What is the best millk substitute

[MomofSeven]

I can't have soy milk or cow's milk. Can anyone recommend a good alternative...something that tastes similar to cow's milk?

[Aubrey]

We just tried almond milk here. It's a little thinner than cow milk & slightly sweeter, but I liked it, & that really says a lot. Plus, from what I've read, it would be relatively easy to make yourself.

[Rosie_0801]

None of the milk alternatives taste like cow's milk because they're made of something else, I'm afraid. Oat milk tastes like cow's milk left sitting on porridge for a bit, almond milk tastes like watered down almonds and rice milk tastes like watered down rice, which is what they are, of course! My dh prefers rice milk for drinking straight, and can tolerate it in his coffee since "real" milk isn't an alternative. I haven't yet tried making our own milks though that's going to have to start happening. I asked dh at the supermarket last week if 3L was enough, since he and dd went through 2 1/2 litres over the weekend. "Ok!" he said, and zoomed off, coming back with another three litres. So they consumed 5L over the weekend instead. I guess it tastes good enough. It gets expensive, so I'm banning him from buying milk now and he can make it himself! Not hard, according to online directions. I'd like to try sunflower milk and some of those other funky sounding things, but haven't got there yet. I guess you'll have to experiment and see which one comes out with more votes. Buy from the fridge section though, the UHT milks are gross.

 

Cheers,

Rosie

[phathui5]

How about goat's milk?

[CalicoKat]

We just tried almond milk here. It's a little thinner than cow milk & slightly sweeter, but I liked it, & that really says a lot. Plus, from what I've read, it would be relatively easy to make yourself.

:iagree:our ds used to drink this when we were ruling out tons of allergies.

 

Have you ever tried raw milk? DS can't drink regular milk, but raw milk he does just fine with.

[ElizabethB]

Oat milk is best in coffee and recipes that are are not sweet, and for gravies. Many oat milk brands have soy. The pacific natural foods brand does not.

 

I like rice milk on cereal and in sweeter, lighter recipes.

 

Nice healthy "milkshake:"

 

Chop up banana into pieces, put in ziplock bag, freeze for a day or a few weeks. Put frozen banana pieces in blender with rice milk and a bit of real vanilla. Yummy!

 

Rice milk ice cream is horrible. Sheep milk ice cream is supposed to be very yummy, but is only sold in Europe.

 

I like sheep milk cheese, Trader Joe's sells a nice sheep milk feta.

[Angel]

I love Rice milk. It is about the consistency of skim milk, maybe a bit thinner. Just recently I switched to Almond milk to save 1/2 the calories (I love cereal) and it is good too. I think the consistency of Almond milk is a little closer to 2% milk. We buy Rice Dream Original Enriched (though I love vanilla, but dd finds it too sweet) and Almond Breeze Original.

[Jennefer@SSA]

Personally, I prefer rice milk but my ds2 adores almond milk. I love the Rice Dream Vanilla Hazelnut in my morning tea/coffee! :) For ds2's almond milk I combine a quart of vanilla unsweetened with a quart of vanilla sweetened. Unsweeted is just too bitter for him and the sweetened it just too much sugar for me. This has been a good balance for both of us.

 

In my experience nothing tastes like cow's milk but I have become so accustomed to these alternatives that sitting down with a cookie and a glass of rice milk is almost as satisfying as regular milk. And when you add in the fact that all of my eczema is gone as long as I keep dairy out of my diet (not to mention it's easier for me to keep extra weight off when I have no dairy) then it makes it even more satisfying! ;)

Edited April 1, 2009 by Jennefer@SSA
clarification

[newbie]

We like almond milk.

[skaterbabs]

I really like almond milk for drinking and cereal, but I have yet to find a cow's milk alternative for cooking.

[HollyDay]

I'm sorry you cant use soy - that is my favorite.

 

I sometimes use coconut milk for sweet things like ice cream and desserts.

 

Almond milk is good.

 

Rice milk is thinner and sweeter. It makes great bread pudding!

 

Never tried oat milk.

 

Fresh goat milk is excellent, but I cant drink the carton or can off the shelf.

[wide eyes & laughter]

but I am planning to switch us to *raw* cow's milk. If you are lactose intolerant, raw milk (if I understand this correctly) won't affect that intolerance. Maybe someone else can explain this better - or, if need be, set me straight. But this is what I've been told/read.

[lighthouseacademy]

I like homemade almond milk best... I can make it rich and creamy for drinking and sweeten it a little too or I can make it thinner and plain for cooking/baking. Best of all- no additives and full of USABLE calcium that is readily absorbed... unlike cow's milk.

[Dirtroad]

I have a friend who has 5 children and FOUR (4) have milk allergies. She found that it wasn't cows milk but the processing that was bothering 3 of her kids. So, now she buys her milk directly from a local dairy. It took her many late hours on the internet searching for information. She was glad to go back to cows milk.

 

The other child is allergic to a Beta-protein (extremely rare) and is very hard to supplement. She can't have Goldfish cracker, pound cake, many foods.... even McDonalds french fries! (yep, she said they are dipped in milk before frozen... to help replace flavor lost from using fatty oils). She can't even touch soy. They have to keep an epi pen for her.

[Supertechmom]

Almond milk here. And if you are avoiding milk because of a gluten connection, Rice milk by Rice dream has enough gluten in it to be a problem for some but not enough to go over the ppm limit from my understanding. We fell in love with almond chocolate milk YUM YUM!!

