Tell me of your dairy-free life

Cafe Society
1

So, it’s become increasingly clear that I have a Problem with dairy foods. After 2 weeks with no dairy, I allowed some in my lunch on Friday (well, I forgot that what I bought had dairy in it by default - had I remembered, it could have been left out) and, was reminded of why I’d been running said test.

It seems that avoidance of dairy is the best bet for me, at least for the near term. Dropping the half and half from my coffee hasn’t been near as difficult as I thought it would be. Yesterday I made biscuits and used soy milk - that worked well and no one could taste the difference.

But if you’ve given up dairy - whether by choice or because you couldn’t tolerate it - what did you find most difficult? What swaps have you made? Any advice as I do this?

2

I do a lot better without it, too. Coconut oil can be subbed for butter in most baking recipes. Ghee (clarified butter) has the milk solids removed and is good for cooking with–it can take higher heat than butter. The only thing I really miss is cheese. I’ve taken to making homemade mayo with roasted garlic for burger toppings. Avocado is a good sub for cheese in sandwiches as well. I never drink milk, so that’s not a problem. I’ve subbed coconut milk for milk and cream in some recipes, and it works okay. It’s worked best in recipes where the milk flavor isn’t supposed to dominate, like sausage gravy or pudding.

3

My three-year old is allergic to milk (not lactose, but a protein), so his diet is completely dairy-free. (His doctor doesn’t even want us to try non-cow sources of dairy, like goat’s milk, yet.)

We’ve heard various cites for the cross-incidence of soy and dairy allergies (Slide 17 here says it’s 50%, and cites the Journal of Pediatrics), so we decided not to use soy milk as our primary alternative.

Like with gluten-free products, there are a lot of dairy-free alternatives with more coming out all the time.

Milk: We have him drinking almond milk, and he loves that as much he used to love cow milk. (We usually get the Almond Fresh* brand, but he doesn’t mind the Blue Diamond. He does not like the Silk.)

Word to the wise: Don’t put almond milk in coffee or tea. It separates right away (like old cream). I haven’t tried it recently, but I recall soy milk being just fine in my coffee.

Cheese: There’s cheese made with rice milk and cheese made with arrowroot flour, among other options. We buy the “Rice” cheese made by Galaxy, in slice and block form. (Warning: Make sure it’s the “Rice Vegan”; the “Rice” is lactose-free but not fairy-free.) We buy Daiya* shredded cheese (it’s made with arrowroot flour), which I find has a slightly odd smell and a slightly greasy feel, but which he loves.

Macaroni and cheese: Road’s End Organics makes various styles of “macaroni and chreese” [it rhymes with “trees”, and is supposed to reflect that it’s completely vegetable matter), where the chreese is made with flour and tapioca. He cannot get enough of this. (I told you he was three, right? :)) I often eat the gluten-free varieties with him.

Pizza: We buy him Tofutti’s dairy-free pizza, which is made with the arrowroot-flour cheese. He and my wife both like it.

Ice cream: He likes almond milk ice cream, and the texture is much closer to regular ice cream. (I’ll eat it, too.) We’ve tried rice milk ice cream and coconut milk ice cream, but he’s not as big of a fan. (The rice milk ice cream has an odd texture – more grainy – and it does not melt in the same way … it’s a little disturbing.)

Baked goods: We’ve learned to be very careful with cookies, crackers, breads, etc. Some have milk, some don’t, and the only way to be sure is to read the ingredients. Cases in point: oreos - the name-brand ones don’t have milk, the store-brand ones do; ritz crackers - the name-brand ones have milk, the store-brand ones don’t.
The “Organic” aisles of the grocery stores often have the dairy-free alternatives.

  • Canadian brand; may not be available in US.
4

Depending on why you have to avoid dairy, you might not have to avoid it at all with some planning.

If it’s some sort of dairy allergy, then you’re probably screwed if you want REAL dairy. Hard to get rid of all of the milk proteins. Though you might try some non-cow dairy to see if that has the same response (it’s easy enough to find goat/sheep cheese, though actual milk is probably hard to come by (at least in the US, might be easy where you live.))

If, on the other hand, you’re merely lactose intolerant, you can try buying lactose-free milk and/or taking lactase supplements (Lactaid is the name-brand, but there are plenty of generic ones for cheaper.) That’s what I do. When I buy milk, I get lactose-free (just to avoid having to take lactase pills every time I use it,) and I take the lactase pills if I want a slice of pizza, or ice cream, etc…

Also keep in mind that if you’re lactose intolerant, many types of cheese are fine for you, as almost all of the lactose will be gone (any sort of aged cheese like most cheddars, Parmesan and Romano, and basically any harder cheese.)

5

I recently started farting a lot more then I think I should have. I cut down on dairy and it helped almost 100%. I now use unsweetened almond milk in place of the 2% or skim I used to drink. Easiest transition I’ve ever made. I’ve never added anything to coffee; my biggest challenge if I want to really get off it 100% would avoiding cheese on food. So often you don’t know it’s there; or if you know, you still can’t do anything about it. :frowning: I could live happily w/o dairy.

