The well-loved blog Dinner at Christina's is hosting a birthday giveaway this week, and the winner will receive a copy of Go Dairy Free: The Guide and Cookbook AND My Sweet Vegan: passionate about dessert. The giveaway is open to entries through Friday, October 30th, with the winner to be announced on the 31st, but the information and recipes in these books will keep on giving through the holidays ...

Recipes like Pumpkin Cheesecake, Cheese-Free Scalloped Potatoes, and a quick Condensed "Cream" of Mushroom Soup (who says you have to live without that green bean casserole or any of your favorite crockpot recipes?) dot Go Dairy Free to make it a year-round gem. While My Sweet Vegan provides all of the sweets you will need to create smiles throughout the season: Soy-Free Coconut Fudge, Pumpkin Pecan Pie, Ginger-Pomegranate Cupcakes, and Fall Harvest Pie.

Head to Dinner at Christina's birthday giveaway for your chance to win!

I could toil in the kitchen for hours on end, laboring to create perfectly cute Halloween eats and treats to dazzle at upcoming parties. But let's face it - though I can create some scrumptious recipes (if I do say so myself), when it comes to artistic ability and creativity, my talent ceased to develop after kindergarten. I believe that was the year of the black cat for me.

Fortunately, there are already dozens of wonderful recipes and fun presentation ideas to make your party special. My job this week is simply to deliver them to you. 

All of the following are dairy-free (see my notes too!), some are vegan, egg-free, gluten-free, soy-free, and/or nut-free ... but whether it is for little ghosts and goblins or the more mature and life-size witches and vampires, there are bound to be some recipes in the selection below that will scare up some fun for this weekend's coming celebrations ...

Both Hannah and Alisa sampled the new Dairy-Free Coconut Milk Kefirs. While the strawberry and vanilla were quite tasty, the original was a bit too sharp for drinking straight up. Using her dessert expertise (she is the author of My Sweet Vegan after all!), Hannah developed a creation that is not only probiotic-friendly, but downright delicious ...

It was a challenge to brainstorm some dessert that would still highlight the unique flavor of the kefir, without being entirely sour itself. Quickly realizing that a baked good would only detract from its bright tartness, off went the oven, and on went the stove. Dreaming up a creamy, tangy concoction, in no time at all, I had exactly what I had been craving all along; Cheesecake. But not just any cheesecake, of course, and not even any vegan cheesecake this time. Not a speck of soy, be it in the form of tofu or faux “cream cheese” enters the picture here, and coconut kefir fills out the bulk of the dessert.

A couple of weeks ago we announced the first five videos in a multi-part series on the topic, "A cure for milk allergies?" The health and science blog for Children's Hospital Boston has put together this video series to document the first milk exposure desensitization trial in the United States.

This week we are pleased to announce the final three videos in the series, which includes the results of the milk desensitization trial. Could there be a potential "cure" for severe food allergies? Let's find out ..

Recently, I stumbled across the idea of Cauliflower “Rice” on a Paleo / Primal Diet blog. Smitten by this idea for incorporating even more veggies into my dinner (and sneaking cauliflower in on my husband, hehe), I went with it. My first attempt was this Cauliflower “Risotto” with Fresh Basil, which amazingly turned out awesome right out of the shoot!

I have since made it a few times with the nod of approval from my usually cauliflower-hating husband. I have also made some basic cauliflower “rice” to serve as the base under stir-fries. It has worked out well, but my husband agreed that the risotto is just better.

Another Bonus: Surprisingly, a large head of cauliflower makes about 3 to 4 healthy servings. When grated, the cauliflower seemed much less overwhelming than eating large florets. To view the recipe, see my full post on One Frugal Foodie.