Frugal Foodie Friday: Wow, I am very proud to say that Smart School Time Recipes was downloaded by over 6000 viewers yesterday! It seems to be on track for thousands of additional downloads this week and hopefully in the future. Please help to spread the word of feeding ourselves and our kids with whole foods (rather than over-processed packages of Franken-foods) by emailing, sharing, and tweeting about this new Free eCookbook. You can send them to this link - www.onefrugalfoodie.com/2010/09/01/free-school-time-recipes. Change through recipes and food ideas; that's my motto. Speaking of recipes ...

I was actually going to post my version of one of the recipes in that eCookbook today, but I realized we are coming upon a major barbecue weekend. A northern hemisphere going away party for the summer if you will. So I'm saving the Smart School Time recipe for next week, and sharing my new go-to homemade BBQ sauce today. You may have seen a version of this recipe here on Go Dairy Free prior, but I thought I would share my version, which is quite a bit milder than the original (with option to go even more "kid-friendly") since this has become a go-to recipe in our house.

Just a heads up that the new September Sales and Special Offers have gone up for Amazon Grocery, and finally it looks like a good bunch of natural food offerings. Granted, the discounts aren't as big as last year (I lament), but still a bargain in many cases. I plan to buy from among the deals this month. Here are just a few that have an abundance of dairy-free offerings (I've included my own personal notes, just in case you want to know a little more):

YummyEarth Organic Candy (Great discount, perfect for special lunchbox treat, classrooms, and upcoming holiday events since they are also made in an allergen-safe facility (including nut-free), according to the company.)

Coombs Maple Syrup (This is the brand I always buy and always from Amazon. I get he grade B organic version - more flavor, better quality, best price when on sale, like now!)

Natural Food Cereals, Granolas and Bars from Annie's Homegrown, Nature's Path, Envirokidz, Erin Baker's (including those breakfast cookies!), Erewhon, and New Morning (I'm a big fan of Erewhon's crispy cereals for cooking, baking, and no-baking. We used to buy Nature's Path cereal quite a bit; most varieties are great, but we now make our own cereal and granola at home. I haven't sampled the other brands, but have heard good things about all from readers.) 

When the draft was finalized, several reviewers said, “Wow, this really is a full book, are you sure you don’t want to charge money for it?!” But to me, that wouldn’t be in the spirit of why this ebook was created. My goal is to share healthy, family-friendly whole food recipes with as many people as possible.

Just two weeks ago I set out on a mission: to spread the word about healthy and delicious whole foods for breakfasts and school lunches. When I laid eyes on the “Back to School” ad from my local grocer (a grocer that is actually ahead of the curve in natural food offerings), I was appalled by the complete lack of real food in the entire four-page advertisement. Lunch-able kits, sugary cereals, fake “fruit” snacks, processed pizza pockets … the sad part was, it reminded me of my own youth; a time of upset stomachs and exhaustion. When I discovered cooking, baking, and grocery shopping for fresh produce, my world turned upside down. I performed better in sports and in school, I had more energy, and I actually loved the food.

Thanks to the Internet, having kids with food allergies has become a little less scary. Mothers swap information and ideas, organizations to support have formed, and new products have emerged from little companies that wouldn't even exist if they couldn't so easily reach the well-dispersed, worldwide food allergy population. Really, there are now too many resources for me to cover in a single article, but I thought it would still be helpful to put together a collection of the top back to school articles and resources for food allergic kids.

Whether your child has a food allergy, intolerance, or an immune condition such as Celiac Disease, which requires a free-from diet, you will surely find some useful tips within the 12 articles below ...