What to Do about Eggs...

As promised to my facebook readers, here's a list of egg substitutes I've found and some suggestions about planning to use them.  Keep in mind, I haven't tried all of these yet, so I can't say how well they may or may not work.  Each of them alters the consistency of the recipe in a different way, so it can't hurt to try an few things out and see what works for you.  Here's the list or substitutes equivalent to one egg., and I'll follow it with some thoughts on using them:

• 2 Tbsp Potato Starch
• 1 Banana, Mashed
• 1/4 cup Apple Sauce
• 1/4 cup of Mashed Potatoes
• 1/4 cup canned Pumpkin or Squash
• 1/4 cup pureed Prunes
• 1/4 cup of Soft Tofu
• 2 Tbsp water, 1 Tbsp oil, 2 Tsp Baking Powder, mixed
• 1 Tbsp ground Flax Seed simmered in 3 Tbsp Water
• An egg replacer called Ener G

Of course, when looking to replace eggs you've really got to think about what you're using the bread for in a recipe.  For example, banana, applesauce, and mashed potatoes aren't likely to help in a bread that needs to rise.  Mashed potatoes can have a lumpy consistency when hand made, something to keep in mind when cooking with egg.  However, they may offer the perfect sticky consistency to replace the egg.

In reality, it's a game of cooking chemistry.  What can you use that will fulfill the purpose?  It's also a great lesson in science as you research what the egg does in each individual recipe.  I can't wait to start trying some of these substitutions!

Oh, and just want egg whites?  Take one Tbsp of plain agar powder and mix it with an equal part of water.  Whip it, chill it, and whip it again for a suitable egg white substitute!

What Can I Eat?

This whole thing was frustrating before, but now I feel like I'm being starved!  Going off of commercially-made foods, processed foods, is a lot harder than I'd ever imagined.  I had no idea it was going to be this hard!

I'll be honest, the biggest problem I have with going off of everything is not knowing what to eat.  It's not like I have a nutritionist at my disposal to advise me on what I can and can't have, though that would be lovely.  Instead I have to figure it out as I go along.  I have to play with what I need and what I'm missing out on in my diet.  Right about now it feels like I'm missing out on a good deal, but that's also because I've been programmed by society to eat so many of these processed foods.

Going out to eat has become a bit of an impossibility.  I've looked at many menus and as much as they offer gluten-free solutions, many of them are known for still using eggs and dairy in the baking process for breads and the like.  For example, a friend of mine suggested Jason's Deli does a gluten-free menu.  Unfortunately, having checked their menu, all I can have is the salad bar...and then the only dressing I can have is oil and vinegar, which I'm not terribly fond of to begin with.  Everything else on their gluten-free menu has eggs, milk, or soy.  It's not exactly easy to find a food that's free of all of those things, again, unless I hit up the salad bar. It's not exactly fun to be eating rabbit food when everyone else is eating something so delicious looking.

I've also learned that making things from scratch means really making everything from scratch.  Just going to the grocery store to pick up some beef broth I realized it's got dairy in it as well as tons of soy.  Beef stock is even worse with honey.  I'm kind of glad I've never used beef stock before!  The more I go along the more I realize that I do have to make 100% of my meals from scratch.  I can't even use prepackaged ingredients because everything's got additives I just can't have.  I think it might just be fun to start making my own stuff from beginning to end, but at the same time, this whole allergy thing is sapping my energy.  I just don't have the energy for that whole process.  At the same time, if I cheat and eat things I shouldn't, or starve myself, then where am I going to be?  Without the energy to do it!  It's a catch 22 no matter what I do.

Thankfully, this new diet does mean eating more regularly.  I can no longer snack throughout the day unless it's fruits and veggies.  That means I'm more likely to eat fruits and veggies, and since they don't fill me up the same way, I'm still hungry come meal time, though I haven't really been eating meals all that often.  Even so, I'm starting to feel like I'm getting somewhere with all of this, even if it is just a small change towards healthier living.  Every small step is one step closer, right?

