sparky76's Profile

I'm lactose intolerant and have been for years. Chill out about it and you'll have a great time eating together.

Here's some dairy your bf should still be able to eat:
- yogurt with live cultures
- sharp cheddar, goat cheese, and feta are fine, as are most hard cheeses such as parmesan - the aging eats up the lactose
- any Cabot brand cheese, honestly this changed my life, they all have 0g lactose, even Pepper Jack
- Cabot cottage cheese is fine, but many other brands aren't - again check for live cultures

If you've got to have ice cream, check out Soy Dream and Double Rainbow soy ice cream. Tofutti Cuties are delicious and fun. Lactaid milk is OK, it's a little sweeter than regular milk due to the processing. If you can spring for organic lactose-free milk that's a real treat!

Any recipe that uses milk, you can substitute soy milk. Go for the Silk, it tastes better and isn't at all chalky.

Earth Balance is the best-textured margarine with the least gunk in it.

If you want to bake treats, I cannot recommend enough the Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World! cookbook. SO SO worth it and even dairy-eaters have told me best cupcakes EVER.

Finally, agreed that this is an excellent time to investigate Asian cooking of all types. Over half the world is lactose-intolerant. Enjoy the variety!

Just wanted to chime in and offer a few thoughts...
* An easy, if possibly unpleasant, way to test for lactose intolerance vs. casein problems is to drink several mouthfuls of 100% lactose-free milk (Lactaid makes one). If it sits fine, you are probably just lactose-intolerant. If you have the same problems you've been having, it is probably the casein.

* Cabot brand is very proud of its 100% lactose-free cheeses. Sharp cheddar in general is OK for the lactose intolerant, and Cabot's cottage cheese is the only one I can eat. You can find it at Trader Joe's and health food stores.

* I have noticed that some "full fat" Greek yogurts add cream! That is the problem, not the yogurt. I have learned to read labels even for yogurt thanks to some, er, unpleasant episodes.

* I drank milk growing up but also realize I was pretty unwell most of my life, until learning in my early 30s I was lactose intolerant.

* Lactose intolerance works on a continuum - I can tolerate a little milk in my morning coffee, but that is it for the day. Some can have a slice of cheese on a sandwich.

* For the record, organic lactose-free milk (i.e. Organic Cow) tastes SO MUCH BETTER than larger commercial brands. So if you're going to go that route, pay the extra for organic. So worth it.

* Finally, vegan baking cookbooks are awesome and will remove so much sadness from festive events. My favorite is Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World.