Dairy Free Menu Ideas

About a month ago we found out our little Gretta is pasteurized-dairy intolerant.  So I've been working on a dairy-free diet.  It is going much better than I expected.  I thought I would share some of the meals we've found that work for us.

Breakfast

• 7-grain hot cereal (Bob's Red Mill is what we like), I will add cocoa powder, some sweetener (either turbinado sugar or honey), and rice milk, mmmm...it tastes like hot chocolate
• oatmeal with blueberries
• granola and rice milk
• pancakes with sausage
• pancake sandwiches (pb & honey)
• omelets & toast (great way to sneak some vegies in with breakfast)
• poached egg on toast with avocado
• smoothies (spinach, frozen berries, oj, rice milk, spirulina, fish oil & ginger)

Lunches

• tuna in a whole wheat pita pocket with lettuce and cut up vegies
• cooked chicken strips on a whole wheat wrap with salad & homemade dressing, cut up vegies on the side
• soup (alphabet, minestrone or cream of vegie), toast and salad
• peanut butter banana panini
• bean burritos (pinto or black beans, salsa, taco seasoning & spinach) on a whole wheat wrap
• breakfast burritos (eggs and salsa in a whole wheat wrap)
• fried egg sandwiches
• scrambles eggs, cut up vegies and toast

Dinners

• Teriyaki stir fry and brown rice
• vegetable & meat curry over rice
• black beans & rice
• quiche
• pizza pasta (sauteed vegies, chicken sausage & spaghetti sauce over whole wheat penne & then baked)
• roast chicken & vegetables
• roast beef & vegetables
• stew
• chicken legs & baked potatoes w/ salad and cooked vegie
• tacos (minus the cheese and sour cream!)
• teriyaki salmon, roasted sweet potatoes, salad and cooked vegie
• fried rice
• venison burgers with roasted mushrooms, potatoes, salad and a vegie

Snacks

• dried fruit & nuts
• fruit
• chips & salsa
• pb & apples
• pita chips, vegetable and hummus
• vegie straws
• cashew nut clusters from Costco

My goal is to get as many nutrients in our family simply.  As our family grows, I am finding my time is less and less available to cook.  These are all pretty simple items that use many of the same ingredients so I don't have to stock a pantry and freezer with too many different items.  Here are some surprisingly great items that we've tried lately.

• Earth Balance butter substitute, it tastes just as good as butter to me!
• Spike seasoning, we've been flavoring our meat with this
• The Griddler by Cuisinart, we do burgers, salmon, sandwiches, pancakes and so much more on this
• Vegie Straws from Costco, these taste like chips without the bad stuff (they're still not great for us so there treats)
• Rice Milk - Pete and I have been enjoying coffee drinks in the morning and this takes the place of milk without a flavor concession
• Cashew Nut Clusters from Costco, these are so nummy!  A great treat if you like nuts & sweets
• Chicken sausage, there are so many different flavors, we like spicy for black beans, italian for pasta and garlic for our quiche.  Costco has some but, Trader Joe's has the greatest variety.
• Indian food.  Pete and I recently went to an Indian restaurant.  It was fabulous and had so many great flavors.  I have been trying to incorporate curry, turmeric and coconut milk into more of our cooking.  It's a fun way to liven up some of our dishes.
• Sprouted bread from Trader Joe's