Was someone in your family recently diagnosed with a dairy allergy? Did you recently decide to become vegan? Did you just find out that your nurseling reacts when you eat dairy? Or have you decided to cut down on the dairy in your diet for another reason? Here are some tips from a family that's been cooking dairy-free for over 9 years!

First, double check everything in your house - breads, pretzels, doughnuts, muffins, soups, and anything packaged could contain dairy. If you live near a real deli with real bagels, those should be dairy free, but anything goes on supermarket or other bagels.

Read Labels: The food allergy labelling laws that were put into effect a couple years ago will help you - most packaged food has a bold Allergy Warning below the ingredients. Watch for "Milk" there. But don't skip the actual ingredients - there isn't a lot of enforcement of the labelling laws, so you still need to do the label reading watching for Milk, Butter, Cream, Lactose, Casein, Whey.

Watch for Kosher Labelling: Kosher Jewish laws forbid mixing milk and meat (meat here doesn't include fish). Thus, if you see an O with a U inside it, an O with a K inside, or a K inside a backwards C, you know that the food has been certified as Kosher. When you are avoiding dairy, you want to look next to the hechscher: it could have a M for meat, a D for dairy, a DE for dairy equipment (machinery that processes dairy as well as non-dairy foods), or a P for pareve/parve - non-dairy and non-meat. If you eat meat, Kosher meat (including processed meat like hot dogs) will always be dairy free. Regardless, look for the Kosher hechscher before purchasing - it's a great first tip about dairy status.

How sensitive are you? When my daughters were younger, they could never eat anything that had dairy in the "natural flavors", nor anything that was processed on dairy equipment. They are much less sensitive now. If you have an anaphylactic allergy, you want to stay away from dairy equipment, but if you're in a different situation, find a balance that works for you.

Baking without dairy: In general, baking without dairy is pretty easy! You can substitute soy, rice, or coconut milk for milk in recipes. If a recipe calls for sour cream or buttermilk, add 1 tsp vinegar or 1 tsp lemon juice per cup of milk subsititute. That will add the tang you're desiring. We use Fleishmann's Unsalted margarine sticks for some baking, and Spectrum brand shortening for other baking. Spectrum is organic, has no trans-fats, and is also soy-free.

Find treats! My big tip overall for starting a restricted diet is to find something you love that you can eat. Missing cookies? Try meringues! Missing cheese on your tacos? Try it with guacamole! Missing chocolate? Buy expensive chocolate! You can often find chocolate chips that are dairy free, which you can eat as is or melt into chocolate molds. I was missing candies at the check-out counter at the grocery store, and taffy type candies. I ended up eating Starburst and Mary Jane candies. Find what works for you, and keep it around for when you feel like you're missing out.

Be Prepared! If you make a batch of muffins on the weekend, you're all set for a week's worth of quick breakfasts. If you stock up on Lara Bars or another dairy-free protein bar, you wil have a treat around whenever you need a burst of protein. If you're going to a party, bring a cupcake or another treat. Eating on a restricted diet shouldn't feel like you are living a deprived life. Enjoy the food you CAN eat!