Meal Plans for Dairy Alternatives

Goal:  Remove dairy from your life, completely (including whey), except plain yogurt only.

Strategies: 

• Replace dairy cheese with vegan cheese.
  Make your own vegan cheeses. They are easy to make and considerably less expensive than store-bought.
• Replace dairy milk with unsweetened non-dairy milk. Cashew milk is closest to the flavor of dairy milk but other nut milks and hemp milk are delicious too. Soy milk is also acceptable but needs to be kept at a minimum since too much soy can inhibit thyroid function. Coconut milk is also acceptable but not recommended because of the high fat content.
• Become familiar with nutritional yeast. It has a cheesy flavor and is often the basic flavor used in vegan cheeses.
• Replace your dairy ice cream with cashew or soy ice cream or banana nice cream.
• Use plain yogurt in place of sour cream as a condiment.
• Tofu can be a great alternative to dairy cheeses like ricotta and cottage.
• Use nut-based protein powders like PB2 instead of whey.

Equipment: Kitchen Gadgets that will assist your transition.

• Food processor
• High powered blender
• Colander

Breakfast: Acorn Squash Breakfast Bowl. Coffee with nut milk. (Adds 8 ounces of CSV and 6 ounces of vegetables per serving)

Snack: Mesquite Garbanzo Beans and/or Whole Fresh Fruit.

Lunch: Bowl of Moroccan Vegetable Soup. Sprinkle with Vegan Parmesan.
(10 ounces of vegetables per serving plus 2 ounces of CSV)

Snack: 2 ounces of Curry Lime Cashews and/or Whole Fresh Fruit

Dinner: Chicken with Roasted Vegetables (Optional: Top with Vegan Pepperjack Cheese. (10 ounces of vegetables per serving)

Dessert: Balsamic Baked Pears – Nice cream and smoothies make a great dessert as well.

Day 2

Breakfast: Southwestern Omelet (Optional: Top with Vegan Provolone Cheese) (3 ounces of vegetables per serving)

Snack: Fire Roasted Tomato Hummus with 10 ounces of raw vegetables (16 ounces of vegetables per serving)

Lunch: Butternut Squash Penne (10 ounces of CSV and 6 ounces of vegetables per serving)

Snack: 2 ounces of Almonds or any raw, unsalted nut or nut blend and whole Fresh Fruit of choice.

Dinner: Vegan Fettuccini Alfredo  (5 ounces of vegetables per serving)

Dessert: Raspberry Nice Cream Whole Fresh Fruit and smoothies make a great dessert as well.