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So how hard is it to go dairy free?

223 replies

pointydog · 14/04/2009 15:10

I am contemplating bringing in a milk free diet in a week or so's time.

I realise I'll need to look for alternatives for milk, butter and cheese. Are they easy to find? Are they tasty?

Am I about to have the worst couple of months of my life?

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moondog · 14/04/2009 15:13

Why are yuo going to do that then?
I reckon it would be pretty grim. You will waste hours in weird health food shops hunting out quorn yoghurts and the like.

MadamDeathstare · 14/04/2009 15:18

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ABetaDad · 14/04/2009 15:19

Pointydog - I am planning to go milk free as part of a celiac diet.

I am thinking margarine, soya milk, rice milk for the basics of day-to-day life. They are not cheap though.

Not sure where to go after that.

I am looking for the same advice as you really.

MadamDeathstare · 14/04/2009 15:19

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pointydog · 14/04/2009 15:20

DEpressed by dd2's awful eczema, I caved. I took her to see a herbalist. Mainly because I wanted a gentle moisturiser as she has become sensitive to her creams.

ANyway, her strongest recommendation was to go dairy free for a couple of months as it apparently works for so many people.

I have avoided this for 10 years (apart from one completely desperate plunge into homeopathy and goat's milk formula 10 years ago).

I thought I was going for a chat and a cream. I now have a medicine , a cream and a strong feeling that I really should try giving dairy-free a go so that I can confidently tell anyone in teh future to bog off if they suggest it without feeling I am failing my daughter.

I have no time to go to health food shops. I want to buy stuff in sainsbury's but haven't been to look yet and just wondered what this might entail.

I am not happy.

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MadamDeathstare · 14/04/2009 15:20

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PrettyCandles · 14/04/2009 15:21

If you cook from scratch, then it's not difficult - incovenient, but not difficult. If you eat out or eat bought foods then it is a pain.

There are plenty of alternatives to milk: soya, rice milk, oat milk (my fave, Oatly) and they can be found fortified with calcium as well.

Butter: Vitalite and Pure spring to mind. They don't taste like butter, more like marge, and are fine for sandwiches and baking, but I find that for frying you have to use oil.

Yogurt: Alpro soya is not bad, especially thef ruit ones.

Cheese: A total loss IMO. The Tofutti cream cheseses arre the only ones even remotley like cheese. Though there is a powder that you can use which gives a tolerable 'cheese' sauce, though salty.

The only thing I really miss is cheese, but you get used to it after a while and is worth going through the hassle if it helps.

pointydog · 14/04/2009 15:22

Ah.

There is a dairy free ice cream, death. The 'Erbalist told me

I was going to buy olivio. You can get a hard goat's cheese like cheddar apparently . And I cannot be bothered withthe expense, I spent £50 today .

But I am GUILT RIDDEN. I have to try it.

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MadamDeathstare · 14/04/2009 15:22

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PrettyCandles · 14/04/2009 15:23

You can get all of the things I mention in supermarkets, except the tofutti cream cheese (which I've only ever seen in helathfood shops).

Swedish Glace, BTW, absolutely rocks! It is the most delicious 'ice-cream' you can imagine.

MadamDeathstare · 14/04/2009 15:23

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pointydog · 14/04/2009 15:24

thanks candles.

Do you get oatly in a normal supermarket?

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pointydog · 14/04/2009 15:24

oh hang on. I am behind

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pointydog · 14/04/2009 15:25

swedish glace, that was it! Do you get it in t'supermarket?

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pointydog · 14/04/2009 15:26

I want milk that taste s like milk. I tried soya milk once and it was sort of grainy.

I just want milk and cheese .

dd2's favourite meal is macaroni cheese . You should've seen her face.

