Friday, March 27, 2009

The Quest Begins


(half for Dad and half for the kids)

If you have been following this blog for very long then you know that my daughter suffers from eczema due to her allergies to both eggs & bananas. For a year now, we have cut out all the yummy desserts that my husband loves so much and he not so subtly let me know that he wants them back. Since I don't want to torture Lauren by making her WATCH her Daddy eat brownies in front of her while she sits there and salivates, I am altering recipes and trying to come up with a delicious new recipe that does not include eggs.

Tonight was the first attempt... I used 1/2 cup of applesauce and 1/2 tsp of baking soda to substitute for the egg. Obviously it didn't kill us, we even finished the brownie... but we also didn't take a bite & have our eyes roll into the back of our heads, our bodies go limp, and then wiggle our tushes to get comfy so that we can finish the rest of the dessert in overwhelming bliss (that's the effect that good desserts have on our family... that's why I struggle with "workout Wednesdays" so much). The great thing about kicking off this recipe quest with brownies is that if they aren't just fabulous then we can always throw a few scoops of ice cream on top and I have a happy husband.

I will post about my different attempts and will be including the "ok" substitutes as well as the bad ones so that if you are reading this post for allergy reasons you will know to steer clear of the substitutes that are NOT very good at all. Once I find a great sub I will post the final recipe for you. Since I began blogging I've met many other families that deal with the same and similar food allergies.

As far as the applesauce / baking soda sub... I would just say that it is an ok substitute when it comes to brownies. The great thing about this substitute is that it also cuts calories from the dessert, someone told me that weight-watchers recommends this substitute. A great comparison would be that it is like drinking a diet pop versus the real thing... not bad just a different type of sweet taste.

17 comments:

T- said...

I hope you can find some useful (and delicious) substitutes!

Unknown said...

Looks yummy! What a great momma you are.

BTW- My husband would die without his daily sweet! Teehee!

Miranda said...

Katelin had atopic dermatitis..whish is a from of eczema. Hers would flare up with things like soaps, lotions and the like. She thankfuly outgrew it. Hopefully your lil Princess will too.

Good luck with recipe hunting. Allrecipes.com is one of my favorites to do a recipe search. Surely I'll send any recipes I think you'll like your way.

Ann On and On... said...

There are some great substitutes at the health food stores too. What a good mom you are.

Welcome to SITS, it's great to have another new SITSer. This is also an invitation to come on over to my blog for a stationary giveaway...

Ash said...

We are well-versed in the applesauce/ egg-substitution lingo as well - my Oldest is allergic to egg whites, Youngest has PKU (low protein diet).

You're correct though - there is something about the "real" thing. I usually indulge when out by myself.

Still feel guilty about it - in so many ways :-)

Welcome to SiTS!! Em

www.AForestFrolic.typepad.com said...

Just visint to say welcome to SITS! Glad I did, you have a mighty cute bloggy blog here and I'll take some of that de-lish lookin' dessert too if you're sharing ;-)

Jamie :-)

Tamara Dawn said...

Just stopping by to say welcome to SITS :)

On a sidenote - I want to add that Allrecipes ROCKS when it comes to finding almost any recipe out there!!

Michelle said...

Looks good. I love how you did have for your hubby and half for the kids. What a great mom you are.

Aubrey said...

My 16 yo has had eczema since he was about 2. Know I'm starting to wonder if it's food related...Hmmm?

How great of you to substitute ingredients so ALL of you could enjoy the brownies!!

angi_b72 said...

Welcome to SITS!!! Glad to have a new fellow SITSta aroubd the community!!!

Maggie R said...

Hi Em,
That cake looks yummy....

Just popping in to say hi and to welcome you to SITS..
It's a great place to meet new friends.. Love your blog...come visit me if you can. I have random draws for my followers....wink wink!
xoox
((((hugs))))
Maggie
waving from southern ontario, canada

misty said...

what a nice mom you are! i'm sure your daughter was thrilled to eat them!!! could your husband taste the difference?

Unknown said...

So, this may sound odd, but one can of diet soda (i.e. Diet Coke, Sierra Mist Free) and any cake mix from a box makes a GREAT, fluffy cake (and a good way to not have to worry too much about Workout Wednesdays ;) ) That way, you have a cake without eggs and it's a satisfaction for the sweet tooth. And really, I like all sorts of flavor combinations.

Bob said...

Here is a link you might want to try. http://www.your-vegetarian-kitchen.com/eggless-desserts.html

The Rambler said...

Good luck with the dessert.

I enjoyed how you described the love for the perfect dessert.

Thanks so much for visiting me on my SITS day! Making the rounds to thank everyone! Wish me luck :)

xoxo~Rambler @ My Rambling Thoughts

watts family said...

I meant to tell you that your blog about Lauren's skin issues was a God-send. John has struggled with pretty severe eczema since birth and even reacted topically to eggs when he ate them for the first time. His whole face broke out. Anyway, we have just been praying over his skin and praying for wisdom and the doc said that he would outgrow it, but it seemed to be taking too long. Anyway, I read your blog about Aquaphor and thought I would give it a try. We also stopped scrubbing his legs and arms with soap (only the important areas ha-ha) Well, this has been a winning combo. I really appreciate you posting about all that you walked through, because I had given up on trying different lotions, since none of them seemed to work. Ok, this is turning into a book. I enjoy reading your blog - brings joy to my day! Thanks.

Anniebanannie said...

I'm totally into the recipes you can find-egg free. My mother is allergic to eggs as well, and we always feel so bad when there is a b-day and she can't have any of the cake.

I will say...I recently found a yummy cake recipe from a link on my page "Barely keeping it all together" that just calls for a white cake mix (from the box) and cinnamon applesauce that turned out REALLY good. There's an icing (actually a topping b/c it's VERY runny and thin) that makes it SO very good.

I'll have to try this brownie recipe!