Cheap Eats: Food Substitutions That Work For Food Allergies & Your Wallet

Food allergies can make an already tight food budget spin out of control. I am a single mom of a child who suffers from food allergies, and I have a very small grocery budget to boot.

My daughter's pediatrician and I discovered she had a severe allergy to peanuts and dairy products, I began to research food allergies and learned about alternatives such as soy and rice in its many forms. I also realized many alternatives were expensive - some costing more than my entire monthly food budget. So what's one to do if you are on a tight budget? Here's how I tackled some of these challenges that kept both my family and my wallet healthy:

• Eggscellent Math: 1 Egg = 1 Tbsp Soy Flour + 1 Tbsp Water. The price of eggs at a major grocery chain in my area is $6.79 for 36 eggs (at the buy one/get one free price). That averages to be about $2.26 per dozen, or 19¢ per egg. When baking, using the soy flour & water formula will cost you about 4¢. I purchase my soy flour at a local natural food & organic store in my area for about $1.75/lb. Check your yellow pages or do an online search for a natural food store in your area. If you've never shopped at a place like this before you'll be surprised at how close one can be to you!

This alternative was much cheaper than using egg-free type substitutes or purchasing egg-free snacks. My youngest still can't have scrambled eggs but she can enjoy other foods that she might not otherwise get to eat such as homemade cookies, meatloaf, pancakes, waffles and other baked goodies that require the use of eggs. Try my egg-free chocolate cake recipe included in my "Birthday on the Cheap: Decorate-A-Bear Party for $7 per Child" hub. I have used this for my entire family, food allergies or not, and they love it to this day!

• Oatmeal Instead of Peanuts (or Any Nuts), for baking in some recipes this works great. Purchase the old fashioned rolled oats in the round, cardboard containers, not the cooks-in-1-minute rolled oats type. The old-fashioned version gives it a crunchier texture. The most requested snack I make to this day is the version that replaces pecans with old-fashioned rolled oats. Recipe is below - it's easy to make so give it a try and let me know what you think!
• The Apple(sauce) of My Eye. We've all heard about this famous standby but it's worth mentioning again: equal parts applesauce to substitute for equal parts oil when baking.

Heads up: I've tried using both the egg and oil substitutes in one recipe and it doesn't work out well for cake mixes (homemade or store-bought) so pick one and bake from there.

• Tofu Rocks. At about $1.50/lb on sale (and it goes on sale frequently) this is a great food allergy and wallet alternative to other sources of protein out there such as turkey, chicken and beef. I use the extra firm versions (both Japanese and Chinese) for my stir fry in place of chicken and beef. I've also drained extra firm tofu, cut it up in bite-size chunks and added a mixture made of soy sauce, sesame oil, vinegar & pepper. This can be added to an Asian salad or eaten as a snack. For smoothies I use the silken version. I have also tried using the silken version for desserts but have not come up with anything to write home about yet. :)
• (Soy & Rice) Milk. It does a body good. But it sure is expensive compared to regular milk in my area! My youngest, now past the infant formula stage, had gone through periods where she had a mild reaction to soy milk, then rice milk. The constant change did not allow me to buy in bulk. Today her body can now digest both soy and rice milks, but can not drink regular (cow's) milk. Even on sale, both soy and rice milk are higher in cost than regular cow ‘s milk (I purchase my regular milk at Safeway for about $5.50 for 2 gallons.) When money was really tight I used to make my own soy milk using silken tofu, water, a little safflower oil, 2 children's multi-vitamins, vanilla flavoring & raw sugar to taste. I added everything to a blender and whirred it up until it's of a milk-drinking consistency. I have also made chocolate soy milk by adding chocolate syrup and decreasing the amount of raw sugar. For rice milk I combined cooked long grain white rice, a little safflower oil, 2 children's multi-vitamins, water, vanilla flavoring and liquefied everything in my blender until it was of milk-drinking consistency. Using a strainer I then poured the mixture into a pitcher. The strainer catches all the rice particles not ground up. I found brown rice on sale once, purchased several bags and made rice milk using 50% long grain & 50% brown.

