Dairy Substitutes

Vegan Dairy Subsitutes

• Earth Balance Natural Buttery Spread
• Soy Garden Natural Buttery Spread
• Soy Delicious and So Delicious Non-Dairy Frozen Desserts
• Tofutti Non-Dairy Frozen Desserts
• Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese (Look for the Yellow Cap)
• Tofutti Cheese Slices
• Tofutti Sour Cream (Look for the Yellow Cap)
• Smart Balance 37% Light Buttery Spread
• Follow Your Heart—Vegan Gourmet Cheese
• Silk Soy Creamer
• Silk Soy Milk
• Rice Dream Non-Dairy Beverages
• Almond Milk
• Road's End Organics - Mac and Chreese
• Road's End Organics - Nacho Chreese Dips
• Road's End Organics - Cheese Packets
• Parma! by Eat in the Raw

Why Replace Dairy?

There are many reasons. Health, environment, and for compassionate reasons. Calves born to dairy cows are separated from their mothers immediately after birth. The half that are born female are raised to replace older dairy cows in the milking herd. The other half of the calves are male, and because they will never produce milk, they are raised and slaughtered for meat. Most are killed for beef, but about one million are used for veal. The veal industry was created as a by-product of the dairy industry to take advantage of an abundant supply of unwanted male calves. Veal calves commonly live for eighteen to twenty weeks in wooden crates that are so small that they cannot turn around, stretch their legs, or even lie down comfortably. The calves are fed a liquid milk substitute, deficient in iron and fiber, which is designed to make the animals anemic, resulting in the light-colored flesh that is prized as veal. In addition to this high-priced veal, some calves are killed at just a few days old to be sold as low-grade 'bob' veal for products like frozen TV dinners.

Recipes and Resources

Loads of non-dairy milk recipes: http://members.tripod.com/~iskra/nomilk/altmilk.htm

Tip: If you're looking for other diary alternatives (like rice, almond, and other brands of soy milk), many grocery stores have a green section which is like a mini health foodstore.

Make Your Own Almond Milk

From: http://www.almond-milk.com/almond-milk.htm

The most simple way to make almond milk is to take 1 part almond, 4 parts water and blend. It's best to soak the almonds overnight first, of course. As you'll see, the amount of water varies depending on the desired thickness of the resulting milk. Experimentation is your friend. Almond Milk will keep in the refrigerator for 4 or 5 days. Store it in a jar or pitcher with an airtight lid.

If you're having issues with peeling almonds, the best way is to buy almonds without skins (which are readily available), but whole almonds are not hard to peel.

Blanche them by pouring boiling water over them in a pot and setting it aside for three minutes. Drain off the water and slip the skins off by squeezing the almonds between your thumb and fingers. Dry them and then toast them in an oven at 325 °F (165 °C) for about 10 minutes.

Recipe

• 1 cup ground almonds
• 2-4 cups boiling water

Combine almonds and water. Steep for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Sieve the mixture to remove coarse grains OR (preferably) blend mixture in electric blender until grains are absorbed. Yield - 2 cups almond milk.

Flavoring Almond Milk

There are a number of ways you can flavour your almond milk to make this tasty drink fit your palate. Here's some suggestions. You can use in plain in cereal or recipes that call for milk, or sweeten it up if you wish.

• 1/2 tablespoon agave nector
  
• 1/2 tablespoon pure maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon vanilla or almond extract
• 1 teaspoon cocoa

It's really up to you! Naturally you can use it any time you want a rich nutty flavour - try it in any recipe that calls for a low-fat milk, for example.