Dairy-Free Meal Ideas for Toddlers

Aden is six months into eating solid foods, and I finally feel like I've got a handle on his allergy to milk (and avocado, but that intolerance isn't as difficult to avoid). I realize he's one of the lucky ones as things could be far worse in a variety of ways, but avoiding consumption of dairy products takes diligence ... or if nothing else, it's a pain in the butt.

The transition from breast milk/formula to solid food is a bit nerve-wracking for me anyway (is he choking? just gagging? phew! ... I think) and having a child with food allergies only complicates the matter. I think back to foods Tory ate when she was Aden's age and remember her devoured yogurt, cottage cheese and mac & cheese like nobody's business. Aden has always preferred finger foods over purees, so that raises the level of difficulty in finding dairy-free foods that are easy for him to pick up and soft enough to chew and digest.

Initially, I spent some time researching dairy-free meal ideas for infants and toddlers, but many of the resources I found suggested making baby food from scratch. While it is easy to control dairy ingredients by either substituting or eliminating them in this way, I found myself spending all afternoon in the kitchen preparing special "baby food" meals for Aden only for him to try one bite and refuse to eat the rest. The more time devoted to cooking a meal, the less likely a child is to eat it: Murphy's Law, or something like that.

Anyway, over time I developed a go-to list of Aden-approved finger foods that are both quick to prepare and easy for him to consume. No mind-blowing ideas here, but I thought it'd be worth sharing for anyone else searching for dairy-free toddler meal ideas:

Breakfast
Cheerios
Mixed in applesauce or soaked in soy/rice/almond milk to soften them

Scrambled eggs made with soy milk or olive oil
I add a splash of soy milk to scrambled eggs, or simply add a little olive oil into the pan as the eggs cook

Eggs Cups 
Beat 6 eggs together with any extras (spinach, mushrooms, breakfast meat, etc.), then pour into a muffin tin and bake for 30 minutes

Banana pancakes
Mix two eggs and one banana together for an easy dairy-free pancake batter

Instant Oatmeal
I like Oat Fit Cinnamon Roll instant oatmeal, and I mix Aden's with applesauce to add some sweetness

Toast
Bimbo bread is dairy-free, and I spread Earth Balance butter and/or jelly on top


Lunch
Baked apples with raisins
Slice and peel apples, toss with cinnamon and sprinkle with raisins. Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 45-60 minutes

Canned fruits and vegetables
I prefer canned fruits and vegetables over fresh or frozen because they're softer for Aden to chew. It's the one time mushier is better! Some of his favorites are canned peas and carrots, canned green beans, canned pears, canned peaches and canned mango.

Mandarin Orange No-Sugar Added Fruit Cups

Canned chicken with mayo
Aden isn't allergic to eggs, but before I was sure I purchased Earth Balance Mayo and it was surprisingly similar to regular mayonaisse


Dinner
Diced rotisserie chicken
Baked chicken breasts are a good option, but I prefer rotisserie chicken because it stays moist when re-heated and can stretch for several meals

Pan fish
Aden is particularly obsessed with fresh pan fish (sun fish, perch, crappies) we've caught at the lake. Fry filets in a bit of olive oil - that's it!

Ditalini noodles with Earth Balance butter or marinara
I prefer Ditalini noodles because the tiny tube-shaped pasta is the perfect size for Aden's little fingers to pick up. I toss boiled noodles in a little bit of Earth Balance butter or marinara sauce.

Mashed baked potatoes
I was surprised to learn instant mashed potatoes contain dairy, so baked potatoes do the trick.

Turkey or Regular Meatloaf
Meatloaf is a good meat option for dinner that the entire family likes. It's easy to alter standard meatloaf recipes by replacing breadcrumbs (which contain dairy) with ground oats.


Snacks
Hummus
Applesauce squeeze packets
Gerber Graduate Puffs

Aden is now 13 months old, so I'm sure his personal tastes and ability to eat more complex foods will change and evolve over time. For now, these are the foods I've found to work best for him. Any other fabulous toddler meal ideas out there?

My Dairy-Free Baby

The minute I stopped breastfeeding and began feeding Aden formula, I noticed he had an allergic reaction. It was obvious given the raised, blotchy hives and redness on his face and chest and by the way he rubbed his tearful eyes. My poor baby! It broke my heart to see him that way. I didn't need a professional diagnosis to realize what was happening, but Aden's pediatrician confirmed my suspicion and recommended we switch to soy formula. Aden is allergic to the protein found in milk, but not found in breast milk or soy. And thankfully, Aden tolerates soy formula just fine and we haven't had any trouble since.

I don't know about everyone else, but the early food stages (ages 6-12 months) are the most challenging for me. Food has to be soft to chew, not stringy (like green beans can be) or have skins (like blueberries or grapes) and easy for baby to pick up, chew and digest without choking. Aden has always preferred feeding himself over eating baby food purees, so I transitioned to baby led weaning far sooner than I ever did with Tory. Some of Tory's favorite foods are yogurt, cheese and cottage cheese (basically, everything dairy!) and given Aden's sensitivity to milk, those foods are a no-go for him. It's difficult coming up with foods they'll both eat. Sometimes I feel like a short-order cook preparing separate meals for everyone.

