Thursday, August 13, 2009

Healthier and Allergen Free Substitutes

I've been learning a lot over the past two years about healthier options and allergen free options for cooking. I thought I'd share my findings with you here.

Healthier Substitutes
canola,vegetable oil, butter or margarine - coconut oil
shortening, butter or margarine - palm oil shortening
white sugar - honey, maple syrup, agave nectar
white flour - anything but white really - spelt, barley, oat, just have one with gluten in it
cow's milk - hemp, oat, almond, soy or rice milk
white rice - brown rice, quinoa (cooks in 20 minutes just the same as white rice), millet

Allergen Free Substitutes
butter - Earth Balance buttery spread
sour cream - Tofutti's sour supreme
cream cheese - Tofutti's better than cream cheese
cheese - Ha ha ha. You try an alternative I dare you!
pasta - TJ's brown rice pasta in spaghetti, penne and rotini
bread - Pamela's gluten free bread mix
crackers - Edward and Suns or TJ"s brown rice crackers
cow's milk - rice milk (and the others listed, my naturopath suggested we avoid soy so we do not use it much)
white flour - mix your own non-gluten flours and add xanthan gum for springy texture
ice cream - Rice Dream (not my favorite), Purely Decadent soy ice cream, Coconut Bliss ice cream (this is Heaven if Heaven costs $7 a pint)
eggs - ener-g egg replacer


If you are curious and want to purchase some of these items without having to search the store like an idiot, drop a comment and I can post pics of these items so you know what you are looking for. I can also tell you about where to locate them in various stores.

2 comments:

  1. I've used flax and pectin as egg replacement. Also, we aren't big on rice but we love couscous! Is that a healthier substitute? I don't know, I'll have to check.

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  2. My family is allergic to dairy. Which is a problem because they love it. So sometimes if we're feeling desperate for cheese, we might go extreme and try some of these replacements (some of which may be costly). Some also contain soy and/or nuts, so always read the ingredient list. And it seems the more close to the real thing it is, the more it actually stinks (as in smelly P-U!). These are my top brand picks:
    Cheezly
    Daiya
    Parma
    Sheese
    Teese

    Otherwise, it's tofu and hummus as usual. But that's okay; we love hummus!

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