Another Egg Substitute Worth Considering

As it’s something of an essential food for just about everybody, I’ve already devoted several posts on this blog to eggs:

Prepping with Powdered Eggs

Egg Substitutes 

How to Freeze Eggs for Longer Term Storage  

Is This Egg Still Good?  Testing Your Eggs for Freshness and Preserving Them for Future Use  

How to Dehydrate Eggs  

Aquafaba:  What It Is and Why You Want It  

Chickens and Eggs in a Collapsed Society  

Is another post on egg substitutes really necessary?  In light of the current shortages and consequent escalation in prices, I don’t think it is right to say that the high prices are entirely due to inflation.  You can’t cull millions of hens and pass laws demanding more expensive arrangements for housing them without consequences that have nothing to do with debasing our currency.  We just get to pay a whole lot more for eggs for both reasons. 

Except that some people can’t.  Or would rather not.  And as I was reminded yesterday, there is another option that I haven’t covered in any of the other posts.

Yesterday was shopping day.  Most days there is a good deal on one or two items, maybe a few, and I stock up on those things.  Some days, however, you hit the mother lode.  Such was the case yesterday.  I make two rounds at my store, first hitting all ten locations scattered throughout the store for the various markdowns.  Today’s normal scores were bacon, queso fresco, and Ro-Tel.  Nothing super spectacular. 

And then I pushed the cart up and down each aisle.  Wowzers.  I think it’s that time of year when the store decides to clear out all the products that aren’t selling well.  Most discounts were a bit ho-hum.  But there were a lot of great clearance-priced items on the detergent aisle, thankfully.  Our supply was getting low since it had been a few years since I’d made any scores in that department. 

And then I hit the baking aisle.  Lots of stuff getting eliminated there.  Non-Italian flavors of bread crumbs, out, and pass.  Oat flour, out, and already sold out.  Plant-based egg substitute, whoa.  Of course, I’d never paid much attention to anything that has to be marketed as “plant-based.”  It’s so ridiculous.  But given the shell-shock I experienced while picking up the two dozen eggs I was limited to, I paused at this “plant-based” egg substitute.  Ingredients?  Chia seed and garbanzo beans.  I’d blogged about garbanzo beans and aquafaba and what a fabulous egg substitute the latter is.  I’d read about chia seeds being used in lieu of eggs, but never tried them out. 

I looked again at the front of the package.  It proclaimed that it made the equivalent of 34 eggs.  Nearly 3 dozen eggs for the clearance price of $2.49?  That was a no-brainer.  Even at the original price of $4.99 it was a screaming deal, what with the cheapest eggs going for $6.79/dozen in my area.  And they’re shelf stable.  And the best-by date is June of next year.  Wins all around. 

I shared my great deals with Aaron.  The first thing he said was that this was a great topic for the blog.  The second was that I should test these plant-based eggs out first before sharing the idea with you all.  I think he was just scheming for some treats.  And I fell for it.

And so I made an oatmeal cake. 

The cake is really good.  I cannot detect that it has chia seeds and garbanzo beans instead of real eggs.  It did take a little longer to fully bake than it should have.  I’m going to assume that it will work well for pancakes, waffles, muffins, cookies, and brownies.  If it doesn’t, I’ll come back and post here in the comments.  However, I thought the idea of picking up some less-expensive egg replacer in the baking aisle at this time of sky-high fresh egg prices had some merit.  I wanted to at least give you all a heads up about it, before everyone else has the same thought.

Oh, and I just checked prices on Amazon.  Prices are way higher than in the store; however, several of the products are still cheaper than what the store is charging for fresh eggs.  Crazy world we live in.

