My Ongoing Brownie Battle

Since I was diagnosed with an egg allergy about 8 years ago, I've been trying various egg substitutes in recipes. I have something that works for most cakes and other odds and ends, but I've never been able to successfully make brownies without eggs.

Maybe I'm too picky when it comes to foods. But darn it, I have culinary standards!

Things have, of course, gotten even more difficult since the wheat allergy. But I'm still trying. Perhaps in vain.

So I lamented my latest attempt of trying to make the Namaste brownie mix. This time I used ground flax seeds instead of the egg replacer. It turned out as a gooey mess--not really changing from a batter into a baked good. I was complaining about it on Twitter, and had a Holistic Health nutritionist post a recipe for me to try. The original recipe is here.

Well, water is boring. And I don't have walnut or grape seed oil. And I don't have xylitol (although I wish I did. Good stuff.) So here's how I modified it.

4 T canola oil
2/3 c Splenda
1/2 c almond milk
1 t vanilla
1 c rice flour
4 T unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Green & Blacks)
1 t baking powder (the special, corn-free stuff)

Mix the oil, Splenda, almond milk, and vanilla. Add the flour, cocoa, and baking powder. Mix thoroughly. Spread into a greased 8x8 pan. Bake 20 minutes at 350.

Result?



Crumby. Dry. The taste isn't bad, but it's not quite sweet enough.


(Sorry about the blurriness.)

I need something that's going to give it moisture. (Oh, sure, and egg would work wonders. But, you know.) It also needs more sugar, which means it needs more liquid. I'm not sure how to fix this one. Ideas? Or should I just give the victory to the brownies and hang up my gloves?

Oh, the baking disasters! Part II: Cranberry Bread

I'd been craving cranberry bread or pumpkin bread or stuff like that for the past few days. So yesterday I decided "what the heck." Since I was baking shortbread anyway, I found a recipe to try.

Original recipe here.

2 cups gluten free flour (I used the Namaste All-Purpose list.)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
1 Tablespoon orange zest (I used two, actually)
3/4 cup orange juice, freshly squeezed
1/4 cup butter or butter substitute, melted (I used canola oil--I was so over the coconut oil by this time)
2 eggs (I used 2 tbs ground flax seed mixed with 4 tbs hot water)
1 cup whole cranberries )
3/4 cup-1 cup walnuts chopped- (I used about 1 cup of chopped cashews)

Mix the dry ingredients. Add the orange zest to the flour mixture.

Mix the canola oil and orange juice. In a separate bowl, mix the flax seed and hot water.

Combine the orange juice mixture with the flour just until it's wet. Fold in the flax seed mixture. Then fold in the cranberries and cashews.

Put into a bread pan, bake at 350F for 40-50 minutes.

Results:




The texture turned out perfect, but the cranberries were a little too tart. If you store it, though, make sure to put it into something that won't retain moisture, which will turn it into a gooey mess. This bread is much better the second day. The cranberries weren't quite so tart.

The next time, I plan to add more sugar and fewer cranberries. And not put it in a baggie.

Oh, the baking disasters! Part I: Shortbread

Scottish shortbread is kind of a holiday tradition for my family. It's a relatively simple food to make, and only has four ingredients. Unfortunately, I'm allergic to two of the four.

A normal shortbread is a mixture of flour, salt, sugar, and butter. Nothing else. So what do you use as a butter substitute when you're allergic to both milk and soy? And will the finicky gluten-free flour really stand up without the butter?

Actually, no. Not really.

I poked around for a recipe that only required the ingredients I had on hand. Several of the recipes used coconut flour, so those were out. Then I found a recipe for a vanilla and chocolate swirl shortbread and decided to try it.

Here's the recipe:

50g (2oz) rice flour
50g (2oz) potato flour
25g (1oz) tapioca (I wasn't sure whether this should be tapioca flour, starch, pearl, or whatever so I used tapioca flour)
.25 tsp xanthan gum
.50 tsp salt
50g (2oz) caster sugar (I assumed this was confectioner's sugar)
1 tsp vanilla essence (I used almond extract)
125g (4.5oz) dairy free margarine (I used coconut oil)

Combine dry ingredients. I stirred the almond extract into the coconut oil. Then I "rub[bed] in the margarine until the mixture combines, using [my] fingertips."

