Going off dairy? Ack!

[cera]

Recently it has been suggested that my family go off dairy at least for a few months if not forever to see if it solves numerous of my families problems. Honestly I have thought for a few years now that I may have issues with dairy b/c if I have too much in one day I just don't feel right. My husband is dead set against the idea, not b/c of his love of dairy but b/c he doesn't like to be told he can't have something....ugh men : My 12 year old thinks I've gone nuts and my 2 year old really has no opinion but he LOVES dairy, I know it won't be easy for him. The day we were told this I came home and ate everything dairy I could get my hands on and was quite sick, lol. But I do think it would be the right thing to do and at least give it a try. Any pointers, help, tips, good websites, recipes? It was also suggested that we don't resort to soy instead of dairy and personally I would like to avoid it as well as I heard that boys shouldn't have much soy and I live in a house of boys. I don't know if we should wait till our dairy is all gone or give away all our dairy products? Aahhhh I miss dairy already and it hasn't gone anywhere yet. We bake alot (mostly muffins), eat a lot of cheese, yogurt and drink lots of milk. But I heard dairy is in a lot. What are things we should avoid that I wouldn't have thought of? Please help me!! Spam me with your non-dairy info!!!!

[LiLStar]

I'm kinda in the same boat.. only its just me going off dairy, not the whole family. I think ds is sensitive to it in my milk and like you, I had to have a minor binge once the decision was made. One last ice cream bar, then done. Its not as bad as I expected.. although it is disappointing to go to a birthday party and not be able to have cake because there's dairy in the frosting (went straight to the HFS on the way home and got myself a vegan cupcake!) So I decided to learn to like almond and rice milk, (try the chocolate varieties!) rice dream to replace ice cream, coconut oil instead of butter.. its not so bad. the almond or rice milk works fine in recipes that call for milk. I'll be lurking for more ideas!

Oh and if anyone has a recipe for a yummy dairy free frosting that goes good with chocolate cake, I'd like one that isn't soy based! I usually just blend a box of cream cheese with some butter and add powdered sugar till its sweet enough, and cream/milk until its the consistency I like. I have no idea how else to make it I don't want to use the toffuti cream cheese.

[tanyalynn]

Frosting's easy! At least I think this type is tasty: 1.5 lbs powdered sugar, 1 tsp vanilla, 1/3 c palm shortening, and about 1/3 c boiled water (add gradually to get the consistency you want) plus a pinch of salt. Add 1/4 c cocoa powder if you want chocolate. Or orange extract or mint or whatever, some folks use coffee instead of the water.

The Allergies forum has lots and lots of ideas on what foods to avoid to avoid dairy and how to keep enjoying food. It's a hard transition at first, for us it's been very worthwhile. It's been just over 2 years now and I expect another few years, and even then we may never consume cow's milk again, goat's milk products seem more likely. But there is a lot of tasty food out there, check out the Resources sticky for lots of threads, or just search for dairy. Almost everyone in Allergies needs to avoid dairy, it's so problematic.

[LiLStar]

i've never used palm shortening before, is it trans fats free?

[tanyalynn]

It's not hydrogenated, no trans fat. It's highly saturated because it's palm oil (not palm kernel oil), I buy Spectrum palm shortening, I think there are other brands out there but I'm not sure.

[Zenzero]

This is a fabulous vegan coconut frosting, I've used maple syrup or honey in place of the agave when i didn't have it and I used it on a chocolate cake for my Mum's birthday and everyone loved it!

HTH
Linz x

[chattyprincess]

Yeah we are in the same boat we know through testing dd is sensitive and I know by processe of elimination that I have dairy probs. I could guarentee you without a doubt that dh has dairy problems as well. Dd is 3 she nursed until 2 and was on soy milk for the last year and occasionaly from 1-2.
I feel for me personally that I don't really NEED dairy for the calcium, I take rainbowlights calcium supplment, dd takes a calcium supplement so from that standpoint the calcium need is taken care of. I buy fortified orange juice because I know we will get the calcuim from there. I am in the midst of switching dd from soy to almond milk (not hard almond milk is delish!) which I just buy 2 cartons, one sweetened one unsweetened and mix them equal parts at the moment. I cook equal parts almond milk for whatever milk in baked goods I am replacing.
Honestly from my standpoint I would start trying to replace what you use the most of, with two little ones and a dh I would bet its cheese and milk? your 2 year old would prob love almond milk and so would you. For me since alternatives to milk are more expensive I really sat down and looked at nutrition charts and found out how much calcium/dairy you SHOULD consume in a day, from that point I was able to really cut us back (we were drinking alot of milk and while it is good, its like juice and reaches a point where it was extra calories!!!)
Dairy
This food group, which includes milk and other foods like milk, yogurt, and cheese, is an important source of vitamin A, vitamin D, calcium, and protein.

Vitamin A helps build healthy eyes, skin, and hair. Vitamin D helps your child's body absorb calcium and use it for healthy bones and teeth, along with muscle and nerve functions.

