It’s been exactly 15 days since I started my dairy-free experiment. And I have to be honest, it’s going ok. I haven’t had any major moments of weakness or die-hard cravings. Of course, there’s always a part of me that wishes I never had to experiment in the first place. But it’s all good!

Anyways, I think it’s been going ok because of the great dairy-free product discoveries I’ve made. Of course, there is no good substitute for real cheese, but that’s the name of this game I suppose.

So let’s get started.

My beloved Silk Unsweetened Original Almond Milk

Technically this isn’t a new discovery but whatever. Coming from someone who used to drink 3-4 glasses of cow’s milk for the first 27 years of her life, you have to trust me when I say this stuff is good. BUT you do have to give it a fair chance. It doesn’t taste like regular milk, but when included in smoothies and other foods, you really can’t tell the difference. In fact, a year or so ago, I made our morning protein smoothie using regular cow’s milk and it tasted gross. Vishnu even went as far as saying it made him feel like he was going to vomit (just being honest!). So yeah, this is and has been my favorite dairy-free product for almost three years now. I love it!

SO Delicious Coconut Milk Non-Dairy Frozen Dessert (aka “ice cream)

If you follow me on Instagram, you may have already seen me profess my love for this stuff. It’s good. The flavor is absolutely spot on (at least the Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl was), but the texture isn’t as creamy as regular ice cream. But for someone who can’t/isn’t eating dairy, this is a great little find. You may or may not find yourself standing in front of the fridge, spoon and container in hand, swearing to eat only a little bit only to find that you finished off whatever was left. Again, you may or may not find that to be true…

Trader Joe’s Vegan Mozzarella Style Shreds

I love love love cheese. Almost as much as I love chocolate. So I had pretty high (and probably unfair) expectations for this “cheese.” When I tried it straight out of the bag, I didn’t like it at all. But obviously wanting to make it work, I used it later that night on some eggplant “pizzas.” And honestly, it was ok. It melted nicely (almost too nicely) and was gooey in texture. And while it didn’t taste like mozzarella cheese, it had a nice buttery flavor to it. I’m not sure if I’ll be buying this brand again. I think I want to try some other “cheeses” first. Or maybe even make my own. (Please feel free to recommend your favorite “cheese” in the comments section.)

 SO Delicious Coconut Milk Creamer

We don’t drink a lot of coffee at home, but when we do, both Vishnu and I like to add a touch of cream to it. And put simply, this creamer does the trick. It doesn’t have an overwhelming coconut flavor to it, it’s thick and creamy…what more do you want!

Cashews

Cashews are obviously not a non-dairy product per se. BUT, when you’re making your own food substitutes at home, this particular nut is great to have on hand. Now, I have to say that cashews are probably my least favorite nut. But for some reason, when soaked and blended together with a bunch of other ingredients, they are the perfect base to delicious sauces and even cheesecakes (I have yet to make a raw cheesecake but have tried Robin’s creations). I made this sauce last week and put it on everything…literally. My favorite way to use it is as a cheese substitute on nachos. SO SO GOOD! I ate said nachos at least five times between last week and this week.

If you have any favorite non-dairy product and/or recipes, PLEASE share in the comments section.