As you have probably noticed, I really like to encourage whole foods eating, preferably with homemade recipes. But I’m a realist. People’s lives are busier than ever, and sometimes preparing fresh homemade bagged lunches is the last thing on your mind. Though I still encourage making some time for preparing foods from scratch (*cough* Smart School Time Recipes, *cough* It's Free), it can be helpful to have some healthy, pre-packaged foods on hand. Without them, you may find yourself running to feed the family from the Golden Arches.

One of my favorite brands for convenience is Amy’s. They are a vegetarian frozen food company that focuses on organics and ingredients you can pronounce. You can see my take on many of their products in our product reviews, but today, I sampled Amy’s new Gluten-Free, Non-Dairy Burrito made with organic rice and beans ... 

Sweet Sundays: Challah is typically parve (unlike brioche and other traditional egg-heavy loaves), so we can usually count on the recipes for this sweet braided bread to be dairy-free. But, even with this simple recipe there can be many variations.

Levana, author of Levana Cooks Dairy-Free!, opted to up the nutrition factor of traditional Challah by substituting spelt flour for the white flour and honey for the white sugar. She says, "It is no wonder the public often thinks there is no way to enjoy a delicious slice of spelt challah or bread, as it always comes brick-heavy in stores: Mine is light and delicious!"

If whole spelt flour still seems a bit heavy for your tastes, then seek out white spelt flour, which is a bit more refined, but will produce lighter results in both color and texture.

Levana's recipe includes two variations. The original long braided loaf that is enjoyed year round, and the round raisin-studded loaf that is served for Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.

Frugal Foodie Friday: Wow, I am very proud to say that Smart School Time Recipes was downloaded by over 6000 viewers yesterday! It seems to be on track for thousands of additional downloads this week and hopefully in the future. Please help to spread the word of feeding ourselves and our kids with whole foods (rather than over-processed packages of Franken-foods) by emailing, sharing, and tweeting about this new Free eCookbook. You can send them to this link - www.onefrugalfoodie.com/2010/09/01/free-school-time-recipes. Change through recipes and food ideas; that's my motto. Speaking of recipes ...

I was actually going to post my version of one of the recipes in that eCookbook today, but I realized we are coming upon a major barbecue weekend. A northern hemisphere going away party for the summer if you will. So I'm saving the Smart School Time recipe for next week, and sharing my new go-to homemade BBQ sauce today. You may have seen a version of this recipe here on Go Dairy Free prior, but I thought I would share my version, which is quite a bit milder than the original (with option to go even more "kid-friendly") since this has become a go-to recipe in our house.

Just a heads up that the new September Sales and Special Offers have gone up for Amazon Grocery, and finally it looks like a good bunch of natural food offerings. Granted, the discounts aren't as big as last year (I lament), but still a bargain in many cases. I plan to buy from among the deals this month. Here are just a few that have an abundance of dairy-free offerings (I've included my own personal notes, just in case you want to know a little more):

YummyEarth Organic Candy (Great discount, perfect for special lunchbox treat, classrooms, and upcoming holiday events since they are also made in an allergen-safe facility (including nut-free), according to the company.)

Coombs Maple Syrup (This is the brand I always buy and always from Amazon. I get he grade B organic version - more flavor, better quality, best price when on sale, like now!)

Natural Food Cereals, Granolas and Bars from Annie's Homegrown, Nature's Path, Envirokidz, Erin Baker's (including those breakfast cookies!), Erewhon, and New Morning (I'm a big fan of Erewhon's crispy cereals for cooking, baking, and no-baking. We used to buy Nature's Path cereal quite a bit; most varieties are great, but we now make our own cereal and granola at home. I haven't sampled the other brands, but have heard good things about all from readers.)