Over the last month, I’ve been testing some vegan products. I’m not a vegan nor a vegetarian, but sometimes I just don’t want to eat meat. Recently, I decided to limit my intake of dairy products such as butter and cheese. I jumped on Youtube and came across some videos that led me to several non-dairy substitutes.

A popular choice was Daiya non-dairy cheese. It’s supposed to melt and taste similar to cheddar cheese. So I bought a package at Whole Foods.

 

The package features a long list of things the dairy free cheese doesn’t have such as gluten and soy. So what’s in it?

Filtered water, tapioca starch, and palm fruit oil are the top ingredients. Sixty calories per slice. Okay, not bad but how does it taste? The best way to test  cheese….

is a grilled cheese sandwich with wheat bread. Now, here’s where I had to make a decision. I’d been trying out a vegan butter by Earth Balance. Did I like it enough to use on my grilled cheese sandwich or should I use butter? I’m very picky about the taste of my grilled cheese sandwiches.

Earth Balance is buttery spread made of vegetable oils.

The vegan spread is relatively good with a taste similar to margarine. If you’re committed to going non- dairy, this is a suitable replacement. However, I don’t eat much butter but when I do, I like real butter. So I decided to move forward with my Land O’Lakes light butter.

Now how did the cheese taste?

Good….well relatively good. The taste was slightly off. Maybe the best description is a bit waxy. I didn’t hate it but I won’t be eating it again. What it comes down to is how committed you are to being dairy free. Clearly, I’m not that dedicated. Taste is more important to me and the dairy free butter and cheese tasted…well…dairy free. I’m going back to cheddar cheese and real butter for my grilled cheese sandwiches. If it ain’t broke…why change it?

Stay Blessed,

Barbie