

Wow, I never knew coconut milk could replace condensed milk. I love pumpkin pie so much! You're my hero.

[CarlaB]

Ghee is a debateable item - much like oats. In theory, since ghee is clarified, all the proteins have been removed, and all that's left is the fat, which will not bother someone who is casein or lactose intolerant. (Almost no one has a true fat allergy or intolerance, which is not to say that everyone handles fat equally well in a diet.) But it's an imperfect mechanical separation process (nothing like distillation ), so it remains debateable.

I'm pretty sensitive to casein, and don't have a reaction from Ghee. It's a treat, definately not an every day thing.

I realize it is technically dairy.

[rmom]

Several people have said that there isn't a good cheese substitute or that they haven't found one so I wanted to post and tell about the cheese substitute that i use with my son. My son has autism so we do a Gluten-free Casein-free diet (gluten free, casein free) so basically no gluten no dairy. He also has shown some intolerance to soy. I tried giving him soy formula, and he was having stomach aches. Also I believe that soy may be an indocrine inhibitor so we try to avoid it as much as possible. For my son, we use RICE CHEESE. It has no gluten, dairy (casein or lactose), or soy. It is also completely vegan and preservative and cholesterol free. I buy it at Whole foods. It comes in wrapped slices just like any other cheese. If someone handed you a piece and didn't tell you it wasn't regular cheese, you wouldn't even know. I haven't found it in the shredded form, so i just cut it up into little tiny pieces. We have made pizza and cheese fries with it and they tasted great. We have tried it so far in cheddar and mozerella. I really recommend it. I think they also make american flavor and possibly pepper jack, but I' m not sure.

I have heard that some people with soy allergy can tollerate small amounts of soy lecithin. I do let my son have some products with soy lecithin, and on very rare occasions (when I can't find any substitue) some products with soy. It is really hard. We also have religious dietary laws and cannot have products that contain alcohol (such as vanilla) or products that contain pork including gelatin. Butter substitue has been a hard one for me. We love the Cherrybrook kitchen gluten free cake, cookies, and icing mixes, but I have used the spectrum butter (I think it was spectrum) to make them because I just couldn't find a butter substitute that didn't contain soy. Has anyone here made the Cherrybrook kitchen icing mixes without butter?

I also use the almond breeze as a substitute for milk when I cook and he hasn't had a reaction. There are some good rice milks out there, but some contain a lot of oil. I've heard they make some heart healthy ones that are supposed to be very good.

As far as yogurt, we don't do yogurt, but we are considering acidophilus suplements because I worry about yeast build up in his system, and I have heard you can buy gluten free pudding mix and make it with milk substitute so maybe you could make something with the consistency of yogurt. You could add in fruit to it.

We are considering trying to make snow ice cream using almond breeze, but I wondered if anyone had tried it before? We have been doing sorbets and popsickles.

We supplement the vitamins in milk with calcium fortified orange juice.

[shayesmom]

1. Milk replacements? This highly depends on what I'm making. For baking and as a cream substitute in liquid recipes (coffees, soups, smoothies), coconut milk has worked best (it gives GREAT moisture to gluten-free baked goods). We've also been okay with rice milk and Vance's Dari-Free (which FYI, makes for some great fudgesicles).

2. Butter replacements? I agree with pp's on these. We do okay with Earth Balance Buttery Spread....as long as it's in moderation. We can have about 1 tsp of something with soy in it per day. So, it's a pain in the rear to keep track of and therefore avoidance works out better.

3. Yogurt replacements? One cup of raw cashews blended thoroughly with 1 cup of purified water. Let it sit on the counter for 20+ hours (it will bubble and then separate). Refrigerate up to 3 days before using. Stir it until smooth prior to eating. And you can add fruit to flavor as well. It's pretty good. AND you can use this in other recipes that call for yogurt. Or, there's the Ricera yogurt out. They aren't bad, but I prefer the cashew yogurt.

4. Cheese replacements? We do cashew or other nut cheeses that I make at home. Truly, I prefer this to any of the commercial rice versions on the market. For some reason, the scent of the rice cheeses just make my stomach churn. I just don't know why..... Or, if I need a "cheesy" taste to something like popcorn, I will just use a bit of nutritional yeast.

5. Ice Cream replacements? We do the sorbets or the rice ice creams on this. And, if I ever get an ice cream maker, I will be trying out the coconut-based ice creams. A friend of mine experiments with making her own "raw" ice creams and I must confess, I am very interested to learn more! She's even found ways to use avocado in her ice creams (gives color and texture to her mint chocolate chip). And again, the Vance's in combination with some cocoa, coconut or rice milk makes good fudgesicles and even creamsicles.

