I hit the Irish Jackpot last week I won Gaby’s Give Away for Kerrygold products.
It was St. Paddy’s Day last week, and I guess I had the luck of the Irish on my side because there was:
Cheese galore
And an amazing cookbook. It’s a beautiful, hardcover, book with great photos and recipes inside.
I was seriously blown away by the generosity of Kerrygold’s “prize pack”. They overnight, refrigerated shipped everything to me in California. I have won a fair number of give aways over the past couple years blogging and have hosted at least 75 give aways for my readers on my own site, and this give away was definitely top shelf.
Thanks, Gaby and Kerrygold!
With all that cheese, I think I can make some Vegan Fajitas with Sweet Ginger Lime Dipping Sauce. Obviously they won’t be vegan if I add cheese with dairy, but you could always add vegan cheeze, too.
These fajitas use mushrooms. But feel free to use tofu. I just recently had ‘shroom cravings so am all about them lately.From my last post about my rainy day coffee meetup with Amber, and cookies vs. cookie dough, it seems most of you love your cookie dough. If we all love cookie dough so much, why do we even bother baking the cookies? Because lots of you said you do enjoy the baked cookies, too. Not just dough.
Questions:
1. Do you like cheese?
I loved cheese before I stopped eating it about 7-8 years ago. I used to eat any and all types of cheese.
I’m pretty sure Triscuits + Cheese + Wine was dinner at least twice a week in my early 20s. And honestly, those were great “dinners” and memories.
2. If you don’t like or eat cheese, why not?
For most of my life, I have eaten a largely plant-based diet. Vegetarian, vegan, or pescatarian. I dislike labels and since we are all on our own journey, and life ebbs, flows, evolves, and changes, we ought to be present and aware of what will work for us as life and our needs and desires change.
Growing up, even as a small child, I never liked or ate red meat or pork. I ate very limited amounts of poultry and did enjoy fish. However, I have food allergies, including anaphalactic reactions to shellfish that came on out of no where when I was 24.
Around that time I also felt like dairy was also a culprit and I eliminated dairy, including cheese, from my diet.
However, in recent years, it seems that dairy in trace/smaller amounts such as in butterscotch chips or in white chocolate in desserts or in cream in coffee, I don’t seem to have any issues or reactions. I haven’t tried eating cheese though.
No issues with the butterscotch chips in No Bake GF Peanut Butter Marshmallow Bars with Chocolate Frosting
Maybe in small amounts, my body is ok with dairy?
3. If you’re dairy free or vegan, do you miss cheese? Do you miss dairy? Would you miss dairy if you were to give it up?
Many people say they could never go vegan because they’d miss dairy, cheese, yogurt, and such. I’ve said before I really don’t miss cheese or dairy (aside from the traces that I have in recipes). Until I open my refrigerator and see all the cheese I just won.
Or walk around my neighborhood and see people drinking wine and eating cheese. I guess perhaps I miss the memories.
I know we don’t “need” dairy. I did a post on it. Dairy FAQ’s, Calcium, Myths, Recipes. But I do think I “need” white chocolate in my life.
I love nutritional yeast for all it’s cheezy vegan-ness. I have a nooch recipes post with about 15 cheezy recipe ideas but let’s face it, cheeze is not cheese.
Do you eat cheese? Or dairy? Would you miss it if you didn’t eat it?
Congratulations! the pictures look so yummy =) I love cheese so much..
More power to you. Eat some for me, kay? :D
I just went to a doctor for fatigiue, anxiety and depression and tested me for several deficiences, imbalances and allergies that could cause those things, and it looks like I have a dairy intolerance. I love yogurt, cheese and cheesecake, so I threw myself a quick pity party but decided to move on and see if I could live without them. I haven’t had dairy for a couple days and my energy is much better and I haven’t had any headaches or cravings (well, a few. But nothing like they were before.) I swear this only developed in the last couple of years too. I’m so glad I read blogs like yours, they’re very inspiring and help me stay on track with habits that help me stay healthy.
