Try it Tuesday

File this one away for next year...

As many of you know, Little Man is allergic to eggs. A great deal of energy, on my part, is spent finding egg alternative. Easter is no exception to that. We can't decorate real eggs - if they break it would be a very bad thing for him. This year, I ordered some egg craft kits from Oriental Trading Company and we made rice krispies treats and molded them into plastic eggs. The Easter Bunny hid everything and Timmy had a blast.

Next year, when looking for a fun treat on Easter...try molding rice krispies treats into plastic eggs. It's fun and adorable!

Try it Tuesday

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies - egg free

As many of you know, my little man is allergic to eggs and all nuts and seeds. I am often on the look-out for egg free baking recipes. Below is a recipe using an egg substitute. I also used Giradeli Chocolate Chips, as they are the only ones on the market that are not manufactured in a facility that manufactures nuts.

They were/are really quite good (not chewy, but crispy). I am super happy with the results. Timmy helped make them, which really means he stood on a chair and turned the kitchen aide on and off for me. Of course, he likes to turn it on when my rubber spatula is scraping the sides, so I have smartened up and started unplugging it when we turn it off! He seems to be a big fan of cookie dough - go figure??? A child of mine liking cookie dough??? It must be genetic!

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies (eggless)

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

3 tblsp water

3 tblsp canola oil

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cup flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

1/2 tsp salt

3 cups oats

bag of chocolate chips

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Beat together the butter and sugar until creamy. In a small bowl, combine the water, oil and baking powder (this is the egg substitute). Add the egg substitute and vanilla to the butter and sugar, and beat well. Add combined flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt to the butter mixture. Beat all well. Once thouroughly mixed, add oats and chocolate chips. Beat until combined.

Bake on parchment paper in oven. I used a small scoop from pampered chef for my cookies - they took about 16 minutes in the oven.

Delish (to borrow a rachel ray-ism).

Try it Tuesday

Egg Free Brownies
I found this recipe in a recent issue of Family Fun Magazine and changed it up a bit to suit what I wanted. It's a quick and easy homemade brownie that happens to work for my egg allergic son. They have a different texture to them, but work as a good substitute for the real thing!

Ingredients
1 1/3 cups of graham cracker crumbs
1 1/2 cups of chocolate chips
4 1/2 tablespoons of unsalted butter
1 (14-ounce) can of sweetened condensed milk

Begin by melting the butter in a pot, then add the sweetened condensed milk and chocolate chips. Stir until just melted.






Remove from heat and add the graham cracker crumbs. Stir until combined.







Pour batter into a greased 9 inch square pan. Bake in a 350 degree preheated oven for 25 minutes. Let them cool, then slice and enjoy.

Food Allergy Tip

Food Allergy Tip
Your child can enjoy birthday cake too. My son’s allergy happens to be eggs so this is tapered to fit his needs. Make a batch of egg free cupcakes. Freeze them, unfrosted, individually on a cookie sheet. Once cupcakes are frozen, transfer them to a freezer bag or freezer safe container. The night before a birthday party or other celebration, take out one cupcake and frost to your child’s liking. Pack the cupcake in a plastic container (hint: if you put the cupcake on the lid and close the bowl over the top, you will have a pretty stable carrier for your cupcake), and take to the party.

Egg Free Cupcakes
1 Box Cake Mix
1 120z can soda
Mix well with spoon – mixture will be slightly lumpy. Bake according to package directions.

Please note: I am not really a lazy baker. I have tried all sorts of egg substitutes and scratch cakes, but all of the cakes sunk in the middle. This is the only thing that does not sink. It is adapted from a Weight Watchers standby - cakemix and diet soda - 3 points, 12 servings.

Egg Allergy - More Info

The rice krispies treat cake was a success, but I still have a strong desire for a traditional cake. WHY am I putting myself through this torture??? I did some more searching for egg subsitutes, and I didn't find any other substitute, but I did learn that people usually only have success when they are substituting 2 eggs or less; Any more than that, and you won't get the desired results.

I tested that theory with banana bread yesterday. It only has two eggs, so I substitued 1.5 tblsp water, 1.5 tblsp. oil, and 1 tsp baking powder for each egg (mixed them together before adding to batter), and guess what! It worked!!! The banana bread didn't fall and it tasted great!

Following that discovery, I searched through my cookbooks and recipe box for cakes with 2 eggs or less. Not much luck, until I came across the Red Velvet Cake. It only has 2 eggs. I plan to try it on Wednesday - you know valentine's day is the perfect excuse to make a red cake (not to mention the fact that it is Todd's most favorite cake in the entire world). That's my plan for the next trail run. Although, I'm not sure I will frost it as before - that was a lot of work!

Thoughts for the Day

My son is allergic to eggs and all nuts and seeds. Because I am allergic to peanuts, I expected him to be allergic to peanuts. I did not, however, expect him to be allergic to the other things as well. This is a whole new world for me! Also, and this is probably really bad of me to say, but I spent a year breast feeding the little guy in hopes of avoiding food allergies and asthma! WHY didn't it work? You know, I really think it's just what kids are pre-disposed to - the Breat Milk Warriors (you know who you are), should stop using the argument that it will decrease the child's chances of having allergies and asthma. My child didn't have a hope with a mother that has food allergies and has asthma! Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed breast feeding my son and will do the same for any other children that come along. All I am saying is that it didn't have the result I was most hoping for. Phew....that was a tangent! All of that because I am trying to come up with recipes.

I have been searching and searching for cookie and cake recipes without eggs - not an easy task! I did find a sugar cookie wihtout eggs, and it is a good substitute!
Cream Cheese Sugar Cookie
8oz cream cheese
1 cup powdered sugar
1 1/2 sticks butter
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
Beat cream cheese, butter, sugar and vanilla until well combined. Add flour and baking soda, then mix well. Form a disc, wrap in wax paper, then refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Pre-heat oven the 325 degrees. Roll out dough to 1/8 inch thickness, cut cookies to desired shape (2 inch cutter). Place 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 12 minutes or until lightly browned. Frost with your favorite frosting.


His birthday is next month, so my current project is to find an egg subsitute for cake. I have tried several that are posted on www.kidswithfoodallergies.org, but each and every cake has sunk in the middle. They have all tasted really good, but just aren't working like an egg works. Suprisingly, the old Weight Watchers trick of adding a diet soda to a cake mix worked the best! I think I am making the problem worse because I bought a 3-D train cake pain (he's all about choo-choos, so I want him to have a train cake). A 3-D pan and cakes that sink do not work well together. Today's project is filling both sides of the cake pan with rice krispie treats, using frosting to glue both sides together, then frosting the rice krispie treat as if it were a cake. I'm not sure how well the details will show with the rice krispie treat, so who knows if it will work. If it does, I figure this will be a good option. Is there anyone that doesn't like a rice krispie treat? I assume that the kids will love it! Hey - maybe I will start a birthday cake fad! Ohhh- maybe it can be a new at home business! Okay - I am probably getting carried away. When it's all said and done, I think I will post a picture of today's creation....stay tuned!