Combating Allergies

Allergies Have You in a Fog? is a great article of 25 tips to help combat allergies (not just food allergies). The author uses a myriad of links to bloggers, commercial products, and medical professionals.

While some of it isn't new information to those of us that have dealt with allergies for a long time, it's certainly a good starting place for those being thrown into the allergy world against their will. :) I know there were a few articles I tagged to check out and we've been dealing with environmental allergies for at least 5 years now - thinking we've tried everything. (And if I were still a food allergy cook, there were a few new-to-me blogs that look like a fun place to check out.) I'm always thankful for new ideas, aren't you? :)

While the author of this article did contact me and asked me to read it, I was not compensated in any way for this review. These are my honest, unbiased opinions and thoughts. Thankyouverymuch and have a nice day. :)

Vegan Rella - Natural Cheese Alternative

I cannot for the life of me find a website about Vegan Rella, but I've read about it on some of the various food allergy blogs. Some reviews were good and some not so good, but as usual, I wanted to formulate my own decision. :)

I found it at a Whole Foods Market (either in Birmingham or Nashville... can't remember which... it might have even been both). The picture below is high resolution, so you should be able to click on it to enlarge if you can't read the ingredients well enough.

Please note that Vegan Rella is made in a facility that uses milk and soy products. If you can only use products that are made in dedicated facilities, I wanted to make this statement clear. Although Witt is anaphylactic to dairy, we have fortunatly had no reactions to parts per million/billion.


Anyway, I wanted to share my review.

We tried the Mozzarella brand on pizza. No good. The taste was as good as any other cheese alternative, but the texture was not right for pizza. When this brand melts, it MELTS! It stays creamy and it slid right off the pizza dough taking the toppings with it. The kids had a really hard time eating it and my picky eater wouldn't touch it.

I still had a block of cheddar flavor left and decided to try mac-n-cheese because of the creamy texture. I made some elbow noodles according to the package directions. Drained them and added the shredded Vegan Rella, some milk alternative, and a lot of salt.



The verdict? My middle son gobbled it up and asked for more. My youngest son ate what was on his plate and was done. Me? Well, I ate some, but it certainly isn't like the "real" mac-n-cheese I grew up with. I will probably make it again on rare occasions as my middle son really did like it.

Another option would be grilled cheese sandwiches. Go Dairy Free has a review of that here:

Vegan Rella Natural Cheese Alternative - Cheddar Style (Vegan, Soy-Free)
Go Dairy Free - Saturday, 13 June 2009

© Go Dairy Free

Follow Your Heart - Vegan Gourmet Cheese

Since I have tried so many dairy free products, I thought I'd start offering a review of them. "Cheese" is a good place to start, don't you think? :)



This brand of cheese is available in Cheddar, Mozzarella, Monterrey jack, and Nacho.


I use this cheese to top our pizzas as it really does melt and have a good mozzarella taste. However, after the cheese begins to cool, it starts to return to its more solid state, but I like that quality for a pizza because it "holds" the toppings in place instead of sliding them off.



I would not recommend this brand of cheese alternative for a creamy dish like macaroni and cheese. Although the cheddar has a good taste and the texture is good when served and eaten immediately, after it starts cooling the texture is just really off. My boys wouldn't touch it. :(


Price: $4.50 - $5.50 for a 10 oz. block


This brand of cheese freezes well. After opening, I shred the entire package immediately and freeze in a bag.

On a side note, I have one son that will eat this brand of cheese alternative straight from the package. It's not something I would do, but, hey... it's got protien, iron, calcium, and fiber! :)

GO DAIRY FREE for FREE!

I was a little leery of purchasing another dairy-free cookbook. I've got several, but find that I just like to convert standard recipes to dairy free instead of finding strange ingredients.

NoWhey,Mama wrote a positive review about this book and I began to think about it. Then I emailed her and asked her is she really liked it or "was she just sayin' she did". Isn't that just awful of me!?! I can't believe I did that!

Anyway, she reconfirmed that she liked it, so I ordered it for myself for Christmas (that another whole post in itself).

Let me just say, "I AM IMPRESSED WITH THIS BOOK!" I love it. I really, really do. The first part of the book is about making the transition to DF, the health benefits, etc. Then she goes into different substitutions and how to make your own at home - sometimes for pennies!

It's not all about DF, though. She takes into consideration some other allergies and of vegans. It is truly a comprehensive book that anyone could use. She discusses different oils, how they should be used... which "milks" taste best in different recipes... being frugal... and she does it with a sense of humor as a real person who's been there... done that.

We've been DF for a little over a year now and I have learned SO MUCH from this book in the last month. I truly wish I had the book when we first made the switch.

Let me just say that I haven't even made it to the recipe section yet and I'm recommending this book! I've perused a few recipes and look forward to trying them out, but the information in this book has been so useful and opened my eyes to other options.

If you are thinking about getting this book, I HIGHLY recommend it!

And right now you might be able to get it for FREE!! NoWhey,Mama is hosting a giveaway at her place this week for a free copy! If you don't win, however, you can always get it from the GoDairyFree site (among other places).


P.S. I wrote this review by my own free-will... I get nothing in return for it except knowing that I'm suggesting a really useful book to those on the path of Dairy-free living. Enjoy!