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Eating low-carb, WITHOUT dairy

116K views 92 replies 25 participants last post by  itissteve 
#1 ·
This thread is for those of us who are sensitive/allergic to dairy.

It seems that there are very few of us on this forum, so this would be a good place to share ideas and tips for dairy substitutes and other ways around our restriction.
 
#2 ·
Coconut Milke - milk and cream substitute

COCONUT MILK

Coconut milk is my mainstay as a milk and cream substitute. While it has a distinct flavor, I’ve used it for so many years now that it just seems “normal”.

I buy the cans of coconut milk, and find the Thai Kitchen brand to be the smoothest. They all taste pretty much alike. I don’t buy the coconut milk “beverage” since it’s more expensive because you’re buying a lot of water in that product – one can always water down the canned milk. It’ll keep at least a week in the refrigerator.

I reduce the carbs in the canned milk by cooling the can in the refrigerator so the fats rise to the top. Then I open the bottom of the can and pour off the liquid (which contains the carbs) and then just use the fat. I call this “coconut cream”, as it’s a lot like heavy whipping cream.

I use the “cream” in recipes calling for cream or cream cheese. I dilute the “cream” to the consistency of whole milk if that’s what’s called for in the recipe.

The coconut fat (“cream”) can be whipped just like heavy cream. Actually, it’s easier because it’s more dense. I find the leftovers of whipped coconut cream doesn’t “fall” or lose it’s bulk. It actually becomes more solidified. I have used it as a topping for desserts – made ahead of time and kept in the refrigerator – keeps for days.

There is a dried/powdered “coconut cream” – sort of like powdered milk – that is found in Asian stores and also online, that I sometimes use (carb count isn’t as low as the skimmed fat from the can) but it is handy to have when traveling and wanting to wet my low-carb cereal. The brand I have right now is Chao Thai – “Coconut Cream Powder” – but I think they’re all pretty much the same.
 
#3 ·
Meat dishes are tricky.

MEAT DISHES

This is where our no-dairy restriction makes the most impact. So many of the low-carb recipes one finds in books and on-line use a lot of cheese in them. It takes some searching to find dairy-free recipes. MCS has made some for his mother and has posted a few, as have others on this and other low-carb/diabetes forums. When I run across one, I copy it and put it in my file.

If you make one of the cheesy recipes without the cheese, it probably needs less liquid and won’t hold together – but would be full of flavor and worth a try.

Mayonnaise can be a substitute for dairy in some recipes. It is a different flavor, but delicious. I discovered this when I found a baked chicken recipe that called for it.

I have taken lunch meat (usually turkey or chicken), cut it up and sauteed it in fat (removes a lot of the water in it, and browns it up a bit). I’ll then stir in a spoonful of mayonnaise – surprisingly quite delicious.
 
#4 ·
"Creamed" sause/gravy

CREAMED GRAVY or SAUCE

Here’s where I have something that’s BETTER than using cream. I add my Cashew Cheese sauce to the meat drippings to thicken and “cream” it – adding more water usually to keep it a gravy-like consistency. A great way to make beef stroganoff, and creamed chicken. We love this at our house. Anyone who has had one of these meals at our house loves it, too. The carbs in the Chashew Cheese sauce are higher than dairy cream, but if one keeps the total under ¼ cup, it’s just fine. (It is so good one could easily eat it with a spoon.)
Cashew Cheese - non-dairy
 
#5 ·
Avocados are GREAT!

AVOCADOS

This is a very good source of fat and fiber. I don’t ever eat them plain because there are so many other ways of fixing it that I like better. But others like them plain, or spread on low-carb toast.

Simple salsa: mash the avocado with the fork, stir in a spoon of salsa and a spoon of mayonnaise (if you like) and stir. Add taco seasoning to spice it up more.

Quick dessert: mash the avocado, add flavoring (lime, raspberry – my favorites), sweetener and a spoon of mayo. Stir up good. Top with a few fresh or frozen raspberries or strawberries.

AVOCADO SMOOTHIE / MOUSSE – my latest experiment using avocado and coconut cream. Smoothie/Mousse - "now and later"
 
#7 · (Edited)
Haven't heard of coconut manna - I found their site with this product - looks VERY INTERESTING. http://nutiva.com/the-nutiva-kitchen/coconut-manna-recipes/ I like that it can be a substitute for yoghurt, which I've not been successful with. Worth giving it a try - if I do, I'll certainly post a review here.