Heads up: make sure your child's pediatrician is informed. My pediatrician was dismayed at my choice of homemade soy and rice milks, but knew I did it only during times when money was tight (like when I had exhausted all sick and vacation time to care for my allergy/asthma prone child and had to take time-off-without-pay.) It might be of interest to note that during those periods my pediatrician never felt an extra supplement of vitamins was needed - to this day she continues to grow based on the normal growth chart he's kept since she was 1 day old. Please note: I do not recommend this route for infants. See my next tip for infant formula.

• For infants: hit your pediatrician up & contact the manufacturer directly. My youngest was just 2 ½ months old when she was diagnosed with a severe allergic reaction to standard infant formula - right about the time I stopped nursing and returned to work. Once my pediatrician and I discovered she could not drink the standard stuff I tried everything on the market, except for the brand made especially for food allergy-prone infants because it cost a hefty $24 per can and my hungry baby was going through 2-3 cans a week. (Back then a standard can of formula the same size went for around $12.) Soy formula didn't work. Neither did the rice version, the lactate-free version and the dairy-free version. I finally gave in and tried the $24/can version. It worked.

After doing the math, I realized her infant formula would cost more than my entire monthly food budget. So I spoke to my pediatrician again to see if we had exhausted all possibilities, and you know what he did? He asked the sales rep of a major infant formula company who makes monthly visits to his office for a couple more samples of the $24 stuff. She gave him a case of 6 full size cans. This awesome sales rep gave him 6 more cans on her next visit, earmarked for that "hard-working mom." I was (and still am) forever grateful to my caring pediatrician and to that thoughtful sales rep. Once those cans were depleted I called the manufacturer directly and requested additional $3-off-discount coupons, admitting that their sales rep had already graciously provided me with many free samples through my pediatrician, but was hoping for some coupons to help ease my future food budget. The customer service rep appreciated my honesty and promised to send me additional coupons. We actually talked for about 20 more minutes about my daughter's food allergy adventure since her grand-daughter went through something similar. A week later my coupons arrived - in a box that included 4 more sample-sized cans of the coveted formula. I continued to buy many cans of the $24 stuff full retail after all samples and coupons were gone, but every bit helps.

My point here is to never give up when you feel you are backed up against a wall. Research all options by checking online for information on support groups, recipes and articles. Ask other parents, your pediatrician & other experts on other alternatives -- there are many out there. The ones listed here are ones I've found my friends and family were open to trying. (Other alternatives I personally use such as TVP, were not met with open arms, but give it a try!) Once you've given your family and wallet a healthy dose of food substitutes, treat yourself to my famous chocolate bars below using my Oatmeal-for-Nuts alternative!

Cheap & Easy Chocolate & No Nuts Treats

12 whole graham crackers

1 cup non-hydrogenated margarine, butter, or regular margarine

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 ½ cup old-fashioned rolled oats, uncooked

8 dark chocolate candy bars (or my alternative of 1 ¾ cup combo of dark and milk chocolate Kisses or tiny Dove chocolate candies purchased at 50%-75% off after a major holiday)

-- Arrange single layer of graham crackers in a large, greased Pyrex-type glass baking pan (about 9x13 or 10x15)

-- Bring margarine and brown sugar to a boil in small saucepan. Cook for 1 ½ minutes

-- Add rolled oats. Cook for another 30 seconds. Pour entire mixture over graham crackers and spread evenly.

-- Bake at 350 degrees for 8-9 minutes.

-- Place chocolate candies on top. Place in oven (that has already been turned off but is still warm) for 2 minutes. Remove and spread evenly.

-- Place in freezer or fridge until cooled and set. Cut into bars and enjoy! Yields about 3-4 dozen.