From scratch is (almost) always better, but sometimes baking from a mix offers a nice break and a quick dessert when you just don't feel like the hassle. So when Kathy at WNY Food Allergy Connection was kind enough to email her tested recipe for making egg-free, dairy-free brownies from a mix, I thought it suitable to dedicate a post to brownie mixes for special diets and include her recipe.

For starters, what mixes can you buy? Many brands contain milk in the ingredients, so reading labels is essential (that includes double checking the brands I list here, just in case the ingredients or processes have changed!). If you want to go dairy-free, egg-free, and most other allergens-free without the concern of a special recipe, I recommend giving Cherrybrook Kitchen a whirl. Cherrybrook runs a dairy, egg, and nut-free kitchen, and they offer both a regular and gluten-free mix. However, if you want to pick a more mainstream brand off the shelves at your local grocer, you do have a few options ...

Beginning this Sunday, April 19th, Meghan Telpner, a certified nutritionist, will lead a virtual 3-Day Green Smoothie Cleanse that she has aptly nicknamed “Spring Green Cleaning.” Thus far, the expected participants span 5 countries, and anyone else interested can still opt to join in by Sunday.  For those interested, there will be two levels of participation with this cleanse. You can follow along through the information that will be posted on Meghan’s blog which will include, in addition to the information already shared, the following:

Every Tuesday we will feature a review from our Dairy-Free Library. This week’s selection is Vegetarian Times Fast and Easy: Great Food You Can Make in Minutes from the Editors of Vegetarian Times Magazine (reviewed by jae steele, author of Get It Ripe). Note that this is not a completely dairy-free publication, but we found it to be dairy-free and vegan-friendly - I was attracted to this book as soon as I saw the cover. To me it says warm, simple, vegetabley - just what I love in a cookbook. Vegetarian Times magazine has been around for more than 30 years. And this is the latest in a small handful of books they've published over the years.

One Frugal Foodie and Go Dairy Free are way past due for another giveaway, so I decided that we better make this one a good one. So, here goes ... two winners will receive a $25 e-gift certificate for Navan Foods with free shipping included!

Who is Navan Foods? They are an awesome specialty food grocer, offering simple shopping both in store (walk right into their Virginia Beach location) and online (they ship throughout the United States). Navan Foods touts itself as "The Allergy Free Food Shop," but they offer so much more. Their easy to use online market allows you to shop not only by allergens (no peanuts, milk, eggs, or soy? no problem) but also by various dietary requirements, including gluten-free, vegan, organic, kosher, diabetic-friendly, low fat, and the Feingold stages. Seriously, this is the best designed website for an online grocer I have ever seen. To enter to win, leave a comment on the giveaway post on One Frugal Foodie before April 16th, when the winners will be selected!

We can always count on Enjoy Life Foods for creative recipes on almost every special occasion. But this time, they have enlisted the help of an expert, Allergy Mom's founder, Gina Clowes. In addition to Enjoy Life's recipe (below) for Do-It-Yourself Chocolate Bunnies, Gina offers up her simple yet creative ideas for Peanut-Free Chocolate-Dipped Rice Krispie Eggs and Allergy-Friendly Bird's Nests. Each of these dairy-free, chocolate-centric treats can be whipped up in minutes, and will make a perfect Easter or Sunday afternoon activity. Concerned about milk allergies? Enjoy Life's semi-sweet chocolate chips are made in a dairy-free facility ...