Seeking Wheat and Egg Free Recipes

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.

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!!

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

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!!

You have a lot of good info here. I just wanted to add that liquid Aminos is a great soy sauce substitute. It's made from soy beans and is really good for you. It tastes the same to me but a little can go a long way.

We are wheat free and my son also can't have dairy. It does get easier. Hang in there.

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.

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!

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)

I have the exact same allergies and I find it best to simply make all or most of my own food. Rice flour is a great substitute for wheat flour in most recipes. Processed packaged foods you are better off avoiding because most have hidden milk and wheat in them, and most are also made with genetically modified corn or soy. www.tropicaltraditions.com has a lot of gluten free recipes if you scroll down to their recipes tab. But use the internet and google egg free recipes, or gluten free milk free etc... Egg is a tough one to avoid but with practice it will get easier. It just makes it really hard to bake anything. But I have a great apple pie recipe that is wheat/milk/egg free. I got coconut flour from tropical traditions, and coconut oil from the same and I make the crust out of that. But you could use any nut flour. The food coop carries a good variety, or trader Joes. I put a little coconut flour and pumpkin pie spices in the apples with a tablespoon of sugar and it makes a great pie. The crust wont be crispy like flour, but it is still pretty good, especially if you put a little vinegar in the crust and in with the apples.

Ironically this allergy forces you to eat the way we really are supposed to be eating. I make a lot of vegetable/rice/meat stir fries which make great breakfasts as well as any other meal. I just season with salt, pepper and a little paprika and put in lots of different veggies. Nuts can make a nice accent for it as well. I most often eat left over dinner for breakfast which is usually a meat and a salad. Salads are a great opportunity to include a lot of different veggies. In fact I never even make a cooked veggie with dinner anymore, I just chop it up and put it in the salad. Then I mix in some dried fruit and a sliced orange or apple or whatever fruit I have handy. It makes a wonderful salad and your friends will rave. It is so good it doesn't even need dressing, but Newmans olive oil and vinegar is my favorite to put on it. Both of my kids love my stir fries and salads.

I have a convection bbq called a Traeger that you can smoke your own foods on so I get my meat from a local farmer and smoke my own bacan, ham, fish, turkeys and chicken, everything tastes wonderful smoked and slow cooked. Joes sporting goods carries them if you are interested. Their temperature controls allow you to bbq below 200 degrees, which is the ideal temp to cook all meat because if cooked about that temp, your body actually forms an immune response against it. Your crock pot will become your friend too. Or cook in your oven below 200. A great roast recipe is season some water with salt pepper and whatever seasonings you like. I personally am never without garlic and onion powder and put them in everything. Or chop up the real things. Paprika and chili powder also taste great on all meats. Anyways, put in your roast at least 12 hours before you want to eat it, 24 hours is better, it just gets more and more tender. Then put the roast in the pan and the water should come all the way to the top of the roast, but not completely cover it. Then just forget about it and it will come out the best tasting most tender roast you have ever had. If you like, a few hours before serving throw in some carrots celery and potatoes too. yum!

Soups and stews are easy and delicious and can be made in the crock pot or on the stove with the left over water from your roast. A whole chicken can also be cooked the same way, then use the broth for chicken vegetable soup. There are a few gluten free cereals, but it is really better to just have dinner for breakfast, and cheaper.

As for bread, it is pretty much impossible to make wheat free bread. Trader Joes sells a rice bread, but it doesn't taste very good lol. But it is an option. Making tacos with corn tortillas is one of our favorites. I will give you my taco meat recipe too that I got from a mexican cook and it is wonderful, also makes great salsa and guacamole seasoning as well. So for a pound of hamburger, hopefully from a local grass fed cow, not the supermarket to avoid antibiotics and hormones, add 1-2 tsp of sea salt, 1 tsp pepper, paprika, chili powder, onion and garlic powder (or chop up the real thing) and last but very important, a half a tsp of cumin. In place of the cheese I would normally put on a taco, I put a generous helping of guacamole. I have not been successful in finding organic corn taco shells, but I keep a look out.

For drinking I like the coconut milk I get at Trader Joes because it doesn't have any preservatives in it. But it tastes the closest to milk if you add a little bit of salt. If you add a little bit of cocoa powder (unsweetened) and a little vanilla and stevia (a natural herb sweetener also from Trader Joes) it makes a lovely chocolate milk which the kids will love. Or Trader Joes also has almond milk in a variety of flavors, your kids won't even miss milk. Diabetes is my issue that came from my allergies because when you eat something you are allergic to it attacks your pancreas cells. So I developed type 1 diabetes. So be aware that it is a possibility if you find you cheat too much on the diet. But as long as I follow the milk/wheat/egg free diet, my pancreas works fine. But that is why I use Stevia instead of sugar. But with 1 in 3 people being diabetic or prediabetic, it is never a bad idea to cut down on sugar. Anyways I hope some of these ideas help.

We get a half or a whole cow at a time from Roger Barteld a local farmer and he grass feeds his cows. If you want his # let me know but it is cheaper than the store and better quality. We get a lot of hamburger so we make tacos a lot, as well as hamburgers, which I season with the Traegar brand beef rub I get at Joes sporting goods. It doesn't have any chemicals or fillers in it and is great on any meat. I just mix it in with the hamburger, no egg or fillers and it makes the best hamburgers you ever tasted, especially when I smoke them for an hour on my grill. :) I sound like a salesman for Traeger lol. But I just love my bbq. Home made bacon is so much better than anything you find in the store and no nitrates that way. I just brine it overnight in salt and pepper and smoke it 4-6 hours. Good health and good eating :)

T.

