Last year one of our food allergy mom taste-testers, Barb, had the honor of sampling the Sweet Alexis product line. Her little ones gave it two thumbs up, and a new customer was born. Barb is an East Coaster, so for her, the national shipping offered by Sweet Alexis is a dream. But now, special dieters residing in central California can enjoy their very own food allergy-friendly bakery.

Sweet Alexis has opened up a retail bakery at 2085 10th Street in Los Osos, California (next to Lemo's Pet & Feed) with the motto, "Made by a mom of food allergic children, with love for other food allergic
families."

To celebrate the grand opening, they are offering complimentary SLO Roast Coffee with each purchase, and are taking special orders such as cupcakes and large breads for the holidays. All Sweet Alexis Products are Dairy Free, Egg Free, Peanut and Tree Nut Free. 

PROSPECT HEIGHTS, IL – Downloadable Green Halloween® party-planning tips and new hair-raising recipes - Kids and parents all over the country can join Surf Sweets, the country’s leading brand of naturally sweetened, totally delicious gummy candies and jelly beans, in going green this Halloween. Surf Sweets has teamed up with Green Halloween®, a non-profit grassroots initiative that strives to create healthier more Earth-friendly holidays, to create a fun party guide that parents and kids can use to create their own Green Halloween celebration.

And why not?  Surf Sweets candies are the perfect addition to a Green Halloween celebration because they’re made from organic and natural ingredients without any artificial colors, flavors or GMOs.  Also, Surf Sweets organic ingredients are free of harsh chemicals and pesticides and are grown in an earth-friendly, sustainable manner. The Surf Sweets downloadable Green Halloween party guide provides great party planning tips, fun party activities, and three new Surf Sweets Halloween treat recipes that are so delicious they’ll make ghosts boast and ghouls drool ...

When I think of Halloween, words like fun, costumes, and of course, candy come to mind, even decades after my trick or treating years have come to a close. But when it comes to special diets (dairy-free, vegan, gluten-free, nut-free, etc, etc, etc), which seem to be scarily common these days, Halloween treats can represent fear and envy more than sugary smiles.

But something began to happen about two years ago. Companies popped up, one by one, offering sweets touted as “for everyone.” In 2006 I published an article called No Tricks, Real Treats for a Non-Dairy Halloween, followed in 2008 by Halloween Just Keeps Getting Yummier for Dairy-Free Kids. You can see that things were starting to get more interesting last year, but it is nothing compared to the offerings for this year. In addition to our 2006 and 2008 Halloween Treat ideas (all of which are still available), enjoy this year’s top ten list (in no special order):

Hannah Kaminsky, author of My Sweet Vegan, has just released her fourth mini e-cookbook, Wicked Treats: Homemade Vegan Sweets without Any Tricks.

Why feel left out of the fun just because you follow a special diet? Wicked Treats supplies you with six delicious homemade candy recipes each with a full color photo (see below for images) and detailed instructions for just $3.00. The recipes include Ghostly Vanilla Fudge, Jelly Bites, Licorice, Peanut Butter Fingers, Rice Crackle Bars, and Tootsie Chews.

Plus, all of the recipes are vegan (dairy-free, egg-free, and gelatin-free), gluten-free (GFCF), and optionally soy-free; perfect for Halloween parties or filling candy baskets with "safe" sweets any time of year!

Philadelphia, PA (October 12, 2009) – Site Offers a Wide Selection of Products for People Who Avoid Dairy and Other Food Allergens - An estimated 50 million Americans are lactose intolerant. With them in mind, Free-from Foods, LLC announces the opening of Dairy Free Market at www.dairyfreemarket.com. The online food store exclusively sells food without dairy, including baking ingredients and mixes, cereal, cheese alternatives, non-dairy chocolate, cookies and snack/energy bars.

Many products sold are also free from other common allergens, such as egg, gluten, nut and soy – perfect for anyone with a food allergy, intolerance, or special diet (e.g., celiac, gluten-free/casein-free, kosher and vegan).

At Go Dairy Free, I repeatedly hear "I can't find those specialty foods in my area!" To which I quickly respond, "Get online!" (with a smiley face attached of course). There is still this fear about ordering food online that I just don't get. I regularly order ingredients via the Internet as they are often cheaper, and are usually delivered right to my door for free.

That said, I am always excited when a new kid pops up on the block in terms of retailers, and the latest is no exception. A lactose intolerant fellow named Jeff contacted me over a year ago, with an inquiring mind about the dairy-free industry. Jeff persisted with his research, and at long last he has officially launched Dairy Free Market, an online store providing lots of wonderful special diet goodies, from dairy alternatives to cookies and chocolate.

To give you a sampling of Dairy Free Market's offerings, I worked with Jeff to compile a giant gift basket of goodies for you to win! He will ship it straight to the winner's door with care, and trust me, you don't need to be dairy-free to enjoy these treasures! What's inside you ask? One package of EACH of the following:

Foods Matter, October 2009 ~ PADIA: Parents’ and Professionals’ Attitudes to Dietary Interventions in Autism ~ Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a lifelong neurodevelopmental condition affecting an individual’s ability to communicate and engage in normal social interaction. There is emerging evidence that intervening early in childhood can lead to behavioural improvements.

One intervention that receives a lot of prominence in the media and amongst families of children with autism is the gluten-free and casein-free (GFCF) diet. Many parents try this diet at considerable effort to themselves and possibly cost to health care services. A recent survey conducted by the National Autistic Society indicates that approximately 50% of families with a child with autism have tried a specific diet, usually the GFCF diet (Mills and Wing, 2005).

With thousands of new moms returning to the workforce each day, the demand for convenient toddler food is on the rise, but what mom wants to sacrifice their growing child's nutrition in the name of quick and easy? Luckily, Peas of Mind popped into the scene a few years ago to address this issue with their hand-crafted Puffets (two varieties are dairy-free), homemade frozen meals that little ones can easily hold and devour.

Unable to stop coming up with ideas, Jill Litwin, the company's founder, has now developed and released Veggie Wedgies to accompany their original product line of Puffets. Veggie Wedgies are baked, crispy french fries made from real vegetables. They come in four different flavors, which include Baked Broccoli, Baked Carrot, Baked Cauliflower and Baked Apple. According to Lutwin, Veggie Wedgies are vegan, gluten-free, fat free, and completely allergen-free and they make a great snack or side dish for the whole family.