Dairy Free Cooking

Dairy free cooking is something I have been doing since I really started cooking. You see, when I lived at home I have ZERO interest in cooking and then I moved into my own apartment (3 hours away from my mom) and realized that if I ever wanted to eat anything besides taco bell and frozen meals I was going to have to learn to cook. Unfortunately, I never took the opportunity to learn from my mom or nana when I lived at home so I had do figure it out on my own. So kids, when you parent or grandparent offers to teach you how to cook, say YES!

Anyway, I had to learn to cook and since I was cooking for both myself and my then boyfriend (now husband) who is severely lactose intolerant, all the food had to be dairy free. Over the last few years I would like to think I have masted the art of dairy free cooking and I want to share some of the things I have learned.

First of all, it isn't nearly as difficult as everyone thinks.

Simple Substitutions

Milk: Soy Milk or any nut milk
Butter: Earth Balance Butter (tastes like real butter but is made from vegatble oils)
Condensed Milk: Cashew Milk
Heavy Whipping Cream (for baking): pureed tofu
Yogurt: Coconut Milk Yogurt or Soy Yogurt

There are also a lot great cookbooks to help you if you are just beginning the dairy free life.

Go Dairy Free

The Healthy Gluten-Free Life

Thailand: The Beautiful Cookbook 

Go Dairy Free is a great book full of helpful tips and recipes for dairy free lifestyles.

The Healthy Gluten-Free Life cookbook is great for simple dairy free meals.

The Thailand cookbook is not advertised as being dairy free but if you like Thai food it is perfect because it doesn't have dairy in any recipes! (this is my husband's favorite)

Finally, if you are looking for dairy free recipes it is always great to search vegan food blogs and recipes. Just try it! If you or the people you are cooking for really insist on having meat in their meals you can easily substitute your favorite for whatever the protein source in the vegan recipe is. 

I hope this was helpful to anyone wanting or needing to limit their dairy intake!

Happy Cooking!