I’ve been dairy-free since I was born but didn’t know until I was 15 – in a way I’m glad I didn’t know as I’d have missed out on ice cream on holiday… although had I known I wouldn’t have had a cold for most of my childhood! I’m not allergic to lactose but I’m allergic to anything with cow’s milk in it and I can have sheep and goat’s milk/cheese. Oddly a bit of butter in cooking and a small amount of milk chocolate don’t affect me too much. It’s easy when I’m cooking as I know what I can and can’t have but much harder to explain and I hate being the difficult house guest!
To make life harder I decided to go pescatarian in 2017. My partner made the switch to vegetarian in 2010 and then pescatarian in 2015. I thought with the dairy allergy it would be too difficult for me to go pescatarian however after cooking mostly veggie meals for seven years I realised it was possible. There has also been a rise in vegan options in most restaurants in the last five years, making it viable to eat out!
To add to the complication in our home my partner developed an intolerance to milk in 2017, I think it was all the cheese I fed him as a veggie! We aren’t sure what he is intolerant to but most dairy affects him except for really old cheeses and butter in cooking. He however hates goat’s milk or cheese, I’ve tried sneaking it into cooking but he notices every time!
So for cheese in our house, we either have separate ones or I use Manchego, it’s one of the only crossover cheeses!! Milk wise I use goat for myself and oat for him and cooking.
I’m planning to use this blog to share some recipes and thoughts about food. I don’t really know what I’m doing so apologies if anything doesn’t work! I thought it might be helpful for other amateurs and other dairy-free cooks!
For any recipes, I’m hoping to note important utensils at the beginning – I’m assuming most people have the basics like a pan and knife etc, but if there is something paramount to the recipe like a food processor or baking beans/rice then I have noted it. A couple of times in the past I’ve got excited by a recipe and then halfway through reading it I discover I don’t have an important utensil so I thought it would be useful to highlight these in my recipes when needed!
Hopefully, you’ll enjoy joining me on my journey of experimenting and hacking recipes to make them work for a dairy-free home!
Speaker Face Pepper Bird 