Eating out, a starting guide

Eating out can be tricky. It's certainly not like you can just pick up a menu and skim the ingredients to know what is safe. Thanks to the internet, it's easier than ever to find out where you can and cannot find dairy free (or other allergen) foods. I usually google the restaurant, look for the "food" or "nutrition" link on the site. Then somewhere on there is usually an allergen list if they are a super awesome place that provides that list. Sometimes a quick email to them will get you an allergen list via email. Sometimes they just won't oblige *cough cough* Texas Roadhouse ahem Margaritas *cough cough*. I just save those places for "girls night out"!


Sometimes you might think it's safe to order a steak or a burger of some sort, but those can be cooked in butter most times. Buns are usually grilled in butter. Some fries can have a coating that contains dairy. Some places, we just don't even bother... like breakfast places. Those are packed with buttered griddles, milk laden pancakes and waffles, and lord knows what else. If you must go, ask for poached eggs, fruit, and see if they bake their bacon in the oven instead of on the griddle, and you will probably be safe. Breakfast places are just something we don't even bother to do.

I've never had any issue with Chinese food. Crab rangoon is for sure filled with cream cheese, and perhaps there are some fancy dishes that might contain some type of dairy at the REALLLY high end restaurants, BUT the basic chinese food according to Jane Zukin is dairy free.

Now, I would like to introduce you to Burton's Grill... we just got one in our mall and I'm itching to get over there. Walked by it yesterday and got a little teary eyed.

Burtons Grill.... If you are in the area of the listed states, then get your bottom over to Burtons! They will adjust all their foods to remove any and all allergens you may need them too. They also have super a strict gluten policy and prepare gluten free food so there is NO cross contamination. They are a little pricey, but when you have a child or yourself with multiple food allergies, you are probably willing to pay more. I know I am!

Burton's Locations:

MASSACHUSETTS

Hingham

North Andover

Boston

Peabody

CONNECTICUT

South Windsor

VIRGINIA

Virginia Beach

NEW HAMPSHIRE

Nashua

So I've had some pretty good success with our local chain restaurants. Small, family owned places, not so much. If your child isn't super duper sensitive, you could always chance french fries are safe or ask if there is milk, butter, or cheese in the pizza dough and sauce and just order a cheeseless pizza. A movie theater/restaurant near me now lists their allergens online, but years ago they would just cut out the ingredients from their packages and bring them to me for checking. Asking for assistance doesn't ever hurt, and now more than ever restaurants are aware of food allergies and REALLY willing to work with you. I'm guessing that they don't like law suits.

Here's a list of links that go directly to the allergen guides of the listed restaurants of restaurants near me (New England) and Sonic, which we don't have. This list is current as of September 25, 2011 and assembled for your convenience for locating dairy free options and should all open in a new window:

McDonalds
Burger King scroll past all the grids to the ingredients.
Wendy's
Smoky Bones You have to email them and they will send you the allergen lists.
Chili's changes monthly
Applebees
Friendly's
Chic-Fil-A
Sonic
Taco Bell
Domino's Pizza
Pizza Hut
Papa Ginos
Papa Johns
99 Restaurant
Kentucky Fried Chicken
Dunkin Donuts list filtered down to everything without milk.
Krispie Kreme They state that you need to call 1-800-4KRISPY



Texas Roadhouse Now, don't get me wrong, I love the Roadhouse. (Don't even go near the place if you are allergic to peanuts though.) My only gripe is that they refuse to tell me what's in their food. I've included them here so you can perhaps contact your local TR and see what they can do to help you. Corporate told me to check with the individual store managers because ingredients can change from store to store. Good Luck!

Go Dairy Free... is like the mother load of dairy free info. I could never compile all they have, but their site is like information overload for me sometimes. They do keep a pretty comprehensive list of restaurant foods that are dairy free. http://www.godairyfree.org/Table/Dining-Out/

There is also Allergy Eats and Veer.com both great tools for finding safe foods.

I wish you luck, and if you have any restaurants to add to the list, please let me know. I have also put the list on the Links page.

Coconut oil. Amazing stuff!

My Coconut Oil Excitement!

I'm just going to gush about coconut oil for a minute. As a person that is always on a diet, it seems that I would avoid oil at all costs, right? I did until I discovered all the benefits of coconut oil.

I have have a jar in my house for a while now. I used it a few times to attack my winter dandruff, and made some brownies with it once. That was the extent of it until I ventured onto Pinterest.

I read more about the benefits of coconut oil and apparently it's loaded with lauric acid...

"The human body converts lauric acid into monolaurin which is claimed to help in dealing with viruses and bacteria causing diseases such as herpes, influenza, cytomegalovirus, and even HIV. It helps in fighting harmful bacteria such as listeria monocytogenes and heliobacter pylori, and harmful protozoa such as giardia lamblia. As a result of these various health benefits of coconut oil, though its exact mechanism of action was unknown, it has been extensively used in Ayurveda, the traditional Indian medicinal system. The Coconut Research Center has compiled various references on scientific research done on coconut oil." ~ OrganicFacts.net

The photos over on Pinterest are just so adorable that I couldn't help but do a little thing I like to call "Pin Travelling" that's when I follow the links of the pins I find to the originating sites and read all about the wonderful things people are pinning.

