FOOD: Gluten Free Pizza with Dairy-Free Cheese

After visiting the doctor about a month ago for my chronic achy-ness and other complaints, I was diagnosed with a gluten allergy. To make matters worse, they also told me I have a sensitivity to dairy and I should stay away from that too. For those of you who know me.... know that I am already a picky eater... I basically have the culinary tastes of a 5 year old. I thought this was going to be difficult.

To my surprise, giving up gluten wasn't as bad as I had thought. With there being so many gluten free alternatives now-a-days, it's really rather simple once you get the hang of it. (I am still learning as I go). The dairy was actually the thing I had the harder problem with.

People keep telling me... "It can't be that bad, I see lactose free cheese and milk products everywhere". Well let me first start off by explaining that lactose free is completely different than dairy free.

Lactose Free: Lactose is the sugar component of milk. It is often referred to as "milk sugar." A lactose intolerant person, can still consume dairy, as long as the lactose has been removed.

Dairy Free: Dairy refers to milk and any part of milk that comes from a cow or other milk bearing mammal. For a product to be considered Dairy Free, it must contain no milk or milk byproduct.

So in short... a dairy free product is lactose free, but a lactose free product is not necessarily dairy free. Enter vegan cheese.

I was really craving pizza this weekend so Daryl and I thought we would make some with gluten free crust. I have been having really good luck with the products thus far from Udi's Gluten Free. So I thought I would give their crusts a try. They come in a package of 2 in the freezer section with most of the other gluten free breads.

That was the first step. Second, I had to find a vegan cheese, which was actually harder than anticipated. Nevertheless, I finally found one by Daiya. I was hesitant, naturally because of the way it looked, but I proceeded anyway.

Since Daryl is being so supportive and trying to be gluten free with me, I decided there was no reason to subject him to the dairy free cheese, so I made 2 pizzas, one dairy free... one with regular cheese.

Pizza prior to cooking...

Prior to Cooking

Pizza hot out of the oven...

Cooked Pizza

Notice how gooey and melty and delicious that Daryl's "regular cheese" pizza looks. The vegan cheese kept its form- although it did melt a little... it really didn't melt "together."

But it all comes down to taste...

The crust was perfectly fine. I probably could have cooked them slightly longer than the package stated just to get a little more crisp out of them.... but very edible and I will be buying them again. I can not say the same for the cheese. Although it was better than I expected... it most definitely was not CHEESE.

My check in with my nutritionist is next week. I am hoping that I will be able to add in cheese in moderation (like once a month or when I HAVE to have pizza), but we shall see what she says.

Has anyone else had any luck with Dairy Free cheese or any other Gluten Free products of note? Any suggestions for me?