Hi Averie! I’ve been reading your blog for a few months now and love it! I’m delurking just because i’m so curious … what are you going to do with all that cheese being that you are a mostly dairy-free household?!
have a wine and cheese party, eat it perhaps, cook with it…who knows!
dont be a lurker anymore :)
Wow–that is such a generous prize pack! I like cheese, but I definitely try to stay away from it! Every once in a while I have goat cheese or mozz on pizza, but other than that no cheese for me! :)
thanks for saying hi stefanie :)
I don’t eat 100% dairy free, but I don’t eat much of it at all — definitely no milk, ice cream, yogurt, cheese, cottage cheese, etc. I do miss yogurt though :(
I can handle it in small doses — a piece of cheese every couple of days doesn’t hurt — just larger amounts or “pure” dairy sources are hard on me. A little bit of milk in mashed potatoes isn’t bad, but a glass of milk is.
I never had problems with dairy until I met Jason, who can’t have dairy (or only extreme small amounts) — so I cut it out. By cutting it out I wonder if I have developed some sort of intolerance? Because now I react to it. So strange!
That is an awesome prize pack! I am super jealous.
i love kerrygold cheese almost as much as i love dogs. since you don’t eat it, you can go right ahead and send it on over ;)
Cheese is ridiculously tasty, but I don’t use it when I cook for myself (which is most of the time). Sometimes it’s unavoidable though if I’m at an Italian restaurant…and don’t want a house salad, ya know? :) And I reeeeaally appreciate it when I do have it. :)
About the shellfish thing, my sister had that reaction when after one time she got sick from shellfish when she was pregnant. It’s been two years now and she can’t have shellfish anymore! Bummer. Hers isn’t as sensitive as yours though, she still dabbles in sushi. :) I’ve heard that roughly every 7 years (and when you’re pregnant) your body chemistry changes – you’ll see changes in your hair (curly vs. straight), skin, and reactions to food….Interesting huh.
that sucks about your sister’s rxns. If there is one thing i CANNOT “cheat” with…it’s shellfish. I could die b/c my airway could close on me!
wow that is a giveaway jackpot! i don’t eat too much cheese but if a bunch of it landed on my front porch i would!
I loved cheese before going vegan almost a year and a half ago, but I still crave it from time to time. In fact, just last week I broke down and got some, and it was very tasty. I think I am likely to continue avoiding dairy, but there may be those sinful moments of indulgence time and again as long as it’s good quality cheese! If I ever go back and travel about Europe, I think I’ll probably drop my anti-dairy for the trip because European cheese is soo good.
I was a big cheese eater in my pre-gan days, but when I gave it up I didn’t really miss it (after the first month or two). My boyfriend eats cheese, so there is usually some in my fridge, but the smell of it puts me off now — it’s just salty and … cloying? I don’t know, it smells like fat to me, if that makes sense. lol. I suppose tastes just change over time.
The strictest law sometimes becomes the severest injustice.
Those disputing, contradicting, and confuting people are generally unfortunate in their affairs. They get victory, sometimes, but they never get good will, which would be of more use to them.
Wow! That really is a nice package. It really looks top notch. I’m sure you’re family will enjoy all the good things you’ll make from it!
So much cheese! Giving up cheese was the hardest thing for me when I went vegan 2.5 years ago, but once I got it out of my system, I craved it less. I miss the fancy cheese plates in gourmet restaurants, and every once in a while I have a little bit of raw goat cheese. But even with that, the longer I go without it, the less I crave it.
I have been eating cheeseless pizza, but I have to admit that finding Daiya has been a game changer for me.
Real cheese def taste amazing, but I am lactose intolerant. I can handle a little dairy in moderation, but not too much. Cheese is the one thing that makes me sick the worst. I miss it sometimes, but I know I feel alot better when I don’t eat it :)
Hi averie, congratulations on all that! Sooo jealous!
Kerrygold is great especially the butter because it has the higher fat content (european style)and is made from the cream of the grassfed animal during the grass growing season which maximizes the nutrients. If I don’t get raw or local butter, KG is my next fav. choice and ghee is another wonderful choice for butter uses without milk solids, Pure foods is great for ghee. Use all this healthy butter fat liberally to maximize uptake of the fat soluble vitamins in your food. And its YUM! :)
did I mention I was jealous? Are you planning a cheese and butter tasting? ;)
-sahara
haha! i would love to have a wine + cheese party. If only i wasnt working so much, I’d have you over :) Hope you’re doing well, honey!!!!
xoxo