Continuing on from Part 1 of Living a Dairy Free Life, In this post will be talking about the goodies side of eating Dairy Free. Things like yoghurt, ice-creams and chocolate. These were three of the hardest things I struggled with not eating when I had to go dairy free.

As I said in my last post I am writing from an Australians point of view in these posts as that is where I live. I know that the US and other countries may have other alternatives that I haven't talked about as they are not available here is Australia.

Yoghurt Alternatives:
Ok now we are getting into difficult territory. I don't think I ate yoghurt for years. I tried soy yoghurts every known and again but they react too much with me so I have to avoid them now. There have been a few yoghurt alternatives come to the party in the last few years but I have ended up opting to make my own.

Almond Milk Yoghurt: It is made from almond milk and a dairy free probiotic culture and a few other ingredients to help it set like yoghurt. It is a little time consuming but totally worth the effort if you are craving your yoghurt fix. I am not sure if you can actually buy this in Australia yet. I know it is available in the US. You can find my recipe for making it here. What I like about making my own yoghurt is I have control over the amount of sugar that I put into it. I found that any yoghurt I have bought has had lots of sugar added into it making it not that healthy. I even go as far as buying pesticide free almonds when I make the almond milk for it so it is really good from the start.

Coconut Yoghurt: This again is made from the flesh and milk of coconuts using a few other ingredients to give it a culture and set it like normal yoghurt. I didn't mind this yoghurt when I tried it however the cost of a small tub was a little over the top, and the amount of sugar in each tub was pretty high so I only really bought it for a special treat. I found I could only find this type of yoghurt in specialty health food shops as the local supermarket did not stock it. I know there are recipes out there telling you how to make your own Coconut Milk yoghurt from scratch and I imagine it would be the same principle of making Almond Milk Yoghurt.

Soy Yoghurt: Soy yoghurt is made using soy milk, adding yogurt bacteria and sweeteners to create a cultured yoghurt. You can find tubs of this in the yoghurt section of the supermarket and one that is quite easily found.

Lactose Free Yoghurt: Like lactose free milk which I mentioned in Part 1, this has had things added into the yoghurt to help your stomach digest it. As I said before it still contains dairy so may be difficult for you to digest. However you can only try it and see how you react.

Two other types of yoghurt that I have not mentioned is Sheep & Goats Milk yoghurt. Some people find these alternatives a bit easier to digest than normal cow's milk yoghurt. Again its all about what YOU can digest and like. These two types yoghurt do have a stronger flavour and you may not find them to you liking... or you might.

Ice Cream Alternatives:

Most ice-creams are made from milk and cream which is a BIG no no when you are trying to live on a dairy free diet. There are a few substitutions out there but you need to put your "creamy" ice cream desires aside and find a new love in sorbets and home made ice cream varieties.

Sorbet: is a frozen dessert made from sweetened water flavoured with and generally fruit purees. You can buy a few different flavours at the supermarket such as berry or mango. However there is not a huge variety. You can make your own if you want to have control over what flavour, amount of sweetener etc is in it. Most ice-cream shops do have a few sorbet flavours available and I have noticed some have even created a dairy free chocolate sorbet using dairy free chocolate. It is very scrumptious and rich but satisfies the chocolate ice cream craving when you have one.

Granita: is a semi-frozen dessert made from sugar, water and various flavorings. It is similar to sorbet but I think it is a bit quicker to make. You can see how to make it here.

Soy Ice-Cream: I actually haven't tried this ice-cream due to my Soy intolerance's, however I have heard it is probably the closest thing you will come to getting the "real" creamy ice-cream texture.

Banana Ice-Cream { Image Via TheKitchn}

Banana Ice-Cream: This is a one ingredient recipe that involves frozen bananas being processed until you form a creamy type ice-cream. This is a great dairy free, sugar free and healthy alternative to ice-cream and you could have fun with heaps of different add-ins such as cocoa nibs, peanut butter, nuts, frozen berries etc. I bet the kids would love it as a treat as well.

Make your Own Popsicles (Ice-Blocks): If you love ice-blocks why not make your own. You can buy inexpensive ice-block moulds from your local supermarket or home goods store and whip up your own personalised flavours. I made a dairy free Mango, Passionfruit & Macadamia Ice-blocks one summer and they went down a treat. You could add in some dairy free yoghurt to make the tips and of the moulds before adding in your fruit combinations for something different. There are heaps and heaps of different recipes out there for dairy free ice-blocks, Popsicles etc. Become friends with Google and your whole world will open up with different options.

For part 3 of Living a Dairy Free Life I will talk about cheese and chocolate alternatives and will tantalise you with some more scrummy dairy-free recipes.

Part 1: Milk & Butter Alternatives
Part 3: Cheese, Cream & Chocolate Alternatives