Dairy Free French Toast

Here's a good recipe for dairy free French Toast.  I've only made it once because it seems like there's a little learning curve to making it.  But it was really good!

View recipe here!

Tortilla Soup -- Dairy Free

Finding good soups or a taco soup that is dairy free is a big challenge.  

Here's a soup that my daughter really likes.

Tortilla Soup (or Taco Soup as my daughter calls it)

(I found this in Everyday Food by Martha Stewart)

1 Tbsp olive oil

4 garlic cloves

1 tsp chili powder

2 cans diced tomatoes

2 cans black beans

1 can chicken broth (boullion would work, too)

10 oz package frozen corn

salt and pepper to taste

1 cup crushed tortilla chips (I used some leftover taco shells)

1 Tbsp fresh lime juice.

1. In large saucepan, heat oil medium.  Cook garlic and chili powder until fragrant about 1 minute.

2. Add tomatoes with juice, beans, broth, corn and 1 cup water.  Season with salt and pepper.

3. Bring soup to boil, reduce to simmer.  Add tortilla chips and cook until softened about 2 minutes.  

4. Remove from heat and stir in lime juice.  Serve with extra tortilla chips.

**I froze this soup and it freezes really well. The tortilla chips get a little soft, but you could always freeze a portion before adding the tortilla chip. And then add tortilla chips after unthawing.**

For more great recipe ideas, check out the Grocery Cart Challenge.

Article

Here's an interesting article that discusses a new study how the toddler brain works.  It has nothing to do with being dairy-free, but it is interesting.

Why Toddlers don't do what they are told.

Meal Idea

Keeping a meal balanced is key when feeding kids (any yourself).  I try my best to offer something from every food group at each mea save the dairy of course.  I may skip a fruit for lunch or dinner if we eat a lot of fruit for snacks.  I do not like pre-packaged food for my daughter.  Mostly because I learned that most contain milk, but also because of all the preservatives.  With a dairy allergy she misses out on some of those staple "kid" foods.  Here's my variation on Spaghetti O's without meat.

Alphabet Spaghetti (that's what we call it)

1 can tomato sauce -- use only about 6 oz at a time (I freeze the rest in baby food jars)

1/4 cup alphabet pasta -- Earth's Best makes a great pasta with lots of nutrients.

1. Boil pasta.

2. Add tomato sauce.

3. Serve with vegetable and fruit.  Today she had peas and applesauce.

Vegetable Soup

This is a favorite of my daughter's and favorite of mine.  You can pack in so many veggies and using barley gets that extra protein and fiber in them.  To make the soup less messy, I crush saltine crackers to soak up the broth right before I serve it.  I also save the little bit of roast that doesn't get eaten and sometimes make it Beef Vegetable Soup. 

Vegetable Soup 

Sticking with Soy Milk

We were really hopeful with our test last week with our daughter that she might have outgrown her milk allergy.  We gave her Cool Whip and she had no reaction.  Yesterday, I mixed up an icing with milk in -- much more concentrated with milk than the Cool Whip.  We drizzled it on graham cracker and raisins.  Just as we were discussing what it would mean if she had no reaction, my husband said "look at her chin."  We looked and sure enough hives.  She normally reacts almost exactly five minutes after the first bite.  She was right on cue again.  I had a small dose of Benadryl on hand to give her and then we went on with our day.  So, we stick with the milk-free diet for now.

Support for those with food allergies

I came across a support group for families with food allergies in our state.  You may want to check out where you live to see if there is anything similar.  Seems like a great resource!

Cool Whip Test

We tested our daughter this morning with Cool Whip, which has casein in it.  She DID NOT break out into hives.  We were really happy about that.  Next weekend we're going to try ice cream again and see what happens!

Snacks

Snacks at times have been really easy to find and at times a big challenge.  Mostly because my daughter gets bored eating the same thing.  The "nutritional" rule with snacks is that there are at least two food groups included.  That limits us a little when you take out the dairy and you normally don't eat meat at snack.  Also veggies need to be cooked at softened at this age.  Our snacks are typically fruit and grain.  My daughter only drinks water or soy milk for snack.

Here are some simple snack suggestions:

• Cheerios and dried fruit, such as raisins, craisins, apricots
  
• Gerber puffs and dried fruit
  
• Saltine crackers and apples or grapes
  
• Graham crackers and bananas
  
• Banana muffins (use dairy-free margarine)
  
• Toddler trail mix
  
• Earth's best Oatmeal Cinnamon cookies
  
• Pumpkin-Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
  
• Gerber dried apples, strawberries, bananas and crackers or Cheerios
• Strawberry Smoothie with animal cookies or crackers

Sample breakfast meals

I must preface this by saying that my 19-month-old daughter can tolerate milk and eggs in baked goods.  

Here is a sample of breakfast meals that my daughter eats on a regular basis.  I rotate them, so she doesn't eat the same thing every morning.

• Cold Cereal (Chex, Rice Krispies, Cheerios) with soy milk and raisins or craisins
  
• Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal (Quaker)
  
• Pancakes with fruit or applesauce
• Eggo Whole Wheat waffles with fruit or applesauce

My daughter doesn't really like bread or toast.  We've tried English Muffins, but not lately.  

Biggest Challenge

I initially was challenged by trying to figure out how to make food that didn't contain milk, whey, cheese or any other milk-based product and still give my daughter a balanced diet.  I eventually figured it out and feel very good about the meals we eat.  

My biggest challenge now is explaining to other people that she can't have milk and all the food that has milk in them along with watching my daughter interact with other people and the anxiety I get hoping they don't have milk on their fingers.  Or worse she picks up a toy that has milk on it.  Okay, that sounds like three biggest challenges, but they all go hand-in-hand.  It is really hard to explain what she can and can't eat to other people.  I still won't order food at a restaurant for her.  I just don't trust that a knife to cut one thing might not have been used to cut butter or cheese.  I understand people who don't experience an allergy really don't know what the reaction is like or could lead to.  I also understand that unless you are forced to read labels, you really don't realize that everything has milk in it.  I would say more than 60 percent of the meals I make have a milk product in them.  So people give me recipes, I say, oh, my daughter can't have that. They are usually shocked and I have to explain again what the allergy is all about.  She also has an egg allergy, so that adds to my anxiety.  I sure do hope she outgrows it soon.  They say 90 percent of kids outgrow the milk allergy.  Until then we do our best.