Breastfeeding

One of the hardest parts about going dairy free and breastfeeding at the same time is the lack of dairy free convenience foods!  Seriously, as if breastfeeding a fussy baby every 2-3 hours wasn’t enough, all of a sudden you’re also forced to make your own snack food because you’re having trouble finding anything dairy free; there just isn’t enough hours in the day!  I hope this list of quick things to eat or make will help you on your way.

Dairy-free Snacks and Treats*:

•  Fresh Fruit
• Thomas Bagels (Wheat and Cinnamon Raisin for sure)
• Sara Lee Wheat Blueberry Bagels
• Jiffy Cornbread Mix
• Duncan Hines Brownies
• Martha White Muffin Mix (Chocolate Chocolate Chip, Honey Bran, Chocolate Chip for sure)
• Original Sun Chips
• Synder’s Pretzels
• Wheat Thins Tuscan Herb Flat Bread
• Regular Wheat Thins
• Earth Grain Honey Wheat Berry Bread (love this stuff)
• Natures’ Own Bread (Honey Wheat, 7-grain, Wheat)
• Marshmallows
• Graham Crackers
• Quaker Instant Maple Brown Sugar Oatmeal (our store brand doesn’t have milk either)
• Ritz Crackers
• Pop Tarts
• Nesquick Chocolate Powder (with rice milk this makes a convincing hot chocolate, but it’s less than appetizing with soy or almond milks)

* Always read the labels to ensure that these items are dairy-free. Formulas change from time to time and some companies have different ingredients depending on where the product is manufactured.

Please help me add to this list if you can!

 These are some resources that I’ve found useful in my dairy-free journey.  Feel free to e-mail me with links to other dairy free resources that you’ve found or a link to your blog with your own dairy free resource post!

Resources
Kelly Mom Hidden Dairy Handout: The most concise handout on hidden dairy out there.  Print this, go through your cabinets with it in hand, and go shopping with it in your bag.  Especially if your child is super sensitive.

Reflux Rebels: Click over on the side for information on Milk/Soy Protein Intolerance.  I had no idea that 50% of babies who react to dairy also react to Soy.  My girls react to large quantities of soy(as I found out with my homemade tofu chip dip), but handle hidden very well.

About.com Dairy Free-Cooking Group: Great recipes (though a little vegan focused) and it has a free newsletter with recipes sent to your inbox once a week.  Great dessert ideas 😀

Go Dairy Free: Articles and recipes. My personal favorite part of this site is the Dining Out section with it’s Fast Food Restaurant list.  Seriously, who would have guessed that McDonalds fries have dairy in them and that the only main dish I can eat at Chick-fil-a is the Grilled Chicken Sandwich (though I’ve heard they’ll make you grilled nuggets if you ask)


I Can’t Believe it’s Vegan: A wonderful list of everyday convenience products that are dairy free. I wish I had seen this in the first 2 weeks of the Dairy Elimination Diet!
AllRecipes: I’ve had great luck here searching for Dairy-Free or Milk-Free.  I also love that there are reviews so I can see what others thought about it. I’m sure other recipe sites are good too.  I’ll highlight some of my favorite All Recipe meals soon!

St. Francis Baby Downloadables: Scroll down for the Milk Free Foods for Nursing Mothers. A great list of quick convenience foods.

Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital: A fantastic simple run down of what you can and cannot eat.  Easy to understand.

Dairy-Free Moms is a forum group on Baby Center.  These ladies are so helpful and answer questions promptly.  Plus it’s fun to talk to other moms in the same boat!

Mom Recipe Blogs: 
The longer I’ve been dairy free, the more resources I find!  Here is a list of some dairy-free blogs, I’ve stumbled on over the past 5 months.  I’ll keep adding stuff as I find it!

dairyfreetoddler.blogspot.com/
nowheymama.blogspot.com/
avoidingmilkprotein.blogspot.com/
milkallergymom.blogspot.com/
nosoynodairy.blogspot.com/
www.foodallergymama.com/

I’ll add to this list as I find and use other dairy-free products. However, if you’re also on a Dairy-free journey and have a recommended product feel free to email me the link to your review or email me a review to add to this post. I would love for this to help others!

Milk Substitutes
Rice Dream: I’ve not personally had a drink of this product, but Nana made my pumpkin pie with it. I was quite the fan of the pumpkin pie so I highly recommend it for baking fantastic pumpkin pies 😉 Update: I did buy a half gallon of this. It’s super chalky tasting and really watery. I was not a fan.  But it made fantastic hot chocolate when mixed with Nesquik powder where Almond and Soy milks just tasted weird.

