So, dairy. Uh, yeah...dairy.
What can I possibly say about how I fulfill my daily dairy dosage? As longtime readers know, when I originally went meatless in November, it was just cutting out beef, pork, poultry, fish/seafood and whole eggs. On New Year’s Day I started to leave out dairy products too. If you want more details on this new wrinkle in my diet go here and here.
Before I cut true dairy out of my diet, I mainly got my share of it from 2% milk and the Chobani brand of Greek yogurt. Of course pomegranate was my favorite flavor of the Chobani. Whenever I bought some I tried to get as much of the pomegranate flavor as I could. Not an easy feat because some stores in my area didn’t always stock the pomegranate kind, so whenever I saw that particular variation of the brand on the shelf I bought every one in sight. Yeah, I know, “Jason, leave some pomegranate Chobani for the rest of us!” Sorry, but it is really (BLEEP)n’ good yogurt and I make no apologies whatsoever for hoarding this tantalizing treat.
So there.
When I told my family I was giving up dairy for the year they groaned. My brother-in-law told me I was going to get sick. Not so. As with meat, you can find plenty of good stand-in foods that give you the same vitamins and nutrients as the real deal.
So, on New Year’s Day I began to get my fill of dairy via substitutes such as Rice Dream, an enriched milk substitute fortified with Vitamins A, D, B12 and calcium, and calcium supplements themselves. The Rice Dream goes great in my coffee at home and whenever I buy some java in the outside world I first see if they have any non-dairy creamer. If not, then I just take it black.
There, that wasn’t so difficult, now was it?
Talk to you soon!
meatlessman@yahoo.com
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Hi :) I have really enjoyed reading your blog. I have been a vegetarian/vegan most of my life, but started eating meat/dairy again about four years ago, but am trying to get back to my ideal vegan diet. I don't remember it being this hard the first time... It's nice to see someone else's take on a similar journey. And I just have to add it - have you ever tried almond milk? I think it has a much nicer flavor to it than rice milk, but maybe that's just my prefrence :) Anyways, good luck!!
ReplyDeleteChantel,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the kind words about the blog.
Since this is the first time I have ever gone meatless, or vegan, I wouldn't know what it is like to go back to meat then want to go back to vegan again.
I am guessing it's like going to the gym or Y and then stopping and finding excuses not to work out that day (a problem I am currently struging with).
I will follow your advice and give almond milk a shot. I may also try some soy milk again. I used to put that in my coffee all the time back when I lived in Chicago. Rice Dream is good but I am keeping an open mind about other substitutes.
Hope you are having a great weekend!
MM
P.S. I just picked up some almond milk a few days ago at your suggestion and will be trying some soon! Thanks Chantel!
ReplyDeleteMM