Hi S.,

We're dealing with wheat/egg allergies, too. She's only 15 months old, so I was lucky not to have to take much away from her. I posted a similar question a few weeks ago and have received some helpful responses. Here's the link for that thread:

http://www.mamasource.com/request/5390635232619659265

Also, my mom and I have done some brainstorming for more options. We've discovered that Rice Chex is now free of wheat (haven't checked store brand), and Kix cereal is all corn and oat. Rice Krispies do have wheat as an ingredient. Cheerios have "wheat starch" as one of the last ingredients on the list, but have never triggered a reaction in my daughter, although her sensitivity to wheat doesn't seem to be very severe.

As far as "regular" grocery ingredients go, we've figured out some good alternatives through products that have rice or corn as a base. I found rice noodles on the Asian food aisle to substitute for spaghetti. They're very sticky, but they work. Mixing corn starch with a cold liquid can take the place of flour as a thickener in sauces or gravies (the box has substitution amounts). Corn tortillas can take the place of bread to make wraps or roll-up sandwiches. My daughter likes barley mixed with vegetables, chicken and cheese. It seems to be a little more filling than rice. I'm also planning to try some cornmeal mush with her this week for breakfast (recipe on the cornmeal box).

If you're looking for speciality products, I have heard of a company called Ener-G Foods. They're based in downtown Seattle, I think, have an online store and sell products in groceries/health food stores. They sell recipes for breads and other foods in addition to ready-made foods (breads, cookies, pretzels, etc.) and ingredients (including an egg replacer for baking). I haven't tried any of their products yet, but I have checked out the website:

http://www.ener-g.com/

Best wishes to you and your family. I know that the "well, now what?" feeling is a little overwhelming, but I'm finding the allergies to be more of a minor inconvenience and an interesting challenge than anything else so far.

I've been on this same diet for about 6 months, and I am still in mourning over some of my favorite foods that I can no longer eat, but it does get easier as you go. Here are a few things I have learned so far.

A few key words to look for at the store are "gluten free" (no wheat) and "vegan" (no eggs/dairy). There are some good cookbooks at the library. When researching good recipes, look for Celiac (no gluten/wheat) and Vegetarian.

Focus on what you can eat: meat, fruit, veggies, all grains except wheat. That leaves corn, millet, quinoa, oats, rice, etc.

In order to maintain sanity, don't eliminate - substitute:

Breads - wheat free breads and mixes can be expensive. I have found that anything with garbanzo bean flour leaves a nasty aftertaste, but there are some good breads out there. Pamela's mixes are good, and millet bread from http://www.samisbakery.com/ is a great substitute for sandwich bread.

Pasta - Quinoa pasta is a good equivalent for regular pasta, and it makes good spaghetti. Rice pasta comes in fun shapes, and is good for soups. The flavor is too bland to hold up to spaghetti sauce, though (it tastes like you are just eating the sauce)

Milk - rice milk, soy milk, nut milks are all good for drinking/cooking, depending on what flavor you like. I've heard that hemp milk is better for baking since it is creamier, but I haven't tried it yet.

Yogurt - soy or coconut milk yogurt (if you like it). I have heard that silken tofu is a good substitute in cooking, but I haven't tried it yet.

Sour Cream - IMO has a tiny bit of whey if you can tolerate it in small portions. Silken tofu also works in recipes.

Cheese - ask your doctor if you can have sheep or goat cheese. I know, I was skeptical, too, but places like Trader Joes and Top Foods will let you taste it before you buy it. Some are quite good.

Eggs - mix tablespoon flax meal with 3 tablespoons hot water (for each egg needed) and let sit for 10 minutes (or microwave for 30 seconds) until the consistency of egg white. This makes a good binding substitute for egg when breading meat, for meatloaf, and for some baking recipes. You can also try Ener-G egg replacer for baking, but I haven't had much luck with it making things rise properly yet.

Snacks - potato chips, Fritos, and popcorn (no real butter) are all safe. Some corn chips/taco shells have flour, so check the label. Glutino Pretzels are better than regular pretzels, and Ener-G Wheat Free crackers are very good.

Desserts - Cool Whip and some canned whipped creams are dairy free. Who knew?? For ice cream, think sherbet/sorbet/popsicles - check the labels for milk. There are some good gluten free bakeries out there, just do an internet search.

Flour - you will need to buy a variety of flours for various uses. Wendy Wark's Gluten Free Flour Mix is the most highly regarded as a 1:1 substitute for flour. You can mix it yourself http://www.celiac.com/articles/655/1/Multi-Blend-Gluten-F... or buy it http://www.glutenfreemall.com/catalog/authentic-foods-mul... Shop around for the best prices. Oat flour works good for breading meat, and brown rice flour and corn starch make good gravies.

Whole Foods is a good place to shop if you have one nearby. Fred Meyer has a pretty good allergy-free section in the organic/homeopathic area. I even found wheat/egg/dairy free waffles there the other day. There are some good hot and cold cereals there, too. Experiment and see what your family likes. Try one of each brand until you all are happy.

We will get through this, one meal at a time!

http://glutenfreemom.typepad.com/

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.

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.

Please get your test re-evaluated...sometimes people oeract to these tests & this is a drastic chagne you are making in your families lives. But I found that sometimes TRader Joes has gleuten-free vegan cake & bread & brownie mixes from Namaste...tastes great! They are the best wheat-free company. But there's also using flex blended with water instead of eggs...works great as a replacement, but blend very very well. Using rice or oat flower works well too, but oat is better. Good luck with everything.