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?
Jack pot! That’s an awesome prize pack!
I haven’t had any dairy for almost 2 months and really do miss cheese. It’s so tasty and fun to eat. There’s nothing else like cheese tasting.
I’ll be adding it back very soon though!
Cheese is the hardest thing for me ever when it comes to being vegan. I was a chef at a wine bar for a while and I totally fell off the vegan wagon and ate cheese ever single day that I worked there. I’ve heard it’s addictive and I believe it!
it IS addictive. in my Dairy FAQ’s post that i linked in this post, i discussed casomorphin addiction whereby the dairy proteins have an opiod-like effect on people and render them…addicted to dairy. For real.
good cheese is definitely part of my diet – but i always eat it with something or on top of something else. but that’s not always been the case – i did try having it out of my diet, but i think a little bit in moderation is better than none at all!
I think that cheese is definitely one of my favorite foods, so I know I’d have a hard time giving it up!
Thanks for saying hi, Deborah :)
I blogged about your groc card win here
https://www.loveveggiesandyoga.com/2011/03/free-grocery-money.html
Wow! That is one hell of a prize!!!! Congrats :)
I love cheese! i could probably give up everything else except cheese!!
I am totally the person who says “I could be vegan with the exception of giving up cheese!” But I grew up in Wisconsin, having cheese and crackers for snacks every night so I blame it on my DNA. ;) I do try to limit dairy, and I save it all for cheese!
I grew up in MN. Same difference :)
I hardly eat cheese, but I often joke that I’m borderline vegan because I only eat goat cheese and greek yogurt when it comes to dairy. Cheese, eggs…never been my thing!
I love cheese, although it tends to give me gas. Greek yogurt doesn’t so I enjoy that daily. And I dislike milk (all milks) with a passion. But I don’t mind them if I use them in baking. So I tend to use alterna-milks like almond milk for that.
I love dairy and I eat several servings a day. I am starting to wonder if this is too much and have started investigating the idea of cutting back or perhaps even out. My love affair with dairy is just part of the journey and I do see changes in the future.
nothing compares to cooking in butter; stir fryes, eggs, you name it. It’s so satisfying for me, and I love love love full fat plain yogurt. I find when I include higher fat dairy I have much more energy, clearer skin, and am satiated quite easily. I’ll never return to my days of low fat which reeked havoc on my body and mood. Thanks for opening up the discussion to hearing what different things work for everyone, because there is no way we could all thrive off of the exact same style of eating. And it feels good when you find the one that truly feels right in your gut (literally!)
-kate
thanks kate for the great comment and for appreciating the discussion and everyone’s diff needs, bodies, etc.
I like cheese well enough but can’t eat much of it. If a delivery like that wound up on my doorstep, I think my family would faint. See, I can put cheese on anything and they’ll eat it!! LOL
Kerrygold!! I tried my first bite of Kerrygold cheese last year when I was at a hotel in Ireland touring the Ring of Kerry. Absolute bliss. Thanks for reminding me of such a great memory :)
Well I’m both vegan and lactose intolerant. I used to be a complete dairy addict and never imagined how people could avoid eating dairy! I do find that I miss cheese sometimes, but I think I agree with you that its really about the memories. All of the dairy memories…
omg do I love cheese? YES!!! haha all that cheese looks amazing!!!
Sweet prize pack, wow!
1. It’s okay, but it’s not something I really miss since going vegan with so many great vegan alternatives. But the stuff is like crack for my mom for some reason, she swears it’s the only reason she could never go totally vegan.
2. Because I’ve converted to a vegan diet and find overall I have more energy and less intestinal dysfunction since dropping dairy products.