What Sweets Do You Eat When You Can't Eat Any Of The Things You Love?

[Sweetfudge]

I'm just feeling frustrated because I keep feeling sick, but can't make myself quit dairy quite yet. I'm so sad at the prospect of losing cheese and chocolate. What's the best way to get around these things? I already feel so deprived that I binge on whatever goodies I make. Now the looming diet change is making me feel it even more. How do you all cope?

[tarnalberry]

dark chocolate - the ones w/o soy lecithin if necessary

[Ursa Major]

dark chocolate - the ones w/o soy lecithin if necessary

Yep, Tiffany said it.

[jmengert]

I'm also soy/dairy/gluten free, and I use the Enjoy Life chocolate chips to make cookies, frosting, etc. so I can still get my chocolate fix. I basically make all the same sweets I did before but substitute shortening or coconut oil for the butter, and rice milk for any milk needed in the recipe. And they all still taste great!

[Phyllis28]

Bake Enjoy Life chocolate chips into Namaste Foods Muffin Mix. Namaste Spice Cake mix is also very good. I still have to try their other mixes.

[pixiegirl]

Chocolate is big with me, so is Ben and Jerry's Cherry Garcia ice cream (ok its got dairy but these are some of the things I eat). I love Enjoy Life snickerdoodles. Enjoy life has a lot of good snacks. I've been eating those gluten-free candy canes (bought after Christmas at half price!)

Susan

[aikiducky]

You know, I've been completely cheese-free for almost a year now - before that I still used to eat goat's cheese every now and then. I bought a little bit of goats cheese two weeks ago just to try it again...and it's still in the fridge. I had two slices and I really didn't like it any more! It tasted like greasy salty spoiled milk.

For chocolate that isn't just plain dark chocolate I eat these:

Open Original Shared Link

Dunno if you can order then in the US anywhere.

Pauliina

[hathor]

Oh, most definitely dark chocolate. (Be sure to read the ingredients. Some silly companies will put dairy in a product and still call it "dark." Should be a law I like dark chocolate better anyway.)

I'm a big fan of Lara Bars as well. There are other brands of fruit/nut/seed/chocolate bars out there too, which are gluten, dairy and soy free.

Try looking at glutenfreemall.

I like candied ginger, too. Sweet but with a nice tang. My only problem is that I can just sit there and eat it. And eat it.

You may be able to handle goat's cheese. But the prevalence of the cow's milk type of casein can vary in it. I've had some cheese I'm find with and others I get sick from. I noticed that when I was in Europe I ate it just fine, but in the US I'm not. Someone else mentioned to me that she can handle French goat's cheese but not US stuff. So there may be something there. Different goats, or maybe the US stuff has starters made from cow's milk or something?

I've tried the Galaxy rice cheese made without casein (some is, some isn't). Doesn't make it by itself, but I guess in a sandwich or melted on something it works.

I have heard good things about Parma "cheese." I haven't tried it because it contains yeast.

Finally, there are a bunch of recipes out there for cheese made from cashews and a few other ingredients. I haven't made any yet so I can't point you to one in particular.

aikiducky, that is interesting about your experience with the goat's cheese. I hadn't had cheese for quite awhile, but had goat's milk cheese when in Europe because it was very hard to find things to eat with my assorted restrictions and preferences. I thought the cheese was wonderful and thought I would indulge at home. But after a few times, I found it kind of repulsive. Of course, getting sick after having it didn't help either. (I stubbornly held out a few times because it was so good in Europe. Or perhaps I was so damn starved all the time there that getting anything to eat was a treat. My cruise ship's chef could understand gluten-free (with some notable exceptions) and he could understand vegetarian. (Cow's milk) dairy free and egg free flummoxed him entirely. Combining all three was impossible. I lived on horrid gluten-free bread, and unseasoned veggie and fish (he only knew about cream and cheese sauces, or breading and frying, or dousing in soy sauce apparently). I'd really lost my taste for fish and had to choke it down. But without that, most of my calories would have come from wine, which probably wouldn't have been too healthy.

To get back to the topic of this thread, one's tastes DO change. You think you can't give something up, but you do it anyway for your health because you have to. Later on you try it as a treat and it doesn't taste very good at all.

It is only human to feel deprived when you have to give something up. But the feeling passes and you enjoy your good health.

[MNBeth]

Giving up dairy was definitely harder for me than giving up gluten was, even though baking - especially bread - was something of an avocation for me.

The dark chocolate thing works for me, since it was my favorite before, anyway. I haven't had the Enjoy Life chocolate chips, as my long-time favorites made by Guittard happen to be dairy free. My local mainstream grocery carries them, so that makes it easy for me.

Our other favorite treat is Jello Instant Chocolate pudding made w/ half coconut milk, half water. That really helped me through the early phase when I just craved "creamy," and I still like it pretty well.