It was a creamy, gooey mess that stuck to my fingers because my hands were warm enough to melt the coconut oil.

Place dough in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Roll the dough out on wax paper (to about 1cm) and cut into rectangles. At this point, I had to put it back into the fridge because the "dough" was melting apart as I tried to put it on the cookie sheet.

Bake for 15-20 minutes.

Within 2 minutes, I knew it was a disaster. The rectangles spread and broke. In the "separating in weird ways" kind of broke.




Despite it not keeping its shape, the texture is actually about right. However, the coconut oil is a bust. The coconut flavor is overpowering, so they're more like coconut oil cookies. Meh. I'm not as much of a fan of coconut oil after these.

Moar pie experimentation

Another awesome recipe the Living Without magazine had was for a gluten-free fruit pie crust that actually looked normal. After looking at it and seeing that it actually required me to roll it out like a normal pie crust, I decided to give it a try with some pumpkin filling. 'Cause it's October, yo.

The pie crust recipe calls for

2 cups gluten-free High-protein Flour Blend or gluten-free flour blend of choice
2 tsp xanthan gum
pinch salt
2 tbs sugar
8 tbs coconut oil
.5 cups cold water
4 tsp cider vinegar

The High-protein Flour Blend is:

1.5 cups bean flour (chickpea or soy)
1 cup arrowroot starch or potato starch
1 cup tapioca starch/flour
1 cup white or brown rice flour

Combine the dry ingredients: flour blend, xanthan gum, salt, and sugar. Mix to combine.
In a separate bowl, melt the coconut oil (but don't let it get hot) and add to the cold water and cider vinegar.
Pour the wet mixture into the bowl with the dry ingredients and mix by hand only enough to combine. This dough gets tough really easily, so handle it as little as possible.

This recipe makes two pie crusts, so take 1/2 of the dough, roll out either using plastic wrap or a gluten-free floured surface. Fold dough in half or fourths to make it easier to get to the pie pan. Unfold and form edges.

Chill pie crust for 30 minutes in the freezer before baking.

I used the Libby's Pumpkin Pie mix with almond milk and egg replacer for the pumpkin filling.

The results:




One pie and a few tarts.

(Yes, yes. I know the picture sucks. I'll let the professional photographer know of your displeasure.)


First, I have to say that the pie dough smelled like my mother's apple kuchen. Yum. It was wonderful to work with. Second, the crust baked nicely, was firm when it was done (unlike my past pie attempt), and was absolutely delicious. The coconut oil gave it a certain coconutty sweetness that wasn't overwhelming and was very yummy.

Highly recommended.

Round and Holey Experimentation

Or in other words vegan, gluten-free, soy-free, milk-free, egg-free, corn-free doughnuts.

Yes, you read right. DOUGHNUTS.

My mother has a fabulous kitchen--marble countertops, smart stove, 1800 watt microwave oven, a Kitchenaid mixer, and a bunch of cool stuff that I've never been able to afford. On top of that, she also saved me a couple of issues of Living Without magazine. In one of these magazines was a recipe for awesome doughnuts. The fabulous kitchen and the fabulous recipe makes for an irresistible combination. So yeah. I made wicked doughnuts.

I haven't had doughnuts since, well, the vegan ones I found in Las Vegas when I was at Preston's wedding. But before then, it'd been YEARS. So I couldn't resist.

The recipe, since it's already gluten free, required very little in the way of modification.