Re: almond milk. It contains no fat, so isn't a good substitute for that reason. However, if I don't want the coconut flavor at all, then I do occasionally use it. I'm so used to the coconut flavor that it just seems like "regular" to me.
 
#9 ·
Coconut Manna

I did a Google search for "low carb with coconut manna"

Came up with some forum discussions, and A LOT OF IDEAS and recipes using this product. It seems it is the consistency of peanut butter. It's also fairly easy to make your own in a food processor. But those who bought the Nutiva one gave it rave reviews - like, "could eat the whole jar, and nearly did!" (Is that good or bad:confused: )

So, definitely, it will be on my next on-line order, or maybe there's a jar at Whole Foods - will check.
 
#10 ·
The only dairy I eat is hard cheese and I am OK with it. I never could drink milk without a reaction. I was using the SO low carb Coconut Milk for the past 4 years but our store just discontinued it. So I need to look for a new source. In the meantime I am using the Silk unsweet almond milk for 1 carb. You could try the vegan cheese in some of these recipes. My daughter is a vegan chef and uses something called Nutritional yeast in place of cheese in sauces. I've never tasted it but she raves about it. She also uses the fake cheeses. When I look at recipes online, I am always making substitutions depending on what I have on hand. Most of the time they do come out well, only once in awhile I get a disaster.
 
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#15 ·
Saturated Fat Source - when you can't eat butter

I have going from using veggetable oils to using beef tallow - rendered beef fat* - as my primary source of saturated fat.

* pork fat is called lard, beef fat is called tallow

I use tallow for frying and to add fat to any dish. I have also used it as a spread on toast, just like butter, although it's an acquired taste.

Beef tallow is probably a lot like butterfat - it comes from the same animal, afterall. When rendered pure, it has little taste, but itastes different from butter. It certainly has the same melting point. Also, it seems to have a moderately high smoke point, which is good for frying.

I also render chicken fat, and use it to "fatten" up a chicken dish, especially when fixing chicken breasts which has next to no fat content.

Beef tallow is EXCELLENT for frying CHICKEN - it really works well. Much better than oils or vegetable shortening. It gives it a great taste.

I don't eat pork bacon, but will add beef tallow to the pan when frying lean turkey bacon.

If you do eat bacon, save the excess fat for use in other dishes.
 
#18 · (Edited)
When I said tallow is a lot like butterfat, I was thinking on its physical properties as related to cooking with it.

I didn't know about the less saturated fat part, but for me, since I can't eat butter, it'll have to do.
 
#17 ·
Rendering fat

I know someone will ask - how to you render fat.

Well, most of you have been doing that all along. When you cook meat and pour off the fat - you have rendered fat. When you put the juices from cooking meat or making soup into the refrigerator so the fat will rise to the top and you can skim it off - that's rendered fat.

You could collect this fat and use it for cooking - it won't be "pure" in that there'll be meat juices in it. When I collect fat this way, I take the cold, solidified fat from the top of the liquid, break it up, and store the pieces in the freezer - and use straight from the bag.

However, a more pure form of fat is rendered by cooking just the fat with no meat so the fat is melted out of the fiberous material. You strain this through a mesh while pouring into a dish. Let it solidify in the refrigerator, break it in pieces, and keep in the refrigerator, or if a lot, put the excess in the freezer.

There are excellent tutorials on the internet to help one learn how to render fat - and some videos. Just do a search and find the way you like best.

There are two basic ways to do this
1) put the fat in water and slow boil for an hour or so. When cooled down, place the pan in the refrigerator. You can then lift the solid fat up from the water.

2) slow cook it on stovetop. You don't have to contend with the water this way.

WHERE TO GET THE FAT

I buy beef fat from Whole Foods - they charge me $1/lb. The reason is that the beef from there has not been given hormons or antibiotics. It is in the fat that the hormons will be concentrated. So for quantity tallow, I go for the better raw ingredients. That's not to say that I don't skim fat when cooking regular grocery store beef, but it is a smaller part of the whole for us.

Chicken fat: we don't like the skin on our chicken. So when I skin the thicken thighs I cut off some of the fat, and put the whole mess in a pan of water and slow boil it to render the fat. It isn't "pure" in that it hasn't been strained, but since I keep it in the freezer, this isn't a storage problem.
 
#19 ·
Okay, foxl, you got me curious.
I went online - this was the first place I looked and it had nutritional breakdown for more foods than you can think of. Also fats.

