[.ca] The Complete Food Allergy Cookbook: The Foods You've ... (ISBN 0761509615)

not good for those with nut allergies:
This book looked very promising at first look. There are so many recipies, and when it arrived I was so excited at the possililty of preparing and cooking so many different foods. I soon found however that alot of the baking and recipes involved using pecans and other nuts and seeds as replacements for thickeners and flour. This was very dissapointing considering I am allergic to all nuts and legumes and large seeds. I found it surprizing too, since allergies to nut and legumes (peanuts are included in the legumes category) are very common. Since I don't eat dairy as well, I was looking for a book that had recipies I could use. I was dissapointed.

not good for those with nut allergies:
This book looked very promising at first look. There are so many recipies, and when it arrived I was so excited at the possililty of preparing and cooking so many different foods. I soon found however that alot of the baking and recipes involved using pecans and other nuts and seeds as replacements for thickeners and flour. This was very dissapointing considering I am allergic to all nuts and legumes and large seeds. I found it surprizing too, since allergies to nut and legumes (peanuts are included in the legumes category) are very common. Since I don't eat dairy as well, I was looking for a book that had recipies I could use. I was dissapointed.

Review:
I thought this book had some good recipes, however, I found that it was not appropriate for the food allergies that my son has. Some of the recipes have soy, egg or nut in them and all of these I must avoid for my son. If you are able to have these items then you may enjoy this book, however, if you are looking for a cookbook that offers alternatives to these allergens then you are better off seeking out another book.

Perfect starter book:
This was the first book I got after finding out my son has multiple food allergies. It was a great help in learning to use all the different types of flours in baking and breadmaking. It was full of helpful information for substitutions in recipes, and every recipe in her book has a list of variations that can be used with that recipe in case you can't use it exactly as is. It also has examples of how to create new recipes from your old recipes using foods you aren't allergic to. I was so overwhelmed when I first found out my son was allergic to dozens of foods. I didn't think I'd ever learn to cook for him, but with the things I learned in this book I'm feeling much more hopeful and confident. As far as the main dish recipes in this book I haven't found much I thought my son would try. But, I learned so much about the basics that I can modify most of our old favorites now and we hardly notice the difference.

Lots of ideas and suggestions:
I haven't tried any of the recipes yet, but the first three or four chapters are perfect for those of us who are just starting on our food allergy journey. I plan to send copies to my mother and my sister-in-law because they have been very concerned about holiday meals. The book includes suggestions for dealing with this. That way when we all get together, I can eat some of the family foods. I will probably also take my own food and the author gives really good suggestions for this, too.