Our family is growing in many ways... Growing in numbers, knowledge, parenting skills, growing in love, in our faith, growing our culinary skills (if you can call it that), growing without gluten (some of us), growing green...........

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Mean, mean eggs

I've been baking up a storm lately. Seriously. Quite the storm. And I feel so, so bad not being able to share all the goodies with Aiden. (Yes, I am strict about what kinds of foods we buy and how much sugar is in them, but I'm a little different when they are homemade goodies...where I get to choose what is in them and how much. I'm the mom. I get to do that.) Since we know he's allergic to eggs but not to what extent...NO eggs until we go back to the allergist and do some testing or find out more. The appointment with the pediatric allergist isn't for another couple weeks. I'm always wondering...will it be ok for him to have eggs that are in baked goods? Or other dishes? What's the real extent of this problem??

So, today...I took matters into my own hands. Nooooo - I did not feed the boy anything. I recently made some pumpkin muffins. I wiped some of a muffin on my fingertip, swiped that onto his cheek, and then even wiped his cheek a bit with a cloth to get off any crumbs. Even then...(that's like minimal food actually getting onto his face!)...he still immediately broke out in hives on the spot the muffin touched. It looked just like it did with the raw egg white test. Not milder at all. I then washed his face with soap. The hives stayed for well over an hour, though. (Thank God he doesn't seem to get irritated from them.)

This is not good news. Not what we wanted to see. This makes things even more difficult. Booooo. That's what I have to say about that. Boooooo.

Oh, and we found out why he broke out when he had a taste of the chicken in (the world's most awesome) chicken salad from Whole Foods some time ago (before we knew about the egg allergy). Mayonnaise! Guess what's in mayonnaise, folks...eggs, that's what. So, while eggs are not listed as an ingredient...there they are. (On a side note, while Whole Food's Sonoma Chicken Salad seriously is probably the best ever, it's also not cheap. After buying some the other day, I found the recipe on their website. I'm definitely making this stuff. Yum-O. Just none for Aiden. Unless I find some egg-free Mayo.)

Guess I'll need to research egg substitutes more. And actually learn how to use them.

Now I'll go finish some other muffins I'm making. Ones that happen to be egg free!

2 comments:

Katie J. said...

I'm glad you mentioned egg replacers at the end there! Since my sister became vegan several years ago, my mom has become the egg-less baking champion! I've baked with store-bough egg replacer before, and I've never been disappointed with the results. Here are some other ideas from a cookbook I have (each is equivalent to one egg, unless otherwise noted):

* 1/2 banana (great substitute in desserts or sweet items like pancakes or smoothies)
* 1/4 cup tofu (use SOFT tofu and blend in a food processor)
* 3 tbsp applesauce (again for sweeter recipes)
* 1 tbsp psyllium husks + 2 tbsp water (terrific in breads and baking - the longer you let the husks sit in water, the more "eggy" they become)
* Flax Eggs (Blend 1/3 cup whole flax seeds to an even meal. Slowly add water while blending. Blend until mixture resembles a thick milkshake. Transfer to a sealable container and store in the fridge [will keep for 3-6 days]. You can pour through a strainer to remove seeds if you like. 3 tablespoons of flax eggs equals one egg.)

Oh, and I've had Vegenaise (egg-less mayonnaise) before, and it's good! You should be able to get it at Whole Foods.

Good luck with all of this. I bet you'll figure out a good way to make most of your favorite baked goods safe for Aiden to enjoy.

Daisy @ Our Growing Family said...

Thanks, Katie!! Yeah, I've got to try some of the substitutes. Can't keep this child deprived of my good baking. ;) I'm sure there will be some trial and error, but we'll figure it out. Hopefully this will be something he can outgrow, but either way... It's kind of ironic that he's allergic to eggs b/c my mom is allergic to just about everything ELSE. So she could easily tell me how to replace wheat, corn, dairy, and so much more! But eggs is the one thing she's not allergic to. Go figure...

And thanks for the recipe you sent, too. Sounds very yummy!