Since we figured out that C is most likely cows milk protein intolerant, I've had to be really strict about what I eat. Although I've been mostly dairy free for at least ten years (anything more than small amounts of dairy gives me headaches and migraines), it's been quite fun trying out new alternatives, and thought I'd share some of them here with some advice for anyone else looking to go dairy free for whatever reason. Do add any suggestions in the comments and I'll update this post with them!
'Dairy free' is quite a loose term but basically I mean avoiding cows milk products (I'm always surprised how many places class eggs as dairy). However, goats and sheep's milk proteins are apparently very similar to cows, and we've found that C reacts if I've eaten them too. We've been lucky that C seems fine if I eat small amounts of soya – apparently 50% of cows milk intolerant babies also react to soya.
It's also worth knowing that lactose intolerance is different to cows milk protein intolerance, so lactose free products aren't necessarily any use in this instance.
You'd be astounded how many things have hidden dairy in them, especially prepared foods such as sauces and ready meals. Check everything! And don't just look for 'milk' – it might be listed as milk protein, whey powder, casein etc. Most products these days have allergy warnings on them, so look for that too. You might be pleasantly surprised too, my recent dairy free discoveries include Jammy Dodgers and pork pies!
The easiest way make sure you're not eating hidden dairy is to cook from scratch. It means you know exactly what's in everything you make and won't get caught out – I recently got caught by what I thought was a non dairy takeaway curry before remembering Indian food is often cooked with ghee, a clarified butter.
It does take a little more time but you can make meals in bulk and freeze them for a quick and easy meal when you're in a rush. It's not much good if you're trying to lose weight, but I try to have a ready supply of dairy free baked goods (biscuits, cakes etc) so I don't ever feel like I have to go without.
When eating out, ask about the ingredients in their dishes, explain that you can't eat dairy and request dairy free alternatives – no butter in sandwiches, burgers without the cheese, etc. Anywhere worth eating at will be more than happy to oblige, so don't go all British and be afraid to ask! We were at Bristol Zoo last week and the kitchen had shut, I asked if there was butter in the ready made sandwiches and the lady promptly went off to the kitchen to make me a fresh sandwich of my choice, without me even having to ask!
– Swap cow's milk for soy, rice, oat or almond milk. It's down to personal taste but for me, soy is fine cold but tastes horrible hot, rice again is fine and quite refreshing cold but is quite thin and watery so doesn't work well in tea/porridge etc. Oat is my current favourite, particularly for porridge or hot chocolate.
– Swap butter in sandwiches etc for olive oil based spread. It doesn't have to be a fancy 'free from' brand, but check the labels and avoid anything like 'utterly butterly' as that definitely has butter in it.
– Swap butter in cooking/baking for the type of Stork which comes in blocks rather than the tubs (although they look the same the latter has milk in). You can also use coconut oil (get tubs from the world food aisle – far cheaper than the stuff in health food shops), or for pastry use a white fat such as Trex. Some cakes can be made with sunflower or even olive oil instead of butter.
– Swap milk chocolate for dark chocolate, but make sure it's good quality dark chocolate – brands like Bourneville have milk added and proper dark chocolate tastes much better! Divine is my favourite, followed by Green and Blacks.
– Swap ice cream for sorbet (mango is really creamy naturally) or Swedish Glacé – this is soy based and tastes delicious! If you can't have soy then try freezing slices of banana then whipping it up in a food processor. Sounds odd but tastes fantastic, and you can flavour it by adding things like frozen strawberries / raspberries.
– Swap yoghurt for soy based yogurt, eg Alpro. I'm not a fan if the plain yoghurt but the vanilla one is divine with fresh fruit! Note that some of their yogurts are in the chiller at the supermarket, but they also have dairy free yogurt type deserts including chocolate ones in the 'free from' section.
– Cheese is a challenge! You can get soy based cheeses… They taste nothing like 'proper' cheese but can fill a void if you really want something.
– Swap custard/cream for oat or soy based alternatives.
– Swap 'branded' hot chocolate drinks for a 'real' hot chocolate made with cocoa powder, sugar and oat milk – also cheaper and tastes better too, a no brainer!
So there you go. Going dairy free isn't as difficult as it first might seem. You still get to eat 'nice' stuff, although yes, I do still miss cheese. But if nothing else I know we've saved tons of washing since going dairy free, as C's far less sick!
Add your suggestions in the comments and I'll update this post as we go along!