Dairy Free Made Easy, By Alisa Fleming

Complete, Concise Guide To Dairy Free Eating

Go Dairy Free: Dairy free recipes, product reviews, vegan dairy substitutions, non-dairy resources, and extensive dairy free product lists.

Here's the book I've been missing! Alisa Fleming's 'Dairy Free Made Easy'. She's remarkably balanced and restrained about the subject, which is reassuring to people like me who were wavering but not 100% sold on going completely non-dairy – a strong point in favor of Dairy Free Made Easy.

Not only that! This dairy-free book is a compact 5 ½ x 8 ½ x 5/8 inches, easily fits in a bag or pocket, and has sturdy ring binding so the pages fold over flat. Perfect for taking along to the grocery store.

Diary Free Made Easy begins with a chapter on understanding dairy milk, an admirably straightforward and thorough overview. In Chapter 2, Ms. Fleming covers the many reasons why it's not a good idea for lots of people to have dairy in their diets. Next, she tells us how dairy actually isn't the best source of calcium for building bones, and how to get lots of easily absorbed calcium, for strong bones without milk.

Next: Infant and childhood milk allergies and other dairy free concerns – such as dairy food addiction. If, like me, you can't eat pasta without parmesan cheese, or if your day isn't complete without ice cream – you're addicted.

Dairy alternatives and substitutes take up the next two chapters, then it's on to Cooking Without Dairy, with Alisa Fleming's favorite going dairy free tips, and 22 excellent non-dairy mostly vegan recipes, crammed into 10 pages. Then she tells us how to dine out dairy free.

Non-dairy grocery shopping takes up most of the second half, covering food labels, list inspirations, product recommendations, and over 2000 non-dairy products in 15 categories. The final chapter lists Ms. Fleming's favorite resources: websites, books, and cookbooks.

Browsing through the substitutions and recipes, I was immediately struck by the Parmesan substitutes (plural!). Here's one: "Oddly enough, many people find that diced, oil-cured black olives offer just the right flavor and boldness to replace Parmesan in dishes." I'll have to try that one. And this:

• 1 cup nutritional yeast flakes
• 1 cup walnuts or almonds
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• Place all ingredients in a food processor or blender, and reduce to a fine powder. Store in the refrigerator for a fairly long shelf life.

Maybe the fake parmesan and the olives together will help me to overcome my parmesan addiction!

Could Dairy Free Made Easy make it any easier to go non-dairy? Well, the print could be bigger, but then the book would be much bigger and heavier, and harder to take along to the grocery store, which is really the point. So, don't forget your glasses.

For more non-dairy ideas, visit Go Dairy Free, an informational website offering recipes, product reviews, vegan substitutions, resources, and extensive product lists.

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