A Shocking Discovery, What's Really in my French Fries

This whole quest for information started when I began to research foods I can't eat to eliminate my allergies.  It's positively shocking how many things aren't vegan friendly!  There's dairy in everything, even things that label themselves as "dairy-free"!  From chewing gum to margarine to "natural flavoring" to chicken, dairy products are found everywhere.  This is especially an issue if you're not just dealing with lactose intolerance.  Instead I have to focus on eliminating all dairy products, which means looking for weird things like whey, casein, lactalbumin, galactose, recaldent, "natural flavor", caramel color, and "protein" as many protein enriched or high protein foods include added protein in the form of milk proteins.  Most vegans I know don't realize that they need to look for all those additional ingredients in their foods, and not all of the foods that contain those things plaster on their label "contains milk products".  Even soy cheeses have been found to contain milk proteins.  I guess that means going vegan just became a whole lot harder!

In the process of doing my research I came across a warning on the top of one page.  The warning informed readers that McDonald's french fries contain dairy products, as well as gluten.  I was shocked at this!  How could french fries ever contain dairy?  Or gluten for that matter?  Of course, some fries have breading, so that made a lot more sense, but what in the world is dairy doing in a french fry?  And why do my vegan friends not seem to know this?

Being a good little intelligent girl, I decided to do my research.  I wasn't going to take this at face value.  Why should I?  I'd heard a lot about the various ingredients in fast foods from all over the place.  Everyone's heard the rumor that XYZ fast food chain uses rat meat, or they use a grade of meat that's not even regulated for human consumption.  I'm sure most people have heard rumors about the toxic chemicals in fast foods from this or that.  Just about everyone has heard of the silicon in Pizza Hut's cheese.  I wasn't about to take these rumors as fact until I checked it out for myself.

My first bit of research came up with article after article, but most of them were older and outdated, from 2006 and prior.  I'd come across one article from 2011 that mentioned a beef flavoring in McDonald's french fries that made them unfriendly to vegetarians, as well as many religious practices.  Still, I couldn't find any compelling hard evidence in any major media's website.

The first page I'd found that detailed possible allergy information was by Food Facts, which listed not only their "natural beef flavoring" but gave a breakdown of how natural flavors were made, how they were governed for reporting their ingredients by the FDA, and that natural flavors such as these are considered controversial because they are not required to report things like GMOs.  Reading the information from their site in the link above will give you all sorts of information on that natural beef flavoring, including the fact that it does in deed contain wheat and dairy products.  For those who may be concerned, they also contain soy, another product in everything that is developing into a common allergen.

Realizing I had to get more creative on my search, I finally decided to go onto the McDonald's website.  According to this MSNBC article McDonald's claimed their fries were gluten-free and dairy-free back in 2006, but then added "contains wheat and dairy products" to their french fry ingredient list not long after without making too much of a public display about it.  I was certain I would find more definite information on their website, and something more concrete and recent than 2006.

According to McDonald's own ingredient list, their french fries are in deed not vegetarian friendly at all!  Shocking!  They also are not friendly to those with wheat and/or dairy problems.  While their website does detail these common, known allergens, their restaurants are surprisingly void of these details.  Further, questions outlined in Yahoo Help and other websites by vegetarians asking whether McDonald's fries are vegetarian or vegan friendly are met with many people who clearly don't know what they're talking about.  Many of the answers state that McDonald's fries contain nothing but potatoes and are cooked in vegetable oil, which means they're safe to vegetarians and vegans alike.  This myth of vegan friendly and vegetarian friendly french fries is propagated all over the web, and it seems like McDonald's is not about to make a fuss to correct this misinformation. The company is allowing people to consume foods they either should not or choose not to eat because they don't think to ask about the ingredients.  Bad form, Micky-D's!  Bad form!

In contrast, Burger King's ingredient list is far more appealing for their french fries!  No, their veggie burgers aren't vegan friendly, but they openly state that the veggie patty is not cooked on equipment that meat or poultry products are cooked on.  They do, however, contain milk, wheat, soy, and egg, followed by a clear statement that this is NOT a vegan product.  Go BK for your honesty!

