Ingredients......

So, over the last month I have been learning more about Ingredients than I ever wanted to know. Since my son was diagnosed with his nut allergies 3 years ago, I became very used to reading labels to check for any Tree Nut ingredients or Traces of Nuts. Not that I'm grateful that my boy has to deal with allergies, but I am thankful that I have had a few years of working with his because it has made dealing with mine a little bit easier.

I went in to this experience trying to be positive. I've been on the look out for things I can substitute so that I have some variety of things that I can eat. However, it becomes a little more challenging when you find you are allergic to the substitions.

For example, I have to avoid eggs so I got this egg substitution from the Food Allergy group that I belong to:

1 egg=
1 teaspoon baking powder
1T water or apple juice
1T white vinegar

Then I got looking at the ingredients in baking powder. One of those ingredients happens to be corn starch which isn't the best when you are also allergic to corn. I got really frustrated at this point because it seemed like everytime I think I find a substitution, it turns out to be something else that I am allergic to. I'm learning to accept that I really don't have a lot of options for variety. I did find a substitution for baking powder though, so I do have a little bit of hope again for being able to make a few more things to eat. For anyone who is interested, the baking powder substitution is:

1 teaspoon baking powder=
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

I'm hoping this week that I will be able to find something to make with these substitutions, and that the food actually turns out edible :)