dairy free

Have you tried going to the local library and looking at some vegan/vegetarian cookbooks to get ideas? Believe it or not, there are entire cookbooks devoted to vegan cheeses. There's a vegetarian restaurant one town over that makes a cashew queso to die for.

I've made "cream" soups using potatoes as the base. You might try cauliflower, too.

Pinterest is your friend if you're looking for recipes.

Are there specific types of foods you're wanting to cook that you're not sure how to approach without dairy?

The thing I've learned about cutting out foods is that there is so much more out there that you can eat than that you can't, and it helps to take that focus. It can also make you a better cook, because it forces you to be creative. I don't cut out any foods any more, but I'm really glad I ran those experiments because it broadened my tastes.

I've been dairy free on and off for years - getting back into it now. I use mainly unsweetened almond milk, but have found that soy milk works really well in any recipe instead of milk. I don't know if you've looked into alternatives but there is also rice milk (I find is too sweet), oat milk (I think is too dense), hemp milk (haven't tried), coconut milk (I love using in desserts, but too sweet for general use). There are also a lot of different dairy-free cheeses out there. You can find recipes to make your own, or poke around the local store. I find that rice cheese is the best for taste and texture, although I'm quite happy just skipping cheese.

If you would like ideas my food diary is open. I also suggest going to the library. I love borrowing random cookbooks, so I get to pick and choose favorite recipes instead of collecting cookbooks that will just gather dust.