Waking up with waffles

I recently found these wonderful little waffles in the frozen foods section of the supermarket.  They are gluten-free but may have quite a few irritants for some.  The ingredients: water, organic corn flour, potatoe starch (deadly nightshade), organic soybean oil, granulated sugar cane juice, organic flax seeds, organic buckwheat (another possible allergen), bakindg powder, organic potatoe flour, soy lecithin, organic amaranth seed, organic quinoa seed, sea salt.  

So although these are not the best option for me personally, I thought some people would like to know of these.  They taste mostly like your average frozen waffle, however they do have a very lovely nutty flavour, and they are incredibly versatile!  They also have that wonderful quinoa and amaranth.  Enjoy 🙂

 

BioFeedback

I must mention this because this is of course a site that I hope many people with food allergies will eventually visit. I have been receiving a treatment called biofeedback for my food allergies for about a year now. Here is a definition of what it is:

“Biofeedback is a form of alternative medicine that involves measuring a subject’s quantifiable bodily functions such as blood pressure, heart rate, skin temperature, sweat gland activity, and muscle tension, conveying the information to the patient in real-time. This raises the patient’s awareness and conscious control of their unconscious physiological activities.” – wikipedia.com

When treating food allergies, you are asked to sit or lay down and relax. A small machine with a metal plate sits on a table with a metal pen on a cord attached to it. A sample of the allergen is placed on the metal plate (I.e. cat hair, a piece of tomatoe, etc) and the machine is turned on. Up to five allergens can be done at once. The pen is then dipped into water which has been charged with silver and is pressed against certain points on your body (Ex. the forehead). There are a number of points that need to be in constant with the pen throughout the sitting. Once this is done, the doctor or naturopath taps your chest repeatedly for a minute or so.

Each allergen is “supposed” to take between one and three sessions.  It is said to most likely take a few months after your LAST session before you feel any better. 

Biofeedback is said (by Naturopaths) to work in 80-90% of cases and works for any kind of allergy at all. It can also apparently help with other things such as diseases (ex. diabetes) or psychological disorders (ex. anxiety). 

I tried it for many months and wasted a lot of money.  It was useless.  I DON’T recommend biofeedback.  My friend tried it for his cat allergies and saw no improvements either.

I also wouldn’t recommend homeopathic treatments.  They seem like quackery as well.

Cocoa Camino

I never really had a favorite brand of chocolate growing up because all chocolate was my favorite (minus bitter and white….ok so milk chocolate was my only favorite) 😛  However now I have certainly settled on a chocolate I can’t get enough of.  The taste is wonderful…smooth and deep…rich and versatile…but what really gets me about this chocolate is the fact that it is full of morality.  Fair trade, organic and with many vegan options, Cocoa Camino has become the main brand for me.  

For vegan options there is cocoa powder; chocolate bars in many different flavours (including almond, cranberry, orange, mint); and chocolate chips.  Let’s hope they come out with a chocolate syrup *drools*.  Until then, just melt down your favorite bar or the chocolate chips and drizzle over anything!  

Milk and egg replacements

 

 For those Vegans and or dairy/egg sensitive people, I have taken the liberty of posting some ideas for replacing those pesky ingredients that cause us headaches and moral dilemmas.  Sadly some Vegans have not ventured farther than a banana or mushy tofu when replacing eggs and even more shocking some have not put down the soy milk to try a little almond breeze.  Well the time to start the experiments has begun!  Let’s get crakin’!

 

Egg replacements:

 

 1 egg = 2 Tbsp. potato starch

 1 egg = 1/4 cup mashed potatoes

 1 egg = 1/4 cup canned pumpkin or squash

 1 egg = 1/4 cup puréed prunes

 1 egg = 2 Tbsp. water + 1 Tbsp. oil + 2 tsp. baking powder

 1 egg = 1 Tbsp. ground flax seed simmered in 3 Tbsp. water

 1 egg white = 1 Tbsp. plain agar powder dissolved in 1 Tbsp. water, whipped, chilled, and whipped again

 1 egg = 1/4 cup of tofu (try silken and remember to blend it VERY well before using)

 1 egg = 1/4 cup of banana

 1 egg = 1 tbsp flaxseed (ground up) with 3 tablespoons of water.  Make sure that the mixture has gelled before using it.

 1 egg = 2 tbsp water mixed with 1 tbsp of oil and 2 tsp of baking powder. Mix together well before adding.

 1 egg = 1 heaping Tbsp soy flour or bean flour mixed with a 1 Tbsp water.

 1 egg = 2 Tbsp cornstarch beaten with 2 Tbsp water.

 1 egg = 1 Tbsp corn starch, 1 Tbsp potatoe starch with 2 Tbsp water.

 1 egg = 1 tsp Ener-g Egg replacer with 2 Tbsp water.

 

 

 

Milk replacements:

 (Use as you would regular milk)

 Almond milk

Soy milk

Oat milk

Hemp milk

Rice milk  (quite thin and sometimes you don’t need as much of this as you would normally use cow’s milk)

Coconut milk  (quite thick at times and surprisingly it doesn’t really have much of a flavour so it is fairly versatile).

 

 

Sources from:

http://www.dummies.com/WileyCDA/DummiesArticle/id-1081.html

http://www.vegcooking.com/vegcooking-eggreplace.asp

http://www.wikihow.com/Replace-Eggs-in-Your-Cooking

And: my own experience  

 

Don’t feed the Kat

 

The Challenge

March 8, 2008 at 6:57 pm (Uncategorized) (Allergies, Baking, Cooking, Gluten-Free, Sugar-Free,Vegan, Vegetarian) · Edit

 

Hello,

  My name is Kathy and I am a vegan who has been dealing with IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) for a solid 15 years.   For as long as I can remember (long before going vegan) I have always been prone to being cold, weak and tired with constant migraines.  My vitamin and mineral levels are checked frequently and seem to be perfect.  This has led me from a doctor’s office to a Naturopath’s and after some testing they told me I have a long list of food allergens that are causing these symptoms.  The list includes: 

 

Dairy (which I don’t eat anymore)

Chicken (obviously out of my menu)

Cloves

The deadly nightshade family (potatoes, tomatoes, eggplants, pepper, paprika, chili powder and Chile’s, tobacco)

Melons 

Gluten

Sugar (cane)

Salt

Rye

Wheat

Red wine

 On top of these I do not eat any meat, dairy or eggs.  This is mainly for the animals but I also care for my health and the environment.

  I have never felt that being vegan was something impossible and have never been frustrated when I have had to go out of my way to create a vegan version of my favorite foods.  I’ve always seen it as a creative and fun challenge and I hope you will too.  I’m just a University student who likes to cook and bake on her spare time and have only recently started to make up my own recipes from scratch.   My main goal is to help other vegans and especially vegans with allergies.  One day I hope to have a vegan cooking show on the air because I think it’s about time we had one that was just as popular as any other show.  I understand that everyone has different allergies and not all recipes will apply to you or be suitable for you but I will try my best.  I am positive that if there is an allergen in any recipe it can be replaced with something else to suit your needs.  Perhaps we can work on this together and figure it out.  

Most importantly enjoy these recipes.