Yeah, summer is here!  Is there any better time than this to eat raw food?  I have to admit that when I first considered reading this book, I thought I was a raw food enthusiast.  I eat a lot of raw food on a regular basis. Yet, when I started reading Alive in 5: Raw Gourmet Meals in Five Minutes by Angela Elliott, I realized that this was going to be a little harder than I thought. 

The book is set up very well.  There is a lot of helpful information on a wide variety of fruits and vegetables, a pantry guide, and helpful tips for working with raw foods.  It also has a menu plan for a week to get you started. Plus, the recipes are easy to follow and written well.  I have included a few photos below to show you what some of the end results will look like.  Everything looks fresh and bright! ...

Our monthly "Bits and Bites" from the dairy-free world also include news of interest to the food allergic, vegans, GFCF dieters, and all around health-oriented people. If you have any relevant news or announcements to share for our round-up, simply contact us. 

Finding the "Safest" Airline for Your Food Allergy Concerns
To help with your travel and flight plans, Allergic Living Magazine conducted an in-depth research study comparing the allergy policies of several major carriers. They go into detail on snack policies, gluten-free accomodations, pet and perfume policies, emergency protocols, flight staff training for allergies/asthma, etc. for 11 airlines. Online, you can view their nifty comparison chart with a summary of their findings.

2009 Gluten-free Cooking Expo Focuses on Dairy-Free (GFCF) Recipes
This year, the Gluten-Free Cooking Expo in Lisle, IL will focus on Gluten Free and Dairy Free recipes. The Expo is open to the public (with paid registration of course) and will include:

This Sweet, Dairy-Free Sunday is brought to you by Ani Phyo and her enticing new cookbook, Ani’s Raw Food Desserts: 85 Easy, Delectable, Sweets and Treats. If you have read or used Ani's first cookbook, Ani's Raw Food Kitchen, then you know that her recipes are amazingly simple - and the recipes in her new cookbook are no exception. Ani offers up a good dose of sweet flavor, while keeping the recipes very accessible. She recognizes that most people don't want to turn to raw food only to spend even more time in the kitchen. I love that about her. Plus, because the recipes are raw and vegan, they are by default dairy-free, egg-free, soy-free, and gluten-free! A bonus for many of you who live with food allergies and intolerances. Should you need just a bit more encouragement in the raw food arena, then try one of the following dessert recipes that Ani has so graciously shared from her cookbook ...

Healthy, gourmet, and all-natural are rarely terms we associate with the humble tortilla chip, but things are different at Food Should Taste Good. I had the chance to sample all of their completely delicious original flavors a while back … but, now they have four new flavors, and they want you to taste just how good they are! They will send a gift package to three of you (yes, that is 1 .. 2 .. 3 winners!) to include full-size bags of their four new tortilla chip flavors. To enter, simply leave a comment on the FSTG Giveaway Post on One Frugal Foodie. If you are wondering if these chips will fit your special diet, all four varieties are gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free, and vegan. If you are wondering how they taste ...

Faced with a full pantry and a bare-bones fridge, I had to do some quick thinking for our next meal that we were quickly growing hungry for. Out came the tomatoes, olives, and pasta, but a plain old marinara would not do. We were both craving a good dose of flavor, and thus this Slightly Spicy Pasta Puttanesque-a Recipe was born. Most chefs would mock my version of puttanesca (hence my clever name, don’t you think?), but I still couldn’t think of a better label for this blend of flavors. True, it lacks the salty anchovies (making it suitable for vegans / vegetarians), and I did allow some leeway on the olives you can use (pitted kalamata olives would be best, but when you only have cheap black ones on hand they will just have to do!), but this is still a nice, flavorful dish that can be dressed up or down, however you like.