Almond Breeze: I’ve only had their refrigerated varieties but I imagine the aseptic containers contain a similar or equal high value product.
Vanilla (sweetened): This a fantastic drink product. I love the way it tastes. There is a slight almond-y taste to it and a sort of usual milk/sweet beverage aftertaste, but it is great cold in a tall glass.
Vanilla (unsweetened): I’ve been addicted to making banana and fruit or banana, chocolate syrup, and peanut butter smoothies with this product. It’s perfect for adding a creaminess to a smoothie without adding unneeded sweetness.
Original: I think this tastes just like milk on cereal, but keep in mind it’s a long time since I actually had milk on cereal… But it doesn’t have the soy bean aftertaste, so it’s got to be closer…

Silk:
Silk Almond: Well it’s better than their soy products, but it’s not as good as Almond Breeze and I think the Vanilla version is super close.
Original: Definite traditional soy bean-y aftertaste, but it’s not too bad. Store brands generally tastes the same.
Vanilla: Also has a bean-y aftertaste, but a little less than original. It will work for cereal great, if you don’t mind added sweetness, and isn’t too bad to drink either. Store brands also taste the same.
Unsweetened: Great for baking. I just made pumpkin pancakes with this and they taste great. It’s cheaper than other alternatives too.
Chocolate (full fat): My chocolate milk drinking snob of a husband will fight me for this stuff. It’s fantastic and well… addicting. Buy with caution.
Pumpkin Nog: A great seasonal treat. Soy aftertaste, but it’s really good flavored (though I’m somewhat miffed that there’s no pumpkin in it whatsoever…)
Soy Nog: Has a traditional eggnog type flavor but is missing the stick to your throat creaminess of eggnog. I wouldn’t buy this if you’re an eggnog snob lover like I am.
Chai: A really tasty chai latte tasting drink. I really, really like this and I’m a chai tea snob. It does have the bean-y aftertaste though.

Butter Replacements

Smart Balance Heart Right Light Buttery Spread: Tastes like butter, but is only good for eating on a bagel or toast (not recommended for baking). This goes on my morning Thomas Bagel (dairy free!) sometimes with a little cinnamon sugar added. So good!

Earth Balance Shortening Sticks: We made my husband’s double chocolate chip cookies with this product. They tasted the same. I’m sure a pie crust would be perfectly made with this too!

Earth Balance Vegan Sticks: I’m not going to lie: I spread this on a bagel while starving and running out the door. I gagged on it it tasted so bad.  I actually picked around in on my bagel.  That said; it does bake up into a fantastic muffin.  I can’t master cookies with it. Maybe I’ll mix it with the shortening sticks.

Ice Cream and Yogurt
Turtle Mountain Products: I’m quite a fan of Turtle Mountains Ice Creams and to top it all off I can find most of their products in normal grocery stores.

• Coconut Vanilla Bean Ice Cream is really rich and creamy and just about perfect, but you have to like coconut cause you do taste it!
• Chocolate Obsession is really good too, though you can taste that soy flavor. However, my ice cream snob husband will happily down a pint of Chocolate Obsession.
• Coconut Milk Yogurt This has less of an obvious coconut flavor than the ice cream and a good yogurt bacteria zing… but it’s not at all comparable to the taste of my beloved Publix brand yogurts. I personally don’t think it’s worth the extra money (something like $.60 a piece), but it’s not bad tasting. I can only find it at Whole Foods locally.
• So Delicious Minis Ice Cream Sandwiches These taste super soy beany to me in the ice cream content, but the chocolate brownie parts saves the whole deal. Not too bad at all but the Tofutti Cuties are better (and cheaper!).

Tofutti Cuties: My sister used to get these back in her vegetarian days. They were very tasty and you honestly couldn’t tell the difference between these and your run of the mill ice cream sandwich. In fact, I’m not sure why I haven’t looked for them locally yet… P.S. The mint chip variety is my new favorite treat now that I’ve found them locally!

Chocolate
Whole Foods Brand Vegan Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips: Not as melty as milk based chips, but the flavor is perfect for a semi-sweet. At our local store these are $2.99 a bag, which is a steal compared to a fancy chocolate bar.
Whole Foods Brand Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips: These have the same ingredients as the Vegan ones, but have the added warning that they were processed in a plant that also processes dairy. Since I don’t think the girls have an allergy, I’m not too worried about trace amounts of dairy so I started buying these. They only cost $1.99. I like keeping that extra dollar…
Bakers Chocolate Semi-Sweet Baking Squares: This is what I use to make fondues with almond milk and pudding.   Tastes like chocolate to me 🙂