Wendy's french fries are a good bet too.  While there is no simple way to link the ingredient list so you can see for yourself, here's the french fry ingredient information I've pulled off of Wendy's website:

Potatoes, Vegetable Oil (contains one or more of the following oils: canola, soybean, cottonseed, sunflower, corn), Dextrose, Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate (to maintain natural color). Cooked in Vegetable Oil (soybean oil, corn oil, cottonseed oil, hydrogenated soybean oil, natural flavor [vegetable], citric acid [preservative], dimethylpolysiloxane [anti-foaming agent]). Cooked in the same oil as menu items that contain Wheat, Egg, Milk, and Fish (where available). Seasoned with Sea Salt.


That's pretty encouraging.  They even specify that their natural flavor is vegetable, and that their products are cooked in the same oil as non-vegan friendly products.  Someone allergic to wheat or dairy may think twice about Wendy's fries based on the oil they're cooked in.

Of course, these are just the three biggest chains.  It would be worth it to ask for nutritional information at all fast-food chains you visit if you've got any specific allergy related concerns, or any other special dietary requirements.  While their websites detail the information, it can be challenging to find and may not be beneficial while on the go.  Perhaps if enough people ask for the information, they may just start keeping it on hand and readily available, because it's clear from much of what I've heard, you can't rely on the employees for accurate information.  They might not know themselves and just give you the easy answer.

As for me?  I'm boycotting McDonald's, in part because I have a problem with their ethics, but also because it's becoming clear that they've got pretty much nothing I can eat!  It seems like most fast food chains are going to present similar problems, but I'd be far more willing to bend my diet just a bit for a special treat for the kids with a company that's open, honest, and realistic about their products.

For an interesting (and only somewhat related) read, I'm suggesting The McDonaldization of Society: The Reader, The McDonladization of Society 5, and The McDonaldization of Society 6 by George Ritzer.  It's absolutely scary how much McDonald's has influenced our entire culture and society, especially with everything they get away with.  It really makes you think!

Kicking the Allergies

So, I've been doing a lot of thinking about my allergies this week.  It's come as part of a long process of feeling worse and worse as the days go by.  My mood has declined.  I'm feeling weak.  I can never breathe anymore.  Everything hurts all the time.  I'm constantly exhausted.  My stomach's upset a good deal so I never want to eat. I'm having constant headaches that quickly devolve into migraines.  It's not a fun time.  I know a lot of these symptoms directly relate to allergies that I have.  I've been ignoring my allergies, almost like I'm hoping they'll go away, when, in reality, allergies only seem to get worse when you ignore them.

My list of allergies is pretty rough.  When I look at all the things I can't eat, it leaves a lot of people wondering what I can actually eat!  When you actually break down and look at where all these products are found, it's hard to find things that don't contain them, especially since a lot of them can be hidden under "natural flavor" and other vague terms.  Many of these things aren't labeled in the products you buy in the store, so it means a lot of research, not just ingredient checking.  You really have to know what you're doing when you shop!

The list of allergies (which has been a common request lately) is as follows:

• Dairy/lactose/casein
• Eggs
• Honey
• Gluten/wheat
• MSG
• Tomatoes

The list of possible allergies includes:

• Soy
• Bananas
• Caffeine
• Processed Sugars

Of course, this isn't including the other list of allergies that isn't food related, such as wool, chemical cleaners, scented soaps and detergents, dust, spider bites, and cats.  Yes, I've got a lot of allergies.  From everything I've heard, this isn't an uncommon problem in today's society.