Links to related posts:

Oatmeal Cake  

Good Eats at the TEOTWAWKI Café—Shortcakes

The last couple of years that we lived in Missouri, we had the most phenomenal harvest of berries.  I honestly only started with about three plants each of blackberries, boysenberries, and raspberries, and the raspberry plants were assaulted by the rototiller the first year.  (Sadly, no blueberries.  I couldn’t ever get them to work.)  By the time we left, we had a ¾ acre garden, with half of it occupied by the cane berries.  Wow, it was like they’d died and gone to heaven, and they just kept making baby plants.  Of course, I couldn’t kill them; that would be a sin.  So I just kept transplanting their babies.  There was lots of jam and syrup making going on, and some fruit rolls.  Naturally, we also indulged in a lot of fresh eating.  And on really good days, we were blessed with shortcake.  Sometimes I looked up a recipe; other times, I just made biscuits and added a little extra butter, sugar, and milk.  We were all pretty happy with it—fresh berries, whipped cream, and freshly baked, sweetened biscuits. 

But then Becky blossomed into the dessert queen.  And she has very exacting standards.  No haphazard throwing together of ingredients for her.  She also expects me to keep track of her recipes.  Not quite sure how that is.  So I figured it best to record it here on the blog for her. 

Becky’s Shortcakes

4 cups all-purpose flour

½ cup + 2 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

½ cup cold butter, cut into pieces

1 egg, beaten

1 teaspoon almond extract, optional

1 ¼ cups half and half

Preheat oven to 375°F.  Lightly grease two cookie sheets.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.  With a pastry blender or fork, but in the cold butter until particles are the size of small peas.  Stir in egg, milk, and almond extract; mix just to combine.  On a lightly floured surface, using ½ cup dough per shortcake, pat the dough into eight 4” rounds.  Place on cookie sheet and bake for 15-17 minutes, until golden brown.  Cool slightly and serve with sweetened fresh fruit and whipped cream. 

Family reviews:  No one misses dessert when Becky’s baking.  She doesn’t do anything crazy like sub in beans or whole grains, or shudder the thought, powdered milk.  She insists on fresh everything.  And it’s always fabulous.  However, if the time comes, she’ll know she can use whole wheat for some or all of the flour, use a homemade baking powder, sub in coconut oil for the butter and powdered eggs for the fresh eggs.  She can make homemade almond extract and a half and half substitute with powdered milk and coconut oil.  And use aquafaba Cool Whip in place of whipped cream.  Life, and dessert, will still be fabulous. 

Links to related posts:

Aquafaba Cool Whip 

Fruit Rolls  

Homemade Almond Extract  

DIY Baking Powder  

Baking with Coconut Oil  

Half and Half from Powdered Milk  

 

Supplies You Don’t Know How to Use: Should You Store Them? Part 2

GWEN WHO SHARED THE SOURDOUGH CRACKER RECIPE!!!  Could you please email me so I can ask a personal question? 

 

Yesterday I related a little anecdote about a power tool that assaulted Luke and how he treated the resulting laceration with supplies he had no experience in using.  That’s going to be the case for the vast majority of injuries and illnesses we encounter as society collapses.  They’ll be common issues we can easily prepare for and manage on our own—when there is no doctor. 

Such ridiculous arguments about not storing supplies you don’t know how to use abound in preparedness circles, mostly among the more naïve.  Take, for example, dental supplies and instruments.  I store a lot of dental supplies.  I have no experience using the tools.  I hope I never acquire any.  I’ve got no desire.  And I’ve never had issues with my teeth.  My husband, on the other hand, spent many years on speed dial with his dentist in Reno.  Anytime the guy wanted to go on vacation, Aaron was his man, good for at least a root canal on any day ending in y.  Yes, his teeth are made of chalk. 

So we store all kinds of supplies we don’t know how to use.  Or would rather have a professional use.  We have six dentists in our congregation.  They are all nice guys, but none of them are storing anything for us.  However, all would help us out, assuming we can provide the supplies. While there’s a slight chance they may have some tools at home and they’ve probably got an Instapot that could double as an autoclave, I’m guessing they don’t have the sterilization pouches.  So I would want to have my own sterile tools. 

My future son-in-law is in medical school, considering ER medicine as his path.  I’ve got a boatload of medical supplies here.  I know how they are supposed to be used.  I don’t have experience using them.  Hope I never need to.  But I want them on hand for him or other trained personnel to use.  We’ve seen what happens in a collapse.  After a collapse, doctors who know how to use these supplies and medicines are far easier to locate than the supplies themselves. 

