Oh to be Dairy Free!

This first post is for one of my best friends (and bridesmaids!) Jess, who recently found out she has a possible dairy allergy. I know a lot of people who have recently been diagnosed with food allergies and find it frustrating and challenging to "give up" the foods they love. However, the key here is to remember there are other choices and ingredients to make the foods we love, while staying healthy and not at the mercy of an allergy. Today, we are fortunate to have many food alternatives for people with allergies, that makes it easy to substitute certain ingredients while still enjoying our favorite recipes! So Jess, this is for you - Happy "CREATIVE" cooking!

Dairy free products I love!

- "Tofutti's" Better than Cream Cheese (in the cream cheese section)
- "Tofutti's" Pizza Pizzaz (in the organic frozen food section)
- "Silk" Plain, Vanilla and Chocolate Soy Milk (in the milk section)
- "Rice Dream" Ice Cream bars (in the organic frozen food section)
- "Cherrybrook Kitchen" bread, cookie, and brownie mixes (in the organic baking section)
- "Amy's Kitchen" products (in the organic frozen food section -- Amy's kitchen also has a great website that allows you to put in your allergy, and generates a list of products that you can eat! http://www.amyskitchen.com/products/special_diets.php)
- "Vegenaise" (in the produce section, by the tofu)
* Cheerios, Chex, Life, and most Kashi cereals are also dairy free.

A few easy, DELICIOUSLY dairy free recipes!

Spinach Lasagna


















1⁄2 lb. lasagne noodles
2 10-oz. pkgs. frozen chopped spinach,
thawed and drained
1 lb. soft tofu
1 lb. firm tofu
1 Tbsp. sugar
1⁄4 cup plain soy milk
1⁄2 tsp. garlic powder
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
3 tsp. minced fresh basil
2 tsp. salt
4 cups dairy-free tomato sauce (examples of some dairy-free tomato sauces - Amy's Organic Pasta Sauce, Emeril's Orginal Pasta Sauce, Classico Pasta Sauces, Buitoni Fresh Pasta Sauces, Newmans Own Pasta Sauce and MY FAVORITE - Rao’s Homemade Pasta Sauce)

• Cook the lasagne noodles according to the package directions. Drain and set aside. • Preheat the oven to 350°F.• Squeeze the spinach as dry as possible and set aside. • Place the tofu, sugar, soy milk, garlic powder, lemon juice, basil, and salt in a food processor or blender and blend until smooth. Stir in the spinach. • Cover the bottom of a 9 x 13-inch baking dish with a thin layer of the tomato sauce, then a layer of noodles (using about one-third of the noodles). Follow with half of the tofu filling. Continue in the same order, using half of the remaining tomato sauce and noodles and all of the remaining tofu filling. End with the remaining noodles, covered by the remaining tomato sauce. • Bake for 25 to 30 minutes.

Blueberry Pancakes














1 cup whole-wheat flour
1 cup white flour
3 Tbsp. sugar
3 Tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp. sea salt
2 cups vanilla soy milk
3 Tbsp. canola or safflower oil
1⁄2 cup frozen blueberries
1⁄2 cup fresh blueberries

• Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl and sift together. Add the soy milk and the oil and mix until smooth. • Ladle onto a hot pancake griddle. Add the frozen blueberries. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes on each side. • Serve with the fresh blueberries.

** For more information about dairy free products or recipes, visit:
www.godairyfree.org