[VeeJay]

Non-dairy BUTTER

Using Spectrum shortening (made from palm oil)
I added a few drops of butter flavoring (Capella brand)
and a little salt.

and

got a buttery spread for my low-carb bread and for vegetables (something other than olive or coconut oil)

Spectrum Shortening:
for 1 Tbsp
12g fat
-- Saturated Fat 6g
-- Trans fat 0g
-- polyunsaturated fat 1g
-- monounsaturated fat 5g

Not perfect (still a little bit of PUFA) but not nearly as much as non-dairy margarine.

 

[Odalisque1953]

I hope we can keep this thread open. IMHO its very helpful. I have been struggling with the dairy issue, as I definitely re act to HWC, though I am addicted to my ice coffee in the summer, BUT I can see, it is better when I refrain. I do like the coconut cream from the can (upside down, skimming off, etc.) in the blender with vanilla and stevia, but it is a bit more work....so for today I am doing black ice coffee....I wonder with the celiac condition if I stay off the dairy for a few months, maybe I can tolerate again.
Anyway, I am doing okay, and learning everyday. The forum is saving my life. I get good ideas from others, and see what a quirky struggle we all face....

 

[Shanny]

Our software automatically closes any thread that sits inactive for three months. We 'human beans' don't get a say in the matter.

 

[VeeJay]

Okay, in the interest of keeping this thread alive and well....

LC/diary-free coconut "yoghurt" smoothie:

In a 1-qt measure (the spout helps pour it out later)

1 can coconut "cream" (turn the can over and open the bottom end, pour off the liquid, and scoop out the thick "cream"). The mixture will blend better if this is at room temperature.

1 container of So Delicious dairy free cultured coconut milk, plain

Almond milk (fill the empty So Delicious container)

(optional)
1T Ultra Gel* (a powdered thickener that doesn't have to be heated to thicken).

__________

Whisk the liquids together until very smooth. If you want it thicker, then whisk in the gel. Pour into a jar with a lid and refrigerate.

I tested 1/2 cup as one serving.
My BG was 105 to start, 113 1hrpp, 107 2hrpp

I also stirred into my serving a liquid probiotic, added a couple drops of EZsweet, and 2 drops of a chocolate-raspberry flavoring. It was yummy.

Probiotic: Inner-eco fresh coconut water probiotic (found at Natural Grocers)

Gel: Cornaby's Ultra Gel. Ingredients: Modified Food Starch (Waxy Maise) This stuff is better than a gum as it doesn't make the food slimy. I think I purchased it at netrition .com

 

[chickpeaz]

Thank you so much for keeping this thread alive and fresh with new ideas. I'm new here but as a prediabetic with two prior GD pregancies, and currently 14 weeks into the latest round of insulin-dependent gestational diabetes, and also a pretty extreme milk sensitivity -- this information is rare and priceless to me. I wish I had something to add -- I'm still just *really* hungry and eating almonds all day long. Thanks again for the great ideas. I'll be implementing many of them ASAP.

 

[VeeJay]

Recently I've grown tired of using coconut cream as a replacement for dairy cream in a hot drink. My current formula is Almond Milk (which has no fats, but tastes good), Coconut Oil, and butter-flavored Palm Oil (a butter substitute). The Palm oil gives it that creamy mouth feel.

As usually, I flavor it with Capella's raspberry chocolate flavoring and sweeten with liquid sucrulose.

 

[VeeJay]

Another experiment.

While the above drink is good, I find that coconut oil and coconut milk just don't stay with me for long (certainly not like others report that dairy cream does).

I find that animal fat does keep me fueled up much better than vegetable fats.

The only animal fat I have is bacon grease but wasn't wanting to eat straight (couldn't quite bring myself to do this) so I mixed it half-n-half (1T/1T) with palm-oil shortening. Then I chopped up a small piece of deli ham and mixed that in. (The bacon grease was cold from the refrigerator and I didn't melt it, the shortening is soft-solid at room temp, so the result was semi-soft.)

