I'd like to suggest the book "Not Milk... NUT MILKS!" by Candia Lea Cole if you are interested in making your own nut milks (cost savings - and fresh always seems to be best). She has some really great "milks" in her book besides the run-of-the-mill almond milk. Along with rice, there are other grain milks you can make (spelt, wheat, oats). Use a variety of nuts and even sunflower seeds, hemp seeds, sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds for non-dairy milks. You can also fortify your non-dairy "milk" products with things like mesquite meal, flaxmeal, chia seeds...which all have health benefits. Just two ounces of Chia seeds contain 600 mg of Calcium, compared with 120 mg for milk and they are high in other minerals (including Boron) helpful for bone health. Oat milk, although pretty tasty, great on cereal, has more protein than rice milk, but doesn't work well in cooking/baking. Rice milk doesn't work well in cooking/baking either. Hemp milk has enough protein to work fairly well in cooking. The protein content, and the type of protein, is where you may find you miss milk in cooking and baking. Milk proteins coagulate or precipate to form a solid clot or curd under certain circumstances. Some sauces may work well using a non-dairy milk substitute, some won't. To make pudding you will need to use a thickener like arrowroot, agar-agar or cornstarch. Almond Milk Pudding is actually very easy to make and you can find recipes on-line. Milk, in bread and many baked goods, is a tenderizer, adds protein and contributes to crust color, and you may miss some of those attributes, but it depends on how much milk you are substituting in any given recipe and what it contributes to the recipe. Look at the labels of the commercial non-dairy milks. Some of them are so loaded with ingredients to thicken and fortify it, and who knows what else, I'd tend to make my own. There may also be a down-side - there are many allergens associated with the nut milks, and many people who may be sensitive to avenin protein found in oats should avoid oat milk. If you are also avoiding butter, may I suggest coconut oil. It works not only in cooking and baking, but you can also use it as a bread-spread. You will find lots of recipes for using nut/seed/grain milks if you visit raw food sites, or check out vegan recipes. Sometimes it's easier to use recipes designed for those ingredients, to get accustomed to them, then start incorporating it into your favorite recipes. As a YUMMY non-dairy substitute for yogurt I have been fermenting coconut milk with real kefir grains, just like I make kefir with milk. I use coconut milk from reconstituted coconut milk powder. If you don't like the taste of coconut, this won't be a good substitute for you. Be sure to share more of your personal experiences using non-dairy milk alternatives. I, for one, would be interested in hearing your real experiences.... -Grainlady

How can milk even be mentioned without... quote "The best part is not actually the pouring of milk on the salad. It's the telling of the story, which I did several days later to a friend. "I poured milk on my salad." Friend: "So?" "What do you mean, 'so?' I POURED MILK. ON MY SALAD. ON MY SALAD. MILK. SALAD. Don't you find that odd? A bad sign? Something?" Friend:"Everybody does that." Me (screaming): "Are you f&*&^% nuts?? Who pours milk on their salad? Are you even listening to me? SALAD SALAD SALAD." At that precise moment, I realized that, while I had meant to say "salad," I had actually been saying "cereal" the entire time. "I POURED MILK ON MY CEREAL!!! YOU REALLY DON'T FIND THAT ODD? ARE YOU NUTS?? Milk? On my CEREAL?!?" Screaming, mind you." Here is a link that might be useful: i poured milk on my salad This post was edited by sleevendog on Tue, Nov 5, 13 at 22:57

christineny - I've used the ultra-pasteurized goat milk (1- quart in a carton) and it works just fine for kefir/yogurt and general use as a substitute for cow's milk. It been difficult to find goat's milk in the carton around here. Wal-Mart was about the only place that carried it, and they don't have it all the time. Lots of health benefits associated with goat's milk. You can usually find powdered goat's milk in the same place you find non-fat dry powdered milk or SACO (dried buttermilk). The ultra-pasteurized is much better than dried. -Grainlady

I've always liked raw cauliflower and years ago I was served steamed cauliflower as a sub for taters. I was impressed. I too don't find it to have a bunch of flavor, similar to potatoes, which I don't find to have that much flavor. A few months ago I jotted down an idea I had to substitute some blanched cauliflower for potatoes in potato salad. Thought it might work better for summertime picnics and though it could be interesting to try. Glad to hear others have tried it. Once again, I come up with an "idea" that has already been done. But then again, there's not all that many totally original ideas I guess.