March 12, 2013
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Need vegan shopping ideas!
I’ve decided I can’t have any dairy at all. Even a small amount of butter will cause me gastric distress. I thought yogurt was okay because of the live cultures and finally decided that it wasn’t because of all the gastric distress (that I put off to other things). I *LOVE* all things dairy and now even yogurt is off the table, and that was my ‘healthy snack’ – I would eat a 4 ounce greek yogurt instead of a couple of cookies.
One thing I can NOT get used to, though, are vinegar/oil based salad dressings. I started using ranch when Hidden Valley first came out with it in packets (where you added your own buttermilk) and before that, I always used bleu cheese dressing. Needless to say, I like the creamy dressings.I went to the ‘fake cheese’ section of our grocery store but they didn’t have any dairy-free ‘creamy’ dressings. I would love a fake dressing that either tastes like ranch or bleu cheese (actually, I’d like to own a bottle of each!)One of my favorite salads is the California Cobb salad. (Egg, Avocado, Tomato, Chicken, Onion, Bacon, Bleu cheese added to lettuce). I now order it without the bleu cheese. I used to always have it with bleu cheese dressing, but that is now out. I brought home some from a restaurant and tried it with balsamic vinaigrette and just didn’t like it. Too vinegary. (I think that is my problem with vinegar/oil based dressings)So all of you vegans out there (I know there are a few of you) – do you have any suggestions of WHERE to shop for a vegan creamy ranch or bleu cheese flavored dressing? I was thinking Whole Foods, but aren’t they more into bulk whole foods than they are into vegan/vegetarianism? Is there a regular (like whole foods) grocery store chain that caters to vegans? I feel like the only way I can be sure what I buy is truly dairy free is if I buy vegan.
Comments (8)
Whole foods sell normal grocery store size items not bulk. I love basalmic/olive oil dressings so I can’t help ya with this problem..marilyn
Sorry can’t help you here!
Whole Foods would be my suggestion too. As maggie said, they are just like a normal grocery store … but more specialized (and more expensive!)
Compard to salt, sugar and fat, dairy should be easy to avoid. But then, I don’t like dairy to begin with.
@AmyinVA - @maggie70 - I have a friend who works at a Whole Foods that’s about 40 miles from me (the closest one!) I may go there Friday and see what they have.
@Inciteful - I love dairy! It’s my favorite food (my weakness extra sharp New York cheddar). But my body started protesting about 10 years ago and it gradually got worse and worse.
You can buy soy & coconut milk yogurt. If you buy the plain you can make your own dressings. Probably be a lot easier.
@tracy - Thanks! I’ll have to look for those! Many lactose-intolerant people can handle yogurt, but I can’t. It sucks, too, because that was my ‘go-to’ snack. Much healthier than cookies, candy, chips, etc. If it’s available in soy or coconut or even almond milk yogurt, I’ll be buying it!