See My Other Blogs / Sites for Regular Posts

I pop in here from time to time, but for regular milk-free / dairy-free posts (and to email or leave comments!) visit me at:

One Frugal Foodie (I switched to wordpress, so this is my new personal "milk-free" blog)

Go Dairy Free (informational website with news, blog posts, etc.)

Go Dairy Free the Guide & Cookbook Has Arrived!

I have been working on it for over a year now, but Dairy Free Made Easy has at last been expanded and morphed into my new guide and cookbook, Go Dairy Free: The Guide and Cookbook for Milk Allergies, Lactose Intolerance, and Casein-Free Living.

We are currently shipping Go Dairy Free out direct to dairy-free dieters worldwide, and I have an eBook available for those who prefer a paperless guide (Amazon Kindle is also available for you kindle subscribers). The book is also available from Amazon and Barnes & Noble, and you can make a purchase, it will just take a week longer to arrive to you. The initial copies have not yet arrived in their inventories, but they should be there soon.

To give you a brief synopsis, the first half of this 288 page book is what I call a “living guide.” It includes the most ginormous dairy substitutes section ever published (5 chapters!); a complete explanation of dairy vs dairy-free, including any health factors that should be considered and a full definition of what dairy is that delves into the different types of milk; information for milk allergies (plus an entire chapter that addresses infant/child milk allergies in particular), lactose intolerance, the vegan diet, and various other health concerns; a complete calcium guide and more!

The second half is all cookbook and resources. The “living guide” includes roughly 50 dairy substitutes recipes, while the cookbook half houses another 175 recipes, food products I personally recommend, and a thorough resources section to expand your dairy-free enjoyment.

You can view the table of contents and recipe index from the Go Dairy Free Guide Information Page.

I Am Still Posting, Check My New Blogs Out:

Just another quick update. I am making regular milk-free posts over at my new Milk-Free Blog.

Since that one can't be commented on, I want to also invite you to my new Wordpress blog, One Frugal Foodie.

Both the website and blog are completely dairy-free, and are updated several times per week, always new content!

Go Dairy Free is a super informational site. If you are on or thinking of a dairy-free, gluten-free, vegan, or food allergy free diet, you must visit to view the results of my long hours of research and recipe gathering.

Also, we have a new cookbook out with our grassroots publishing company, and dare I say it is gorgeous! It is a full color vegan dessert cookbook (no eggs and no dairy), with a picture accompanying every single recipe (yes, I said every recipe!), each taken by the author herself. Speaking of, the author is an amazing young success story, a friend and wonderful person to work with. You can read more about My Sweet Vegan here - http://www.mysweetvegan.com/. It can also be purchased here on Amazon.

This Blog Has Moved!

Sorry to leave you hanging! The Milk-Free Blog is Still around and being posted too, but it was a bit too much work for me to maintain www.godairyfree.org and a google blog, so the blog has been moved to the main site - http://www.godairyfree.org/Alisa-s-Blog/Alisa-s-Milk-Free-Blog/ - I am still adding a few posts a week over there... so come by and visit!

Gluten-Free Baking Madness

The past couple of weeks have been a gluten-free and baking whirlwind. I trialed three bread mixes, one from Sylvan Border Farm and two Breads from Anna, each quite successful. I was in pure shock at the Breads from Anna Gluten Free Bread with Yeast. It was no easy feat (you should have seen my kitchen!) but the bread was amazing. It was just like the store bought whole wheat bread I loved as a kid. There was no way anyone could guess it was dairy and gluten free, seriously.

I also received a shipment in from Gluten-Free Essentials, and we have quickly put the two cookie mixes to good use. On our behalf, how could anyone resist Chocolate Chip and Cocoa Mudslide Cookies? Delicious.

All of this baking has given me some practice on the new digital camera we just picked up. I am a complete photo rookie, as you may be able to tell from my pics. But, I have been checking out some pictures online to see what works best in photographing food. Today I snapped some shots of the Cocoa Mudslide cookies. I was pretty proud of myself on these (you should see my earlier ones, ugh!):

While I was in a baking mood, I put together an article based on some information from the dairy alternatives section in my book. I needed to write something for Just Baking, so “Baking without Butter” seemed like a good theme for the week. If there are any other suggestions, I would love to hear them...for both baking without butter and good baking topics to write on!
We do have many more fabulous GF baking mixes to trial, but my oven will get some rest. A shipment of Nana’s cookies also just arrived this week (they look soooo good!), and we may have one or two more types of pre-made cookies on the way. I impatiently await the UPS man. Hmmm, I am not so sure this counts as nutritious, but gluten-free/dairy-free sounds health-conscious.

Food Allergy Moms Make the Best Cookbook Authors

So, the story following is my first writing for the "Paper Palate" on the Well Fed Network. I began writing for the network just over a week ago, and seem to be writing non-stop. Believe it or not, the Pumpkin Muffin picture below is my very first digital camera upload-to- the-internet picture. (Click on read more to read the full story and see my first photo attempts) I know, a bit in the dark ages...but, this means more photos are to come. So please bear with me if they are a rookie-quality at first. Enjoy the article and the muffins!...