Here's what I used:

1.25 cups white rice flour
1 cup granulated sugar
7/8 cup potato starch
1/2 cup tapioca starch
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon chickpea flour (you can use soy flour here if you're not allergic to soy like I am)
4 tsp xanthan gum (Stuff's expensive, yo!)
1 tsp salt
1.75 tsp baking powder (I found some that uses potato starch instead of corn starch!)
3 pkg instant dry yeast
1.25 cup warm almond milk (or whatever kind of milk turns you on)
12 tbs coconut oil (instead of the 1.5 sticks of butter it called for)
1 tbs Ener-G egg replacer
4 tbs warm water (The egg replacer and water are substituting for 2 large eggs)

Here's the story about the flour blend. Gluten-free flour mixes come in all kinds of mad scientist ways. Some use tapioca starch or flour. Some use arrowroot. Some use soy. Some use amaranth or quinoa. The trick is putting the flours together in a blend that works for what you're trying to bake. In this case, it uses a little bit of rice, potato, tapioca, and chickpea flours. The most expensive items were the xanthan gum (about $11 for a small package), and the coconut oil (which is a good substitute for butter since it's solid at normal room temp and melts at 76F).

How to cook it:

First I combined the dry ingredients: the rice flour, sugar, potato starch, tapioca starch, chickpea flour, xanthan bum, salt, baking powder, egg replacer, and dry yeast all went into a Kitchenaid-type mixer with a paddle attachment. Lightly mix until relatively uniform.

Then I put the coconut oil, warm water, and almond milk into a bowl and stuck it in the microwave to warm up the whole thing. I added the warm mixture to the flour mixture and let the mixer beat air into it for 5 minutes. In the meantime, let the oven warm slightly. After the mixer is done, put the bowl into the oven with an open door. This allows it to rise without baking it. Leave it there for 20 minutes.

The recipe calls for piping the doughnut batter in little circles onto squares of parchment paper using a cake decorating bag. I used the parchment paper for this, but it wasn't really necessary--you just need to pipe the rings onto something that you can move to and from a proofing area (like a microwave oven.) Once you're done piping, the doughnuts need to go into somewhere that's humid and warm. The recipe suggests boiling water in the microwave oven and putting the doughnuts there. And that's what I did. I let the doughnuts proof for about 20 minutes.

Put about 4 cups of oil or so into a deep fryer, pot, or pan. Heat oil to 350F (than goodness for my mom's candy thermometer!). Fry each side of the doughnut for a few minutes until brown.

Results:

I now have heartburn for eating so many so late in the evening, the evil things. The doughnuts turned out more like cake doughnuts than a yeast-risen doughnut, but it was very good. The coconut oil added a very coconutty flavor to it.

I also tried to make a chocolate glaze to dip the doughnuts in, but as soon as I added the cold almond milk, it solidified into hard little pieces and wouldn't melt smoothly anymore. Silly thing. So the glaze is more like a frosting. But it's all good.

No, I don't know the calorie and fat content of these. And I don't really WANT to know. I could figure it out if I really wanted to, but then I'd probably hate myself in the morning.

ETA: Morning after results: I was a little sloppy with how much coconut oil I put in, and it ended up being too much. It also could use a bit more sugar. Next time I make these I need to make sure I only put in the exact amount it calls for of coconut oil and put in some extra sugar.

Needs Moar Cake

While I think I prefer the Gluten-free Pantry Gluten-free vanilla cake mix, it isn't sold anywhere in my county. So this time, I'm trying to make a vanilla cake with the Namaste mix.

My previous attempts with the Namaste Gluten-Free Cake Mix have been very meh. The texture is a bit gritty, and the vanilla flavoring is just...meh. So this time I'm playing with it to see if I can't make it a bit better.

The mix calls for
3 eggs
1/2 cup oil
1 cup water

I'm using:
3 tbs Ener-G Egg Replacer
3 tbs Dari-Free
2/3 cup oil
1 1/4 cups Pacific Vanilla Almond Milk
A dash of French Vanilla (which is *not* gluten-free, just so you know)
About 1/2 bag of Enjoy Life semi-sweet chocolate chips

There's nothing I can really do about the texture, but let's see how the creamy-up works.

Result: Texture is about the same. The taste is slightly better. Chocolate chips are a nice touch, but it's not the best cake ever. Meh.

Experimentation! This time with 1000% more pie!