Photo by Crunchy Betty

This super adorable photo from Crunchy Betty really caught my eye. I mean, how could it not?

She lists all kinds of uses for coconut oil from eating it to putting it on your feet!! She seriously combed the web and devised a list that just amazes me.

I posted to my facebook profile about it with this caption on the photo of my jugs of oil:

The small one is expeller pressed and refined. It's got no flavor or smell and is good for plain old frying and baking if you don't want the flavor of coconuts. The big one is just extra virgin and has a very mild coconut smell and flavor also perfect for baking, not so much for frying as it's meant for low to medium heat.

Other uses:
Chapstick
Hair conditioner (put it in, let it set, wash it out)
Mix 2 parts sugar to 1 part oil for a sugar scrub
Spread it on toast or muffins
Body lotion for pre shower
Melt 2 tbls oil with 8 oz chocolate for magic shell on ice cream
Frizz Tamer on dry hair
Dandruff treatment
Cures athlete's foot
Shaving lotion (legs not face)
Mix with baking soda for toothpaste
As antibiotic ointment
As goo gone
Eczema treatment
It kills internal candida

And for WEIGHT LOSS!! just eat it. 3 tablespoons a day on food, in your coffee, where ever. Just eat it up. Yum yum.

oh, and a million other things. google it. really.


It really is a miracle product. So you may be wondering what this has to do with eating dairy free, well I will tell you... Most recipes call for butter. Ask Paula Dean, and she'll tell you how important butter is in baking and cooking. Well, Paula, it's not important if you can't eat it!

I'm going to refer back to my Pinterest food board. There are a bunch of things on there that are made with coconut oil. People have been using it to fry food and using it instead of butter in baked goods. It's a semi-solid oil that is non-hydrogenated and it melts at 74 degrees Fahrenheit (so don't leave the container you store it in in the bathroom lay on it's side if the top is loose. Really, just take my word for it.)

Photo by AnotherLunch.com

So I will be baking and frying with this wonderful oil. I also started putting 1 tablespoon of virgin coconut oil in a large pot with 3 tablespoons of popcorn kernels, and popping my popcorn like that. It's SOOOO tasty!! Don't forget the to put a lid on it before heating it!

You could even try this granola with coconut oil instead of canola oil. I just bought all the ingredients I need for homemade granola, so I will let you know how it comes out!

Do I like it or do I hate it?

Over the years I have tried to help people both online and off. One of the things that I run into (more offline than on) is that people think I just don't like milk and don't want any kids to drink it because I "think" it's bad.

Well, truth is I don't really like it. I used to drink about 4-6 glasses of it a day prior to researching it. I suffered from lots of colds and migraines as a child. When I stopped drinking it the headaches became very far a few between and the phlegm buildup I had cleared.

When I see children drinking a glass of milk, I gag. I know too much. I try not to push it on this site that I don't think it's healthy....

I have a confession to make though. I'm a cheese addict. Like BIG TIME! Always have been. I also use cream in my coffee. I eat ice cream when I'm calorie splurging and not with my family. In my house though I don't cook with cheese (unless it's just for me) I don't use or buy milk, butter, or ice cream. I never ate yogurt or bought it until recently, I'm hardcore dieting and have been eating yogurt... or more like choking it down, only because it's filling and low in fat and calories.

Lots of times people panic when they find out they have to stop using dairy products. I know because I was there. When you can and do eat them, they are so intertwined in your everyday life that it's hard to imagine life without. It's really hard to switch and make changes.... at first. Reading labels is hard when you suddenly have to do it and never needed to before. It's not so hard when you know exactly what to look for, and now with the new labeling (new as in a few years old, but not around when my guy was little) it's actually pretty easy.

Eventually you will zoom right past the dairy case and not think twice. You will chuckle when people are scared to give your child eggs because they think it's dairy. I don't know about you, but I never saw a cow lay an egg! You will get used to it. You might start thinking the milk is gross like I do. You might not. You may find that you really do like almond milk on your cereal and rice milk in your pancake mix. Mostly though, you will see how healthy your kids are and will think "Hey, this isn't so bad."

When I started this website in 1999, the internet was kind of new. There wasn't a lot of help or information back then. Now though, you can find just about anything. Thank you for finding the time to come here. I hope that I have been a help and can continue to be a help. I will be updating all the pages on this site because I wrote most of them years ago and they need some updating.

I love your comments and emails too. So keep them coming!

Love,
A cheese addict with two milk allergic kids and a lactose intolerant husband who maintains a site to help others with taking dairy out of their lives. :) (but you can call me Andrea)

Milk Free Kids Has a New Look!

Well, now that blogger offers "pages" I decided to redo this site to include an actual blog and make the other pages static.

Hope you like the new look, and hopefully I can start posting helpful topics and links for everyone.