I’ve had a lot of moms ask me about alternative foods for their children, whether due to allergies or lifestyle choices. I am lactose intolerant so I have tried all types of dairy-free items and have come up with a list of my personal favorites. While on my dairy-free journey, I began trying meat alternatives and found that I like many of those more than meat. I’m not a vegetarian, but I do eat very little meat and more soy options. I have included some of my favorite meatless meat items too.
1.Veggie Slices Cheese: in block, shredded, or sliced form, its all good, melts well, and is a good alternative to regular cheese. It also is good if you are watching your calorie, fat and cholesterol intake. It has a third the fat, half the calories, and much less cholesterol.
2.Tofurella Cheese: Block form, best is the spicy hot pepper. It melts great and tastes close to regular cheese.
* soy cheese isn’t great eating plain with crackers or fruit. It’s much better melted in something.
3.Silk brand soy milk Vanilla flavor: best soy milk, but you can get the Kirkland brand at Costco 12 for $14 in the aisle in a big box and its made by silk. Much cheaper and you don’t have to refrigerate until they are opened. * doesn’t work well to make pudding! You should use Lactaid milk for pudding. It sets better.
4.Tofutti brand ice cream: Cuties are little ice cream sandwiches that have 120 calories 3-4grams of fat and are delicious. They come in many flavors: if you can find the key lime pie…get it!
5.Soy dreams ice cream in the pint is really good! It still has fat and calories, so its’ not a “free food” but it has less fat and calories than regular ice cream. It comes in many flavors, all are good.
6.Health is Wealth brand pizza rolls: made with whole wheat pocket, soy cheese and meat-less meat, they really are very delicious! I’ve only found them at Whole Foods, but Albertsons carries that brand’s other products. They have spinach and soy cheese bites, egg rolls, etc. All items I have tasted are good!
7.Amy’s Frozen Food brand: Every item is DELICIOUS! They have pizzas with wheat crust and many soy and regular cheese varieties. Not all items are dairy-free so check the label carefully. They have soy cheese macaroni, soy lasagna, indian dishes, pizza bites, …and more. Highly recommend this brand!
8.Gardenburger Brand Veggie Medley patties and Morningstar vegetable patties: they are made from vegetables and don’t try to be meat like Boca brand( I am not a fan of Boca). They taste good, can be microwaved if necessary and have very little calories and fat.
9.Morningstar and Quorn brand: Chicken-less chicken patties and nuggets. They taste just like breaded chicken, but have a lot less calories and fat. They still are made with regular breading, so they aren’t super healthy, but they are better than many other chicken patty/nugget competitors. They also can be microwaved if necessary.
10. Tofu Steak brand tofu: It’s already marinated, so you just have to drain it and cook it up. I actually love tofu in stir fry so this is perfect. The trick to cooking tofu is to thoroughly drain it. Cut the steaks in half length wise and put the pieces on a paper towel with a plate on top. It squeezes out the moisture and makes the tofu cook more firm and meat-like. Tofu also is delicious on the grill in thinner slices. Make sure to marinate all tofu. It absorbs whatever marinade you put on it….plain tofu is NOT delicious. That’s how tofu got its bad reputation!
I plan to try many of the products you mentioned above. i recently started using some of the gardein products. they are soy/plant-based meat alternatives. I found them in the produce section (near the tofu) at Fresh & Easy. They make an alternative to chicken strips that are awesome sauteed with onions & peppers to make fajitas. I’ve started using greek yogurt in place of sour cream too. so rich & creamy. great for dips, etc. too.