I've made this cashew cream cheese spread several times with great success and shared it at a potluck with the omnis who also loved it.
How to Make Soy-free Vegan & Paleo Cream Cheese
I've also done this one but the omnis don't like it quite as much:
Sliceable Cashew Cheese [Vegan]
I had been dairy intolerant for years before becoming vegan so avoided cheese and milk with the exception of plain Greek yogurt. That would still cause bloat/slowed digestion but did not cause the cramping gassy pain and dairrhea the other dairy products caused, and at the time I liked that it was high in protein and calcium. When I went full on vegan it was easy for me as it was only a matter of giving up the yogurt, eggs, fish and occasional meat, and byproducts. I was one of those "whole foods" people as an omni so very rarely ate processed byproduct foods (ie cold cereals, breads, sauces, etc). I didn't try commercial vegan cheeses my first two years vegan as I wanted to move away from traditional omni types of foods. Ditto for vegan "meats", but I did drink plant milks. I grew to love nutritional yeast but at first didn't understand what the excitement was about. I made all my own bread and even vegan mayonnaise (nut based).
I still don't care a lot for the vegan commercial cheeses. Daiya is OK, but my stomach reacts badly to it. So I will have it on pizza (more for my partners sake as he likes it) a few times a year. Chao cheese absolutely makes me ill with cramps, gas pains etc. Both Tofutti and Daiya cream cheese and sour cream just taste too rubbery for me. But I have heard there are better and better vegan cheeses on the market. Miyokos supposedly makes some, and Kite Hill. Neither of those are available in my area, but if they were I would try them if for no other reason than to encourage omnis or otherwise vegan cheese lovers to try them. I LOVE a local company called Punk Rawk Labs cashew cheese, but at $13 for a small square with about four servings, its not worth it when I can make my own.
My strategy is usually to encourage cheese "addicts" to try other ways to appreciate food that can do similar things as cheese instead of the cheese substitutes. For example, hummus on pizza, flatbread, or in pasta, or grilled avocado/tomato sandwiches, or a good enchilada sauce recipe. But I understand some people don't want the change to be too "radical" right off the bat. I worry that the substitute vegan cheeses, yogurts, meats, etc will only persuade people to go back to "the real thing" as it can not live up to the taste of what they are used to (though my partner LOVES Bocca burgers and Field Roast sausages, go figure). Unless their reason for change is strongly ethical. I feel that a strong ethical stance can overcome taste issues. But maybe I am being biased based on my own experience? I didn't have cravings for anything nonvegan for a very long time, except a short intense craving for eggs when I was very underweight in my ED and about two years vegan, and I found other ways to satisfy that (tofu scrambles, chickpea flour omelets, chickpeas and potatoes etc). However, lately for some odd reason I have been craving Greek yogurt again and it really disturbs me. I have been making batches of homemade vegan almond/coconut yogurt and having semi success with it but have been frustrated by the lack of thickness to it even with adding tapioca starch. I do however, like the sourish, nonsugar, plainness of it which is hard to find in commercial vegan yogurts. Ironically this seems to have triggered the sudden cravings for Greek yogurt, to the point of almost tasting and smelling it. And has made me revisit my ethics and go over the arguments in my head as to why it is totally unnecessary to have it. I never thought after six years I would be wrestling with this in my head. I RARELY have cravings for animal food. Its hard for me to even talk about with other vegans due to the shaming. But I still worry about meeting my calcium and protein and b12 needs etc. I feel I have to work hard at it, but I also tend to be very careful about calories, sticking to mostly whole foods etc, and ironically this mindset is probably making things worse for me. Its probably not even really about the food. IDK.
