Customer Reviews

The All Natural Allergy Cookbook: Dairy-Free, Gluten-Free

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As an allergy sufferer who counsels many allergy patients, I am disturbed that this book bills itself as "all natural" yet contains so much soy. Modern soy products are anything but "natural" and soy is now among the top 8 allergens. Those who are allergic to dairy or peanuts who start eating soy foods or drinking soymilk will, in all likelihood, soon be allergic to soy as well. Finally, people who eat a lot of soy often develop digestive problems and "leaky gut" syndrome, causing further problems for allergy sufferers. And there is a little known connection between soy and celiac disease so people with wheat and gluten allergies should definitely not eat soy either. Thus I feel impelled to warn readers that soy products are poor choices for people already challenged with allergies and related problems such as eczema and asthma. Yet this book includes lots of recipes with soy. I recommend that people educate themselves as fully as possible on this subject whether they think they have soy allergies or not by reading the book "The Whole Soy Story" by Kaayla Daniel. The book has been endorsed by Dr. Doris Rapp, a leading authority on allergies who has a great website [...]."

As a multiple allergy sufferer, I concur with the Naturopathic Doctor's assessment - there are no safe substitutions in this book for those of us who suffer from reactions to soy products, which are included in many of these recipes. I would expect any publication billed as an "allergy cookbook" to list viable substitutions for each of the eight most common allergens: soy, eggs, wheat, dairy, tree nuts, peanuts, fish and shellfish.

This book is full of wonderful information on gluten free grains,gluten free flour recipes that are wonderful.
Just love many of the recipes. I do agree with the soy issue mentioned by other reviewers. I avoid soy and just substituted
chicken where it called for tofu or just left it out. Sesame seed oil instead of soy sauce and other gluten free flours when it called for soy flour. There really isn't that many recipes containing soy so don't let that be an issue to stop you from using this book. It is becoming one of my favorites.

This book has recipes for frozen desserts, main courses, soups and sauces, and many other items. Most are vegetarian or vegan, and they're quite tasty. But I'll focus on the baked goods, since they're the hardest to get right (in my experience).

Unlike the recipes in many popular gluten-free cookbooks (which contain lots of sugar, white flours and shortening), the baked goods in this book are made from whole grains (or non-grain flours, like quinoa or cassava) and a small amount of unrefined sweeteners and oils. The recipes are marked as to which common allergens they don't contain; most are free of wheat, gluten, dairy, eggs, and corn. There are also variations for many of the recipes, so you can adapt them to your preferences. "101 Cookies' is a great example of this. The author gives a basic cookie recipe, then lists possible substitutions for almost every ingredient - so this recipe can give you "101" (more or less!) different types of cookies.

I've tried many of the recipes, and they've turned out well, although sometimes they needed a little fine-tuning (more or less liquid, shorter baking time, etc.). So I wouldn't recommend this book to a very inexperienced cook, or anyone who wants to recreate the taste of Wonderbread or Pepperidge Farms. But if you're willing to improvise, and you're looking for an alternative to recipes or commercial mixes with highly processed ingredients, this book is very useful.