I'll be the first to admit that if it can be cooked, chances are I may try it (with a few minor exceptions). I'm an omnivore (love the veggies and meat) and I love dairy, truly. I never found substantial benefits (personally) to giving up any particular type of food (I've tried all but a vegan diet), so I rarely ever cook or bake with alternatives unless I'm trying to balance things out in a particular week or cooking for someone with allergies (see the allergy page). I simply practice moderation and enjoy all of the wonders and adventure the culinary world has to offer and still enjoy excellent health.
Obviously not everyone feels the same way I do. As the vegetarian and vegan population steadily increases, there is a need for alternatives to traditional recipe ingredients. This information will probably be redundant for a practiced vegetarian or vegan. I will say right now that I have tried very few of these products, but I've made an effort to provide links and other alternative suggestions and I hope someone looking for such a thing will find this information helpful.
Note: any time I bake without butter for a dairy-free recipe, I use Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Sticks (not in the tub!). This is the only alternative product I've used that produces as close to butter results as possible.
Go Dairy Free: this site offers an extensive list of products that are dairy free and can be substituted for traditional ingredients such as sour cream in baking.
About.com: Dairy Substitutes: a comprehensive list of sites that will direct you to a variety of dairy free alternatives to a wide variety of ingredients and products.
Table of Sugar and Sugar Alternatives: quite literally a well laid out table with sugars, uses and recommendations from Vegetarian Organic Life. When I want to bake sugar-free, I use Truvia.
Wheat-Free.org: provides a list of wheat free and gluten free flours and a bit about each one.
Wheat Alternatives: provides a list of the wheat free flours but goes a step further and gives the uses and some substitution recommendations-from Real Food Living.
