Q & A (Health -- Reducing Eggs in the Diet)

This week's question is from B. in RI...

BDunhamJ   July 20, 2012
How do I remove eggs from a diet so that I am eating as few of them as possible? Also, can you recommend a good tasting gluten free bread?

Hi B.,

Reducing and/or replacing eggs in the diet is fairly easy. Unless you can’t imagine life without an omelette or sunny-side eggs, you can substitute them in just about everything…with great success.

How you change your diet depends on how you buy and cook your food. Do you eat out a lot, does someone else do your cooking, or do you like to cook? Those answers will provide the correct path.

If you are not the one shopping and cooking you will need that person to understand what you want to achieve, and help he/she to provide the appropriate foods (teaching what to buy and how to prepare it). If you are responsible solely for your food preparation you will be astounded how easy the change can be. Either way, you need to start with what to buy and how to use it. Only you know what you enjoy eating, but when you change your diet a little, you’ll find you are more open to new types of foods and seasonings and flavors.

The primary uses for eggs in the diet are as breakfast staples (fried, poached, scrambled, French toast, etc.), and for egg salad, hard boiled eggs in salads, quiches, custards, casseroles, baked goods, mayonnaise, and even pickled eggs. Let’s see how to substitute these standards…Recipes in tab above: Egg-Free Recipes  

As for your question about good-tasting, gluten-free bread, I suggest trying the different brands in the freezer section at Whole Foods or Stop & Shop (natural foods area). Keep the loaves frozen and remove the slices as you use them. Gluten-free bread tends to dry out quickly and become more crumbly. Thawing as needed gives you the best chance of tasty bread. I do not suggest raw, sprouted breads for sandwiches—too dense.

Another way to have a great-tasting sandwich is to use lettuce leaves as a wrap for your fillings. You can have just about any kind of sandwich in a lettuce wrap…trying different types of wide-leaf lettuces will give you more options. 

Why not try to replace eggs with…

Breakfast Staples:
Scrambled tofu with onions and peppers
Pan-fried baked tofu with soy sausage
French toast stuffed with fresh fruit (or preserves) and soy cream cheese

Salads:
Faux egg salad
Tips on how to add eggyness to green salads & potato/pasta salads

Quiches, Custards, Casseroles:
Spinach, Onion, Tomato Quiche
Coconut Custard or buy prepared custard and pudding mixes which can made with soy or nut milks
Broccoli & Rice Casserole

Baked Goods:
The function of the egg in the recipe dictates the substitute.
Eggs are used as binders in brownies and cookies; muffins and cakes get their leavening (partially) from eggs.

A recipe calling for one egg will usually work fine without the egg or a substitute (3 tablespoons of water or other fluid will compensate for the lost liquid).

Binding Agent:

• ·         Grind 1 tablespoon flax seeds into a powder; blend with ¼ cup water (allow to gel 5 mins.) = Replaces 1 egg
• ·         One small, sweet or white potato, mashed = Replaces 1 egg (also adds moisture)
• ·         ½ cup mashed banana or applesauce= Replaces 1 egg (also adds moisture)
• ·         ¼ cup silken tofu (processed in a blender)= Replaces 1 egg (also adds moisture)
• ·         1 cup yogurt (dairy or soy)=Replaces 1-2 eggs (also adds moisture)

Leavening and Binding Agent:

• ·         Ener-G Egg Replacer— use as directed (available in most health food stores and Whole Foods markets)
• ·         One teaspoon baking powder (additionally to recipe)
• ·         1 tsp. baking powder, 1 T. water, 1 T. white vinegar (whisk together)= 1 egg

Mayonnaise:
Mayonnaise is pretty easy to make at home, but it’s easily available in health food stores and in many markets besides Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s. Nayonaise and Veganaise are both good choices—it’s a matter of taste.

Pickled Eggs:
I can’t help you on this one! Pickled tofu would be the closest, but wow! Yuck! It would be so soggy. I say go for pickled veggies and call it a day.

