I am sugar free and was dairy free for a while too. We just stopped any form of sugar and left it out of normal recipes. Obviously you can't bake though which is strange at first, but the after two years of sugar free I don't even see baked goods as food.

The faster you stop thinking in terms of sweet, the easier it is, so I didn't try other sugars, just cut out sweet things entirely (even fruit). You will find raw nuts taste sweet when you don't eat anything else sweet, and a range of bitter flavours are more palatable (lettuce for eg).

I now eat butter, but I used to live on homemade hommus and corn crackers or avocado or boiled eggs for snacks.
Thanks this is my aim. I wasnt sure what to do for lunches for the kids but you have great ideas with eggs and dip etc.
What corn crackers do you use?