MWTC,
Soy nut butter would certainly be something else. That's a very good point of clarification. I generically meant any soy based butter product substitute. Margarine is just one of several, although I prefer non-hydrogenated food products when possible (the soy cream cheese doesn't seem possible), so if you can find something non-hydrogenated, that would be a better option. What to look for on the ingredient list: soybean oil, soy protein, soy lecithin, lactic acid, and usually items like water, salt, natural flavor. One brand I picked up not too long ago ("Earth Balance") is actually a "butter spread" which contains four oils: soybean, palm, canola, and olive. It has half the saturated fat as butter, no trans fatty acids, and of course no cholesterol. If you look in the same section as you found that soy cream cheese, you will find much better quality butter product substitutes than plain margarine. The best reason for using these soy products over dairy, and I consider there to be a few, is the crazy-long shelf life of almost a year, even for the non-hydrogenated stuff. This is indicative of nearly nonexistent bacterial incubation, which is dairy's disadvantage.
- red.november