Data from: Nutrition facts, calories in food, labels, nutritional information and analysis – NutritionData.com

Comparison…
1 oz. of beef tallow / butter / coconut oil

Total fat:................. 28.0g / 15.4g / 28.0g

Saturated fat............ 13.9g / 9.6g / 24.2g
Monosaturated fat.... 11.7g / 4.5g / 1.6g
Polysunsaturated fat... 1.1g / .6g / .5g

Omega 3 fatty acids.. 168mg / 225mg / 0
Omega 6 fatty acids... 868mg / 348mg / 504mg
 
#21 ·
Coconut Manna

I have been experimenting with Coconut Manna and have come to the conclusion that this is a WONDERFUL product for the dairy-free low-carber.

Right out of the jar - not so good. BUT, mixed 50/50 with coconut oil (both products need to be room temp to mix easily) it makes a versatile spread. I now have a jar of this mixture in my cupboard to use when and how I want.

Add flavoring and sweetening - a sweet spread for crackers.

Spread out and refrigerate - cut up in squares - candy! I just made some lemon drops - small spoonfulls (I added sweetener and lemon juice).

Then using just the coconut manna alone, mixed 50/50 with something else fatty (sweetened and flavored) and you have another lovely taste treat. With peanut butter - peanutbutter fudge. With immitation cream cheese - you have "cheesecake" - top with Walden Farms fruit spread - oh, this is really good!

The manufacturer says coconut manna can be used as a yogurt substitute. I haven't yet tried it in baking, but that's to come.
 
#22 ·
Another spread - and hand lotion

For a long time now I have kept a jar of 50/50 coconut oil/olive oil in the refrigerator. It is a nice butter substitute - but is better, I think, on a hot item where it melts into it. I keep it in the refrigerator so the olive oil doesn't separate out of the mixture.

Another nice thing about this "spread" is that it's a great lotion for my hands. When in the kitchen I wash my hands often, and I can rub a little of it into my hands - and since it's all foodstuffs, there's no danger of adding chemicals into the food.
 
#27 ·
Earth Blalance Coconut Spread

I found a new dairy-free product. Earth balance organic coconut spread, made with coconut oil, palm oil, and canola oil.

The consistency is semi-hard refrigerated (harder than tub margarine, but not quite as hard as cold butter - softens quite a bit when brought to room temp).

I tried frying with it - has a much milder flavor than coconut oil by itself and didn't mask the flavor of the food I was frying with a strong coconut flavor/smell.

I have used it as a spread - sort of bland, actually. I've added a flavor and sweetened it for a sweet spread for muffins and it's good that way.

It has a fairly good balance of fats: 5g sat. fat, 4g monosaturated fat, and 1.5g polyunsat. fats. (Yes, it has PUFAs from the canola oil, but it's fairly low - one has to compromise sometimes.)

Anyway, it's a nice alternative to beef tallow for me.
 
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#92 ·
It was difficult for me when I first started but I'm adjusting very well now after two months. There are a lot of great substitutes out there and some have even been mentioned in this thread. The thing I miss the most is the heavy cream in my coffee. I have learned to like a substitute that is made with almond and coconut milk....nut pods. But its not the same. I've seen good results with my sinusitis giving up dairy so I don't want to go back.
 
#30 ·
I started dairy-free last December, when I had my stent inserted. My typical breakfast is an avocado, a minimally-processed chicken sausage (Trader Joe's spicy jalapeno is a favorite, as is Adell's green chile-and-habanero), a couple of handfuls of raw greens (Trader Joe's Southern greens blend (mustard/turnip/spinach/collard), kale, collard, or mustard, depending on what's fresh), and some coffee--sometimes with coconut oil, sometimes with unsweetened cocoa powder and some Torani's SF syrup, sometimes with coconut oil AND the cocoa and sweetener).

Lunch: often a tin of smoked sardines (less often, smoked oysters) packed in olive oil, more greens (and/or almonds or roasted pumpkin seeds) and a 1/2 oz. or an oz. of unsweetened baking chocolate). If I'm eating out: there is a French cafe in our building that serves a French tuna salad (tuna, parsley, salt, onion, olive oil) over mixed greens with a few slices of tomato and cucumber; there is a restaurant across the street that serves a spinach salad with mushroom, red onions, and bacon (which I order without croutons or poppyseed dressing, and dress with olive oil); there is a place where I'll order a couple of fried eggs and a side order of sausage; or a Cobb salad without cheese; or an omelet and sliced tomatoes (avocado and Canadian bacon is a favorite); it's also easy to find grilled salmon over a mix of lettuces, or a burger patty with a side salad.

