DAIRY-FREE BABY MEAL IDEAS

One of the questions and topics I searched into extensively was baby and toddler meal ideas. Especially since my son was dairy-free. He had a cows milk protein allergy, which triggered his GERD (reflux) and so I was constantly coming up with ways of making nutrient dense meals that still met his calcium requirements and tasted delicious.

The tough part is getting food to taste good without dairy. Whats a pizza without cheese? Eggs without butter?

Luckily for my son, I’m a classically trained chef. And I happened to work at an organic cafe before moving. I worked for well over a year creating delicious, healthful recipes and many of which were vegan.

Here are my top tips for dairy-free babies and toddlers:

1. Opt for a vegan butter that contains omega fatty acids. It tastes a lot better and omega fatty acids are great for brain development.
2. Use nutritional yeast in place of cheese in most dishes. It works well for making cheesy sauces or just sprinkled over eggs and it’s loaded with nutrients as the name suggests (mainly important B vitamins and fiber)
3. Don’t use any milk other than soy milk. Soy milk is the only alternate milk that the American Academy of Pediatrics has okayed as a substitute for toddlers who can’t have dairy. As my pediatrician says, “everything else isn’t milk, it’s nut juice”
4. Make what you can from scratch in large batches and freeze.
5. Try it yourself, if you don’t like it, odds are neither will your child.

For more dairy-free meals and ideas be sure to check out my vlog.