Goodbye Dairy

So DD has had some burping issues and I was talking with my neighbour about it. She said her daughter had the same problem and it turned out that she was lactose intolerant so she had to go off all dairy while she was breastfeeding and it solved the problem.
Now I am pretty sure that DD is not lactose intolerant as she doesnt have tummy aches every day, probably only 2 times a week.

BUT it got m thinking. I have a LOT of dairy, which probably isn't good for me.. or DD.

My sister has many food allergies and I have made cakes and food for her before and they have tasted good, but seeing as though I wasnt allergic, I didnt bother making the special foods for me.

I will usually have milk with cereal, 2 milky hot chocolates, cheese in sandwhiches AND half a tub of yogurt each day.. Its a bit exccesive.

So I have decided to switch the milk first, And I enjoy rice milk. It is actually really tastey! I just enjoyed my first rice milk hot chocolate and I loved it.
I would love to go off cheese too because I eat it like its chocolate, I'll eat a kilo of the stuff every 2 weeks!

I just want to eat healthy, Im not out to loose weight, there is no way I would let myself go hungry, but I am finding that my craving for chocolate is starting to go away, so I could probably start to eat healthy if I want to. And I want to.

I still will eat dairy as I need it, but I am trying to replace the goodness with nuts and other forms of calcium & protein.

So the point of this post is.. Can anybody suggest a healthier replacement for cheese, or/and yoghurt.. that tastes good?
Is anybody lactose intolerant? If so, what do you replace your dairy with?

There is no replacement for cheese. I've never found one. Just kiss it goodbye, be strong for 6 weeks or so, and after that you'll find you don't even miss it. It's just a whole lot of fat, salt and cholesterol that you really don't need.
To add protein to your sandwiches, use nut butters, or tahini, or an easier way is to use a dip, home made or store bought. Hommus, chunky Thai, Praise 97% fat free mayo is dairy free, and check out Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese, it's dairy free, and handy for making your own dips. Also plenty of dip recipes in the Vegetarian Chatter threads.
Soy yoghurt replaces yoghurt quite happily, but you could also try having some canned fruit, or a soy/rice milk smoothie. (if you don't like most soy milk, try Bonsoy or Vitasoy Soy Milky, they're both quite neutral tasting)
Nuttelex, your dairy free margarine, is the best choice, i think. I got hooked on it long before I gave up dairy, I just love the taste.

To up your calcium, go for unhulled tahini, which is a great source. White beans and leafy greens are good too. Also, if you still eat meat, increase the amount of meat you eat that is cooked on the bone, especially boiled-bone broths, as you can really get a lot from them. But you may need to boost your Ca. I have always done it anyway.

Oh Thanks! That sounds easy enough, A change in the way I shop I guess :)
I will say goodbye to cheese today :( Our next door neighbour works at a cheese factory and often gives us bags of goodies, that will be hard to resist. But I guess I can always feed it to dh :)

I'm trying to reduce the amount of dairy I consume too as I suspect it's playing havoc with my skin... spots and facial eczema.... I loosely follow the Blood Type diet and dairy is not good for type A's like me.

Bonsoy is the best of the soy milks but people are starting to say negative things about soy milks now so I'm not sure what to think. Also i have to be really careful about iodine levels as it's poison to me ATM with my thyroid condition... and some soy milks are very high in iodine. I have tried oat and almond milks and whilst I'm a fairly non fussy person I can't seem to get a taste for them... they taste too bitter. *sigh*

Tahini is lovely... I should definitely use more of that.

Ive never liked the smell of soy milk which is why I didn't start on it. Rice milk seems to taste better to me.
Tahini is a bit like peanut butter isnt it? I do like peanut butter!

Tahini is one of the ingredients in hommous. I find unlike peanut butter I have to mix tahini with things to make it yummier. But it is very healthy.

Tahini is great when added to soups, makes it really creamy and good. You can make a great salad dressing or stir fry sauce with it, and I have also been known to have it with soy ice cream.

Also, if you can buy it fresh, it is SO much better than out of a jar, and good enough to eat from a spoon.

Bath - people have said stuff about soy for a long time. Tune in to some of what gets said against dairy - it's drowned out by a cow milking industry, but if you delve hard enough, it's there, and there's arguments for and against both.
Bonsoy was actually pulled from sale earlier this year due to high iodine levels, but I've noticed it's back on shelves, so assume the problem is fixed? The Vitasoy Soy Milky (from the fridge, not the long life stuff) is a really good option. I love it. Except in porridge, when I have So Good.

there is an alternative to cheese which you can order from a company in melb. i am lactose intolarant and its what i eat. if you want i can pm you the link to the website that i order from.

That would be greatly appreciated! I'm still eating it, just cutting back.

I've been dairy free for over 3 years now as my DD is allergic to dairy and intolerant to soy. I use rice milk and nuttlex as well. I do use goats cheese on things occasionally because it has less caesen protein when my DD is actually allergic too, its actually not lactose, but the cows milk protein.

I have found that weaning myself off cheese, but eliminating all cows milk, yoghurt and butter which is high in the proteins was the best thing for me to do. I don't do any yoghurt now at all. I had to alternate my snacks to things like hummous and carrots and other things.... HTH!

Well done! I love my yohgurt too much. I think I really am a dairy addict.. Iam funding it so hard to go off the dairy. Although I have been using the rice milk now and I love the green vitasoy one as it froths up in the milk frother and tastes delicious!

Both of my DS's and I are cows milk protein intolerant (which is much more common than lactose intolerance). I used not to be too strict about it, but we are now vigilant. DS1 occasionally has a little bit of dairy sneak in, but I read every label and am very cautious about what I eat lest it upsets DS2. I found it took me 6-8 weeks to get past really craving it, but I did, and I have also found some great ways of feeding us all so we (mostly) don't feel like we're missing out (DH and I are dying for my lasagne!!!). DS1 likes rice milk to drink and for cereal etc. I find it a bit sweet (although that makes it great for cooking sweet things) and prefer oat milk, but we've recently found out that DS2 is oat intolerant so I've had to switch to rice milk.

We're all soy intolerant too, so none of that is consumed in this house either.