After receiving a Cows Milk Protein Allergy diagnosis for my baby, as I was breastfeeding, this meant no more dairy foods for me. No cheese, chocolate, butter, cream, cake – basically anything traditionally made with dairy products, which was really daunting for a cheese fiend like me.
Of course, you can buy substitutes for these things, and the market is better than ever with the increasingly popular vegan lifestyle trend. However, I haven’t found any cheese substitute that I like – and I’ve tried everything from Shoreditch boutique ‘cheese’ to the plastic stuff in the supermarkets. Let me know in the comments if you can recommend any!
[Note: Every allergy is different. I’ve given myself a dairy intolerance by cutting out dairy for so long while breastfeeding. If you are breastfeeding some babies react to soy products, or egg, so you’ll have to find what works for you both, but here are my favourite ten treats that have worked for us…]1 Ben & Jerrys Non-Dairy ice cream
Yes! You can get pint tubs of cookie dough, chocolate fudge brownie and salted caramel brownie flavours, readily available in the UK in Sainsbury’s. There are a couple of other flavours, too – check out the Ben & Jerry’s website for news of those.
2 Oat milk
Not so much a treat, as an essential, I’d say, but I definitely prefer the taste of the Barista options but a few brands over others. It makes coffee nice and creamy. I won’t be going back to cow’s milk, which now makes me feel sick!
3 Sainsbury’s ‘Free From’ chocolate brownies
I’ve tried a lot of brownies, and so many have been dry when made without milk, but these ones from Sainsbury’s ‘free from’ range are nice and fudgy, with a generous amount of chocolate chips.
4 Tesco Angel ‘Free From’ slices
These taste like the best kind of cake I used to enjoy at grandma’s house – comfort food! Soft sponge and sweet icing.
These are a bit divisive, but I like NOMO bars, especially the caramel ones. You can buy at supermarkets for about 90p per bar, but I have linked to the website where you can buy them in bulk.
6 Pret A Manger dark chocolate and almond granola
This is not only good as a non-dairy meal, but it is the best cereal I have ever tasted. Second to none. it is chocolately without being overly sweet. I go to bed dreaming of it! It is often out of stock in my local Pret, but I have linked to Waitrose as that is the cheapest place I have found it (though you have to spend £40 on a shop for delivery).
As a different alternative to breakfast, or a pudding, I like the Oatly Greek style ‘Oatgurt’. There are other flavours too, but I like this one with blueberries, honey and cashew nuts.
