Sarena of The Non-Dairy Queen took the Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Sticks for a test run, and it resulted in some delicious and power-packed cookies:

"When I first started baking dairy free I had no idea where to start. I was really quite clueless about vegan products and how useful they would be in my baking now. I asked a fellow blogger about dairy free butter substitutes and she recommended Earth Balance. I have been a loyal user of Earth Balance ever since. It is the perfect safe alternative for all of my dairy free baked goods that need butter for their structure. Back when I first started using it, I could only get the tub. This was a little difficult for measuring, but worth the trouble at the time. Now I can get the sticks and I love how easy it is to measure! It is especially useful in my oatmeal cookies! ...

What could be more frugal than an in-season (and consequently on sale) fruit-based recipe? And what could be more refreshing on an Independence Day weekend (or any old hot summer day for that matter) than a cool smoothie? This dairy-free and vegan Strawberry-Watermelon Soul Smoothie combines the best of both worlds, using sweet ripe watermelon and strawberries to create a quick, easy, and slushy beverage that will settle you into that hammock with a smile, and send the kids off running through sprinklers with a burst of energy from the natural sugars. This recipe will surely become a 4th of July favorite. It is heavily inspired by the cookbook, Vegan Soul Kitchen by Bryant Terry. He truly is a master of simplicity and flavor.

Ever find yourself drooling over a cool and creamy image of an ice cream recipe online, only to realize you don't have the necessary kitchen appliance to make it? In all honesty, it is difficult to replicate the results of a good quality ice cream maker, but you can still enjoy those frozen dessert recipes with a little ingenuity and some low-tech labor.

Wheeler del Torro, author of The Vegan Scoop and founder of Wheeler's Frozen Desserts, has gathered his two favorite methods for making homemade "ice cream" without the convenience of an ice cream maker for us to share with you here:

I have coaxed you with my review of Cookies for Everone! and enticed you with a giveaway of both the book and Enjoy Life Goodies on One Frugal Foodie (you can still enter through tomorrow, June 29th, so hurry over), but I have one last final tease ... recipes! Yes, if you need a little more incentive, then just try out a recipe for one (or all) of these tasty morsels. Like all of the recipes in Cookies for Everyone!, the following are free of dairy (yes, casein, lactose, whey, etc.), eggs, soy, gluten/wheat, peanuts, and tree nuts. Plus, they use relatively inexpensive ingredients (no xanthan gum or coconut flour found here), are easy to make, and all around kid-friendly. So get baking, and enjoy these gluten-free and food allergy-friendly recipes for People's Choice Chocolate Chip Cookies, Oat Chocolate Chippers, and Munchy Crunch Cookies ...

I am revisiting an oldy-but-goody from my blog for this Frugal Friday for a few good reasons. First off, it is summer, and I love quick and easy stove-top recipes that are fairly light and won't require a lot of (hot) cooking time. Second, did you see this awesome study on mushrooms in the prevention of breast cancer? Plain old, inexpensive button mushrooms nonetheless. Third, mushrooms and parsley can be found in abundance for a great price this time of year ... or perhaps you even have a fresh herb garden sprouting!

If you are planning ahead, prepare the mix for the Mini-Mushroom Parsley Patties sans eggs in advance. Let the flavors sit and meld in your refrigerator for several hours or overnight. Just before shaping into patties and cooking, fold in the eggs. If you are going it egg-free, or using an egg substitute, definitely allow some refrigerator time, as this will also help with the binding. Now, onto the Recipe!

There are so many wonderful food sites out there, but one of my new favorite is Nourish This, created by Kristin O'Connor. The site isn't specifically dairy-free, but rather addresses various food allergies and medical conditions with whole food recipes. I especially love how each recipe is labeled with these items accordingly, nutrition facts are included, and a special "Naturopathic Doctor Says" write-up tells you the benefits of the ingredients used.

The following Shredded Chicken Bake recipe was contributed to us by Kristin, and is free from dairy, eggs, gluten, wheat, peanuts, tree nuts, and soy. Not to mention, the Naturopathic Doctor has a few excellent things to say about the delicious artichoke hearts and fresh spinach baked within this easy and comforting meal ...