While it isn't all that difficult to find cake mixes and whatnot without dairy products, it is a challenge to find ways of making cakes without eggs. So instead of making cakes for my and my brother's birthday several years ago, my mother decided to make fresh strawberry pie. And it was so good, I briefly considered making it an annual thing.

Well, I refuse to give up the things I like to eat simply because they're usually made with evil stuff like wheat flour or wholesome milk. And it helps that the local Costco had strawberries that smelled really good. So last night I tried out making a strawberry pie that I can eat.

It shouldn't be all that difficult, right?

Heh.

Here's what I used:

Filling:
Tons of fresh strawberries
1 package of Junket (strawberry flavored) [Sorry guys, this isn't vegan. But it *is* corn-free.]
Water for the gelatin

Crust:
Namaste gluten-free biscuit mix
Canola oil
Sugar
Water

The pie crusts didn't brown within the time the package gave me, so I baked it extra time. Turns out that's a bad idea. The crusts were too thick on the sides, and too crunchy.

But the filling turned out wonderfully. Mmmm. Red food coloring.

Aaand here is the official Chocolate Chip Cake recipe

This is SO good.

1 pkg Gluten-free Pantry White Cake Mix
2 tbs DariFree powdered milk substitute
2 tbs Ener-G Egg replacer
1 cup Pacific vanilla almond milk
1/2 cup (ish) canola oil
2 tsp French vanilla extract
1/2 pkg Enjoy Life semi-sweet chocolate chips (Use this brand only. Trust me on this.)

Mix dry ingredients (except chocolate chips) together. Add wet ingredients (except vanilla). Beat until well incorporated (about 50 good strokes). Add vanilla. Mix until well incorporated. Add chocolate chips and mix until it's well distributed throughout the batter.

Pour into 8" square pan greased with canola oil.

Bake about 35 minutes.

This recipe is free of main allergens (milk, eggs, soy, peanuts, fish, shellfish, wheat, and corn), and if made using rice milk or a favorite milk substitute is also tree-nut free. AND it gets rave reviews at parties/girl's night gatherings!

Ok, just plain old vanilla experimentation

Vanilla Pudding

The original recipe (snagged from a NYT Recipe of the Day) calls for

2 1/2 cups half-and-half or whole milk
2/3 cup sugar
Pinch of salt
1 vanilla bean or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened (optional)

I'm using
2.5 cups almond milk
2/3 cup Splenda (or whatever I have on hand)
2 tbs Dari Free (to replace the butter and give it a creamier flavor)
Pinch of salt
3 tbs arrowroot flour
0.5 cups almond milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

Method:

Combine milk, Splenda, salt, and Dari Free. Cook over medium-low heat until it boils.
Combine the arrowroot flour and 1/2 cup almond milk in a separate dish.
Add to mixture and boil 5-10 minutes until it thickens. (If you don't cook it enough, it'll be rubbery.)
Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.

Voila.

Result: A little slimy. Meh.

If you're allergic to tree nuts, then just replace the almond milk with rice milk or whatever milk-like thing you usually use. The arrowroot flour is what thickens the pudding, so it's all good.

More Eeeeeevil Experimentation

This time with tapioca. Yes, yes, if you don't like tapioca, just deal.

Here's what the recipe calls for:

1/3 cup small pearl tapioca
3/4 cup water

1.25 cups 2% milk
1/4 tsp salt
2 eggs, separated

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla

Because this recipe is very specific (2% milk rather than just "milk") and calls for separated eggs, I'm pretty sure this won't set with a straight substitution. So rather than relying on the whipped egg whites, I think I'll make this more like a cooked pudding and use arrowroot flour as a thickening agent. Since the egg yolks are probably for fat and flavor, and the egg whites are probably for texture, I'm not going to use the egg replacer in this recipe. Instead, I'll add some Dari-Free and a teeny bit of canola oil for the egg yolk and milk, and I'll use an arrowroot slurry for the egg whites.

And on top of all that, I'm doubling the recipe. 'Cause I'll probably want more later when I'm too lazy to cook it again.

