Milk is a real challenge for someone on a whole food, plant based diet.
Plant milks are abundant but often have a lot of chemicals to add whiteness, creaminess or stabilizers to make it mimic the milk we are all used to!
I was using Almond Milk for awhile then discovered there really wasn’t much almond about it. Not to mention, nut milks are high in fat!
Recently I tried oat milk. I might cook with it but it resembles dirty dishwater to me.
For the last year I’ve been using So Delicious Unsweetened coconut milk or their yogurt for my dishes. It was 35 calories a cup with 20 fat calories. As little as I used I thought it worked fine for soups and salad dressings.
I had trouble finding my So Delicious Milk for about a week and noticed the label was changed when it appeared back on the shelves. As I suspected, the ingredients changed too and I was not real happy about the ingredients.
Searching once again for the perfect milk replacement, I was at a loss. I don’t wish to use soy milk because I was to enjoy tofu on rare occasions. There is too much controversy around soy and hormones!
I decided to try cooking a cup of organic white rice with 4 cups of water. When it was done, I blended it with a can or organic coconut milk that had nothing on the label except COCONUT! It turned out pretty good! The rice thickened the milk. It does settle so I have to shake it, but at least I know what I am getting.
You can make your own almond milk as well but you have to soak the almonds and remove the skins which can be quite tedious. Otherwise you have brown milk and who wants THAT?
By now you have to know that cashews make a good cream by simply blending a cup of cashews soaked in water. Add a little more water and make milk. I use cashew cream to make “cheese”, yogurt, sour cream or just a creamy sauce. (A blended potato makes a creamy sauce too for far less calories).
I hear about people struggling to find the perfect creamer for their coffee. Considering the chemicals in traditional creamers, I imagine nothing will really be a great substitute for what one is used to. Personally I was using fat free “blue” milk before I adapted to my WFPB diet and it was not pleasing in my coffee.
I would suggest my rice/coconut milk but I would LOVE to hear from anyone who thinks they found the prefect creamer!
