non-dairy products

[mckenzie]

I'm seeing a cranial osteopath now who is going to try and help get my ear/throat problem solved to save me from having to go under the surgeons knife.
One fo the things she has suggested is that i cut out diary for a month to help get rid of any nasal congestion and catarrh.
I've bought some soya milk for with my cereal and in drinks and some soya based yoghurts but what other products might I look out for please?
I usually eat quite a lot of cheese and I also love toast with proper butter on it!! Both of those are a 'no no' now huh!

TIA.

[lalaa]

try \link{www.wheatanddairyfree.co.uk\this website} for ideas and to order. check the ingredients - some products are only wheat free.

"Pure" margarine is good. I have rice milk rather than soya, which i went off after a while. cheese is out I'm afraid! but you can get dairy free parmesan from the website above for your pasta - it's the in a container powdery stuff rather than a chunk, but does help a bit. cakes and biscuits are difficult, but again, you can get some stuff from the website above. also, try your supermarket's 'free from' ailse for more stuff.

it's a bit of a faff to start with but as soon as you find the things you like and the outlets that sell them, it gets easier!

[lalaa]

can't get the link to work: www.wheatanddairyfree.com.....

[lalaa]

also, check ingredients in stuff - it is amazing how many things have milk or milk products in them. white bread for example, usually has milk powder in it, but brown doesn't. soups - finding one without a milk product is nearly impossible. and dark chocolate helps a bit with the choc cravings....

[mckenzie]

thanks very much lalaa. I'll take a look at the website now. and I can have dark choc can i????

DS and i made muffins yesterday and i was really excited when they came out of the over smelling delicious and then realised that they had buttermilk and butter in them!
DH has some M&S chocolate cakes in the cupboard tyoo which i'm really struggling to resist.
I've just made shepherds pie for us all and used butter to mash the potatoes which i am going to eat - I dont think I have an allergy, just really need to cut as much of it out as possible for a while. What do you use for mashing pots?

[lalaa]

you can use olive oil instead of butter to mash pots. dark choc is OK - milk choc is not! cakes are really hard to resist, but if you make fairy cakes with 'pure' margarine, you should be able to partake (they won't taste as good as when they're made with butter, but there you go - it's only for a month).

[mckenzie]

thanks lalaa. had a Latte in Starbucks today may ith soy milk. Apart from the fact that it was an extra 35p, it was very nice. Soya milk is quite sweet isn't it? I bought some rice milk today and will try that insetad. Have you ever made things like rice puddiong with soya or rice milk? and how about pancake batter?

[Clure]

Hi - sorry to geg in. Am vegan and use soya milk for all kinds. Best to use unsweetened in cooking. makes good white sauce and custard! Also have made rice pudding - it stuck to the oven dish, think that was my cooking as not done rice pudding before! Still DD ate it! Find rice milk a bit thin to cook with.

Also not all dark chocolate is dairy free - check label for buttermilk and butterfat (cocoa butter fine) Green & Blacks dark organic is yum. I like provomel chocolate soya milks and swedish Glace "ice cream" Even my non-vegan friends eat it! Hope this is a help mckenzie

[laundrylover]

Provomel choc puds are the biz - I scoff them and have no dairy intolerance etc!!!
Green and Blacks Maya Gold.....same!
These things may help towards missing out on buttery toast, just one thing that stops me being vegan!!!

[FrannyandZooey]

I wouldn't bother trying any of the 'cheese' alternatives as they are quite rank IMO. Missing cheese was the thing that stopped me being a vegan long term :(

Swedish Glace ice cream is very nice indeed. You can cook virtually anything with soya milk that you normally cook with cow's milk, just get an unsweetened variety if you are cooking say, a lasagne or anything savoury.

Try tartex or another tasty pate on toast instead of butter - the spreads are fine to stop the bread being dry but they don't replace that divine buttery taste...

[Clure]

Cor yeah those provomel choccy puds are gorgeous.

Here's a fab recipe for chocolate torte by Rose Elliot guru of vege cooking

For base;
100g dark choc
175g digestives (dairy free version)

Top layer:
200g dark choc
1 small carton soya cream
1tbsp rum (or other! - is optional though)

Make base by melting the chocolate in bowl over pan of boiling water, then smashing digesives up and mix well into the chocolate. Press down into cake tin/flan dish

For top layer melt the chocolate as above. Add the soya cream and rum and whisk really well (electiric whisk makes it lighter) Pour top layer mixture over biscuit base and chill in fridge at least 4 hours but overnight is better.

Enjoy!