The holidays are approaching????  The HOLIDAYS are approaching!  Time to make sure your children don’t go stone cold crazy on cookies and candy at Grandma’s house.  I’m not sure where kids pick up their love of all things sweet, but it seems to be wired into them at birth.  Kula Baby didn’t taste ice cream until last week (at the ripe old age of 2) but he’s been talking about his love affair with  ice cream for months.  He saw a picture of an ice cream sundae in a book and decided he and ice cream were a match made is culinary heaven.

Our house is usually dairy, egg, and gluten-free, much to the dismay of Kula Baby and his desire for frozen dairy products.  We aren’t sticklers about it all the time (hence Kula Baby’s bite of ice cream last week) but I’d say we are free of these particular food allergens 80% of the time.  Why?  Both Kula Baby and I are sensitive to these foods (not allergic though) so it’s best for us to stay away from them as much as we can.

When the holidays come around it takes a little extra planning to keep our diet clean.  I’m a huge fan of Gluten Free & More, a magazine for people with allergies and food sensitivities.  The editors put together a great substitution list I thought I’d share with you in case your holiday baking needs require a substitution or two.  Click here for a printer-friendly version.

Milk (substitute 1 cup of milk with…)

1 cup rice milk

1 cup fruit juice

1 cup coconut milk

1 cup hemp milk

1 cup goat milk (if you can digest goat milk)

Buttermilk (replace 1 cup of buttermilk with…)

1 cup coconut milk

7/8 cup of rice milk, fruit juice, or water.

Yogurt (replace 1 cup of yogurt with…)

1 cup coconut milk

1 cup unsweetened applesauce

1 cup fruit puree

Butter (replace 8 tablespoons (one stick) with…)

8 tablespoons Spectrum organic shortening

8 tablespoons coconut oil or grapeseed oil

6 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce plus 2 tablespoons fat of choice

Eggs (replace 1 egg with…)

3 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce (or other fruit puree) plus 1 tablespoon baking powder

1 tablespoon flax meal plus 3 tablespoons of hot water (let stand for 10 minutes)

Egg replacer (we use Ener-g)

Nuts (replace peanuts or tree nuts with equals amounts of…)

Toasted coconut

Sunflower seeds

Toasted sesame seeds

Crushed cornflakes

Crushed crispy rice cereal

Crushed potato chips

Pumpkin seeds

Gluten-Free Flour Mixes

Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-free All-purpose Flour

Pamela’s Baking Mix (contains almond meal and dairy)

Make your own all-purpose flour blend: 1/2 cup rice flour, 1/4 cup tapioca starch flour, 1/4 cup cornstarch or potato starch.

Sugar (replace 1 cup of sugar with….)

3/4 cup grade b maple syrup (remove 3 tablespoons of liquid from recipe if possible to make up for the extra liquid you are adding with syrup)

1 1/3 cup molasses (try to take out 5-ish tablespoons to compensate)

2/3 cup agave nectar (reduce liquid in recipe by 1/4 cup)