I discovered I have an allergy to dairy last year and that was a tough pill to swallow for an Italian girl who grew up eating cheese on almost everything. I am talking cheese on loaded stuffed shells, mac n cheese and pizza; I could go on and on. I have suffered from stomach problems for as long as I can remember, and dairy isn’t easy for adults to digest, so it probably was a food item I should have removed from my diet anyway. This allergy is just the swift kick that I needed to get me to nix the dairy.
So here we are, a year later and still no dairy for me. While the very occasional organic parmesan cheese and feta cheese is ok on my belly when I want to cheat, I keep my dairy consumption to a minimum …like my monthly Greek Salad at Urth Caffe that I just can’t live without. I thought removing dairy from my diet was going to be incredibly difficult however, after saying bye bye to milk products my stomach feels so much better. I really don’t think about or crave cheese anymore. CRAZY, right! Don’t worry, I never was a big ice cream eater so that part didn’t bother me.
Yogurt was always a staple part of my morning breakfast or a mid-day snack. When I stopped eating dairy, yogurt was immediately deleted from the grocery list. It wasn’t until a few weeks ago, when I was perusing the dairy aisle for my husband’s Greek yogurt, that I came across a brand called Forager, an organic (YAY!) cashew-based yogurt. They call it Cahsewgurt. I decided to pick up blueberry, strawberry and vanilla and give them each a try. Yep, the ruling is out Forager Cashewgurt is amazing! I might have mentioned in a previous blog post that my friends have dubbed me the “snack queen” because I am always packing snacks wherever I go; so, let’s just say I am pretty excited to add another snack to the rotation. Yeah, I am a food geek, but hey a girl likes to eat!
When I want to make my dairy free Forager Cashewgurt into more of a filling snack, I add in fresh organic seasonal fruit, granola and a sprinkle of chia and flaxseeds. I am now a bit happier because being dairy free isn’t such a bummer with Forager Cashewgurt! If you have a favorite dairy free yogurt definitely do share in the comments below!
