Vegan Challenge #2: No more Dairy! + My Weekend in Zurich

The inspiration to write this blog came from my visit to Zurich, where dairy is really a big deal.  It was an interesting opportunity to observe how even something that is considered a staple can be avoided completely if you have the drive and the knowledge necessary.

Now, I am no expert on travel in Zurich.  The language is insanely difficult for me to grasp, the economic inflation hard for me to accept, and I had little knowledge about the culture before arriving.  This made it a little difficult to me to be as carefree in my eating as I would have liked to be, but I had an amazing time, and also got to eat some delicious food.

Unlike in Zurich, though, I have very little trouble living without dairy in America.  There are so many resources out there, and I was reminded of this when they were taken away from me.  So I thought I would give you a few guidelines on how to live without dairy.  If you have already decided to eliminate dairy from your diet and would just like to know how, keep reading.  If you'd like to know why I think experimenting with your dairy intake is important, click here.

Vegan Challenge #2: 14 Days Without Dairy
How much dairy do you consume in fourteen days?  From your morning coffee to your midnight snack, it might be a staple to your standard diet.  Fortunately for us, it is so easy to replace and eliminate!  Here are the rules:

1. Eliminate the dairy products that aren't necessary.  For the next two weeks, avoid pizza, ice cream, and other foods that are inherently high in dairy.  Try some healthier options based on whole foods wherever you can.  Remember that getting rid of dairy means including something else; often people fail to achieve their health goals because they get rid of one thing and don't find something else to eat instead.  Your body needs food, and I will never suggest calorie restriction as a way to go.  I only suggest the things that I can do, and there's just no way to get me to stop eating. 
2. Break down your cravings.  But Katherine, I just can't live without cheese.  Wrong.  You can and you will.  :)  Dairy products are among the foods we often crave, for many reasons.  Firstly, they are convenient, nicely packaged, well-advertised and flavorful products that we are accustomed to.  They are also often calorie dense and high in simple carbs, so they make us feel satisfied quickly.  As with any food group, I think it's important to break down your dairy cravings and decide whether they are legitimate instinctual desires for fuel, or if they are motivated by other things.  Try to be more specific about what you are craving: instead of craving cheese, you may be craving something salty, creamy, and warm.  The good news is you can have things that are salty, creamy, and warm without consuming dairy products. 
3. Where you can't remove, replace.  I ask you to do this only where the first two steps were insufficient, because often the things we use to replace dairy and meat are just as unhealthy as the original.  However, there are so many options out there that as long as you continue to focus on whole foods and variation, I don't think they will do a huge amount of harm to your body.  Read up and decide what your nutritional needs are, and make your choices accordingly.

This chart can be used as a basic guideline in how to replace dairy in your diet, based on your culinary, craving, and nutritional needs.  The main time to implement the rules of the challenge are at the grocery store, so consider the following before you hit the aisles. 

You want:	You actually want:	You can have:
Milk	Something creamy and refreshing.   Something to add liquid to a recipe.   Calcium and Vitamin D.	Rice Milk, Nut Milk, Coconut Milk, and Soy Milk are found in many normal grocery stores and your local health food store, and will blend seamlessly with many recipes.  They’re also good on their own.  I will be writing about the different options in more detail soon. Get your calcium and Vitamin D right from the sources, and eat your leafy greens and get out in the sun.
Cheese	Something salty, creamy, and warm.   Another layer of flavor in a recipe.   Protein and Calcium.	There are many brands of vegan cheese that taste very similar.  They are often nut-based or soy-based, and will melt, grate, and spread just like the cow stuff.  And again, go to the sources for Calcium and Vitamin D.
Butter	Something salty. A means of cooking another food. Fat.	Earth Balance makes a very convincing vegan butter and can be found at Trader Joe’s and other health food stores.  Wherever you can, though, try to use fats that are plant-based for cooking, or avoid using fats altogether by steaming, boiling, and baking.
Cream	Something really creamy. Liquid and fat to bring form to a recipe. Fat.	Coconut milk and soy milk seem to be the thickest of the milk replacements, in my opinion, so try those if you need to.  Also, refrigerated coconut milk will whip up just like cream does, and you’ll need less added sugar.*

*Trader Joe's also sells this amazing coconut-based ice cream that will really help you out.  Give it to your friends and don't tell them it's dairy free - they'll never notice.

And that's it!  Take advantage of the resources available to you and add some variety to your diet.  Even eliminating the smallest things can have an impact on the health of your body, some cute little farm animals, and the planet.  Remember that planning ahead and keeping the calorie count up will keep you from caving in, whenever you're dealing with dietary restrictions, and that the best diet is one based on whole foods.

Let me know your thoughts on this idea.  How difficult would it be for you to get rid of dairy?  Do you think this would be the hardest part of going vegan, or would it be something else?  What kind of meals do you make without dairy?

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For those of you interested in my travels, my weekend in Zurich was amazing!  I had very few expectations and few plans, but I had a really good time there.  It was a very interesting change of pace, and contrasted the culture of Florence pretty drastically.

Being in that city felt like visiting an amusement park for three days: everything was clean, every person fit, happy, and beautiful, and every location easily accessible.  I felt extremely safe there, and would recommend it to anyone looking for a place to travel to alone.

With that said, I can barely afford to breathe there.  There was no spontaneous spending, but I managed to have a nice time in an affordable manner.  I had packed many of my meals ahead and then visited the grocery store for food so that I could splurge on a really good meal once or twice.  I paid for a Zurich Card, which gave me unlimited access to public transportation and many museums and attractions in the city.  At twenty four francs for twenty four hours, it was definitely a good investment.

I hiked on Mount Uetliberg, did a boat tour of the lake, visited many of the parks, saw the university, and went into a lot of posh clothing and furniture stores.  It was such a beautiful place and had so much to offer to travelers; I'm quite happy with my first out-of-Italy destination.  Check back next week for what happens to me in London.