Growing up, my family never bought cheese, and it wasn’t a part of our home cooking. My only encounters with cheese were the melted slices on fast food burgers or the grated kind on occasional street-side sandwiches.

After moving to the US following my marriage, I noticed my husband enjoyed spreading cream cheese liberally on his morning toast. Meanwhile, I stuck with butter and jam.

However, we eventually went cheese-free for two years due to abnormal health readings during my husband’s regular checkups. This break was beneficial, and we cautiously reintroduced cheese into our diet in moderation.

Now, we use cream cheese for my homemade vegetarian sandwiches and blocks of Pepper Jack cheese to grate onto our homemade pizzas, indulging just once every couple of months.

Why do we do this? It’s a way to add variety to our meals and enjoy occasional cheat days at home, rather than constantly dining out without getting the desired flavors. We’ve learned from the health consequences of consuming too much processed cheese, so I advocate for more natural protein sources like lentils and legumes.

For those who still want cheese in their diet, I recommend opting for less processed varieties such as feta, cottage cheese, or ricotta, which are lower in fat and can be enjoyed without as much risk to health.