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moondog · 14/04/2009 15:28

You can get lactose free milk now though can't you? I think the key is not to try and imitate what is verboten. When I was pg I could never do with mocktails and low alcohol wine. Easier to do without.

psychomum5 · 14/04/2009 15:28

tis boring..........I am badly allergic to milk so am dairy-free all the time.

it is hard work to start with I will admit, but once you are used to it, it gets easier to adapt thing and find foods etc

soya milk is ok, if you like that sort of thing. I don;t, so I have black coffee and dry cereal.

as for food, it is hard finding things that are milk-free and not expensive, but once you have found the varying things, shopping gets easier again

the allergy ranges in shops tho can be poor choice, especially as they are mainly gluten-free, they do still often contain milk. not all, I hasten to add, but lots.

cheese..........the soya version is nasty (IMO), but you might like it. health food shops stock it.

milk - all shops now sell soya milk. many also have the rice milk or oat milk versions.

chocolate........buy decent plain choc. the dairy-free sort is expensive and not that great TBH

ice-cream....swedish glace is lovely, and you would not know the difference. most supermarkets sell it. take care with sorbets......I found a lovely one in tesco (fruity), and they stuck milk in it!

biscuits........don;t go for the allergy ones. look on normal packs.....far cheaper tesco bourbones (sp?) are milk-free for eg!

ketchup and salad cream......you need heinz for both as lots of the own brands have milk.

erm.....will be back with more info if needed

pointydog · 14/04/2009 15:30

thanks, psycho. The very thought of going without dairy makes me feel ill and annoyed

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doggiesayswoof · 14/04/2009 15:32

Yep swedish glace available in big supermarkets.

Sainsbo's do a pretty good 'free from' range - you can get dairy free 'ice cream' lollies etc.

DH is vegan - he uses Pure margarine, alpro soya milk, sometimes alpro yogurts and puddings. You can get alpro soya cream but I've no idea if it's disgusting or not.

Watch out for muesli etc, it's amazing how many of them have milk powder in them. Most processed food ime will have butter/milk in there somewhere.

My advice would be to cook stir fries, curries, the sort of thing that doesn't use dairy anyway, instead of trying to use substitutes.

I would find this really hard tbh, but I've also contemplated it on and off for years because of my eczema.

doggiesayswoof · 14/04/2009 15:35

Dairy free sweeties - hmmmm....

Ruffle bars are ok
Fry's chocolate creams too

After Eights USED TO BE but now have butterfat in them

Green and Black's have recently started putting milk powder in their dark chocolate

psychomum5 · 14/04/2009 15:37

I know that feeling. I still have it!! (been dairy0free for 3yrs now)

it gets better tho. and there is some plus points .

well, for me, I feel healthier in that (unless DH is trying to kill me) I am not flaring up with hives constantly and my asthma is non-existent now...............am far less itchy and reactive to other things too. was constantly itchy before, and my skin was dry dry dry. now is lovely (well, as lovely as age and the effect of children have had!)

another plus (for me)....I lost weight. 2st lighter now, and 2/3 dress sizes (flame did well in gaining my old jeans). mind you, am now probably a little too thin now....DH says I have lost my bum (he is a bum man).

pointydog · 14/04/2009 15:38

couldn't you join in eating what your dh does, woof?

I got a big guilt trip on steroid creams. I am all annoyed and guilty

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pointydog · 14/04/2009 15:38

fry's choc creams, really?

That's good to know. That's really good

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psychomum5 · 14/04/2009 15:39

doggiesayswoof........green and black is ok actually. they have had to state the risk as the factory is not dairy-free (the laws have changed on how they have to state allergy risks IIRC)........but I still eat G&B and am not dead yet!!

PrettyCandles · 14/04/2009 15:48

Lindt 70% mmmmmmmmmm.

Kallo dark choc-covered rice cakes. Sound rank, but really yummmmmmmy.

Sesame snaps.

Bourbon creams.

Alpro puddings and custard.

Jelly Belly jelly beans.

Soja Saane for whipped cream (tastes better the following day, more real, less soya-y).

Waitrose do some very nice sausages on the butcher counter. Our current faves are the lamb chipolattas. They don't necessarily state df, but if you ask the staff they will check ingredients for you.