[staceyobu]

Not sure why you need a substitute, but I would check into raw milk. I have always had... ummmm... issues... whenever I have too much dairy. If I drink a couple of glasses of store milk, I spend the day in the bathroom. I can drink all the raw milk I want and I'm fine.

[Mom-ninja.]

so what's with the processing that might be bothersome?

[In the Rain]

We like almond milk here.

[Lovedtodeath]

White sweet potato flour milk is the best... but also the most expensive I am betting.

[ElizabethB]

I really like almond milk for drinking and cereal, but I have yet to find a cow's milk alternative for cooking.

 

Oat milk!

[keptwoman]

We use Goats Milk mostly and Rice milk occasionally.

[Lovedtodeath]

reduced fat coconut milk works well for cooking and ice cream

[keptwoman]

reduced fat coconut milk works well for cooking and ice cream

yuuuuuuum! Ive never made coconut milk icecream, that sounds unbelievably good!

[~Jenn~]

When ds was still a toddler he drank goat's milk but as he got older and didn't need the fat/protein of milk so much anymore we switched to almond.:)

[Rosie_0801]

I really like almond milk for drinking and cereal, but I have yet to find a cow's milk alternative for cooking.

 

I have done this experiment already. It involved eating a great deal of muffins which was very hard work :lol: but we came to the conclusion that almond, rice and oat milk are almost indistinguishable in baked goods.

 

but I am planning to switch us to *raw* cow's milk. If you are lactose intolerant, raw milk (if I understand this correctly) won't affect that intolerance. Maybe someone else can explain this better - or, if need be, set me straight. But this is what I've been told/read.

 

The pasteurisation process kills off the enzymes that help you digest the milk. Clever, huh?

 

White sweet potato flour milk is the best... but also the most expensive I am betting.

 

Wah! If I could get white sweet potato flour I'd try that! Sounds funky. Anyone else got any out of the ordinary milks to try? I've heard pepita milk is good, but haven't tried it yet.

 

 

:)

Rosie

[SherryTX]

We haven't tried Almond or Oatmeal milk yet. I have to buy soy milk for my 11 year old. If she uses that on a daily basis instead of milk, she can tolerate regular cheese or even ice cream or cow's milk a couple of times a week.

 

We tried rice milk several years ago. The family consensus was: YUCK. However, I am thinking of trying it again, to have more options.

 

Goat's milk - that is a good question - have you tried it?

 

I am just curious - does soy milk cause you the same problems as cow's milk?

[ElizabethB]

Wah! If I could get white sweet potato flour I'd try that!

 

$2.39 a pound from amazon:

 

http://www.amazon.com/Sweet-Potato-Flour-1-lb/dp/B000FA6GY4/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=hpc&qid=1238666899&sr=8-1

 

It didn't work well for me, but I didn't try making a milk from it, it was a failure for baking the ways I tried to use it. Their plantain flour made a nice sweet pancake, but I was allergic to it--oddly enough, since I can eat bananas and I don't normally eat plantains, I don't think, maybe they were a common ingredient in something else I ate a lot of.

[Lovedtodeath]

White sweet potato flour makes a good sub for peanut butter too.

 

I have found that rice milk tends to make baked goods dry quickly (left-overs are not good).

[skaterbabs]

Elizabeth and Rosie, what do you use for mac & cheese? All the milk substitutes leave it with a funny aftertaste. LOL We don't have a problem with cheese, yogurt, etc, but I just prefer the kids not drink milk, and I have to limit how much milk I drink because it upsets my stomach.

[Lovedtodeath]

I use watered down yogurt or sour cream in recipes like mac and cheese.

[Rosie_0801]

We don't eat mac and cheese. Have you tried using a cultured buttermilk? If you can find one, that is. These days buttermilk seems to be normal milk with citric acid or something added. If you can find cultured, you should be able to use that for the same reason you can eat cheese and yogurt.

 

Wow. Who'd have thought amazon would sell such a range of flours! I don't think I've ever seen a lot of them over here. Don't think they'd ship to me though :( and I've no idea how I'd make my own!

 

Rosie

[ElizabethB]

I don't eat mac and cheese. My children do, but they can have regular milk. They get organic whole wheat mac and cheese with white "cheese" (at least it's not food colored orange, but cheese should not look that that, I'm not entirely sure it's really food. I do usually try to serve things that are really food, but I do make an exception for a few things they enjoy that are quick.)

 

I make a few pasta type dishes, with olive oil and various spices. A SW style one, I cook the pasta then fry it up in the oil with some chopped chicken or turkey and paprika, garlic, black pepper, and salt is one of my favorite recipes.

 

I used to try to make a mac and cheese with goat or sheep cheese, but it was a waste of the cheese in my rotation--I save my cheese for pizza and tacos, or over SW style turkey with tomatoes served over brown rice.

 

The only thing I really miss is ice cream. We enjoyed living in Germany, now I have a good excuse for needing to go back to Europe--they have ice cream I can eat! I've tried convincing several U.S. companies with sheep milk products to make sheep milk ice cream, but no luck so far. There is a farm in Washington State within an hour of my folk's house that has sheep milk products, I'm going to try to convince them to either buy enough sheep milk and buy an ice cream maker and make me some sheep milk ice cream, or convince the farm to branch out and try making and selling sheep milk ice cream.

[Annie Laurie]

None of my boys can tolerate dairy so they use rice milk and don't seem to mind. We've tried almond milk also but they didn't like it as well. I didn't want them drinking too much soy so didn't try that. We get cases of rice milk from Costco.