6. Any other dairy product replacement? Some people suggest using some ground, toasted sesame seeds with a bit of grated lemon zest for a "parmesan" cheese flavor. I'd also suggest looking more into the "raw" food recipes for their dairy substitutions. If you can do nuts...then you're in for some pretty special treats. There are even some awesome "cheesecake" recipes out there that are dairy-free. I also believe that I saw a site that sells coconut cream and then some recipes for coconut "sour cream". Really, there's a lot of room for creativity.

[rmom]

It isn't Spectrum butter that we used, it is Earth Balance buttery sticks. They are vegan, gluten free, dairy free, and casein free, but do contain soy. They are made mostly of vegetable oil which usually contains oil from soybeans. I have used it one time in cookie icing to make iced sugar cookies. He had no reaction, but ate only a very small amount of it. I am looking for a substitute though as I don't like to use soy for a number of reasons. Has anyone tried making cake icing with canola oil or something similar to avoid the soy?

[sarahelizabeth]

My son is milk/soy/peanut/tree nut allergic... it really limits what he can eat.

1. Milk replacements? Right now he's on an elemental formula because he was failure to thrive and had major GI issues so that is his "milk" currently.

2. Butter replacements? There are a few milk/soy free "butters" out there but they are hard to find anytime other than passover but Mother's Margarine (only the passover version) and Migdal are both made from cottonseed oil. Spectrum works for baking except crumb toppings. Lately, I've just been using recipes that called for oil or applesauce instead of butter/margarine myself.

3. Yogurt replacements? So Delicious Cocount yogurt is milk/soy free and quite yummy

4. Cheese replacements? haven't found a remotely palatable one

5. Ice Cream replacements? we stick to sorbets

6. Any other dairy product replacement?

[April in KC]

My oldest's diet is completely free of gluten, peanut, soy, pork and oranges...other foods (including dairy) are only used two days per week on rotation. He has Celiac and eosinophilic gastroenteritis, plus food allergies and a high total IgE (high propensity to develop new allergies). We rotate his non-allergic foods to try to avoid developing new IgE allergies.

Milk replacement:

He is sensitive to soy lecithin, which we had always heard would be okay for those with IgE soy allergy. When we finally removed the lecithin, his eosinophilic gastroenteritis symptoms got much better.

You mentioned tree nuts...you might consider asking for individual nuts to be tested. My son can have almonds (which are actually from the peach family). We use Pacific unsweetened almond milk, which does not have soy lecithin...some of their sweetened varieties do contain soy lecithin.

Vance's Dari-Free (potato based dairy replacement) works for certain recipes - mostly sweet ones.

Pacific Rice Milk works for some things, too.

I can't find a margarine...though I have heard of the occasional kosher for passover brand.

We sub in a lot of olive oil and canola oil...occasionally Spectrum shortening...if coconut is not a problem and you don't care about the saturated fat, coconut milk solids from a can of coconut milk, mixed with cocoa and sugar, makes a great tasting "pudding."

Different olive oils have different taste qualities. I keep Bertoli Extra Light, Classico and Extra Virgin on my countertop. I use extra virgin for rice pasta and gluten-free toast with garlic salt and basil, basically anything with an italian flavor profile. I use extra light for buckwheat pancakes. I use Classico for savory things that need to taste buttery, as long as they are not going to cook on very high heat.

My favorite soy free, dairy free chocolate cake mix is 1-2-3 Gluten Free chocolate bundt cake...I sub in a mixture of olive and canola oil (slightly less oil than the amount of butter they call for), plus I always add one single serve container of applesauce. The cake gets raves even by our gluten-eating relatives. I love most of their stuff and have always found it easy to sub out the dairy add-ins and still get good results.

We do gluten-free pizzas with turkey pepperoni, minus the cheese--and everyone adjusted fine. Surprisingly so. A touch of bacon (or turkey bacon) added to just about anything also induces dairy amnesia.

Eggs have a rich flavor and texture that help make up for dairy...if you are not allergic or scared, you can add a raw egg to your Julius or smoothie. I wash the outside of the egg with soap beforehand. And if you are scared, then try pasteurized egg products or dry products like "Just Whites"...you can add a scoop to smoothies for foam.

Avacadoes and bananas can add smoothness to some recipes.

Enjoy life makes soy free, dairy free chocolate chips.

Spice cakes or bars that call for pumpkin turn out well dairy free.

[April in KC]

For chocolate frosting, you can try Spectrum shortening (palm oil)...or Marshmallow Fluff (if egg and corn syrup are okay...I know they don't use peanuts in their facility, because I have called).

There is a type of cake frosting that is just beat egg whites, vanilla and sugar.

Another "icing" I have used is Jello instant pudding mix mixed with almond milk or Vance's Dari-free. I had to experiment around with the quantities, and when and how to mix to achieve a smoother texture. Warmer is better for mixing, then cool it down.

[CeliacAlli]

I don't have that much info...but there are lactose gluten-free ice creams and I would use coconut milk for milk