When Lila and I were recently in Arizona I received a phone call, “Thomas is throwing-up all over!” The poor boy has developed yet another allergy. Just before turning 11 months old, we found out Thomas was allergic to eggs, poultry, two rx’s, figs and now nitrates. At first, we thought he had a soy allergy…it was the only connection I saw when he would get sick. Never in a million years did I think it would be poultry. I didn’t even know one could be allergic to meat! Side note: When I was pregnant with Thomas, I didn’t eat chicken because the thought made me nauseous. Crazy, right?
The allergies haven’t been too disrupting yet – I know exactly what he eats at all times, we don’t have eggs or chicken in the house, and we also eat mostly whole foods (no boxed, besides a few snacks or frozen foods) so there’s no hidden ingredients to look for. Surprisingly, egg is in a ton of things, cleverly disguised under “hidden” names. You really have to know your stuff when reading the labels. His allergies start to become a real bummer when holidays and birthdays come around. No sweet treats for him, because most are made with eggs. With his allergies there can be no trace in what he eats (and the list goes on and on). I’ve been on the search to find good egg-free desserts that don’t taste like egg-free. It’s been a bit tricky and taken a lot of tweaking, but thankfully I’ve found a few – tomorrow I’ll be posting my recipe for a delicious egg-free banana cake with chocolate buttercream frosting. We have high hopes that he’ll outgrow his allergies, but until then we’re egg-free and proud to be.
In Real Life 
You may want to check out the site mywisemom.com. Her son has a dairy, egg, and peanut allergy. Here’s a recipe I tried of hers for chocolate chip cookies. http://mywisemom.com/chocolate-chip-cookies
Thanks, I’ll check it out!
That must be tough to transition to!
Egg has got to be tough. We have peanuts and sesame in our house and sometimes find sesame a trickier one, as it isn’t one of the 8 they are required to put in bold on the packaging (though many do).
That really does make it tricky.
We take the same approach you have of making a whole lot more at home, particularly bread.
I can appreciate how difficult it can be to bake without eggs! Do you ever make flax or chia “eggs?” Even though it’s definitely not the same, I often use them as a non-processed way to “de-egg” recipes 😉
There was recently a great article in the nytimes about kids with multiple food allergies- and even a method to hopefully cure them.
You can check it out here:
I’ve read about this and our allergist does it. It’s something we’ve discussed but haven’t made a decision yet. Thanks for the sending along!
Egg allergies can seem overwhelming at first, like anything new, but there are many ways to replace eggs, including flax/chia slurries, baking powder, applesauce, and more. It’s about figuring out what the eggs do – leavening, moisture, etc. I’ll come back with a link I found on pinterest!
-Dana
Thanks! Yes, at first it was very overwhelming…we were given this page after page list of things he couldn’t eat and hidden ingredients we needed to look for. I do use the flax eggs which seem to work 50% off the time, the other times it has way too much moisture and a very distinct egg-free taste. What I’ve found works best is apple/orange juice and baking soda/powder. Thanks for sending the pinterest link!I’ll be looking that over tonight!
Hope this helps!
I feel so bad for him looking at that cake and not able to eat it! What a cutie!!
I know…poor boy!
Wow, that is crazy that chicken made you nauseous during pregnancy and now he can’t have it….is it coincidence or was there something behind it??? Hmm… I know peanut butter made me nauseous with my pregnancy with my daughter and she refuses to eat it. She is not allergic but says she can’t stand the taste of it!
Thanks for the follow on my blog! I just found out I have to go egg, dairy, and gluten-free for a few months too due to a food sensitivity. It’s definitely not the easiest, but I think we are so lucky with all the options out there – we just have to explore and experiment a bit! Can’t wait to see what recipes you come up with 🙂
Take care,
Carrie
We avoid milk, eggs and almonds now. I have an entirely new approach to cooking. There are so many great resources/recipes out there. Hang in there, and best of luck!
Aww, poor Thomas. You probably know this already, but 1 tablespoon ground flax seeds +3 tbsp Water =1 egg, so you can use that as a replacer in any recipe. I think it tastes better and is much healthier than commercial egg replacer.
Thanks, I do use that sometimes. I usually try to find more vegan type dessert recipes. They seem to work and taste the best.
We are apple and tree nut allergic here. It does make me look at food in a whole different light.
I have a nephew who was allergic to eggs for the first 2 and a half years of his life. I remember using an egg supplement for him (it was based around corn starches, potato starches & the like). I made a carrot cake for him using that. No frosting though. Too little for that sugar/fat heart bomb! I found it yucky, all that fake egg powder stuff… but in the end, the cake was not half bad! I was really happy with the result! 🙂 But I am sure you know this! The banana cake looks amazing!