One morning as I was making a frozen waffle for Tory, I tossed a few bites onto Aden's high chair tray for him to try. Big mistake. Within minutes, my poor baby boy began to cry and broke out in hives all over his face and chest. I dashed to the freezer to read the nutrition label on the back of the Eggo waffle box and sure enough, milk was listed as an ingredient. Gah. Maybe it should have been obvious to me, but I'd never considered it before. I realized in that moment I owe it to my children to be more diligent in reading labels and mindful about what I feed them.

Since that day two months ago, I strictly follow the "three day rule" when introducing new foods to Aden. I know, I know ... it's suppose to be the rule when introducing new foods to babies anyway, but with Tory it never seemed to matter. Now it feels like I feed Aden the same foods over and over again, but it's necessary to see if he develops a reaction. And honestly, I don't think he really cares. Avocado was one food I'd fed Aden once or twice before without issue, and suddenly at one meal he developed a rash all over.

I keep a running list of safe foods Aden can eat taped to the inside of one of our kitchen cabinets, so anyone (family members, babysitters, etc.) have a guideline to go by should there ever be a meal time I'm not there to feed him. I also included foods Aden cannot have (such as the kid-favorite Goldfish crackers, which shamefully took me a minute to realize had cheese as an ingredient).

Slowly, I'm developing a repertoire of dairy-free foods and recipes safe for Aden to eat. This week, I made healthy carrot apple muffins for Tory and Aden and they were surprisingly moist and delicious. Both kids gobbled them up and they were simple to make, too. I'm pleasantly surprised by the number of dairy-free substitutes on the market including Earth Balance butter and mayonnaise. Any other dairy-free foods or recipes out there I should try? This mama is all ears.

Mmmm ... carrot apple muffins

My new job of reading labels definitely has me thinking about the foods I feed my family. For one, it's crazy how many foods have dairy in them. (McDonalds French fries! Spaghetti-O's!) I worked in marketing for a food-service company prior to my gig as a stay-at-home-mom, so I wasn't completely naive in the importance of nutrition labeling, but I really took a blind eye to it all. Some people need to know this information, but not me. Not anymore. Now I'm *trying* to transition to more scratch-based cooking and clean eating, but it's tough! Though, it's also staggering to realize how terrible the processed foods I'm feeding my family are, and it's silly to go to all the effort of researching recipes and preparing food for Aden only to eat junk myself. Immediately I've noticed how planning ahead has helped in eating healthier. I struggle to find something for Aden to eat on the fly, so lately I've been steaming and roasting vegetables at the beginning of the week so I can quickly re-heat something for him to eat at meal times. I'm also back on the meal planning bandwagon for family breakfasts, lunches and dinners. I know from experience that if I can reference a meal plan, I eat and cook healthier. It's the 5 o'clock scramble that gets me in trouble.

I'm crossing all my fingers and toes my sensitive boy grows out of this need to eat dairy-free, but in the meantime perhaps it'll steer our entire family into a healthier direction and that can't be such a bad thing.

First Food

Baby's first food: it was all fun and games until my little guy broke out in hives.

Ugh.

Nearing Aden's half-birthday, I grew anxious to start him on solid food. Not that I was particularly excited about introducing another thing to do at meal times, but it's a big milestone for Aden and I wanted to experience it with him. Actually, I wanted our whole family celebrate the moment, so I tried my best to plan Aden's first taste of real food on a day Andi would be home from work at a reasonable time. (Easier said than done during his busiest time of the year.) I also wanted Andi to photograph Aden while I fed him so we could properly document his first! taste! of! food!

Finally one night last week I realized the stars were never going to align. I sent Andi a text to ask if he'd be okay with me feeding Aden some food that evening without him. I'd figure out how to feed him and take photographs myself.

I made dinner for Tory, then whipped together a small bowl of rice cereal for Aden with 2oz. formula mixed into the flakes. I struggled a bit going through the motions (it's been two years since I ventured down the 'first foods' road), but it all came back to me. Aden was in good spirits as he waited patiently in his high chair.

I fed Aden his first spoonful of rice cereal, then quickly grabbed my camera to capture his reaction ...

Skeptical, for sure.

Another spoonful ...

Decidedly not a fan as he spit out rice cereal as fast as I fed it to him.

Over as fast as it began. At this point, I felt a little guilty snapping photos of him crying, so I threw in the towel on Operation: First Food. Aden was not a fan of rice cereal in the least bit. In fact, he was down-right angry by the end of our two-minute feeding session.

Maybe he was tired, I thought. Perhaps dinner wasn't the best time of day to introduce something new to the routine. I wiped Aden's face and cleaned up the high chair. Aden started to rub his face into my shoulder and I said something like, "I know you're tired, buddy. I'm sorry." I glanced at him and audibly gasped as I noticed bright redness and hives had developed all over Aden's cheeks, chin and neck.

OMG.

