Yikes! The Doctor Says No Dairy for My Daughter

If you've read Feeding the Kids, you know my take on dairy foods for children. I agree with those who claim that dairy isn't vital to survival: your children could get their calcium from beans, greens, almonds, tofu, salmon with bones, and/or calcium supplements/fortified foods. However, for kids without dairy intolerances and allergies, lower-fat dairy foods provide both calcium and protein in an easy, healthy and kid-friendly package. Also, for those people worried about pesticides and hormones in milk, organic or hormone-free milk is now widely available.
That's why, usually, my kids get three servings of dairy each day. It's the easiest and most natural way for me to insure that they get the calcium they need.

Until this week, that is. One of my kids has been feeling sick for a couple of weeks. So, the doctor told me to avoid all dairy foods for her for at least a week. She explained that dairy foods are hard to digest when you are feeling sick and eating them might not start the problems... but diary foods can keep them going. So, we stopped all dairy. Like magic, her problems cleared up. Mine, however, had just started.

It's really hard to avoid dairy foods! So many kid-foods have dairy: pasta with Parmesan cheese, pizza, pudding, pancakes...the list goes on. So, I enlisted some "expert" help from a 14 year old expert who hasn't had dairy in over a year--and her mom! Here are her top 8 suggestions if one of your kids ever has to avoid dairy foods.

1. Eat greens, canned salmon, almonds and tofu for calcium. Or try calcium supplements as recommended by the doctor. Beware of giving a child lots of calcium-enriched orange juice, though. You don't want them to fill up on juice and not want other foods.
2. Serve lean meats to add in extra protein. Skinless white poultry, extra-lean hamburgers, and pork loin are a few great choices.
3. Beans are also a great replacement for the protein and some of the calcium. Hummus, baked beans, and chili are good ways to incorporate beans.
   
4. Earth Balance brand spread makes a good replacement for butter in recipes and for toast.
5. Rice milk (plain not vanilla) works in many recipes (but see #6 below)--soy milk has a stronger flavor that many kids don't like if they aren't used to it.
6. Non-dairy baked goods, such as muffins, pancakes or quick breads, can be tricky. Substituting rice or soy milk for regular milk often results in odd textures or strange flavors. You are better off finding non-dairy recipes on the internet or in cookbooks.
   
7. Don't bother with non-dairy cheese. Most of it tastes (and I quote) "funny."
   
8. For treats, many brands of non-dairy ice cream and pudding tastes great. However, even soy and rice ice cream sometimes contains whey--so read the ingredients if you are avoiding all dairy foods!