I piled this on two Optimist crackers. It was actually pretty good. A definite smokey flavor and the mouth-feel was good, too. It would probably be very good with smoked herring (kippers) mixed in.

(I don't know why I'm so reluctant to eat solid bacon grease. After all, others eat butter straight. It just takes a bit of getting used to the idea I guess.)

 

[Janknitz]

I've had to come to the realization that dairy is not my friend, although I'm ok with butter and ghee one some cheeses occasionally. I particularly miss yogurt. So I've learned to make coconut yogurt. It's easy and delicious.

1 can of coconut milk. I'm currently using Nature's Way. It has no additives and it's in a bpa free can.

1 envelope of Yogourmet yogurt culture or the contents of one probiotic capsule

1 tsp unflavored gelatin

1 tsp sugar (this is for the bacteria, not you!)

I "incubate" in a vacuum thermos. Preheat by filling with hot water for at least five minutes before using.

Pour about 1/4 cup of room temperature coconut milk in a small bowl and mix it with the gelatin to "bloom" the gelatin.

Heat the remaining coconut milk gently until it is about 110 to 112 degrees. Remove from heat, stirring well. Add the gelatin mixture, the sugar, and the culture and mix well.

Pour the hot water out of the thermos and pour the coconut mixture in. Cover and put in an out of the way place for about 24 hours. Viola! Yogurt.

I love the flavor, especially with a handful of frozen blueberries.

If you don't have a thermos or a yogurt maker you'll have to find a way of maintaining the temperature. A jar in the oven with the light turned on works, you can put a jar in a food dehydrator, or in a styrofoam cooler in a hot water bath.

 

[VeeJay]

I've tried to make coconut milk yogurt without much success. I'm so glad you posted this recipe. I don't have a thermos, but it's worth getting one for this. (Much easier than in a jar in a water bath in the crock pot and trying to regulate the temperature.

 

[Janknitz]

I've tried to make coconut milk yogurt without much success. I'm so glad you posted this recipe. I don't have a thermos, but it's worth getting one for this. (Much easier than in a jar in a water bath in the crock pot and trying to regulate the temperature.

I'd highly recommend using the culture from Yogourmet, it makes it much easier, too. They have it at Whole Foods and I've seen it elsewhere, too.

 

[Janknitz]

Did you know you can make your own coconut and almond milks? It's a bit time consuming, but you avoid any additives and BPA packaging. It's much more economical. I find the homemade milks go bad quickly, so I tend to make it in small batches. And I often buy my coconut milk, for convenience sake. But all the commercial almond milks are full of stuff I don't want to put in my body, so if I want almond milk, I make it.

You will need a "nutsmilk bag". They sell nutsmilk bags on Amazon and at organic type stores for too much money (about $15). I bought a set of 5 fine-mesh produce bags at the same store for $5, and they work perfectly as nutsmilk bags--they wash up easily. Or if you can sew, you can make your own for pennies out of muslin or a fine mesh fabric.

Here goes:

For Almond Milk, soak 1 cup of raw almonds in 2 cups of cold filtered water with about 1/4 tsp of salt overnight. In the morning, pour off the soaking water and rinse the almonds thoroughly.

If you want to blanch the almonds, pinch the skins and they pop right out of them. It's fun for the first 10 or 20, but then it gets tedious. Make the kids do it. ;o)

Place the almonds in a blender (it doesn't need to be a high speed blender) with 3 cups of filtered water (more or less depending on how "thick" you want your almond milk) and blend away until you have a nice, milky liquid.

Put the nutsmilk bag over a container--I like to use a glass measuring cup since it's easier to pour the almond milk out. Catch the pulp in the nutsmilk bag and let the milk go into the container. When that is done, you will need to squeeze out the remaining liquid in the pulp with your hands. Put some muscle into it, get as much out as you can.

Voila! Almond milk. Some people doctor it up with a little vanilla and sweetener of your choice, but it's not necessary. Refrigerate and try to drink it up within 3 days.

