Milk without cows? 11-7-12

    Just today, a friend asked me why coconut milk and almond milk are called that, when there was no animal to "milk". Funny, but the names exist. I love dairy and on the Paleo Diet, dairy is not allowed. I had to search at first, but I found two acceptable "milks" and found they are very different.
   Coconut milk--so far I have just used it like chicken stock. It's wet, but to me has no flavor. But then, how much flavor does my old 2% milk have? Just like colored water compared to whole milk, but I got used to that, so bring on the coconut milk. I read a recipe for whipped coconut milk, but it was loaded with "baker's sugar": confectioner's sugar, I guess. I'll do more research and experimentation.
   I fell in love with almond milk right away, and, no, it has almost no flavor, either, but the texture is closer to "real" milk. I read labels carefully, because I found that there is dairy milk flavored with almond flavoring, and soy milk with almond flavoring. But even Kroger has its own store brand of almond milk, plain or with vanilla flavoring. I like the vanilla almond milk. I use it in almost all my smoothies because it adds a creamy look without a strong taste. That would be good enough, but lots of recipes call for almond milk, so I know it will be usable. I am on the third half gallon so far, compared to still on the first of coconut milk. They both have calories, but nothing like dairy milk, unless you buy brands that are loaded with sugar, corn syrup, or other sweeteners.

Meals for the day:
Breakfast: Apricot Smoothie:  canned apricots, peach juice, almond milk, and a raw egg, in a blender, with crushed ice to make it bulkier.
Lunch: Rotisserie chicken wings; garlic Italian green beans and cherub tomatoes (the garlic Italian dressing was what was left from a jar of seasoned mushrooms); parslied baby carrots; and toasted walnuts and Concord grapes. This made a gorgeous, colorful plate of food. Yummy!
Dinner: Spaghetti squash and tomato meat sauce; sauteed broccoli, zucchini and yellow squash; almond butter fried apples.

Still experimenting--my criteria--reasonably priced, attractive and enticing to eat, available in my town, and not too weird to try.