6

I lost my tolerance for lactose as I became an adult, and what I miss most is regular plain milk. I love the texture, the taste, the versatility and ease of getting it. I can still eat sharp cheeses and butter, and in theory, ice cream, except that nobody ever uses real cream, its all thickened milk. I use imitation American cheese (“veggie” cheese), soy milk, almond milk, rice milk, “cereal match”, which seems to be a coconut oil emulsion, non-dairy creamer, and coconut-based “ice cream”. None of them works perfectly for every use, and none of them are drinkable like regular milk.

One thing to make sure of is whether its a lactose problem or a milk protein allergy - lactose is easy to treat (lactase enzyme pills) or avoid, but milk protein is sneaky and in everything.

I am so sorry for your loss.

One benefit, my hair and nails are better now that I’m not malnourished from the rapid evacuation of everything I’d eaten that day caused by ingesting lactose.

7

I’ve recently gone non-dairy, too, and have started using coconut milk in my coffee. I can even use it in my frother. I was never a big milk-drinker even as a kid, and giving up cheese is really no hardship either. I’m using hummus in pita pockets and it’s reminiscent of pimento cheese sandwiches. I don’t know whether I have a lactose intolerance or an allergy; I just know that within the last couple of years, my face and lips have swelled up when I’ve ingested certain dairy products (which I’ve not been organized enough to narrow down).

8

The older I get, the more lactose intolerance is a blessing. It removes the temptation from a lot of fatty foods. Cheeseburgers? Milk shakes? Can’t eat 'em, don’t want 'em, thinking about them nauseates me.

The hardest thing is dry cereal. Shop around until you find a brand that tastes OK dry. Once you do, again, it’s less fattening.

Also, I do miss cheese pizza. Pizza with the cheese pulled off is pretty lame.

9

Seriously. Try coconut milk. Not the kind in the can that you make pina coladas with, but go to the soy milk place in the store and try coconut, almond or coconut-almond milk. They’re delicious! When my late H and I were vegans for a while, we put apple juice on cereal and it was great. These days, for breakfast I microwave (for 3 mins) a mixture of old-fashioned rolled oats moistened with pomegranate juice, a sliced banana, currants, blueberries, sliced almonds, and sunflower seeds. Insanely delicious!

10

My doc isn’t sure which it might be He’s willing to refer me to an allergist for testing if I decide I want to. Granted, right now I’m just so happy to be free of the symptoms, that I don’t know if I care which it is. Generally it’s easier for me to do straight avoidance with something like this, but that could change.

Mostly I’m not finding it too hard - though I hadn’t considered pizza until this thread. Dude.

11

That’s the way I feel. Allergy testing can be very tedious.

12

Just to chime in with random bits…

My mom and I had a taste test of milks. Unsweetened almond milk won hands down as the most milk tasting to us, but we both like skim milk. We found soy milk and lactose free milk to be too sweet and too thick, and both coconut and coconut/almond to be disgusting. Although a lot of people like coconut milk in their coffee.

My roommate used to order pizza without cheese all the time. No need to pick it off.

13

Probably you’re nowhere near as dairy-free as you think; for starters, many white sauces contain milk. But if your problem is lactose (which does not seem to be the OP’s case), many of those “hidden uses of milk” aren’t a problem for you - many treatments which aren’t strong enough to denature the proteins or which don’t affect them at all do eliminate the lactose.

14

I don’t like milk so that wasn’t a problem to give up. I get queasy if I see someone drinking milk, my mother says I never liked it much but I wonder if I never liked the taste or I figured out that drinking it made me feel bad.
I can do small amounts of cheese, I LOVE cheese.
A slice of cheese on a sandwich or a cheeseburger won’t hurt me. A grilled cheese sandwich or a bowl of macaroni and cheese will.
I don’t like ice cream all that much so it wasn’t that hard to give it up either. I stay away from pudding. I like it but it sure doesn’t like me.

I’m not totally dairy free, I just watch what I eat and never eat dairy unless I am home.

15

During our vegan period, my H and I would order pizza without cheese. You kind of have to hold it level when you bring it up to your mouth, as there’s nothing to glue down the ingredients.

16

Does anyone know a good dairy free substitute for making instant pudding? I tried soy milk and it doesn’t set, you are left with a puddle of goo. Does almond or coconut milk work any better?

17

I dunno about milk but I bet it would be pretty rockin’ whipped with some coconut cream - which is solid at room temp anyway. $1.49 at Trader Joe’s.

18

Yes, learned that when I made homemade tapioca goo :frowning: .
Almond milk makes a thicker, almost the same as cow milk , end product.
Haven’t found a perfect alternative yet.

19

I know a lot of vegans thanks to being a vegetarian, so here’s what I know about dairy substitutes:
Teese is a vegan cheese that many vegans consider the best substitute for “melty” cheese like on pizza: http://www.chicagoveganfoods.com/teese_vegan_cheese/

Most veggies I know love Amy’s frozen foods. I’m a huge fan of their dairy-free pot pies. You can search on their website to see if any of their vegan or dairy free meals sound appealing to you:
http://www.amys.com/products/product-search

Many vegans seem to feel that the coconut milk ice creams are the best but those also tend to be more expensive. As far as soy milk ice cream goes, I personally can’t taste any difference between a Tofutti Cutie and a regular ice cream sandwich.

I also like Tofutti Better than Sour Cream and feel it is equivalent to normal sour cream.

20

Thanks, everyone - this is helpful, especially since I’ve not tried many of the vegan cheese or alternatives to dairy products as yet.