Coconut milk is made much the same way, except you don't have to soak coconut overnight. Used 1 cup of dried coconut flakes (finely grated), 3 cups of hot water in the blender (You can vary the amount of water for thicker or thinner product). The rest is the same as for almond milk. I use rubber kitchen gloves to squeeze the milk out of the coconut pulp--I'm too impatient to wait for it to cool off.

Don't discard the pulp! Spread it out to dry. I have a dehydrator, but if you don't you can spread it out on a cookie sheet and dry at the lowest setting of the oven. When it's bone dry, grind it finely in your blender or food processor--now you have almond or coconut flour. 2 for 1!

 

[VeeJay]

25 diary-free desserts

I stumbled across this section on All Day I Dream About Food:

Best Low Carb Dairy Free Dessert Recipes | All Day I Dream About Food

I haven't looked them up yet but just being dairy free will be worth exploring.

 

[Odalisque1953]

Thanks for link. I'm looking forward also to checking this out.

 

[VeeJay]

:bump: (didn't want it to close on us for lack of activity).

Anyone have something new to add to this thread?

 

[helinhiH2O]

VeeJay, after reading a whole lot of this thread, I opened up Paleo magazine and saw a "business spotlight" on a relatively new US company which makes ghee, which is a step up from clarified butter. Last year I thought I was making ghee but it was probably just clarified butter. Both have the solids, which is where the casein is, removed. Ghee gets boiled which removes all the moisture. Have you bought or made ghee? If so, what do you think of it?

 

[Shanny]

I use ghee all the time, but I don't make my own. I get it from Amazon and the brand is Ancient Organics, located in Berkeley, California. And now that cold weather is upon us, I need to re-order - thanks for the reminder! (There are a few things like ghee and coconut oil that mustn't be shipped during summer. )

Ghee is indeed clarified butter, but clarified butter isn't necessarily always ghee.

 

[helinhiH2O]

Thanks, Shanny. That newish company I read about in Paleo magazine is OMGhee, which sounds very interesting.

 

[VeeJay]

I've tried ghee, admittedly only one brand that was at the health-food store. Couldn't tolerate it, so it must have had some casein in it. I may try out those other brands - some day.

 

[Odalisque1953]

Crazily, as I am the one who began this thread...
I was in the emergency room this summer, and after all the tests, etc.,came away with no diagnosis, even though it was mightily agreed something was wrong. I endured another "episode" a few days later on a trip to Las Vegas, and did not go to emergency as we knew what it wasn't...and my pcp pre-empted the third attack a week or so later, as I was beginning to feel uncomfortable....by a fluke about two weeks later, I figured it out. The nuts which I was eating had been processed in a facility with wheat. I began reading the labels, and almost all the commercial nuts (Diamond, Planter's, etc) have this distinction. And as gluten-free and low, carb, I do eat nuts. So I found a company Nuts.com and replaced the nuts and seeds with certified Gluten free; and I noticed that the next time I had Greek yogurt, that I did not feel queasy afterwards, so I think I am not dairy sensitive, I think I am a super sensitive celiac and that it was the nuts which were the problem.
And its a bit crazy, as I had stopped baking about a year ago, as every recipe that I used, led to stomach upset, and I was trying to figure it out, is it the coconut? Is it this, is it that? I looked at a new package of almond meal from Trader Joe's and their product is processed in a facility that processes wheat; so I switched to the Nuts.com certified gluten-free, and I am fine with it. If it hadn't happened to me, I would think I was NUTS! So my son now laughs, and says purportedly gluten free! You have to read the label on the back. But very glad that it is not probably a dairy sensitivity. Of course, the scary thing is that so much of our food isn't actually food, or has been added to, or processed to increase the chances for those of us who have these problems, to react.

 

[gotsomeold]

Oh wow,Odalisque1953! What a nightmare. Congratulations on figuring out you need to read not just the ingredients, but every word on every label. Can you eat out at all? So many 'gluten free' restaurants have no idea about cross-contamination (and serve barley as their 'gluten free' alternative). (I pretty much put the nail in that restaurant's coffin ..... but they were working hard to fail anyway).