I'm a little more lenient on vegan non dairy imitation dairy products, just because it was harder for me to give up dairy (I'm not vegan yet, I still eat greek yogurt. I know it makes my blog name seem like a contradiction, but I am going to be a vegan eventually, and it is the only dairy product I eat).
I don't miss meat. I don't crave hamburgers in the same way most of my friends don't crave tofu; it just doesn't happen. It doesn't appeal to me in the least, I actually find it has a slightly awful smell, and I even find it disgusting. I haven't been a vegetarian/aspiring vegan for more than 2 months, so I honestly don't know how that disgust towards eating meat developed so fast. I was never a big meat eater to start off with, I mean I still ate it, but I never really loved any of it except for an occasional filet. When my mom would make grilled chicken, I would always sulk because I never thought it was really that good.
Anyways, I thought I would make a list of vegan products that can replace dairy. Here we go!
Milk: This is by far the easiest! There are so many different non-dairy milks on the market! I buy unsweetened almond milk, usually Blue Diamond Unsweetened Vanilla. I buy the refrigerated kind when I can, want to know why? It has 15% more calcium than the shelf stable (45% compared to 30% DV)! More calcium is always good in a vegan diet. Another option is soy milk, which is widely available in restaurants, such as Jamba Juice and Starbucks. It's probably the most popular non dairy milk, with dozens upon dozens of different brands to choose from. I've never personally bought it, but I have had it in restaurants, and it's good. An advantage of soy milk is it has a high protein content. Other ones I haven't tried are Coconut Milk, Rice Milk, Hemp Milk, and Oat Milk
Cheese: Daiya! Daiya is a brand of shredded 'cheese' that comes in mozzarella, cheddar, and pepper jack. It stretches and melts just like real shredded cheese, and is an overall great substitute. I've created many different vegan recipes with this, like my personal pizza, grilled cheese, and quick mac and cheese. Another great thing about Daiya is that it doesn't have casein, a dairy derivative that a lot of 'non-dairy' cheeses have, making them non-vegan. I know follow your heart has vegan cheeses too, but I've never personally tried them.
Yogurt: I'm going to be perfectly honest when I say I haven't found a non dairy yogurt that I've liked. I tried soy yogurt, which was the best, but still not good in my opinion. I tried coconut milk yogurt, which was way too coconutty for me, even though I got a strawberry flavor. I also tried almond milk yogurt, which I would think I'd love, but it was one of the worst. Maybe you will like them, but I haven't found one that I haven't disliked. I know they have rice milk yogurt, which I plan to try next, and I'm hopeful. This is why I haven't given up my nonfat greek yogurt yet, I love it too much :/
These are the only dairy products I replace, and I haven't tried any of the following, but I figured I would post them anyways. Keep in mind this is a clean eating blog, so certain products such as ice cream shouldn't be a part of your typical healthy eating plan, but a treat (I never have them):
Cream Cheese: Tofutti is the most well known brand, with many flavors to choose from. I know Galaxy Foods also makes a line as well
Ice Cream: There are many brands and flavors of non dairy ice cream. Here are a few brands:
-Tofutti
-So Delicious
-Rice Dream
-Almond Dream
-Soy Dream
-Whole Soy
Butter: Earth Balance is definitely the most popular and easiest to find. They have different flavors of spread and stick, and are used a lot in baking
Eggs: This isn't a treat, and should be great in baking, but I haven't gotten around to buying it yet. Ener-g Egg Replaces eggs in recipes. Tofu scramble is delicious (especially with some nutritional yeast and Daiya Cheese) and can replace scrambled eggs, although I personally think it has a different taste
Mayonnaise: Follow Your Heart has a variety (Vegenaise), as does Earth Balance. There is also Nayonaise, made by Nasoya
Sour Cream: Tofutti and Galaxy Foods
Whipped Cream: I haven't seen any around, but I know it does exist
Comment if there's a vegan dairy replacement that I didn't list! :)
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