Jennifer Harris' Favorite Gluten, Dairy, and Soy-Free products

The holidays are quickly approaching and now is the time to review recipes and shop for ingredients.  For me, this time of year is always fun, but it does involve a lot of research since I eat gluten, soy and dairy free these days.  Dairy has always been an issue for my digestive track and one that has been a battle to give up and/or find replacements.  Soy is a new allergen for me to avoid as the increased estrogen level it causes in me is just not necessary as I get older.

A number of new products have come out lately that are making this transition easier.

Here is a list of my favorite gluten/dairy/soy free products:

Bread

• Kinnikinnick Foods - just love their pizza crusts and English muffins!
• Udi's - we are a big fan of their Multi-Grain and Bagels in our house.  We use their bread to make gluten-free stuffing along with Pamela's Products corn bread mix.

Butter Substitute

• Earth Balance - has a gluten/dairy/soy free spread that we just love.  We use it to bake and as a spread and it works quite well.  It has zero grams of trans fats and is a great source of ALA Omega-3s.  We hope they will make it into sticks very soon, so it will be easier to bake with.

Whipped Cream

• MimicCreme - has just come out with a new whipping cream called Healthy Top that is the first totally Non-Dairy, Non-Soy, and shelf-stable Whipping Cream. It is made from a healthy blend of organic Virgin Coconut Oil, Almonds, Cashews, Sweet Almond Oil and natural cane sugar.
• SoyaToo Rice Whip - is a spray rice whip cream that has both a good texture and taste and has just 10 calories per serving (6g).  It is the only soy free whip this company makes as their other whips are soy based.

Cookies

• Kinnikinnick - love their sandwich cookies and the Fudge version is my favorite.  It is also nice to know that all of their products are produced in a dairy/casein/lactose facility, so their entire product line is available to me.
• GLOW Gluten Free - their big cookies have 2 grams of fiber and protein per cookie.  The snickerdoodle and ginger are my favorite.

Cheese

• Daiya - thank goodness this brand of cheese hit the market this year, or we would be at a loss.  This is the first gluten-free cheese we have found that is gluten, dairy, and soy free and it tastes wonderful.  It melts and is stringy, so we put it in everything.
• Nutritional Yeast - is a great product to use to get that cheesy taste without the dairy/lactose/casein.  It is great on popcorn (spray with olive oil first to get it to stick) and vegetables, etc.

Chocolate Chips

• Enjoy Life - their chocolate chips are gluten/dairy/soy free and are minis.  They are great right out of the bag and work well in baked good, trail mix, etc.  They also have chocolate bars in three different varieties.

Corn Bread

• Pamela's Products - has my absolute favorite gluten-free corn bread mix.  The mix is quite easy to use and can be made with or without sugar.  We use it to make gluten-free stuffing for Thanksgiving and it works beautifully.

Macaroni and Cheese

• Amy's - just came out with a gluten/dairy/soy free macaroni and cheese made with Daiya cheddar style cheese and it tastes so rich and creamy that you don't even miss the dairy.  The entree is very high in calories, so pair some protein with it.
• Leahey Foods - makes a great cheese sauce mix that is easy to make and very rich and creamy.  One bag makes 5 - 1 cup servings.

Milk Substitute

• So Delicious Coconut Milk - we use the unsweetened version to cook with and drink.  It adds a great texture to baked goods and is very easy to work with.
• Silk Almond Milk - we don't know how they do it, but their almond milk is very creamy and slightly sweet.  It is great right out of the container or on cereal, but we don't bake with it because of its sweetness.

Parmesan

• Eat in the Raw - makes my favorite vegan parmesan called Parma.  It is made from Raw Organic Walnuts, Red Star Veg Support Nutritional Yeast, and Celtic Sea Salt.  It is a great addition to salad, pasta, pizza, baked potatoes, etc.  We always have a large bottle in the refrigerator.

Pie Crust

• Gillian's - we use their pie crust during the holidays.  It does contain butter, but that hasn't proved to be a problem for me, so we use it for both pie and quiche.
• Whole Foods - we just love their gluten-free pie crust too.  It has a great flaky texture and bakes up golden brown.  It does contain butter, but again, that isn't an issue for me, so we use it.
• I'm not aware of a pre-made gluten-free pie crust that does not contain butter.  Please let me know if you have found one without butter, as we would like to give it a try.

Article Courtesy:  Jennifer Harris