Dinner: sometimes an omelet, if I haven't had my eggs for the day, often with turkey bacon; sometimes Trader Joe's ahi tuna steak; sometimes burger meat; sometimes steak; all over mixed lettuce greens; sometimes with sauteed Southern blend greens (which sautee very nicely with TJ's uncured bacon ends and pieces). Broccoli, asparagus, and Brussels sprouts (preferably coated with olive oil and salted, then roasted). Dessert is almost invariably homemade coconut cream ice cream (a liter of Aroy-D coconut cream from 99 Ranch Market, 3 or 4 eggs, and flavoring, mixed and poured into single-serving freezer containers).

Snacks: I keep pork rinds in the cupboard; also a variety of Trader Joe's nuts (Brazil nuts, almonds, walnuts), unsweetened baking chocolate, 85%-cacao dark chocolate. A few slices of pepperoni or salami work nicely as well.
 
#32 ·
Last July, I started feeling some discomfort in my chest when I reached the 18th or 19th floor of my 24-floor daily climb. And I could only ride my bike 10 minutes or so without feeling discomfort. Went in September for a stress test, which didn't show anything. Went back a month later for a stress + echocardiogram. Showed that my heart wasn't getting enough oxygen. Went in for an angiogram in December; they found a 90% blockage in one of my coronary arteries and put in a stent. Now I'm back to riding my bike and climbing stairs. (Different building, though--now I walk up 13 and down 21.)
 
G
#35 ·
Ok, there have been some pages here so I can't go through every post so apologize if I just repeat something but I agree on what I read about avocados. They're amazingly healthy and good for you and you can do fun stuff. Love that recipe with rasberries and stuff. I do kind of the same but just avocado, rasberry and stevia as sweetener if you want as a sorbet ice cream. The rasberries has to be frozen first of course.

I also want to add that I almost never eat dairies even though I have no problem with it, just because I feel more healthy skipping it, except maybe for an egg here and there for breakfast.

I drink a lot of green smoothies.
A typical one would be:
2-3 pieces of broccoli
5cm(sorry I'm Swedish) of cucumber in pieces
handful of lettuce and spinach
1 avocado
juice from 1/2 lemon
1/2 teaspoon of spirulina(optional)
1 banana
1/4 apple with some seeds and nuts of your choice with coconut flakes(natural organic.. no sweets or sugar or weird stuff added to them).
Then add water of your liking but I have probably 2 cups of water at least so I get 2 big glasses of smoothies out of this.

This is a pretty low-carb smoothie even though the fruits are there due to a lot of more vegetables that will keep the blood sugar in control and your health on top. At least for me :)
 
#36 ·
I could do this if I left out the banana...I could probably do the 1/4 apple and not have a spike...my meter just won't let me have banana. But, then I don't take med of any kind...you've not told us how you manage...are you on any med and what is your Fasting number and how is your A1C?

Thanks for the recipe,
 
G
#37 ·
Yeah, the best part about recipes is that you can change them ;) The avocado do most of the job of making it awesome in my opinion! Well, here's the thing. Im type 1 but when I eat alkaline food with fat and protein and keep the carbs to a minimum, and exercise good and have a proper lifestyle, I do not need any medication. But if I don't, I will have to take insulin shots but still very sensitive and don't need much of it.

My fasting number is different everyday of course but always good and my A1C(HbA1c in Sweden for some reason...) I have no idea since I haven't been to a doctor in a year since I don't need to :)
 
#38 ·
coconut milk yoghurt

I revisited the "So Delicious" coconut milk yoghurt. I mixed in coconut cream* - about 1:1 (sort of what you'all who eat dairy do by adding HWC to Greek Yoghurt.)

I liked the result - I did need to flavor it and add a little sweetener. I divide the mixture in thirds and have one of these with breakfast. I checked my BG and this "diluted" version of the yoghurt doesn't give my BG a rise. Nice to have a "new" food.
-------
* what I call coconut "cream" is this... I take a can of coconut milk and set it in the refrigerator - the fatty part rises to the top and gets thick from the cold. I open the bottom of the can and pour off the liquid (which contains a lot of the carbs) and save the "cream".

---------

I had some Walden Farms Strawberry Spread. As anyone knows who has bought this so-called "spread" it is not very spreadable. However, I put a spoonfull on a plate and "chopped" it up using the side of the spoon. Then slid these little pieces into the yoghurt - sort of like little bits of strawberry. It was really good this way. I have some apricot spread, also, and am looking forward to trying this "fruit", too.
 
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