I've found it possible to make all kinds of treats - brownies, pecan bars, peanut butter bars, even truffles for Christmas. I do miss cheese and butter, but I've gotten used to eating a little differently than I did, and it's going okay. I think just plain accepting the idea is probably more than half the battle.

[Offthegrid]

Cookies can be made GFCFSF. Natural peanut butter (no soy), 1 cup sugar, 1 egg, some vanilla. Mix and form into small balls. 375 degrees for 12-18 minutes. Super quick, super easy, yummy. Dip in powdered sugar is desired.

Make pie. Here's the crust recipe: Open Original Shared Link. You can use any filling you desire. I haven't made a chocolate pie, but I don't see why you couldn't from cocoa and rice or coconut milk.

Jocolate bars from the Lara Bar people.

Mike Ikes are GFCFSF.

BTW, I like rice milk FAR better than soy milk anyway.

Make your own Cool-Whip from coconut milk.

Frozen bananas or fruit bars.

Baked fruit. Take an apple, add brown sugar and cinnamon and raisins. Bake 325 for 15-20 minutes or so.

[Mango04]

I'm just feeling frustrated because I keep feeling sick, but can't make myself quit dairy quite yet. I'm so sad at the prospect of losing cheese and chocolate. What's the best way to get around these things? I already feel so deprived that I binge on whatever goodies I make. Now the looming diet change is making me feel it even more. How do you all cope?

In terms of sweets, you just have to slightly change the way you bake, but you can still make pretty much all the same things. I'm gluten-free/df/sf and I eat cookies, cake, muffins, chocolate etc. etc. etc. There are tons of df chocolate options out there.

[confusedks]

I wanted to agree with the poster who said your tastes change. I had been peanut free for a long time, and I was just craving PB SO badly, but since it's not a great fat, I didn't eat it. Then the other day I allowed myself some and YUCK! I don't know what I wanted so badly! Now, I am so used to almond butter I don't care about PB...never thought I'd say that!

As far as sweets, there are lots of great gluten-free, cf, sf goodies. It's really not that bad anymore for me. I do still crave things like cheese, etc. but oh well!

I love Pamela's mini ginger cookies...they're great! Also, Enjoy Life snickerdoodles. Dark chocolate, make sure it's dairy free though.

[Nancym]

I make myself treats out of unsweetened no-milk chocolate using eggs, sweetener, chocolate, butter. Or little microwave cakes with similar ingredients but use unsweetened cocoa powder instead. Yum yum!

The first one is like this (I never measure)

About 1 oz of chocolate

1 Tbl of butter or other fat

Put it in a large coffee must, Melt in the microwave and mix well. Takes about 1 minute in mine.

Add in some sugar or other sweetener -- about 1-2 tsp (more if you don't use the next ingredient). Stir well.

Stir in some coffee syrup of a complementary flavor (about 1 Tbl, I like Raspberry)

Crack an egg and mix it very well into the mixture.

Microwave for 45 seconds to 1 minute. It should still be slightly gooey. Don't overcook.

It's like a cross between a pudding and a molten chocolate cake.

[missy'smom]

I converted this from a Martha Stewart recipe.

Chocolate Truffle Cakes

5 tablespoons unsalted butter(I use ghee)

1 Tablespoon gluten-free flour

14 oz.(1 pkg enjoylife)choc chips

2 tablespoons sugar

2 lg. eggs

1/4 tsp. salt(I use less use less or omit)

Grease and flour muffin tins. Put choc. chips, ghee and 1 Tb sugar into a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, whisking ocassionally until smooth. Remove from heat and let stand until cooled and thickened, 3 to 5 min. Process eggs and remaining 1 Tb. sugar in a food processor until pale and double in volume, about 2 min. Sift flour and salt into egg mixture; pulse to combine. add choc mixture 1/4 c. at a time; pulse after each addition. Batter will be thick. Spoon into prepared tin. bake until tops are springy to the touch, 18 to 20 min. Immediately turn out onto wire racks; reinvert and cool.

You can mix these by hand and be less fusssy about it and they will still come out fine. They may seem dry at first but if you store them covered overnight, they transform and become fudgy. They freeze beautifully.

The original recipie makes 6 but I get 8 to 10 out of it.

[Green12]

I have to agree with Mango, sweets and treats don't have to be a thing of the past once you go cf, in addition to being gluten-free. Just some modifications of ingredients is all it takes.

Namaste has a great line of baking mixes that are gluten-free/cf/an d soy free. I like the Spice Cake Mix, I have mixed in pumpkin puree, mashed bananas, grated zuchini, or grated carrots for different variations.

You can still have your chocolate (dark cf/soy free, or enjoy life chocolate chips) and eat it too! (as many others mentioned above)

Cocoa powder is also gluten-free/cf/soy free, check your ingredients first.

Also you can find a lot of options searching through vegan dessert recipes (just keep in mind not all are gluten-free but they can be modified).