And if there are no trained personnel to use them on behalf of my family?  If our society has truly and totally collapsed and competent, licensed medical care cannot be found?

I can read the directions on the package or in the book.  I can even follow them.  (Unlike when I’m trying to use a new appliance or tool, when I routinely disregard such.  I figure it ought to work the way I want it to when I plug it in.  With a little trial and error I will eventually figure out how to run the microwave.) 

The converse to this is that you can end up buying things you don’t really need—wasting time and money, but just as importantly space and money that could have been better spent elsewhere.  It’s a balancing act.  Fortunately, the odds are that you won’t really need all these supplies. How often do people need a root canal, stitches, or splints to set bones? Preventative measures go a long ways toward keeping us healthy.  So does being cautious and eating a healthy diet.  Act as if everything depends on you—store the essential supplies and references—and pray to God for blessings to cover the rest. 

 

Flash Drive Update!! And Supplies You Don’t Know How to Use: Should You Store Them? Part 1

FLASH DRIVE UPDATE:  All orders placed through 26 January have been mailed.  I have tracking numbers if you need them.  For those who would still like to order, we have a few left.  Order quickly!

 

I see and hear this discussion all the time, with the louder and less-informed always declaring that people shouldn’t fill their shelves or kits with medical supplies they don’t know how to use.  The idea has been discussed numerous times here on the blog.  Of course, I’m in the camp of storing all kinds of things I’ve got no experience using and which I hope never to use.  Nevertheless, I want to have them items on hand should the need ever arise.

Last week while I was away selling books at a gun show, Luke was home playing with one of his toys.  I think I heard him say hole saw, but it could have been whole saw, and for what it’s worth, neither of those makes sense to me, so maybe I didn’t hear it right.  Whatever the tool was, she took offense to something that Luke did and smacked him hard a little above the corner of his mouth.  He had a respectable laceration and wanted to know if he had to go to urgent care.  Like I’m going to be able to answer that over the phone.

So Aaron gets the video call going for me, and Luke says it’s about 1/8” deep.  It looked maybe ½” long, but it was hard to tell on the phone as he was still bleeding a little bit.  Aaron’s in the background making the argument that Luke has good insurance and should just go in.  Luke knows if he goes in he’ll get stitches even if he doesn’t really need them.  So I told him, if it were his child, definitely go in.  His wife?  Possibly, depending on how concerned they were about a facial scar.  Adult male?  I think it falls into the category of badge of honor. 

After he washed the laceration out really well, I suggested the supplies he’d want to use.  Steri-strips.  He asked if he could use a butterfly bandage.  I said it might work, but I thought the former would be better.  Glue—over the top, not in—would be good.  Could he use super glue?  No, not advised.  He could go to my house and get the Vet-Bond.  He could cover the area with some Tegaderm so that he could monitor the wound while still keeping it protected.  I suggested also taking some ibuprofen.  He asked about Tylenol.  No, Tylenol is not an NSAID (non-steroid anti-inflammatory).  He needs to keep the swelling down.  Tylenol doesn’t do that.

Aaron and I finished at the gun show and made the long drive back. (Made longer because it was really cold and there was a little bit of snow on the road, little enough that people think they can still drive fast, but enough to cause nine vehicles to spin out into ditches.)  I got to see Luke at church the next morning.  He did a pretty good job of cleaning and putting himself back together and the swelling was rather minimal. 

So what did he learn?

1.  Steri-strips were much, much more effective than butterfly bandages.  He needed something that would adhere better due to all the movement of facial muscles with talking and eating and malicious family members who kept trying to make him laugh. 

2.  He wished he’d had some Vet-Bond, but not enough to drive to my house for it.

3.  He really wished he had shaved that morning.

4.  He learned that in this situation, the fact that he had no experience using these supplies was irrelevant.  And while being able to improvise is desirable, he wished he’d had just the right supplies instead.  It’s nice to have parents (and their supplies) a short distance away, but it’s better to have the essentials at hand when needed.

Links to related posts:

Managing Lacerations When There Is No Doctor 

Glues for Wound Closure