Alisa Fleming ~ This recipe is adapted from Amber Shea Crawley's beautiful new cookbook, Practically Raw. The tagline for her book fits perfectly, "Flexible Raw Recipes Anyone Can Make." This is so true, as Amber includes gentle cooking directions for her raw recipes (where applicable), and in an oven, not a dehydrator! I love her adaptations for those of us who aren't ready to make a full raw food conversion, but want to incorporate more raw and nutritious foods in general.

Of course, with health in mind, I dove into the dessert section first. I based the recipe below on Amber's Crunchy Salted Cashew Cookies recipe - and holy cow, these babies are so addictive! The salt and natural sweeteners keep these from being overly sweet. In fact, I would almost venture to call these a snack, or a dessert-ish snack. However you categorize them, these raw cookies are heaven for those of us who crave the contrast of sweet and salty ...

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Maggie Savage ~ For Mother’s Day, making dessert with my daughter, Livvie, is always fun, but it’s even more rewarding when I know that we’re whipping up something nutritious. This recipe fits the bill, and is an indulgent “milkshake meets ice cream” kind of treat. Serve it with a spoon and everyone will be happy.

Livvie and I also used this recipe to make popsicles and oh my raw goodness, they were like fudgesicles! Except that they are free of cow’s milk AND added sugars.

If you are willing to take this recipe one degree out of the raw food realm, then you can delight your taste buds with a mocha treat. Simply add 1 tablespoon of coffee in place of the water. Really, there’s so much you could do with this recipe … try adding some ground chia, or even some peanut butter ...

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Alisa Fleming ~ So you didn't order that dairy-free box of chocolates in time, and aren't willing to pay an arm and a leg for over-inflated flower prices. But, what about a more thoughtful and affordable gesture like breakfast in bed? Any mom or loved one will be delighted by a stack of these fluffy yet wholesome and guilt-free pancakes ... and you will be thrilled with how easy AND cheap they are to make!

When I make this recipe into waffles, I typically adorn them with homemade nut butter, a sprinkle of cinnamon, and a light drizzle of honey. But for pancakes, some maple syrup is always in order. To keep it on the healthy side, I usually add sauteed apples, cinnamon, and finish off the stack with a generous sprinkle of freshly ground flaxseeds. I've included instructions for Alisa's Pancake Topping (pretty nutritious) and Tony's Pancake Topping (just a wee more indulgent) in the notes of my whole wheat vegan pancake recipe below ...

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Jonathan Bechtel ~ My road to a dairy-free diet is mostly unremarkable. No serious illness or life-changing event, no pre-existing condition that shook the foundations of my life. No significant other that whisked me off my feet and put me on the road to good health.

Nope, for me a dairy-free diet has been the result of a slow, steady drum beat that began in my adolescence and has slowly crescendoed over the years into a fairly restrictive diet that excludes meat, dairy, and most processed foods (although I do cheat on some convenience items from time to time!) ...

I was given the challenge to create a recipe where each serving was packed with one full serving of natural whole grain cereal, had zero additives, and wasn’t fortified, yet contained a plethora of vitamins and minerals from healthy whole foods. I decided to take it one step further, by making it convenient, too!

The Naturally-Fortified Molasses Almond Crunch Recipe that I came up with (or Crunchy Almond Clusters - I couldn't decide on just one name) is a complete breakfast (balanced fiber, fat, protein, vitamins, minerals - the whole shabang!) gently baked into portable clusters. The recipe makes two hearty servings to help keep you going all morning long, or you can divide it up into eight 100-calorie all natural snacks.

Beyond calcium, magnesium, and iron, these all-natural, whole food clusters are a good source of fiber (58% of the RDI in one serving!), potassium, manganese, vitamin E, vitamin B6, vitamin B2, and selenium. Plus, I've done my best to keep the sugars relatively low, while still offering a touch of sweet. See the full recipe and nutrition facts featured here on Attune.

Alisa Fleming ~ I’ve signed on as a columnist with Allergic Living magazine to share bits and bites from the tasty world of dairy-free living. My inaugural article is in the Spring 2012 edition, which is on newsstands in the U.S. and Canada now. This season, you can enjoy all of the following in my full-color, three-part article:

1) A Versatile Recipe for Carrot Cupcakes with Dairy-Free Pineapple Cream Cheese Frosting – You know how I aim to please, so I tested this recipe dozens of times, to give as many “free-from” options as possible. You can enjoy this cupcake recipe as “just dairy-free” or also make it gluten-free, egg-free, nut-free, peanut-free, and/or vgan. The cupcake recipe is naturally soy-free; if you wish to make the frosting soy-free, simply use half a batch of the Cashew Crème Cheese recipe in Go Dairy Free (p122). Let’s just say I was a busy bunny in the kitchen for the spring issue! ...