Hi! My name is Laura and my favourite hobby is cooking, especially baking. I live in Swansea in the UK, near the beautiful Gower Peninsula. I first started this website in 2007, when my husband found out that he was allergic to dairy products and eggs. He didn't always have this allergy, but he had been suffering from sinus headaches and stomach problems for a few years - problems which have disappeared since he cut out dairy and eggs.
This led to a journey of discovery into the free-from world. We had to start reading labels in the supermarket. We encountered difficulties eating out. We had to find substitutes to replace traditional ingredients. I was particularly keen to take up the challenge of baking cakes that everyone could enjoy. So the Dairy Free Me website was created to try and share some of this knowledge with other people in the same situation.
A few years later, after suffering with gastroenteritis, I became intolerant to certain foods, most notably wheat/gluten. After consulting with my doctor, I was advised to start keeping a food diary to identify trigger foods. That seemed to work quite well for a while, but then I was still having problems. I later discovered the Low FODMAP diet which involves cutting down on certain fruits, vegetables and pulses as well as dairy and wheat. This has made a big difference, however it has also made everything much more complicated! The recipes on this website have labels to show which are gluten-free and low-FODMAP, and of course they are all free from dairy and eggs.
Fast forward to the COVID pandemic, I decided to go vegan. I've never been a big fan of meat, and always a big fan of animals! So the recipes on the website are now all plant-based. So now as well as avoiding the unpleasant symptoms from allergies and intolerances, I'm also happy to know that no animals were harmed in the making of my food. In line with this I have changed the some of the original recipes on this site to be vegan.
The dairy-free world has changed since 2007 and there are many more dairy-free alternatives in the supermarket today than when I started out. There is a staggering array of plant-based dairy alternatives. Even the cheese is starting to get palatable! I also discovered the joy of aquafaba. This is the liquid from a tin of chickpeas or other legumes. Normally something you would throw away, but it is the most amazing egg-white substitute.
I hope the information in this website will be useful. I'm not not trying to advocate 'fad' diets or 'clean eating', but is intended to help people who have genuine reasons for excluding certain food groups. If you have any comments or suggestions please email us at laura@dairyfreeme.com.
The important thing to remember is that you can still eat delicious food if you are on a restricted diet!
