culinary coconut milk questions

[Anonymous]

My little guy is allergic to dairy, and other than soy which I don't really want to give him, there don't seem to be a lot of high fat alternatives. I stumbled upon SO Delicious brand culinary coconut milk today and it has an insane amount of calories. Right now, he mainly still drinks breastmilk and I supplement occasionally with unsweetened almond milk... but I'm wondering how the culinary coconut milk is different than regular coconut milk in terms of taste. I'm tempted to mix it in to some of his food just for the extra calories, but would he also be able to drink it as is? Thoughts?

[Anonymous]

How old is your kid? Have you asked his pediatrician?

[Anonymous]

The unsweetened coconut milk beverage is pretty bland - tastes like water.

One brand - I think it's Blue Diamond? Or maybe SoDelicious? - makes a coconut-almond blend that's my favorite.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How old is your kid? Have you asked his pediatrician?

He is 21 months. Since I just saw it today, I have not asked his ped yet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The unsweetened coconut milk beverage is pretty bland - tastes like water.

One brand - I think it's Blue Diamond? Or maybe SoDelicious? - makes a coconut-almond blend that's my favorite.

I've given him the regular almond/coconut milks here and there, but they have nowhere near the fat and calories that whole milk has. The culinary coconut milk in question, though, actually has more calories and fat than whole milk. Just not sure how it would be to drink. I'm guessing it would possible need to be diluted.

[Anonymous]

Culinary coconut milk is thicker in texture (syrupy?) and tastes bland and chalky. I cannot imagine anyone drinking it as is but adding it to food could work. You could also just add coconut oil to the food or even evoo to add fat/calories. I often as evoo to rice or even purées to fatten them up. You can also use culinary coconut milk to make a mayo substitute. There are a lot of things that can be done with it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Culinary coconut milk is thicker in texture (syrupy?) and tastes bland and chalky. I cannot imagine anyone drinking it as is but adding it to food could work. You could also just add coconut oil to the food or even evoo to add fat/calories. I often as evoo to rice or even purées to fatten them up. You can also use culinary coconut milk to make a mayo substitute. There are a lot of things that can be done with it.

Thanks, PP. I alternate adding EVOO, avocado oil, and coconut oil to his foods. This is good info on the milk. Maybe I could use some in fruit smoothies or something sweet.

[Anonymous]

Why are you focusing on these "milks" - are you trying to increase overall fat and calories? Put it in the food instead. Let him drink water when he's not having breast milk. He's almost two - focus on the food.

[Anonymous]

It's not for drinking - way too thick. My dairy-free/soy-free (df/sf) kid will sometimes have a little off a spoon if I'm using it in a recipe. I do like the taste better than the other canned coconut milks, but I HATE the container it comes in. It really thickens when placed in the fridge and there's no way to get it out of the pour spout.
In any case, I use it in recipes that call for cream or something thicker than regular coconut milk.
Just as an aside to the pp, my kid was on Elecare (df/sf formula) until 2.5. Kids with food allergies, especially a dairy allergy, tend to be smaller (shorter, weigh less) than their peers.

[Anonymous]

Have you thought about Vanilla Rice Milk by Rice Dream? My DD loves it, and will also do Vanilla Almond Milk from time to time. We save the canned coconut milk for curry dishes and smoothies.

[Anonymous]

Coconut milk is very high in calories, as is the coconut meat. For cooking, I use only the Thai brands which come in cans. Chaokoh is may favorite. But this is a rare treat for us.
Trader Joes has light coconut milk in cans, or I just cut the regular coconut milk with water.
These would not taste good for just drinking.

[Anonymous]

I use regular coconut milk in smoothies all the time. Delicious!

[Anonymous]

My son was allergic to dairy as well and our nurse practicioner (who consulted a nutritionist) advised us that we could use coconut milk as a milk alternative. She advised using 8 oz of refrigerated coconut milk to 1/3 cup of canned coconut milk (from BPA cans).

[Anonymous]

My DC is allergic to cow milk dairy, but can drink goat milk (which is fattier than whole cow's milk). Is that a possibility for you, OP?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's not for drinking - way too thick. My dairy-free/soy-free (df/sf) kid will sometimes have a little off a spoon if I'm using it in a recipe. I do like the taste better than the other canned coconut milks, but I HATE the container it comes in. It really thickens when placed in the fridge and there's no way to get it out of the pour spout.
In any case, I use it in recipes that call for cream or something thicker than regular coconut milk.
Just as an aside to the pp, my kid was on Elecare (df/sf formula) until 2.5. Kids with food allergies, especially a dairy allergy, tend to be smaller (shorter, weigh less) than their peers.

My kid (1 yr) won't touch the Elecare but it would make a huge difference if he did. How did you get your kid to accept it?