Why do I love recipes from food allergy moms? Simply put, they are easy and reliable. One would think that a cookbook for food allergies might contain expensive, hard to find ingredients and elaborate directions. But realistically, do you think that a mom (doesn’t this word alone imply insanely busy) who has to cook every single meal for her child would have the time to prepare complicated recipes or the grocery budget to shop everyday at Whole Foods? Hardly. Not to mention, three meals a day for close to 365 days a year, makes for an incredible amount of practice and a hefty set of safe, go-to recipes.

As a writer for Go Dairy Free, I have gained quite a following of food allergy moms seeking and sharing milk-free information. In fact, two “moms gone cookbook author” were kind enough to send me copies of their books for review. Before I knew it, these two cookbooks had turned into my essential resources for last minute ‘what should I make for dinner?’ nights.

My first successes came from Linda Coss’s “What’s To Eat? The Milk-Free, Egg-Free, Nut-Free Food Allergy Cookbook.” Almost immediately I fell in love with her cooking style. Most of the recipes have less than ten ingredients, which are all easy to find, if not already in my cupboard. My instant successes with her Simply Sensational Chicken Sauté and Pineapple Upside-Down Biscuits kept me motivated in the kitchen. I moved onto the Frosted Maple Drop Cookies (a maple bar in a cookie, I was in heaven!) and my now favorite “raw” recipe, Sunflower Pesto. I have heard that her Gimme S’more Cookie Bars are to die for…they are next.



After this positive experience, I was eager to dive into the recipes of “Sophie-Safe Cooking” by Emily Hendrix. Emily goes one step further. Her collection is free of milk, eggs, wheat (not oats), soy, peanuts, tree nuts, fish, and shellfish. I am guessing that Emily’s pantry is sparse, with large bags of a handful of ingredients, but what is in it gets some seriously creative mileage. I have have had the most fun with the baked goods and the salad dressings from this book. In fact, the Pumpkin Muffin recipe below is now on my weekly baking schedule.

Having already made this recipe numerous times, I recommend making just 12 muffins for preteens to adults (many of Emily's recipes are serving-sized for little ones), and adding ½ cup or more of raisins to get the most of the pumpkin and spice flavor. In the batch pictured below, I also experimented (successfully!) with evaporated cane juice in place of the white sugar (1:1). In addition to food allergy-friendly, these muffins also suit a vegan diet.


Pumpkin Muffins (from Sophie-Safe Cooking)

• 2 2/3 cups oat flour
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 Tbsp baking powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp cloves
• 1 1/2 cups pumpkin, canned
• 1/2 cup rice milk
• 1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 3 Tbsp vegetable oil

Mix all of the dry ingredients on low speed with a mixer. Add pumpkin, rice milk, vinegar, and oil. Mix well. Spoon into lined muffin cups. [a lightly greased muffin tin also works, I use a silicone one and they pop right out]

Bake at 350ºF for 20 minutes. Makes about 18 muffins. [see note above on sizing]

My Chinese Version of Hamburger Helper

Last night I got the craving for one of my favorite quick and easy Chinese dishes, Ma Po Tofu. I may be way off base from typical taste buds, but the tofu in this meal seems to have a cheesy quality about it in both taste and texture. My husband, who is in no way shape or form a tofu fan, really likes it. Though I have yet to trial it with little ones, it does seem like a dish I would have loved as a kid.

As a shortcut, I purchased Soga's pre-cubed extra-firm tofu. It turned out to have less tofu in the package, but the convenience was nice. Since I didn't have a zucchini on hand, I used some thickly sliced mushrooms. They worked equally well, but the zucchini does add nice color to the dish.

I apologize for the lack of a picture. We are still on the hunt for a digital camera that my husband feels is the best quality and value (so far the ones he has picked are perpetually out of stock). Deperate to start clicking, my grandma has offered to lend me hers. So hopefully I will have some photos up soon!

Ma Po Tofu

Serves 4

• 1 piece ginger (3/4 in section) or 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 2 green onions
• 4 garlic cloves (or equivalent crushed garlic)
• 12 oz extra-firm tofu
• 1 teaspoon extra light olive oil
• 1/2 pound ground beef, pork, or turkey
• 1 zucchini
• 1 cup bean sprouts
• 2-3 tablespoons black bean sauce
• 1 cup of chicken or vegetable broth
• 1-2 small chile peppers diced or 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
• Sesame Oil (optional)
• Chili Oil (optional)
• Hot Rice

Directions:

Peel ginger and mince. Remove root end and any wilted parts from the green onions, rinse the rest and cut into rings. Peel garlic and mince. Cut Tofu into 1/2 inch cubes. Heat oil in a wok or pan, add ginger and garlic and saute for 1 min. Add ground meat and stir fry until lightly browned and crumbly.

Spoon bean sauce in and stir, pour chicken broth in and heat. Add Tofu and zucchini to the mix and heat for about 5 minutes. Add green onions and bean sprouts, heat for 2 min.

Serve over hot brown or white rice

Serve with sesame oil and hot chili oil alongside for drizzling as condiments.

Note: I cheated a touch, the black bean sauce did have wheat in it from the soy sauce. So this dish isn't 100% gluten-free. I hope to find a wheat-free version soon, or else I will be hunting Asian markets for fermented black beans.