Just a plant-based girl 🎵
Livin’ in a cheesy world 🧀
Hi there! I’m Sherri, the author and recipe developer behind Hold the Cheese Dairy Free.
I also run things over at Recipe Shuffle and am the former owner and founder of the food blog, Watch Learn Eat, where I created and posted recipes for nine years, many of which were dairy-free and vegan.
I’m a lifelong cooking enthusiast and former cheese addict turned dairy-free.
Saying I was addicted to cheese just might be an understatement…
My Childhood Cheese Obsession
I was the child whose parents would joke around saying that my first word was “cheese.”
Every year, I put gourmet cheese balls on the top of my Christmas wish list.
While all the other girls in middle school had posters of the latest teen heartthrob decorating their bedrooms, I had a picture of cheese plastered on my wall.
It was actually a photograph of a plate of spaghetti that featured the hand of a waiter holding a block of Parmesan cheese and a grater hovering over a tower of cheese atop the pasta.
Yup, that was how I rolled.
After a while, I just asked the wait staff to leave the whole cheese grating ensemble at the table. It was much easier that way.
Anyway, I even said, and I quote, that if I ever had to give up cheese, “I’d rather be dead.”
So, about that…
Giving up Dairy
In 2019, I decided to take the Veganuary challenge along with a co-worker. I had already been an on and off vegetarian for most of my adulthood, so I was game. I put my mind to it and though it was hard, I was able to give up my precious cheese! And guess what? I lived to talk about it lol!
Everything was going well. I was feeling great…until I ran into an issue with the medication I was taking.
Back in 2016, I had visited my doctor for the debilitating pain, severe bloating, and a slew of other symptoms related to my endometriosis that just kept getting worse. He said I could take continuous hormonal birth control to stop my cycles or have a hysterectomy. I chose the first option.
In the summer of 2020, the pills just stopped working one day out of the blue. The doctor prescribed something new to try to get me back on track, but it all went downhill from there.
I gained a few pounds which turned into a few more and a few more after that. He switched me to another continuous hormonal treatment, but after a while I started feeling like something wasn’t right.
I was dizzy all the time, had terrible brain fog, went through bouts of crying fits, my vision got blurry, and I just felt plain awful. My doctor suggested I may have some vitamin deficiencies, so in 2021 I decided to reintroduce eggs and dairy into my diet.
Little did I know that prolonged use of hormonal birth control has been linked to vitamin depletion (source) and that could have been the cause of my issues.
When I finally read about this online, I decided that enough was enough. I wanted to wean myself off of the medication, so in 2022 I visited a specialist who used traditional medicine along with natural techniques like diet and supplements to help women with hormonal issues.
Her first recommendation? “YoU hAvE tO gIvE uP dAirY.”
She explained that endometriosis is an estrogen-driven disease and that all dairy products (even when they say “no hormones added”) contain estrogen (source).
She also said that despite conflicting information related to soy, I should regularly consume organic soy products like soy milk, tofu, tempeh, and edamame. I can pop pieces of tofu like candy, so I was totally down with that.
But when it came to dairy, I didn’t listen at first, and once I was off the meds, dairy was not a good friend to me. The medication was no longer there to keep the endometriosis symptoms at bay. Every one of them came back with a vengeance.
I decided to quit the dairy…again. But every once in a while, I would cheat, thinking that just one little piece of cheese wouldn’t hurt. I was wrong…Every. Single. Time.
So, I called it quits on the dairy for good.
But a couple of years passed, and I still wasn’t feeling my best. I kept gaining weight and my doctor even told me my cholesterol was getting a little high. That’s when the eggs went too.
Committing to Plant-Based Living
In January of 2025, I decided that I needed to commit to improving my health. I cut back on wine, stopped cooking with oil, and am now eating a (mostly) low-fat, plant-based diet. Hey, a girl’s got to indulge in some almond ricotta every now and then lol.
I didn’t realize how much oils and consuming too much fat general affected my hormones. This new lifestyle has helped me tremendously with regard to controlling my endometriosis symptoms. Plus, I’m down about 15 pounds and counting!
Of course, this is my personal experience and not meant to be taken as medical advice. You should always consult a qualified healthcare professional regarding health conditions, concerns, and diet.
Today, I’m happily living my life as a plant-based girl, working hard to create non-dairy dishes that anyone can enjoy.
Whether you’re vegan, dairy-free vegetarian, flexitarian, lactose-intolerant, have a milk allergy, or are just exploring, there’s something here for everyone!