some tasty things that I might not have eaten without this diet.

[snugglekitty]

Here are some dairy-replacement items (and other unusual protein sources) that I have tried in the past week, while on my elimination diet, that I think are quite good. I want to again thank trouble4hire for helping me figure these out and encouraging me to pick up as much as I wanted to try out. That was brilliant.

Whole Earth Natural Spread. This is about a gazillion times better than Spectrum. I can hardly tell the difference between that and real butter. Best of all, it melts on toast.
Soya Kaas Monterey Jack Style. This tastes and acts like a processed dairy cheese. Much better than their mozarella style. I would like to try the cheddar.
Homemade whitefish salad. The store kind generally has eggs. I got a package of smoked whitefish, removed skin and bones after some false starts, and blended it with a small amount of water, lime juice, and artichoke pesto. (Postproduction, some oil was also added.) EXTREMELY tasty. I made it to have on bagels but I'm also looking forward to trying it on crackers as a pate.
Soy cream cheese. Frankly, I am positive I could not tell the difference in a blind taste test. Also, it comes in a small container, and I'm happy about that. I think it would make great frosting, too. Vegan carrotcake, anyone?
Soy yogurt. Again, I couldn't tell the difference. Alas, I was unable to find a rice-less version in "plain" flavor to use in savory dishes, but that's life.
Tahini-based babaganoush. Often, I can't have babaganoush because it's based in hummus, and I can't have chickpeas. The tahini kind is safe for me, full of protein, and very very tasty.
Hemp milk. I tried this to replace soymilk, which is where most of the soy used to happen in my diet. Since I'm having a lot of soy in other forms these days, I wanted to try something different. This is different! It is about equivalent to soymilk for stuff like cereal (a more watery texture, like skim milk instead of two percent, but not chalky) and it is better than soymilk in cooking (no chalky taste or texture). So far the only place I'm not happy with it is as a chai base - it seems to not have enough fat for that.

There have been many others, but those have been my favorites so far. I will keep y'all apprised as more come along.

Comments

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

FYI, and I hate to say this because I know it's hasn't been an easy week for you, but unless they changed very recently, Soya Kaas is dairy.

(And side note, for a "buttery spread", I go with Earth Balance.)

[lady-anemone.livejournal.com]

Fuck. Fuckity fuckity fuck. You're right, it has casein in it.

*mope*

I'm glad you told me, though.

[rekling.livejournal.com]

I second the Earth Balance suggestion. (Or, if the price is better, Soy Garden).

Also as an FYI, Tofutti Cream Cheese comes in two varieties of plain, with different color packaging. Apparently, one of them has some sort of transfats (or maybe hydrogenated oil something)in it, and the other does not, so I'd say double check ingredients, if you are thinking about general health.

Silk and Whole Soy both make plain soy yogurt, though only in the large containers, and they still contain sugar. There's finally a brand called Wild Wood (or maybe Wildwood) that is sold by Whole Foods, that does not have sugar in it, but I've yet to try it, or even read the ingredients. I've never heard of another brand of vegan yogurt, sadly.

It's supposedly quite easy to make your own if you have some mason jars, and a bit of soy yogurt as a starter...so maybe if you found a rice free one, even it if had flavor, you could use it as a starter, and in a few batches, it wouldn't have a taste?

Soy yogurt with a zero sugar content is *quite* bitter, just as a heads-up.

-Rek

[heresiarch.livejournal.com]

trader joe's sells smoked herring in a tin that tastes pretty much EXACTLY like whitefish salad to me. mash it up, add a little olive oil and whatever else, and it would make a great bagel spread with possibly less effort than deboning.

i've also been stocking up on tinned sardines and anchovies which are delicious and high in calcium and omega-3s and low in mercury. i love sardines mashed on toast or rye crackers, and both are good sauteed in olive oil and used for pasta sauce. i can't remember if tomatoes are out or not for you, though.