Inexpensive, EASY dairy-free recipes?

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kaika_dragon
kaika_dragon Posts: 101 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Help!
I'm struggling to find healthy recipes that actually work for my life... I am autistic, and also have a pretty busy schedule, which means that I tend to have minimal energy left over for meal planning and cooking. Also, my job pays minimum wage, so I don't have a ton of excess income. I'm very much in need of easy, relatively cheap meals which are tasty and satisfying, so I don't end up eating popsicles and toast for dinner because I can't deal with meal planning/cooking.

Two things which get in the way of this? I have a mild but noticeable dairy allergy, so I cannot eat milk, cheese, or anything like that. Also, I like sweet things, but most artificial sweeteners taste really awful to me, and often make me queasy. My daily calorie goal is about 2,000, and I often get extra from sports, so it isn't that I have to go really low on the calorie content! It's just a matter of not knowing what to cook. I get frustrated a lot, because I look through cookbooks and recipe websites, and every good-looking recipe has about twenty different ingredients, or requires three mixing bowls and every measuring cup in my kitchen. And I can manage cooking maybe one recipe like that a week, on a good week... I have decent cooking skills, but the time/energy/organization/cleanup is REALLY a problem for me.

Usually I am fine for breakfast, just because I tend to eat the same thing every day. It's dinner and packed lunches where I struggle. I often take leftovers for lunch, so if I'm good on cooking for the week, I'm fine... and if I'm not, I got nothing. Healthy snack recipes which keep for a while would also be awesome.

In summary... please, PLEASE point me to any healthy, cheap, and simple recipes you enjoy, which don't involve milk or artificial sweeteners. Or websites you like to go to for recipes like that! I go on Budget Bytes a lot, but that's about the only one I've got.

Thank you all so much in advance! Sorry if that was really long winded - I'm just frustrated! I'm eating tamales (and frozen veggies) for dinner every night this week because I couldn't deal with meal planning, shopping, and cooking.

Replies

  • kaika_dragon
    kaika_dragon Posts: 101 Member
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    Aaaand I just realized I probably should have posted this in "recipes" instead, so I'm going to repost it there. Sorry!
  • tracybear86
    tracybear86 Posts: 163 Member
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    Try Minimalist Baker. Most of her recipes are vegan but you could add meat if you wanted. A large number of her recipes are 10 ingredients or less and 30 minutes or less to make. You could also look at slow cooker recipes maybe? A lot of those consist of just dumping a bunch of stuff in the slow cooker and turning it on for a period of time.

    https://minimalistbaker.com/
  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,464 Member
    edited September 2019
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    I agree that some cookbook authors seem to be in a contest for who can create the most complicated exotic recipe. It’s not helpful for daily meals.

    Look for soups and stews in the winter and meal type salads in the summer. You can cook a batch and freeze portions for later, and/or eat off the same thing all week. Add in some fresh greens, veggies, or bread at meal time and you’ll be set. That’s more of a strategy than a recipe, but I hope it helps.

    Or, grill your protein of choice on a countertop grill, microwave your veggies and toss a salad. TaKes 10 minutes and minimal ingredients. Use different spice blends To vary the flavors.
  • MelanieCN77
    MelanieCN77 Posts: 4,047 Member
    edited September 2019
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    Canned tomatoes thrown in a shallow pan and seasoned up with paprika and whatever takes your fancy and then simmered till they "reduce" to a thicker sauce are good for many things. With pasta I like it particularly, you can cook and add in whatever meat (I think turkey sausage and the like goes well) you want. You can also cook an egg or two in this tomato mix and eat with some nice bread, and you can spice it however as well. That's called shakshuka and you can search for tons of variations. Cooking down the tomatoes is very simple and is a versatile but good tasting base for tons of things.

    A really fast meal for me, for when I just don't want to brain, is a bag of frozen veg (brussels sprouts taste best and are most filling for me but I'll occasionally do broccoli or cauliflower) with some S&P and/or some kind of ready condiment like soy sauce or sweet and spicy stir fry sauce, whatever's on hand, and then a frozen veggie patty between a couple pieces of toast or in a pita or whatever I have with ketchup, mustard, whatever.
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
    edited September 2019
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    The vast majority of recipes have no dairy, although I think it's of most use to learn to cook without recipes.

    For ingredients that you want ideas for, try:

    101cookbooks (vegetarian) or epicurious (anything)

    For basic learning to cook tips, try Bittman's How to Cook Everything (should be at any library). His book called Fish is also good if interested in cooking fish. Vegetable Love by Barbara Kafka and Greene on Greens are among many books also good on vegetables specifically, again likely available in any library or cheap used online.

    Paleo sites will have no dairy recipes, although they will also be no grains and no legumes, so likely more restrictive than you need. Here's one: https://nomnompaleo.com/

    A really basic dinner template is meat (or other form of protein), starch (potato or grain (rice and corn are grains), etc.), plus half a plate of veg, perhaps cooked in olive oil. This could involve a stirfry with rice, pasta with a protein and veg sauce, or everything cooked separately, and it has endless variety. Stews and soups are also possibilities. None of this has dairy unless you choose to add it. Super simple is a vegetable omelet (or add some meat if you prefer).
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,897 Member
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    Yes, do look for Mark Bittman cookbooks at your library and then buy the one(s) you like best. My mom has a whole collection of his cookbooks. I've browsed through them and they are indeed fast, easy, and with limited ingredient lists.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,897 Member
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    Mark Bittman's recipes on the NYTimes websites may (or may not) be more complicated. Here are 85 recipes that are dairy-free: https://cooking.nytimes.com/search?filters[special_diets][]=dairy-free&q=mark bittman&page=1

    I may have to try this one! https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1012538-mexican-chocolate-tofu-pudding
  • kaika_dragon
    kaika_dragon Posts: 101 Member
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    Thank you all for the responses, I appreciate it! There's some good ideas there.

    I should probably clarify that I do actually know how to cook a reasonable variety of foods without a recipe - when I am having a good day. But having a collection of recipes with ingredient lists and instructions is still important, because I have a lot of trouble with thinking of what things I know how to cook, and planning my meals and grocery list. If I have recipes or specific food ideas, I can basically just pick from a list, and know what I need to buy. If I'm not using a recipe, all of that has to come from my head, which is sometimes a problem.
    So, for example, I know that meat + veggie + starch is a good meal combo, and I sometimes will make something like that off the cuff. But I also often get hung up on all the tiny little decisions involved in that meal making process. What meat do I buy this time? How do I cook it? What vegetable should I get? If I'm making salad, what goes into the salad? That kind of thing.

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