Our natural food loving reviewer Sarena, jumped on the opportunity to test a new grain-free granola since her husband was recently diagnosed with Celiac. But, the concept of absolutely no grains admittedly caught her a bit off guard ... "When I first saw JK Gourmet Granola, I was wondering where the oats were.  I am kind of a purest in the way of granola, so I thought it was strange for this to be called granola.  I know they are marketing this for people with celiac, but I would, personally, call this a trail mix.  Either way...it is delicious!  I was very pleased with the list of ingredients [Sunflower seeds, raisins, unsweetened coconut, walnuts, almonds, honey, pecans, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds] and the fact that there was no added fat!"

Sarena's household can tolerate certified gluten-free oats, so she opted to put the grain back in this granola by using it as a topper for a quick bowl of oatbran. She added pineapple to meld with the toasted coconut in the JK Granola for a delicious blend ... "I really liked the mixture of nuts and dried fruits in the Original variety, and the toasted coconut was a perfect compliment; it added such depth to the flavor. I had to stop myself from eating it ... I kept adding more and more to my bowl of oats!"

You can read Sarena's full review, or read more here to see her quick recipe for Pineapple Oatbran ...

I swear, sometimes I feel like Celine reads my mind when it comes to trialing out baked goodie recipes. I purchased some all-fruit spread solely for the purpose of coming up with some jam-filled muffins and PB&J granola for my husband’s morning snack … when low and behold, I opened her new book 500 Vegan Recipes (co-written with Joni Marie Newman) to discover recipes for both!

She calls these muffins “rolls,” which I suppose is fair since they really aren’t very sweet, save for the jam surprise in the middle. Nonetheless, they are perfectly yummy and satisfying for breakfast. I had to modify the recipe a wee bit, based on what I had on hand. Fortunately, it is a very versatile base to work with, and whole grain to boot! See the Jam-Filled Snackin’ Muffins Recipe on One Frugal Foodie.

With so much content here on Go Dairy Free (over 5000 pages and growing daily!) we thought it was time to corral some of this information into user-friendly index pages. Thus, our “Parties, Holidays, Entertaining, and Travel” category has been undergoing some much needed metamorphosis to fix broken links, add new links, and incorporate an easy-to-update format. The page is intended to bring together relevant articles for social dairy-free dining, whether at a party in your own home, or while traveling on the road.

The new category page offers article links under the subject headers Holidays (with categories for Valentine’s Day / Mother’s Day, Easter / Passover, Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas / Hanukkah), Celebrations & Birthdays, General Entertaining & How To's, and Travel. We will continue to update with links as new stories fit into these subjects. The new "Parties, Holidays, Entertaining, and Travel" category page can be found in our recently renovated “Food & Grocery” section.

So please, continue perusing Go Dairy Free – there is a great deal to discover, and enjoy our new user-friendly categories as we create them!

St. Patrick's Day often slides under the radar for many non-Irish, non-drinking, green-averse people. But for us, every holiday (well, I think we still need to work on some ideas for Groundhog's Day) is a great excuse for some new recipes.

In prior years we have featured a couple of gems, like this recipe for Grass Hopper Mint Chocolate Pie and one for Four Leaf Clover Rolls (a baker's delight!). This year we have two new allergy-friendly recipes to add to the festivities, both of which are from Enjoy Life Foods. This makes them automatically free from the top eight allergens (dairy, eggs, soy, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, fish, and shellfish) and gluten-free if prepared with the recommended ingredients. Though the Beef, Cabbage and Potato Bake is obviously non-vegan, feel free to substitute your favorite veg-ground to make it a strictly vegetarian meal ...