For kids who get about 30 minutes of exercise each day, the USDA recommends:
2- to 3-year-olds: 2 cups
4- to 8-year-olds: 2 cups
9- to 13-year-old girls: 3 cups
9- to 13-year-old boys: 3 cups
14- to 18-year-old girls: 3 cups
14- to 18-year-old boys: 3 cup

If you weren't in canada I would reccomend trying to get dh on raw milk. Once we move from ontario back to the u.s. we will start drinking raw milk to see how it goes. According to the reasearch and whatnot raw milk generally does not bother people with a milk intolerence. (in canada it is currently illegal to sell any animal milk product that has not been pasturized) You can actually buy lactose free milk in canada so maybe start buying that for your older child and dh.
If you guys use a lot of cheese I would start trying to cut it out of your cooking. I would also switch to a raw milk cheese I cannot remember the brand name up here its la something or another and they make the chedder mozzarella etc.
Also once you start the switch (our neighbors who are dear friends have dairy probs as well) there is a chewable pill that you can take if you eat dairy products that will help negate the tummy probs from eating dairy. You will still have some probs but the will be much less! http://www.lactaid.com/
Good luck I am 3 years in and without trying really hard I finally feel like I am somewhere I want to be in terms of controlling the dairy problems. I do not rely on cheese in my cooking, I realized for the first time yesterday that I had bought a bag of shred. cheese and it had gone bad before I opened it. I was very proud to throw that out (hehe!). Oh one last thing, they do make a lactose free havarti cheese that our neighbors eat they seem not to be bothered by it but like all things the don't eat alot!
~Kate

[kjbrown92]

Two of my kids and I are milk intolerant, and raw milk didn't work for us. Apparently it works better for people with lactose intolerance (because something in the milk pre-digests the lactose for you) but not necessarily for milk intolerance.

I make coconut milk yogurt, and use it in baking, to make sour cream type dips, etc. Makes great frosting that tastes like cream cheese frosting too.

We are dairy, soy, corn, gluten free here. We've made do, though it is hard at first. Purely Decadent coconut milk ice cream is very good. We use coconut milk in a lot of things (baking, smoothies, etc.) since it's higher fat than things like rice milk. We use coconut oil to fry eggs and such, and palm shortening in baking. We do chicken bone broth and beef bone broth for calcium, plus green vegetables like spinach and broccoli, and salmon (the canned with bones has the highest calcium). We get protein and fat in lots of other places.

If you go to the Health & Healing forum, and to the Allergies subforum, and go to Resources at the top. There's a few recipes links, including my blog, with lots of recipes searchable by allergen.

Your DH may find that he feels better after giving it a month too. Tell him it's a science experiment.

[AFWife]

DS is dairy sensitive so I've been dairy free for something like 3 months now. Honestly, it's hard at first (because you'd be shocked at what actually has dairy in it...Taco Seasoning for example) but I've had some really good luck putting soy in my diet instead.

lol I wish I had some great advice or something...all I can tell you is: Stick it out for a few weeks, you'll be shocked at how good you feel.

[Jenille]

You might find this article on the top 10 best dairy-free foods helpful:

http://www.associatedcontent.com/art...g2.html?cat=22

I know you're in Canada, where Purely Decadent coconut milk ice cream is sold under the brand name So Delicious, and some of the other products mentioned in the article may not be available. But some like the cheeses, are available online at http://www.veganstore.com

If you can make it to the States to shop, So Delicious coconut milk beverages are really the best-tasting alternative to cow's milk. But I wouldn't be rule out soy products, as there is a lot of misinformation floating around about the "dangers" of consuming soy. The most well-thought-out article I've ever read on the subject is called "What About Soy?" by John Robbins. You can read the full text here: http://www.foodrevolution.org/what_about_soy.htm

Other fine alternatives to dairy milk are beverages made from rice, almonds, oats, and hemp, though each tastes quite different, and you may have to experiment to find one that everyone likes.

And be aware of dairy ingredients like whey and casein that may be present in otherwise non-dairy foods like bread and some non-dairy cheeses. If a product is labelled "vegan" it will be completely dairy free.

You'll find lots of wonderful dairy-free recipes on this site:

http://fatfreevegan.com (Don't let the name fool you. Her recipes are amazing!)

[kjbrown92]

Originally Posted by Jenille

But I wouldn't be rule out soy products, as there is a lot of misinformation floating around about the "dangers" of consuming soy. The most well-thought-out article I've ever read on the subject is called "What About Soy?" by John Robbins. You can read the full text here: http://www.foodrevolution.org/what_about_soy.htm

That may be true (though I doubt it since soy is used to make pretty strong adhesives) however there are a lot of cross reactions between dairy and soy, with intolerances (and allergies).

[rockys]

My thoughts...

I have been dairy-free with both of my kids for awhile for different reasons (one son has Autism and the other had popping issues) and we keep kosher.

I stay away from soy as much as I can.

Coconut milk products (as mentioned above) are really wonderful. They have ice cream, yogurt and milk.

I just stayed away from cheese alternatives at first. Once you have been away for awhile, you can sample some of them. The memory of real dairy won't be as fresh.

It is full of chemicals, but Duncan Hines cake mixes and brownie mixes are dairy free, as are the fluffy frostings (look for the U in an O sign, with no D next to it). Also, if you have a kosher market near you, there are other dairy alternatives that are pretty gooed.