Tips for starting out dairy-free and egg-free
1. If there is a severe* allergy in your family get everything out of the house. Read every label on every can, box, container, and bottle. Give it to friends, family, or donate it to a food pantry. Keep in mind that keeping a few items can be dangerous. We chose to keep our house dairy-free because my son gets hives on contact, though it is not life-threatening. We found it to be too stressful to monitor where the smallest crumbs drop, or oily butter item touches, washing everyone's hands and face, as well as keeping items away from my older child who might spill, touch, or feed my younger allergic child. We do sneak some things in, but we keep it for when the kids are in bed.
*if there is no allergy OR an allergy is not life-threatening skip to step 2.
*if there is no allergy OR an allergy is not life-threatening skip to step 2.
2. Find alternatives for things that are common in recipes (milk, butter, cream, cream cheese, sour cream, “cream of” condensed soups) as well as things that are important to you (like chocolate chips and ice cream). Replenish your pantry, refrigerator, and freezer.
Click here to read about substitutions
Click here to read about substitutions
3. Rebuild your meal list.
A. Weed out your old recipes that focus on cheese as the main source or flavor. The reason I recommend avoiding cheese recipes, is you can substitute most dairy items (milk, butter, cream, cream cheese, sour cream) with agreeable tasty alternatives (and no one will know the difference!) but cheese is one thing that even the best fake cheeses can’t make a meal taste great if the main source of flavor is coming from the cheese in the original recipe.
B. Scour DF/Vegan websites, blogs, or Pinterest for ideas to re-build your meal lists. Vegan websites are wonderful for baking without eggs and finding recipes that do not rely soley on cheese for flavor (just add meat if you are not vegan). Vegans have the baking science down to perfection.
HERE are my favorite websites, blogs, and books
HERE are recipes
C. Concentrate on what you can have, not on what you can’t.
D. Splurge a little at first even if money is tight. Feel free to invest in some pricier “boxed” or "pre-made" items to help you get going at the beginning of your journey (ie dairy-free/egg-free waffles, pancake mixes, cookie mixes, ice cream, etc). Once you are a little more used to living dairy-free, you can make more things from scratch to save money if needed.
A. Weed out your old recipes that focus on cheese as the main source or flavor. The reason I recommend avoiding cheese recipes, is you can substitute most dairy items (milk, butter, cream, cream cheese, sour cream) with agreeable tasty alternatives (and no one will know the difference!) but cheese is one thing that even the best fake cheeses can’t make a meal taste great if the main source of flavor is coming from the cheese in the original recipe.
B. Scour DF/Vegan websites, blogs, or Pinterest for ideas to re-build your meal lists. Vegan websites are wonderful for baking without eggs and finding recipes that do not rely soley on cheese for flavor (just add meat if you are not vegan). Vegans have the baking science down to perfection.
HERE are my favorite websites, blogs, and books
HERE are recipes
C. Concentrate on what you can have, not on what you can’t.
D. Splurge a little at first even if money is tight. Feel free to invest in some pricier “boxed” or "pre-made" items to help you get going at the beginning of your journey (ie dairy-free/egg-free waffles, pancake mixes, cookie mixes, ice cream, etc). Once you are a little more used to living dairy-free, you can make more things from scratch to save money if needed.
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Other tips:
- Kosher and Vegan symbols are your new best friends. Kosher symbols will tell you if something has even come in contact with dairy (they have to, it is part of their standard). When possible, buy either Kosher OR a brand known to have strict allergen control practices. Kosher won't help with being egg-free but it is a huge help with dairy-free. Vegan symbols are great because they mean it is both dairy-free and egg-free.
- Invest in a quality thermos. A thermos is helpful for eating out (you can bring safe food for the person with allergies) as well as traveling/road trips. Stanley is a good brand. Don’t buy ‘fake’ cheap ones that lack in achieving the function of keeping food hot or cold.
- Find a few restaurants that are safe to eat at for days you are just too tired to cook. Ask restaurants for allergy information. If they don’t know what you’re talking about (“uuhh is there dairy in___?” or “I think___ would be ok, right??”), then say "thank you for your help" and LEAVE. Some places are great with information and others are not. On of our favorite places is Chipotle because #1 they change their gloves and #2 the only things with dairy are the cheese and sour cream, everything else is SAFE!