What scares me the most about these allergies is how they present themselves.  Most food allergies present themselves with asthma-like symptoms, especially asthma induced by exercise, which I have.  They can manifest as skin conditions, such as eczema (which for those of you who remember me shaving my head the first time, you know is a concern of mine).  Many food related allergies can cause headaches and migraines.  A sore, swollen throat, from mild "lump in the throat" symptoms to the other extreme of inhibiting breathing.  Several of these allergies can also cause an arthritic feeling in the joints, something I wasn't aware of.  Abdominal pain, nausea, dizziness, fainting/unconsciousness, and disorientation are also common.  In some of the more extreme cases, they can cause anaphylactic shock and in the case of a wheat allergy, lymphoma...as in the cancer.  In the case of a dairy allergy specifically (though it's possible other allergies have similar effects), eating dairy can prevent your body from processing many of the nutrients and calories provided for your body to function, resulting in an inability to gain weight and a lowered immune system.

In general, these allergies sap you of energy, make you feel miserable all the time, and lower your overall mood.  As a result, it's not surprising that I'm finding myself unmotivated to do, well, pretty much anything.  I don't want to clean my house.  I'm too tired all the time.  I've had to cancel a series of dance classes.  For many of the shows I want to dance in, I find myself wishing I could cancel last minute.  I find myself too exhausted to do much of anything these days, wishing I could just sleep all day and lounge around in bed.  My stomach is always at odds with me and half the time I'm hungry, but I can't eat.

Given how sick I've been in this last week alone, it's time I eliminate the primary offenders in my diet, if not everything.  This is going to be a great adventure.  I'm going to have to start making a lot of things from scratch because MSG is in just about everything prepackaged as a preservative.  You find dairy in weird things like injected into chicken at the supermarket to help it stay fresh.  A good deal of non-dairy things, like soy cheese and "vinegar" in salt and vinegar chips, actually have things like casein in them.  Strangely, even human milk has some level of casein in it, but in human milk the quantities are far lower.  Goat milk is apparently the closest dairy animal to human, which means it's the least likely to induce an allergic reaction of any kind.

My whole household is going to have to be over-turned, and quick!  Our primary staples around here have large quantities of dairy, eggs, soy, and gluten.  Believe it or not, many of the foods available on the market are full of dairy products, soy products, gluten, and eggs.  Many of them also contain MSG, especially any prepackaged meals like TV dinners.  The only way to be sure the foods you eat don't contain any of those things are to read labels, be a smart shopper (research!), and make everything from scratch.  Buy all your foods from reputable places, like butcher shops for meats and local organic farmers for fruits and vegetables.  At least then you're more likely to get exactly what you're paying for, not foods that are injected with all kinds of things for presentation, color, freshness, and preservation.

It's going to be an adventure for my family and me.  We've already got to worry about most nuts and bananas for one of us.  We don't use pork.  Now we have to add a good deal more to that list.  I'm hoping the result will be a happier, healthier family that eats far less processed food chock full of chemicals...

Sea Salt and Other Spices

I've noticed America has an obsession with salt.  I have to admit, I used to be the same way.  There was a time when french fries had to have so much salt that I couldn't taste the fries.  I guess that should say something about the fries.  I always wanted the saltiest chips, the saltiest everything.  I'm starting to notice that the American culture is filled with salt addiction.

When I look at Americans in restaurants I notice salt being poured on meals everywhere.  It's the same, mostly bland table salt.  Every food seems to get the salt treatment.  Nothing from burgers to pasta is too good for salt.  I'm sure many a fine chef would be heartbroken to see their dishes ruined by a patron dousing it with salt.

Salt has become an unhealthy answer to our inability to know how to spice a dish properly.  Very few people actually know how to use spices.  I don't really blame Americans for being bad cooks.  In many cases it's not their fault.  No one ever taught them how to cook, so how can they be expected to know how to properly spice.  Sometimes recipes seem too bland and tasteless if you work from the book.  If you aren't familiar with cooking, it's hard to figure out how to spice something right.

One of the things that helped me learn how to get away from salt was a guessing game with spices.  I used trial and error a little at a time.  Pepper is a miracle replacement for salt.  I quickly found that I didn't need salt in my cooking at all.  It was just used to taste by the people eating it and even then I didn't often find anyone using it.  The salt wasn't kept out and easy where people were dining.  I've found far fewer people grab for the salt when it's not out and easy to access.  When you have to ask for something, you're less likely to use it.