Q & A (Health--Oil)

This week’s question is from P. in Providence, RI:

Hi Sunday,
I was wondering if maybe you could repeat what you said in your lecture about cooking with olive oil. I remember you said olive oil was bad for you if cooked at a high temperature, but I can't remember why, and what one should substitute. (I cook a lot with olive oil so I've been wondering about this ever since your lecture).
P.

Hi P.,

Cooking (specifically heating) with any oil makes it unhealthy; oil is 100% fat.  It may be a healthier fat (in the case of olive oil—especially extra virgin) but it is delicate and subject to rancidity because it has such a high fat content; meaning,  oil can “go bad” without you knowing it. There are times when it will smell unappealing, but many times it may smell and taste fine and have gone rancid.
NOTE: If any oil smells stale or “not right” toss it out!

When you cook with oil, the heat turns the product rancid immediately. In most cases, you won't get sick but the free-radicals that are let loose because of the rancid oil are like Pac-Men in your bloodstream...attacking healthy cells—which can lead to degenerative diseases such as arthritis. Re-heated oils (as used in deep frying) are that much more unhealthy!

Some oils (coconut) withstand heat better than others but are still best in their liquid but not cooked (or heated) states. Oils (most) that are left at room temperature or placed in a vessel of warm water to get to a liquid state are fine if used quickly. Once opened, oils should be consumed within months.

One of the most healthful oils is flax.  It can never be heated; even a gentle warming can destroy the health benefits and it should be stored in the refrigerator. Also, it is best to eat the original food product rather than just the oil when possible.  As with any refined product, you would only be getting part of the nutrients available in the whole food form. As an occasional food enhancer it is fine to use oils, remembering they are to be used with respect.

Cold-pressed extra-virgin olive oil is flavorful in salads. It is best bought and stored in a tin or opaque container or amber glass and kept in a dark place—well sealed, as protection from the damage of light which would cause rancidity. But, even cold-pressed oil has a certain amount of heat produced from friction; manufacturers state the oil stays within certain acceptable temperatures during refining.  I doubt the end product is tested for purity, rancidity, or vitamin content.  Moderation is key.

To substitute oils try these tips:

Sauté foods in water or broth rather than oil.  The secret is to put only a couple tablespoons of liquid in the pan to mimic a sauté situation.  You cannot leave the food unattended because, unlike oil, water will evaporate quickly. Add liquid (as necessary) in minuscule amounts and adjust the temperature accordingly.

As for spaghetti sauce, omit oil all together— it is barely noticeable.

The only other time oil is needed is in baking.  Use fruit instead (pureed) or vegan margarine (no trans fats and usually made with better, healthier ingredients). Creamed corn in corn bread…grated zucchini or carrots in cakes and brownies…you get the idea.

NOTE: Vegan margarine is not a health food; it is a better substitute than unhealthy counterparts for those moments of pastry weakness, but your body does not require its ingredients for health and well being.

The Moisture Monster (Home Maintenance/Construction)

Moist skin, moist cakes, and even moist plants are good; moist houses and moist floors—not good. Moisture and just the right temperatures (50% relative humidity and minimum 65 degrees Fahrenheit) are the welcome wagon for mold and mildew. Besides allergies and respiratory ailments, molds and mildews can destroy your home and possessions.

Poor air quality and visible physical damage to walls, ceilings, and floors can be expensive to repair. Some homes have been condemned when mold and mildew levels are too high—or unacceptable.

Prior to extensive damage, moisture may warn you. Warped wooden floors, lifting vinyl floors, condensation on walls, or slight musty odor, or black dust-like areas on walls and windows are signs of a moisture problem.

Today’s new homes are built tighter, or less drafty, than older homes; older homes that are highly insulated and vinyl sided are often “too tight”. Weather-tight homes are great for heating bills but don’t allow a house to breathe. Many homes boast air purifiers and kitchen and bath ventilation; though there are also systems to bring outside air into the home (necessary for air balance--more on that in another post), it is often a neglected area or system.

