When I moved to a dairy free diet for my son late last year I felt a bit overwhelmed by the whole process. I had no idea how to fill the gap left by dairy, especially when it came to snacks. Fruit just wasn’t cutting it. Yeah it’s great for one or two snacks in the day but it simply isn’t satisfying enough to snack on all day. My little boy is quite the hungry monkey and will often eat almost an adult sized meal so I needed to find some other filling healthy snack alternatives.
The great thing about looking for dairy free recipes is that it has expanded my world when it comes to what we eat. A lot of the websites offering great dairy free options are usually promoting healthier eating in all aspects of life. My two favourites are Cut Out the Crap and The Naughty Naturopath Mum. If you like their websites then also follow their pages on Facebook. They are constantly posting great healthy eating recipes. There are even things that look naughty (like a caramel slice) that are actually made without sugar and with healthier ingredients but still taste AMAZING.
Here are a few of the favourite snacks at our place:
Homemade Snacks
I only like easy recipes. I am a busy single mummy of a very busy almost 2 year old so I don’t have time for hanging around in the kitchen. Any recipes I make are quick and easy to do. Nowadays I get my little one involved a bit or set him up on his table and chairs in the kitchen to do a fun activity with the flour and the sifter .Muffins: I like to make them as healthy as possible so I use wholemeal flour, sometimes oats and a sugar replacement.
• Dairy Free Egg Free Banana Muffins
• Dairy Free Blueberry Muffins
• Dairy Free Vege Muffins (savoury option).
Tip: Do a batch of mini muffins and send them to daycare for the freezer. That way if they are having cupcakes or something like that as a treat, then your little one has something similar to everyone else.
Pancakes: always wholemeal flour at our place. For basic ones I just add cinnamon but sometimes I also add blueberries or grated apple. Whatever is on hand. This is our basic recipe.Healthy Chocolate balls: these balls are sugar free and use raw cacao (purchased from health food stores) for the chocolate which means no sugar and no milk. The recipe is taken exactly from The Lunchbox Revolution book. It is only $10 and I highly recommend you buy it. There are so many great healthy meal and snack ideas for grown-ups and kiddies. She does loads of dairy free, gluten free and vegetarian recipes.
Store Bought Snacks
Sometimes I just don’t get time for cooking. Or my son wants biscuits at daycare like everyone else. So I needed to find a few store bought options that were dairy free and reasonably healthy.- Crackers: Premiums and Saladas are dairy free*. I like Premiums as they have snack pack boxes which makes life easy. Snack pack goes straight into the lunch box.
- Bellamy’s Organic Pinkies*: found in the baby section at Coles. No added sugar.
- Pumpkin Crunch: these are so delicious that Master S and I share them! Found in the health food aisle at Coles. Not cheap but soooo tasty and quite healthy.
- Little Bellies Animal Biscuits or Gingerbread Men*: naturally sweetened with grape juice concentrate.
- Go Natural Twisters: 100% fruit; no added sugar; no preservatives or gluten. Found in the health food aisle at Woolworths only.
*Sometimes items will be dairy free but will say they may contain traces of milk which means they are produced on machines that also produce products that contain dairy. It will depend on the sensitivity of your child’s allergy as to whether or not this is OK. Please liaise with your GP before taking the chance.
xo Rachael
Author Bio - Rachael is a sometimes blogging, always mummying, single mum of a 20 month old little boy. They live a happy seaside life in a small coastal northern NSW town in Australia. You can check out some of her other thoughts about the world at www.mummyflyingsolo.com
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