LIVING DAIRY FREE

A couple of years ago, I realized that I was having a sensitivity to dairy. I had never noticed this sensitivity before. But also, a couple of years ago I had COVID. Is there a correlation between the 2? I have no idea. But this post is not about my having COVID (I do plan to write a post about that though). This post is merely about me becoming dairy free.

The first thing I switched in my diet was milk. I used to drink whole milk. Now – I drink oat milk. I use it whenever something I am eating, drinking, cooking, or baking calls for milk. I tried almond milk, but it was too much on my stomach. I had been drinking “Ripple” plant-based milk, which I actually really liked; but oat milk is less expensive. That was probably the easiest switch for me to make.

I have also switched to non-dairy yogurt. That was a little difficult to find. I had to really look for it and read every label on all of the yogurts in the grocery store. I have tried the strawberry flavored yogurt and I have tried the vanilla flavored yogurt. I prefer the vanilla flavored yogurt. I like strawberry in general, but for me, the vanilla dairy free yogurt just tastes better.

I love ice cream so naturally I had to make sure I was able to find dairy free ice cream. It took me a while, but I eventually found it. Some of them are pretty good. Some of them I’ll probably never try again. But the summertime is almost here so I always want to have ice cream at home. So far, I really like the mint flavor and the salted caramel flavor.

And of course, I had to also make sure I have cream cheese on hand. I like bagels and cream cheese for breakfast sometimes. Luckily, I was able to find a non-dairy cream cheese. It is made with tofu. Tofu itself is an acquired taste. The tofu cream cheese does not taste too bad though. It obviously tastes a lot different than regular cream cheese, but I am ok with hat. It does not have as much flavor that regular cream cheese has, but that does not bother me. I am still able to enjoy a bagel with cream cheese every so often, so that is good.

I have started reading every ingredient on everything I buy when I go food shopping. Every. Single. Ingredient. Of. Every. Single. Item. For example, just for the heck of it, I read the ingredients for bread. I was surprised. Some brands are made with milk, some are not. So, guess which one I bought? Yup. You guessed it. The one not made with milk.

Thank goodness I read labels now. One time when I was in a store, I wanted to buy a dairy free protein drink. I had a gut feeling to read the label. I’m glad I did because – guess what one of the ingredients was? Yup. Milk. So definitely not dairy free.

I have had to cut a few of my favorite foods out. Pizza. That was tough. I love pizza and it was always my go to whenever I am hungry but don’t really feel like cooking. But now I cannot eat it because of the cheese. And I have not been able to find a non-dairy pizza. So, for now pizza is out. Another big one for me is chocolate. I love chocolate. But unfortunately, it is made with milk. So, I had to cut that out too. Hopefully I can eventually find dairy free chocolate. If it even exists.

Sometimes it is difficult when I have to go places where I know that a majority of the food has dairy in it. When that is the case, then I just bring my own food and or drinks with me. However, there have been a few times when, without even thinking, I just eat something and then later realize, “oh no! That had dairy in it.” And then I end up not feeling well for a couple of days.

Please be considerate of those who have food allergies or food sensitivities. They are careful to begin with. But please take their diet into consideration if you ever invite them somewhere.