Another Great Dairy Alternative! Almond Dream Ice Cream

In an attempt to drastically reduce my dairy intake, while continuing to occasionally satisfy my ice cream cravings, I found a pretty good substitute. It comes in a very small container, so for those of us who are trying to shed a few pounds, you wont have to worry about getting too carried away. ;-)

Almond Dream ice cream is put out by the same company that makes Almond Dream (the beverage), Rice Dream (the beverage) and the non dairy frozen dessert, and the Soy Dream line of products as well. I've tasted all of these frozen desserts and I have to say that between the three of these, Almond Dream wins hands down. The Almond Dream dessert comes in a few flavors such as chocolate,vanilla, praline crunch, and cappuccino swirl. By far my favorite flavor is praline crunch. It has the best flavor and reminds me of my favorite ice cream that I used to endulge in at Baskin&Robbins, pralines and cream.

So if you're going dairy free, but really miss your occasional ice cream, treat yourself to Almond Dream frozen desserts. I've tried many ice cream substitutes, such as Rice Dream ice cream and Soy Dream ice cream, however this one is the best one that I've tasted.

You may go to the Almond Dream website to learn more about their products.

Goats Milk Anyone!

A couple of weeks ago, I featured almond milk products as an alternative for cow dairy products. Today I'd like to present goat dairy products as a nutritious alternative for those who find cow's dairy to be difficult to digest. I became familiar with goat dairy, approximately twelve years ago when my son Musa began having seizures. That period of time was very interesting for me, as it lead me on a quest for healing foods and improved eating habits. A homeopath told me to give my son lots of "good" fats as it would help to repair the brain trauma that seizures caused. Musa at that time was not only having problems with seizures, but he was very susceptible to respiratory infections as he had experienced a very frightening case pneumonia. All of this and he wasn't even 5 years of age. He was a pretty sickly little kid. However after my visit with the homeopath, and reading a few books, (The Ketogenic Diet, and Nutrition and Physical Degeneration) Musa was on the way to improved health. One of the first things I discovered that I had someone who lived very close to me that was willing to sell their extra milk and I rapidly became her regular customer.

The fat molecules in goats milk are said to be a lot smaller than those of cow's milk, which in turn makes it a lot easier to digest. Many people who are intolerant of lactose, or milk protein find goats milk to be easier to consume.
Some rationalize that a goat is closer to the size (weight) of human beings than cows, so it makes sense to drink from goats and sheep, rather than bovine animals. All theory and speculation aside, for me and my family we saw a huge difference when we laid off of the pastuerized cow dairy and switched to raw goat's milk. We experienced a drastic decline in colds and illness. We were considerably healthier over all. Less colds and illness meant a happier more energetic household. Ofcourse this was not due adding goat's milk exclusively. We changed our diet in other ways as well. But this, I believe was definitely one of the most important changes that we made; right up there with drastically reducing our gluten intake.

Once I tasted goats milk I was in love it, and it quickly became a household staple. Quite honestly I prefer the flavor of good goat's milk to many of the other cow dairy alternatives, however it's just so hard to find a local raw milk supplier these days. Most of the farms that I used to purchase from have given up all but enough goats to supply milk for their own families. Many have said the cost to keep the goats is just too high.

I have recently rediscovered my love for goat's milk, however I've been drinking the pastuerized milk products from a local health food chain. Inshallah I intend to give a call again to see if I can find another raw milk source, soon. I just prefer it because the raw milk still has the active enzymes intact, which allows the dairy to be even more digestible. However the main brand of goat's milk that I have presented in this blog is Redwood Hill Farm. As I mentioned, previously I only drank raw goats milk and I would recommend you to purchase this if you can find a reliable and trustworthy source. You don't just buy raw goat's milk from anybody however. It needs to be purchased from a reputable, clean and healthy farm. But if you can not fnd a good source of raw milk or if it is illegal to purchase and sell raw milk in your state then this company is good. The milk has a wonderful taste and it's not "goaty" tasting. Redwood Hill sells goat's milk, keifer and yogurt. The yogurt I found to be pretty pricy at $2.19 per 8oz. cup, so I only purchase that as an occasional treat. The yogurt is very flavorful and not bland at all. I also enjoy the keifer in smoothies or plain.

I have several companies that I purchase my goat cheese from and there are many types to choose from. I find Trader Joe's to be one of the best suppliers of goat cheese and they have many varieties. Their prices are very reasonable compared to some of the other stores in my area.

Goat dairy still may not be an alternative for those who are severely lactose intolerant. However for those who are only slightly dairy sensitive, goat's milk can be a wonderful alternative which neither sacrifices nutrition, variety, nor flavor.

Dairy Alternatives: Almond Cheese (Lisanatti Foods)

To wrap up my reports on almond "dairy", I'd like to do a review on almond cheese. This is actually the first time that I've ever eaten almond cheese. I figured however, that since I've blogged about almond yogurt and almond milk a post on almond cheese would make the series complete. Surprisingly enough, I found the almond cheese to be "not too bad." Since it was in the mozzarella style, which is fairly bland anyway, the almond mozzarella wasn't far off from the real thing. Almond mozzarella cheese was close to passing my taste test as being a satisfactory alternative to cow dairy cheese.