In some cases, concrete floors are allowing too much moisture to pass through; consequently, ruining the floor installed atop it. Buckling, warping, and staining of floors are indicators of excessive moisture. Concrete floors or slabs should be moisture tested before installing any type of flooring to avoid such problems. This is especially true of all new construction (residential or commercial). Dirt floors in basements can also contribute to moisture problems throughout the house.

If you are not positive that a moisture issue is present, a home inspector can help--many will perform partial or system-type inspections, reducing the fee accordingly.

When excessive moisture is determined, a reputable contractor will be able to offer estimates to help you dry out your space.

Garlic for the Rest of Your Days (Health)

I write a newsletter for the Women's Ministry of my church. I am the WM Leader and I get to write what I like! I will post a few informative articles from the newsletters to this blog. 

Garlic is one of God’s greatest gifts to us. It brings flavor to foods whether used raw, roasted, baked, broiled, boiled, or sautéed. Slice it, chop it, mince it, smash it, and puree it…no matter how you prepare garlic, you will be visited by its many tasty and curative powers.

There are millions of bacteria that fear no manmade antibiotic, yet die in the presence of princely garlic. Viruses are not killed by antibiotics, but garlic wipes out the offending troops with little effort.

Imagine the ease of staving off life’s chills and spills just by eating a healthy diet replete with garlic as its steady companion. I challenge you to find new ways to use garlic in your daily meals. Can you increase your usage to two of your three meals per day?

Though I could handle garlic for breakfast, I am not suggesting a tasty rising meal of groats ‘n garlic to tempt you out of bed. But, a breakfast of whole-grain toast with roasted garlic spread will do the body good! You’ll also keep away flies and pesky neighbors.

Garlic is more than a food flavor enhancer and antibiotic/antiviral. Garlic lowers blood pressure and cholesterol levels, improves the immune system, and fights cancer; it also fights the overgrowth of Candida (yeast) in the intestines. Yeast infections are common to some people (men included); many may not be aware of the growing enemy within them. The typical symptoms of itching and other unpleasant south-of-the-border alerts are not necessary friends of yeast.

Diabetics and those who have used antibiotics or oral birth control are at risk…possibly without warning. Over consumption of sugars and white flour are also to blame for yeast imbalance, especially in those whose bodies are more sensitive.

Candida yeast is a threat because it affects every part of the body and can cause irritability, mood swings, confusion, digestion and elimination problems, hormonal imbalances, poor liver and thyroid function, fatigue, and rashes to name but a few health concerns.

No matter how you choose to enjoy garlic, it will benefit body and mind. It will flavor your world and heal many ills. Done correctly, you won’t know to blame garlic for fewer colds, lower blood pressure, or lowered cholesterol. It’s a modest herb that does its job without fanfare; the eternal go-to-food for everybody!

My First Time (Q & A)

Way back in my youth, somewhere in my early teens, my oldest friend (Denise) asked me a question for which I had no answer. It plagued me. It plagued her. We set about to find the answer to her query. We asked all the adults in our grasp, we consulted the books in my burgeoning library, we visited the actual library, and we even asked a teacher or two. Not one source was able to answer her question.

She soon lost her eagerness to solve this puzzle. It, however, cropped up in my mind through the passing years as an unsolved mystery.

I needed to know, not because the question burned within my soul, but because no one knew the answer! I thought that someone, somewhere must know the answer! Good Lord! We made up our own languages here on Earth; surely the meaning of the expression "pew" or "p.u." had origins in some land, in some language.

Enter the internet of the 90s. Information at one's fingertips. I took up my old task to search the meaning of "pew". Alas, I found it and ended the adolescent wondering of my paisano.

The closest answer I found was (the belief) that the phrase originated from the word "putrid". The state of decay; foul; rotten--origin, Latin: putridus--meaning rotten. Everything gets shortened over time and this definition seemed adequate. 

I wonder if Denise remembers any part of this little mystery.