New to dairy free

[emmah4n]

:rolleyes: Hi, I just wondered if anyone can give me ideas of how to adapte family life to include my allergy? I have only just found out that i am unable to have any dairy products and dont know what to do as i have two children under five (the youngest is allergic to citrus) and dont want to have to prepare loads of different meals. The main problem is that we all eat an incredable amount of cheese. I would really apreciate it if anyone could point me in the direction of subsitutes for chesse or any good recipes. Thanks.

[Pam]

Hi Emma

It really isn't as difficult as you think. The rest of the family will have to adapt their taste buds a little for some of the food you cook but generally most recipes can be made with dairy free substitutes (use an alternative milk and dairy free margarine).

Cheese is the real stumbling block of a dairy free diet. If you have a browse around the various forums here you will see that cheese gets mentioned time and time again and I don't think there is a suitable dairy free cheese available. Most of them don't taste very good and the only one that I have found to melt when used as a topping is Toffutti dairy free slices (these are a very plastic type slice).

Check out local supermarkets and health food shops for whatever is available - Cheezly, sCheese, Veggie Kaas, Biddy Merkins Vegerella, Toffuti soft cheese & slices, Galaxy slices, Sainsbury's soft cheese, Parmezano but just be aware that none of them are like the real thing so prepare to be disappointed.

In my house myself and my daughter are milk free but the boys and their dad are all milk drinkers so we quite often cook two completely different meals or at least put the almost finished product in two separate dishes and top them off with a different finish.

You just have to experiment to begin with, go mad in the shops and buy whatever you can find that is dairy free, then decide which ones are worth buying again. People on here can usually tell you which products are worth having.

The special things that I buy most of are - soya milk, soya cream, yofu (Provamel dairy free yoghurt), Tofutti slices, Swedish Glace ice cream, Meridian curry sauces, Pure margarine. All other products are generally off the shelf supermarket items which just happen to be milk free.

Just ask if you want to know more - someone here should know.

[Steph]

My best tip on cheese is sheep milk cheese. I'm milk intolorant so can't have any dairy nor can I have goats milk/cheese. Try Sainsbury for Spannish Manchego cheese or Waitrose for Ossu Iraty(hope I spelt them right) Also remember buffalo mozzarella- I can eat that too. The only point of caution is if like me you have a baby/young child who is milk intolerant you must make sure the sheeps milk cheese is pasturised. Also be caresul of feta, as some brands also have cows milk in them(check the back of the packet for very small writing!)