The real test however would come later on in the evening when I would make my all natural, gluten free, tomato free, meat free and dairy free pizza. Yes I went into the kitchen to make my ultimate pizza, and I wanted to see how this almond "cheese" would fair with the melting test. Once I made my pizza I discovered that the almond cheese did melt. However, dont expect the ozzey gooey type of melting that you'd expect from regular mozzarella cheese. This cheese is far less melty than that. I believe however that this cheese will serve as a decent alternative for mozzarella made from cow dairy. Almond cheese does pass the test!

If you are interested in trying almond cheese stay tuned to my blog, and I'll post a nice pizza recipe later on this week!

Almond Milk; A Great Dairy Alternative!

This week I'm introducing varying products that serve as substitutes for dairy. Yesterday I wrote about Amande almond yogurt. Today's post features Silk almond milk. I've tried many different foods and diets over time, always with the intention of improving my health. I gave up drinking cow's milk almost 18 years ago, however I continued to eat cultured milk products such as yogurt, keifer, and yes I still had a weakness for cheese and an occasional ice cream. Oh and did I forget to mention my intermittant flings with cheesecakes? Now I'm really making a concerted effort to eliminate cow dairy from my diet and I know that I'm not alone if making this effort. There are many people out there who are lactose intolerant or vegan who are eliminating cow dairy from their diet.

As I mentioned previously, I stopped drinking cow's milk many years ago. This led me to seek out alternatives to cow's milk. The first and worst that I tried was powdered soy milk. I don't even remember the bland. I mean brand. ;-) It was awful though. I
only used it to bake my cornbread. My aunt introduced it to me when I first moved to California,and since I lived with her, that was pretty much my main option. Once I moved out on my own, I switched to soy milk in the carton. For some reason though, I
could never bring myself to enjoy soy milk. I'd bake with it, but wouldn't be caught dead dunking a chocolate chip cookie in it. That taste was just off to me. Further on in my quest for a suitable milk, I found rice milk. Specifically, I used Rice Dream brand. I liked it much better than soy milk, and I'd even dunk (an all natural)cookie in it. It was definitely an improvement from the soy milk for me.

Finally, when I was becoming more conscious about my carb intake, I discovered the joys of almond milk. It had less carbs, more protein and more calcium than rice milk. I was sold and have been driking almond milk ever since. I mostly use it for baking, and making smoothies. I rarely drink it alone, (except with cookies). However, whenever I do need to go cookie dunking, I can rest assured that Silk Almond Milk has a delicious and refreshing tast.

Dairy Alternatives

You know, recently I've been out and about trying new foods to help me along with my new diet. I went to visit the iridologist last week and he gave me an interesting overview of my health based on viewing my blood and looking into my eyes. If you can get up some money to visit an iridologist, I'd highly recommend it. So interestingly enough, he referred me to the Eat Right for Your Type diet, by D'adamo, which I was highly familiar with already. That was one of the first diets that I've ever really tried to follow, and I do remember liking the results that I got from that diet, however for some reason I didn't stick with it beyond a year. Probably because of the expense. I followed a few more diets later on in life to include Atkins, which and initially got good weight loss results with, but never felt quite natural eating so much meat.

Now I'm returning to my roots. For my blood type (A) I'm encouraged to follow a much more vegetarian type diet, which is cool because I felt that I was headed in that direction any way. I had already implemented my live food only Fridays and vegetarian night on Thursday. My body felt as though it was calling for less meat.

For those of you who are also suffering from allergens or have special diets, I will be trying some interesting new products and recipes and I'm sure that many of you will be able to put my reviews and article to good use.

This weeks feature is dairy alternative. Yes dairy is something that I have to greatly reduce in my diet. As an African American woman and a person who has type A blood, I have to limit my dairy. Now quite honestly that's a bit of a switch because I love yogurt and cheese. Milk I don't really drink anyway, as I switched over to almond milk years ago.

The product being featured here is almond milk yogurt. The almond milk has been cultured to provide you an alternative to dairy milk yogurt. The price wasn't too bad at $1.49 here in a San Diego health food chain called Sprouts. (Formerly known as Henry's) The flavor is a little different than what most are used to for yogurt. I'd say that it is an acquired taste and may take some getting used to. However, I could get used to it as it is not a "bad" taste. Almond yogurt is healthy for you not only because of the high calcium content of almonds, but also because you get the benefits of the probiotics that are present in yogurt, without the allergic reactions that cow's milk tends to cause.

Overall I'd say that the Amande (cultured yogurt) was worth the try. The flavor was a bit bland, but a substitute that is worth trying if you are highly allergic to dairy but desire to eat yogurt. Try the raspberry flavor, I like that one the best.