The Allergy Free Pantry Book Review & Giveaway

    Did you know that May 2015 is a big month for us? The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA) for years has declared it as “National Asthma and Allergy Awareness Month”. Also, the National Foundation of Celiac Awareness has chosen this month to be the “Celiac Awareness Month” as well. Wow! Talk about double celebrations. 

     To kick off these two significant campaigns,  I would like to share with you this book by Colette Martin called The Allergy Free Pantry.  Released last year (2014), this cookbook has become one of my good friends in the kitchen.  

 
     As we all know, one of the biggest challenges of living with food allergies is finding safe food. I remembered the first time I went grocery shopping after my children were diagnosed with their allergies.  I spent more than two hours reading labels.  After what seemed to be an eternity, I almost cried when I realized that there were only three items in my cart.

      Since I can’t go home with nothing to feed my family of 6, I breezed through the outer sides of the grocery store (the part where fresh fruits, vegetables and meats are located).  That’s when it hit me.  If I want to keep my sanity and my family fed, I have to start cooking every food we eat from scratch.

     I confess it was way easier said than done.  If you have been following my blog for a while, I’m sure, you are familiar with my meltdowns from pancakes to brownies and more.  Do you remember these brownies?

      Basically, I spent the first twenty four months post food allergy diagnosis experimenting in the kitchen.  I can’t imagine how much tears, money and time I’ve thrown away before I was able to come up with a decent repertoire of safe things to eat.

   Then last year, when I learned about Colette’sThe Allergy-Free Pantry: Make Your Own Staples, Snacks, and More Without Wheat, Gluten, Dairy, Eggs, Soy or Nuts,
my immediate response was “Where were you three years ago?”

     This cookbook is a great resource for any person with food restrictions.  It contains 105 recipes of the most basic things we realize we take for granted. My favorite chapter is the condiments section. I can’t believe how easy and cheaper it is to make my own food allergy safe mayonnaise, ketchup, ranch dressing and even barbecue sauce!

      From breakfast, lunch, snacks and even treats, this cookbook will definitely make a food allergy mom’s life so much easier.  It even includes so many tips on gluten free flour choices, egg substitutes, non dairy milk making, long term storage and even canning.

    The instructions are simple and easy to follow. I’m even challenging myself to try to make homemade gluten free pasta and pizza crust. Yes! This book has a full chapter on this subject too.
   
      Did I make you really curious?  Well, I talked to Colette and she’s very happy to give a free copy of her book,The Allergy-Free Pantry: Make Your Own Staples, Snacks, and More Without Wheat, Gluten, Dairy, Eggs, Soy or Nuts
 to one of my TFM Friends.  That’s one of you my beloved readers. Simple check out the rafflecopter below for options on how to get free entries.

    This giveaway is open to all US based readers ages 18 years old and up. It starts today May 11, 2015 and will end on May 24, 2015 11:59 pm EST.

      Good luck and don’t forget to share the giveaway to your friends as well.

       Have a great week!

– Roz

(Note:  I received a free copy of this book to review. This set up  however, doesn’t have any effect on  my opinion about the product. Also, this post contains affiliate links. Please see my full disclosure here.)