Condiments: Friend or Foe

Ever wonder if certain condiments contain lactose? Especially those white, creamy ones? Well, we're here to help.

Mayonnaise: traces of milk

Sour cream: traces of milk

Ranch dressing: can contain buttermilk, mayonnaise and sour cream

Creamy Italian dressing: made with buttermilk or mayonnaise to add the creamy texture

Caesar dressing: contains Parmesan cheese, a safe cheese

Blue cheese dressing: blue cheese is a safe cheese; however, the dressing could contain quite a few ingredients in there that could bother the lactose-intolerant such as milk, mayonnaise, sour cream, and yogurt.

Whipped cream: contains cream - traces of lactose

Tartar sauce: contains mayonnaise

Veggie dip: usually contains mayonnaise or sour cream or both

Butternut Squash Soup

Here's a simple, healthy soup that tastes so creamy, you'd never know it was dairy free. It was originally adapted from Food Network's Giada De Laurentiis and  is a great first course to any fall or winter meal.

Ingredients:
1 Butternut Squash, peeled and cut into ~2 inch pieces (about 8 cups)
3 cups of carrots cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 onion, diced
1/2 cup of sage, chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
6 cups of chicken stock
2 Tablespoons of Smart Balance
EVOO

1)     In a stockpot, add butter, 2 tablespoons of EVOO, onion and carrots and cook over medium high heat until veggies are soft – about 5-7 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook another 30 seconds.

2)     Add the squash, chicken stock and sage. Bring to a boil and cook for about 20-30 minutes until the vegetables are soft.  Turn off heat.

3)     Use an immersion blender and blend the mixture until smooth and thick. Note: if you don’t have an immersion blender, wait until the mixture has cooled down and blend in a food processor in batches.

4) Ladle into bowls and enjoy.

Amazing App Alert: Shrimp Won tons

Raise of hands of anyone who has used the ever versatile Nasoya Won ton Wraps? Well, if you haven't, pick them up on your next trip to the grocery store - they are typically found in the produce section. They are great for any course of a meal - and in so many ways.  Today, I'm going to share my favorite - a shrimp won ton appetizer that just hits the spot...

Ingredients:
Nasoya Won ton Wraps
1 pound of raw shrimp, peeled and diced
1/2 onion, diced
1 red pepper, diced
1 hot pepper, diced (optional depending on your desire for heat)
1 cup of Veggie Mozzarella Cheese
EVOO
2 Tablespoons of Smart Balance (light or regular)
I Can't Believe It's Not Butter spray (optional)

Directions:

1) Add onions, red pepper, Smart Balance and a few turns of EVOO to a pan over medium-low heat. Cook until the onions and pepper are soft (approximately 10 minutes)

2) Add the diced shrimp to the mixture and cook until they are pink (about 2-3 minutes). 

3) Stir in cheese

4) On a greased cookie sheet (for this I like to use "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Spray) and start filling the won tons - about a a quarter to half spoon full in each and then fold the won ton over.  After you fill all the wraps (mixture should make between 25-30), spray all the won tons with I Can't Believe It's Not Butter and press down on the edges (note: if you don't have the spray, you can use a little water or melt some of the Smart Balance and use a brush).

5) Bake at 325 degrees for about 20 minutes or so, until the won tons are slightly browned and crisp.

6) Serve and enjoy!

Product Faceoff! Ice Cream Cones

Hello all! We hope you enjoyed your holiday weekend. This week we're back with more recipes and lifestyle tips. But first, here is the weekly Product Faceoff! This week I compared one of my childhood favorites. Tofutti’s dairy-free version of an ice cream cone went up against Hood’s ice cream cone (Red Sox!). It wasn’t easy picking a winner this week – see below for our findings!

Price
$5.19 – Tofutti
$3.23 - Hood
Winner of Price category: Hood is the obvious winner of the price category. Plus you get 6 cones instead of 4.

Taste
Tofutti – Chocolate cookie crunchies top delicious dairy-free vanilla cream. The cone is also lined with chocolate and there is a chunk of chocolate at the bottom of the one. There was nothing about the taste that indicated this was dairy-free. Job extremely well done, Tofutti!

Hood – This was delicious as well. The only difference is the Hood version has nuts on the top instead of chocolate crunchies.

Winner of Taste category: I preferred Tofutti. I liked the chocolate crunchies on top versus the original coating of chocolate & nuts.

Nutrition Info
Tofutti – 220 calories, 13 grams fat, 3 grams saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 135 mg sodium, 24 grams carbs, 2 grams fiber, 21 grams sugar, 2 grams protein

Hood – 220 calories, 12 grams fat, 7 grams saturated fat, 15 mg cholesterol, 75 mg sodium, 26 grams carbs, 0 grams fiber, 18 grams sugar, 4 grams protein

Winner of Nutrition info: Tofutti is the winner here since it contains some fiber, less saturated fat & no cholesterol. Calories, fat, sugar, and carbs were all pretty similar.

