Going Dairy Free: Two Months On

Back in April, I made the decision to try and cut down my dairy consumption. I spoke a little bit about it, at the time, in this blog post, and, fast forward two months and here we are. I'm still limiting the amount of dairy I consume and I haven't bought cow's milk nor a block of cheese in over two months - wahey! (As someone who used to eat a lotttt of cheese on her bolognese, this is quite the accomplishment!) So, I thought it was about time I updated y'all on how I've been getting on...

Why did I cut out dairy?

Now, I mentioned in the aforementioned blog post the reasons for cutting out dairy, but I figured I'd recap them here, just in case you missed that post...

Firstly, there is a lot of discussion online surrounding the possible link between dairy and acne. I've mentioned it a million times now, but, my skin is not great. I've had acne for yeaaaars now, and I figured that cutting out dairy could potentially be the answer to all my prayers. What did I have to lose?

Well, update: I haven't noticed a massive change in my skin but I definitely feel better generally. I am nowhere near as bloated as I once was and I just feel so much better. I mean, it could all be a bit of a  placebo, but so far, so good, and I'm definitely going to stick to it.

The second reason behind this diet change was, of course, environment related. I'm sure you've all heard it before and you don't need me to ramble on about it... It's 2019 and we really are out here trying to turn things around.

So, how have I been finding the dairy alternatives? 

Almond Milk - is a big fat no from me. I really didn't like how it tasted in tea, nor in porridge or cereal. I mean, I'm not a massive fan of almonds, so maybe that has something to do with it... Almond milk was the first dairy-free product I tried but thankfully it didn't put me off completely! I personally wouldn't recommend it at alllll, but it's all about personal preference, yanno?

Soya Milk - is what I currently have on my cereal. I buy the unsweetened cartons from Aldi, they're less than a pound, and I like how they taste. I mean, they don't taste like a lot, but they're certainly not offensive! I've used this to make both pancakes and toad in the hole, and I've liked the results... It's not quite the same as cow's milk, but it's still good. As for in tea, it's also alright. It's not particularly creamy but if no other options are available it's more than good enough.

Oat Milk - the holy grail. I initially tried an oat milk from Asda's free from range, and that was fab! It was amazing in porridge and pancakes, and also made a fab cup of tea. Unfortunately, we don't have an Asda particularly locally, so I haven't had this one again since. I have, however, discovered the absolute joy that is Oatly Barista Oat Milk. In a tea, it's fab! It's really quite thick and creamy, two things that the other milk alternatives I've tried haven't been. If I was out and could choose any alternative to have in my tea, it would 100% be this one!

I am not being particularly strict with other dairy products, so I am still eating cheese and clotted cream if I'm out and about. This gal isn't about to turn down a cream tea, is she? But, one other thing I have tried are the Alpro Velvet Vanilla Soya Desserts. They look like custard, they taste like custard, and so get two big thumbs up from me.

Now that I've written this post, it has dawned on me how few dairy-free alternatives I've actually tried... My bad. I'll be sure to  test a few more out and then I'll come back with an update! The next thing on my list is yoghurt - I tweeted a few weeks ago looking for yoghurt recommendations, so I'm going to start working my way through those - any recommendations?

Which is your favourite milk alternative?