As a professional pastry chef with a resume that includes several high end hotels, resorts, and restaurants, including San Francisco's La Folie, Lauren Hoover wasn't going to settle for less when she found out she was allergic to wheat and dairy. She wanted to enjoy all of her favorite meals without the least bit of sacrafice in taste. The result was 150 sweet and savory recipes compiled into her new cookbook, No Wheat, No Dairy, No Problem.

The image below was my first peak at the cover, so I can't yet comment on the layout of the book, functionality, flow, etc., but I did have the opportunity to view the recipes before the book went to print, and of course, taste test a few ...

Many families of autism find their way to Go Dairy Free in search of dietary help with the gluten-free / casein-free (GFCF) diet. As such, we like to keep abreast of news and reviews related to autism for viewers. This month, Foods Matter (a magazine for food allergies and intolerances) featured a three in one review of books specifically addressing autism and diet ...

If anyone should know about treating autism with diet it is Rosemary Kessick, author of two of three new books on the subject from Jessica Kingsley Publishers. The mother of a now adult son with autism, Rosemary is a former CEO of Allergy Induced Autism, one of the charities that championed the early use of the gluten and casein-free diet in autism ...

Compared to the tales of Expo West, the Natural Marketplace held in Las Vegas in July was very modest. Yet, what it lacked in awe, it made up for in intimacy, the ability to learn more about the products / companies, and in some cases, meet the owners. Such was the case with Mother's Cupboard. Two cheerful and friendly moms were handing out full-sized samples of their new bars and were proud to give me the rundown of what they stand for ... dairy-free (specifically, gotta love that!), all natural, no preservatives, etc.

The word "bar" has become synonymous with such a wide-array of snack items, so I want to clarify what type of bar you will get from Mother's Cupboard. Perhaps you have heard of Fig Newtons? Think of this theme, but in a larger, longer, bar format. Got it? Okay, now that we are on the same page, I can move onto the next topic, taste ...

À La Mode, the new vegan ecookbook from Hannah Kaminsky, may contain some of the most creative and enticing vegan ice cream recipes to date .... but Miss Kaminsky just can't stop dreaming up new flavor and dessert combinations. This Root Beer Ice Cream swimming in vanilla creme soda, is a bonus recipe (not found in her ecookbook) that she has offered to share for our Sweet Sundays ...

"Exhausted, overheated, and above all else, thirsty enough to down the contents of an entire water cooler in one big gulp, it’s the oppressive humidity that makes it near impossible to think of cooking or eating real food. Instead, my thoughts instantly drift over towards frozen treats, iced teas, sodas, and many combinations of the three. Right behind the classic soft serve cone, brown cows (otherwise known as root beer floats) are my absolutely favorite way to take the edge off of an unbearably hot summer day ...

This month on Taste & Create, a blog event where you choose a recipe to make from your given partner's website, I was paired up with Divya Vikram of the blog Dil Se. Though her baked bread recipes seriously tempted me, I thought I might be missing the whole experience if I didn’t trial an Indian recipe from her blog. I decided on the Aloo Paratha, or personal-sized, Indian Potato-Stuffed Flatbreads, alongside the quick and creamy Lightly Curried Cruciferous Soup from Go Dairy Free. Yes, it was still technically bread, but no oven required, bonus!

Though my ratios need to be perfected, this multi-step recipe was surprisingly simple, and it really flowed.  I kneaded the no-yeast bread within a few minutes, set it aside to rest, made the potatoes (while the potatoes were boiling I put the soup on), rolled the dough out, plopped in the potato, bundled them up, flattened, pan-fried, and viola! A nice, flavorful, inexpensive, whole-grain, and dare I say, adventurous vegetarian meal. Okay, so mine aren’t quite perfection … yet. But that doesn’t take away from the taste. Though this flatbread making does take practice, you should have some tasty and doable results on the first try.