Accessibility
Both were from the neighborhood grocery store – most sell Tofutti dairy-free ice cream products. If you're not from New England, you may not have Hood products in your grocery store, but the Drumsticks brand is a very close substitute.

Winner of Accessibility category: It’s a tie

Texture
Tofutti – my only gripe about this brand is their sugar cone was kind of soggy. This is just my personal preference, but I like my cones.

Hood – in contrast to Tofutti, Hood’s cone managed to stay crunchy.

Winner of Texture category: In the end, I still pick Tofutti. I liked the texture of the ice cream more, as well as the toppings.

Final Results: Tofutti is the clear winner this week!

Need an app fast? Try these spinach balls

These spinach balls are an easy and quick appetizer for the holiday season.  In fact they’re so simple I keep a few boxes of spinach handy in the case of unexpected company or to use as a side with dinner.  

Ingredients:

2 – 10 ounce boxes of chopped frozen spinach

¾ cup of Veggie Parmesan Cheese Alternative

1 Tablespoon of Dijon mustard

½ Tablespoon of dried mustard

1 cup of breadcrumbs, preferably panko

4 Tablespoons of Smart Balance – light or regular

3 eggs

1)      Defrost spinach and squeeze out as much moisture as possible

2)      Mix spinach and all ingredients together.  Don’t be shy – using your (freshly washed) hands is the easiest way to do this

3)      Form mixture into golf sized balls – lay out on a baking sheet that has been thoroughly sprayed with non-stick spray.

4)      Bake for approximately 30 minutes until slightly browned, remove and serve with mustard.

Product Faceoff! Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese vs. Stop & Shop Light

I love bagels so knowing where to find some delicious cream cheese is an absolute must. Based on some not-so-great experiences with dairy-free products (Amy’s soy mac & cheese anyone?), I was a bit nervous to try this out. I ended up being pleasantly surprised. Tofutti went up against a store brand light cream cheese & here are the results!

Price
Tofutti - $2.49 (or 2 for $3 at Stop & Shop this week!), 8 oz.
S&S - $2.29 for 8 oz.

Winner of Price category: Negligible difference in price for 1, Tofutti wins for its sale prices

Taste
Tofutti – although it didn’t quite have the same taste as regular cream cheese, it was great. It was more sour compared to the S&S stuff. I think it borders on tasting more like fat-free cream cheese, although Tofutti is definitely better than that stuff!
S&S – tasting good as always!

Winner of Taste category: Overall I could barely tell the difference between the two, but I preferred the real stuff this week. S&S it is.

Nutrition Info
Tofutti – 2 tbsp serving
60 calories (45 from fat), 5 grams fat, 2 grams saturated fat, 2 grams trans fat, 120 mg sodium, 2 grams carbs, 0 grams fiber, 0 grams sugar, 1 gram protein

S&S – 2 tbsp serving
60 calories (40 from fat), 4.5 grams fat, 3 grams saturated fat, 0 grams trans fat, 15 mg cholesterol, 140 mg sodium, 2 grams carbs, 0 grams fiber, 2 grams sugar, 2 grams protein, 2% Calcium & 8% Vitamin A

Winner of Nutrition info: Sorry, have to go with S&S here based on Tofutti’s trans fats alone!

Accessibility- Both were from your neighborhood grocery store

Winner of Accessibility category: It’s a tie

Texture
Tofutti – it has a great consistency, spreads just like the original cream cheese would. I think it would make a wonderful baking ingredient as well.

S&S – I was slightly put off by the fact the light cream cheese seemed more watery than it should have been.

Winner of Texture category: Tofutti is better here.

Final Results: It’s a tie at 2.5 wins each! In the end, I loved both of them and would definitely recommend Tofutti’s Better Than Cream Cheese to all of our lactose-free readers. I am lactose-tolerant but wouldn’t have a problem happily substituting if Tofutti didn’t have 2 grams of trans fat!

Safe Cheeses

As a cheese-lover, I hate being lactose-intolerant. While only mildly so, I have my days. But put a nice cheese platter in front of me and I simply can’t resist!


Luckily for you lactose-intolerant cheese-lovers like me, there’s a solution. A
tip to remember is that the harder the cheese the less lactose in it, with many options having trace to no lactose.

Traditionally made hard cheeses and soft ripened cheeses are the most tolerable. The longer it is aged also reduces the lactose

Safe Cheeses:
Goat cheese is a soft cheese has very little whey, which is the trigger for lactose intolerance.
Cheddar (trace or none)
Emmental
Parmesean
Swiss
Brie
Blue
Feta (only if made from goat or sheep’s milk)

Softer more risky cheeses: Ricotta, Buttermilk, Cottage cheese, Mascarpone