I first met Alisa on the Internet via her blog. She was and still is a great resource to me in learning how to live dairy free. As soon as I knew about it, I immediately grabbed her book and started learning how to cook creatively without dairy. Alisa and I have gotten to know each other better over email and Facebook. We actually got to meet in person at the BlogHer Food Conference in San Francisco last fall. She was even more fun and wonderful in person.
I hope you enjoy learning more about Alisa. If you don’t have her cookbook, I’m not sure what you’re waiting for. Go Dairy Free: The Guide and Cookbook for Milk Allergies, Lactose Intolerance, and Casein-Free Living
Name: Alisa Fleming
Business and or blog name: Go Dairy Free, Alisa Cooks, and Dairy-Free & Fit
URL: www.godairyfree.org, www.alisacooks.com, and www.dairyfreeandfit.com
Location: North Lake Tahoe, but about to relocate to Northern Washington
Focus of blog or business: Dairy-free living! With help for other special diets too.
Social Media I play in: twitter (@godairyfree and @onefrugalfoodie) and facebook (@Go Dairy Free)
I started my blog in the month and year: Hmm, I think I first started this whole mess in May of 2005, but I am semi-guessing. The official “blogging” began a couple of years later.
Training/education I received: Bachelor’s Degree in Finance from Santa Clara University and some financial certifications beyond that.
My favorite healthy food: Broccoli
My favorite snack food: Nut butter and honey with cinnamon on rice cakes or toast … or simply rolled into balls with a few other ingredients for a sweet little snack.
My top 3 healthiest foods I love to eat or recommend: Bananas, coconut milk (the real stuff!), and avocados. They all add body and richness to otherwise ordinary dishes.
Childhood ambition: To be a veterinarian. Don’t ask how I went from wanting to be a vet (even early in college), to becoming a financial analyst, and then becoming an author and specialist in free-from diets … because I really have no recollection of how this progression happened.
My favorite cookbook: Well, Go Dairy Free of course! But beyond my own, I’ve found The Whole Life Nutrition Cookbook and The Art of Simple Food very helpful.
Wildest dream: To run a boutique hotel on a Caribbean island … complete with an incredible dairy-free breakfast for all guests, of course! And a garden, and a yoga studio, and … you get the point.
Favorite activity: Travel and hiking
Favorite thing to cook: Anything with loads of vegetables and a peanut sauce
Favorite kitchen tool: Spice grinder (often referred to as a coffee grinder, but ours has never seen a coffee bean)
Biggest risk I’ve taken: Too many to count! I love taking chances in life, but not so much with wild and crazy things like bungee jumping. The unknown and opportunity excite me. When it comes to major life decisions, I try not to think too much, I just follow my gut.
Favorite exercise: Walking, hiking, swimming (freshwater lakes or the ocean), weight training, and yoga
What I do to treat myself: Bake cookies!
What I do to feel at peace: Puzzle or light yoga/stretching
Biggest challenge: Getting out into the community to work on the ground level. One of the reasons we are moving … to find that good food-loving community!
Favorite vacation spot: My favorite vacation spot, though I haven’t been in years, is Virgin Gorda.
Health concerns I’ve cleared up: Wow, quite a few really. I will mention just a couple here – severe digestive issues, frequent ER visits, and high cholesterol. Beyond the HDL and LDL cholesterol numbers, you should see my triglycerides too; all are at incredibly awesome levels since I went dairy-free!
Books I’ve written: Go Dairy Free: The Guide and Cookbook for Milk Allergies, Lactose Intolerance, and Casein-Free Living (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0979128625)
I started my blog to: Share what I’ve learned with others and also invite people into my kitchen
What I hope the people that visit my blog find: Good food and helpful information
Products and/or services I offer: In terms of products, I write and publish books and ebooks. In terms of services, I’ve been covering a wide range recently, with assignments in article writing for food and diet magazines and websites, speaking engagements (both on diets and publishing), product representation, and recipe creation.
What I love about what I do: There are just so many things I love about my work. The feedback I get from people truly is amazing and what keeps me going. Knowing that my work directly helps others is such a wonderful motivation. I’m also a computer geek, so I love the freedom I have in being my own boss. I’ve actually worked from home and run our businesses with my husband for about 12 years.
In the future I see myself: Wow, this is a tough one. Of course I want to reach out more in the media to get information into the hands of even more people. But even further in the future, I see myself on that Caribbean island and all of you coming to stay at my incredible hotel for the atmosphere and the delicious food.
Diane,
This idea of yours to showcase different bloggers is brilliant. Unfortunately, I don't have a lot of time to blog hop, but I've been reading every word of these "rock star" profiles. It's so fun to have you deliver it to my inbox, rather than search the blogs and read "about" pages. Plus, you've created such a great list of questions that we get a real insight to what makes our favorite bloggers tick.
Alisa sounds like quite a gal and it's so nice to get to know her! From vet hopes to helping thousands with food issues. She's a "care taker" that's for sure! Just received her "Go Dairy Free" book from Amazon a few days ago. Can't wait to play with it. Plus, my daughter is a vegan, so she'll have fun with it too.
Now, we're going to have to turn the tables on you, Diane. When you're finished with this series, you need to answer the questions!
Thanks! Great stuff here at TWG.
xo
Oh, I love learning all these new things about Alisa. She's terrific on so many levels and now that I know she's a fan of Virgin Gorda (a fave of mine, too) and wants us all to come to the Caribbean so she can take care of us, I'm even more excited. If Alisa wants to do it, I know it will happen!!
Thanks, Alisa, and Diane–I'm loving this series!
Shirley
I love Alisa's blogs and her book, and it has been a delight to get to know her through our blogs and over email. I really enjoyed reading this interview – the Caribbean hotel with dairy-free breakfasts sounds just about perfect 🙂
Hi Diane,
Alisa is amazing! I recently went dairy-free after being gluten-free for over eight months and the Go Dairy Free site has been such a help. When you're removing multiple food categories like me, it's reassuring to have a reference point, and Alisa provides that. 🙂 Tina.
Thanks for featuring me Diane! Filling this out was so much fun … you really know how to form a casual interview 🙂
You know so many rock stars, Diane. Even though I do dabble in dairy, Alisa is one of my favorite writers. I admire her as a hardworking, independent business woman and want to be just like her when I grow up.
I love Alisa! She is one of the most honest and comforting people I have ever "met" (since I have never met her face to face). Thank you for sharing this. She is an inspiration!
So good Diane! I love this series. It's so fun to see their replies. Thanks for sharing Alisa, she's so awesome! And I can't wait to go to her place in the Caribbean!
What a treat to get to know have more of an intimate look at some of my food heroes. Thank you Diane for giving us a glimpse into the lives of some of the people I consider my mentors!
Thanks so much for this, Diane! Alisa is so great, such an inspiration. I really enjoyed reading her responses!
What a great idea to feature special bloggers like this. It was fun to read more about Alisa and I am ready to pack my bags for the Caribbean!
-Sea
I love learning more about these great bloggers – thanks for this series and I totally agree – Alisa is a rock star! I am hoping to get a reservation in her hotel 🙂
I love these features, Diane. I discovered Alisa's blog (and then book) when I went dairy-free last year. She's awesome, and so are her recipes! I also love that we both were (well, I still am) in the financial industry, and share love of helping people with food issues eat deliciously!