So here goes:
2/3 cups small pearl tapioca
1.5 cups water

2.5 cups Pacific brand vanilla almond milk
pinch salt
2 tbs Dari-Free
1 tbs canola oil
1 cup Splenda

3 tbs arrowroot flour
extra almond milk

1 tsp vanilla (I use Watkins' Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla extract.)

I suspect that the recipe might need more almond milk than the 2.5 cups of milk that it calls for, but we'll see. [ETA: Duh. I forgot to double the milk amount. I tried it again with 4 cups and it worked a bit better, even if it was a bit more bland. But it's dang good and thickens really quickly with the 2.5 cups. So either way or anywhere in between works.]

Instructions:

Soak the tapioca in the water for 30 minutes.
Add the almond milk, salt, Dari-Free, canola oil, and Splenda and stir until it boils.
Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 10-15 minutes. [It's already thick enough at this point that I might not need the arrowroot flour. Perhaps the egg whites are only to lighten up the texture a bit so it's not such a thick, dense pudding.]

Remove from heat and add vanilla.

Ok, so I didn't use the arrowroot flour because by the end of the 10-15 minutes, it was niiice and thick. And the result? Not bad at all.

And if you have tree nut allergies, then replace the almond milk with rice milk or whatever milk-like thing you usually use. The tapioca is what thickens the pudding, so it'll work with whatever. It might even work with juice (not that I'd really be interested in trying it made with juice...).

You're Here!

Most of the recipes on here focus on treat foods: cookies, cakes, puddings. Why? Those are usually the foods allergic people crave and miss the most. But what happens in the day-to-day eating for someone who's trying to change their diet and eat healthier?

Here's the deal. After the birth of my third son, I went on a health kick and lost 45 lbs, and I've kept it off for more than 5 years. Yes, my dress size is lower single digits.

"But HOW?" I hear you scream in frustration. I hear ya. No, seriously. I do.

Those diet plans you see on TV? If you have food allergies, there's a 98% chance that the food you're allergic to is in the diet. And just following everything else about a weight loss diet or making simply substitutions with foods you can eat WON'T WORK! Yeah, those "easy to follow" diets are definitely not easy at all. I'm there. I know what that bleak diet landscape is like. I even had to send back the supplement that came with my P90X because it was whey based. And the first time around, I did the diet WRONG.

Most of the replacements I use in my foods are NOT nutritionally equivalent, and most diet plans involve balancing proportions of what we call macronutrients (which is a fancy word to describe protein, carbohydrates, and fat). In fact, many diet plans will start you off with a low carb, high protein diet. So what do you do if you're allergic to a bunch of proteins, especially the ones they recommend? (Sound familiar, maybe?)

Well, you have to get clever. You have to read a lot of labels (but if you have food allergies, you're already doing that, right?) And you have to have tools.

1. First of all: eating foods you're allergic to can keep you from losing weight. Your body is having a hyperactive response to the foods you're allergic to, and if your body is constantly hyped up about the allergens, it ramps up the cortisol and goes into a crisis mode (which usually causes your body to store up more fat). So my first piece of advice is to go to your allergist/doctor/pulmonologist/PCP and find out what foods you're allergic to. Then you need to research and find out what weird additives are derived from the food and cut them ALL out of your diet.

Me? I've been allergic to milk my whole life. I was diagnosed with a pork, peanut, egg, and fish allergy next. Then came the shellfish. And the low blow my body dealt me was an allergy to wheat, corn, and soy.

Holy cow, the last ones have been the hardest to avoid. But let me tell you--it's made a huge difference in how I feel and the way my body works.

Once I'd changed my diet, I tried doing one of those "easy to follow" fitness diets to help lose those last 10-20 lbs. You know, the most stubborn ones. Well, I was just doing the diet according to servings, (you know the kind: one serving of fruits, one serving of meat, blah blah blah) and substituting the usual foods DID NOT WORK. Why? For one thing, plain coconut milk yogurt is VERY nutritionally different from plain cow's milk yogurt.

