Seeking Wheat and Egg Free Recipes

My greatest sympathy for having to deal with such a big issue as allergies. I have many myself and it is very overwhelming when you first try to change your whole life over to allergy free and functioning.

Here are a few sites you might find helpful.

A great gluten free site
http://glutenfreemommy.com/
http://www.glutenfreeda.com/index.asp

A vegan site to give you ideas on how to cut out eggs and dairy
http://vegweb.com/index.php?PHPSESSID=e4f69ac1564e594320e...

celiac web site
http://www.csaceliacs.org/recipes.php

Here are replacement ideas for eggs in your cooking

Commercial Egg Replacer
Ener-G is an incredibly versatile and easy to use commercial egg replacer available in most health food stores and larger well-stocked grocery stores. I find that despite the instructions on the package to mix Ener-G with two tablespoons of water, some recipes will need a bit more moisture when replacing eggs using Ener-G, so you may need to compensate with an extra tablespoon of water or soy milk. Ener-G and other store-bought egg substitutes are relatively flavorless and work best in baked goods, such as cookies, muffins and cakes, and can also be used to bind ingredients together in a vegan casserole or loaf. Ener-G is vegan and certified kosher, but be sure to read the labels carefully on other brands, as some may contain egg whites.

Bananas and Applesauce
Smash up or blend about a half a banana or 1/4 cup applesauce to use as an egg replacer in baked goods such as muffins, pancakes or yeast-free quick breads, such as pumpkin bread, and of course, banana bread! Bananas and applesauce add the perfect amount of thick moisture, like eggs, but they won't help your dishes rise or turn out light and fluffy, so be sure the recipe you are using includes a bit of baking powder or baking soda to help it rise if needed. Substitute 1/2 of a mashed ripe banana or applesauce plus 1/4 teaspoon baking powder for each egg.

Tofu
Tofu is the best way to substitute eggs in dishes such as a quiche, fritatta or egg salad. The texture of silken tofu or crumbled regular tofu is surprisingly similar to boiled or cooked eggs when used in a similar recipe and, by adding a bit of mustard, turmeric or nutritional yeast to your dish to give it a yellow hue, your eyes will be tricked as well as your taste buds! Because other recipe adjustments are probably needed to make an egg-free fritatta, for example, its best to follow a recipe rather than just replacing the eggs with tofu.

Silken tofu is also an appropriate egg substitute in baked goods. To use, blend 1/4 cup silken tofu with liquid ingredients until tofu is smooth and creamy. While it won't alter the flavor of a recipe, using tofu as an egg substitute will make baked goods a bit on the heavy and thick side, so it works well in brownies and pancakes, but wouldn't work well in something like an angel food cake that needs to be light and fluffy. Substitute 1/4 cup tofu for each egg.

flaxmeal (Make flaxmeal by grinding flaxseed in a blender until it has the consistency of cornmeal. Use two tablespoons flaxmeal plus 1/8 teaspoon baking powder plus 3 tablespoons water for each egg called for in recipe.

gelatin (To replace each egg: Dissolve 1 tablespoon unflavored gelatin in 1 tablespoon cold water, then add 2 tablespoons boiling water. Beat vigorously until frothy.)

cornstarch (Substitute 1 tablespoon cornstarch plus 3 tablespoons water for each egg called for in recipe.

Good luck!!

3 moms found this helpful

Hi S.,

I'm sorry to hear you are going through that. I have a son with a life threatening peanut allergy and a minor egg allergy and through that, I have found the most wonderful group of food allergic families. The organization is a non-profit and is called Washington FEAST which stands for Food Allergy, Eczema, Asthma Support Team. They have a list serve where you can ask just these types of questions and you get responses from all the experienced families. Plus, their website is full of useful information. And they have numerous files on their Yahoo group site, including allergen free recipes. Check them out at www.wafeast.org.

Also see the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network website at www.foodallergy.org. Invaluable information for families with food allergies. Recipes there also.

Other great sites and newsletters, most which have recipes:
www.egglesscooking.com
http://kidswithfoodallergies.org
www.eatingwithfoodallergies.com

There are tons of resources, many more than I've listed here. You can also Google recipes - just type in egg-free muffins or whatever you want.

It's a challenge dealing with food allergies, but you can do it! Please do join the WA FEAST group - they have been so invaluable to me. Great learning to be had there.

Good luck!
C.

2 moms found this helpful

Hi!

I live with pretty severe Celiac Sprue and have found that with a little practice the diet is very easy (I was diagnosed at age 30). In the beginning I found that it was easiest to purchase products that were labled "gluten free" as opposed to standing around and reading each label and since you have the addition of avoiding eggs you may find it easy to go to the gluten free product then read to see if it contains eggs! There are hundreds of web pages that offer gluten free products www.glutenfreemall.com is the one that I think I ordered the most from (if you are a soy or teriyaki sauce person, the only one that I ever found that was really gluten free was La Choy - there may be others but I've not found them. So as to your fried rice...just substitute in the La Choy soy sauce and omit the eggs)

As to foods that are available at the grocery store, once you look around you'll find it really easy. Most have an aisle for these specialty products where you can find pastas, cereals, and bread mixes. My overall opinion of these alternative flour options is that most are not worth spending the money on ~ some are good like Pam's Naturals and Bob's Red Mill.