Thankfully I had hydrocortisone cream and infant Benedryl on hand for Aden's skin irritation flare-ups. I quickly dosed him with both and the hives and redness were gone within 20 minutes. Aden seemed to feel better but I did not, however. Even though I couldn't have predicted the outcome, I still felt like a horrible mother for "inducing" unpleasantness on my child. Afterwards, I connected the dots to two recent instances when Aden's chin was red and splotchy after I fed him a formula bottle. Initially, I thought the redness was due to teething, but now my gut tells me he had an allergic reaction to the formula.

Part of me wanted to wait to try more solid foods until Aden's six month well-child visit this week, but the other part of me is sure the formula's the culprit. Since the rice cereal incident, I've fed Aden pureed sweet potatoes and bananas and neither caused a reaction. Though so far, he is not a big fan of purees and usually cries after a few minutes of "eating" them. My mama instinct is telling me to hold off on solid foods until Aden is more ready.

It's so interesting how different kids are, from first-born to second (and beyond). With Tory, experiences like "first baby food" were textbook. I fed her pureed sweet potatoes, she gobbled them up gleefully, we took a gazillion photos of her doing so ... DONE. I now see with Aden how experiences are truly based on the individual. There are so many ways my children are similar (and the more so as Aden grows), yet so many differences between the two of them. Parenting always keeps me on my toes.

Making Our Own Baby Food

Andi and I decided to try our hand in making baby food this weekend using the Beaba Babycook machine I bought a few months ago. Ideally, I'd like to make all of Tory's baby food now that she's ready for solids and everything I've read seems like it'd be easy enough to do so.

On the way home from the cabin on Sunday, we stopped at Trader Joe's to pick up some fruits and veggies to accompany this week's meals. Andi ran into the grocery store while I tackled the diaper explosion Tory created during our drive home. I swear, if I had a dollar for every time I've cleaned up poop in the backseat of my car, I'd be rich! It's an all too common occurrence these days.

Andi purchased sweet potatoes, peas, bananas and yellow squash. Once at home, he began by chopping the fruits and veggies into small cubes to steam and puree.

Have I mentioned how helpful it was to have four hands to tackle this project versus two? Weekends like this remind me how much I miss Andi when he's traveling for work. Tory's a wiggly worm these days and it takes all of my effort to keep her occupied. This would have definitely been a nap time project if I was conquering it solo.

Watching our sweet potatoes steam ...



Once the sweet potatoes, bananas and yellow squash were pureed, Andi placed 1-2 tablespoons of each into ice cube containers. Since this was our first attempt, we started small with these portions. Next time, I think the key will be to make a bunch of purees all at once. Each frozen cube lasts for up to 3 months in the freezer.

Dinner time! Tory's ready to try her very first vegetable - sweet potatoes.

I popped out one cube serving and halved it, placing the other potion in the fridge for the next feeding. Not sure how Tory would respond to her first serving of vegetables, I didn't want to waste or contaminate the entire portion. Next, I prepared rice cereal with formula and added the sweet potatoes into the same bowl. I didn't mix the two together so she'd be able to taste each one but this gave me extra formula liquid to thin out the sweet potatoes a bit more.

The verdict?

Tory loves sweet potatoes! Her reaction was pretty tame, actually. She didn't spit them out and only gave me a few shoulder shudders when she took a bite that must have hit her taste buds just right. We'll try sweet potatoes for a few more days just to ensure she has no adverse reaction to them and then we'll move onto bananas or squash next. It's hard to believe my baby girl is old enough for solid foods! As tough as it is on this mama, it's also fun to move onto the next stage in her development. Yay for Tory!

First Food

Our little Tory Bean still isn't sleeping through the night and just about everyone has an opinion as to why. It doesn't concern me much as I know she'll eventually get there, but there is a small part of me that crosses my fingers every night and *hopes* tonight's the night she surprises me. 

Two nights ago, Andi suggested we start her on rice cereal believing it'll help her sleep longer. I, on the other hand, thought we should wait until six months at the advice of our doctor. I quickly shut Andi down and let him know we WOULD NOT be going against the doctor's opinion, but later felt guilty about being such a bossypants. Tory's his daughter too, and I should at least give his suggestion some thought. 

Yesterday, I did some online research and decided we'd compromise by starting Tory on cereal at 5 1/2 months. We'd meet half-way because really, what difference would two weeks really make? Later in the day, Andi sent me a text to say he'd be home for dinner at 5:45pm which is SO EARLY for him. That never happens and I started to think it was a sign ... maybe we should give rice cereal a try. 

Tory was game; I suited her up in a bib and set her in the high chair ... 

I mixed up a super runny concoction of rice cereal and breast milk. Andi was camera-ready and I loaded up the first bite on a baby spoon. 

Tory LOVED it! She caught on so quickly and opened her mouth every time she saw the spoon in line of sight. 

I figured Tory would spit most of the cereal out, but she didn't. She eagerly ate every bite we gave her, finishing about half the serving of cereal. What a big girl!

*For the record, Tory was still up at 10pm, 12:30am, 2:30am and 5:00am the night after her first rice cereal feeding. The "it'll help her sleep through the night" advice was a bust in our household ... at least on the first night!