Learning how to cook without the staples of everyday cooking

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So my son has been diagnosed with severe food allergies and we have been advised to avoid these items: milk, eggs (whites and yolks), soy, wheat, tree nuts and peanuts.

I need to know what kind of things to use to replace eggs in recipes. I know applesauce works but I was wondering about things that aren't sweet. I have a handle on pretty much everything else after doing research and reading a lot of labels (a 20 minute trip to the store not takes me over an hour). I already made a lot of things myself and can change out the flours I have been using for some more friendly to him flours like rice and oat but my biggest question is what about the eggs. I found an egg subtitue but lets face it I do not want to spend $10 on a small box at least once a month.

Any and all suggestions for any tricks or things you have tried for replacing any of the above items are welcome.

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  • stumblinthrulife
    stumblinthrulife Posts: 2,558 Member
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    So my son has been diagnosed with severe food allergies and we have been advised to avoid these items: milk, eggs (whites and yolks), soy, wheat, tree nuts and peanuts.

    I need to know what kind of things to use to replace eggs in recipes. I know applesauce works but I was wondering about things that aren't sweet. I have a handle on pretty much everything else after doing research and reading a lot of labels (a 20 minute trip to the store not takes me over an hour). I already made a lot of things myself and can change out the flours I have been using for some more friendly to him flours like rice and oat but my biggest question is what about the eggs. I found an egg subtitue but lets face it I do not want to spend $10 on a small box at least once a month.

    Any and all suggestions for any tricks or things you have tried for replacing any of the above items are welcome.

    I cannot comment on how it works, but I've heard that chia seeds in a little water can sub for egg. They go kind of jelly-like after soaking, presumably like albumen.
  • stumblinthrulife
    stumblinthrulife Posts: 2,558 Member
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    Couple of seconds on Google turned this up on how to replace eggs with chia seeds -

    http://www.veganbaking.net/component/content/article/57-recipes/eggless-binders/208-chia-seed-binder.html

    If you try it, I'd love to hear how it works out.
  • PapaverSomniferum
    PapaverSomniferum Posts: 2,677 Member
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    ground flax seed soaked in water is my go-to egg replacement in things like cookies, "meat"balls, pancakes, and cakes.

    works great.
  • hhansen27
    hhansen27 Posts: 11 Member
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    I cannot comment on how it works, but I've heard that chia seeds in a little water can sub for egg. They go kind of jelly-like after soaking, presumably like albumen.


    I am worried about using seed items just because we did not have him tested for allergies to them. His allergies can trigger some very strong asthma attacks and it isn't really something I am willing to try and see if there is a reaction. I will definately bring this up to his doctor when we go in for a follow up though and see if we can get some more testing done.
  • drumerley
    drumerley Posts: 10 Member
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    Here's some quick info for egg subs.

    http://vegetarian.about.com/od/vegetarianvegan101/f/eggsubstitute.htm

    You should definitely check out peanutfreeplanet.com. I bought a big box of EnerG egg replacer and it's lasted me forever. but probably because I usually use the baking soda, vinegar, water recipe most of the time. It's not great for baked good as they tend to crumble, but it works sometimes. You'll probably have to do a lot of experimenting. The egg replacer also has recipes on the box (which I'm happy to share if you'd like, but I never made any of them).

    Cherrybrook Kitchens makes some great gluten-free mixes that don't use egg and can be modified to whatever your needs. I'm not sure if they have soy, though. I don't think they do. You can find them on peanutfreeplanet, as well. I sometimes add pumpkin or banana in place of egg, too, for things like cake. It makes them very rich.

    Sunbutter is a great soy-free, nut-free replacement for peanut butter, if your son can have seeds.

    My two boys had egg, milk and nut allergies (luckily the milk was outgrown fairly young). If you have any other questions, I'm happy to help. You can add me as a friend, too, if you'd like.

    If you haven't already, I would join faan.org (food allergy and anaphylaxis network). There are countless tips on there.