I had to stop simply substituting what I always had to make things work.

"So what do I use?" You ask? Well, that's what you're here for, right?

2. ONCE YOU'VE ELIMINATED what you're allergic to in your diet, then you have to eliminate a few other things: high fructose corn syrup (no, I'm not kidding), and hydrogenated oils. I'd also say artificial sweeteners, but I haven't quite been able to kick that habit yet myself. I'm working on it, though.

3. THE THIRD STEP is to get thee to a diet journaling website. The #1 thing that people who successfully lose weight do is keep track of what they're eating and how much they're eating. Personally, I'm a big fan of myfitnesspal.com because I can customize it for my current needs. For example, if I need to eat 1800 calories, and it needs to be 40% protein, 40%carbs, and 20% fats, then all I have to do is enter it in, enter in what I'm eating throughout the day, and I can adjust what I'm eating throughout the day to meet that goal. if I'm low on protein, I can eat some more chicken or have a low-carb rice protein shake (Nutribiotic is a lifesaver. Just sayin'.) If I'm low on carbs, I might have a bowl of oatmeal. If I'm low on fat, I get to eat a small piece of chocolate, or have a tablespoon of the evilest food ever invented for food allergic people: Sunbutter. Yummy, addictive, delicious evil.

If you're not keeping track of what you're eating, how will you know what to change?

"So what the heck should I need to set my protein and stuff to?" I hear you ask. That is a good question, and one that doesn't have an easy answer.

So what does that mean? Well, I'm not a dietitian, and you'll probably need to go to one, or your doctor to really determine what you should be eating. But if you have food allergies and you're looking for free advice on to lose weight from someone who's "been there, done that" and struggled the whole way, you've come to the right place. PLEASE don't make the same mistakes I have. Read around this website. Email me, ask me, and I'll try to help you out. BUT! Even if you don't have food allergies and are looking for fun, healthy recipes and free advice on how to lose weight, you've also come to the right place.

A lot of the recipes I'll put up here will still be treat foods, but I'll also be putting in lower-fat, lower-carb, and higher-protein options. So enjoy!

And if you have any requests, let me know. I'm always excited to try new things.

Eeeevil Experimentation

Is it eeeeevil experimentation? Maybe.

I'm experimenting baking a cake that I can eat. My guess is that it'll be a total failure. But if it works, I just might be able to take over the world. Maybe.

Here's what I'm using:

365 Gluten Free White Cake mix. It's made out of potato starch, baking soda, and a few other things.

The problem with this cake mix, though, is that it's prepared with dairy products that are not easily substitutable with soy-free alternatives.

Required:
1/2 cup butter, softened (Normally, I'd use Smart Balance Light, but it has soy)
2 large eggs
1/2 cup milk or water
1 tsp vanilla extract

I used:
2 tbs DariFree powdered milk substitute (1 tbs makes 1 cup)
2 tbs Ener-G Egg replacer (1 tbs makes 2 eggs, but it does weird things to baked goods so I usually add extra)
1 cup water
1/2 cup (ish) canola oil
2 tsp vanilla extract (to make up for the lack of creamy flavor from the milk and eggs)


The extra powdered milk substitute and oil are meant to substitute for the butter. The extra water and oil are also meant to substitute for the liquid in the eggs.

I worry that I beat it a little too much, 'cause that's usually what goes wrong when I bake. But considering that it's usually the gluten that makes the texture tough, I'm hoping that won't be a problem here.

Directions: Bake at 350 for 28 minutes.
I'm baking it at 325~ish because my oven runs hot.

After 28 minutes, it was about 1/2 done, so I added 10 minutes.

Result:

(Please excuse the lousy excuse for lighting and background.)



Texture: A little chewy on the outsides, but not too bad. It's kind of fluffy on the inside. Kinda like bread, in fact.
Flavor: Bland, but with a vanilla extract aftertaste. Perhaps I added a bit too much vanilla. I wonder what I could add to balance out the flavor.

Not bad for a wild experiment. Next time, I'll add some chocolate chips.