Substitutes for foods you are sensitive or intolerant to

If you’re trying to improve your health through dietary changes, you may have discovered that you have food sensitivities that worsen your health problems. But what do you do if some of your favorite foods are taken off of your regular menu?

Here are some easy substitutions you can make in recipes for a variety of different foods so you can try to continue to make your favorite dishes, even if you can’t eat certain foods any more.

Baking Powder: 
• 1 part potassium bicarbonate or sodium bicarbonate (baking soda); 2 parts cream of tater or 2 parts any starch (arrowroot, rice flour etc.) mix thoroughly & store in a covered container:
• I cup water and 1 tbsp. ground flaxseed bring water to rolling boil, add flax and simmer for 5 minutes, you can strain out seeds; ½ tsp. baking soda, 1 tsp. cream of tarter equals 1 tsp baking powder. Add to liquid just before baking. Adjust liquids.
• ¼ baking soda, ½ tsp. any acid (lemon or lime juice, cream of tarter or vitamin c ascorbic, Good for muffins.
• Guar gum

Beans (in chili): Use frozen tofu partially thawed, squeeze out water, and cut into cubes. Put into chili. Let set 1 day in refrigerator before serving for better flavor.

Butter: Goat butter; Spectrum Spread; Spectrum Naturals Essential Omega Spread (flax&soy), coconut oil

Buttermilk: Use non-dairy milk with 1 Tbsp. lemon juice per cup

Cheese: Almond or mashed avocado, or goat cheese, sheep cheese

Chocolate/Carob: (1 chocolate baking square = 3 tbsp. carob & 1 Tbsp. water & 1 Tbsp. coffee substitute) cocoa or organic cocoa or unsweetned chocolate if not substituting due to intolerance. Also see “I can’t believe it’s not chocolate” recipe.

Chow Mein Noodles: Slivered almonds

Cinnamon: Cardamom

Corn Starch: Arrowroot, Guar gum (see package directions)

Cracker crumbs/ bread crumbs: Use TVP (textured vegetable protein), Fortified Flax, or rice crackers

Cream cheese: Rice

Whipped cream: Yogurt, Whole coconut milk, or whipped egg white vegetable glycerine or Stevia, glycerine, or Stevia and vanilla

Dill: caraway

Egg (In baking use):
• Ener-G Foods Egg Replacement mix with water and let stand 10 minutes before using for best results (contains potato and tapioca)
• ½ cup applesauce, mashed pumpkin and ½ ripe banana = 1 egg
• 1 Tbsp ground flax and 3 to 6 Tbsp. water, simmer 5 minutes; cool.
• 1 Tbsp. water and 2 to 3 tsp baking powder
• Duck, emu, goose or ostrich eggs
• Egg white: 1 Tbsp. plan unflavored gelatin, dissolve gelatin in 1 Tbsp. water, whip, chill, and whip again.
• Egg yolk: 1 Tbsp. oil

Icing: Egg protein powder, vegetable glycerine, glycine, stevia or Stevia, carob and water. If you want a creamier frosting add butter or butter substitute or coconut oil

Garlic: Chives

Gelatin or Jello: agar agar, or unflavored gelatin with fruit juice

Lemon: ascorbic acid, lime, grape fruit, cranberry (granted or ground), rhubarb

Milk: Soy, or almond, rice, or rice & soy, or any homemade nut milk. Also see dilution table in front of recipe book

Mustard: dry mustard with water, mayonnaise, or lemon juice

Maple syrup:
• Vegetable glycerine& maple flavoring extract or maple flavoring with stevia and oil;
• Melt 1 Tbsp, butter: ghee, Spectrum Spead; or use oil. When cool add 2 Tbsp. vanilla, stevia, glycerine, vegetable glycerine or Stevia Plus FOS; cinnamon or cardamom; and mix

Noodles: spaghetti squash, or zucchini strips made with carrot peeler, or raw fresh bean sprouts, or thin sliced Chinese cabbage (Napa type) steamed 

Peanut butter: nut butters (almond, cashew, sesame, filbert, pistachio)

Pepper: ginger, dry mustard, curry, watercress, radish, mustard seed, or raw onions, garlic, or extra virgin olive oil and horseradish

Potatoes: turnips (slice & sauté in olive oil, like sliced potatoes) cauliflower steamed (blend w/non-dairy milk, salt & pepper, spices, butter-till consistency of mashed potatoes, if not cow’s milk intolerant

Sour Cream: yogurt

Soy Sauce: Braggs Liquid Aminos or tamari sauce

Toppings: for waffles or pancakes: yogurt (organic Mori-Nu is best) with fruit, nut butter, or maple flavoring in vegetable glycerine, or butter substitutes with vegetable glycerine, glycine, or Stevia or Stevia plus

Vanilla: natural flavoring extract (i.e. almond, maple, strawberry, cherry, lemon, raspberry, butterscotch, coffee, ect.) or ground vanilla beans (if not vanilla intolerant) Note that commercial vanilla contains sugar; read label

1 Cup white/wheat flour equals:
1 cup spelt, kamut, teff flour
½ cup arrowroot or tapioca with ½ cup of another flour or not meal; (ground almond)
¾ cup buckwheat, amaranth, quinoa, chick pea flour & ¼ cup tapioca or arrowroot starch;
¾ cup cornstarch or 7/8 cup corn flour or 1 cup of cornmeal;
5/8 cup potato flour or ¾ cup potato starch; or ½ carrowroot starch
¾ cup oat flour or 1 ½ cups rolled oats (ground);
¾ cup rice flour, barley, millet or bean or rye flour
¾ cup protein powder, ¼ cup coconut flour
¾ cup coconut flour

Whole grain flour: use ground nuts or Fortified Flax

Yogurt: make homemade (see recipe) add flavoring or fruit and/or vegetable glycerine, stevia, glycine or Stevia PlusFos; sheep or goat yogurt