Does a Sam’s Club membership pay off for milk allergy families?
We’ll let you decide! Here’s our top dairy-free favorites from Sam’s.
PLEASE NOTE: Here at Milk Allergy Mom, we simply share products that work for our family. Please consult your own doctor before trying food, supplements, or other products. Also read all labels and call companies for the latest, most accurate product information.
Well, we lasted 15 years dairy-free without a Sam’s Club membership.
But this past Christmas, my in-laws knowing my boys were growing and eating a lot,
gifted us a year membership.
What a great gift! Super practical and useful.
So if you don’t know what to ask for Christmas this year, maybe you’d use a Sam’s membership, too!
If you need some convincing, I’ll show you our favorite dairy-free food finds.
Do we do all our shopping there? No.
We have to save a lot of our food budget for specialty foods like dairy-free cheese and pizza.
And we are just a family of four so even though my boys are growing fast and eating lots…
bulk buying mostly make sense when we are hosting extra teens or stocking our emergency food.
Of course, always check labels because ingredients can change.
Let’s get to our favorite foods at Sam’s!
First up, Belvita.
Not all Belvita flavors are dairy-free so be careful.
But here’s bite-size Belvita in three different flavors that work for us.
We’ve also bought regular size Belvita in bulk at Sam’s as well.
What’s your favorite flavor?!
Dipping the cinnamon brown sugar in our homemade maple cinnamon icing is sooooo good.
My kiddos love these for breakfast, a lunchbox snack, and to eat with milk OIT dosing.
Here are the ingredients on our box of bulk Belvita.
Be sure to double-check labels for yourself.
Ingredients can change.
Next up, Pop Tarts.
Again, not all Pop Tart flavors are dairy-free.
But here’s a bulk box that works for us!
My youngest likes Strawberry the best.
My oldest likes brown sugar the best.
I think Sam’s carries both, but you can see who won on this particular grocery trip.
Here are the ingredients listed on our box of Pop Tarts.
Always check labels for yourself, ingredients can change.
This next one is one of my favorites.
We go through frozen blueberries like crazy at my house.
And I much prefer organic berries.
Hubby and I LOVE that Sam’s carries this huge three pound bag.
This is something we always grab when we’re there.
Hubs uses these blueberries in his oatmeal.
And I use them in our blueberry banana smoothies:
frozen blueberries and banana, dairy-free yogurt, dairy-free milk, squeeze of lemon juice if I have a lemon.
Ingredients on this bag are just blueberries, but always double-check…even on products like this where you’d think one ingredient is a no-brainer. You never know!
Oh this next one, this is the bag my kids want every trip.
Craisins!
And what a steal.
These can be so expensive at the regular grocery store.
We get this HUGE bag for such a great price. It’s hard to believe.
The kids mostly munch on these plain.
But we also add them to afternoon trail mix, oatmeal, salads, and more.
Again, you’d think the ingredients would be pretty straight-forward.
And they are on our bag.
But always double-check, ingredients can change!
Now how about a huge bag of potato chips?
And not just any potato chips, but my kids’ favorite always.
Barbecue Lays.
I try to stay away from these things, but the boys are fans…especially with a lunch sandwich.
If you haven’t tried BBQ Lays yet with a milk allergy, I know it’s hard to believe.
We’ve been eating these for at least a decade, where does time go?!
Double-check ingredients, they can change.
But yes, this is a big find for us…the more, the better.
And that’s a huge bag!
Here are the ingredients on our bag of Barbecue Lays.
You know what’s next…check labels. Ingredients can change.
Oh mama, you’re gonna love this next one!
How about frozen chicken sandwiches, fully cooked, ready in minutes.
PLUS, they taste near as good as that fast food place with the lightening fast drive through.
Except…you can make these at home even faster.
AND, these are dairy-free unlike the drive through. Sweeeeeeeeet!
Of course, double-check the labels for yourself, right?
On the surface, this box of ten chicken sandwiches can seem expensive.
However, if you break it down, these cost less than the drive through chicken sandwiches.
In addition, these are individually wrapped so they will last quite a long time.
Pull them out as you need them.
We make sure we have waffle fries to serve alongside these delicious sandwiches.
Yes, the bun comes with!
Here are the ingredients on our box of chicken sandwiches.
Always double-check labels, ingredients can change.
Now some of you know I’m a big cold brew coffee fan.
And yeah, blowing through a cup of coffee grounds a week can be bit expensive.
So hubby loved finding this bulk bag of coffee beans for my cold brew addiction.
While he loves small bags of freshly roasted beans for his fancy pour over coffee…
these bulk coffee beans work great for my not-so-particular cold coffee brewing.
Truly, though, they taste perfectly fine to me!
Moving onto some pre-cooked meat ideas,
these next two goodies are great for my dairy-free breakfast sandwiches.
Yum, yum!!!
Kiddo loves sausage patties on his breakfast sandwiches.
And we’ve found Jimmy Dean patties in both pork and turkey in bulk at Sam’s Club.
This time hubby bought turkey, but I think the family prefers pork. Noted for next time.
I know sausage can be a little scary for food allergy families.
What ARE all those ingredients, anyways?
But these work for our kiddo with milk and nut allergy.
Double-check labels for yourself. Call companies if you need to.
Here are the ingredients on our box of turkey sausage patties.
And lastly, my personal favorite, fully cooked bacon.
Mamas in Milk Allergy Mom Membership told me this was a must-get at Sam’s.
Albeit, hubby was leery. It took all he could muster to buy pre-cooked bacon.
But he knows how much I love bacon and knew our member friends usually have great suggestions.
So here we go, we now love this bacon just like the moms said we would!
I mean, it’s not really BLT sandwich kind of bacon.
It’s perfect, however, for quick breakfast sandwiches!
Plus, I use it for salads and cook it in green beans. So quick and easy.
Just heat a few pieces in the microwave for thirty seconds to a minute, and you’re good to go.
Amazing!!! No grease, no mess, no clean-up. I love it. We keep it stocked.
And the price is right for such a large bag, too. Seventy-two pieces, bacon lovers!
Here are the ingredients on our bag of bacon, lol.
Always check ingredients for yourself…but you know that by now.
Well, that wraps up our nine favorite food finds at Sam’s Club.
If we find more, we will add them as bonus items here.
It’s true, Sam’s can be a budget buster if you don’t plan ahead.
So we’ve found that going once a month is just about right for us.
I still get my produce and basics at Aldi.
Then, I get cold foods at Walmart and random snacks at Target.
It’s a great little system I have for saving $300 a month on groceries and funding our trips to Disney!
PS: My Grocery Budget and Meal Planning Course is inside membership. Join me there!
If you’re a milk allergy family who loves Sam’s, let us know in the comments what you buy there over and over again.
We would love to hear!