Recently, I became dairy-free, mostly for health reasons. This dietary restriction comes up often in conversation, so my close friends have heard about my “dairyless” life more than they probably would like. But making a change in the way you eat is a big deal, and in many ways, simple aspects of your daily life also seem to change. For example, due to the amount of foods that contain milk or butter, snacking with sweets is usually off the table. And in that way, my random snacking habits have been greatly diminished.

Not to say that being dairy-free is extremely hard and changes big aspects of what you can and can’t eat. I mean, at first it certainly was not easy. I would reach for a Chobani and then have to pull back. Or go to spread some butter on my toast at dinner, before realizing I could no longer eat it. Being dairy-free, you can’t eat yogurt, ice-cream, cheese, anything with butter, cream cheese, sour cream or drink milk. Luckily, a lot of this stuff has amazing, dairy free substitutions. And it is because of this, that I can eat similarly to the way I ate before I was dairy-free, with a few exceptions and a lot of substitutions. Below are my favorite meals that work with my dairy free life!

1. 5 Fruit Smoothie

Smoothies make amazing breakfasts, lunches or snacks, especially one full of fruit. I always use some frozen fruit and some fresh. I use frozen mangos, frozen blueberries and frozen raspberries. And I use fresh strawberries and fresh bananas. While I used to put yogurt in my smoothie, I now substitute it with almond milk or coconut milk. Then you have a fruity, dairy free smoothie.

2. Avocado Toast

I don’t know what I would do if I couldn’t eat avocado. Luckily, I can and I take advantage of that by eating half an avocado a day. I toast a slice of whole wheat bread, cut up half an avocado and crack an egg on a pan (using a touch of vegan butter before you lay the egg down). When the toast is done, the avocado is cut and the egg is cooked to over easy perfection, you put it all together. Finally, I add a few sprinkles of crushed red pepper. Voila!

3. Garlic Shrimp

Fish is a large portion of my diet—I love it, especially shrimp. For a before dinner snack, I make a few garlic shrimp for myself. I put 5-6 raw shrimp in a pan, heat them up and throw a little olive oil and garlic on them. After that, I add a little squeeze of lime, a few large pinches of salt. If we have cilantro, I will add a little bit of that too!

4. Fruit Sorbet

Sorbet is a blessing. I prefer sorbet to dairy free ice cream, because it does not feel like it is trying to be something it is not. Being so used to regular ice cream, tasting a dairy free alternative is a little anti-climactic. But sorbet is a refreshing, delicious treat that is the perfect desert as a substitute to ice cream. The way I eat it, is I take a scoop of Raspberry Talenti sorbet and a scoop of Mango Talenti sorbet, add some banana slices, some raspberries, some blueberries, some blackberries and some strawberries…and eat. It’s a filling, dairy-free desert that will leave you craving more!

Of course, the possibilities for dairy free snacks are endless. Above are just the ones that make up a bulk of my snacks, which is why I wanted to share them. There are a variety of different websites and articles that make changing an aspect of your diet so easy and make snacking fun.