When cooking at home I keep the Bob's Red Mill all purpose flour on hand and any recipe that calls for flour I just substitute in this product (it does not work 100% of the time, but, I would say I have about a 90% success rate)

When traveling I just bring my own food with me.

Best of luck!
*K

**I just wanted to add that at first this seems really really hard but with some practice you'll wonder why you ever fretted about it! Good luck!!

2 moms found this helpful

Once you get the hang of your new diet, it will seem pretty easy. Here are some things we buy and fix for meals at our house:

Breakfast: Homemade granola, boxed cereals from Trader Joes and Whole Foods markets, waffles and pancakes made from wheat/gluten free mixes from the same stores, rice and soy milk, fruit juice, breakfast sausage, fried potatoes.

Lunches: Cold cuts with corn tortillas, salad, leftovers from dinner, rice noodle bowls (like "cupofnoodles"), fruit.

Dinners: Rice pasta dishes like spaghetti or stir fry, ground turkey with tomatoes peppers and onions over brown rice, ham with hash brown potatoes, meat loaf, chicken breasts breaded with rice flour and pan fried, classic beef stew.

The hardest part of a wheat free diet is finding a good substitute for bread. The sliced tapioca bread is awful. We have found good wheat/milk free bagels and waffles and cookies. For special occassions, I often make apple pie and substitute rice flour for the crust and use tapioca starch to thicken the filling. Or we have fruit crisp with oatmeal/rice flour topping. Nucoa margarine is milk free and less expensive than some specialty brands.

When substituting for wheat flour in a recipe, I use the same amount of rice flour plus add an extra tablespoon or two of tapioca starch plus some xanthan gum. If you let the batter sit for a few minutes before baking, it seems to hold together better.

Hope this gives you some ideas!

2 moms found this helpful

This is one of my favorites. You can control how hot it is by adjusting the red curry paste:

http://www.recipezaar.com/Creamy-Chickpea-Curry-205289

2 moms found this helpful

My son is allergic to eggs...and honestly, I think it is the easier of the allergies to deal with. Most companies are finding it easier to use soy lecethin instead of egg in their products...but ALWAYS be causious and read read read the labels. I have found some of my favorite foods at Fred Meyer in their health food section. They have a ton of Egg Free/Gluten Free products that make cooking so much easier. My favorite product so far though is Ener-G's Egg Replacer. It makes baking ANYTHING pretty much a breeze. I make cupcakes for birthdays and pancakes for breakfast. Fred Meyer has Gluten Free pancake mix, Gluten free cookies...etc. You will find that you have to pay a little more unfortunately...but there are a LOT more products these days to make our lives a bit less of a struggle...which is nice.

The Egg Replacer box actually has lots of recipes on it...including an Egg Free Quiche (which I always thought funny). Whole Foods is another wonderland of Gluten Free/Egg Free products. I have found that most vegan foods (even the prepackage kind) tend to be the safest...but again, READ the labels.

As everyone else said though...it is overwhelming at first...and you will probably make life harder for yourself than necessary for a little while until you get the hang of it (I know we did). Once you figure out the routine though...you will wonder why you freaked out in the beginning at all. I have actually found it kinda fun to try my hand at the new cooking techniques. Oh...and a good website for egg free (and occasionally gluten free) meals/recipes is www.egglesscooking.com

*HUGS* Best of luckand welcome to the food allergy family there is more support out there than you think for us...and of course, don't hesitate to drop a note. I have a list somewhere of great websites and cook books and products. It helps me keep track if I am trying to do something specific that I use to love. (also...I live by www.allrecipes.com and just modify to suit us)

2 moms found this helpful

There are bread mixes that are free of the three allergens you mentioned. Also, if you have a bread maker, as we do - Cuisinart bread machines have recipes for gluten free, egg free and dairy free recipes.

My daughter is celiac, and wheat free by itself is a challenge. however, you can also find a lot of recipes online. Also, because I can't have wheat or dairy, I have a lot of rice cakes, mainly because I don't like my "bread" to be sweet.

I also cook a lot of beans and rice. Beans are great! You can make chili too!

The nice thing about stir-fry, is that you can put anything in it or leave anything out of it that you want.

1 mom found this helpful

S.,
Livivng Without is a wonderful magazine dedicated to families with several different food allergies. They have a website and you can order back issues at about 1/2 price. They have lots of informative articles and many recipies. One of their recent issues had alot of different breakfast ideas. It takes about 3 months to adjust to a new diet and then it just keeps getting easier. It is helpful to remember to bring your own treats when attending birthday parties. You really can't stop for fast food anymore either. I keep a bag of snacks in the car so no one ever has to go without. Take heart, it will get easier!
B.

1 mom found this helpful

Breads by Anna at glutenevolution.com. (It is a mix)The bread is wheat, egg, and dairy free but looks, tastes, and acts like regular bread. (It does make you a bit "gassy" though). Take care, S.