A Vegan's Dairy

One of the first questions vegans are asked is how can you survive without dairy? After all , milk,ice cream  cheese and butter are a huge part of our diets. It's hard to imagine life without them.
 yet hard core herbivores do. It's very easy nowadays to give up anything from a dairy.

Milk is always factors in a diet.  You can't have coffee or tea without it. Or can you? Go to any major grocery store along with Target and Wal-Mart and you'll see every kind of non-dairy milk. Soy is one of the most popular and it even comes in vanilla and chocolate. Silk is the most bought brand. .It comes in such flavors as original , dark chocolate and light vanilla to name a few.Soy is responsible for creating estrogen in the body and if you don't want it then switch to almond milk. Silk also makes this and it's a bit lighter in taste than soy. Almond milk is my go to for breakfast. Its flavor is not nutty but tastes like actual milk and it's perfect for mixing into cereals. Another favorite is coconut milk.It has the same creamy mouth feel as regular cream and four hundred calories lighter! There is a very slight coconut taste  but it dissipates when it's added to instant oatmeal .It's also the most versatile , being used in various Asian and Indian recipes.Another choice is rice milk.Rice dream brand has the most extensive and comes in different flavors like the other milks. A lesser known one, made from cashews is slowly gaining in popularity, with vegan families trying it as an alternative to soy and almond.

Keep in mind that all these companies also produce creamers, yogurt and ice cream. Silk has a variety of soy creamers with such flavors as vanilla, caramel and hazelnut, basically the same flavors as the dairy ones. The company So Delicious makes cashew milk ice cream in  such yummy flavors as dark chocolate truffle and snickerdoodle. They even has ice cream bars that would rival those of Blue Bunny and Good Humor. The company also has an extensive array of coconut ice cream and bars. The flavors are so varied that you wouldn't miss the real thing. There is even a version of Cool  Whip called Coco whip It's easy to make an elaborate sundae without even touching dairy. Yogurt lovers will rejoice in Silk's almond  and soy milk yogurts. Both types even have plain which can be subbed in for sour cream. What about butter? Most would assume that the non-dairy alternative would be margarine but they would be wrong. There is an excellent vegan butter from Myoko's Creamery in California.It looks and tastes exactly like the real thing.it is made with organic cashews, and coconut oil and can be used in everything from cooking to making buttercream icing. The company, run by vegan visionary , Miyoko Schinner, also produces vegan cheeses such as mozzarella and  cream cheese too.

Vegan's can have their non dairy  and not miss the real deal. There are so many alternatives for any dairy product, from creamers to cheese. Milk will not be missed. At all.