Please help!!! Cooking dilemma

[karolyp]

I have a really good friend who's having a very hard time cooking for her family. You see, she's lactose intolerant, but she has a 5 yo DS who is super picky and is right now stuck on noodles and cheese. So basically she has to cook 2 meals, 1 for her and 1 for DS. And this is getting old and she is getting really frustrating.

So I want to help and thought I would ask you all. Do you have any tried and true recipes that have no dairy but are good enough for her DS? I know we have some FAB cooks here that probably have some good ideas/tips for her. But nny help is GREATLY appreciated!

TIA!!!

[psophia17]

She could do a modified carbonara with no cheese in it, maybe - just toss some beaten egg with hot pasta and some cooked bacon or sausage (or other meat) and let the heat cook the egg. I've never had it without cheese, but it'd probably work for a picky DS, if you just sprinkled some cheese over part of a portion...

I'll post again if I think of anything else.

[Jo]

I used to get these things called veggie slices in the grocery store. They are like cheese and are actually pretty tasty. I think they are usually with the organic foods in the produce section. There should be all kinds of non-dairy cheese substitutes that your friend can play around with substituting in recipes, like Petra's Carbonara. The thought of a world without cheese makes me sad!

[justlearning]

I'd recommend finding different things that her DS will eat! I'm also lactose involerant (but thankfully can have a little cheese) and really don't end up ever making two different meals. Usually, we have meat, vegetables, fruit, brown rice, etc. and my son eats that. When he is being picky and doesn't what what I've made for my husband and me, then I give him easy things that don't require me cooking him a separate meal (e.g., ham pieces from a package, cottage cheese, baby carrots, yogurt, fruit, bread). On occasion, I'll make him macaroni and cheese but that's easy to make.

If her son already likes noodles, why not try starting with spaghetti or another meat-based rather than cheese-based pasta? And, for the things that do require milk when cooking (pudding, mashed potatoes, sauce, etc.), I use my lactose-free milk and that works fine.