Dairy Free Thread

[Courtney]

i typically keep a container of so delicious coconut milk in the house for oatmeal, vegan cooking, etc.  that stuff is pretty good on cereal.  and in coffee ('though you will have to kill me to take my half and half away.  really).

I tried coconut milk, but was disappointed that it tasted like coconut.   

Not a fan! 

[GeekMaster]

Thread is no longer "dairy free"

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[Magic Microbe]

I tried coconut milk on my cereal today and it was kind of gross.

But it  is good in smoothies and I apparently can make pudding with it so I think I will just skip cereal.

[merigayle]

I never have drinken coconut milk, just rice and almond and soy, but i know you have a soy allergy, MM. To me, i think the plain unsweetened silk organic tastes the closest to milk, but don't take my word for it, i have never drinken a cup of milk in my life

[cgraz]

I tried coconut milk on my cereal today and it was kind of gross.

But it  is good in smoothies and I apparently can make pudding with it so I think I will just skip cereal.

And I saw something on a paleo site about making whipped cream with it too! Woo hoo!

http://www.multiplydelicious.com/thefood/2012/10/chocolate-paleo-pudding-with-coconut-whip-cream/

[TwistedFlax]

Pudding sounds great!

I'm definitely reacting, but its hard to say whether it's because of the lack of dairy, or a displacement effect.

Anywho, definitely missing my protein, but hanging in there otherwise.  Nuts, peanut butter, beans, & poultry.  I'm probably.getting enough, just not as much as before.  Once I realized the protien-mood connection I went overboard, and dairy protein was my fave.

It's almost impossible to eat in a mainstream restaurant.  Butter, butter, butter.

[TwistedFlax]

THIN MINTS ARE DAIRY FREE.

[cgraz]

 

[merigayle]

THIN MINTS ARE DAIRY FREE.

yes they are. I think there is another vegan GS cookies as my neighbor talked me into buying two vegan boxes of thin mints for DD 

[nadra24]

I never have drinken coconut milk, just rice and almond and soy, but i know you have a soy allergy, MM. To me, i think the plain unsweetened silk organic tastes the closest to milk, but don't take my word for it, i have never drinken a cup of milk in my life

Disagree!  Plain, unsweetened soy milk is nasty.  Cow's milk tastes way better IMO.

I got some unsweetened vanilla almond milk yesterday, Trader Joe's brand.  I'm a little disappointed that there's not really any protein in it, but it only has 40 cals per cup so I can get my protein elsewhere.  I think it will be good on cereals that are slightly sweet or that I put fruit with.  Some cereals I don't like with sweetened soy milk (Cheerios, raisin bran, and frosted mini wheats, for some reason) and I don't think that I'll like the vanilla almond milk on those either.

[Run Amok]

Disagree!  Plain, unsweetened soy milk is nasty.  Cow's milk tastes way better IMO.

I got some unsweetened vanilla almond milk yesterday, Trader Joe's brand.  I'm a little disappointed that there's not really any protein in it, but it only has 40 cals per cup so I can get my protein elsewhere.  I think it will be good on cereals that are slightly sweet or that I put fruit with.  Some cereals I don't like with sweetened soy milk (Cheerios, raisin bran, and frosted mini wheats, for some reason) and I don't think that I'll like the vanilla almond milk on those either.

I agree with this. I do not like soy milk. It has a gross taste to me. I do like the flavor of tofu, edamame, and lots of other soy products. But dislike soymilk. Blech.

I also agree that most other milk substitutes do not have much in the way of nutritionals. I basically look at them as a cereal delivery system (I use milk when I bake). So, almond milk and coconut milk have a reasonably low calorie count and I don't worry too much about it. But, you can't really count on them as providing any meaningful nutrition.

[Shadow38]

Just wanted  to say I am really happy to see this thread. I'm experimenting and decided to cut out dairy for a month and see how it goes.

Replaced my regular milk in coffee with almond milk. First I tried the regular vanilla. YUCK. Too sweet. Then tried regular, which isn't horrible, but still too sweet. I'll have to get some unsweetened.

I'm really missing butter. It's only been a couple of days, but I need to figure out different ways to cook vegetables.

I'm sure this weekend I'll be missing cheese, as one of my favorite weekend breakfasts is scrambled eggs with cheese and chicken sausage.

Anyway, keep the ideas coming. 

[Run Amok]

Shadow, try olive oil and garlic. Just about any veggie seems to love that combo.

[Shadow38]

Shadow, try olive oil and garlic. Just about any veggie seems to love that combo.

Thanks!

[merigayle]

Nadra-- that is because you have drinken milk your whole life. I never drank milk and to me, they taste the same both gross

As far as butter, i like the Earth Balance whipped spread. No trans fat, closest thing to butter i have tried. This is the regular, but i prefer the "whipped" one

[TwistedFlax]

Shadow, I agree that butter is the most difficult.  I can make my peace with cheese & milk, but butter is sneaky and has me forgoing things I didn't expect.

I'm opting for black coffee with cinnamon.

[nadra24]

What is your reason for giving up dairy?  If it ends up being a long-term thing you do because you don't tolerate milk protein and/or lactose, you might consider making ghee, where you melt the butter and skim off the milk solids so you're just left with the fat. You still have the butter taste, but none of the protein or lactose.  It's easier to do a bit batch at one time (like a pound of butter) and keeping it in the fridge so you can use it as needed for veggies, popcorn, or salmon.  I think you can buy it too, but I don't know what the cost comparison is to butter.  It's not that hard to make though.  Obviously if you're doing it for ethical reasons this wouldn't work, but if you're still eating meat then my guess is that's not the reason.

CSuzette would be so proud.

[merigayle]

Try the Earth Balance Buttery spread!

Nadra-- i cannot believe you summoned the iconic csuzette Every time i see Ghee in the store i think of her.

[TwistedFlax]

For me, it's about abdominal pain and digestive issues.  Plus I realized that I eat WAAAY more dairy than the average bear, and want to know how it's affecting me.

I'll definitely experiment with substitutions and such once I know I actually have an issue.   But I guess I'm still hoping that I WON'T need to go dairy-free long term, or that I'll at least be able to narrow it down to certian types (I've read that some people can tolerate yogurt and/or butter, but not milk or cheese, for example) and find subs for only the products I have trouble with.

I'm also reasonably confident that there's at least one big "oops" in my life at the moment that I'm not realizing contains dairy.  I'll work to root those out in the coming weeks... but for now, I'm celebrating the success I've had so far.

The biggest challenge will be isolating variables.  Since going dairy free I've been big on nuts, veggies, & beans.  And--surprise!--my digestion is better.  But I can't be sure just yet whether it's the lack of dairy or the addition of the good stuff that's causing the change.

[Ice Cream]

Plus I realized that I eat WAAAY more dairy than the average bear, and want to know how it's affecting me.

Bears eat dairy?