About to embark on a dairy free diet

[Donna]

Hi I'm new here! I have suffered with sinus and joint problems for years and I have heard that cutting dairy products from my diet might help. I am also a vegetarian so I am worried about getting a balanced diet. I am considering reintroducing fish into my diet if need be, I would do anything to improve my health problems.
Looking forward to exploring this site more.
Donna
:)

[Lan]

Hi Donna,

I have been dairy-free for nearly 8 years and have a healthy well balanced diet. I drink Provamel or So Good milks which are available from Tescos and Sainsbury's and are full of calcium.

There are many cheeses available such as Cheesly and Parmesano(which I love) and are available from the above mentioned stores. Both stores also make a wide range of other dairy free products.

I would also try and make a visit to any local health stores and get some vitamins, especially calcium just to make sure you have enough.

If you eer have any questions about anything, do not hesitate to contact us.

Kind Regards,

Lan.

[Pam]

Hi Donna

Welcome to dairy free living. As you are already vegetarian you might find the Vegan Society web site useful. They have lots of info sheets to help you. It will give you a good idea about dairy free/animal free alternatives to ensure that you get all the necessary nutrients.

I've got to say that I don't agree with Lan about the dairy free cheese, I hate almost all of it, but it's all a matter of taste.

Good luck.

[matt]

hi, welcome to the gang.

i'm with pam the "cheese" you can buy is an aquired taste, sometimes it's ok but most of time not. try it out preferably with additions ie pickle or sauce etc.

get used to checking all the ingredients, check out this site for all the odds and sods that can mean milk in some shape or form ie casein etc. not always marked up as milk.

would agree tesco's and sainsbury's good. health food shops better as they will normally order in anything they haven't got. again if you find problems ask here and let us know roughly where you are so someone local might be able to offer pointers.

it's a pain to start with then you get used to it looking at ingredients and hunting out what you can eat. it does get easier.

[Donna]

Hi and thanks for the welcome
I had my first dairy free day yesterday, it wasn't too bad but wondering what on earth I am going to eat today. I bought some Cheezly dairy free cheese yesterday, it tasted ok but didn't melt too well on my pizza :rolleyes:

Are any of you meat free as well as dairy free?
Donna

[astra]

Originally posted by Donna@May 28 2004, 10:30 AM
Hi and thanks for the welcome
I had my first dairy free day yesterday, it wasn't too bad but wondering what on earth I am going to eat today. I bought some Cheezly dairy free cheese yesterday, it tasted ok but didn't melt too well on my pizza :rolleyes:

Are any of you meat free as well as dairy free?
Donna
coooeeeee *waves*

i am *jumps up and down*

first of all, welcome to the site :)

second of all, don't panic!! i rushed down to the health shop when i first went vegan all in a panic that i was going to starve!!!

what you need to do is to have a good research session, load up your fave search engine, put vegan recipes in the box and away you go. i copy and paste out the ones i like the look of and i now have 52 pages of recipes!! in dire need of sorting out i might add! i am hoping to do that next week, and i'll happily pass them on to you when i have done that :)

right. tesco, sainsbury and asda have nut cutlets in the freezer that are vegan, linda mccartney sun dried tomato sausages are too, as are their country pies :) so at least you have something to go along with :) i always have stock of them in the freezer :)
check out your local health shop too, as they usually stock some sort of pies that are really nice, but usually really expensive. i must add at this stage that i am not into the whole mock 'meat' thing at all >.<

don't be put off with lentils and the like, it takes some getting used to to use them, i'm still a n00b at it, but from what i've cooked so far i'm quite impressed with the results :)

experiment with soya milks too, it took me a while to find a brand that i liked :) same with margarine too, i use pure, but others like the sainsbury own and i see that co-op stock a new one too now :)

i recently bought a slow cooker and this makes things a whole lot easier for me, as it takes more imagination to make something with which are still even to me 'odd' ingredients!

tofu is your friend!! mmmm i like the marinaded one best, but i'm going to buy a plain block and marinade it myself tonight and try and bbq it tomorrow wish me luck!! the flavoured one is really nice fried up with a mushroom, and chucked on top of pasta :) i use an aubergine pesto that comes in a jar, the name escapes me now, something italian i think, i have bought it at tesco and asda so is fairly available :) it looks expensive, but is enough for 3-4 meals - quick ones at that :) i like the whole lot topped off with vegan parmesan, again i got mine at asda :)

hummus is lovely, another source of protein, is really nice in a pitta bread with salad :) i like relish on mine too and sometimes a fried mushroom :)

falafel are spicy balls of chickpeas - more protein! and these things are yummy in the pittas as above too :)

you'll probably have explored all these things as a veggie, i was a very lazy veggie and lived on cheese and tesco vegetarian burgers, so i'm still getting excited with all this new food!! hehe

tartex do a really nice mushroom pate that is divine on thick doorstop toast.. i try not to buy it very often as it never lasts more than a couple of days mmmm lol

soya yogurts are easier to get now, but only come in a few flavours unfortunately. you will probably find the same as me in that you'll need to shop in different places to get a decent choice :( to ease myself into them as i found them a little powdery, i had half of one on some chopped fruit :) i still have that now, but am used to the taste so have one on its own now :)

you'll probably find yourself like me, trying to make sure you have enough protein, i find that if i'm aware of my protein intake then everything else falls into place around it :) if i do end up with just veggies, and not much else, i'll make up a smoothie with a banana, a little brown sugar and soya milk, yog and fruit as above or try the swedish glace icecream - is better than the 'real' thing!

eek looks like i've rambled!! lol

if you need any more help/ideas just holler :)

all the best