Another thing that drastically reduced my salt consumption was the use of sea salt.  Sea salt is so much more flavorful than regular table salt.  As a result, so much less is needed on any dish, which is far healthier.  I have to say, it's certainly helped reduce my salt consumption.

Perhaps that's a direction we need to start going in this country.  We need to push away from salt on everything and instead focus on good food and learning how to really cook.  Foods would taste better and we'd be happier and healthier!

The Great Food Debate, Meals Versus Grazing

I've had a question posed to me by TheArtsyEclectic at Otherwise Quite Good.  It's one of those questions I've heard debated time after time.  Is it healthier to eat three square meals each day or to graze throughout the day?  This concept has been highly debated over time.

This subject seems to have a lot of information no matter how you cut it.  There's plenty of information supporting three round meals each day, but the more I talk to doctors and experts, the more I'm finding that may not be held as true as it once was.  It seems that humans, by nature, are more inclined to graze.

Think about it, in ancient times we didn't have time to sit down for three meals each day.  Our kind started as hunter and gatherer cultures.  It is thought that some of our eating habits were that of scavengers as well.  In other words, you eat what you can when you can.  As a result, one would think we would benefit more from eating when we're hungry, not at scheduled times each day, and eating until we're satiated, not until we're full.

When you're really full, think of how you feel.  Most people are more sluggish and tired when they're full.  They "eat too much" and then don't feel like doing much of anything.  How would that work in a world where you have to fear predators.  Well, it wouldn't.  I don't think I've ever heard of a single kind of animal that eats until they're full and handles it really well.

Three meals each day is very practical if you look at our society in, say, colonial times, or in the middle ages.  When you spend each day working hard in the fields, you don't really have time to graze all day long.  Eating really filling meals allows you to continue working for longer through the day without suffering the effects of hunger.  It really turned into a practical thing, but was it healthy?  I'm not entirely sure it was unhealthy.  If you think about it, when you're doing hard work all day long you're far less prone to snacking.  Also, with the hard work you do all day long, you're not terribly at risk of things like obesity.

Looking at the way we live today, it's not surprising that we're going back to that grazing mentality.  We spend much of our days sitting down and have plenty of time to snack while we're sitting.  I honestly believe humans are wired for grazing rather than binging on large meals.  If we were, or if that about our nature had somehow changed, we would clearly not have that instinct with us now.  If we didn't have that instinct, I think we would have a lot easier of a time with the whole obesity issue.  That's not to say that overweight people eat too much and/or don't get enough exercise.  I'm sure that's part of the problem in some cases, however, I think the emphasis on filling ourselves at every meal with our natural drive to graze throughout the day makes any genetic predispositions to being overweight or any other situations that may play into it that much more of a challenge.

Personally, I find my energy levels stay higher and I'm in a much better mood if I snack throughout the day along with three "meals".  I've found that if I eat only until I'm sated and not until I'm full, I eat much less at each meal.  Three small meals with a couple of snacks during the day, usually about two, just like most children, seems to be a great recipe for success for me.

It also doesn't help that we're training ourselves to eat large meals and still find ourselves hungry for snacking not long after we're done.  As I mentioned before with fast food, these meals are often large and seem to be filling, but in truth, they seem to be a lot of empty calories leaving us craving some serious nutritious sustenance.  When we grab snacks to graze on, again, they're empty calories that don't fill our need for nutrition.  We're left wanting something that will really sustain us.  This leads us to a sad situation where we're prone to both grazing and binge eating.

As a result, the classic American diet combined with lifestyle and our natural inclination to graze is a recipe for some serious unhealthy behaviors.  Sadly, I'm known to follow many of these.  However, with my current opinion on the matter, I think my goal will be to eat three small meals and a couple snacks when I'm hungry, healthy ones, of course!  Meals that fulfill my natural need for nutrients!

(Sorry if this seems scattered.  It's been a scattered kind of day!)