[Sweetfudge]

thanks for all the suggestions. feeling a little better about tackling this thing

Our other favorite treat is Jello Instant Chocolate pudding made w/ half coconut milk, half water. That really helped me through the early phase when I just craved "creamy," and I still like it pretty well.

this sounds very good! gonna have to get some coconut milk and give it a try!

BTW, I like rice milk FAR better than soy milk anyway.

Make your own Cool-Whip from coconut milk.

what brand of rice milk do you drink?

and how do you make your own cool whip??

missys'mom and nancym, both your recipes look divine! i can't wait to make them!

another question: when baking, how do you keep the texture of things the same? do you have to add extra eggs or something to replace the butter/milk? i don't really know the dynamics of making baked goods, just follow the recipes will it turn out different if i use shortening versus oil in a recipe? same with rice milk? mostly i'm concerned about breads i think, cuz i already have a hard time with gluten-free breads. thanks

[tarnalberry]

my recipe thread has some Gluten-free Casein-free baked goods (that should be SF too). I generally find there isn't any need to modify anything else when doing milk substitutions, but I also generally use almond milk (which has soy lecithin).

[Sweetfudge]

my recipe thread has some Gluten-free Casein-free baked goods (that should be SF too). I generally find there isn't any need to modify anything else when doing milk substitutions, but I also generally use almond milk (which has soy lecithin).

not sure about soy yet...gonna try DF first and see how i feel.

[Juliebove]

I don't eat a lot of sweets and I have GERD so things like chocolate and peppermint tend to make me sick. I guess after a while you just grow up and learn to do without sweets, which I don't really think are necessary to begin with.

Daughter has a lot of food allergies so she is pretty much limited to Enjoy Life products, Skittles, Starburst, Sweet Tarts, some gummies and some hard candies. I can make some things for her but I don't do that often.

Some of what I make for her are raw treats. We made raw Tootsie Rolls last night. They are very good. We make fudge. Chocolate peppermint bark.

Instead of focusing on what we can't eat, we focus on what we can eat. Dairy is something I thought I could never live without. But when I learned how much better I felt without eating it, it is something I never wanted to eat again. I never liked milk. No big deal there. Now I use nutritional yeast, Parma!, and Vegan Rice Cheese as my cheese subs. I can make pizza and nachos and I don't feel deprived.

[missy'smom]

As far as better oil etc. go, generally you want to sub a liquid for a liquid and a solid for a solid. The recipie I posted could be made with ghee, shortening, spread or oil. It all gets melted before it is baked so the main difference with be a slight flavor difference. With things that call for cold butter to be cut in, like pie crust, scones, apple crisp, there most likely will be some texture difference in the final product. I haven't encountered and difference in texture in most cakes or muffins and can't think of any differences with bread. I know from gluten baking days that there can be a difference in texture of some cookies depending on whether you use butter, or shortening. I don't have any experience with Gluten-free Casein-free cokies though. If you have something that calls for buttermilk, you can use a soy yoghurt instead.

Hope this helps.

[Sweetfudge]

I don't eat a lot of sweets and I have GERD so things like chocolate and peppermint tend to make me sick. I guess after a while you just grow up and learn to do without sweets, which I don't really think are necessary to begin with.

Daughter has a lot of food allergies so she is pretty much limited to Enjoy Life products, Skittles, Starburst, Sweet Tarts, some gummies and some hard candies. I can make some things for her but I don't do that often.

Some of what I make for her are raw treats. We made raw Tootsie Rolls last night. They are very good. We make fudge. Chocolate peppermint bark.

Instead of focusing on what we can't eat, we focus on what we can eat. Dairy is something I thought I could never live without. But when I learned how much better I felt without eating it, it is something I never wanted to eat again. I never liked milk. No big deal there. Now I use nutritional yeast, Parma!, and Vegan Rice Cheese as my cheese subs. I can make pizza and nachos and I don't feel deprived.

true, sweets are overrated. guess i still have some growing up to do

what's your recipe for the raw tootsie rolls? and do they resemble the artifical ones?

i made peppermint bark for all the relatives for christmas. i love that stuff!

As far as better oil etc. go, generally you want to sub a liquid for a liquid and a solid for a solid. The recipie I posted could be made with ghee, shortening, spread or oil. It all gets melted before it is baked so the main difference with be a slight flavor difference. With things that call for cold butter to be cut in, like pie crust, scones, apple crisp, there most likely will be some texture difference in the final product. I haven't encountered and difference in texture in most cakes or muffins and can't think of any differences with bread. I know from gluten baking days that there can be a difference in texture of some cookies depending on whether you use butter, or shortening. I don't have any experience with Gluten-free Casein-free cokies though. If you have something that calls for buttermilk, you can use a soy yoghurt instead.

Hope this helps.

good to know. thx for your help

does anyone know what i would use to sub for something like whipping cream? for example, the peppermint bark i make calls for heavy whipping cream in the center layer to make it creamier. what would i use for that? or recipes that call for sour cream?