At first it was very overwhelming and I did not know where to even start. I love milk, cheese, and everything associated with milk. I started out talking to a friend of mine who I knew was dairy and soy free because of her daughter. She showed me the Deliciously Dairy Free Facebook group. I highly suggest it to anyone who has to or voluntarily become dairy free. They are very helpful and make you feel at ease. Another website that I found helpful also guided me through grocery shopping or going out to eat.
Through this process I have learned how much milk is in things. Milk is in most snacks and treats that I eat. Here is a website that was very helpful for me concerning this.
Here is also other snacks that are dairy free that I have enjoyed
Nature Valley (anything that does not have chocolate)
Anything gummies (such as Fiber One's)
Rice Cakes (Only get Apple Cinnamon or Carmel corn)
Cereals was also another shocker for me. I have kept it mostly safe by just keeping with the ones I am most sure about. My favorites are Chex of course along with Cheerios (the basic kinds though).
For milk I have used Rice Dream which is actually very good. I was surprised that it did taste so good. Soy milk is good but I was told by my friend that it messes with your hormones. That is why I picked rice milk. Of course there is almond milk or coconut milk but I have never tried those yet.
Bread was kinda hard at first because on most nutrition labels, they say there could be traces of milk or made in the same bakery as milk. So I had to find something different. One lady on the Facebook group recommended Rudi's. It is a little expensive; so I don't buy it too often maybe twice a month.
For cheese I tried two kinds. First I tried a soy based cheese called Vegan Gourmet which to be honest was very good. Now it does not melt together like real cheese which brothers some people. It did not bother me though. But I decided to not go for soy and had to find a dairy and soy free cheese. The Facebook group talked a lot about Daiya Cheese. I went out and got it and tried it on my shrimp pizza. It does melt more like normal cheese but not as much as everyone seems to be excited about. It sort has the same taste as the powder cheese that you get when you make mac and cheese. I think it was better that second time I ate it though.
For butter I chose the first thing I saw at the store which is Earth Balance. To me it just tastes like butter so that was not that big of a deal.
For the fun stuff such as chocolate, ice cream or coffee creamer I have tried various things. For chocolate, I found at the Giant store Enjoy Life Chocolate bars. They tasted like chocolate but the texture is a little harder and chalk like but most definitely fixes my chocolate cravings. For ice cream, I tried some ice cream sandwiches from So Delicious. The after taste tasted like soy. It also has a icey texture to it but it still does taste good. I also get my creamer from them which is amazing. When I go out for coffee, I just ask for a ice coffee with a flavoring or sugar and add my own coffee creamer or rice milk to it. It takes planning ahead but well worth it.
So has it been worth it being dairy free for my LO? Yes it has. I have experienced new tastes which I have always enjoyed. But also my LO has gotten a lot less fussy which has been nice. She is more predictable for now : )
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