milk substitutes

Recently the question was posed on Money Saving Mom if dry milk was cheaper to use than regular milk. Since we have a milk allergy in the house, we don't use much of either. We still buy regular milk for the non-allergic among us to drink and have on cereal. However, I can't remember the last time I used milk in baking or cooking since I generally do not like to prepare two different meals for one meal-time. Since no one in the house currently has an allergy to soy, soy milk would be a no-brainer substitute. However, while soy milk (Silk Very Vanilla) is very yummy to drink, I do not like the way it flavors our baked goods. Even plain soymilk, IMO, still leaves a "twang". The most oft-used milk substitute in my kitchen is coconut milk. I have not noticed our baked goods having any different taste. I buy premium organic (full-fat) coconut milk at Wild Oats (now Whole Foods Market) for $.99 for a 14-oz can and dilute it 3 parts water to 1 part coconut milk. (From my experiments, the "lite" coconut milk is just watered down anyway - I figured I could save more money by watering it down on my own.) Coconut milk is high in saturated fat, which is probably why it works so well in baking - even diluted. Since I do dilute it the fat content that I use for each recipe is greatly reduced. And anyways, if your little allergic munchin is much like mine, they need all the fat they can get!

For recipes, like cream soup for instance, that call for milk or cream, you can use coconut milk too! However, I have noticed in these a slight hint of the coconut taste. If you're making Thai or Indian food, that works great! If you're trying to imitate Aunt Martha's down-home mashed potatoes, it might not be quite the taste you are trying to copy.

Now for some fun math: I can make 56 fl. oz. of diluted organic coconut milk for $.99. (well maybe a few cents more if you want to include the cost of water, but I'm not that picky). Regular milk in my area runs about $3.50 a gallon - this is non-organic, store-brand at Aldi. Since I do not often travel to the grocery store, I don't get the luxury of always finding reduced-for-quick-sale milk. So if I'm buying milk, I'm paying at least $3.50 a gallon. For 56 oz of regular milk, I'd pay $1.53. So, by using diluted coconut milk, I'm actually saving money - and I'm getting organic! Also, using canned coconut milk works well for me since I can buy several cans at once and thus eliminate extra trips to the store.

Now, I understand that my coconut milk does not contain the calcium that regular milk does, so I am losing out on something. More ideas about alternate sources of calcium will be coming soon. In the mean time check out the website Go Dairy Free (http://www.godairyfree.org) for more ideas about milk-free diets and a challenge to make even those not allergic consider going dairy-free.