Nell’s Top Five
…Things I Miss About Not Eating Dairy
Last year, I went to the doctor because I’d had the flu for weeks and was coughing so much my husband threatened a divorce since he couldn’t sleep at night because of me. When I was there, she asked about other illnesses and I told her about my severe eczema, and she said to me to quit dairy.
So I went home and googled and yes, it seemed like a lot of people with eczema got better after quitting dairy, so I gave it a go. One year later, my skin is so healthy and smooth I can hardly believe it. I don’t have any problems with my eczema anymore, and I’m much happier.
So not eating dairy is totally worth it, I’m not going back. That being said, there are some things I really, really miss. (And I know there are substitutes for a lot of these things, but here in Malaysia the dairy-substitutes are rare. Malaysians don’t eat a lot of dairy, so they don’t really need substitutes. Back in Sweden though, it’s a totally different story.)
- Butter. Is there anything yummier than spreading butter on a warm, fresh-from-the-oven piece of bread, let it melt, and then gobble it down? I don’t think so.
- Blue cheese. I LOVE blue cheese, I’ve loved it since I was a little kid. Seriously, how many small children do you know who eat blue cheese? Well, I did.
- Pizza. Melted cheese is the best thing ever. I actually found a block of soy cheese in the grocery store a few months back, and I bought it and thought I’d make homemade pizza. So I did. Problem was, the darned thing didn’t melt. So I had a hard, sad crust and unmelted cheese. I’m not saying I cried…but I’m not saying I didn’t either 😀
- Any other Italian food. Yeah, I order the food that doesn’t contain cream or the mozzarella or any other dairy bombs. But I cry inside every time I ask them to leave the parmigiano off.
- Milk. A glass of ice cold milk and a hot cinnamon roll *sigh* (Swedes don’t eat cinnamon rolls for breakfast. We have them for fika. With nib sugar instead of icing.)
What would you miss if you had to quit dairy?
Nell Iris 
Avoiding dairy altogether would be rough. Kudos to you for sticking to it!
Ice cream would top my list, but butter would also be high on it. Your vision of warm buttered bread makes me want to bake a loaf. I already avoid most Italian because of a tomato intolerance, but love pizza from Pie Five using either olive oil or garlic butter in lieu of tomato sauce, so I would miss that, too.
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Recently (like a couple weeks ago) I actually found a place here in Kuala Lumpur that sells vegan ice cream, made from coconut milk, or almond- or cashew milk. They make it in the store without preservatives or additives or artificial flavors, and it’s super yummy. My husband – who’s an ice cream purist – loves it too 🙂
If I hadn’t found that place, ice cream would have been on my list too 😀
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My vegan daughter loves the coconut ice cream, too.
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