Dairy-free Frozen Yogurt On the Go

Did you know that diary-free frozen yogurt exists? Yep. Yesterday, I found a place that serves it.

Sarandipity, located in the Exton mall, sells dairy-free frozen yogurt. They have a few flavors ranging from chocolate to cake batter. I got the cake batter flavor and it was delicious!!! Their toppings are great too. Some of the toppings you can get are gummy bears, candy, fruit and cookies. My cup had strawberries, frosted animal crackers and a little marshmallow. Yummy!! 

Delicious Fall Treat

Sorry I didn't post in a while. To make up for it, here's a fun treat for fall.

Pumpkin Seeds!

Ingredients: 

1/4 cup Brown Sugar

1 tablespoon Butter

Pumpkin seeds from 2 pumpkins

1/8 teaspoon Cinnamon

Steps: 

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees

2. Wash seeds until clean

3. Place in pan 

4. Add pad of butter into pan and melt

5. Mix until seeds are completely covered

6. Sprinkle brown sugar onto seeds and mix (can add more if desired)

7. Sprinkle cinnamon onto seeds and mix 

8. Bake until seeds are dark (Mix will be sticky)

9. Allow to cool and enjoy!

Happy Halloween!! 

Delicious Dessert Idea

Yum!! Here's a quick, delicious dairy-free dessert.

Ingredients:

1 piece Pound Cake
3 Strawberries
A few squeeze Chocolate Syrup*

1. Put one piece of pound cake in a bowl
2. Cut up 3 strawberries, place in bowl
3. Pour chocolate syrup over cake and berries

 *There is no milk in chocolate syrup

This is a great summertime treat.  You dig your fork into the yummy chocolatly goodness and taste the strawberries, sweet cake and of course, the syrup. It's so good.

Ice Cream Discovery

It might just be me, but I found an ice cream that I can eat without problems. When I eat Breyers brand ice cream (regular flavors, not Blasted) I'm fine. No stomach pains or gas. It might be that there's less milk in this brand of ice cream but I'm not sure. Whatever it is, it makes me very happy. This is why I feel it's always good to try different kinds of foods with lactose in it to see what your body can handle.

Taking a Chance with Generic Lactaid Pills

Up&Up Target Digestive Aid Review

So, last Friday I bought Target's Up&Up lactase pills. They were out of Lactaid, so since I didn't want to wait, I thought I'd try them. They work pretty well.  At first, I had red velvet cake and had two pills, which is what I usually have to take in order to get the full effect. I had gas at first but then I felt fine.

However, the second time I took them I thought they didn't work. I ate a chocolate chip cookie and had one pill to see if I could handle it. Again, I had a little gas and then I was fine. I guess my body had to learn that I took a pill or it's just the brand. Honestly, the Lactaid brand pills did this too, so I am not really sure why this happens. I feel it's easier and cheaper to just avoid dairy.

Yes, they are wonderful when I go somewhere and   h ave a slice of pizza with friends. That's what they're really good for. It's better to eat Lactose-free ice cream than take a pill just to eat regular ice cream with a lactase pill. This is my opinion and these pills may work differently for you since everyone's body is different.
     

Lactose-Free Yogurt

Are you craving yogurt but don't want the lactose? Here are some lactose-free yogurts you can try. Yoplait makes four lactose-free flavors (cherry, peach, strawberry and vanilla). The strawberry yogurt has a lactose enzyme in it that makes it easy to digest; it also has more calcium and vitamin D than the regular strawberry yogurt. I have tried their regular yogurt and it tastes great, so I have high hopes for the lactose-free version.

Another type of yogurt is Green Valley. This company makes yogurt and kefir (drink made with milk), which both come in a variety of flavors, such as honey, peach, blueberry, strawberry pomegranite acai and vanilla. Their honey flavor is smooth and has those good for you probiotics to help with digestion.

Stonyfiield's soy yogurt is a third type of lactose-free yogurt that isn't made of milk. Instead, it's made from soy milk. Soy milk is mixed with yogurt bacteria along with sweeteners. There are many varieties of this type of yogurt such as WholeSoy yogurt, Nogurt yourt and Silk soy yogurt.

Do you want to make your own? Here's a recipe to make it:

Ingredients:

4-cup microwave-safe glass measuring cup or bowl

1 quart lactose-free milk

Microwave oven

Candy thermometer

Freeze-dried yogurt starter (1 packet)

Small cup

Spoon

Electric yogurt maker

 

1. Pour 4 cups of lactose-free milk into a microwave-safe glass measuring cup or bowl.

2. Heat the lactose-free milk in a microwave oven. Use the microwave's high setting for about 7 minutes or until the milk reaches 180 degrees F.

3. Cool the milk to 108 to 112 degrees F. This may take one or two hours, depending on the ambient temperature in the kitchen. If you let it cool a little too much, re-warm it briefly in the microwave oven until the milk reaches the proper temperature.

4. Combine freeze-dried yogurt starter with some of the milk. Dissolve one 5g packet of yogurt starter with a small quantity of the milk in a separate cup. Use a spoon to combine them well, and then stir the combination into the larger bowl of warm milk.

5. Pour the milk and starter mixture into the incubation container of an electric yogurt maker.

6. Incubate the yogurt until it reaches the desired firmness. Do this by following the instructions provided with your yogurt maker. Incubation time will be about five to six hours. Refrigerate to stop incubation.

No Guilt Sweets (Dairy-Free and Delicious)

Quick, Dairy Free Sweets. If you want to whip up a batch of brownies or munch down on some candy, here are some of my favorite dairy free sweets.

Gummy candy is always a go-to for me when I want something sweet. Sour Patch Kids is one of these candies. Its sour taste will make you pucker after the first chew. The flavors range from orange to strawberry  and are shaped like people. They can be found in any candy aisle or in the candy section at the register. Another type of gummy candy are gummy bears and worms. These animals are chewy and taste like fruit (cherry, lime, orange). I'm not a picky person when it comes to brands of gummy bears, any type tastes good. Any type of gummy worm is great, but my favorite type of gummy worms are double flavored (half cherry, half orange) and sour.

Hard candy is also a great dairy-free candy.  Jolly Ranchers are my favorite. These hard sweet candy will sweeten your taste buds with delicious flavors like watermelon, strawberry and grape. Jolly Ranchers last a long time since you suck on them. A second type of hard candy, which is a close cousin to Jolly Ranchers, are Life Savers. These candies are shaped like a little life preserves; they can be found in fruit flavors such as pineapple, cherry and raspberry as well as mint flavors such as peppermint and spearmint.

Licorice is another great sweet to eat. It's chewy, sweet and comes in a variety of flavors (cherry, strawberry, black, chocolate, orange and lemonade).This type of candy is usually long and twisted; they can also be short, very long and some can be pulled apart. My favorite brand is Twizzlers.

Enough about candy, here are some lactose-free brownie mixes. Most of Ducan Hines's brownie mixes are dairy-free. The ones that do contain dairy are the Caramel Turtle Brownie mix, the Chocolate Marble Swirl mix, the Chocolate Peanut Butter (the ingredients lists non-fat milk in the creamer), the Dark Fudge Chunk mix, the Milk Chocolate mix, the Milk Chocolate Chunk mix