Butter

So I know I said that yogurt was my favorite, I take it back, Butter is. The real stuff...not the tub junk masquerading as the sweet cream, real stick butter. I wasn't thrilled when most of my books said that I can have margarine, mostly because it is made with oils, but the real problem I have lies with the partially hydrogenated oils. Not a good thing to invest my taste buds in...or my arteries.
What do I do now? I cook, saute and bake with butter rather regularly. I know what you're thinking, "Bacon and eggs at every meal, you just can't do that!" I believe in the age-old phrase of 'everything in moderation.' This includes alcohol, meat, cow's milk, fats and oils and sometimes veggies. Remember the year when nutritionists/scientists told us that yogurt, or some component of yogurt, could cause cancer? I mean all bias aside...seriously? Do they really know? One year it's one thing, next year it will be another; I suppose Prevention Magazine needs to continue to write about something. 
I went on the hunt for an alternative butter that didn't make my cookies soggy or cake taste like cardboard. My parents would push Smart Balance as the answer until the apocalypse, but after many years of a butter-less house, I'm not so eager to continue - that and the only kind that doesn't have milk is some olive-oil concoction - yuck.
Yes, onions taste better after being caramelized in butter but I've moved back to using olive or vegetable oil for saute or browning vegetables and meat. Still, a lot of cake mixes, cookie doughs and general dessert delites call for butter. So I ended up finding Earth Balance:

 

Earth Balance site  - So far I have made scrambled eggs, garlic bread, cake! and toast with the delish alternative and everything worked out just fine. The garlic bread was rather tasty...and I didn't feel quite so guilty and/or bloaty.

However, I did try making some gluten free cookies that my roommate in college used to make that came out awful. Then again, I used the vegan butter and almond milk. I'm pretty sure the almond milk did me in there. I'll have to try again with real cow's milk *gasp* and the vegan butter to even things out when I start reintroducing milk as a component of a baked good (mainly buns, breads, cookies and cakes) Speaking of cake! Hannaford's brand yellow cake mix didn't have any dairy in the box and only required egg, oil and water for baking! Great find.

I think I'll try mexican night without sour cream, meat or cheese. Till then, enjoy your dairy induced life everyone!

But this is life on earth, you just can't have everything.