August 30-Day Challenge: Dairy-Free Days

It's amazing how much easier a monthly challenge is with full support (and visa versa).  Dairy-free August ended up being much more difficult than I anticipated while I was at home - while travelling it was much easier - mostly because of Sander.

As he didn't view dairy-free as a proper challenge, he was... how can I put this... rather less than supportive. Any time my dairy-free-ness interfered with his plans he became pretty angry for long periods of time.  He even tried to bribe me to eat dairy early on saying "I won't tell anyone"!

I did have two slip ups - one unintentional very early on, and one on the second to last day for the sake of my relationship.  On almost the very first day we stopped in at our local cinema to get takeaway popcorn for a DVD that night, and I devoured it (love movie popcorn!) completely forgetting butter is dairy.  Oh well, back on the wagon.  Two nights ago Sander was cooking dinner, and yet again, forgot/chose to ignore my dairy-free challenge to cook a curry with yoghurt.  When I gently reminded him I was on my last two days of dairy-free I could see an explosion stirring just below the surface, so when he curtly snapped "can't you just eat it?" I decided to go along with it.  The things we do...

I noticed a few things during my dairy-free days.  My appreciation of cafes that serve soy milk increased, my lack of foresight in requesting dairy-free airline meals on business trips meant I was often disappointed (especially with a particularly strong cheese and crackers craving one flight between Hong Kong and Singapore), and I realised how much I love yoghurt after being forced to go without for the whole of August.  My breakfasts just weren't the same.

During the month I reread The Blood Type Diet, which advises Type A's (the original vegetarian gatherers) to avoid dairy (except yoghurt - yay!).  Having gone without for a month, I notice a flatter belly, but that could also be credited to absence of all chocolate except 85% Lindt, movie popcorn, and many curries during my week in Mumbai.  I'm going to continue to drink almond milk though, as I love the nutty taste, but I welcomed back my yoghurt this morning with open arms.

Does anyone else have suggestions for great dairy substitutes?  Or does anyone follow The Blood Type Diet?  I'm quite curious to learn more about it...

September's challenge is a big one - daily yoga!  Getting back into it after three years is going to be a huge challenge - bring it on!

Make Your Own Almond Milk

Recipe from She Knows (here)

Image from She Knows

Makes 3 1/2 - 4 cups

Ingredients

1C freshly roasted almonds

4C water

Optional: splash of vanilla essence and/or honey

Method

1.  In a jar, cover almonds with water.  

2.  Store in the fridge for 24 hours, jar tightly sealed.

3.  Puree together until smooth

4.  Strain through a cheesecloth, squeezing out all liquid

5.  Whisk in vanilla and honey if using

Ready!