Non-dairy, etc.

There are some dairy items that I like to have occasionally, but aren't things I need every day like cream in my coffee. After sorting out the basics of non-dairy replacements, like cream and butter, I decided to do some further exploration. So I've delved into more non-dairy products that would be nice to have as options. Because life would be better with sour cream, cream cheese, ranch dressing and mac n' cheese, right?

Here's what I've tried so far...

Sour Cream

I bought some Tofutti Sour Supreme sour cream at Safeway. I love sour cream and could eat it straight. I especially like it on burritos and baked potatoes. I was excited to try to the Tofutti non dairy sour cream and just dug into it with a spoon when I got home. Oh, lord. It was not good. It was off white, flavorless and while the consistency was thick, it was not creamy. I was very disappointed and threw it out.

Cream Cheese

I picked up some Follow Your Heart vegan cream cheese at Whole Foods.

I’ve tried this on Wheat Thins and also on whole wheat bread with turkey. I don't feel like I'm eating real cream cheese, but it’s not bad. It's not as creamy and sinful tasting as regular cream cheese. It's kind of like when you get something non-fat or low-fat and it's just not as good as the full fat version, but it's edible. If I eat it with the idea that it is just a spread, then I think it’s ok. So maybe it's about expectations? At any rate, it's nice to know this cream cheese is out there as an option. I will probably have it again every now and then, but it won't be something that I will buy every week, like almond milk.

Ranch Dressing

When we went to Razzi’s and I tried the pizza with Daiya cheese, I also tried their vegan ranch dressing on my dinner salad. I was convinced it would be awful, but amazingly, I was proven wrong. Their vegan ranch is the bomb! I almost couldn’t tell it wasn’t regular ranch. If they had brought it to me and said it was regular ranch, I’m not sure I would have known the difference. It’s that good. I will absolutely order it next time we go there. I loves me some ranch.

Mac n Cheese (Or "Cheeze")

Never one to pass on an opportunity for mac n’ cheese, I snapped up some Amy’s Dairy Free Rice Macaroni and Cheeze at Whole Foods. I like fancy mac n’ cheese – like the kind they have at the High Life. However, I also like boxed mac ' cheese. My all-time favorite of any mac n' cheese out there is Kraft Macaroni and Cheese Spirals. Just thinking about it makes my mouth water. I know, it’s trashy, but what can I say? So, I had high hopes for the Amy’s mac n’ cheese. I extracted it from its box and examined the contents:  a frozen, pale orange block in small tray.

 
Well, microwavable food never looks that great before it gets microwaved. Undaunted, I followed the directions on the box and in minutes my dinner was ready. The “cheeze” in this meal is another Daiya cheese. I took a big bite and promptly burned the living shit out of my tongue and the roof of my mouth. After recovering, I blew on the next bite to cool it off and then tasted it. Hmmm. It didn’t have a ton of flavor, so I proceeded to add a healthy dose of pepper.

Then I took another bite. The macaroni was kind of squishy, but it wasn’t terrible. And the cheeze? It was bland and gluey. I tried to keep eating it and made my way through about three quarters of the serving. Then I threw the rest away. What a letdown. I like a lot of other Amy’s products, like the dairy free burritos (which are awesome and I eat at least two per week), but I won’t be buying the Dairy Free Rice Macaroni and Cheeze again. Bummer.

I'm going to keep trying different brands of mac n' cheese and sour cream, though. You never know - there might be something delightful out there waiting to be discovered. In the meantime, I've been hugely successful with finding dairy free frozen treats. So stay tuned for that!