Dairy Free Smoothie: Pina Colada edition
This Dairy Free Smoothie, loosely based on a Pina Colada is super creamy but healthy at the same time! Double win 🙂
- 1 banana
- 1 cup chopped pineapple
- 1/2 cup ice
- 1 1/2 cups coconut milk (I use Little Island coconut drinking milk)
- 3 heaped Tablespoons coconut yoghurt
- Blend all together really well and serve with slices of pineapple and strawberry
Yesterday was day 3 of crazy hot weather and we were just melting! So this super refreshing dairy free smoothie was a big hit with my daughter!
Raspberry cheesecake: dairy, egg and nut free with gluten free option
Cheesecake would have to be one of things I miss most! And any time I have stupidly strayed from my no-dairy stance, cheesecake is generally my weapon of choice. Which I always end up regretting in a fairly major way 🙁 I have tried to make allergy-friendly versions before, the most successful probably being when I could get soy cream cheese easily, but I can’t find it anymore…and honestly, the texture was always a bit weird. Anyway, I thought I would have a play around with using tofu as the base, expecting the texture to be quite strange and need a fair bit of trial and error. But I was super impressed, it is completely smooth and creamy and most importantly, yummy! My Mum who is an avid dairy-consumer and very honest critic thought it was delicious too! Double win 🙂 It has a very faint taste of soy but definitely not a strong one. It also has quite a ‘cheesecakey’ taste which I know all the ‘cheesecake missers’ will really appreciate!
Dairy free caramel slice: chewy dairy and egg free chocolate caramel slice
Dairy free caramel slice, which also happens to be egg free is the perfect answer to chocolate and sugar cravings….it’s not healthy, but it’s allergy friendly and incredibly delicious!
Probably the one thing I really love is chocolate caramel slice and until I found coconut condensed milk recently I had shelved it into that list at the back of my mind..the “things you miss most about dairy list”. Then someone told me it wasn’t possible to do it with coconut condensed milk…and I just love a challenge haha. A few words of warning: 1.if you have my level of self-control, you will eat the entire lot in 2 days. 2. It isn’t like a traditional caramel slice: think much oozier and chewier…but in my mind that’s a good thing! 3. There is nothing healthy about this and I am completely unapologetic about that fact because it tastes and looks sensational.
Easy-as-pie 15 minute Lolly Slice
I’ve had quite a few people lately asking for an allergy-friendly version of this New Zealand birthday party staple..so here it is! It is not rocket science at all, so long as you can source (or make, obviously) some dairy/egg free malt type biscuits and some coconut condensed milk. Don’t panic if you can’t do that! Other options for the condensed milk are buying soy/rice/coconut milk powder and making your own. I have used this condensed milk recipe before using Alfa lite powder, which most of my household can tolerate, but I’ve seen soy and coconut milk powders recently that would also work just fine. For the biscuits, I used Budget Malt biscuits which are egg and dairy free..but i have made them before by using a egg and dairy free shortbread biscuit mix with a bit of malt extract added to the dough. Enjoy!
- 2 packets allergy friendly malt biscuits
- 1 cup desiccated coconut + extra for rolling
- 150 g melted dairy free margarine (I use Sunrise)
- 1 400g can coconut condensed milk
- 1 packet eskimo lollies (or fruit puffs), each cut into 5 slices
- Melt the condensed milk and margarine together. Place the biscuits in a food processor and blitz until completely crumbled up.. If you don't have a food processor, place them in a plastic bag, then put that inside another plastic bag (especially if you are letting kids do this haha, you will thank me later!), and press firmly with a rolling pin. Add the coconut and melted margarine and condensed milk and blitz until completely incorporated. It should have come together as one big mass. If it is still really crumbly, add some more melted margarine. You have 2 choices now: press into a tin and make a slice (faster), and sprinkling coconut on the top...or placing in two long pieces of baking paper and rolling tightly into 2 long logs. Place in the refrigerator for 10 minutes then roll in coconut. Slice when cool.
- This makes quite a lot, but you can easily do half the recipe.
Valentine’s Day Heart Cookies
I had plans to do something really amazing for Valentine’s Day for my beautiful girls….but an earthquake messed up my plans…(true story!), but anyway I think these Valentine’s Day Heart Cookies we ended up throwing together are pretty cute anyway 🙂 Best thing: they are dairy and egg free and the ones at the back are gluten free too.
I ended up making the base for the gf cookies in a round about sort of way as I had a chocolate coconut crumb leftover from my pannacotta dish a while ago, so I just made it into a sort of cheesecake crumb base, but you could easily just mould the crumb into biscuits to start with before baking to save a whole lot of work….
Lunchbox ideas for families with allergies: 2 weeks of inspiration
Coming up with lunchbox ideas is hard enough without allergies…but factor in allergies and it suddenly becomes a daunting task. I’m hoping this 2 week inspiration of lunchbox ideas will help!
Finding nutritious items for school lunches day after day is hard enough as it is, but add allergies into the picture and it’s a hard slog sometimes…..so hoping this 2 week lunch box inspiration might help! I absolutely love the feeling I get when I know I’ve sent my girl off to school with a tummy full of a healthy breakfast and a nutritious, interesting and colourful lunch…and I know I definitely have a happier girl home in the afternoon for it:)
10 minute dairy and egg free pasta salad: a school lunch box sandwich alternative
- 3/4 cup dried pasta
- 4 pieces venison sausage, sliced
- 4 asparagus spears, cut into small lengths
- 6 green beans, sliced
- chopped Cos lettuce
- 1/2 zucchini, green part grated
- 1/4 teaspoon dijon mustard
- 1/4 teaspoon honey
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- sea salt and pepper to taste
- Place a pot of salted water on to boil and start chopping the vegetables while it comes to the boil. Add the pasta and cook until tender. While it is cooking, prepare the dressing by melting the honey and adding to all the dressing ingredients. Shake well in a jar. Approximately 2 minutes before the end of cooking time, add the asparagus and beans to the pot. Once pasta and veges are cooked, strain well then run cold water over to cool completely. Add the remaining ingredients and toss with the dressing (or serve the dressing separately like I do).
About me
Photo by Carolyn Jenson www.cjensonimages.com
Funwithallergies is a blog where I hope to show that having children with allergies doesn't mean food and life has to be boring! I'm Malena, solo Mum to 3 beautiful girls with varying levels of allergies. I have anaphylaxis to spinach as well as a serious dairy and beef allergy, plus I was a chef and pastry chef for more than 10 years prior to having children so I feel I have a lot to offer!
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